Lock and Key

Returned Home

Grace opened her eyes and looked around. She had no idea where she was and she'd never felt more alone. Looking around Grace recognized that she was in the middle of a park and despite having arrived out of a portal and the park being filled with people no one seemed to have noticed her. Mothers and fathers pushed young children in strollers, elementary school kids around the same age as the ones she cared for ran around playing, and teenagers sat in dark corners talking.

Grace felt a pang of sadness thinking about what she'd missed out on. What might her life have been if she stayed. Maybe she'd be off with those teenagers talking and joking unaware of the true depths of evil a person could sink to. Maybe she'd have had a car, friends, a boyfriend. Maybe she'd be thinking about what college she'd be going to instead of trying to put the pieces of her life together. Grace would never know what her life could have been now, she was still a kid and yet she'd never be one. She was an outsider to but a select few people who she'd never meet who'd been on the train.

Grace pretended it didn't hurt that her reality meant she'd never truly understand what it meant to be a teenager. Pretended that the fact that no one in her peer group would ever understand what she'd been through didn't sting. It didn't matter, none of this did. Nothing could be done to go back and give her the life that she'd been robbed of so there was no point in dwelling on what might have been, on what never would be.

The past was the past and this was now. And right now, Grace had to figure out where she was. She figured that going up to random strangers asking the date, time, and area of the country that they were in probably wouldn't go over well so she opted instead to try and find a computer. After all, asking someone where the library was seemed far less likely to give away how little of a clue she had about what was going on. Walking over to a couple sitting together in the park she addressed the woman.

"Hi, do you know where the library is?" she asked nicely, trying to project tourist like confusion rather than complete and utter ignorance. The woman nodded and pointed towards a brick building across the street.

"Just down that way." she replied. Grace gave her a smile and nod before heading off in that direction with the intention of going online to find out where exactly she was. After she had that information she wasn't sure what she'd do. She sure as hell wasn't going to seek out her parents, at least not yet. She needed some time to build up to that interaction.

As she stood in front of the library she read the name on the side of it. "Arbutus Branch Public Library." it read. Grace couldn't remember ever going to the library as a child so theoretically this place could be right outside her house and she wouldn't have any clue. Then again it probably wasn't. Grace could tell from the outside of the library alone that the place was a bit run down and unless there had been a major demographic shift since she'd left there was no way her town would have this many young people.

One of Grace's complaints growing up had been that she was always the only kid amongst a sea of rich, old money, elderly socialites. If there had been this many people her own age around when she'd been growing up perhaps she would have actually had friends. Grace recognized that she was stalling and forced herself to enter into the building. It was quiet which Grace supposed she should have expected but it was still nice. Grace had spent so much time around the loud and raucous Apex children that she had quickly gained an appreciation for the quiet. She took it all in for a moment, the smell of ink on paper and the quiet clacking of computer keys.

It was almost therapeutic in a way. Of course Grace knew that while this may have felt therapeutic she needed to actually get in contact with her parents so she could get real therapy. It wasn't like she could just stand in this library forever. She dragged herself over to the computers which were luckily within sight of the entrance. Grace didn't want to disturb this atmosphere by having to ask a question. Sitting herself down at an empty desk she opened google and typed.