in Between Realms

Chapter 2

Wearing the emerald moonstone is like my equivalent of sitting in a naughty corner. It's the realms most nauseating feeling. Instead of jumping it's like my consciousness is trapped in a dark room unable to escape. So there is no point in laying back in my bed and closing my eyes. The notion would seem tedious.

I sit at my work desk in my bedroom trying to finish all my homework. I manage to somehow complete my paper on the brain and move on to English. I hear a slight knock on my bedroom door. "Zel, can I come in?" Klara asks.

"Nope," I say and turn back to write my essay. She doesn't listen to me because she comes right in with a tray of food. She sets the tray of pancakes and hot chocolate on the side of my table and the sweet smell of chocolate mixing with vanilla and peppermint is enough to have my stomach growling and mouth salivating.

'Don't look at it,' I tell myself.

But it's so beautiful.

Before I can even comprehend what's happening there's a fork in my hand and a piece of pancake in my mouth.

'You traitor!' I tell my stomach.

"I'm sorry Zel," Klara sighs taking a seat on my bed and I knew it was a trap. Pancakes this good always come with a catch.

"Yeah me too," I let out a breath of hesitation and reach for the cup of hot chocolate before I continue to finish what I want to say. "I know I can be a handful to put up with but that's only because I don't fit in here," I say and lazily sink down into my chair.

"That's because you don't even try," she counters my excuse and she is not wrong.

Ever since I learned about what I am and what I can do I enjoyed the realm of dreams more than I ever did the light one. It wasn't easy at first because I had to endure training to defeat the night terrors, but I enjoyed helping people defeat their demons. It was therapeutic to me and helped me forget about my own demons in the process.

"You right, I will try harder," I agree after a while and she quirks an eyebrow at me.

"Zel you have said that time and time again and as soon as I take out your stone you go back to not wanting to try."

It is most unfortunate that she knew me like the back of her hand. Could anyone blame me for not wanting to try here? When all this reality ever gave me was lemons? Sour lemons every single day of my life. My life in this realm was mundane. Having to supress my magic and act as if there weren't bigger things going on.

"Oh and your dad says he will pick you up at three," Klara mentions as if it is something I should be knowing. She stands up and begins hurrying to the door.

There we go, there's today's dose of lemons!

"Not so fast aunt Klara," I say and she stops dead in her tracks.

"I never agreed to go to Clive's today," I smile bitter sweet, feeling a little tense at spending the rest of the day with Clive. Klara still hasn't responded to me and she is standing at the entrance of my door giving me that 'oh did I forget to mention your father called' look. I get that look once or sometimes twice every month.

"Why I ought to put the emerald moonstone around your neck." My was voice dripping in outrage.

"If I had told you would you have agreed to go?" she asks.

"Hell no!" I yell in outrage and she narrows her eyes at my choice of language and tone. Her lips purse as she gives me that cold-eyed stare that scares me more than any night terror I have ever seen.

I breathe out heavily. "Fine, I will go." Ill fulfil her wish and show her I'm capable of change and just maybe she will remove the stone.

She quirks a suspecting eyebrow and stares at me thoughtfully for a minute. "You serious?" she questions and her cold-stare melts like ice on the first day of spring.