Chapter 6

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Everything was black, pitch black and silent. I felt claustrophobic, my fear making my limbs rigid. I felt like I was being crushed in this darkness. I looked around, trying to find a way out of what felt like-or was-death.

I saw a green light coming toward me through the blackness and I saw the figure of a woman. An angel?

If that woman was an angle, then I was definitely going to die. "No!" I tried to scream, but couldn't make a sound. My body felt as if it were sliding through sludge as I took a step backward.

The woman reached out to me, her expression reassuring. Something in me told me to run to her, but I knew that I shouldn't. I shook my head, my movements quickening as the moments passed. I took a few more steps back. The woman's face saddened and her beckoning hand dropped and her eyes closed as she faded away. As she disappeared, the invisible sludge inhibiting my movements went away, and I tripped backward over my own feet. I felt like I was going to be falling forever—

And then someone caught me with one arm.

My eyes shot open. Once my vision stopped being so fuzzy I looked at Vincent.

"You…caught me…"

He stared at me with his usual blank expression.

"How are you feeling?" another voice asked.

I looked to Vincent's left. A man sat in the next chair over. His dark hair spiked out in random directions, looking almost messy enough to be bed head. His glasses were practically hanging from the tip of his nose, and he pushed them back up the bridge with one long, skinny finger.

"I feel fine, I guess. Just a little tired." I looked to Vincent, confused about this strange man. "Is he a doctor?"

"I might as well be. May I ask you a somewhat personal question, miss?"

My brow furrowed, and I looked to Vincent for some sort of an indicator that I should answer whatever question the man would ask. Of course, I received none. "What's that?"

"What did you see while you were unconscious?"

I looked at Vincent again before I answered. "I saw an angel…an angel in green light. I think I was dead."

The man burst into laughter.

I scowled and struggled not to blush. "You're the one who asked. I thought doctors were supposed to take their patients seriously."

He wiped away a few tears before he responded. "I'm sorry for laughing at you, but I didn't say I was a doctor, now did I?"

I folded my arms. I hated this guy already. "Why did you ask me anyway?"

The smile on the man's face disappeared, and he took on a more professional pose. "You're not from here, are you?"

I shifted nervously, unable to look the man in the eye. "No."

"That's why this is all happening to you." He paused to push his glasses against his face again. "When you came here, you left a shell behind. That shell took a tiny piece of your soul, but it wasn't enough to keep it alive for long. Your sudden sickness was caused by the death of this shell, which has eliminated all ties you had to wherever you came from."

"Y-you mean I can't go back?"

The man shook his head. "I'm afraid not."

"You're kidding me, right?

When his head shook again, I didn't know whether to be overjoyed or in distress. On one hand, I would never have to see my devil mother again. On the other hand, I'd never see Carol and Trisha again. Ever. How was I supposed to react? "…Wow…"

"'Wow'? You've just been sucked into another world and that's all you can say?" The man chuckled. "I can honestly say that wasn't nearly as extreme as my reaction was when I realized what had happened to me."

I gave him yet another confused look, but with a touch of surprise. "You…aren't from here, either?"

"Hardly. I've only been here for a few months." The man's face wore a sad and reminiscent half smile. "I left my family behind…"

I looked at my hands, suddenly guilty because I didn't miss my own family…if that's what you could call my mother.. "I'm sorry."

The man nodded, staring at the ground for a moment before looking back at me. "If I could find a way back, I'd…" His look turned to a stare. "What did you say your name was?"

"Rosalie Webber."

The man stood too quickly, knocking his chair over. He looked…scared.

I flinched as his chair hit the floor. "What's your problem?"

He stared at me for what seemed like a lifetime before he left the cabin, slamming the door behind him.

I shrank into my pillow, staring after the man. "All I did was tell him my name..."

Vincent rose from his chair, looking, as usual, unreadable. "Rest," he said, and then he left.

