*
Janie’s mountains of questions about Margo’s life in the outside world have yet to cease; though, Margo finds it difficult to concentrate on anything other than what is occurring in the present. Luckily, Janie doesn’t seem bothered with a single word answer while Margo mulls over the changes happening to her. As long as Margo permits her to babble, Janie seems satisfied. She must really need a friend here.
It’d been no more than a half an hour when they hear the front door open. With her grin somehow widening, Janie jumps to her feet, pulling Margo along with her. “Come and see. Oh, I do hope you like it!”
The sun hits Margo’s eyes as they step outside, blinding her temporarily. It takes her a few blinks for them to adjust. That’s when she sees it towering over them.
Margo was so engrossed in her thoughts of this new world and finding an escape that she only now recalls what Janie had snuck into the conversation earlier. Nick wasn’t on just an errand; he was bringing back a surprise. Where Margo is from, surprises come wrapped in pretty packages. Janie’s definition is slightly different.
With its back alone as tall as Margo, the lean creature arcs its graceful neck to peer down at them. It has an elongated deer-like face with short creamy fur rippling down its back. It is unlike any animal Margo has ever seen. It holds a demeanor of power and elegance.
“Surprise! We got you a shika!” Nick stretches his hand out toward the giant thing, but it is no longer the animal that holds Margo’s interest.
It is the boy standing behind it.
His crystal blues eyes outlined in indigo lock with Margo’s and her chest rushes into spasms. He, too, must be surprised because his face instantly grows horror-stricken. But it is a familiar face framed with short chocolate hair and the most captivating eyes she has ever seen. He is taller than she remembers and his face has thinned into a man’s.
Can it really be him? Locked away in this place, too?
Seeing him is like a wonderful dream that suddenly turns sour. The kind of dream where you are not sure if you would rather wake up or keep it going just to see if it will turn into a happy ending.
Nick is spewing facts about the animal he’s gotten for her, but Margo ignores him and rushes past. She freezes in front of the boy unsure of what to do.
“Is this some kind of…joke…?” He whispers the words as if they are not meant for her to hear, but Margo jolts as a slew of memories are brought back at the sound of his voice.
“Oh my…” says Nick. He looks between the two of them thoughtfully. “Cameron, my boy, do you…?”
At the sound of his name, she outstretches a hand desperate to touch him yet too frightened to learn if he truly is real. He is mere inches from her grasp. This time will he slip away?
“Margo?” Janie calls in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
The blood rushes from his face. Margo’s fingers tremble before her and suddenly Janie’s delicate hand is on her shoulder.
“No… Not you, too.” His voice is but a pained whisper.
Margo looks away hoping he will disappear back into the Real World. He cannot, cannot, cannot be locked away here, too.
“You know her?” Janie gasps, backing away.
It isn’t real. It isn’t real. He can’t be...
“Another mystery with this one…” Nick mumbles.
Margo looks down at her dusty feet. She doesn’t dare take her eyes off the ground, even when she notices his feet approaching. But when Cameron grabs her outstretched hand and pulls her toward him, Margo steals a second glance at the boy she admittedly might love, and she is certain he is indeed real. He is much older than the boy she had last seen two summers ago, tanner, with more wisdom in his eyes. Still strong and still perfect. His face wrinkles in pain as he takes her in his embrace, and then she can no longer see anything as she crumples into his chest. A pair of heavy arms encircle her, locking her within their grasp. It takes all of her effort not to weep.
He touches his forehead to hers and breathes in the scent of her hair. “I just can’t believe it’s you…here.”
Perhaps it isn’t a bad thing that he’s here. Perhaps she deserved a moment of selfishness.
Margo isn’t sure how long he has held her, but it is not long enough. Eventually, Cameron pulls away and kisses her on the cheek. Her skin darkens beneath his lips. “I’m happy to see you. I just wish it were under different circumstances.”
Margo nods in agreement. The moment is bittersweet.
Nick clears his throat rather loudly, interrupting their reunion. “We should probably take this inside.” He points to his inner arm to remind her of the need to remain inconspicuous. The crowds shuffling around have yet to take notice of them, but Margo would rather not take any chances. The four make their way inside, Cameron with his arm tightly around Margo’s shoulder as if the reassure she is truly there.
The animal — or shika as Nick had called it — bounces playfully as they pass by, startling Margo. Nick grabs the reins around its neck and ties them to the column of his porch, which Margo finds foolish since an animal of such mass could easily tear trough such flimsy wood. She keeps her mouth shut, though.
“So you two know each other?” Janie asks once they are in the safety of the house and sitting side by side on the living room bench. Janie and Nick settle into a pair of chairs opposite them.
The moment is surreal and Margo struggles to find words. From waking in fear of never seeing his face again to sitting with his arm around her is quite the turn of events.
“It’s a long story, but yes. Pretty well, actually.” Cameron smiles down at her, the butterflies erupting from within.
