Queen for a Day

Ch.16: Wake Me Up

...

Do I really need to tell this part of the story?...There's not really much I can tell from this point on that most of you don't already know...but...

Roxanne still insisted that I write everything down...my side of the story still needs to be told...so...I guess I've gotta...

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We all have bad dreams. A nightmare's purpose is to scare and confuse us. We may not know what is happening or why, but eventually, we wake up in our cozy warm beds, safe and sound.

The nightmare will end, and our lives will continue. You might even forget it ever happened. After all, it was just a bad...dream...

It wasn't real...

...

But, when I opened my eyes, I wasn't on the beach near Techno Reef. It was so dark. I couldn't see anything.

"Roxy?!" I heard a voice yell. It sounded somewhat familiar...

I tried to move, but I was trapped on all sides. My head hurt like hell and my bones ached...

"Hello?" I called out. I winced as I felt a stinging sensation erupt from my throat. It felt like I hadn't used my own voice in years.

When I heard no response, my breathing quickened and my heart started racing. It was far too quiet... "Is anybody there?!" I shouted frantically. I tried moving again, only this time, I managed to free my arm from whatever was holding it down earlier.

I began picking at the wall of darkness in front of me until a tiny beam of light began shining through. I pushed my hand through the hole I had created and started waving it around, hoping that someone would see it and pull me out.

"I can't see anything!" I cried. "Somebody turn on the lights!"

Suddenly, I felt someone grab my hand and start pulling me out of my dark prison, and within a few moments, I was free. I closed my eyes and groaned while holding my head up with one hand.

"Ugh, my head..." I opened my eyes, half expecting to see the ocean in front of me...but what I saw instead, was a sea of trolls, looking back at me with their grey eyes and grey complexions. They looked concerned...and confused.

"What happened...?" I asked. I looked around, visibly confused. "Where...am I?"

I don't even know why I asked that question. I knew where I was! I was home! I mean, it looked like Volcano Rock Stadium, but there was something about it that made it feel...different. Why did everything look like it was muted? Why were there so many trolls here? Where did all the colors go? And why was it so eerily quiet?...

That's when I heard a voice from behind me ask: "Mom?"

When I turned around, I saw a troll with a dull grey mohawk slowly beginning to approach me. She had a torn ear, piercings, and heavy black makeup. She was also wearing some...really strange outfit.

At first glance, I had no idea who she was. She looked so familiar, yet so strange at the same time. I was very close to asking her who she was, because I was very sure I had never met her before...

But then, I looked at her eyes. My heart quickened its pace yet again. Although they were completely devoid of color, I'd recognize those big eyes anywhere...

I took a step back. No...she couldn't possibly be...

"Barbara?!" I whisper-yelled. "Is that you?"

"Yes, of course it's me," the troll replied. "Who else would it be?"

I was both stunned and shocked. My mind was racing. How could this young woman be my little girl? My Barb was only four years old!

That's when that thought flashed in my mind. Either my mind was playing tricks on me, or I was just dreaming...but whatever it was, I hoped I would wake up soon, cause I had a bad feeling about all of this...

I turned towards the troll who had rescued me, and immediately recognized him.

"You're...Titus, right?" I asked.

"Yes, that's me," he replied.

I smiled a bit. Finally, someone I knew...well, barely. "How long was I out?" I asked him curiously. "The last thing I remember was..."

My voice trailed off. The last thing I remembered...or the last thing I saw...was my sister walking away from me. I gasped softly. "Roxy!"

I whipped my head around, looking in every direction for my sister. But, I couldn't find her. I kept calling out her name, and Titus eventually joined me, but we heard nothing. No response.

Suddenly, I heard him shout, "Over there!" He was pointing towards a soft, pink light that was pulsating at the bottom of a pile of rubble.

I ran past him and started digging through the pile as quickly as I could. "Sister! Can you hear me?!" I yelled. I needed to make sure she was alright...she had to be! I was looking for her hand so I could pull her out, but what I found instead, made me freeze in my tracks.

I slowly reached my hand down and picked up a pixel heart. It was still a little warm and its pink glow lit up everything around it. I was even more confused now.

Where have I seen this before?

"What is this?" I asked. "Where is my sister? You said she was-"

I turned my head towards Titus only to find him...crying? I started to get a little nervous...

"That...that is her..." he responded quietly.

I shivered. This...had to be a trick...a prank...a nightmare...If this was my sister...then...

"Where's...the rest of her?" I asked cautiously.

"Isn't it obvious?"

I could hear myself repeating the same phrase over and over in my head. "Please don't say what I think you're gonna say! Please! I beg of you!" I thought.

But he went ahead and said it anyways...

"She's dead."

A sharp, icy chill shot up my spine as he fell to the ground and just stared at the heart in my hands.

"No..." I mumbled. "Y-You're lying..."

But he wasn't. I didn't want to admit it, but somehow I knew he was telling nothing but the truth. I felt so cold...

My mother was dead...my father was dead, and now...my sister was dead, too...

"Tell me, Katheryn..." I heard my conscience ask me from the back of my mind. "How much do you wanna bet that this all happened...because of you?"

"I...I..." I choked out. Nobody could hear me though. I tightened my grasp on my sister's heart, not wanting to let go.

Did I do this? Was this all my fault?...No, it couldn't have been...I can't remember...but...what if...it was?...

"I'm sorry, Roxanne..." I whimpered. "Whatever I did...please...forgive me..."

This wasn't just a bad dream...this was my worst nightmare coming true...

And unfortunately, I had already woken up.