Chapter thirteen

A wave of tears hit Evelyn and tears streamed down her cheeks when she saw the figures of Bently, Delaney, Rick, Talia and Brain- her human family, alive and breathing.

She buried her face in her palms, not sure what to feel as tears continued trickling out of her eyes.

Should she feel happy? Or terrified? Or excited?

She was feeling every single emotion at once.

"Evelyn?"

Evelyn tore her face out of her cupped palms and stared into the eyes of Delaney.

"Why are you crying?" she asked, taking a step towards Evelyn.

Evelyn froze as happiness and nervousness and the feeling of being terrified seemed to swarm and battle against each other in her.

Fortunately, happiness won and Evelyn ran to Delaney, throwing her arms around her human mother and crying into her shoulder.

"What's wrong? And where are we?" Delaney asked, squeezing Evelyn in a tight embrace before pulling away to examine Evelyn.

Evelyn wiped away her tears and tried to form a word, but her voice didn't seem to be working.

Delaney swept the strands of brown hair covering Evelyn's face back and pulled it behind her ears like when she was young. "Really, Evelyn, what's the matter?"

Evelyn ignored the question and cleared her throat to get her voice working again and to clear the thickness out of her throat.

Her voice was shaky when she spoke. "I....I don't exactly know where we are- I just know bits and pieces. But I don't have time to explain." her voice hitched at the last word.

"Silly girl," Delaney said and pulled her towards Bently, Brain, Rick and Talia, who were standing a few feet away.

Evelyn teared up at the sight of her dad and her siblings and threw her arms around Bently and Brain, who were the closest to her.

Both had different reactions.

"What's wrong, Evelyn?" Bently asked, patting her back.

"Whoa! Um...okay...you're, um...hugging me. Okay. Totally not awkward." Brain said but still, he wrapped an arm around her. "Cringe but okay, I guess."

Evelyn squeezed them in the tightest hug possible, and Talia joined the hug, followed by Delaney and Rick.

Evelyn let the feeling of warmth and the comfort of knowing her family was here right now trickle into her heart, filling it with love and hope.

She enjoyed and tried to make use of every single second of the hug as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Eventually, she pulled away and rubbed her eyes before turning to face her family- the very people she'd grown up and been with for fourteen years.

"Now, where is that explanation you owe us?" Delaney asked, hands on her hip.

In the distance, she could see the hand -Amelia- waving for her to go back.

Evelyn took a deep breath and willed herself not to start crying again. "I-I-" she tried, but her voice broke into a sob, because that was the moment Amelia's words had struck her.

Also, here's a tip: Everything in here is fake, so don't treat it like it's real.

That was what she had written, so that meant....her human family here was fake, not real.

Tears slipped out of her eyes as she tried to accept the truth, but failed. She didn't know how she'd leave her family now and not see them in reality after she'd seen them now.

Evelyn wiped her tears away, her hands sticky from tears. She sniffled as she studied the most important faces to her in the world.

"Thank you guys so much for every single thing you've done for me," the words seemed right on her tongue, even though she knew they were fake, but she just needed to say it.

"And I didn't get to say this last time and I didn't get to say a proper goodbye, so.....Goodbye. I love you guys so much and I'll miss you guys everyday."

Delaney frowned. "What do you mean, 'Goodbye'?"

"I-I-I'm so sorry," Evelyn mumbled, tears forming in her eyes. 

She ordered her legs to turn and run back to the door and Amelia, and thankfully they listened.

Delaney, Bently, Brain, Talia and Rick ran after her and she picked up her pace.

When she reached the door, she looked back at her family for what may be the last time in her entire life and jumped into the door.

Evelyn gasped and her eyes fluttered open. She groaned as blinding white light cut into her corneas and the sound of ringing filled her ears.

There were a few blurry figures in front of her, but Evelyn couldn't make out who they were.

She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths before opening her eyes again.

This time everything was clearer and she could see Leia, Amelia, Brooke, Asher and Camila hovering in front of her.

"Evelyn!" Leia exclaimed, pulling her in for a hug.

More hands joined the hug and it turned into a full group hug.

Evelyn sank into the hug, tears streaming down her cheeks when it had almost the same feeling of the hug her family had given her.

