Ordinary

Chapter 2

When I woke up, my whole body ached. I had no idea where I was. The walls around me were made of stone. I was lying on a soft surface that looked like a bed from a few centuries ago. The sun was peering through a large hole in the wall. I didn't know where I was, but I knew I had never been there before.

Groaning, I forced myself into an upright position. My legs were bruised, and I had splinters in my arms. And then I remembered.

I remembered my run, and the tree popping up in the middle of the trail. I probably just tripped and hit a tree. And there was no way it talked to me. I must've hit my head really hard to imagine that. But its words were still ringing in my head.

You're the only one who can save us.

But that couldn't have happened. It was like something from a book. Pure fiction.

My surroundings were unfamiliar. I had to get out of there and get home. I was still in my running clothes. I pushed the blankets off and quietly got out of the bed. I carefully tip toed over to the wooden door on the other side of the room and put my ear to it. I heard voices on the other side.

"But mama," a boy's voice carried through the door. "It's her! She was running through the woods at the right time. She's the right age. It's the girl from the prophecy!"

There was rattling on the other side of the door. "Don't be foolish, Marcus," a women chastised. "The prophecy isn't real."

"Yes it is—"

She cut the boy off. "The prophecy was given to us by some crazy nut on the side of the road. He just wanted some money, pay no attention to his liquor inspired prophecy!" A second later she repeated "It isn't real." She sounded defeated.

The boy huffed. "It is, mama!" He paused. "It has to be," he added, quietly.

Prophecy? What were they talking about? These people must be insane. But I had imagined a tree talking to me, so perhaps my standard of sanity wasn't reliable.

But could they be talking about me? The girl from the prophecy? There was no way. I had to be dreaming. Liz would laugh at me and tell me to stop reading so many books.

I had to get out of the strange house. The only door was the one leading to the room where the people were talking. I couldn't fight my way out if I needed to. I didn't know the first thing about fighting. I looked to the window. It was a few feet higher than me, but if I jumped, I could probably reach it. As quietly as I could, I gave myself a running start and jumped. My fingers curled around the ledge, and I tried to pull myself up, but it was no use. I mentally cursed myself for not working out more at home.

Fear was what gave me the strength to pull myself up. With a grunt, I slid out the window, and landed on the ground below me. I laid on the ground in pain. After a few seconds, I stood up.

When I looked around, my jaw dropped. I had just escaped from what looked like a cottage straight out of a book. The forest around me was unlike any I had seen before. At first it looked ordinary, but after a second glance I could tell that the colors were bolder, the trees were taller, and the sun shone a little brighter here. It was beautiful.

I could have stared all day, but the boy yelling broke me out of my trance. "She's gone!" he exclaimed.

I took off running, ignoring the pain from my falls. I ran across the field of flowers towards the forest. I thought I was fast, but before I could reach the edge of the trees, something grabbed my arm, pulling me back.

I screamed and tugged, but the grip around my arm didn't give. Expecting another tree to kidnap me, I was surprised when I turned around and saw a boy. I slowly stopped struggling as I looked at him. He was beautiful. Dark curly hair that fell over his dazzling green eyes. He had high cheekbones, tanned from probably being in the sun. He was taller than me, but barely. If he hadn't been glaring at me, he probably would have been even more attractive.

"Where are you going?" he asked, curious but obviously annoyed.

That snapped me out of my trance. I ripped my arm from his grasp and took a step back, returning his glare. "Away from here, obviously," I snapped. I turned and started stomping away from him. I didn't know where I was going, but it felt like the right thing to do. I didn't make it far before he stepped in front of me and blocked my path.

He stood firmly in front of me, arms crossed. "I can't let that happen," he declared. But after a second his stance relaxed and he shrugged. "Besides," he added smugly, "you don't even know where you're going."

I sighed. He was right. "Enlighten me then, please. Where am I?" I tried to be fierce, but my voice cracked. I was terrified. I knew I wasn't in my hometown anymore, and based on the freshness of the air, I bet I wasn't even in the country anymore. Based on his clothes, I didn't even think I was in the right century anymore.

"You're home," he answered. When he saw my confused look, he added, "Well you're in your hometown. Just not in your world."

Not in my world? At this point I was positive that this guy was messing with me. Either that or I knocked myself into a coma when I hit the tree on my run.

Unintelligently, I responded, "What?"

He seemed amused by my confusion. "So basically, there is one physical planet Earth that we dwell on, but there are more than one world overlapping each other, each world different from the last. It's nearly impossible to travel between worlds," he explained.

My brows furrowed. "So how did you get me here?"

He smiled. "Magic."

I rolled my eyes. Clearly this guy was pranking me. Maybe a gift from Elizabeth. She knew I loved larping when it came to magical worlds, but this was a little extreme. Getting kidnapped was a little too much, even if it was by a really attractive guy. My head was still fuzzy, so I don't think I was processing what he said.

"Magic?" I repeated, and he nodded. "Wow," I muttered.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "You believe me?"

I shrugged. Either magic was real, which would be amazing, or I'll have a really fun day larping with this boy. Both options were great. "Sure."

He smiled. "That was easier than expected! Let's go inside and talk about what's next."

I didn't know what he was talking about, but I was tired so I obliged. I took a step to follow him and immediately winced. My ankle was in worse shape than I thought. "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," I grunted, trying to take another step. Instead of answering, he picked me up in his arms and started walking towards the cottage. I realized that I might have been stupid for not running from him, but I had no idea how to get home, and my ankle did really hurt.

I couldn't help but to notice his physique against my body. He was slender, but strong. Kind of lanky, but it matched his pointed cheekbones and boyish glimmer in his eyes. He effortlessly carried me through the front door and sat me on a stool at his table. An old but striking lady sat across from me, looking me up and down.

"This is the one then?" she asked him, obviously unimpressed.

"Yes, mama," he replied, but I wasn't paying attention. He knelt down in front of me, and lightly touched my leg. Gently, he slipped off my running shoe and my sock. I was suddenly self-conscious of how bad my feet probably smelled. He lightly traced his fingers around my lower leg.

A shiver ran through me. "What are you doing?" my voice cracked.

"Healing your leg," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He shut his eyes. I was about to question him again, when I felt it.

Magic.

I couldn't believe I had ever questioned it. It felt as though it had always been there, for as long as I could remember. I felt like the most real thing in the world. It was euphoria. I felt it travelling from his hands to my leg, and again as it danced through my entire body. It was the embodiment of warmth and happiness. All the pain in my body went away—no, it didn't go away. For a minute, I couldn't even remember pain was. Magic was real, and after my years of dreaming about it. I had finally found it.