Chapter Sixteen

They nodded their heads at one another. Marc took in a deep breath and started speaking not knowing how Arriana would handle what she was about to hear.

"This scar the guy had, did it go from his temple to his chin?" He asked

"Yeah, it did actually. How do you know that?" Arriana asked narrowing her eyes at him.

Is it possible that they are all connected? How is that even possible though? Is my family in on this? They would never keep this from me though. Would they?

"That is Barwick," Marc sighed heavily. "We've been waiting for him to come back for all of us."

"That's the dream you had?" Zoe asked her.

"What do you mean?" Arriana asked glaring at them.

"How many have you had?" Zoe continued asking, ignoring Arriana's question.

"It was just the one," Arriana replied. She thought her head was going to explode.

"Did you recognize where you were?" Deacon asked.

"No. That Barwhatshisname called it Coresovilakia or something," Arriana said.

"Coresova," Marc corrected her.

"How do you know that?" Arriana demanded starting to get irritated and frustrated again.

"Well it's a rather long story," Deacon said biting his lip.

"I have time. Start talking." She growled through clenched teeth.

Zoe, Marc and Deacon just looked at each other not sure whether they should tell her or let her parents do all the talking. They knew the time was approaching for Arriana to begin her journey home to take over but none of them would have guessed it would have happened so quickly.

"Arriana, dear, you are not who you think you are. Neither are we, your parents, your sister or even your dog." Zoe began.

"What?" She was looking at Zoe exasperated.

"You probably are not going to believe us but here goes. You are not from this world." Deacon was motioning around him.

Staring blankly at him, Arriana for once in her life was speechless.

This has to be some sort of dream or a, a joke. I'm not of this world? What am I then? An alien?

She just laughed bitterly to herself

"You're from a parallel world called Coresova. Your real parents sent you here the night you were born," Marc said waiting for Arriana to soak it in a little bit.

"My what?" she asked, not believing what she was hearing.

My real parents? I'm adopted?

"Your real parents were King Charles and Queen Anne. The night you were born they were murdered along with all those who were loyal to them. The ones who refused to denounce your family name and the fact you were rightful heirs to the throne were either murdered or somehow managed to escape to the woods. You were smuggled out of the castle and sent here shortly before the murders occurred. The king and queen endowed Barwick with a small bit of their power that enabled him to close all ingressions between the worlds so that Lucas would not be able to follow you. We were sent here before you were born to be your protectors. Your family's guardians are waiting for you on the other side, Cartra and Edgar. They were to be your primary guardians throughout your life. We don't even know if they are alive though." Marc took a tentative step toward Arriana, she looked as though she was about to pass out.

He ventured to go on further, "Arriana, you are actually Queen Arriana of Coresova. You're the sole heir to the Bawors throne and the true ruler. It is your destiny to rise up, take control of the Coresovan army and defeat Lucas."

"You're all crazy aren't you?" Arriana asked, laughing.

"No, we are most certainly not crazy!" Zoe exclaimed, offended by the assumption.

"Then this is some kind of sick, twisted joke. Right? There is no such thing as parallel worlds or magic." She was still laughing.

"This is why we did not want to tell you. Arriana it's all true. You're from another world and you have magical powers," Deacon stated flatly.

"I am not from another world, my parents are not dead and I'm about as much a queen as Principal Stone is. I am not going to defeat some guy. I'm not the leader of a kingdom and if I have magical powers then why haven't I ever been able to use them?" Arriana paced around the room.

"Coresova is actually a world. You're queen of an entire world. As far as your powers go, we don't know. Zoe and I also have powers that we still have not used. It's something we'll have to learn when we begin our training back home," Deacon told her.

Arriana shot him a look of disbelief. Even though she was mad at him, he still made her heart skip a beat. She could see the frustration in his face. His usually smooth forehead was wrinkled as his brows furrowed together, his eyes were hiding a pain in them that was yearning to be let out and his soft, kissable lips were turned down at the corners. She tried to break free of his gaze. When she did manage to, she shifted her eyesight to Zoe. The girl was cowering by Marc. She knew Arriana was pissed off. Zoe's green eyes kept shifting from Arriana's fiery gaze to the floor and was chewing on her lip. Even though Zoe was five foot eight inches tall, she seemed to shrink to four foot. Marc put his arm around her shoulders in a failed attempt to comfort the frightened girl.

"You. You are supposed to be my best friend and you're going to take part in this? How could you?" Arriana bellowed at her.

"Arriana this is not a joke," Zoe pleaded with the now inconsolable girl.

"Arriana, please, we are telling you the truth. All these things are happening for a reason. Do not be angry with us. It is time for you to go home. It's time for all of us to finally go home," Marc told her.

"My home is here. This is home. My parents are my parents. Scott and Mary James are my dad and mom. Danniella is my sister. This is my life," she screamed at them again, the tears streaming down her cheeks.

She turned and ran to her jeep. Jumping in, she turned it on and threw it into gear. She sped away as Zoe, Deacon and Marc chased after her. The only place Arriana could think of going was to her house. She had to see her mom and dad. She had to know that everything was ok. She saw the other vehicles in the driveway before she even turned the corner. Walking was going to be a challenge. Her entire body was like Jell-o. Jell-O that was on fire. Her legs and arms were shaking, her stomach turned and churned with stomach acid. The cold air felt soothing against her hot skin and helped her to hold back the vomit. Arriana tried to calm her heart rate and slow her breathing. Nothing was working. Everything that Marc, Zoe and Deacon had told her was running through her thoughts, jumbled together. She threw open the front door and stormed down the narrow hallway to the kitchen door. She flung it open and saw her family, faces sullen and worried, sitting around the small table. Her eyes darted from face to face. That was when she knew one of the three had called her family. Had told them what happened.

"Arriana, sweetheart, sit down please," Mary said to her daughter.

"No, mom. Tell me what is going on! I'm freaking out right now," Arriana yelled.

"Arriana Marie James, your mother told you to sit down," Scott said standing up.

"Mother? Mother! According to Marc, Deacon and Zoe I have no parents. According to them I'm a damn orphan. An orphan that's not even from this world!" Arriana looked at him wild eyed. Her piercing blue eyes were angry, hurt and distrustful.

"If you sit down we can discuss things with you." He changed his tone and was more soothing toward his daughter.

Arriana reluctantly sat down at the table and put her head in her hands.

"You're all giving me a migraine." She was rubbing her temples, "This cannot be true. This is not true."

"John, get the book and locket please," Danni whispered to her husband.

Arriana looked up at her sister. "Locket? What Locket? And what book?"

Placing the large, leather bound book in front of her, he flipped it open to a marked page.

"I'm going to give it too you straight. No pussyfooting around. Alright? Can you handle this?" Arriana nodded numbly at John. "This is the story of your home. This locket was around your neck the night you were left here. Do you see the engraving? I believe it is your family's crest. The sphinx and the gryphon are the protectors of the royal family according to the story. I am not sure what the significance of the weeping willow is though. Inside are your mother and father. King Charles and Queen Anne."