Chapter 28: Back at home

May was staring at the sapphire necklace, she was clutching in her palm. She smiled bitterly �" her little friend Eren didn’t make it to this side of the mirror, but at least the humankind in the Callesmere Empire was safe. Without the necklace, Aedain would never lay his hands on the Dragonslayer’s Spear.

“May!” The girl turned her head towards the source of the voice, as if she was in trance. She saw Mrs. Hatchets darting towards her, the gray hair in disarray and tears in her eyes. “May, you’re here!”

The girl only blinked, when the elderly lady trapped her in an embrace, crying her name hysterically over and over again, while laughing through the tears. Professor Hatchets was smiling fondly as well, but May couldn’t join in into their happiness. Even though she did the impossible �" returned home from a hostile world, she couldn’t bring herself to laugh; the sorrow after losing Eren forever was just too fresh.

“Look at you! You’re here with us again!” Mrs. Hatchets exclaimed gleefully, pulling back and gazing at May, as though she was the most wonderful thing in the world. The woman completely ignored, that May looked like she just returned from a battlefield �" her clothing dirty and torn, the hair ruffled, covered in blood and dried mud.

Fortunately for May, professor Hatchets discerned the state, she was in, and gently ushered his wife to release the girl from the bone-crushing embrace.

“Anna, I think that May would like to refresh herself first and maybe eat something delicious after that,” he said, sending the elderly woman a meaningful look.

Anna wasn’t willing to let go off the girl, but eventually did as her husband said.

“I’ll go and make the dinner then,” she said, beaming a fond smile at May before leaving.

May nodded, silently thanking professor Hatchets for helping her out. The man smiled widely and gestured to head to the exit of the cramped storage house.

May slowly made her way between the all-present boxes of various shapes and sizes. When she stepped outside, she held her breath, still not entirely believing, that she was home at last. She looked up and smiled, when she saw the familiar white smudges on the sky, made by airplanes. She inhaled the air; it smelled of car fumes, but this was how the air here was supposed to smell, it felt right.

Professor Hatchets patiently waited for her, looking at the girl with a quizzical expression on his wrinkled face.

“So,” he began. “How was on the other side?”

May sighed.

“Adventurous,” she replied as she began walking towards the house.

“I don’t doubt that,” professor Hatchets muttered, scanning her up and down. “You look like you were battling some monsters. Did you manage to save the world?”

May laughed lightly and put on the pendant with the sapphire on the golden chain.

“I think I did,” She answered.

 

Professor Hatchets opened the door to the house and May stepped inside. She glanced at the man, who smiled encouragingly. Slowly, the girl made her way upstairs, looking at her surroundings. Everything was the same as the day she got transported to the Callesmere Empire, everything except her. She felt like a stranger. She had lived all her life here, but the truth was, she got used to the world on the other side of the mirror. The sight of the cubicle seemed just… strange.

May closed the door to the bathroom and smiled, seeing new clothes on the washing machine �" Mrs. Hatchets must have prepared them already. There was also a first-aid kit; May would have a good use of it as well. She walked over to a large mirror and took a good look. The sight of herself was quite terrifying. May could easily pass for a ghost now. Her hair was messy and dirty, the dress’s state didn’t need to be commented. She touched the bruised on her neck and winced. May took her clothing off and filled the bathtub with hot water. She tried to relax at last �" it was the first time from a really long time since she was bathing in hot water.

May’s thoughts were drifting. She was thinking of everything and nothing in particular. She was glad to be here again, excited to see her family again, but will also miss the people she met on the other side of the mirror. Above all she regretted not having Eren close. Knowing, that she’d never see witch Lavena, who helped her although May was only a stranger, made her feel sad. She’d like to meet the people from the Thoen Stronghold as well �" her good friend Levi, the strict but caring Hilda and Duke Thoen, who treated her like a daughter. May would even miss the carrot-loving Meirch and maybe a little bit Baltar. Only a tiny bit.  She would definitely NOT miss Aedain.

“Psychotic b*****d,” she muttered, scrubbing her skin, careful not to mess her wound.

The mere thought about dragon prince infuriated her. There were times, when he was almost bearable and, true, he even protected her couple of times, but he was just plainly evil nonetheless. May dived under the surface of the water and held the breath, trying to think of something pleasant instead. She emerged, inhaling air and got out of the tub. Once dried, she put on new clothes and examined her reflection. She looked almost like before now, as though nothing had changed. Perhaps it was so on the outside, but May felt that inside she wasn’t the same girl anymore.

