Gateway to Astria - Part 1

by Isaiah Gray

  ~*~

  That night, I sat in my mother’s floating rocket chair by the fire, which was the only thing giving light at this point. I ran my hand along the side of the chair. It was silky smooth, pure white with glowing blue edges. It didn’t make a sound. It just rocked back and forth as if it has invisible legs. It was a gift from my father to my mother and it was probably where my mom and I spent the most time together. Those were of the few good memories I had stored away in my mind, and one I cherish most. Today was one of those days, one of the day that my deepest fear sets in.

  Normally, I sat with my thoughts burning my mind, the wonderful memories of my parents tortured my mind. Remembering them was like using as an axe to hack away at my soul. It only reminds me of the fact that I didn’t have anyone. Memories are a precious pain for me, like ones of me as a young child, curling up in my mother’s lap as she gently pulled her blanket over me and held me close to her heart. But today something was different, I didn’t cry myself to sleep, I felt uplifted, so much to as if I had them both beside me, sitting beside me. I warmed one hand by the fire, and the other held onto my blanket as the air got increasingly frigid.

  What a weekend… Though, not the worst I’ve had, to be honest. I chuckled to myself.

  This whole idea was freaking me out nonetheless. While thinking I figured out what the images I got today and yesterday, the first image? It was me and my father, sitting in front of my grandfather’s restaurant. I was wearing a skirt of all things, blech… It was an image in my history; I remembered the day, June 26th, 2211 as if it were yesterday. My vision slowly started to black, I couldn't see, but I could smell. The oregano, the tomato sauce; He was making my favorite spaghetti. I felt my mouth water just as my eyes started to well with tears. Then they were gone: I was snapped back to reality by a knocking on the door.

  “Nathan!” I exclaimed as I ran over towards the door and opened it. Nathan was drenched from the rain. His drenched state surprised me as I didn't even know it was raining until know. I laughed when I was greeted by a bright smile and wet hug. “You’re getting me all wet!” The remnants of a few tears were mixed with the water from his coat.

  “Yes I am.” He replied.

  I gave another small smile back to his remark.

  Nathan and I sat down on the couch by the fire after he hung up his coat. I cuddled up under his arm as he gently stroked my hair. It felt good. I actually almost started to fall asleep, the only thing that kept me awake was the thought of Resh coming out of the room at any moment. Did I lock it? I’m sure I did, but I couldn’t remember if did everything.

  “Getting tired?” Nathan asked.

  I shrugged slowly. My eyes still fixed at the door.

  “What’s in the guest room?”

  “What do you mean?” I responded.

  “You’ve been staring at it all night. What’s in there?”

  “Oh…” I said dumbly. “Nothing.”

  My lie wasn’t very good, as a few seconds after, he got up and walked over to the room. Oh no…

  “W-wait!” I said, dashing up after him. “Don’t go in there!” I didn't want him to find out, I wanted to tell him at the right time – whenever that was.

  “Why?”

  I needed an excuse, and fast. “Uh… it’s a mess.” Immediately I knew that wouldn’t cut it. Natalia! What were you thinking!?

  Nathan chuckled “I don’t mind.” He started to open the door; I could barely see Resh. He was reading a book he pulled off of one of the shelves. As a matter of fact, he was on the shelves themselves, sitting on the top.

  “Wait!” I said, putting my foot in front of the door. “Wouldn’t you rather spend time with me?” I begged him.

  Nathan smiled and touched my cheek lovingly. “Not while you’re hiding something.”

  “H-How did you guess?” To be honest, it was completely obvious. Hoping that some way, drowning out the conversation fruitlessly would end up killing the subject.

  “Come on, it’s all over your face. You have the door on quarantine setting. Something is in there you don’t want me to see…”

  I hung my head, but before I could say anything, I was interrupted. “She is keeping an alien in her guest bedroom!”

  Oh gosh no… It was Resh, not Nathan who interrupted me. “Resh shut up!” I yelled.

  Nathan raised an eyebrow at me. “Really? An alien? You have got to be kidding me, step aside.”

  I hung my head in defeat and stepped aside like he asked. He opened the door.

  I looked up at Nathan’s face. His jaw had dropped as he saw that Resh had wings. “Could the flying alien excuse us for a second?” he asked.

  Resh nodded and retreated back inside the bedroom.

  I pulled Nathan aside. “Okay, N-Nathan it’s not how it seems…”

  “Then what is it Natalia! You told me nothing special happened. Obviously, I would count this as special.”

