Raven

Adrik disappeared into the bathroom.

Walking around his room, I blushed thinking about how I slept in his bed last night. The bedroom was large; themed black with gold furniture accents. It had a connecting bathroom and a large window adjacent to the bed. It was fit for a king.

Now that I thought about it, where was I? How did I get here? The last thing I remembered was falling asleep with my little fox underneath a hydrangea bush.

My fox! Worry clouded my thoughts. Where is he? Oh, He must be so scared and alone. I have to find him.

I started looking around the room, under the bed and furniture. He wasn't here. My heart sank and I tried to calm myself down. Where did I last see him?

The garden.

I slipped out of the room, the heavy doors creaking behind me. I ran down the hall, looking for a way outside. The hallway windows displayed the garden below. It looked so far away from where I was standing, we must be so high up! I suddenly crashed into someone, cursing myself for not paying attention.

I looked up to see a woman taller than me. She had scarlet red hair and a scowl on her face. "S-sorry," I apologized softly, "I didn't-"

"Watch where you are going." She pushed past me, walking down the same hall I had come from.

I watched her walk away and adjusted the oversized shirt I was wearing. I frowned. She didn't have to be so mean about it, it was only an accident.

Clearing my head, I looked around again for an exit. This time, being more careful with my surroundings. At the end of the hall, there was a staircase that led downwards. I stumbled in that direction, holding my bandaged side.

Once I reached the staircase, I looked down and saw multiple people below me. This place was massive!Some were cleaning the floor; others, the windows. There were even a few walking along with folded linen in their arms. Everyone seemed to be in their own world. They paid little attention to me as I staggered down the stairs.

Once I reached the bottom of the large staircase, I headed straight for the open door, leading outside. The bright sun stunned me slightly as I ran further into its light. I had to find the garden.

I stopped to look around. I saw that the large building I had come from was in fact, a palace. I felt lightheaded. What is going on? Where am I? When I was first captured, I recognized this land as the demon realm. Does that make this the demon palace?

I looked to the left of the castle and saw the woods I had originally come from when I stumbled upon the garden. Surrounding the rest of the castle was what looked like, sand. Black dunes as far as the eye could see. It was almost as if we were in a little oasis here. Everything and everyone was so strange.

I ran to the left of the castle where the woods were and found the garden clearing. In daylight, I could see it was much larger than I remember. Rows of flowers and fruit trees surrounded multiple statues of the gods. It was magnificent, unlike any garden I had ever seen. And there were a lot of gardens in the fairy realm.

I reached my hand out to a tree that I didn't know the name of. It had beautiful large blue fruit growing on it. Remembering my fox friend, I stopped last second before my hand touched the spikey fruit.

I turned away from the tree to look for him, starting with the hydrangea bush. He wasn't under there. I looked around the fruit trees, thinking he might have gotten hungry. He wasn't there either. The other flowers were a dead end as well. He was nowhere to be seen. I silently prayed he was alright.

Just then, I heard a rustling in the vines at the entrance to the woods. I stepped back. If their fruit was unusual to the ones in my realm then their animals might be too. I heard a small squeak and jumped. Wait. That squeak belonged to my fox!

I rushed towards the vines, finding my little fox all tangled up. Just like how I found him when we met. His big brown eyes stared up at me in an emotion close to relief. I chuckled to myself.

"Stuck again, are we?"