Kingdom

If you asked anyone else, they would say it was late, but to Alexis, it was still early when she opened her crusted eyes and glanced at the red numbers shining off the clock into the darkness. Drool pooled on her pillow, and the bright red 10:34 AM glowing off the clock in the otherwise dark room hurt her eyes. Why did she even wake up? She didn't have to be up for another couple of hours. Sighing, she remembered the sound she'd heard at the door; it must have been a drone delivery. Nothing else was delivered this early.

Alexis fumbled for the light and fought her bed sheets, debating leaving her bed with every movement. 'Those last three shots were a mistake. 'She groaned, clutching her hair and examining the bottles before her. She just needed to grab the one to make it the easiest to get through her the day before her next party. A little hair of the dog to make it go down and something clean to wear, and she was ready to see what woke her from the bit of rest Alexis had managed to grasp.

On the plain black welcome mat sat a simple brown box. It had no outside markings and hardly looked like it had traveled. Had she not woken to the sound of it, she wouldn't have thought to look. Shaking her head thoughtfully, she heaved the box up. 'Geez, what is in here? I'm not sleep-ordering again, am I? I haven't done that in months, not since-'Alexis shook her head. No, she wouldn't allow herself to think about that. No matter what it took.

With a grim look, she set the box down and left the room to prepare for work. Alexis knew there was no way to get rid of the wrinkle in her clothing or the hint of alcohol on her breath, even with a good brush. Still, she should be in the office filing paperwork with the rest of them after her bus ride, and that is all that really mattered, and in the evening, she'd drag someone out, so she didn't need to spend the evening alone. 'Rinse and repeat.' she thought with a heavy heart. 'All my days are on a wash cycle.'

In the kitchen, a noise sounded, and Alexis jumped, her heavy thoughts and the hot iron not combining very well. 'This will have to do.' She resigned, taking in the remorseful way her hair was falling today. She had no desire to further burn herself, and there was no promising herself she would be able to maintain her thoughts again. Another rustling sound in the kitchen had her cursing.

"What is going on?!" Alexis asked herself aloud. She found the silence unnerving and no longer wanted to be home alone. She could do the unthinkable and head to work early. "Yes," Alexis told herself. "I'm going to work early."

Now she had a sense of determination when she quickly glanced in the mirror at her disheveled outfit. Pinching her lips, Alexis allowed herself a second to think back to when her appearance was about everything. That was when she had her best friend; they were inseparable back then. You never saw Alexis without Victoria, and now no one could find her, Vic. The police told her nothing looked out of the ordinary, that Vic must have just left and forgotten to say to her or worse, decided she was tired of her, but there was no way.

They had been friends since childhood, and it wasn't like they had been fighting when Vic disappeared. Alexis drew in a shaky breath. 'Man, why does every day seem to be getting harder, not easier?' Blowing a shaky breath, she drug her feet to the kitchen, and the box caught her eye. "Who sent you?" She asked the object, almost expecting a response. Her black eyeliner was already starting to smear at the thought, and it was wrong to get your hopes up, but she didn't care. If she could see Vic again, it would mean the world to her.

The kitchen knife in her hands would;' stay still as she sliced through the brown tramper tape. 'Please, please.' she begged for what she didn't know. Maybe that's why when she popped the box wholly open and found it empty, she couldn't help but let tears rain down her face. 'Who would play such a cruel joke?' she wondered bitterly. Alexis was well aware she wore her grief on her sleeve.

Shaking her head, Alexis grabbed the box, intent on throwing it out on her way to work, when a warm tingle hit her fingertips. Looking back at the box, a bright engulfing light was spilling out towards her, and it seemed to swallow her up. Alexis was startled but also angry. This is not how she expected her morning, whatever happened to everyday life.

