Walking inside a strange home isn't new to me, but following behind Jane and into somewhere I've never been is still nerve-wracking. I'm already sort of uncomfortable in a group of four other people, I can't imagine what it's going to be like with six more.
I peek around the home slowly, seeing the dark entryway that leads to a kitchen ahead and a stairway to the right. Some heavy breathing catches me off guard and so while everyone else is taking off their shoes, I'm peeking to my left into the dim living room.
"That's just our uncle," Jane whispers from behind me, making me almost jump out of my skin.
I spin back around at her, feeling suddenly sleepy. I really am a bit out of it, aren't I?
The sound of plastic wheels against the wood floor makes me know the man has awoken and stood up. His footsteps behind me make me want to run away, as if I'm not supposed to be here at all.
"Jane, have you brought a whole crew?" His hushed voice makes me know he can't tell who anyone is.
I turn myself around again, letting the lamps yellowed light from the living room cast upon my face. My eyes instantly feel a bit too dry when they finally focus into view on a tall man with large brown eyes shining down upon me. I freeze in my tracks, suddenly becoming overwhelmingly frightened. I take a step back, bumping into a strong chest behind me.
"What's wrong Ellie?" Jane asks from over my shoulder as the man in front of us is entirely speechless at my sight.
The door somewhere behind clicks shut and I'm unsure why I've become so tense. With everyone surrounding me I feel so claustrophobic. I want to run but the next thing I know the man pulls me into his chest. At first, I'm hesitant and am about to pull away until I find my body relaxing, and a sensation washing over me like he was my own father. This time I embrace the physical contact for once in my life, finding the hug to be the most loving I have ever experienced.
When he pulls away he looks down at me, "How did Jane find you again?"
He's not in tears like my grandmother was but instead is holding back a smile. He has warm chubby cheeks like my grandfather but more rosy and cheerful ones. He towers over us like my grandfather as well but looks more stocky than him.
"Koda?" His face falls into a more serious manner. "What the hell! Where have you been?"
For once my brother behind me acts less mysterious, "Searching for my missing sisters, but you don't wanna know what I've been through."
Next, my brother is passing me and embracing him with a tight hug while he says, "It's good to see you, Koda."
Afterward, the man easily looks over my shoulder at the two girls behind me. I can tell they're nervous by their pounding heartbeats and sharp breaths.
"Who have you brought?" The man asks while directing us to step into the light.
One of them from behind me gulps.
Koda instantly speaks, "From what I've gathered they were heald where Ellie was. I found Lynn wandering the woods..." He looks back at her and she, who is now beside me gives him a shy smile of gratitude.
Jane adds, "Ellie and Estelle escaped into the woods and the spirit lead them to the portal where I was."
The towering man looks down upon us introducing himself as Marek Box, my uncle. As we walk into the living room I notice his eyes becoming droopy, as well as myself feeling like I could fall asleep right this moment.
The next physical characteristic I find about him is his brown hair, which resembles my brother's, though Marek's has light grey streaks in it matching his stubble on his rosy cheeks.
He eventually says sleepily, "I hope you guys don't mind sleeping out on the couches. Tomorrow we will set up some space for everyone since mom and dad are in the guest bedroom."
He takes a step towards the staircase to our right, revealing the doorway to the kitchen straight ahead. Without a second thought, the sleepiness diminishes from my mind. The kitchen is someplace I'd gladly visit considering how famished my body has become. Besides passing by that bakery, this is the second time my horribly hurting stomach has crossed my mind.
****
Awaking in the morning, without any altercations or strange events is abnormal for me. It feels too unnatural to wake up refreshed and free from the confined solitary lifestyle I believed was supposed to be my normal. Even though the morning is fresh and I am carefree, I'm still bound by countless anxieties that aren't able to be determined yet.
The sounds of people talking at first make me weary until I hear the conversation of a stranger telling a story and Koda speaking back. I'm hoping nothing hostile comes between my brother and everyone else. There must be a good reason why he didn't come back until now right? I recall Jane explaining that Luke has been enraged about Koda for a long time. Is Luke in there with them?
