Halls of my Home
Chapter 4

"Aaliyah, Aaliyah, can you hear me?"

I woke to the feeling that my grandma was speaking to me. I sat up in bed quickly, imagining I would see her standing by my bedside. But there was nothing so I nestled down on my bed again and tried drifting off when the voice sounded again.

"Aaliyah, I think I know what you can do…"

It was as soft as a whisper-feather drawn across my thoughts. There was a slight tickling sensation as my grandmother's voice sounded in my thoughts once more. I sat up again, a bit alarmed, thinking perhaps I was the one who was crazy.

"Who's there?" I asked.

"Aaliyah, it's your grandmother Katie. I'm in the hospital."

"Yeah, I should hope so…" I muttered under my breath. "But…how are you contacting-Oh cool! You're using that chi communication thing you and Amy did when you were fighting Justine and Bertrum in the tunnels beneath Alfitaria aren't you!"

"Aaliyah, yes I am. And it's…it's killing me…"

My eyes bugged and I crumpled the bedding in my fists. "Grandma, if that's the case then stop! Don't do this, just use a telephone like a…like a normal person!"

"There isn't one near enough to me. I have to tell you this while there is yet strength in my failing body…Aaliyah, do you know how to get into Crystal Chronicles from this world?"

"Of course I do. Through locked 666 in Paul Hadley right? Your old middle school?" I asked her.

"That is correct. Well…I do not approve of you going there, but there is no way I can stop you. Especially in the state I'm in. But Aaliyah, I think if you go there, you may be able to get there…"

"Really Grandma? You think so?" I asked, getting a bit excited at the thought of seeing the glorious lands my grandmother had traversed when she was my age.

"It…is only possible. But you may try. Aaliyah, promise me you'll stay safe. That world is not the same as it was when I lived there I believe. And promise me you'll come back to me."

"But Grandma…I thought you were dieing…?" I asked, feeling a bit stupid.

"Do you really think I will die without first hearing the tale of one of my own coming to and from Crystal Chronicles? No. But I will be greatly weakened. Hurry Aaliyah…"

And with that, my grandma was gone. It was the strangest sensation. Sort of like water trickling out of your ears after swimming or something. Her presence in my mind was gone. However, it still burned in my heart. I wanted nothing more than to keep my promise to her. And I was far too excited to sleep.

I jumped out of bed and tiptoed to the dresser that sat next to the door. I pulled open the middle drawer and grabbed my favorite pair of volleyball shorts. They were black, short, and tight and perfect for what I had planned. From the massive pile of clothes on my floor I snatched a black hoodie and changed out of my cords and tank top. I didn't want to get too overheated. The area where we lived always had balmy weather so it was rather warm on most nights. I picked my wallet with my cash, credit and debit cards, and driver's license from the top of the dresser and tucked it into the pouch on my hoodie.

When I was fully dressed, I opened my door a crack to see if my parents were in their room. I could see the faint flicker of pale blue light which I assumed to be the television. I checked my phone for the time: 12:34 am.

"Heh. No way they'll be awake at this time of night!" I whispered. I slipped out of my bedroom and left the door open a bit, too afraid to shut it lest the click be heard by Mom or Dad. I crept down the stairs and turned down the hall that led to the kitchen. I'd be needing some supplies for sure.

I rustled through the pantry and snatched a flashlight with some spare batteries, a small plastic bag from the grocery store for carrying some things, and a little to-go bag of Cheez-Its. Hey. I get hungry!

There was a bathroom down here on the other end of the kitchen I knew, and decided to go there next. I froze every couple of steps to make sure nobody was coming downstairs, and got into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me. I flicked the light on and poked around in a couple of the cabinets looking for some bobby pins or a nail file or something. I just grabbed a handful of bobby pins and shut the light off again before going back into the kitchen. I peered back up the stairs when I got to the front door, and luckily there wasn't a sound. I grabbed my keys from a hook next to the front door and snuck outside.

Once in the safety of my car I opened my phone and connected to the internet. I didn't know quite where I was going so I decided to look it up before turning my car on which would inevitably wake my parents.

"Paul Hadley Middle School," I said as clearly as I could into the phone. There was a moment where it calculated the options it thought I had said where I saw a light flicker on in my parents' window upstairs. I got a bit nervous while watching shadows move behind their curtains, but my phone finally beeped and a list of options popped onto the screen. I scrolled through them quickly until I came to the address I knew to be familiar. Once the list of directions came onto the screen the curtains were pulled back in the upstairs window. I jumped and quickly started the car before speeding away.

I couldn't let my parents prevent me from what I thought would be the greatest part of my life of all time.

The road to the school was long and I had to hit 'cancel' on my phone to delete the messages and calls I was getting from my parents so I could keep checking my progress on my phone's GPS. I felt only the slightest bit of annoyance at their pestering, but knowing that they hadn't even cared enough to call Grandma Katie was enough for me to ignore them. Three and a half hours later I got to my destination. It looked exactly like my grandma had described it would look in her book. It was still dark, still had that chain-link fence that I knew had no reason to be up, and was connected to the high school next door.

I was nervous as I crept forward with the bag of goodies in my hoodie's front pouch. I had never done a B&E before and didn't know what the consequences would be if I were caught, much less since I was no longer a minor and was out of state. I didn't know what time any staff started showing up to get the school up and running either. I needed to move fast.

A wall of hedges had been grown in front of the row of windows I knew my grandmother and her best friend Amy had climbed through when they were doing just what I was doing at this same time. I could tell the school was getting on in years. Despite the nice-looking hedges, once I was carefully nestled behind one and pressed up against the brick wall and beneath my chosen window, I saw the marks of old graffiti staining the wall. It was faded almost to nothing by this point, but the wide blue marks that spread beneath my fingertips were still legible.

"Crazy bitch…" I whispered them out loud. Anger coiled in my belly at the thought of even more people defiling my grandmother with their harsh words. If only they knew! Or that their brains weren't so closed off. I looked up and down the wall and saw the marks all up and down it. I clenched my fists and reached into my pouch for the flashlight. I wrapped my hand around the light so that only a shard of light escaped and scanned the ground around me. I had realized once I was halfway here that I didn't have anything to actually pry open the window.

"Stupid!" I cursed myself for my stupidity. Already I was proving my grandmother's point true. That I wasn't going to be able to be of any help to the people of Crystal Chronicles since I couldn't even get into this stupid school.

RAC: Woo! Way to start the late updates once more. But oh well. I toldja about them this time. Ohayocon was mad fun people! Great con, great con. Anyways. Here's the new chapter :3