Kingdom Keepers: Once Upon a Dream

Chapter 5

A/N: Hello everyone! This chapter continues the last scene, but I think you'll really really like it. Enjoy!

˜

Casey was not exactly right about everything going perfectly. It didn't even take five minutes for her to discover that her plan was facing quite a few hiccups. Even though everyone had agreed to meet her here this afternoon, no one seemed particularly open to the idea that what she was saying was true. Ten minutes had passed since she'd gotten there, and other than recounting what she'd already told each one of them, practically nothing had been said. The table was filled only with crossed arms and awkward silences. She looked to Amanda and Jess to back her up, but both girls practically folded into themselves, with Amanda's gaze continuously flitting back and forth between Finn and the table.

Casey sighed. The situation was beginning to feel hopeless.

"So Casey, what exactly makes you think that we're all Kingdom Keepers?"

It was Dell who'd spoken up first.

Casey flashed him a weak smile and breathed a sigh of relief; finally she didn't feel as if she was completely alone.

"Well..." Casey started, her voice stuttering. "I was on Small World at Magic Kingdom, probably about a month ago and I swear..."

"Oh God," Terry sighed, before Casey could even finish.

"I saw a doll move!" Casey insisted, not making eye contact with anyone, for fear of what she might see.

"Christ, really?" Terry shouted, even more emphatically than before.

"What?" Willa asked, slightly snarkily. She wasn't happy to hear anyone treated the way Terry was treating Casey.

"Do you know how many people have claimed to have seen a doll move since those damn books came out?" Terry continued. "Are we really gonna take serious advice from a kid who's trying to live out her middle school fantasy?" He addressed the other "Keepers" with this last statement.

"That's just the thing," Casey said, trying her best to focus on her belief in the Keepers, rather than on the fear from what Terry was saying.

"It's not just me," she insisted. "Since these books came out, tons of people have seen a doll move, and the number of reports has grown over the years. How could that many people be wrong? Why would that many people lie?"

"I don't think you're lying," Terry said, now leaning back in his seat with his arms crossed. "I just think you're batshit and that you're seeing things you want to be true,"

"Hey!" Willa snapped, seeing the shock on Casey's face. "Watch it,"

She glared at Terry, unrelenting, until he backed down. She quickly realized that all the eyes at the table were now on her, and sunk back into her seat, crossing her arms.

Where did that come from? she thought.

"Okay, look," Charlie said, sitting upright and speaking for the first time since Casey had arrived. "Even if you had seen a doll move, even if everything in the books was true, why on Earth would that mean that we were actually the Kingdom Keepers? Terry's right, it's completely crazy!"

"Actually," a voice piped quietly. "It's...not that crazy,"

All eyes turned to Dell, who hadn't made a peep since his last comment.

"It's not crazy," he repeated, sitting up straighter, an air of confidence coming over him. "At least, not in the sense that you're thinking of the word. I mean, scientists have been raising theories about the existence of parallel universes for years."