I peer around the unfamiliar room, making sure that nothing is askew just in case. Everyone else who fell asleep near me has now all gone, but when listening closer I can tell the kitchen is occupied with seven people. That's a bit more than my siblings and the girls we brought with us.
Besides having personal worries about the men and my most recent past experiences, being social and understanding people is my largest obstacle here. I don't want to get up off the couch to greet everyone in the kitchen, but still, I gather up enough courage to stand and tiptoe through the front entryway and glance into the room.
Sitting around the table is Estelle, Lynn, Koda, Jane, my grandmother and Marek my uncle. They don't notice me and so I don't even open my mouth. With more scanning across the room I find a smaller boy sitting at the end of the table. He eats a bowl of fruit that I don't recognize and instantly I'm curious but still don't move a muscle.
The boy is someone I've surely never met before and so I assume he is Luke's younger brother...what's his name? As I think I catch his eyes landing on me and know I've suddenly brought myself into something that's going to make me uncomfortable. The boy stands and pushes his chair back in complete excitement, it almost falls as he runs around the table to meet me in the doorway of the kitchen.
"Ellie!" He exclaims as everyone else's attention goes to me and I feel pressure from my mind to run away.
Without any warning, the boy's arms wrap around my thin waist. He squeezes me like I'm just a stuffed toy, yet I have bones and feel them almost popping until I groan and let out the breath I'm holding.
Marek orders him to release me from his death grip and when he does I blink down at him meeting his big blue eyes. They're lit up like this is the most exciting moment of his life. He must've thought I was dead too but his reaction is much different than everyone else's.
His glasses rest upon the bridge of his short nose as he exclaims, "Ellie! I missed you so much!" He speaks a bit faster than everyone else but his enthusiastic voice makes me suddenly not scared of him any longer. He's just a child after all. "It's my cousin. We have to tell Luke!"
I blink around not finding Luke in sight. Suddenly it's like Koda has read my mind, "Luke will be home early this afternoon, he was away visiting friends."
"We haven't seen Ellie in a long time Dad, right?" The boy's nose scrunches.
Marek agrees and saying his name- Jaris. I see that he clutches an assortment of yellow and grey Legos in his right hand.
"She will be here for a while," Marek adds.
Jaris jumps in the air, making a booming sound as he lands on the wood floor, "Yey!" He then looks back at me, "And Ellie, we can eat lunch together!"
Honestly, I slept so well I don't even know what time it is. The room is so bright that it could be mid-day. I didn't think I'd sleep in until lunchtime yet here I am staring at various types of fruits that I have never laid eyes upon, odd cups of drinks, and other completly strange foreign foods.
Gram suddenly buts in, "Once Luke gets here we are all going to have a family conversation so we are all on the same page."
Instantly I feel queasy, even after uncle Marek has given me some lunch foods. I pick at it, having no appetite after worrying about what we have to do next. I completely dread having a serious discussion with anyone, especially with Gram because I assume she's going to talk about me going back. It was something I'd forgotten about until seeing her once again, but now the thought refuses to dissipate from my mind.
"Ellie..." Jane stands from her chair, "...can I talk to you?"
The manner she speaks of makes me feel even more ill, or is it my body not used to eating food? I follow her out of the room and into the entryway. She stands at the staircase and gestures for me to follow her up. At the top we come to a halt in a hallway that consists of many open doors.
"I wanted to let you know that this family meeting may be tough and we might talk about things that will shock you. There's a lot of differences from Elyria to Earth and so you are welcome to ask us any questions. Just know it might be very hard."
I nod at her and she takes me into a bedroom at the end of the hall while she quickly changes the subject, "This is where you'll be sleeping."
The room is quite spacious and has two small beds. At the moment they have no sheets and are covered with boxes of things, cloths, and many types of fabrics. Even the bedside tables are covered with what looks like a sewing machine and many spools of thread. From what it looks like this bedroom was turned into a makeshift sewing area.
Before I can explore anything else, Jane is directing me to the bathroom next to the bedroom, "I'm expecting you want a nice hot shower."
Honestly, I haven't had most basic necessities to my own disposal for as long as I can remember that I forget I can take care of myself on my own time. Memories flash through my head of me on my showering day trying my best to comb through my hair before the men came to take me back to my room.
