Crossing Into Forever

Chapter 12

Ella was vaguely aware of light streaming into her mind and being in a soft, warm bed. At first, in her mind, she was waking up in the safety of the convent. She lay there, enjoying the last few moments before she had to get up. She stirred just a little, and very quickly became aware of a stinging pain, that seemed to cover her entire body. Suddenly, the realization that she was not at the convent flooded her consciousness. She sat up in a panic and gasped in like it was her last breath. She was holding the covers up to her throat and trying to make sense of where she was. Nothing looked familiar. She had never been in this place before. She was in a great open room that was very long. The two long walls of the room each had a row of huge beautiful stained-glass windows that lined their entire length. There was another shorter wall parallel to the bed she was in that had counters and sink and cabinets lining it. There were several beds, like the one she was in, positioned with their headboards up against the long walls. She couldn't see to the other end of the large room. It seemed very far away and the room, on that end, was shrouded in darkness. She saw no sign of anyone though.

While she was studying the room and its contents, Maggie walked up beside her and touched her on the arm. "Well, hello dear!"

Ella jumped and screamed when Maggie did this. It scared her, but it scared Maggie just as much. Maggie screamed too and they both looked at each other with shocked looks on their faces.

"Oh dear! I'm so sorry! I didn't expect that, and I didn't mean to scare you. Are you ok?"

Ella was looking at the other woman, noticing how harmless she looked and taking note at how sweet she sounded. She was an older woman, maybe in her late sixty's, with white hair, braided and piled on top of her head. She was rather small, maybe a little over five foot tall. She had on a white dress, covered by a blue apron, white stockings, and flat, white shoes. Ella decided she was probably a nurse because she reminded her of the sisters that were nurses at the convent.

Ella tried to answer her but was having a hard time. Every time she opened her mouth to speak, she felt like she was going to cry. Her memory was so jumbled, and she was trying hard to remember the events that led up to this point. One thing was for sure, and that was that she was not at her Aunt Mary's or the convent. She started looking down at her arms and the cuts and scratches that covered them. She could tell by the pain on her legs that they had to be covered with the same types of wounds, but she dared not leave the safety of the covers to look at them. She could feel a sob trying to make its way up her throat and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop it. The tears started to flow down her cheeks, and she certainly could not speak.

Maggie was visibly upset too at the sight of this young girl crying. She wanted so badly to comfort her. "Dear, I know you are upset, but I want you to know, you are safe here. Nothing is going to happen to you now and no one will hurt you here."

Even though Ella was frightened, hearing the older lady saying this did give her some comfort. She sniffed back her tears and tried to regain her composure. She swallowed hard and could speak a little. "Where am I? I need to get home. I'm supposed to be at my Aunt Mary's." She stopped speaking for a moment as a fleeting vision entered her consciousness of some sort of beast coming toward her and a frightening man. She knew it couldn't be real, but the vision terrified her and then she remembered that she had been following Millicent. She was so scared that her friend had gotten into some kind of trouble or danger. "Is Millicent, ok? I was following her and then I couldn't find her anywhere. I'm afraid something has happened to her. We have to help her!"

"Calm down dear. Millicent is safe and sound, just like you are. She is in her dorm room right now getting ready for her classes that will be starting today."

"This is Millicent's school?"

"Yes dear, and you have nothing to fear here."

Ella was so happy to hear Millicent was safe and obviously she was where she was supposed to be. However, she herself was not. Then another vague memory surfaced of someone accusing her of trespassing and being nosy. "I wasn't trying to be nosy. I was trying to get a key. I didn't know I was trespassing. I had locked my keys in my car and my spare key was locked in my apartment. Millicent has a key." She was wondering what Aunt Mary must be thinking when she didn't arrive last night. She had to get back home. She needed to leave now. If this lady would allow her to get her key from Millicent, she could go back to the apartment and call Mary and Mother Christina. She knew both of them were worried sick about her by now. She lowered her head and placed her fingers on her temples as she tried to calm her turbulent thoughts more so she could think straight. After a few seconds, she realized she could ask this lady if she would allow her to call Mary and Christina and maybe they could come and pick her up from here. If they couldn't, she knew Millicent would help with directions if someone there would be willing to drive her home. She wouldn't even mind walking if someone would tell her how to go as long as she didn't have to walk through the woods. It couldn't be that far, she thought. But then, how is that? She thought Millicent's school was far away, but she had not walked very far when she was looking for Millicent. Her mind was still so fuzzy. She told herself not to think of the night before. It may not make sense now, but when she gets home, she can sort it all out, or she can just try to forget the entire incident. She started to feel a little glimmer of hope that everything was going to be ok. She decided she had dreamed what little bits she was remembering. Most of it made no sense at all. It couldn't be real. There was no denying the cuts on her, but that must have been from the limbs hitting her as she walked.