Then Leia pulled pack, followed by the rest. Leia took her by the shoulders to examine her. "Are you okay? I'm so, so sorry!"

"I'm sorry too," Camila mumbled and Evelyn realized she was sulking behind Brooke, probably feeling guilty.

Leia and Camila's eyes were filled with tears.

Leia and Camila wrapped her in yet another hug and when they pulled back, their hands shook. Leia had tears streaming down her already tear-stained cheeks. "I'm really sorry. I-I-I-" she stuttered and her words were swallowed by a sob.

"We're the worst friends ever. We're really sorry- we weren't thinking and.." Camila mumbled, a tear escaping from her eyes.

"It's fine," Evelyn assured them, wiping her tears away. "What exactly happened?"

This time, Amelia launched into into the explanation instead of Leia, who usually explained to Evelyn about stuff. "Camila and Leia fell on you and you got knocked out and-" she bit her lip. "Almost died so I had to come and save you-"

Evelyn sat up so fast all the blood came rushing to her head and she got a little dizzy, but she shoved the dizziness away, her eyes stretching so tall and wide she wondered if it would roll out from her sockets. "ALMOST DIED?!"

Amelia nodded grimly. "Camila and Leia were falling at a really fast speed and combine that with their total weight, it would be enough to....um....you know."

Evelyn winced and remembered the hand. "That...was really you? You have a lot of explaining to do."

Amelia nodded and sadness clouded her brown eyes. "Was that....your human family?"

Evelyn looked away and tears formed in her eyes.

"Oh-I'm sorry. It's a sensitive topic for you- I'm so sorry. And I'm also sorry for them...dying." Amelia bit her lip so hard it had to hurt.

"Human family?" Leia whisper-asked. "You have a lot of explaining to do to us too."

Amelia nodded and pulled them away to a spot and left Evelyn alone.

Guilt clouded Evelyn's heart as the betrayed faces of her family as they were chasing her appeared in her mind and tears slipped out of her eyes, alongside a sniffle.

"But they were fake," she reminded herself, which seemed to hurt more.

An idea shoved its way into her mind and Evelyn knew it was a long shot, but she was so desperate she decided to try it.

She pictured Delaney, Bently, Brain, Talia and Rick's faces in her mind, hoping it would appear like it did in that weird pocket of space and light.

Just as she figured, nothing happened. There was no bright flash of light, nor did her family appear.

But her hope still deflated anyway.

She buried her face in her palms and felt the tears start to trickle down her eyes when Leia, Amelia, Brooke, Camila and Asher appeared.

"I'm so sorry," Leia whispered as she crouched next to Evelyn and she was echoed by the rest.

"It's not your fault," Evelyn whispered shakily.

A pair of arms wrapped around her, but Evelyn didn't know who it was because she was cowering behind her palms, but when more arms wrapped around her and another group hug formed, she was finally brave enough to rise her face from her palms.

Evelyn sat there buried by arms before everyone finally pulled away and Evelyn's eyes had tried up, free of tears.

She turned to Amelia and was about to ask for an explanation about the whole hand thing, but it was like she already knew and started diving into an explanation.

"My dad taught me a little trick to pull somebody back if they're almost dead-but not entirely dead, because that's impossible-" she stopped and winced. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean that, I meant-"

"It's okay," Evelyn told her, knowing she was referring to her human family. 

Amelia nodded. "So, it's a little trick I learned. When someone is almost dying, before they die immediately, they have to go through two stages, and if they successfully pass those stages they can continue living. The first stage is the dark stage. Remember that dark room you were in?"

Evelyn nodded.

"You forget your memories there and start asking silly questions and slowly, bit by bit, you forget everything and eventually you lose hope. The darkness sucks up your memories, hope and all happy and positive thinking, making you think negative. And when you think negative for a certain period of time, you....die. The only way to get out of that room is to think either positive or get some help, like you did from me."

"Thank you, by the way," Evelyn said to Amelia, realizing she'd forgotten to say it.

Amelia smiled. "I'd help you anytime- that's what best friends are for."

"We'll help you anytime too- remember, we're you're bffs too!" Leia hopped in wiping away her tears. "And I'm sorry again." she mumbled and was echoed by Camila.

