The Crowns Curse

Chapter 15

Emma

Emma awoke to Xander leaning on her and snoring. She saw Kayson sitting off to the side, digging into the dirt with a stick. She felt exhausted. What had happened? “Kayson?” she asked quietly, not wanting to wake Xander. 

“Emma, you're awake.” he was obviously startled.

“What happened?” she rubbed her eyes, but tried to keep the movement to a minimum. 

“I don't know, exactly. It was all so stressful and confusing.” Kayson rubbed his forehead. 

“Well, can you tell me what happened that was not so stressful and confusing?” she asked. 

“Well, I heard you scream after I went to go get firewood and saw this large monster looming over you. I panicked and went to get Xander for help. When I came back the monster was closer to you and looked like it was going to reach for you.” Kayson stared at the crackling fire. “We tried to distract it but it wouldn't leave you alone. It eventually grabbed you and tried to take you back to town. Out of sheer panic, I started throwing rocks at it, ended up harming it, and it retreated into the ground.” he explained. 

Panic washed over Emma. The creature that had kept the mad queen in her castle? Was that what he was talking about? She had to stand up, she had to get this nervous energy out, but she couldn't move, Xander was asleep on top of her. If she got up, Xander would either fall and hurt himself, or wake up. All she could do was stare at the ground. 

“Emma? Are you alright? You look pale.” Kayson had a look of concern on his face. 

“What did the creature look like?” Emma asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking. 

“Do you not remember anything from the encounter?” Kayson asked, moving closer to her. 

Emma shook her head. “I don't remember anything like that happening.” 

Kayson seemed to pale, but only slightly. “How? You were awake the entire time.” 

Emma tried to move Xander off of her. “Help me, Kayson. I can't move and my leg is starting to go numb.” Emma pushed the sleeping Xander off of her, and Kayson positioned him more comfortably against the tree. Emma got up and started rummaging through the bags to find her traveling case. 

“Did you hit your head or something when the monster dropped you?” Kayson walked over to her. 

“What did the creature look like?” Emma asked again. She pulled out a book. 

“It was this tall, shadowy, like figure. I- it had red eyes and it had a human-like shape, but was taller and leaner. Its voice was also very deep and scratchy.” Kayson explained. 

Emma flipped through the pages of her book, until she found a picture that somewhat matched his description. “Did it look like this?” she asked, holding up the book to show him. 

“Y- yes, exactly like that.” Kayson’s voice was edged with worry and fear. “Why?” 

Emma could feel the color drain from her face once more. It was the creature that kept the queen in her castle. “Read it.” she handed Kayson the book and went to grab the blankets that had fallen off of her when she got up. 

“This.. thing… has no name.” Kayson looked up at her. 

“Because no one knows what to call it.” Emma said, trying to hide her panic, she didn't do that very well, as she was pacing. 

“It says the creature or monster, whatever you want to call it, can tamper with one's memory. Then why did it only tamper with yours?” Kayson asked. He didn't look up from the book. “Shouldn't it have tampered with mine and Xander’s memory so we would forget it existed?” He sat down next to the fire, but at a safe distance. 

“Beca-” 

Shuffling interrupted Emma. They both looked in the direction the sound came from and saw that Xander had awoken. 

“Emma, you're awake.” he stood up and stretched, having been in that position for hours. 

“So are you.” Kayson said, a touch annoyed. 

“Should we get a move on? We wasted a lot of time today, because of the whole monster thing.” Xander said. He picked up the leftover blankets on the floor and folded them. 

Kayson shook his head. 

“We need to rest. Today was really nerve racking and obviously exhausting. We should find somewhere to stay for a little." Kayson threw his stick into the fire. 

"Where would we find somewhere to rest?" Emma asked. 

Xander pointed off into the distance. "Over there." He placed the blankets in their bag, then picked up the two closest bags. 

"We should wait for the fire to die down." Kayson said, still staring at the book Emma gave him.  

"We can just use the water from the canteens to put it out." Xander said, pulling out a canteen. 

"No! If you pour that water out onto the fire, we'll have to go back to the river to refill them!" Emma stepped in front of him. 

"It's not that far." Xander shrugged. 

"Yes it is! We had to walk quite a ways away to find a flat enough area to start the fire!" Kayson stood up, leaving the book on the floor next to him. 

“Alright, alright. I won't put out the fire with the water." Xander threw his arms in the air. He sat down and sat silently. 

Kayson stood up and picked up two bags, then handed Emma her book back. "Can you elaborate on this please?" He asked. 

Emma took the book and stood. "What do you mean?" She asked as she picked up the last bag, the one that carried her traveling case. 

“Explain this creature to me.” Kayson said. “Why did it only tamper with your memory and why did it want to bring you back to town?” 

Emma looked at the ground. How could she answer his questions and still hide her secret, when his questions had to do with her secret? “I’ll explain later.” she said quietly. 

“Let's go.” Xander said. He walked past Kayson and Emma and towards the direction he pointed earlier. 

Emma followed Xander, Kayson at her side. 

“Where is Xander leading us?” Emma asked. 

“He said he found somewhere we could rest when we ran after you." Kayson explained. 

"Let's hope we will be out of danger there."  Emma said, fear still crawling inside her.