Silver Lining

Chapter Twenty Six

When Luna opens the door, I walk through it behind her. The room was all black and white. It's the same room from one of my dreams . The couple from my dream is standing near a black couch. My mom sits there, smiling at us. I approach them.

In that moment, all their eyes were on me. After all this time, I'm actually standing in front of them. I pinch my arm and realize this isn't a dream. Luna opens a bottle of red wine and pours it in five glasses. All of us grabbed one off the table. My mom sips her wine.

"Do you remember them?"

"Yeah. The memories came flooding back to me," I tell her.

"They sent you away to protect you from Philip."

"Well, he's gone now."

"I know. Let's have a toast to this victory!"

She wraps an arm around my shoulder. Since my friends and I won the battle, I wouldn't have to worry about the demon trio anymore. It makes me smile. Roe and Lia raised their glasses. The rest of us raise our glasses too. We all clink our glasses together. Luna takes a long sip of wine before leaving the room.

As I sip my own wine, it calms my nerves. After all that fighting, I deserve it. I glance out the window. A thick, white mist lingers outside of it. Where are we?

"Paratopia. It's just really humid here," Lia answers.

I look at her. "Oh. I have a question, though."

"Alright. Ask."

"What happened with Philip?"

"I stopped being friends with him when he joined a demonic cult. Then, he started stalking me, so your father and I had to move here."

Even though we just met again, I feel for Lia. She didn't deserve that. If Phil didn't become a full blown stalker, maybe I would've known who I really was already. I put my glass down and hug her. She slowly wraps her arms around me. This moment feels like a precious moment.

When I let go of her, she sips her wine. Luna comes back, holding a medium sized brown wooden box. Everyone else stares at me as Luna opens it. A big white ring shines inside the box. Roe picks it up and turns to me.

"For doing all of us a favor and getting rid of Phil, you are officially an angel. This is your halo."

Now I'm smiling. "Thank you. This is such an honor."

"We should be thanking you. You made both worlds safer."

He raises his hands and puts the halo over my head. Everyone stares at me in awe. The box Luna's holding disappears in a white puff of smoke. She claps her hands and squeals in excitement. I laugh. Suddenly, her green eyes turn brown. That's a little weird, but it's not a big deal.

My phone vibrates inside my pocket. Since everyone in the room is watching me, I ignore it. I couldn't check my phone in the mini spotlight. Luna walks to the other side of the room and slides the glass door open. Lia grabs my hand and walks with me outside. We're surrounded by fog until we end up on a hill in front of a tree.

Lia looks at the lights shining through the fog. A pink apple falls from the tree, right into my hand. Just as I'm about to take a bite out of it, Lia grabs my wrist.

"Not yet. We're going to have lunch soon."

"I've never seen any fruit on this tree," I say.

"It's hard to see this fruit from a distance. Since it's blocked by clouds."

"Were these clouds here before I left?"

"No. Your father conjured up a lake near the house a year after you left."

Lia grabs three pink apples before we walk down the hill. When we go back inside the house, the living room is empty. I stroll around the the house, until I hear giggling from a bedroom. Alicia and Amber greet me with hugs the moment I come in.

Alicia's bruises and scratches are gone. The ash on Amber's hot pink jumpsuit is gone. They gasp and smile when they see my halo.

"Congrats! You're officially an angel!" Alicia exclaims, squealing.

I giggle. "I know, right? This is awesome!"

"Did you meet your parents yet?"

"Yeah. My dad put this halo on my head."

Alicia gazes up at the halo in awe. She reaches up to touch it, but Amber smacked her hand away. A knock on the door breaks Alicia's trance. I turn around when she and Amber look at the door.

Luna stands in the doorway, holding a glass of wine. She walks towards us, with her hair blowing back. Alicia is the only one who turns around to glance at the window. Amber and I both know that it's closed. That breeze literally came out of nowhere.

"Come with me, ladies. We're having lunch."

We follow her out of the room to a patio outside the dining room. Lia and my mom are stop talking when they see us. Luna sits next to Lia on a black sofa. I sit between Amber and Alicia on the other black couch across from them. Surprisingly, there is no fog out here.

I grab a dinner roll and bite into it. The rushing of water nearby calms me. I take another bite of the roll and stare at the Luna's blue crescent moon ring. The conversation between Amber and my mom becomes muffled background noise. I could get used to being here. This is a safe, serene place.