Kingdom Keepers: Once Upon a Dream

Chapter 23

A/N: This chapter is very exciting and I'm very excited for you to read it. Let me know after you read how excited you are so we can be excited together :) 

***

A while later, Finn and the others walked quickly through Frontierland, taking care to stop behind a table or snack cart every few minutes to check for security. After their close call in the bathroom, they'd decided it best not to stay in one place for too long, and to get out of the park as soon as possible. So far, they'd been in the clear, and they rushed towards Tom Sawyer Island, praying to forces they weren't even sure they believed in that they wouldn't be seen.

"Alright," Jess said. "When we get there, Mattie and I will stay over on this side to keep watch, and keep security away from you. You two take the raft over to the island and see what happens."

"You're not coming with us?!" Amanda exclaimed.

"It was only you two in my dream. It has to be you two now."

Amanda looked back at Finn for a second, and he thought he heard her let out a huff. He was wounded slightly by it, but said nothing as they kept walking.

Finally, they reached the loading station for the rafts. Jess turned around to face the group and took a deep breath.

"Okay," she said. "Here we go."

***

Five minutes later, Finn and Amanda were on the raft that normally took guests to and from the island. Amanda sat in the corner while Finn manned the controls. He must've taken the ride over a hundred times, but there was something different about it now. The raft, usually packing guests in like sardines, was empty save for the two of them, and night made the water appear black and bottomless so that he couldn't see what was ahead of him at all. It was haunting.

The silence was the worst part: the world completely devoid of sound save for the whir of the engine and the lap of the waves. His mind was running wild again, and he felt like he was in a thick fog, like he might as well have not been there. How could this all be happening? How could his life have changed so much in a week? What would his mother think if she knew?

"Did I say something wrong before?"

He turned his head to Amanda's voice, small and shy, coming from the other side of the raft.

"What?" he asked, not having totally processed what she said.

"You haven't said a word to me since we left the bathroom."

Finn looked back out at the water and said nothing, but eventually Amanda spoke again, even more quietly than before.

"You're afraid of me," she said.

"What do you mean? Why would I be afraid of you?" Finn asked. He didn't look at her.

"You saw what I did in the bathroom before and you're afraid of me now," Amanda said hardly. "Don't worry. I'm used to it."

She mumbled out the last part, looking away from him. Finn was instantly filled with guilt, and he sighed. He really wasn't good at this.

"I'm not afraid of you," he said, turning to her. "I'm just overwhelmed by all of this."

"And you think I'm not?"

Finn said nothing, silenced by the sudden burst of humility.

"Finn," Amanda continued. "I'm just as scared as you are. You think I ever expected or prepared for any of this? I was getting ready to go to sleep tonight and next thing I know I'm in the Magic Kingdom illegally on my way to try and prove that I'm actually a book character!"