My head hurts. That’s the only way to state it simply. As I lay, I feel waves that seem to crash against my skull internally. I want to die. Everything is black and miserable. I’ve never felt this kind of pain before. My limbs feel like they are disconnected and glued to the ground, my ears are ringing so loud I feel that is the only thing I’ll ever hear, and my heart the only steady thing in my body. I try to open my eyelids, but they refuse, and I remain in darkness.

  The stench of grease burns my nostrils and make tears come to my eyes. I feel a course warm thing, which I assume is a blanket, draped over my thin frame. I try to remember what happened or how I got here, but I simply can't. It's almost as if an impossibly tall and thick wall is separating my memory from my functions. As I lay on the bed, a pair of footsteps ascend up the stairs with a creaking sound into the room that I lay in. Voices fade in and out of my head as I lay listening.

  "You sure she's okay? She looks kinda beat up."

  "Yes Mailliw, she's fine. Of course she looks a little rough after what she's been through. I'm surprised she didn't have more injuries in her...condition."

  "Well, it has been a couple of hours. Isn't she supposed to be up and running by now?"

  "Mailliw, you really are an idiot. She's not a machine, you don't just need some oil or steam to fix her up! She needs some time to rest. Now shoo and don't try to wake her up. I mean it!"

  The footsteps return down the steps in a quickly, but quiet fashion. During the conversation, I somehow was able to find the energy to crack one eye open to study my surroundings. I was in a sunlit room with walls that seemed to be yellow at one point in time and worn wooden floors. A dresser sat at my left with a blue sock with holes draped over one of the open drawers and papers were hung to the wall with nails that had all sorts of designs. I can't tell what they are. 

  A lighter set of footsteps creeps up the stairs and a girl appears in the doorway. She has black hair pulled back into a bun with a grease stained apron hanging onto her figure. Her stained, once white, shirt and black pants accompany the apron to create the look of...my memory's failing. I don't remember. Her perfect latte like skin with a little grease stain on her left cheek is adorned by these beautiful blue eyes adorned with...gold flecks.

  At that moment my memory comes back to me in a flash. The bus, the memory, the pain...I have to get out of here. As an effort to sprint away from this person keeping me hostage, I leap out of bed. Unfortunately as I attempt to do so, I forget about the blanket. The blanket restrains me from my escape and leaves me to sprawl on the ground. Tangled in bedsheets, I worriedly shriek, "Get away from me! I don't know who you are or where you've come from, but let me out! Where are my parents? They're probably searching for me right now and I need to get home and I..."

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  "Calm down sister, it's me Adleremse or Addie, whatever you prefer. Let me explain," I wrestle with the sheets and try to crawl out the door. "for heaven's sakes child don't move!" I abruptly stop, worrying about her tone of voice. Addie begins again, "So, I'm assuming by now you remember, but there was a portal and it made you hurt really bad and such and now you're in Tiephriam. You've been resting for a couple of hours from the portal's impact but you should be fine by now."

  "You're here because of something...I'll explain later. Just know now that when you're here, you're safe. Any questions?"

  I have millions of questions racing through my head like a nest of angered hornets, but my mouth can't seem to open and ask her any of them. I just open, then close, and open, then close my mouth for a couple of seconds. I am trying to completely understand what just came out of Addie's mouth, but I find that I don't really get the opportunity for the knowledge to really sink in.

  "Come on." Addie walks up, grabs my arm, and almost drags me down the stairs. Once I reach the bottom, I am upright and standing up. I hear two other voices and footsteps in another room. "Mal, Ma, come here."

  A lady in about her mid forties with graying black hair and glasses comes in first. She is wearing a cream woolen shirt that's covered in flour and a gray woolen skirt. A smile joined with a dimple in her right cheek greets my appearance as her green eyes sparkle in delight. "Riley! You're here! How nice it is to meet you." She strides on over to me and takes me into a big embrace. "You look so much like your father, I can see his eyes." She winks at me as she backs away.

  "Mom! Let's not freak her out. She just got here."

  A boy around thirteen comes in next with the most vibrant color of orange growing out of his head. His freckled face was the canvas for his big boyish smile and his bright green eyes. He wore a faded red shirt with grease stained overalls that seemed to cling to his skinny frame. "She woke up!" he exclaimed, "I'm glad that you aren't dead," he adds in a more serious tone.

  Addie gives the younger boy a glare that would make the devil himself fear for his life, "Mailliw! Show some courtesy!"

  "Adleremse! Manners?" The woman then gives Addie a look with raised eyebrows that seemed to say more than she was saying. 

  "Sorry Riley, where are my manners indeed. This is my mother, Neleh, and my younger brother Mailliw. My older brother and father are at the factory, so they will be here later. And I'm Adleremse, the middle child. Sorry for all the craziness."

  Addie looks at me with hopeful eyes as Neleh and Mailliw seem to stare at me with curiosity. I look around the somewhat sparse room and reply, "Ummm, I'm Riley, but you kind of seem to know that..." I trail off because my social skills aren't really up to par. With my breath shortening and my eyes wide, I grasp frantically for another conversation starter, "Thanks for, uh, letting...me...uh" I'm really bad at conversing with other people.

  Neleh comes up to me with a big smile on her face. "Don't worry sweetie, we're glad you're here." She looks at her children for affirmation and looks back at me, "Addie here will show you around Tiephriam." Neleh looks again at Adleremse with a look almost telling her not to argue, "Won't you?"

  "Yeah Mom, I'll go do it."

  Addie then takes my hand and starts for the door, "Come on, there's so much you need to see!"

  When she opened the door, I could never have guessed that her statement could be so true.