Chapter sixteen

Something was wrong- something was very wrong.

But Evelyn didn't know what.

She was in a dark dim room seated on a chair with a single unknown source of light shined on her.

She could sense something was wrong but she couldn't piece it together.

She squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to search her brain for information but a flash of light caught her attention.

Suddenly the whole room lit up, making it so bright Evelyn's eyes had to take a few minutes to adjust to the brightness.

"Evelyn? What happened?"

Evelyn gasped her turned around to face Delaney, her...mom.

"Mom? What are you doing here? Do you know where we are?" Evelyn asked.

Something like this had happened in the past when she was stuck in the in-between between life and death and had wished to see her family again before Amelia helped drag her back to life but it ended horribly. She got to see her family but she had to run away from them and leave them, and even though they weren't real, she felt horrible.

"Come here, darling, and tell me what happened." Delaney told her.

Evelyn's eyes filled with tears and she ran to her mother to hug her but she went through her mother, like her mother was just a projection.

Evelyn circled back to face her mom when a child ran past her.

Evelyn gasped louder.

The child had waist-length brown hair and limped slightly as she ran to Delaney.

It was.....her when she was young.

The younger version of Evelyn leaped into her mom's open hands for a hug.

Delaney ran her hand across the child Evelyn's hair and stroked her back.

"Now, darling, what happened?"

The child Evelyn pulled away from the hug and whimpered as she lifted the hem of her flower-patterned white dress, revealing scratches on her right knee.

"I fell down," young Evelyn explained.

"Oh no," Delaney frowned and bent on her knees to examine young Evelyn's scratch. "We should have that looked at."

She straightened up. "Run along into the house now, dear. I'll be there in a second to check on your scratch- I have to talk to someone first." 

Young Evelyn nodded and Delaney watched as she headed back to the house. Then Delaney turned to the current Evelyn and started walking to her.

Evelyn thought she was going to walk past her but Delaney stopped in front of Evelyn.

"Mom?" Evelyn whispered. "Can you see me?"

Delaney smiled warmly as a response and tears filled Evelyn's eyes- she missed her mom's smile so much.

Then her mom reached her hand out and placed her hand gingerly on Evelyn's face and Evelyn gasped when it didn't slip through like Evelyn did when she tried to hug Delaney.

Evelyn leaned into her mom's palm and the tears she'd been trying to hold back spilled.

She was so tired of pretending to be strong and putting on a strong face when her life was falling apart. When on the inside she was breaking and cracking and she was failing to put the parts back together.

But now with her mom here she could stop pretending and be the scared little girl she was.

She cried and wept until her eyes dried out.

Her mom lifted her chin up and gave her another one of her smiles.

"Don't cry- you're going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay, you'll see. You don't have to pretend to brave anymore. I'm here to protect you."

With that said, tears slipped out of Evelyn's eyes. "Will you always stay and protect me, though?"

Delaney chuckled and pulled her in for a hug and whispered in her ear. "I will always be here, my love. I'm always with you in a way or another. And I will always protect you."

Evelyn sobbed as she soaked in the warmth of her mother's hug and words.

"I'm still here. I always was. You may think I'm gone but I'm not."

Evelyn frowned and pulled back from the hug. "Does that mean you're not dead? What do you mean?"

Delaney continued smiling warmly. "I mean what I mean."

Evelyn wanted to ask more but instead she dived back into the hug and whispered, "I love you, mom."

Her heart loosened and her insides unraveled and she felt so much better when her mom whispered back, "I love you too, my love."

Evelyn finally knew what was wrong- her mom wasn't there. Now that her mom was by her side, everything felt right.

"Do you feel that?" Evelyn asked when she felt a little tremble underneath her.

"I do," Delaney frowned and pulled back from the ground. "The ground's shaking."

The trembling grew stronger and Evelyn and Delaney fell to the ground when it started swaying.

"What should we do?!" Evelyn shouted over the commotion when the ground started cracking.

