by Alicia Fabel
“I won’t come after you and neither will he.” Kale indicated the horse skulking by the barn.
Truth. Alrighty then. Vera turned and ran. Gimpy as could be and throwing out her hands to the trees for support. Soon, the deepening shadows cooled the sweat on the back of her neck. She stopped looking over her shoulder and focused on not tripping over the roots and debris. A rustle made her jump, but it was only a squirrel or something in the undergrowth. That’s what she told herself anyway. After a few minutes, Vera burst from the forest into the meadow again. Kale sat waiting for her, unmoved, tearing blades of grass between his fingers. The whole time Vera had run, the creek had been on her left. Now, all of a sudden, it was on her right, as though she’d spun around. Only she hadn’t.
Vera reeled around and tried again. She decided to break away from the creek once she couldn’t see Kale behind her. Obviously, it was leading her in a loop back to the meadow. Bark scraped the skin from Vera’s palms as she weaved through the trees. She kept an eye out for a hidey hole in case Kale changed his mind about letting her go. With that in mind, Vera dug the second knife from her pocket. A moment later, she emerged into the meadow, right beside the creek she hadn’t even been following that time. Kale held up both hands in surrender as Vera brandished the serrated blade at him.
“As I said, this is not my doing,” Kale spoke slowly. “It seems we get to spend more time together than either of us would prefer.”
“I’m just catching my breath, and then I’m going home,” Vera assured him.
“It’s a waste of energy. You won’t be able to leave.”
“Watch me.” Vera turned and limped purposefully away.
She moved slower this time to ensure she did not get turned around. In the end, it just took her another minute or two to make it back to the meadow where Kale sat patiently.
“What kind of trick is this? Are you a witch or something?” She now knew there were mythical baddies in the world, but she’d hoped Kale was just an average run-of-the-mill wacko.
“No, I’m not a witch. I’m a man. You can’t leave because the meadow has decided to keep you.”
“A meadow can’t decide anything.”
“Like other things around here, the meadow isn’t normal. And it must like you.”
“What does that mean?”
“Once in a while, the meadow detects a person out in the world who needs rescued or protected from something extraordinarily evil. It scoops them up, drops them on my front steps, and keeps them here until it is safe for them to leave.”
“The meadow holds people hostage?”
“That’s a bit sinister. More like the meadow acts like a meddling old woman sometimes, but yeah, you won’t be leaving just yet.”
“I don’t need help from you or a meadow.”
“The meadow clearly thinks you do.” Kale flicked the grass from his fingers. “Since there’s an unnatural hunting you, I tend to agree.”
“How can this be happening to me?”
“Honestly, I’m as surprised as you are, and I’d rather you went home too. For now, though, we’re stuck with each other. And I’ll keep you safe.”
Everything coming out of the man’s mouth was one hundred percent truth, and it was blowing Vera’s mind. He’d been lying to her since he’d first opened his mouth, so the sudden one-eighty was jarring. But more importantly, he hadn’t denied the existence of witches, which seemed very bad. And the whole meadow twilight-zone stuff? What the actual heck was that about? Vera needed to get back to her reality where things made sense.
“If you don’t want me here, help me go home,” said Vera.
“I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Can’t. This,” Kale said, gesturing at everything, “means your life is my responsibility. The meadow is the only place I can keep you safe.”
“Still sounds like a ‘won’t’ to me,” Vera said with venom. “You also sound like a lunatic.”
“Wondered when you’d call me that. And you’re probably right on both accounts.” Kale stood and brushed off his jeans. “I’ll keep you safe whether we like it or not.”
No bells sounded in Vera’s head. She wondered for a second if they were broken. Anytime he’d spouted crap about her being safe before, she’d had a collection of bells ringing in her head. Now, it was all crickets.
“Telling you that the world unraveled, and that this meadow tethers all the broken pieces together, probably won’t make me sound like less of a lunatic, but there it is. Somehow, magic got into your realm, where magic should not exist, and now there is an unnatural there hunting you. I have to protect you from it as the meadow commands because, well, the meadow is kind of my boss.”
