Royal Disaster

the disastrous revelation

"Mom?"

In front of me, Arthur straightened up, eyes wide in alarm. His hands finally let go of mine, moving quickly to snatch my phone out of my hand.

"Hey!"

He quickly ended the call, sliding my phone into his back pocket. The next thing I knew, his hand was around my wrist and he was dragging me back to the house. I tried to follow him, tripping over my feet because he was walking so fast.

"Arthur! That was my mom!" I shouted.

"No, it wasn't." He snapped back, his arm pulling back and curling around my hip. But unlike the way I felt when his hand was wrapped in mine, I felt scared, frightened, because the way he said it left no doubts in me.

I was reminded of his behavior in Universal's. The way his eyes scanned the beach and our surroundings, the way his arm tightened around me as if making sure I was secure against him. "Arthur, what's happening?"

I could my heart pounding heavily in my chest, warning bells ringing in my head at his own panicked expression. Unlike at the park, though, I didn't fight against him. That wasn't my mom. That wasn't my mom.

I'd seen something in his eyes, something that I probably hadn't noticed at the park that told me that something bad was about to happen, that there was a danger nearby. And, because it was still a little dark, the whole neighborhood practically barren, my fright was heightened.

"I have to get you home," Arthur stated gruffly, his hands clenching beside my hips. I found myself nodding, trying my best to keep up with him. Tears poked at the corner of my eyes, my breath lodged in my throat as my hands clutched whatever it could. It turned out to be his arm and his shirt.

My senses were on alert and I began copying him, looking over my shoulder, eyes darting at every sign of movement that I could get. I lingered on the shadows, my heart picking up at the idea of someone following us, hiding in the dark and watching us.

"Arthur," I whispered, feeling more terrified than I'd ever felt.

"Shh," he murmured, his hand rubbing my arm up and down, trying to comfort me. "Let's get you home first. You're not safe from him."

Safe from who? Despite the burning curiosity that began to increase with my growing panic, I remained silent, eyes staring straight forward, blurring as the tears built up. But it wasn't any better. Through the blur, I pictured a silhouette hidden in the shadows, a phone held up to his ears as he watched us and I found myself huddling into Arthur.

Thankfully, we didn't walk too far from the house. But it felt like forever till we made our way through the back door. Arthur let go of me to close the door, my knees buckling as I fell to the floor.

There was a pounding in my head, my hands moving up to press over my ears as I tried to look past the blur. My nerves were going haywire and I couldn't breathe. One hand fell to my throat, my lips opening as I tried to inhale and exhale, but it was like I was being choked. I couldn't make out anything either, my head swimming dizzily and unfocused, trying hard – so hard to breathe, but I couldn't.

That wasn't mom.

That wasn't mom.

That wasn't mom.

Where was my mom?

The thoughts bombarded me, making it even more difficult to focus, more difficult to gather in a breath and even more harder to pull myself out of a panic. I felt suffocated even though I knew that I wasn't in any confinement.