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Alexis woke up in drool again. This time, she didn't have her lovely pillows around her. Her blackout curtains were gone; she wasn't even in her home anymore. 'God, I shouldn't have had those last three shots.' She repeated before taking in her surroundings. The room was simple enough with an off-white finish, the only piece of furniture being the ornate chest she was lying in front of. The door to the large walk-in closet was open, leaving the closed bedroom door her only route.

'Well, at least I know which way to go.' Alexis began wiping her hand across her face. She couldn't begin to imagine where she was. From where Alexis stood, she heard yelling and commotion, and it was enough to lead her to the door, where she could eavesdrop.

"What do you think you are doing? I promised I would stay, and I gave you my word. I would not run away or cause trouble if you left her alone, and now I find you took her?" an angry voice all but shouted.

"My beauty, you must not know your friend if you thought that would work." Feet shuffled, and something heavy hit the ground. "Besides, you've been playing cooperatively. That doesn't mean you are. You stole into my kingdom looking to steal from me, and when I went to take it back, you made a deal!" The growl in the tone spoke to the man's temper. He didn't like being misled; something was very wrong here.

Alexis didn't want to be here anymore; something felt very wrong. The sound of flesh striking flesh echoed through the halls, and Alexis had to control her scream, or she would have been joining Victoria right then. Hurriedly Alexis backed to the walk-in closet; she no longer wanted to hear the conversation nor wanted to be near the door. When her back hit the closet wall, she allowed herself to sink down it.

'What is going on here?' Alexis pondered, picking at her fingernails. They had never looked this horrible, but that was before. "I must be going insane, " she quipped, almost giddy.

"I'm afraid not." The voice that had been with Vic told her. Startled, she tried to move further back, only to realize she was in the back of the closet, and he had squatted in front of her. "You were thinking rather hard on something to not hear me come in at all."

Alexis narrowed her eyes at him, he wasn't wrong, and there was no way to play it off. "Yeah, well, how would you be waking up all alone in some new place you didn't know, and you wake up to fighting and-" 'Oh no, I can't breathe, she thought in a panic.'

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Zachary had watched the panic settle in her face as the color flushed out, and he could only grab her face to prevent it from hitting the floor. Today had been quite the shock for the girl, and it was just beginning. Lifting her up into his arms, he took her to one of the grand rooms in his wing. The further from his sister Victoria the better. He didn't know what game she was playing, but she was supposed to leave the woman alone, and now she was in their realm.

Zachary was sipping his drink when his sister Victoria burst into his study. The wild look in her eye almost made her look the age she pretended to be with the girl sleeping rooms away from them.

"Tell me it isn't true." She pleaded with him.

"What is this, Vic? First, send her a package against my wishes, pound on me, and now you are surprised to see your little pet isn't fairing well with it all?" The girl's condition wasn't sitting well with Zachary, so pulling punches wasn't on the agenda.

"I didn't send the package! How often do I have to tell you that she was never a pet to me!" Victoria tightened her hand, but she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of striking him again, so she turned from the room.

Zachary studied his sister's retreating figure; if she was telling the truth and didn't send the package, there was only one other way Alexis could have gotten the box. If things were as they seemed, both girls would be pleased with the end of the day, and all his problems would be solved. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen it before. Stirring his drink with the ice slowly melting within, he called Mrs. Putter; they had a lot of work to do.

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Alexis felt fully rested for the first time in what felt like forever. Touching the soft Egyptian sheets the day before came rushing back the drone package; Victoria and the man, Alexis, pushed herself up and paused; she positively hadn't been in pajamas when she came here.

"Oh, good, deary, your awake!" Came a friendly-sounding elderly voice from around the corner. The room was more extensive than she'd realized at first. "How are you feeling, dear?" The woman asked, coming around into view finally. "You gave Zachary such a fright passing out like that."

"I- what?" Alexis had trouble getting her thoughts together; she had many questions to ask, but something needed to be organized. "Wait, who are you? Please tell me you changed me." She almost pleaded.

