Okay, okay. I felt so guilty for getting your hopes up with that last post so I decided to finish the next chapter. By the way, major shoutout to Child of Dreams for helping me find that story! You have no idea how much I have been wanting that story back! I think about it often!

Chapter 60

A few weeks went by without any more Rose incidents, leading me to think that maybe it was in fact some hallucinogenic mushrooms. But that still didn't explain me going back to my body in the hospital room and seeing my mother. While it confused me, it also gave me strength to go on. Seeing my mom made me want to do my best, whether it was trying to figure out why LeChanco was back or why Lyle suddenly popped up in the timeline.

Either way, I was up for a challenge.

"Okay, so let's start off slow."

I had asked Antoinette if she could teach me the hardest ballet choreography she knew. When I said I was up for a challenge, I wasn't kidding. I needed something to take my mind off the things that were going on around me. Dance seemed like the perfect distraction. Not only would it be exercise, but it would help me with future choreographies for the shows I was being coerced into producing.

According to Antoinette, Swan Lake's role of Odette was just the challenge. And challenging it was. But I wasn't going to let it intimidate me.

After a couple of hours passed, I was able to dance the entirety of Odette's Dance with near perfection. But near perfection wasn't good enough.

"I want to do it again."

Antoinette regarded me skeptically. "Mandy, I think we should take a break. You've been pushing yourself too hard lately-"

"Antoinette, I need to do it again."

She sighed, then proceeded to count me off. It went off without a hitch…until the last pose.

I fell to the stage with a thud, pain emanating from the ankle that I had just twisted. That had never happened before, or at least since I had been in this timeline. Everything I did had been so flawless, so perfect. Why was I suddenly falling and hurting myself?

Antoinette gasped and rushed to my side. "Mandy! Are you alright?"

I waited a second before answering. "I think so. My ankle hurts, but I think it's just sprained."

After a couple falls, we finally managed to get me standing. I tried my best to walk normally, but a limp was unavoidable. Great…

There was no way to get to the lair without Erik knowing I had hurt myself and I needed to avoid that at all costs. He would get too worried and mother-hen me. Not that it would be a bad thing, but I didn't want him to worry about me. I did enough of that on my own.

I decided to sit in my dressing room for a while to give my ankle a rest. To most, it would seem mundane. But it was dangerous for me, the resident overthinker. I didn't have a book or my tablet or anything to keep my mind occupied. All I could do was think on LeChanco's motives, Erik's dad, who killed Buquet, and if they were all connected – exactly what I had spent all day trying NOT to do.

"I see the wheels turning."

I jumped in my seat as the mirror opened to reveal Erik in a poet's shirt and black pants. This was a more relaxed look than normal, especially if he was going out of the lair.

"It's nothing."

He snorted. "I know my Mandy better than that. What is on your mind, my love?"

"Just…everything and nothing. You know me, my mind wanders."

A moment of silence fell between us before he spoke. "Are you ready to go?"

Startled out of my reverie, I nodded and steeled myself to stand up without wincing or limping…only to fall like a sack of potatoes to the floor. Darn you, ankle!

Erik rushed to me, kneeling in front of me and bracing his arms around my waist. "Are you alright?"

I gently pushed one of his hands away from my side as I tried to push myself up. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little strain from dancing is all."

"I told you that you needed to take it easy, Mandy. What were you thinking?"

Once I righted myself with a little support from Erik and the chair I had just vacated, I sighed. "I was thinking that I needed a distraction from everything going on and not wanting to burden you with my concerns because you already have enough on your plate."

"Why would you think of yourself as a burden?" Erik asked, confusion written clearly on his face.

"I know you wouldn't think that, but my brain states otherwise. A character flaw I'm still working on."

He kept his gaze level with me as he wrapped an arm back around my waist to support my weight, helping me to the open mirror. "I fear I will never fully understand that brain of yours, love."

"I don't think I ever will, ghostie."

0-0

Back in the lair with ice on my ankle, Erik situated himself next to me on the settee. "So…do you want to tell me what was going through your ever-racing mind up there?"

I looked down at my lap to avoid his piercing gaze. "Not really…"

"Mandy."

I heaved a breath, fanning the wisps of hair around my face. "It's not like it's anything new. It's just the same old things that have been plaguing all of our minds lately. Buquet, LeChanco, Rose…your dad."

He sat there, his gaze steady on me and not saying a word. I squirmed in my seat, beginning to feel uncomfortable. I knew he wanted me to forget about everything and calm my mind, but I couldn't. It was mentally impossible. It was ALL I could think about.

"Do you want to stay here?"

My eyes shot to his in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," he started, placing his hand on my outstretched leg. "If you had the choice and we could figure out how to get you back to your time, would you want to stay here or go back to your time?"

I gaped at him like a fish, not only out of shock of what he was asking…but because I didn't know. I was torn in half: part of me wanted to go back home to my family and my life before, but I had made a life here, too. I had Erik, Christine, Antoinette, and the others. Even though I wasn't originally supposed to be here, they had accepted me as their own and helped me in every way possible. I loved them to pieces. But I wasn't sure how I could go back to my time without them, how I could make it without them. Especially without Erik. He was my heart. "Why are you asking me this?"

"It seems like you have had nothing but trouble since you arrived here. I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to go back to your family."

I grabbed his face, squishing it between my hands until he was fish-faced. "It was all worth it if it meant that I got to meet you. Which I did. So it was."

"You didn't answer my question."

His response sounded funny with his face still squished and I couldn't help but giggle, but quickly sobered as I saw the seriousness in his eyes. I dropped my hands from his face. "It's such a loaded question, Erik. I don't know if I could answer it as quickly as you asked it. I mean yes, I miss my family, but I don't think I can leave all of this behind and not be affected. This is a part of me now whether I like it or not. It isn't like a vacation anymore – it's my life! Can anyone just up and leave their life behind?"

"You did, though. Though it wasn't by choice, you did. And you may have to again."

That was a thought that I was actively trying to avoid. I really did not want to follow that thought process through, but it rang with truth. Just like how I ended up here, I could just as easily end up back home.

But I felt I had a mission here. Something needed to be done before I went back. I just hoped I had enough time to find out what it was and complete it before I ran out of time…