May made the effort to evoke smile onto her face and went downstairs to the dining room. Her stomach rumbled, when her nose picked up the heavenly aroma of spaghetti. May realized, that she hadn’t had anything in her mouth for over a day; she was starving. Not wasting any more time, she rushed towards the source of the nice scent and seated herself at the table, while Mrs. Hatchets served her a full plate of noodles with her famous tomato sauce.

                May stared at the food. It looked delicious, her stomach was rumbling, but somehow she couldn’t bring herself to dig in; she felt stares on her. The girl lifted her head and saw both Mr. and Mrs. Hatchets boring their gazes into her. They weren’t asking her, but they had question reflecting in their eyes. Finally, the professor was the first to break the uncomfortable silence.

“How was it out there?” he asked, fascination and a scholar’s curiosity all over his face.

May sighed and told them. She told them everything �" starting with the days spent in the Thoen Stronghold. She said how Aedain kidnapped her, how he was searching for the legendary Spear, which was supposed to grant him power to annihilate humans of the Callesmere Empire. She told them about all the adventures and her great escape, saving for herself, that she brought back a souvenir �" the sapphire pendant, which was now hidden under her T-shirt.

When she finished her tale, May almost regretted, that she told it in the first place; Mrs. Hatchets was staring at her with a mix between pity and terror on her face, covering her mouth with her palm. The professor breathed out with relief and patted May’s shoulder.

“Thank god, that all those horrible things are already in the past,” he said, before looking at his wife.

                May nodded and slowly began chewing on spaghetti. The girl’s thought drifted towards the ones she missed the most �" her family. While stuck in the world of Callesmere she thought of them rarely, mostly because it hurt so much to be separated from them for so long. Speaking of being separated…

                Fork and spoon fell with a clank onto the wooden table as May stiffened. She just realized that she must have spent nearly a month in the other world, a month. By now her parents were back from their trip to Europe and her final year of high school began. The girl froze with terror. Princess Maewyn must have met her parents and Hailey, more… she must have lived with them for over a week and attended school, to make the matters worse. God, maybe May could do a fairly good job posing as the princess, but what were the odds Maewyn did so as well? What possibly a princess from the Callesmere Empire could know about the history of the United States or equations?!

“May!” Mrs. Hatchets called her, concern all over her face. “Everything all right?” she asked.

May nodded slowly, her thoughts still oscillating around the school �" she played in her head already the most gruesome scenarios �" being the worst in the class, failing her finals, repeating the grade, being expelled from school, not getting into Harvard. More importantly, how did her family react?!

 “Mrs. Hatchets, it’s important for me. Now, where is the princess?” May demanded, panic in her eyes. “She’s in my house, right?”

She had to talk to that girl �" she had to inquire, what happened here to avoid any awkward situations and had to inform the Maewyn girl, that her fiancé was killed, along with tons of other news.

May noticed, that Mrs. Hatchets was about to panic. She wriggled her fingers and stared at the table. The professor suddenly got interested in the structure of the ceiling. Then, he glanced at his wife cautiously.

“Anna, we have to tell her,” he said quietly, reaching out to take Mrs. Hatchets palm. The woman shook her head.

“Later,” she whispered.

May furrowed her brows, baffled by the old couple’s weird behavior. What was the secret?

It’s not important right now, the girl told herself. She dawdled in the Hatchets’ house long enough.

                “That’s it. I’m done here,” the girl said, standing up. “I… I have to go home, to my parents.”

The old couple exchanged looks.

“Wait!” the professor said sharply, nervous expression on his face.

May wrinkled her forehead.

“I really need to see my parents and Hailey, I need to tell them I’m okay,” She said firmly.

                Suddenly, Anna Hatchets grabbed her arm.

                “You can’t go home!” the elderly woman nearly exclaimed, tears welling in her eyes. “I… We need to tell you something.”

 “Tell me what?” May asked with suspicion; the whole time the Hatchets were very tense, behaving awkwardly around her. What was that they needed to tell her?

“Err…” Anna mumbled, avoiding answering her, but the professor offered his assistance.

“You’re dead,” he said bluntly.

 

 

“You’re dead,” professor Hatchets said bluntly.

