Trapped

VII

I woke up and stretched my arms above my head, still trapped in a dream like state for the moment. A small smile was adjourned my face, and I felt entirely at peace, for the first time in too long. I ruffled my hair, which was not nearly as messy as it usually was. That's when I yawned and glanced around.

I screamed and jumped out of bed. This was not my room. Well, it looked like my room, but it wasn't. It was someone else's room, in a different time period entirely. "Shit, still in the 1600's," I muttered, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear and calming my harsh and heavy breathing.

There was a knock at the door. Elias stuck his head in. "Everything alright?" He asked, giving me a strange sort of look. I nodded and shot him a smile.

"Yeah, fine, thanks. I-I just thought I saw a bug." I avoided his eyes, uncomfortably.

"Oh, I see. Well, there is breakfast downstairs, if you would like some. I will meet you down there shortly." His head disappeared and the door closed behind him.

I breathed out a sigh of relief, once he was gone. I put the dress from the day before back on, and ran my fingers through my hair, in an effort to make myself look presentable, or at least more so. Usually, I didn't care that much about what I looked like, but now I had someone to impress, so I was starting to care just a little bit more.

As I approached the kitchen, I could hear two people talking. I was going to continue on in, but hearing my name stopped me dead in my tracks.

"As I said before, there is just something not right about this girl. I can not put my finger on it, but I just do not like her. I do not want her staying in this house. It gives me a bad feeling." It sounded like Ebenezer, but I couldn't be sure.

"Dear brother, there is nothing wrong with her. She is a very nice girl, and not to mention, her beauty is out of the ordinary. She will continue to stay here, as long as she needs to, and that is final." It was Elias talking this time, and I knew that for sure. My heart soared at the fact that he had defended me, but I was now even more wary of Ebenezer. I had to be much more careful around him.

"What if she is like the other girls?" Ebenezer asked.

"What do you mean? What other girls?"

"Like Greta Adams, Abigail Smith, and Lydia Barkley. Unclean. Demonic. A witch!"

My heart dropped at Ebenezer's statement. He was on to me. The whole plan would go to shit, if I was also arrested for witchcraft. Then I wouldn't be able to save those three girls. Then I wouldn't be able to save myself. Then I would die, trapped in the 1600's, and no one in the current age would know what had happened to me. I would simply disappear and be gone forever.

I couldn't let that happen. I just couldn't. My simple mistakes would not be the reason for the deaths of three innocent girls and myself. I can't imagine what would happen to my father, if I died.

Oh my god! My father. How long had I been gone? Did he know that I wasn't in my room? Did he know that I was gone, and may or may not be coming back? Did he even care? Were there people looking for me? Was I on a milk carton? There were endless amounts of unanswered questions, so much that it overwhelmed me, and a sharp intake of breath almost gave me away. Fortunately, the boys in the next room were too focused on arguing to pay much attention to a girl breathing rather heavily around the corner.

"She is not! Do not talk about her like that. She is our guest, and you will respect her. That is final." I smiled a little, before composing myself and marching in, successfully ending their conversation about me.