Showering only happened once a week and I was only able to have a two minute shower. One bar of soap for myself and a comb. Brushing my teeth was only once a day on my evening bathroom break. On many occasions they forgot to pick me up for that, so I went to bed without clean teeth and no bathroom break.
Suddenly I'm handed something that Jane snatched from the cupboard. I look down at the quite soft fabric confused for a second. Is this supposed to be a towel? I blink back at her and then down to the towel again.
Jane's almost confused, "So um, use that to dry yourself off."
"Sorry..." I mutter. "I just didn't expect it to be this large."
She nods, "And you're welcome to use anything in the shower as well when it comes to soaps and hair stuff."
I'm unsure what to really do so I stand awkwardly for a second until Jane adds that she's going to search for some cloths for me and that she will be back in a few minutes. I occupy myself by finally staring into the mirror for the first time ever to address myself. Before, I'd had no mirror, including none in the small bathroom I used as well.
The first thing I notice is how my thick red hair is matted so badly that no one would be able to tell its curly. This was a fact that I've known because in the past I've seen my hair after part of it was cut from my head. It's a bit past shoulder length at the moment, that being it's longest since the day they cut it short.
I stop dead thinking my face is splattered with mud but at a second blink I see that they're instead freckles. Everywhere. They're on the rest of my body so I assumed they'd be on my face as well, but I didn't realize there'd be this many.
Next I notice the bags under my eyes and how dark they are. It looks like I haven't had a decent night sleep ever in my life. To my memory at least that is very accurate, even though I slept the best I ever have every night I've been gone. Despite having droopy eyes and dark circles, I have nice long eyelashes.
Once I make my way to looking into my own eyes I'm taken aghast for no reason at all. My easing stomach is now feeling even more uneasy than ten minutes ago when I was eating. Looking into people's eyes is something I've been ignoring since as long and I've known myself. The only time I catch someone's eyes is if they're not looking at me at all.
Getting comfortable looking into my own eyes is something I'll need to work on. After some time my courage gets the best of me and I make myself find the color of my irises. They're green and fade into a grey almost blue color. The rim of them are dark blue, while the whites of my eyes are red; dry and itchy.
My nose is slightly big, matching the one of my sister, just slightly diverse. My lips are a little plump but have been drained of color making me wonder why they're so pale. Other than these small nice things, I truly look like I've awoken from the dead. Even my skin tone is awfully pasty, thankfully my freckles make it less noticeable.
After Jane retrieves cloths for me that are hers, I thank her and get into the shower. At first I have to take a second to understand what soaps to use for what. The shelf is full of multiple different kinds of things, making me have to go through each one of them.
Curiously I have to scent test each one of them, hoping to find one that's not bland. I discover that the body washes all have very pleasant aura, making me forget all about that plain scent of the soap I had before. I'm unsure which one to choose because they all are so appealing to me. I eventually pick one that gives the most comfort in essence.
It feels wrong of me to have so many options to choose from, and to be able to freely take as much time as I need. After Jane left, I locked the door so no one would have the change to barge in on me; a habit I developed after not following orders to leave the bathroom on time.
Being here in this immaculate world with family and being physically away from the Hunters is more than I could have ever wished for. Even standing here, while I run the hot water so long it's getting cold is more than I imagined. All I thought was how happy I'd be free, with people that care about me. I've experienced a lot better than what other things could have happened to me. Almost for once I am the most thankful to be where I am, maybe not so much at the moment because the water has turned ice cold within a second.
After turning off the water quickly and being appreciative of the massive towel. I dress myself and don't know what to do next. I stop at the mirror once more, now that the steam build up has been sucked away by a vent. Before showering I also combed out my snarled hair and let it detangle the rest of the way in the shower. Now it looks much better that I have ever seen it, and I'm no longer embarrassed of the poofy mess.
I end up leaving the bathroom and following the stairs back down to the kitchen. Finding only Koda there, and knowing everyone else is scattered throughout the home, I feel much more comfortable to talk freely.
"Hi." I greet him almost at a whisper.
My newly found brother looks at me in a serious manner, "You have been so quiet. What do you think of being here?"