Truth.
“You actually believe that load.” Vera infused her words with disdain. “But I don’t.”
A deafening chorus of church bells went off inside Vera’s skull. They weren’t broken. Vera winced. No simple chimes for her own lies, nope. Unfortunately, Vera did not have the luxury of willful disbelief even if the truth was too much to believe.
“That’s not surprising,” Kale replied. “Doesn’t change the facts, though.”
“The facts are this: I am a captive, and I don’t want your protection.” And I still don’t trust you, she added silently.
“And you want to go home, right?” Kale asked sarcastically.
“Any idea when that will happen, Deputy Scotchie?”
“After I eliminate the unnatural,” answered Kale, not acknowledging Vera’s slip with his nickname. “But you won’t truly be safe until I find who created it in the first place and stop them too. So, my guess is the meadow won’t send you home until there’s no more threat.”
“Are you serious? How long will that take?” Dread uncurled in Vera’s stomach.
“I am not sure.”
“Fabulous,” Vera said tiredly. “Any chance you have a computer so I don’t flunk my online courses?”
“No. Sorry.”
“Sure you are. Just like I’m sure university admissions won’t mind that I couldn’t even hack online school.” Vera’s throat tightened. She was never going to get into one of the colleges she wanted. Plus, all those hours saving tips to pay for online classes this semester were for nothing.
“If it helps, I went to your apartment last night and your dad was gone. From what I could tell, he packed up and left before the unnatural found where you lived.”
“You went to my apartment? The unnatural was there too?” Vera’s voice rose as she spoke.
“Not while I was there, or all of this would be over already. But yes, probably soon after you vanished. That must have been a shock for the abomination.” Kale appraised her. “You don’t seem surprised that your dad was gone. Was he planning a trip?”
“He travels for work.” Gus hadn’t traveled for business since Suzie had died. Vera wasn’t aware he was going to start accepting travel assignments again, but it was a good thing he had. Otherwise, he’d probably be splattered all over the walls at home by now. “Will the unnatural go after Gus?”
“No,” Kale answered thoughtfully. “He won’t hunt Gus. He won’t stop hunting you, though.”
“Why me? How has it not found me here?”
“Why you? For fun. And pride—losing prey won’t sit well with him,” Kale explained. “An unnatural cannot find you here because this meadow does not exist on Earth where he is. You were transported here through a gate of sorts. Even if the unnatural could find the gate, his kind cannot cross the meadow’s boundary unless I allow it.”
“That makes it clear as mud. Thanks.”
Kale mumbled something under his breath before explaining, “Think of the world as a giant palace. Each realm is a room with a hidden door. The only way to get from one room to another is through this meadow which is like a corridor.”
“And that makes you the hall monitor?” Vera snarked.
“I monitor the meadow and guard the doorways, yes,�
� Kale said. “People come here when they pass through their gate.”
“How do people get back to their room, if the doors are hidden?”
“When they are ready to leave, their gate comes for them. Only the gate to a person’s home realm will answer their call to leave.”
“Call? But not on a phone because you don’t have those here.” Vera was trying hard to stay calm.
“The gates respond to intention. If you leave the meadow with the intention to go home, you’ll go home.”
“But not me. Because I had every intention of going home and here I am.” Vera spread her arms.
“You are an exception. The meadow will reroute you back here until it is safe to go home.”
“And there’s no way to get around that?” asked Vera.
“No,” Kale lied. “The gate to your realm is sealed anyway. I’ll have to unlock it for you when it is time to leave, or you won’t be able to go through it.
“What stops someone from choosing a different door?” Not that she wanted to go to a different realm than hers, but since her way home was locked up tight, it seemed like a good idea to have options.
“Being invisible makes them rather difficult to find,” Kale said. “Then there’s me.”
“So theoretically, to get into another realm, someone just has to sneak past you and be lucky enough to stumble upon a gate?”
“The odds of stumbling upon a gate are slim.”
“I did it,” Vera pointed out.