Evelyn wasn't the touchy-feel kind of person, but she took their hands. "It's okay. You guys were freaking out and to be honest, almost dying wasn't that bad."

Camila winced. "How could you say that? You almost died because of me-us!"

This time it was Evelyn's turn to wrap them in aa hug. "All that matters is that I forgive you. And look at me- I'm alive and breathing now, aren't I?"

Leia and Camila wrapped their arms around Evelyn. "Thank you," they muttered. "And we'll always be here if you need us. Especially now since we owe you big time."

Evelyn smiled, grateful for the friends- the best friends- who were surrounding them.

"Anyway, back to the conversation," Amelia cut through. "If you do manage to get out of the fist stage-which not many people have- you go into the second stage, which is the hardest. Anything you want will appear, which makes it hard. When you want something and it appears you spend time to use it, and if you stay in that room for a certain period of time you'll die too. The only way to escape that room is to resist the urge of using the things that you want that appear and find the door-the portal- and come back to reality."

"The trick was that I could take on the shape of a hand and enter someone's mind and assist and guide them to help them get through the stages." she finished.

"That was more than a little trick," Evelyn said. "It was a trick that saved my life. And I'm grateful for it and you. Thank you."

Amelia smiled.

"Um....guys not to burst your bubble," Asher interrupted. "But we're stuck in a....um...place with no way to get up."

Evelyn looked around-he was right.

They were stuck in a dark and dusty round room with only a few blinking light bulbs that hung on threads of loose ropes that looked like they would snap any second.

The stone walls surrounding them were dirty and cracked and the sparse furniture was scattered all over the room.

There was a wooden cabinet tucked in the corner with stained glass doors covered in a layer dust with a few jars inside and a few cans of beans.

There was a flat, uncomfortable-looking mattress with holes with springs popping out in the far corner with a straw-woven pillow and a thin blanket patched with different fabric.

There was also a wooden rocking chair that had started to rot and a wooden table.

There was also a wooden door and a broom in the corner and a springy, bouncy mattress that they had landed on when they jumped in.

"Where exactly are we?" Evelyn asked, rubbing her head.

"I think we're in a old, abandoned hideout. Lots of people built hideouts like this and hid in them until the war with the N.E.E.F citizens and the ogres had calmed down." Leia answered, pacing around the room.

Camila got up to pace with her. "We need to get out of here ASAP- not only is the Crystal Hunt counting down, we still haven't gotten Amelia and Evelyn powers and it's just so dusty and dirty in her and ewwwwww-" she said when she brushed her finger against the table and found it covered in dust. "And we need to get Evelyn to a doctor to check if she's really alright-"

"I'm fine," Evelyn interupted.

"Nuh-uh, girlie- we're still getting you to a doctor. And also, if we're stuck here, the teachers are gonna freak, and so are our parents and guardians," she glanced at Evelyn as she said the last word.

An idea popped up in Evelyn's mind. "Why can't we just use our teleballs to get out or call for help with our holopods?"

Leia and Asher held out their holopods. Leia's was crushed while Asher's had a crack over his.

Evelyn dug her hand into her inner, hidden pocket to reveal a crushed holopod. She groaned.

"What about our teleballs? We can teleport out of here."

The group all held out their teleballs, and except Asher, the group's teleballs were all crushed and had cracks streaking over them.

"Asher, can you teleport us out of here?" Leia asked.

Asher shook his head grimly and pointed to the lines on the teleball. "The lines aren't growing green, so.....I think it's broken."

To be sure, they tried teleporting out with his teleball but it didn't work.

Camila ran a hand through her hair, making it slightly messy before she slicked back her hair and re-made it. "We need to get out of here."

"We know that." Amelia stated.

"Maybe....we could try going through that door?" Evelyn asked, pointing at the wooden door.

Leia bit on her thumb. "Would it be too risky, though?"

"Well, we don't really have any other options, do we?" Asher asked.

Evelyn scraped together her courage. "I can go in there and check if it's safe." she offered, heading towards the door.

The rest of her friend caught up with her and Camila and Leia took the lead. "Nuh-uh-you almost died. Leave it to us," they said in unison.