The old woman chuckled, "Aw, yes, the human modesty I changed you. Your clothes looked like the bottle ate them. I am Mrs. Putter, work for Zachary, Victoria's brother; I've been told you know them both. You grew up with Victoria, right?" The woman had switched to asking her questions while she walked around the room, but it was just as well. Once the light came on, Alexis couldn't do much but look around. The room reminded her of one of the rooms in a museum in Germany. All the old fashion furniture, chests, and molding had her awed.

"Well-I-uh, I meet Vic." She stuttered out that no one had ever really asked about her relationship with Victoria or how close they had been or why. "I feel like I've known Victoria my whole life; she came into my life when no one else was there for me and has been there for me ever since." She corrected.

Mrs. Putter nodded like everything made sense and held out some clothing options. The first option looked expensive; it was a dress, a-line navy blue with impressive embroidery, and Alexis couldn't even begin to imagine what shoes she would have been expected to wear with it. The second was an earth-tone shirt and a simple wrap skirt; of the two, Alexis could feel the essential pieces call to her. They also were the most likely to fit with what she would have typically worn, not much for designer labels in her everyday life.

Pointing at the second earned her a slight smirk. "Good, well, go on and get dressed, and Zachary will be by to get you shortly." Mrs. Putter told her before placing a pair of slip-on on the floor by the bed.

Alexis looked at the shoes and shook her head as she busied herself getting ready. 'She'd known what I was going to pick all along!' She sighed. She could do nothing about that, even if these people were a bit weird. Victoria was a bit odd, and she loved that about her. Eventually, that became her best friend after all.

Straightening up, she looked at herself in the mirror, 'What a difference clean clothes, sleep, and no drinks could do.'

The knock on the door almost startled Alexis; she was looking at herself so closely. It had been a long time since she had seen herself like this.

"Alexis." A male voice called from the doorway.

"Yes, I'm ready. I'm sorry I'm still back by the bed." She called. This had to be Zachary since she had not made the best impression so far; she wanted to do better. Once she made her way forward, she found him waiting politely by the door in clothing similar to hers. Alexis smiled to herself. 'Yes, she made the right choice.'

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Zachary had been worried that once Mrs. Putter left, the girl would change her mind and put the other dress on. He was concerned the clothing choice had all been a deception, but his people always picked the ceremonial dress when offered. Offering her his arm, they left the room to proceed to her next test. 'How long had it been since they had found another of their kind untested and among the world?' He really hoped he was right.

He brought her to sit under their great tree and had the cook get all manner of food, some he would never touch, and watched to see what she ate. For a bit, she enjoyed the foods, shying away from the forbidden meats and others without explanation, then she appeared to no longer be able to stomach it because she asked. "What's going on here?"

"You're smarter than Victoria give's you credit for." He told her he was unsure if telling her he was testing her was like Victoria was wise. "If I tell you these are necessary tests you must go through, will you leave well enough alone until it's over?" Zachary sigh.

Alexis bit her lip but nodded and relaxed a bit. "So long as I don't have to be ok with all this nasty food!"

Zachary let out a laugh. It would be good to have someone their age around the kingdom. It was almost sundown, and time for the last test and time for the issue that started it all. Sitting in the field, Zachary looked over at Alexis; she clearly belonged here, but she needed to show it.

"You remember how you got here?" Zachary asked her.

"Yes. Wait, we were having such a great day. You aren't sending me home, are you?" She wondered, feeling upset and petty.

"No, no, I-" 'How can I tell her I am only going to send her home if she can't conjure the box to send herself home?' he wondered wordlessly to himself.

"I was thinking about how nice it would be to get a package, and it had been a long time since I had gotten a package." She finally remembered. "Victoria used to send me to forget me, not packages just for fun, and I would send them to her since we had no one to send them to us." Behind Alexis, a little drone popped out of nowhere with a little brown box and dropped it on the ground before vanishing in a puff of smoke. Zachary grinned like the fox in the hen house as he wrapped his arms around Alexis.

"Welcome home."