“Not everyone is so lucky. Besides, I am a good deterrent.” Kale smirked. “You’re very curious for someone who doesn’t believe any of this.”
“Maybe I’m just trying to gauge how whacked you really are.” Vera scowled. “What happens to the people who do get past you?”
“No one has tried in a long time, but the person is hunted down and either returned home, or executed, if they’ve caused enough trouble and aren’t already dead.”
“Wow, that’s harsh. So what, the realm sends out the Hounds of Hell to take them out or something?”
“Hellhounds do not leave Dubnos,” Kale said. Vera gave him a what-the-heck-are-you-talking-about look. “Balor only sends them out of Dubnos if one of his demons gets loose.”
“And Dubnos is?”
“You don’t know of it.” Dawning lit Kale’s eyes as he tried to backpedal. “It’s not important.”
“I’m not going to drop it.” Vera folded her arms and stared at the man until he ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
“Dubnos is the underworld, ruled over by Balor.”
“Lovely. Glad to know the hounds of hell are real. I’ll watch my back if I end up in Tartarus.” Vera paused when Kale looked at her oddly, head tipped to the side and brows furrowed.
“You’d have to watch out for Cerberus is in Tartarus, not the Hounds,” Kale corrected as if she were a child.
“Hades is real too,” Vera said to herself but Kale misunderstood.
“Yes,” Kale replied slowly.
“Holy buckets of devils. How many hells, or whatever, are there?”
“Each realm has its own underworld and an Infernal Host to keep order there. Did you think Hell was the only one?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure I believed in the existence of Hell until now. Now you’re telling me there’s—how many hell-underworlds are there?”
Kale’s jaw jumped. “It’s not important.”
“You know, I’ve heard you say those names before,” Vera pushed. “Places like Tartarus and Helheim. I recognized those. But you’ve also said things like Diyu, Duat, Avici, and others I can’t even pronounce. Always to curse them. Those are underworlds too, aren’t they?
Kale didn’t reply, but Vera could tell she’d struck a nerve. He was shutting down. Guess that’s a yes. Time to back off before he clammed up completely. She needed him to keep talking if she was going to figure out a way home. Hopefully she wouldn’t be around long enough to get a sense of just how many hells were out there. Her nightmares had enough material to work with already.
“You didn’t tell me how the people who sneak into other realms get caught.”
“If they don’t get caught by the inhabitants first, then the trespasser is brought to my attention. I am the hunter and executioner when someone violates the accords agreed upon by the leaders of each realm,” he said. “That includes anyone who invades another realm and anyone who threatens the security of another realm.”
Vera tried not to react as the man admitted he was a murderer like it was no big deal. Just a normal day in the twilight-zone neighborhood. She was fairly confident he wouldn’t try to kill her, though. Not after his whole protector spiel. It wasn’t like she had any intention of invading a foreign realm. Not when there were hellhounds and Cerberus and countless demons out there living, breathing, and drooling. All she needed to do was open a few gates and peek inside until she found the right one. Once she got home to Gus, hopefully before he unknowingly returned home to the new-world-order-of-monsters, the two of them could go somewhere no one could ever find them. On a boat in middle of the ocean, far away from forests and meadows for instance. Kale looked up sharply, into the forest behind Vera. The hair on the back of Vera’s neck stood on end.
“Get inside. Now.”
Vera hesitated.
“Run!”
Vera took off for the cabin. She glanced back and saw Kale stride into the forest. Where he vanished, Vera noticed a narrow game trail. She was sure it had not been there before and made a mental note to investigate later. For now, she followed the command of her self-proclaimed protector. Scotchie was hands-down the scariest person she’d ever met, and something like fear had flashed through his eyes just then. Vera was stubborn, not stupid. Crashing through the front door, Vera hoped to survive another day.
4
Vera was pacing when the screen door slammed. She’d been waiting for that sound. She grabbed the go-bag from under the bed and took off down the hall to follow Kale. He had come back tight-lipped the day before, the trail he’d taken had vanished. Vera was sure she hadn’t imagined it, though. The same thing had happened two more times since then. Whenever Kale trekked into the forest, for whatever reason, a narrow trail appeared in his wake, only to disappear upon his return. It wasn’t hard to figure out those trails were how Kale left the meadow. Vera figured she could leave the same way.
