Return Pt. 2

Cress leaned her head back against the shower wall and stared at the white ceiling. She didn't want to die. Not because three people had sacrificed their lives for her. Not because of how devastated her family would be. She just knew she didn't want to. She'd worked so hard for any sense of normalcy in her life and it wasn't fair that some fantasy world bitch wanted to take it from her.

"That's right," Cress said, slapping her cheeks. She winced at the pain that shot through her hands up her arm and smiled wryly. "She looks human enough, so as long as I ignore those…" Cress's stomach churned again, but she settled it with a deep breath. "As long as I pretend she's just a person, I can stand up to her, even if I end up dying."

Forced confidence was better than none and with a final rinse, Cress stepped out of the shower and pulled her first aid kit out from under her bathroom sink. As she tended her wounds, she couldn't help but think of Mia's warm smile.

"We probably could have been close friends," she muttered, her shoulders suddenly feeling heavy. "I barely knew her, but I know she would have smiled and told me she'd patch me up while Dian made some sort of stupid joke."

Cress choked back the tears forming in her eyes and focused on the determination she was relying on to at least get her out of the bathroom. If that spider monster hadn't stood in front of her, she could have slowly convinced herself the whole experience had been a drunken nightmare. Lying and convincing herself was the only way she could make it through life and she'd grown quite skilled at it.

"There," she said as she finished wrapping her hand. She looked at her face in the mirror one last time, making sure she hadn't missed any of the cuts and scrapes. The worst had been the sword cut on her forehead and she knew out of all of her injuries, that one was almost guaranteed to scar. The gauze and tan self adhesive wrap were already red in spots, but there wasn't much Cress could do about it at the moment. First things first, she had to retrieve her phone.

"Okay. One step at a time, Crescent."

Cress cracked the bathroom door, peeking out and looking around her room. Her blinds and curtains were closed so it was almost completely dark, the type of environment she used to love before. Being holed up in her room with only the bright light of her monitor and her computer to light the room had been her favorite part of life. Those times were behind her now. For now on she'd make sure every part of her home was fully lit, from her bedroom to her cabinets.

"Looks clea—"

A flurry of blue and grey burst through the doorway, sending Cress tumbling backward. Her head barely missed the corner of the counter and she spat a spew of slurs at her attacker.

"Dammit, William!"

A shrill tweeting chirp from the sink responded. Cress groaned, pulling herself to her feet and looked down at the parakeet preening itself.

"I missed you too, dummy," she muttered with a relieved smile. She held her finger out to the bird and waited for it to hop on before poking her head into her bedroom again. When she was sure it was clear, she dashed out, flicking on the light switch along with every lamp and ornament she had.

"Step one, finished. Did I do a good job?"

William chirped in approval before jumping from Cress's finger and gliding to the floor when he pecked at the carpet next to a bag of birdseed.

"I guess I didn't need to worry about you after all. I wasn't even gone that long, was I?"

For the first time, Cress wondered how long she'd actually been missing. Did time pass the same in the other world as it did on Earth? Her phone hadn't had service in the other world and she never had a chance to even look at it when she got back. Were Vianna and Kirian worried? Mom?

"I need to let them know I'm alright. I could just message them from my laptop, but knowing them they'll want to call and lecture me for being irresponsible. It's not like they'd ever believe me if I told them what happened… In fact it's better that they don't know in case that… thing goes after them."

It took Cress another half hour to reach her front door. Even peeking through each room terrified her and the bloody trails on the floors and walls only made it worse. It looked like a scene out of a horror movie, though it was nothing compared to what she'd seen a few hours prior.

After her condo was fully lit (even the cabinets), Cress faced her greatest challenge: the front door. She'd been standing in front of it for over fifteen minutes, repeatedly checking the peephole. Every time she unlocked a lock, she immediately redid it, worried that the tall woman would show up exactly when she poked her head out. Of course it was irrational; Cress knew the woman could cut through her door without a second thought. But it wasn't about logic. Just like a scared person chooses to believe hiding under a blanket will keep them safe from monsters, Cress chose to believe a few locks would protect her from an actual monster.

"This time," Cress said, exhaling slowly. She clutched a can of bug spray in her hand so tight her knuckles were white. "She's a spider, so this should work better than pepper spray."

Even calling the woman a spider made Cress queasy, but she steeled herself using every grounding technique she could think of. This was her home turf. There was nothing to be afraid of.

"Ready… Go!"

Summoning her courage, Cress's hands flew into action and she undid the door chain and lock simultaneously while kicking the wedge at the bottom out of the way. Peering out her door, she saw her purse had been knocked to the center of the hall and she shot her hand out to grab the strap.

A strong, slender hand with abnormally long fingers clamped down on Cress's wrist just before she could snatch her purse. Its iron grip turned all the courage and determination she had mustered up to that moment to dust, and her body shuddered. The world spun around her and she cursed God, universe, and every other divine being that had abandoned her until the world faded from her eyes.