Halls of my Home
Chapter Three
For a moment, my grandmother stared at the page I pointed to and read the description of the man whom she had fought and lost her life to. The color drained out of her when she did so and she straightened up, clasping her shaking hands in her lap.
"Aaliyah, I don't know what you're talking about." She said.
"You don't have to lie to me Grandma. I believe you. I love your story. And last night I had this dream. This Yuke man mentioned you I believe. I think it may have been some sort of prophecy, concerning me…" I proceeded to explain the strange dream I had had to her. All the while, she seemed calm enough, so I told her as well of the visions I had had of passages contained within the book as well. Of people I had never met in my entire life. Morgan and Nich's wedding seemed to have sparked a good memory in her, for she teared up at the mention of it.
"I had never dreamt that the day would come when I would hear those words. That someone actually believed me. And that it be my own granddaughter to boot!" My grandma scoffed and laughed a bit to herself and massaged the mole on her cheek. "Your dream of the Yuke king and 'a fallen kingdom' bodes ill for the other world I believe. Time passes much faster there than here, so I guess many years have passed there and caused disarray to fall upon the people…"
"But wouldn't Geoff and Amy's children be ruling the kingdom well enough so that it would prosper?" I asked.
"That is what I would assume. But time can destroy all things, Aaliyah. I don't believe that to be the case now. You mention a new danger that stalks the land, and that worries me. If any of my friends or their kin yet lives, I would have them safe from harm. But I am of no use now. I am so old and useless!" A tinge of anger came into my grandma's voice then. She cursed her age, and for not having been able to return to the kingdom of River Belle Path.
"But the man's prophecy mentions your granddaughter, Grandma. What if that's me? What if I can go back and help who remains?" I asked.
My grandma sat in contemplative silence for a while. She rubbed her mole, and then turned to me. There was a fierce glare in her eye now.
"Aaliyah, I would have no one go back there. There is much too much danger involved. You needn't risk your life. I was taken there against my will, and look at who all I made suffer. I would not risk my grandchild's life. You are the only one who believes me. I forbid you from going there!"
I was shocked. My frail grandmother now had a finger raised and pointed in my face as she proclaimed that I was forbidden from entering the world of Crystal Chronicles. But…I was chosen! What if I was the peoples' only hope of survival? They were counting on me! And besides, maybe if I was lucky, I would actually get to see the world I cherished in book form and survive.
"Grandma, please. I…I want to do this. I want to enter the world I love so much. The one you put into written word. I would give anything to see it. And to save it. I want to be your successor. Let me protect it!" I cried. My grandma took a step back and tears welled in her eyes.
"I wouldn't have you risk your life for such foolish reasons. There is nothing for you to gain. And nothing you need sacrifice. You don't need to go through what I did…"
I followed my grandmother as she turned and walked back the way we'd come, towards the door. I reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Grandma. I don't think there's anything you can actually do to stop me. I mean…that Yuke guy seemed to have a fairly good idea of who I was. He mention 'Katie's granddaughter' or something like that, so I think I'm involved, whether you would want me to be or not." I told her gently. She turned and looked up at me. And for a while, while I looked into the sad, tortured eyes of someone who was just a frail old woman, a fire engulfed my being. I had a burning desire to protect all that my grandmother had fought to defend.
"I don't want to lose you, my grandchild…" my grandma whispered. And she reached out her wrinkled hands and folded them into the loose folds of my tank. They were shaking. I could hear my grandma try and hold back the tears and short sobs that escaped her lips. I drew my grandma into a hug and held her, murmuring comforting words that I would be ok. I promised her that I would return to her, but that I was going to try my damndest to get into Crystal Chronicles despite her defiance against it.
After a moment, we pulled apart and my grandma bustled off to the bathroom in search of tissues. She laughed a little, saying that this was no way for a 'warrior' to behave in front of a child.
"Oh! Grandma, I forgot to mention something. That man mentioned something about being a great-great-great grandfather. Does that mean…" I was speaking my thoughts while leaning against the door of the bathroom while my grandmother dabbed at her eyes with tissues. When I mentioned this, she dropped the box though. And resumed her terrified shaking. She grabbed my shoulders suddenly and shook them, her voice raising a couple octaves instantly.
"Aaliyah. Tell me anything besides that. Anything! That that cretin should have had an opportunity to reproduce is most devastating! He can't have! It can't be true!"
"Grandma! Grandma, calm down!" I cried, trying to pry her fingers off my biceps. "He mentioned helping 'her' so I think he may have actually…"
"Oh lord have mercy on us all. This can't be happening. Please!"
My grandma's frenzied attack wasn't ceasing. She still had a vice-like grip on my arms and her nails were digging into my skin. She was wailing and crying nonsense as she let loose her pain and terror. For some reason, this bit of news seemed to have set her off and I was worried. Nothing was worse however, than when she suddenly collapsed and fell like a rag-doll to the floor. She didn't move.
"Grandma! Grandma!" I cried, alarmed even more at her sudden collapse than her panic attack a moment ago. I couldn't tell if she was breathing, but dread was pooling in my heart. I ran for the red phone that hung on the wall next to the front door knowing that picking it up and hitting 0 would connect me to the emergency clinic that would give aid to those in need of it in this community if they called from this line. I did so, and a young woman picked up on the other end.
"Hello? Mrs. Ambria?" she asked.
"Hello? My grandmother just collapsed! She had some sort of panic attack while I was visiting her. Come quick! I don't think she's breathing!" I cried, clutching the phone in one hand and glancing repeatedly at my grandma.
"Ok, miss. May I take your name?" The woman asked me.
"It's Aaliyah. I'm Katie's granddaughter. Hurry, please!" And without another word, I hung up, knowing that help would be sent soon. I ran to my grandma's side and reached for her hand, not knowing exactly what was wrong with her or if I should move her. "Grandma? Grandma, answer me!" I cried, jostling her hand a bit.
There was no response which only escalated my panic. I reached for a pulse at the artery in her neck and one at her wrist. What I could feel was extremely faint, but beating so fast it alarmed me even more. I assumed she had had a heart attack. I regretted telling her the news that the Yuke king may have had a child. If I had just kept my mouth shut, perhaps my grandmother would still be alive…
I went home that evening feeling like a horrible, wretched person. It had been my telling Grandma Katie about the Yuke king's child that had caused her to have a heart attack or whatever it had been. If I had only kept my mouth shut.
When I walked in the front door of my own house I admit that I kind of expected my mom to come running from her craft room that expanded the whole left side of the house, or my dad to come out of the basement where he tinkered with electronics most of the time, but everything was silent. It didn't appear that either of them cared that Grandma had been admitted to the hospital and may not live through the night. I was angry at them. For acting like such jerks to my grandmother. She had never done anything to deserve such treatment. I stormed up the stairs to my bedroom and slammed and locked the door behind me. I collapsed onto my bed and drew the blankets beneath me as my body shook with sobs.
I didn't know how my grandma would face until visiting hours tomorrow. I planned on being the very first person outside the hospital when visitors were permitted to see the sick. I only hoped that she would be well enough to have visitors. I swallowed another choke sob and fell asleep on my tear-stained pillows.
RAC: What does everyone think so far? Am I following up well enough from the last story? If you're reading Halls of my Home before Echoes of Valar you'll just get horribly confused though, so I suggest you go read that story first.