“You see,” Margo tries explaining. “My family lives in a cottage on his grandparents’ farm, and every summer he comes to visit…” She loses her train of thought when everything seems to come into perspective. Margo looks up at him at this realization. The look on his face shows that he must be thinking the same thing. Margo cannot believe how selfish she was to think that he hadn’t visited because he didn’t want to. She made up so many reasons as to why he didn’t show up last summer, and all of them seemed to revolve around her in some way.
Was he really stuck here this whole time?
It’s been over a year since she’s seen him last. And every time she asked his grandparents about him, they acted upset. Now it all makes sense. They probably were upset because he was missing, and it was too much for them to talk about. Or maybe they thought he’d simply run away and were ashamed of him. Or of his parents for not looking after him. Margo can never be sure, but she is happy to have him there with her now — even if not for long. She knows she must soon leave him again, but just seeing his face gives her more confidence and possibly even hope.
“Margo and I hung out in the summertime. And it was always perfect,” he says still looking at her as he speaks. She takes in the new details of his face. He must be seventeen by now. Gorgeous is no longer a strong enough word for the boy sitting next to her.
His eyes fall to her arms, and his face loses color. “You told me the shika was for the New Mark, but you didn’t tell me it was Margo.”
Nick answers quickly. “We were getting to that. I felt no need to tell you, as I would have never guessed you knew her. It’s very rare to find two people that knew each other in the Real World to cross paths in Jamyria.”
Cameron assesses his words, but the look on his face says that he’s still troubled. He pulls Margo’s elbows outward to view her marks. She watches as his eyes follow the lines of them, searching out every detail.
“This is a lot of power, Margo.” He sounds impressed.
“That’s what I’ve heard,” she responds lightly, a little surprised that he knows more of this than she does. She follows his busy eyes a little longer and then asks, “Cameron, how long have you been here?”
“Since November of last year,” he says conversationally.
Margo quickly does the
math. “Ten months?”
“Yeah,” he says chuckling a little. “I guess so… How about you?”
“Since yesterday.”
His eyes meet hers again, full of anger now. “Yesterday?” he barks. He turns to Nick. “And you already got a shika for her? She’s been in here for one day, and you’re ready to ship her off? You can’t do that! She doesn’t even know what she’s up against!”
Nick raises his hands defensively, but it is Janie who speaks up. “She’s too young,” she says softly. “And she’s so…small.” Her eyes meet Margo’s apologetically.
“That Mark seems to think otherwise,” Nick answers sharply, stabbing a finger in Margo’s direction.
“The Mark can’t think, Nick! It doesn’t decide when to come out. It just does!”
“It wouldn’t have revealed itself had she not been strong enough,” says Nick. “It knows she is capable of handling its power.”
“I can do this,” says Margo confidently. “I’m sure of it.”
All three faces turn toward her. She tries keeping her face as cool as possible, no matter how numb her legs grow.
“Margo, I know you,” says Cameron. “Headstrong, confident when there’s a challenge. But this… This is completely different.”
“What choice do I have? It’s either me or no one for the next fifty years. So I have to at least try.”
He can only stare at Margo for a moment with his mouth hung. “What choice do you have? You can say ‘no.’ It’s that simple. That’s what choice you have,” he spits. “But…I already know that’s not going to happen.”
He is quiet for a minute, pinching the bridge of his nose, as he thinks it over. Margo says nothing. She’s already made up her mind and refuses to hear any negatives now. It wouldn’t be fair for him to try to talk her out of it at this point, and she can see on his face that he knows that.
Suddenly Cameron laughs darkly to himself. “This world sure is fickle, eh, Nick?”
“Indeed…” he replies.
Margo looks between the two of them unsure of what to make of their remarks. Janie seems indifferent. It is like, once again, they are part of an inside joke that she is unaware of.
Cameron drops his hand. “At least I am now certain… This is what I’m meant to do.”
“It is as if fate arranged this.” Nick smiles oddly in Margo’s direction.
“What are you two talking about?” she finally blurts.
“I’m going with you,” Cameron says matter-of-factly. “That’s why I came here to begin with.”
Margo’s heart stops. She shakes her head at him. “If they catch you with me, they’ll —”
“Kill me. Margo, I know the consequences. I’ve been here much longer than you,” he says grabbing her shoulders. He looks deep into her eyes and says, “I’m not going to let you go out there alone. I can be stubborn, too, you know?”
Margo warms.
Janie’s face is just as bright as ever. “He’ll take good care of you, Margo. I feel better about this already.”
“So do I,” says Nick, his lips pulling into a crinkly smile. “We trust you, son. Guide her.”
Suddenly, relief warms Margo as she realizes that she won’t be alone. She would never have guessed that something good could come from this place, but something has. And now she has motivation knowing that she will not only free the people of this world, but she will free Cameron, too.
But there is a part of her that is now much more afraid of what will happen if she fails. And failure now will be much worse since there is more to lose.
Find out what happens next…
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