As her eyes adjusted, Allecca could see that it was a different room than before. Not sure whether she recognised it correctly, Allecca found the light switch and gasped in shocked surprise. It was her old room! Allecca breathed in the scent of home, a woody musk mixed with her mother's perfume. Her mother! Allecca opened the door in a rush, hoping to see the familiar hallway outside. Instead, there was nothing. Emptiness, with no beginning and no end. Allecca shut the door again, hope draining away. She turned around to her bed, but now in its place was her father.
"Hello, Allecca. I've missed you. I've waited for you for so long. Come back with me? You'll be safe this time. Your mother will be disappointed if you refuse." His voice was thick with honey-like sweetness, but even though Allecca knew his promises meant nothing, she wanted so much to believe them, for everything to be how it had been. She took one step towards him, then another, ever so slowly, but she knew she must resist his pleas. He had hurt her, destroyed her mother, and now she would not allow him to do so again. She stepped back with conviction. "No." Allecca had never before had the courage to stand up to him, to refuse his horrible demands. But now she could assert herself, and it felt wonderful. She said it again, stronger this time, filled with joy. "NO!" And she turned from him and flung herself into the nothingness outside her door, free at last from her long-held fears.
Allecca opened her eyes to a beautiful sound. It rang through her very being, and soon it was joined by the booming voice again. "Well done, Allecca. You have been freed. I am so very proud." And it died away, for good this time. Allecca smiled to herself. Whatever happened to her from now on, she was free. Looking again around her, she saw something wonderful, something she had never expected. The woman by the river turned, her long golden hair flowing freely for the first time in a long time. "Mama!"