I could admit many things such as how I still am afraid of being around people. That I think of the endless possibilities of how someone could do me wrong. That I have many thoughts and questions but I feel like I don't have a place in this world. I'd thought I found my purpose but now I don't think so anymore.
Eventually, I decide, "It's nice here."
He whispers, "I know a lot is bothering you right now but Ellie you can't worry so much about things that haven't happened yet. Maybe it seems a lot to ask, but I think you should get out for a bit and explore."
I wonder how well he knows me, because from what it seems suddenly he is just as caring or even more than Jane. It's just that everyone feels like strangers to me and I'm living a life that's not mine.
"You'll find your place Ellie, don't you worry. I think we've all got to get to know one another again."
The conversation is refreshing, almost motivating but it's a real shame that my fear gets the best of me. I'm not going to be able to go out exploring or start my friendships alone. How can I do that when I'm scared of my family as well?
Koda adds, "And really it's okay to be unsure about us, you don't remember anything so initially were just strangers to you. I'd expect you to be nervous, you've just got to spend more time with us. Maybe start going around and getting to know everyone can be a good start."
"I think I need to learn more about myself." I finally say, "Maybe you could help me?"
He smiles showing a large dimple on his cheek, "I am always here to help."
I feel the start of me finally opening up to Koda, "I don't know where to start..."
Out of nowhere I stop myself, picking up on someone rushing up the front steps of the house. I heard them before this but didn't pay much attention to it until I felt like it was a real threat. I blink up from staring at my fingers and meet gazes with Koda. He stands, looking over my head at the front door as if reading my mind.
My heart pounds and I can feel my hands begin to tremble. If someone has found me and is coming to take me back I'm going to die of pure horror. The panicky feeling inside of me prevents me from being able to see who is at the door and opening it up to enter the home.
Once I hear their voice shouting, "Koda?!" I'm finally beginning to descend from my internal panic attack.
This has to be Luke.
He comes into the kitchen and once I hear him stop behind me I'm able to regain myself and turn around to meet his eyes. Their bright blue irises light up just as much as Jaris' did when he saw me. The moments resemble each other, yet Luke does not laugh and smile with excitement. He is in utter shock seeing me as well as Koda.
He mumbles, "You're back. You're both back?" He looks at me and then at Koda and repeats. His lips curve into a slight grin for a millisecond until he blinks at Koda and frowns. I watch him step back, placing his hands onto his blond head of hair, "This whole time? You've been gone this whole time and left us here worrying about you two!?" I hear the pain in his voice.
Koda says nothing for once, making me feel that he is guilty of what Luke claims. I on the other hand am much more innocent, being taken hostage and held against my will.
The worry in his stare convinces me to tell him, "I was taken as a prisoner and have no memory of my life before that. I'm sorry, Luke."
His face falls into a deeper grimace, "All that matters is that you're back."
The young man is about Jane's height maybe taller than Koda. He has extremely blonde, way brighter than Jane's. It appears to be grown out slightly, just coming over his ears and curling. His nose is splattered in freckles but not as much an mine. He resembles Jane and Koda in a way, such as the nose structure and the same faint freckles.
Before anything more can happen Lynn enters the room, "Your grandmother wants everyone to meet in the living room."
She completly ignores Luke's stare when he whips his head around at her suprised. When I stand I look up at him, seeing how his eyes have lit up and his mouth has parted. As she leaves he looks down at me, "And who is that?"
"Lynn." I answer as I hear her go up the staircase.
"What is she doing here? How many people have been at my house today?" He suddenly realizes.
"A lot." Koda answers as he stands and the three of us walk to the living room.
My grandparents sit together, greeting Luke happily. He still is in disbelief and complete shock from seeing Koda and I again. I sit on the couch with my brother, watching Luke look over at uncle Marek.
"Lucius my boy! A little stunned are ya?"
Luke only nods in agreement, blinking back at Koda and I. Scanning the room, I see little Jaris playing on the floor with his Legos who pays no attention that Luke is here. Even though everyone starts talking I can still hear Lynn upstairs telling Jane and Estelle to come down to the living room. They begin to while Jane goes and tells someone else to come as well. I assume that's my aunt I haven't met yet.
The four of them enter the spacious livingroom and as they do my grandmother announces, "Now that everyone is here, we have to discuss our plans."