Vital

by Jamie Magee

  “Yeah, but I can feel emotions through anger; I would have known you still loved each other.”

  “Maybe so, but -”

  “But?” I said, feeling her choose her words carefully.

  “Some of our fights...well, most of them were about coming home.”

  “Who didn’t want to go – Dad?”

  She nodded.

  “Because of me?”

  “Not always.” She pulled me to the bed, then sat down next to me and looked carefully in my eyes. “Willow, from the moment your father told me about this place, I wanted to come - and every time, life became too hard. I fought with my friends, business was bad, or I was just bored and wanted to leave. I let myself depend on the idea that I didn’t have to be there. Your father argued that we’d be teaching you to run – and you couldn’t afford to learn that lesson. He wanted us to show you how to hold your ground, and I had to learn patience.”

  “We did run,” I said quietly.

  “We didn’t run away from your destiny; we charged full force at it.” Her eyes cascaded over me. “Willow, often we’re so focused on what’s wrong and where we want to go that we don’t enjoy that point in our lives. Right now, I miss home. I would give anything to be bored or have any of the problems I thought I had then. I regret wishing those days away. I know it’s impossible for me to tell you to enjoy what’s going on now, but I want you to find moments, moments that you count as your blessings, your victories - because this will be over one day, and I don’t want you to regret any lost moments.”

  I nodded once. “Well, lesson learned. I don’t run, and I know what moments to cherish,” I said slyly.

  “I hope so. I brought breakfast, too. I want you to eat; those jeans are a size smaller than I usually buy you.”

  I looked down, feeling how snug and comfortable they were. “They fit tight, though.”

  “Not as tight as they should,” she said, filling with dread.

  “I’m starving anyway,” I said, pulling her to the doorway.

  Landen, Libby, and my dad were in the kitchen and had already eaten. Landen looked up as I walked in, then let his eyes move up and down over me, taking in my new outfit as the emotion passion and desire absorbed him.

  That’s new, he thought alluringly.

  I put my leg out to show him my boots. Cool, huh?

  He nodded. I think I like your mom’s style more than Felicity’s, he thought in a teasing manner.

  “Dad bought it,” I said, trying not to laugh out loud.

  Landen looked at my dad. “You went shopping?” he asked in an amused tone.

  My father rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I had a list and an impatient wife waiting on me.”

  Landen nodded. “Sounds familiar.”

  I walked past him and playfully nudged his shoulder. He laughed and reached back to pull me to him, stealing a quick kiss. I pulled away and went to find food before my father had a chance to ask me to.

  My mom poured herself some coffee and sat down next to my dad. After I made my plate, I sat next to Libby.

  “Why are you so quiet?” I asked, looking down at her. I could feel that she was sad, even though the emotion was barely showing itself.

  She shrugged her shoulders and looked up at me with the most innocent eyes.

  “I just miss you sometimes,” she said quietly.

  I put my arm around her and pulled her a little closer. I refused to let her go to Esterious, and I knew that made her mad sometimes. I was willing to listen and not tell the others what to do, but when it came to her, I had to draw a line. I knew my parents and Landen would always back me up on that point.

  “We’ll do something fun. What about tomorrow? Do you have plans?” I asked, trying to make her feel grown up.

  She shook her head. “I don’t, but you do,” she said quietly, and her sadness grew.

  The room grew tense as we all stared at her, wanting to ask what she meant but too scared to know.

  “Maybe I can cancel?” I said, trying to sound lighthearted.

  She looked down as sadness absorbed her.

  “Well, I’m sure you and Preston will have fun without me.”

  She gave me no response, which just made me more anxious.

  I ate slowly, waiting for her to say something else, but she kept her thoughts to herself. My mother couldn’t sit still anymore; she started to clear away the dishes and pack up the food that was left over.

  I felt Marc, Stella, and Preston in the distance. As soon as I felt the emotion, a smile beamed across Libby’s face and she pushed back from the table and ran out the backdoor to meet them.

  “She scares me sometimes,” I said quietly.

  “She’s not worried; that’s a good sign,” Landen said, looking over his shoulder at her running across the field. Preston had broken free from Marc and Stella and was running toward her.

  “I want to see if this coat fits you,” my mother said, walking to the doorway that led to the entry hall and nodding her head for me to follow her. At the same time, there was a knock on the front door. I didn’t recognize the emotion of who it was. As I looked back at Landen, he furrowed his eyebrows. I was sure he recognized whoever it was but didn’t understand why they were there. I felt an honest intent to get advice, almost permission, from Landen coming from the person on the other side of the door.

  Landen pushed back from the table and walked past me and my mom to answer the door. I didn’t want to be nosy, so I didn’t follow. I smiled at the young man that was waiting for Landen when he opened the door. His hazel eyes seemed to gaze over every part of me, but it was like he wasn’t looking at me; it was like he found me familiar for some other reason. I felt a disbelief, almost a fear that he had - not for himself, but for others. He nodded warily in my direction as Landen walked out on the porch with him.

  “Do you know who that is?” I asked my mom.

  “He looks familiar. I don’t know his name, though,” she said, reaching for the long black coat that was on the arm of my couch.

