Escape by Sheritta Bitikofer Read Free Book Online

more confidence now that she discovered they tasted just like the chicken back home.
                “To be exact, you’re in the town of Flagler, in the country of Augustine on the planet Somniatis. We don’t know how you got here, Amelia. Could you tell us?” Esmeralda seemed to find this whole thing rather comical. By now she had assumed that Esmeralda and Connor were an item, so it made no sense how this bubbly vampire could tolerate a grump demon like Connor.
                Amelia took a deep breath and then told them everything about being at home, then in her basement, falling through the hole and ending up in the burrow. Between the part about falling through and awakening in the tunnel, Amelia didn’t know what happened.
                “This sounds like a case for Sir Jedalf. He’s our resident wizard, so he should be able to explain what’s happened to you,” Esmeralda said, looking up and down the girl’s blouse. “You wear such strange, bright clothes. Is that a custom where you come from?” she asked.
                Amelia glanced down at her apparel and shrugged. “I guess it’s my custom, but not everyone wears the things I wear. At least, no one my age does. They wear what you wear.” Amelia finished off her third chicken finger, and then took another swig of her soda.
                “Pray, what is your age?” Esmeralda asked.
                “I just turned eighteen. How old are you?”
                “Five thousand, three hundred and twenty-two.”
                Amelia nearly snorted her soda from her nose. “Excuse me?” she exclaimed.
                Esmeralda repeated herself. “Why, is that old where you come from?” Her head tilted inquisitively.
                “That’s older than a lot of stuff! How can you be that old and look so young?” Amelia asked in astonishment, examining her features for any sign of wrinkle or aging.
                Esmeralda only shrugged. “Well, here, you’d be just a baby. Everyone around here is kind of frozen in time… Or, rather, we live forever. I don’t see too much of a point in keeping track of my age, but it’s nice to know sometimes.”
                Amelia only shook her head in amazement and ate the last of her chicken. “So, how is it that the food isn’t any different here?”
                Esmeralda asked for clarification.
                “This drink and these chicken fingers taste exactly like they would where I come from. Why is that?”
                “I’m not sure. I guess the two worlds are different in many ways, but still alike as well.”
                “The two worlds are nothing alike,” Connor piped in with a sour tone. The two girls looked at him as he glowered off to the opposite wall, his stare was even more bitter than before.
                Amelia gazed at his posture, his focused frown and set jaw. He was fuming, but at the same time, he was hiding something. Amelia didn’t know what it was, but she wanted to find out. He didn’t seem like a monster. He looked interesting, as if he was some kind of unsolved puzzle that was begging her to piece it all together. He was like an enigma, as strange and wondrous as this world she was dropped into. Amelia felt drawn to him in more than just a few inexplicable ways.
                After a moment of waiting, Esmeralda sprang back to life and looked to Amelia with a thrilled expression drawn across her face. “I just had the most brilliant idea! If, by some chance, Sir Jedalf can’t figure out a way to send you back, would you like to stay with us, Amelia? We have a spare bedroom and you can share my bathroom. It would be nice to have another girl around the house.”
                 Amelia didn’t know whether to feel flattered or uneasy about such an offer. They seemed nice enough,