"Get down on your knees and face the ground and hold on!" Delaney yelled back. 

Evelyn did as she was told and squeezed her eyes shut as the ground shook violently.

"EVELYN!" Delaney shouted, causing Evelyn to look up. "GET AWAY! MOVE!" Delaney screamed frantically with wide eyes.

Evelyn looked to the ground and realized a crack was forming underneath her. She knew she had to move but she froze in fear and watched wide-eyed as the crack formed a thin line underneath her.

"NOW DON'T MOVE!" Delaney instructed. "STAY STILL! I'M GOING TO COME AND GET YOU!"

Evelyn didn't dare move a muscle as Delaney crawled towards her.

"Okay, don't move," Delaney whsipered when she got to Evelyn's side. "Stay very, very still." 

There was an obvious quiver and a hint of panic in Delaney's voice and Evelyn froze in place like a statue as Delaney extended her hand toward Evelyn.

Evelyn could feel Delaney's hands draped over her as she stared at the crack formed underneath her.

"Wait," she could barely whisper to Delaney.

"What is it?" Delaney asked.

Evelyn trembled in fear- the crack underneath her was getting wider.

An idea popped into her mind as she watched the crack get wider and wider.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she watched her tears fall into the crack. "Don't forget me."

Before Delaney could react, Evelyn turned and pushed her away from the crack and at the exact same moment, the crack widened.

"EVELYN!" Delaney screamed when Evelyn fell into the now widened crack.

Evelyn watched her mother for one last time with tears in her eyes as her mother screamed and yelled and sobbed.

And then she closed her eyes.

When Evelyn opened her eyes again, she opened her eyes to a white ceiling and instead of feeling a falling sensation, she felt something fluffy and comfortable beneath her.

She realized she was in her room as her brain slowly started turning its wheels again and groaned.

"You okay?" she heard someone ask and turned to find Zak.

At the sight of Zak, everything came back to her, hitting her like a huge wave in the ocean.

"I'm going to die," she whispered. "I'm going to die, aren't I?" she asked Zak.

Zak cringed and turned away to wipe away the tears in his eyes. "Let's not go to that so fast," he decided when he turned back to face Evelyn. "Here."

He passed Evelyn a bowl of orange glop and Evelyn took a sip. It was warm and steamy and tasted like delicious pumpkin soup and she finished it in a flash.

"So answer my question," she demanded when she handed the bowl back to Zak.

Zak sighed and looked down. "I....don't know."

"So I really am going to die," Evelyn came to the horrifying conclusion.

"I said I don't know," Zak repeated.

"But the letter said-"

"I know the letter said that you were going to...." Zak paused and hesitated before continuing. "I know the letter said that you were going to, you know, but Ellete and Atler are making some plans right now and we're doing everything we can in our power to prevent you from what the letter stated you were going to end up as."

"But that doesn't mean-" 

Zak interrupted Evelyn again. "Let's just...see how things shake out."

Evelyn didn't want to 'see how things shake out'. She wanted to know she would be safe and the letter was a lie, but she stayed silent.

"Are you still hungry?" Zak asked. 

Evelyn shook her head and Zak stepped closer.

"Listen, kid, you're going to be safe, okay? We'll do anything-even if that means dying ourselves-to prevent you from dying. And I'll protect you with my life- I know I'm tiny sized and not the ideal protector, but I will protect you. As will your parents."

A question slipped out of Evelyn's mouth. "But why are you willing to risk your life for mine?"

Zak smiled. "You may not be my kid, but I've known you since you were young. I was actually appointed to look after you, alongside with a nanny. Not the best decision Atler has made- I know, appointing a grimmy to look after an infant. And at first I was only doing the job for the payment, but you've grown on me and now you're a pretty special important person in my life. And your parents are special too. They helped me a lot in my numerous times of need."