  “That looks warm,” I said, smiling as she held it up.

  I slid my arms through and found that it fit perfect; it wasn’t too small or too big. My mother reached for the collar and raised the back of it, then pulled the front of the collar to my shoulders.

  “You almost look dangerous now,” she said, winking at me.

  “Good. Maybe it’ll make me feel that way,” I said, squinting my eyes, trying to look mean on purpose.

  She laughed. “You look meaner when you don’t have an expression at all.”

  “Thanks,” I said, almost offended.

  “Stop. It’s just that when you’re thinking, sometimes you look mad. It’s a family trait; that’s why we always smile,” she said as a smile beamed across her face.

  I smiled back.

  “Alright. Now I’m gonna see if I can cheer up my munchkin. Be safe today – and if possible, cancel your plans for tomorrow,” she said, trying not to sound concerned.

  “Will do,” I said, watching her leave.

  I wanted to go outside and talk to that guy with Landen, but I couldn’t find the nerve. I was walking back to the kitchen to greet Marc and Stella when Landen came back in.

  “What was that about?” I asked curiously.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “He wants me to meet some people. He said he’s been trying to catch up with me for a while.”

  “Who?”

  “Some musicians from Infante. He thinks that either they need our help or they can help us; he said at this point it’s hard to say.”

  “Are you serious?” I said as my eyes grew wide.

  He nodded, furrowing his eyebrows, wondering why I was so surprised.

  “When Olivia had that dream, her mom turned up the radio and told her that if she found that song, she would see. That’s why they went back there; to look for it. Tell me you didn’t brush him off?”

  From his shock and regret, I could feel that he did.

  �
�Landen.”

  He raised his hands defensively. “I’ll go get him. I didn’t know about the song. I have two memories of that fight now, remember?” he said, raising his eyebrows.

  “Go,” I said, playfully pushing him to the door.

  I shook my head as I watched him go. I had this awful fear that when he focused on me – when Drake did - that they weren’t paying enough attention to what we needed to focus on. I needed to convince my father to give them a speech on listening.

  Chapter Ten

  Stella smiled at me as I walked in the kitchen. Marc and my dad were quietly talking, and I could feel their concern and dread.

  “What’s going on?” I asked to get their attention.

  Marc looked at me, then over what I was wearing and smiled slightly. “Um...I was telling your dad that Preston has managed to raise some alarm and that Brady is taking Felicity and Allie – and I think Rose and Clarissa - to Pelhan’s world.”

  “What did he say?” I asked, looking out the back door at him and Libby chasing each other through my backyard. They seemed calm.

  “He came to my house at sunrise and told me he had to go to Esterious with us, that he had to stay close to you and Landen - but he wanted me to tell Brady and Jason to keep Allie and Libby safe with Dad.”

  “Did you ask him why?” my mother asked, trying to stay calm. My father reached his arm around her.

  Marc nodded, filling with dread. “Over and over, and that’s all I got out of him. He wouldn’t even tell Brady or Ashten; he just nodded when they asked him if they should go now.”

  “Are you going to let him go to Esterious?” my dad asked, knowing that even though Preston stayed with Ashten, Marc had the final say when it came to Preston.

  He nodded. “I know he wouldn’t say something like that unless there was a reason.” He looked at my dad. “Are you gonna take Libby to Pelhan? I think Brady already left; he was gonna try and be back before Landen left for Esterious.”

  My dad looked at my mom. “What do you think?”

  She let out a sigh. “I’ll go get our bags. I’ll keep Libby with me, but you have to stay with Willow,” my mom said, looking back at me.

  I wanted to argue with them and tell them all to go, but I held it in and let them make their own choices.

  My mom walked over to me and hugged me, then looked at my dad. “I’ll be right back, then we can go.”

  “I’ll help you,” my dad said, following her.

  I watched Libby closely as she played. I was starting to think she was sad because she knew she’d be separated from Preston, that it had nothing to do with missing me.

  “Where’s Landen?” Marc asked, looking down the hall to see if he could see him.

  “There was a guy that came to ask him something.”

  “Who?” Marc asked as confusion came over him.

  I shrugged my shoulders. He walked past me through the entry hall and looked out the window to see if he could see him.

  “I really like this,” Stella said, walking over to me and touching my coat.

  “I’ll have to get you one,” I said, smiling at her. “So, yesterday was a big day for you. You were very brave.”

  A grin spread across her face. “I hope it helps.”

  “It has,” I said, quietly watching Marc come back into the kitchen. “Do you know who that is?” I asked curiously.

  He nodded, “That’s Austin.”

  “Austin?”

  “Remember when we were looking through your paintings that were saved from the fire at your old house, like when all this started, and I told you that one of them reminded me of Austin’s soul mate?”

  I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to recall it; I had been through so much, it took me a moment.

  “I think so. Is he a traveler? I thought you said then that you had to help him bring that girl home that I painted?”

  “He’s a traveler. He usually travels to the dimensions that are really far away. He just wanted our help then because of the storms. Travelers seem to take a lot of extra precautions when they bring home their own soul mates,” Marc said, pulling Stella to him and grinning slightly.