May stared at him for a longer while.

“I’m alive,” she answered, feeling awkward.

She was sitting here, sound and safe, and very much alive, right? So what was he talking about? Anna tried to silence her husband, but she shrugged her efforts off.

“I mean the ‘you’ here,” he explained.

May tilted her head, confused. She here? Then the wheels of her mind turned and she paled as she realized, what he could mean.

“Professor, Mrs. Hatchets, where’s Lady Maewyn?” she asked, having a really nasty hunch.

Mrs. Hatchets looked at May and bit her lower lip, hesitating to answer.

“You see, May, she’s dead,” she uttered finally.

“Dead?” May repeated.

The information didn’t soak in.

Mrs. Hatchets took a deep breath.

“She got hit by a truck. About a week after the mirror accident she just left home and… it happened. Right outside our house. Both I and Steven were on your funeral a few weeks ago.”

May sat still for a while, processing what Mrs. Hatchets had just said. She managed to stay alive in a hostile magical world �" the demons attacked her, she had been even kidnapped by one �" and that idiot princess managed to get herself hit by a truck? Seriously?

“Okay,” May replied slowly, terrified by the consequences of the incident. “So I can’t go back to normal life now?”

Professor Hatchets shook her head and looked at May with pity.

“I’m sorry, May, but no. You’re officially dead �" your parents had the DNA-test performed, you got death certificate, funeral and all, so if you just walk into the school, you’ll be like a ghost or a zombie.”

May stared at the Hatchets, trying to comprehend, what it meant. Dead. She suffered so much to go back here only to discover, that she was officially dead in this world. And to think, that she was worrying about school right now. What about her family? How in Earth was she supposed to show on the doorstep and announce her parents that she’s alive, in a body borrowed from a princess from some other freaking planet?!

“What am I going to do now?” May whimpered, resting her head on her hands.

She felt a terrible headache approaching. Mrs. Hatchets gently patted her shoulder and offered an encouraging smile.

“May, stay for the night. We’ll think of something in the morning,” she said. “You just need to rest a little bit.”

The professor nodded vigorously.

May moaned with despair. She was totally miserable now. Goodbye family, goodbye Harvard, goodbye normal life. Being officially dead she wouldn’t be able to do anything here �" go to school, work, marry, nothing. If she tried to straighten the things out and told the officials about the magical soul swapping mirror and her trip to the Callesmere Empire, her situation would only worsen �" May could already hear the creaking of a gate leading to some mental institution. She had no choice left but to hide in the Hatchets’ house. She broke out of Aedain’s captivity only to become a prisoner in someone’s house. What an irony.

A short while ago she was excited to meet her parents and sister again, but now it was what she feared the most; what was she supposed to say to them?

“I’m going to sleep. I’m tired,” May said, standing up.

The Hatchets only nodded, not saying anything. They kept looking at May with pity and compassion, what made her feel only worse.

The girl nearly ran upstairs, got into her room and slammed the door shut. She closed her eyes, feeling despair overwhelm her heart. How could such a thing happen? It was supposed to be okay, not worse than it was

May banged the back of her head frustrated. In this moment she’d be better off in the Callesmere Empire than here. There at least she didn’t need to hide her existence.

She had the impression that the news were suffocating her. She needed air.

May walked over to the window and opened it widely. She let the air fill her lungs and looked up at the sky. It was still early, but the moon was already up. In this world it didn’t have any companion, just like May. The girl’s hand wandered towards the sapphire necklace, she had around her neck. She closed her fingers around the blue gem, wondering what happened to Eren after May left to her world.

 

Reviews

[JR Darewood]

You write May's thoughts really well here. This was an extremely entertaining chapter.

You killed off the princess with a truck? That's just f*#ed up.

BTW there was a case in Arizona (or somewhere) I think that this woman who had a drug problem ran off. The family IDed a corpse and then like 2 months later the woman popped up in a hospital and they were like-- you're supposed to be dead. And the family was like. Oops, it looked just like her.

[Gosia]

But the parents did DNA test to be sure... Yes, that was the twist. Many persons have been nagging me to do chapters with Lady Mewyn in Baltimore.

[JR Darewood]

i think that would be hillarious! I second that motion. You are a terrible person for killing her that way. Tsk tsk.

[Gosia]

I know ;-) And I love it!