Chapter 12

We stepped through our portal, Mr. Crepsley and me. When I woke up from my nap, I found that I've been sleeping on Mr. Crepsley's arm and as he massaged it, I apologized frantically. He comforted me that it was okay, and I could sleep by his side all I wanted. Has something gotten over to him? He seemed different….

Mr. Tiny led us down to a grand ballroom. Instead of a dim lighting, this room had dozens of lamps on the walls. Big as the room was, though, there was only a long table in the centre of the room. Mr. Tiny gestured to us to sit on his right, and we did so. After a short moment of cautiousness, Mr. Tiny ate the food himself to show us it wasn't poisoned or anything. Sitting on Mr. Crepsley's right was a BAD idea. Me being a left hander, our elbows kept knocking.

Mr. Tiny had let us through a red portal, and as he said, he noticed the both of us liked red. When we entered the portal, the sensation was as if we were being sucked into a whirlpool. I kept my hand around Mr. Crepsley's the whole time. We ended up standing on a carpet in someone's home, dizzy, but standing. I still had not let go of Mr. Crepsley's hand. As my head cleared and I looked around the room, it began to look more and more familiar…

I gasped loudly as I took in my surroundings. It couldn't be…

"What is it? What is wrong?" Mr. Crepsley was staring at me urgently, alert to my gasp.

"It's….nothing…..it's just…." Tears filled my eyes slowly.

"KayLi?" Mr. Crepsley kneeled down to face me. "KayLi, are you alright? Do you know where we are?" He asked me in a soft tone.

"We're…..at my house. Before my parent's di-di-died." I stuttered.

Mr. Crepsley understood the situation immediately, and sat down, gently pulling me down with him. When I was the same level with him, he pulled me close in a hug. I sobbed as I remembered my father and mother. I don't remember how long we sat there. Mr. Crepsley would stare blankly into space, breaking out of his trance once in a while to look down at me.

After a while. I said softly to him. "I'll be okay now. We can….continue if you'd like." Mr. Crepsley still seemed concerned if I was okay, but he merely shrugged and stood up, offering his hand to me. I stood up and we walked around the house. Eventually, we reached my room. I opened it, clearing the discussion of whether I wanted privacy about my room.

Surprisingly, it was just as it was before my parents died. Nothing was packed away. My James Bond posters were still hanging on the wall, my table was messy with lots of artworks and stationeries, it was all there.

"That is a lot of red." Mr. Crepsley said, breaking the silence as we surveyed the room. He was true, my blanket was red, my wall was a dark maroon red (Mum had said crimson red was a bit gory) and my table was stacked with red-keychains, stationeries, accessories….

When we were done, we went downstairs. "Let's go to the kitchen." I said, as I led the way. I opened up the fridge and brought out two cans of Coke. I twisted mine open and handed Mr. Crepsley a can. I joined him at the tale where he was sitting and thinking.

We stayed in the house for a few days, unsure of what Mr. Tiny had planned. At nights, Mr. Crepsley slept in my parents' room and I slept in mine. The fridge was well stocked, and I cooked a bit. Mr. Crepsley was immersed in the photo albums of my family and I when I was young. After he found a stack of albums in my dad's office and asked my permission to look at them, he's been spending his time looking through the albums.

In the evening on the third day, we got a surprise. We were both upstairs, and didn't hear the door open until my bedroom door was opened and I heard a familiar voice saying my name and pulling me into a hug.

It was my dad, a dark haired man with rectangular glasses. Technically, he was still wearing the sunglasses clip ons, but still. He was in a black polo shirt and cargos. He picked me up into a hug again. I felt tears trickle down my cheeks. "Oh, dad, I've missed you so much!" I cried in his arms. "I know, kiddo, I know. I'm sorry you couldn't come with us, but Uncle Larten treated you alright, didn't he?"

He let go of me and faced Mr. Crepsley. "So, bro, how's the last few days been?"

Mr. Crepsley was taken aback but managed to answer. "It has been fine. KayLi was good, but she missed you a lot." At this he glared at my dad, when my dad's back was turned. I wondered about it but didn't question.

Later, it turned out dad had gone on a business trip with mom and left me at home with my uncle, Uncle Larten. After a dinner of meatballs and spaghetti, Mr. Crepsley was leaning on my study table planning.
" Well, it seems I am your uncle now." He gave me a wry smile before continuing.

"We still do not know what Mr. Tiny is planning, so I guess we should play by ear."

We discussed a bit more, and later Mr. Crepsley left. As he left the room, he gave me a final piece of advice.

"And KayLi, I do not mean any offense, but….you better not get so close to your parents. What I am trying to say is," he cleared his throat uncomfortably, :"Your father might be a pawn of Mr. Tiny's. He may not be the man you think he is. You must be wondering why I was glaring at your father just now. I apologize, but I could not bear to see Mr. Tiny just bring your father in. It may not be your Achilles heel, but it is definitely a weakness. Well," he looked at me solemnly, but with pain in his eyes, "Goodnight. Sleep well." And with that he walked to the guest room opposite my room.

Knowing his words were true, I stayed up in bed for a long time. Mr. Tiny might just do this sort of thing, but I couldn't bear thinking of my father as a traitor. If this was the case, I finally decided, then I would spend as much time as possible with him, saying things I never got to say.

You might notice I didn't add a title to the chapter. Well, to be truthful, my minds been racking up random words for the title, but in the end I just decided not to put it in. No one reads titles anyway. So, I'm home. I miss my dad…. But still, did the story have a twist to it? =D