  At that moment, Landen came back in and walked briskly to the kitchen. “Hey,” he said, looking at Marc. “Why did Brady just leave with the intent to take Felicity and Allie to Pelhan’s?”

  “Preston,” Marc said, nodding toward the back door. “He didn’t say why. Jason went to get Grace and Libby packed; they’re going, too.”

  Landen looked at me curiously. “But they aren’t worried...how strange is that?”

  “I don’t know, man. He said he was staying with us,” Marc answered. “What did Austin want?”

  Landen hesitated before he answered. He was focusing on Libby, trying to read her; when he came up with nothing new, he glanced at Marc. “He met these...I guess these musicians, like, almost two years ago in Infante. He said that a storm came, and he fell into a gray passage that was only created because of the really loud music they were playing.”

  Marc laughed out loud. “I bet that was fun to explain.”

  Landen grinned and as he imagined it happening. “He said they weren’t bothered by it at all, that they’re unique and can see all around you - your past.” Landen looked at me. “He also said they can see the dead, hear the whispers of the dammed behind the shadows of the world. They’re trying to redeem all of those that are lost, and they’ve managed to do that for some time, but now...now someone’s made a move to hurt one of them. Austin feels that they need to come here, that we can help them.” Landen crossed his arms as he tried to understand everything Austin had told him. “He said they can leave their bodies, that two of them have already come here looking for him when we were facing Mercury. They met Preston, at least that’s what his soul mate told him when he came home today. He fears that whatever was going on when he left has gotten worse. He doesn’t understand how they came here; he just knows that his soul mate wouldn’t make up such a wild story; she described them perfectly to him.”

  “What?” I asked. My heart began to race as I glanced in Preston’s direction.

  “Yeah,” Landen said. “Austin said it’s as if the universe itself has kept him from talking to me about it, that the fact that he’d managed to catch up with me now must mean it’s finally time for us to meet.”

  “They redeem the damned? Souls that are already dead?” Marc asked. Landen nodded. “And you and Willow are trying to save the living damned.”

  Everyone looked at Marc, whose revelation sent a chill down my spine. Landen nodded to confirm.

  “Well...that could be good,” Marc said, trying to hold a calm, unconcerned expression.

  “Or bad,” Landen mumbled as his eyes moved back to Preston and Libby playing in the yard.

  “What did you say to Austin?” I asked.

  “I told him I wasn’t sure how safe they’d be here if they weren’t brought by someone that loved them. He told me he loved them, that at this point they were like family to him.”

  “So what’s he going to do? What are we going to do? When do we meet them?”

  Landen’s eyes begged me to exercise patience. “Austin was going to try and convince them to come here. He wanted me to go with them. They have this wild idea that if they come here, they’ll bring their demons.”

  “But they were already here?” I said as I fought with my racing thoughts.

  “Out of body,” Landen said. “The two girls. They all have a different point of view on leaving. Austin said they just want to talk to one of us before they come, make sure we know what’s in their past, all that they’ve seen.”

  “It can’t be any darker than what we’ve seen,” I muttered.

  “Right. I told him I was in the middle of whatever this trial was and to try and bring them here one way or another. If they didn’t want to come, then I’d find a way to meet them somewhere.”

  “Why not there? Why can’t we just go to them, like now? You said someone cam
e after them - they could be in danger!” I argued.

  Landen stepped closer to me so he could reach my hand; he was trying to send patience into me, but I was too uptight for it to work. “Austin spoke the truth to me when he told me about them, but for all I know, meeting them may be dangerous – not for us, for them. We have a demon chasing us, and they help the damned. I don’t want to make them a target, at least not until we gain more balance with what we’re facing. He said they were safe for now, at least as far as he knew. He’ll find me if something’s wrong. I told him everywhere to look for me, and I told him to find Brady or the others if I was too hard to reach. He agreed.”

  Stella tilted her head as she looked up at Marc. “But...they save the dead, and we save the living...would that not make us invincible? Would that not allow us to undo everything the devil has done with them at our side?”

  I raised my eyebrows and tried to hide my confident grin. Stella was right, and we all knew it.

  Marc put his arm around Stella and pulled him to her. “You want me to go? I’ll go talk to them.”

  Landen shook his head. “Not yet. Let’s figure out what trial we’re in. We’re sending our family to the safety of Pelhan’s world, so bringing more people to us doesn’t seem fair; without intending to, we’ll be telling them that their safety isn’t important.”

  I moved my head from side to side. “It’s too weird. Olivia dreams about her mom telling her that if she finds a song, she’ll see – then that guy shows up here, telling you that he knows musicians that can see. Both the dream and the musicians are in the same dimension? We don’t need to take this lightly.”

  “Wait,” Marc said, “they went back there to look for a song – but I thought the dream was about a tattoo?”

  “We really need to work on our communication skills,” I said quietly.

  “We’re fine. Austin said that he was gonna leave again later today; he had a few people to check in on, then he’d go to them and ask them to come here. If they tell him no, I’ll go that instant. I’d be more worried if Libby was telling me to find a song. We might just be ahead of ourselves with this,” Landen said, turning his ring on his finger.