When Secrets Persevere

Part 7

With her consciousness slowly creeping back in, Roya's heavy eyes began to flutter open. They travelled around the darkness surrounding her, picking up on the familiarity of the small and cold cave concealed in the basement of her dad's house. Her palm was sandwiched between her cheek and the rough ground, slowly turning numb. She pushed herself up with wobbly arms, her mind still foggy from the deep slumber, and her eyes blankly took in her surroundings as she urged her mind to recall the events that played out earlier.

When her gaze fell on the wall ahead, she remembered the sight of the portal as it opened up, releasing a soft fizzing energy that tickled the hairs on her skin. Her hand lifted and her fingers began to trail across the clammy stones, trying to comprehend how such an event was possible. The feeling made her shiver, and as she recoiled from the wall, she became aware of her soaking wet clothes while they stuck to every inch of her skin.

And then her thigh began to relentlessly vibrate. She tapped her legs absentmindedly, trying to bring a stop to the disturbing feeling, until her hand felt the outline of her phone in the front pocket of her pants. She pulled it out, seeing her mother's name flashing across the screen.

Lifting her eyes to the top of the screen, she found the time to be a little past two. Her eyes widened and her mind suddenly become fully alert. With lightning speed, she was up from her seat, nearly smacking her head against the stone walls of the cave. She rushed out of the opening using both her feet and arms, pushing herself up after tripping on her legs twice and nearly face-planting on the rough ground.

Roya gasped a lungful of fresh air as soon as she stepped into her dad's office, eyes frantically moving across the space. She needed to make it out and back to her mother as soon as possible; her brain was already racking up a list of believable excuses for the upcoming questions about her whereabouts.

When Roya crawled out of the secret office and was back in the dusty basement, she stood at the top of the stairs and strained her ears against the closed door, listening for her mother's footsteps. The basement was the last place she wanted her mother to explore; what Roya had just discovered felt like the only thing she had between her and her dad, and she wasn't ready to share it with her mother yet.

Only when she was entirely sure that her mother wasn't taking rounds outside the basement door, did she quietly lower the door handle and let herself out. Roya smoothed down her hair, quickly brushing her fingers through the knotted strands, and she pulled at her wet top to air it out a little, making it stick less to her body. She had no doubt that her disheveled state would raise questions, so she had to conjure up a believable lie.

As soon as Roya stepped into the kitchen, her mother's phone slammed against the countertop as she dropped it roughly and rushed towards her. Eyes frantic and wild, Farrah studied her daughter's state with intense worry etched to her features.

"Where have you been?!" She exclaimed, "what happened to you? I have been searching for you for the past hour! I was just about to call the police-"

Roya rolled her eyes dramatically at her mother's words. "Calm down, mom. Why would you call the police?" She scrunched up her nose, thinking the action would be a little over the top, and quite embarrassing.

Farrah narrowed her eyes at her daughter's nonchalant behavior, now fuming in anger. "Do you have any idea what I've been through looking for you?!" Roya had to resist the urge to roll her eyes again, and she stared blankly at her mother's reddened cheeks. "Where have you been?"

"I went to explore outside and I forgot to take my phone with me." She added in a shrug, praying the answer was believable enough.

Farrah inhaled deeply, pinching the skin between her eyes. "You can't do that without informing me, Roya. I need to know that you're safe."

"Of course I'm safe, why wouldn't I be?" Roya scoffed. "You're making this a much bigger deal than it needs to be." She turned towards the kitchen door, preparing to leave, when her mother's sudden outburst stopped her in her tracks.

"No, I'm not!" Roya glanced at her mother with upturned brows, surprised at her exclamation. "There is a lot that you don't know-"

"Well maybe if you'd tell me, I would!" Roya exclaimed back, anger bubbling in her veins.

She was growing tired of her mother keeping things from her, always believing her to be too young to understand. It seemed like Roya always had to go to great lengths to seek answers by herself, when her mother could have made it a whole lot easier by just being open with her.

"I'm tired. I'm taking a nap." Roya muttered under her breath as she headed towards the kitchen door.

Farrah watched her daughter's retreating form, anxiously nipping on her bottom lip. Some part of her was empathetic of the outburst; she knew that she could be more honest with her daughter, she knew Roya deserved to know the truth as much as any, yet the more dominant part of her heart with the protective motherly instinct refused to open the eyes of her teenage daughter to the dark side of the world.

Roya's furious stomps echoed all around the house as she stormed upstairs, headed towards her new bedroom. She hated that she wasn't back home, that after another fight with her mother she couldn't return to the safe haven of her bedroom, some place with familiar walls. This new place was too foreign to her, and all she wanted to do was escape, at least for a few hours until her emotions were back in control.

She slammed the bedroom door shut, locking it for extra measure, and then flopped down unto the bed. She stared up at the plain white ceiling with her heart racing a million beats per minute, and she held her breath, waiting for the rageful emotions to dissipate. 

She couldn't fully understand why her mother angered her the way she did, why every little action and word triggered her. It was irrational, she knew, yet she couldn't help her emotions every time they spiraled out of control.

Grabbing her dad's journal from under her mattress, Roya began to re-read the journal entries documenting his experiences in the paradise-like land. She couldn't believe she had experienced, first-hand, what her dad had dotted down on those pages. She had entered a secret realm, one that not many have access to, or even the knowledge of. She had acquainted creatures that she once believed were only a figment of some creative artist's imagination. She had seen a scenery and felt the fresh air of something straight out of a fantasy novel. Her heart was beaming with joy.

To think that her dad made all of that possible was the best part in her opinion, because it felt like he gave her the biggest gift she could've ever wished for; a place to belong.

She wanted to read more about her dad's encounters in the land, enjoying the smooth scribbles of his handwriting, but she had already gone over everything within the journal in her hands at least twice. Roya considered returning to the study room and skimming through the documents on his desk, recalling how she read familiar words on some of the scattered papers. There were some documents with chemical formulas, similar to the ones she'd gone over in the journal.

Roya knew the study room held more answers, and she wanted to return to it more than anything. To discover what else the mystical realm had to offer, what her dad's own experience was like and what else he explored.

But with her mother still paranoid and adjusting to the new routine, in their new house, Roya knew she had to watch her actions if she wanted to keep her discoveries a secret. If her mother caught her spending most of her time in the basement, then she would surely go exploring the place, too, to uncover whatever had interested her daughter so much.

So the best course of action would be to return to the basement whenever her mother was away, either at work or doing her usual shopping rounds.

Roya sighed deeply, not loving the idea of having to restrict herself from exploring to her heart's desire; but she knew that this was the only safe option.

Too exhausted to do anything after a long day of adventure, and an unprompted argument with her mother, Roya couldn't find it within herself to even change out of her clothes. She hated the feel of the clammy clothes sticking to her figure, and she knew her hair was a mess and needed a deep cleansing, but at the moment, her foggy brain only needed the comfort of her pillow.

Inhaling deeply, she closed her eyes as she lay on her bed, feeling the exhaustion take over her body once again, and allowing herself to fall into a deep sleep.