Pulled across worlds

It’s funny how life goes. It seems to take forever to reach adulthood and then you blink and you’re already old with kids of your own. At least, that’s how it felt to me. Now, I lean against the kitchen bench, coffee in hand, watching her. Sitting there, doing her homework for an assignment due next week. Not for the first time, I wonder how I got so blessed with such a great daughter. Looking up at me, a smile crosses her lips, and the sunlight brightens her blue eyes. “What up, dad?” “Nothing sweetheart. Just thinking your Mum would be proud of you.” At the mention of her mother, a sad look crosses her eyes, and she looks at the windowsill The frame still shows the three of us, a few summers ago, enjoying a picnic by the lake near my parents’ house under the summer sun. “I miss her.” Walking over to the window, I pick up the frame and look at our smiling faces. A memory of a time when we were happy. Before the disease wasted her life away and reduced her to a shell of her former self. “I miss her too.” Putting the frame back on the window ledge, I walk over and wrap my arms around her, giving her one of my best dad hugs. Stepping away from her, I place my coffee down and grab stuff from the fridge to make breakfast. “You want something to eat?” Smiling at me, she shakes her head. “I ate earlier. I got up at a reasonable hour this morning. Unlike someone else who lives here. You know the early bird catches the worm.” Laughing at my wisdom being thrown back at me, I place the pan on the stove and a chill runs down my spine. Turning from the stove, I look around, my years of police training kicking in as I scour every inch of our kitchen. She notices too, standing up and looking at me. “Dad, what’s wrong?” “I don’t know, Hannah, but I can feel it in the air. Something isn’t right. Stay here.” Backing away from the kitchen counter, I dash to the front of the house and to the safe just inside my room next to it. Spinning through the combination, I pull the pistol from its holster inside and slide a fresh mag into the gun. I chamber a round and head back to the kitchen. “Hannah, you remember the drills for emergencies?” She nods and relief washes over me. “Good, head upstairs and lock yourself in. I’ll come get you soon.” Before she can take two steps, a bright light engulfs the kitchen and blinds me for a moment. Turning towards its origin, I see it emitting from Hannah. “Dad… I’m scared. What happening?” Before I can respond, the light blooms into a rainbow that lights up the entire house and she disappears, leaving blue sparkles behind. “Hannah?” at my question, nothing but the echo of my voice reaches my ears. “Hannah!” Roaring, I run to the space where she just was reaching into the sparkles where she was standing a moment before. Touching a small blue sparkle, a slight tingle runs down my arm. “Chase it or you will never see your daughter again.” Turning, I look for the source of the voice but find no-one. Just a faint echo running through my mind. Following the voice’s guidance, I chase the feeling and begin to a small sensation building at the edge of my finger. Reaching out mentally, I grasp onto something as if I was holding a hand. In that instant, I feel a tug in my stomach as if I’d just gone down a steep drop and then my entire world turns white. For a moment, my sense of direction gets completely turned upside down and inside out as the world flickers as if it was being passed through a kaleidoscope. Then the floor rushes up to meet me. But not my floor. Rough cobblestones press against my cheek, and I see steel boots marching towards me as the world fades to black.