Chapter 9:

Is the legend true?

Dana and Ethan carried her inside where Sasha, Cameron, Yasmin, Cade, Koby, and Reign were sitting on the front lobby couches. Dylan and Jade were nearby playing pool. A few police officers lingered nearby.

"We found her!" Ethan called to them.

everyone looked over at them shocked to see an unconscious Cloe. Cameron was the first to run over to them. He took her face in his hands. "What happened to her?"

"We don't know," Dana said. "She came out of the trees. She said she was fine and then she passed out."

The police came over to them. One of them checked Cloe's pulse then said into a walkie talkie, "Get me a doctor. We've found the girl."

The doctor soon arrived and concluded that she was stable enough to not have to be taken to the hospital. Instead he put her in her hotel bed and gave her an antibiotic. Cameron sat by her side holding her hand. Everyone else was in the room except Dana and Ethan who were being questioned by the police on what they saw.

"Will she be okay?" Cameron asked.

"I think she will be," the doctor said. "No signs of hypothermia or trauma. She's very lucky. But her blood pressure is low. I'll be checking up on her throughout the next few days."

All of a sudden Cloe's eyes opened. "Where am I?"

"You're back in the hotel Angel," Yasmin said.

"Do you remember anything that happened?" The doctor asked her.

She still has a crazed look in her eyes as she looked up at the ceiling. "I was flying through cold white clouds, and then the demons came and they tried to eat me. I kicked them in the balls," she laughed at that part. "And then...I don't remember."

Everyone looked at each other confused. Then they looked at the doctor for answers.

"She needs time to rest," the doctor said. "Maybe tomorrow she'll be able to tell us what happened. Keep an eye on her and call me if anything unusual happens." And with that he left.

"We're so glad you're okay Cloe," Sasha said putting her hand on hers.

Cloe giggled. "Of course I'm okay. I just went for a walk...a really scary walk."

"You really don't remember anything that happened?" Koby asked her.

"I told you, I kicked the demon in the balls."

Cameron ran his fingers through her hair. "That's my girl."

"Cameron, I think we should get married in Vegas," she said to him.

Cameron smiled but inside he was pained. What had really happened to Cloe and why was she acting like this? "We'll talk about that tomorrow when you're not as tired." He looked at everyone else. "I'll keep her with me tonight so I can look after her.

No one objected. After seeing him completely fall apart since they found out she was missing, they were willing to do anything to make sure he was okay. He picked her up and carried her off to his room.

"What do you guys think happened to her?" Dylan asked.

"It sounds awfully like the Legends of Wonderland Mountain story," Yasmin said.

"Yas that's just a story," Sasha said.

"But think about it. Cloe disappeared, and she comes back in a state of delirium."

"And next thing you know they'll put her in an asylum, right?" Ethan said not believing it was true.

"I'm not saying it's true, but it's awfully similar," Yasmin said.

"All that vampire stuff is just a legend," Reign said. "My family has lived here for as long as I can remember and there aren't any monsters or demons around here. This is just an isolated incident."

"Are you sure no one else has ever gone missing here?" Jade asked.

"Positive...well okay maybe there have been news stories of like 2 people who have gone missing but that's in the entire 18 years that I've lived here."

"Then that settles it," Sasha said. "There are no monsters or vampires or whatever here. The police will find and arrest whoever kidnapped Cloe and everything will be fine."

"Even still, I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to be wandering around outside at night here," Cade said squeezing Yasmin's hand. He'd realized that it could have been her instead of Cloe, or any one of them for that matter, and he didn't want this to happen again.

"Cade is right," Koby said. "When the sun goes down we either all stick together or stay inside."