He paused for a moment and continued. "I was there when they left you in the human world. They didn't want to, but the ogres were tearing down house after house and capturing innocent N.E.E.F citizens to make them work for them. But since babies and older N.E.E.F citizens couldn't work, the ogres used them for...." he shuddered. "The ogres used them for experiments. Feeding them random stuff to see what effects the stuff they fed them had on them. And some even died in the process. Your parents didn't want that for you and decided to hide you in the the human forest. They actually have a connection to that forest- did they tell you that?"

Evelyn shook her head and Zak started explaining. "Your mother- sorry, Ellete and Atler met each other there. They both had been going-sneaking off, rather- to that forest since they were kids even though it's illegal to enter human property unless you had permission. I asked them why they liked the forest so much, and they said the forest wasn't like any other forest. This forest was alive. The forest could communicate to them, apparently. They told me the wind somehow pushed them both to a clearing in the forest and that's how Atler and Ellete met."

"They decided to leave you in the forest, hoping the forest would keep you safe. Before they left, they whispered to the trunks and told the forest to keep you safe. In response, the forest showed them a bush to tuck you in, or at least that's what they said. It's a little cuckoo if you ask me, but I guess anything's possible. And they left you there, knowing you were in good hands. Or good trees, I should say, because technically it's a forest. I was there when they came back from leaving you in the human world. They were sobbing so hardly I had to put them to sleep with this." he revealed the same pink spray bottle he'd used to put Evelyn to sleep when she first met him. "Then I had to drag them to somewhere safe because the ogres were coming. Don't ask me how I managed to drag both of them away to safety- sometimes I look back and wonder how I did it myself. Must've been the adrenaline."

He stared at the pink spray bottle with tears glistening in his eyes. "And today I had to use it on them again. They were even more messed up then when they had to leave you. They both looked so heartbroken- and it was all because of me."

Evelyn frowned and took his hands. Zak wasn't the touchy-feel kind of guy, but he didn't pulled away. "Hey, it's not your fault."

"But you guys are in this condition now because I bought you the letters. But I couldn't not tell you about this and-" he stopped and pulled away to wipe off his tears. "I don't even know anymore."

"What you have to know," Evelyn put her hands on her lap. "Is that this isn't your fault. This is....faith. Unlucky and unfortunate faith. And it's my faith and you can't control faith. So if anything, it's my fault."

Zak looked back up at her. "It's not your fault either. It's just that...we're in a very prickly and difficult and impossible situation. But we're going to get through it, okay?"

Evelyn nodded.

"Now I should probably tell Ellete and Atler you're awake." Zak said and left the room.

Evelyn closed her eyes to cancel out the wooziness she was getting from the information that she was going to die.

"Evelyn?" Ellete's fragile voice asked. Usually, Ellete's voice would have that hint of energy and excitement but it was gone now and replaced by sorrow and weakness.

Evelyn pulled her eyes open to face Zak, Ellete and Atler.

Ellete and Atler looked like a mess. Their eyes were red and puffy and their cheeks were tear-stained and the tops of their shirts were covered in tears.

Ellete's makeup was washed away and her hair looked like it was pulled and picked at and her familiar smile was gone, now replaced by lips that looked like she'd bit them over and over again and the corner of her lips were pulled downwards.

Atler's hair looked like he'd ran his hair through it a million times and his eyes looked just as worse. His mouth looked clenched and his fists were curled up tightly, as if he was sad and mad that Evelyn was going to die.

"Are you okay?" Ellete asked.

Evelyn bit her lip. "I guess. Are you guys okay?"

Ellete and Atler shared a look with each other and Ellete turned away first.

"More or less," Atler replied, which wasn't really an answer. "But we have a plan."

"A plan?"

Atler nodded. "Obviously, the security we added isn't going to work and we debated over whether or not to have personal bodyguards protect you. But in the end, we decided that bodyguards would only attract more attention to you and that's the last thing we want to happen, so we decided…."

He paused and Evelyn motioned for him to continue. "You guys decided….?"

Atler looked at Ellete and bit his lip. "It's risky, but we've decided to move to Ereseville."