  “I-I had meant to tell you, I was going to find him a place of his own.”

  “He is an alien, Natalia!”

  “I found him basically dead in the wheat field” I said.

  “Well, why didn't you call the authorities? Why didn't you shoot him? You have no idea what he's come here for!” Nathan said before he growled to himself.

  “She did…” Resh – now at the bedroom door – interrupted.

  “Did what?” Nathan responded.

  “She shot me.”

  Nathan grumbled something I couldn’t understand. Then turned to me, “Why don’t we just kill him now and be done with it, this is going to create problems.”

  “No!” I yelled, and I yelled it loudly too. I fixed my voice and talked calmly once again. “I…I…” I sighed, I wasn’t sure… I desperately wanted to know more, and that’s all I could think of. Those images haunted me…

  “Geez Natalia! You refrained to tell me this over the phone why?”

  “I-I don’t know. I was caught off guard. I figured you might understand better if we talked in person.”

  “How do you know we can trust him!?”

  “He…” I searched for some sort of reason. “He made me pancakes?”

  Nathan looked at me expectantly.

  “Okay, Nathan, slow down here for a second.”

  Nathan sighed, ran his hand through his hair, then shook his head. “I'm sorry. This is kind of a big deal.”

  “I know, I was waiting until you got here. I thought you would know what to do.”

  “Well I don't!”

  “We need to do something!” I exclaimed, not sure what else to say.

  Nathan pulled out his gun. “We could kill him.”

  “What?” I questioned. I glanced over to see Resh's eyes bulge. He slowly started backing away further into the room.

  “We could just put a bullet in his head, dump his body and this is all solved.”

  “Just because he isn’t human doesn’t mean we can’t let him live.”

  “You don’t even use that excuse for humans themselves!” Nathan snapped back. I hung my head in defeat. He was right.

  “Geez…” Nathan groaned.

  “I’m sorry.” I mumbled back.

  Resh had walked over and sat down on the bed again.

  He couldn’t kill him, not after what I saw. Pulling Nathan aside, I opened my mouth to tell him about the images, but something said don’t. Instead, a plea came out. “Give him a chance…”

  Nathan sighed. He didn’t look happy. “Fine, but I don’t like it.”

  “I don’t like it much anymore than you do.” I replied, scratching the back of my head.

  From then on Nathan seemed a bit more anxious, as if something was troubling him. It wasn’t that I let Resh out and we talked with him. It was something else, something that might have been nagging at him. I tried to ignore it, but I couldn’t help myself, I tried to ask him a couple times but he just got annoyed and shrugged it off. I decided to let his shock wear out, and ask him then. I figured we should all ta
lk, maybe I could try to get some answers from Resh. So that's what we did, Resh filling in what he had already told me.

  “Sooo… Let me get this straight… You can’t go back to your planet why?” Nathan asked.

  “Uh… Let’s just say I didn’t get along great with the authorities.” Resh replied.

  “Well it must have been some pretty big things you did to get you hurled into space.” I chimed in.

  Resh nodded. “They were… yea…”

  The more I talked with him the more and more it increased my curiosity.

  “So you are a criminal, and Natalia you helped him. Would this make her…?”

  Resh shook his head. “No, I’ve been banished. They are no longer concerned with me, what goes on with me now that I am gone. I am no longer part of their affairs.”

  That was a relief, though it never came to mind until now I could be digging myself a deeper hole keeping him alive, at least in that aspect.

  “Is everyone on your planet winged like you?” I asked. I tried to keep my tone stern and confident. But honestly the situation felt awkward.

  “Yes, cept’ for one person, born without wings and banished like I was.”

  I nodded, to me it sounded like Astrians rule very harshly. Is the planet even worth living on?”

  “No the place is marvelous, besides all the corruption and whatnot it is a relatively great place to be.” Resh tapped his fingers on the chair he was sitting on in a rhythmic way, compulsive movement. I glanced over at Nathan; those kinds of things bugged him for no apparent reason.

  I set my hand in Nathan’s and squeezed it gently, but he just moved it away.

  “Nathan.” I set my hand on his knee, trying to keep him from – what was looking like – exploding. He looked down at me. Something was different, Nathan was right. Something was taking a toll on me. I was acting different. I was protecting Resh, when I should have just put a bullet through his heart in the first place.

  I don’t know why, but there is something deeper at play, something that connected us. I should just kill him now and be done with it, but that something screamed no. I don’t know what it is… but I want to know more…