I growled in frustration. Why wouldn't anybody tell me anything? It was getting annoying. After a moment of thought, I decided that if I was going to figure anything out, I'd have to investigate this mystery myself. I slipped out from under the covers of my bed and set my feet on the floor. When I stood, though, my head spun and I found myself on the floor. Maybe Vincent had been on to something when he told me to rest. I crawled back into bed and curled into a ball, hoping I wouldn't puke. A torn soul was apparently a hard thing to recover from.

I woke up hours later, just before my door opened. I squinted in the light that came in from the hallway outside as Vincent entered my room. He glanced at me once before he went through the door to his own room, which was set into the wall across from where I was. When I was sure he wasn't coming back out I tried getting out of bed again. My head didn't spin this time. Steadying myself with a hand against the wall, I walked out of my room and onto the deck of the ship. I planned to enjoy the trip—for real this time.

Once glance told me that there was only one other person on deck. The "doctor" had his head in one hand and didn't seem to notice me, so I walked over and leaned against the ship beside him, hoping I could get him to answer the question on my mind.

"Hello." Wow. Was that really all I could come up with?

This seemed to break through his reverie. His head rose from his palm and he looked at me, flinching a little as his gaze met mine. I felt a little freaked out, and the feeling was only worsened when I realized that the grimace on his face was meant to be a smile. This was not going well.

"What's wrong?" I asked, trying to ignore his expression.

His fake smile disappeared within an instant. "No, no, no, no! Nothing's wrong! What could ever give you that idea?"

Was he being serious, or sarcastic? He sounded too nervous for me to tell.

I gave him an incredulous look. "Well for one, you went completely nuts after I told you my name, and now you're acting like an idiot."

"Oh… that… right." Why was this guy acting like he had been caught committing a crime?

"Yeah, that."

The man gulped as he stared at me. "I…" He stopped to take a deep breath. "I…am so sorry, Rosie."

Rosie? "Sorry for what?"

The man pulled a hand over his face and adjusted his glasses. "You really don't recognize me, do you?"

"I have no idea what you're…" I trailed off. The way his mouth was tensely set because of nerves, the vein that bulged slightly on his temple, the tired look in his eyes. They all looked so familiar. My eyes widened as it all became clear.

I gasped. "D-dad?" I suddenly felt out of breath.

The man nodded

"But… you're here? You've been here this whole time?" I covered my mouth with my hand, tears suddenly flooding my eyes. "You stopped talking to me and Mom. You never left the house, stopped going to work. You just walked around like you had lost your mind. You died. You just fell down dead in front of me. How could you be here? Why didn't you tell me anything? Why didn't you send me any email—or a letter, even? You wish you had never seen me here, don't you; that I was home with the woman you left behind! You came here to get away from us, didn't you!" Tears made my nose run and made my voice catch in my throat. "You left me." I leaned hard against the railing, looking down at the water.

I felt his arms wrap around me, and I buried my face in his chest, sobbing.

"I love you, Rosalie." Dad stroked my hair to comfort me.

I completely gave up on being angry. Dad was here. He was with me. "I love you, too, Dad."

Once I calmed down, Dad held me out at arm's length. "You look so grown up now. Beautiful, just like I knew you'd be."

I sniffed. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, Rosie. And I will never, ever leave you again. That I promise you."

I stood there, letting Dad stroke my hair as I cried. Suddenly this world seemed like the best place to be. The slightest longing for my old world was banished, and I even smiled a little as I thought of my mother, forced to clean her own kitchen floor.

Authors' Comments

Yenny: Heh… heh… heh… We're still alive everybody! We promise!

Lacher: We are SO SORRY! We didn't mean to leave you hanging for this long.

Yenny: Yeah, it was completely unintentional.

Lacher: And now we're back online. Go us! We're going to strive to get this all done before

we have to leave for college.

Yenny: And if we don't… we'll still try to get it done. It'll be harder, but we'll get it done!

Lacher: But for now, bye bye everybody!

Yenny: See ya!