Together, the group went through the door. Inside was a walkway with stone walls.

Unlike the round room they'd been in, the walls weren't smooth- they were jagged and rocky. Every few feet, there were unlit wooden torches jutting out of the rocky stone walls.

Camila snapped her fingers and looked at Asher. 

"On it," Asher said and put his palms together and created a sphere of blazing hot fire. He lit the first two torches.

"Okay, Asher, maybe you should take the lead and light the torches as we walk so we can see," Leia stepped back to let Asher go in front of her.

They began walking and as Leia had commanded, Asher lit the torches as they walked. The rocky walkway was narrow, so they had to walk single file.

"How do we know that we're not walking into danger?" Amelia asked after walking for a few minutes.

There was silence before Camila answered, "Well, we've come this far. Might as well go on, right? Plus, I'm pretty sure we can face whatever danger there is- assuming there even is."

The only answer was silence and Evelyn tried to believe Camila, but after several minutes without finding anything or and exit, she started to doubt Camila's words.

Evelyn was tempted to just run back to the round room and start screaming for help even though there was a 99 percent chance that no one would hear them when Asher announced, "Look! There's light ahead!"

True to his words, there was light ahead and the group picked up their pace.

After a minute of two, Asher gave a yelp of joy and the group stumbled into the snowy winter wonderland outside.

"I never thought I'd be this happy to see snow!" Asher bent to the ground and took a handful of snow. 

"No-don't you dare!" Camila's eyes widened as he aimed his arm in her direction and gave a smirk. "You're gonna ruin my hair!"

"Exactly why I picked to aim you first." he said, throwing the snowball in her hair's direction. She gave a scream as the snowball landed on her blonde hair.

"Oh, it is so on!" she decided, making a snowball of her own and aiming her shot for Asher's face.

Asher ducked and the snowball ended up plastered on Leia's face.

Leia scooped a handful of snow and shot it back to Camila, who avoided it. Instead, the snowball ended up on Brooke's winter jacket.

Brooke made a snowball herself and aimed it for Asher, who started it and it became a full-fledge snowball fight. Even Evelyn got sucked into the fight.

She ducked and flung snowballs.

It was the second time she had a snowball fight-the first was with her human family-and she was enjoying it.

Asher got hit by snowballs the most because he started the fight and when Evelyn nailed a snowball in his face, everyone froze, including Evelyn.

"I'm so sorry! Did I do something wrong-" she started, but was interrupted by Leia.

Leia rushed over to her side and gave her a high-five. "Good job, Evelyn! This it the first time somebody has nailed Asher in the face with a snowball- he's the Master of Not Getting Aimed In the Face, but not anymore!"

Asher did looked shocked, but laughed when everybody else laughed. Even Evelyn burst into a fit of giggles.

The group played for a little more until Camila announced that it was time to continue looking for Amelia and Evelyn's power crystals and Evelyn's arm went sore from flinging snowballs.

"Um....does anybody not notice the problem we have here?" Asher asked, brushing snow off his hair. "We have no teleballs to teleport anywhere. How do we get out of here?"

The group froze.

"I....never thought of that," Leia admitted. "Any ideas, anyone?"

Camila bit her lip. "Okay, long shot, but maybe we could try getting down the mountain ourselves?"

Amelia shook her head. "That's a crazy idea-and usually I'm on board with crazy ideas-but that's too crazy. The amount of days to get off this mountain by feet is insane. Like three months insane. Plus, we would totally freeze to death-" she glanced at Evelyn and guilt clouded her eyes before she continued. "Our winter wear won't last us long."

An idea shoved its way in Evelyn's mind and slipped out of her lips before she could stop it. "What if we find an animals here and ride-or fly- it down the mountain?"

She braced for Amelia saying it was impossible but she never did. 

"That..." she admitted. "Is a crazy idea that I'm willing to try."

"That's a really crazy idea but since Amelia's willing to try it out- and she's usually the worry rat on safety-I guess I'll try it too." Leia decided and Camila, Asher and Brooke agreed as well.

"Okay," Evelyn said, hardly believing they were trying her crazy idea. "Let's get ourselves an animal ride."