She crept ninja-style across the front room, ducking under windows and hopping over the creakiest floorboards. After all, Kale could be hanging around right outside for all she knew. She really hoped not. At the front door, Vera tipped her head to peek through the screened opening without being seen. She wasn’t disappointed. Kale walked out of the meadow, looking straight ahead the whole way. A trail out of crazy-town materialized behind him.
When the coast was clear, Vera slipped outside after him. The shadows were beginning to lengthen, but it was still too early for Kale’s nocturnal guard-horse to be out and about—creepy thing only came out when the sun went down. Like a Vampire. Man, she hoped he was not part vampire since he’d already sunk his teeth into her. Last thing she needed was to develop an aversion to sunlight and a craving for bloody smoothies.
Vera ran with a hitch in her step across the yard. There was no time to remove the bandaging from her leg. Kale had only been gone a few minutes last time. With the pain gone, she’d manage well enough. Kale, of course, didn’t know that her leg was all hunky-dory. While he’d changed the wrappings that morning, Vera had clutched the mattress and grimaced for dramatic effect. No way was she giving away the one advantage she had. She’d been rather pleased with her performance too. Scotchie’s brow had furrowed with all kinds of concern while watching her hands twisted into fists. The memory made Vera smile a little.
She slowed at the tree line and took a tentative step onto the trail. Nothing happened. The trail stayed put. No lightning struck. Oh, happy day. Vera trotted forward cautiously for a bit. When the meadow didn’t yank her back, s
he knew she’d been right. This was the way out that Kale hadn’t wanted her to know about. Now, all she had to do was find the right gate and pick a lock—cake. At the sound of voices, Vera jumped to the side of the trail, ducked behind a girl-sized fern, and froze. The fronds made it nearly impossible to hold still. Thousands of miniature leaves tickled Vera’s face and arms. She was desperate to scratch all the places. As soon as Vera blew a frond away from her face, another took its place. Fortunately, the voices weren’t getting closer because she was twitching like a criminal.
Vera finally held a handful of the fronds away from her face to inspect them closer. All the tiny serrated leaves on the fronds in her hand shivered and wiggled. But there was no breeze. The white veins of the mottled leaves flexed and strained toward her all on their own. Stealth abandoned, Vera leaped away from the possessed fern. Frantically, she shook out her clothes and hair to make sure there weren’t any leaves on her. The fronds uncurled, reaching after her. So, the plant-life here is not exactly normal either, she thought hysterically. At least it didn’t sprout legs and come after her. Vera waited to be sure of that fact before she turned her back on the fern.
Head swinging side to side, Vera slunk along the trail toward the voices and away from touchy-feely flora. She was suspicious of anything that moved now, no matter how innocent it seemed. Around the next bend, Vera spotted Kale, his back to her. He leaned casually against a tree a little off the path. Only one shoulder, an elbow, and part of one leg were visible from Vera’s angle. She probably would’ve missed him, if he’d been silent. Vera dropped into an awkward crouch, her wrapped leg stuck slightly out to the front. Like a lopsided crab, Vera inched ahead until she could make out Kale’s conversation.
“Mara doesn’t know about this?” Kale asked someone Vera could not see.
“Not at all,” said a woman with a musical voice. “I thought it best to keep things between the two of us.”
A hand with long violet nails slid into view, caressing Kale’s arm. Oh, Lady. Whatever was happening, or going to be happening, Vera did not want to be there for it. Then again, with Kale distracted, she had a decent shot at sneaking past him. If she’d had semi-normal luck that is. As Vera edged to the right, an angry gray squirrel in the tree above squawked and threw a pinecone at her. In addition to its big bushy tail, the rodent had a single horn curling out from its muzzle, above its nose. Vera tried to duck out of sight, but the creature kept yelling and threw another pinecone. That one ricocheted off the hand she put up to cover her head.
