Hidden Worlds

by Kristie Cook

  My mouth went dry, and I realized I’d been holding my breath. I let it out in a puff. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

  Ethan swallowed and looked away, then cleared his throat. “I’ll...I’ll just call you Wednesday. Hope you feel better.” He tapped the hood of my car before turning and walking away.

  ***

  Two days dragged by with no word from Liam. I kept replaying the conversation with him and Niamh over and over in my head. They had answers for so many of the questions I’d had my whole life—why I’d never known my father, why my mother lost her mind. And, why I felt like I was losing mine. Their answers sounded crazy, but they explained it all so perfectly.

  They even acted like my dreams meant something, like I might not be going insane after all. Unless they were just as crazy as I was. Which was highly possible.

  I typed the word Danaan into the search engine on my laptop, tapping my chin with a pen as I scanned through the results. I’d spent every spare minute the past two days looking up Irish fairies.

  The Tuatha DÉ Danaan are magical descendants of the pre-Christian deities of Ireland who lived alongside the druids and Gaels. These human-like beings were forced to retreat under the hills of Ireland into another dimension of space and time with the rise of Christianity.

  It was reputed that only iron weapons could injure them. They became known as the people of the Sidhe (mounds) or fairies.

  Deities? As in gods? I scrolled through web pages on all manner of magic and fairy stories. Paintings of women wearing flowers in their hair with flowing gowns were on every page. Beautiful.

  I jumped when the phone rang. Again. It had been ringing non-stop all day. I glanced at the caller ID, seeing that it was Nicole this time. I silenced it and tossed it back on my nightstand.

  “Allison,” Gram called from outside my bedroom door.

  I heard the worry in her voice and tried to ignore it. “Come in.”

  She poked her head in, her brow creased with concern. “Supper’s ready, honey.” Gram was using her “cheerful voice.”

  “Okay, I’ll be down in a sec,” I said as I shut off my laptop.

  Gram smiled and tried to make her face look relaxed before nodding and heading back downstairs, leaving my bedroom door open.

  The smoky smell of grilled chicken that wafted in from the kitchen made my stomach grumble. I must have forgotten to eat lunch.

  Oh my god, lunch!

  Ethan had taken the day off so he could take me out for lunch on my birthday. No wonder the phone had been ringing non-stop. I groaned and rubbed my hand over my face. How could I have forgotten? I stood and smoothed my ponytail. I needed to pull myself together for Gram’s and Pop’s sakes. I was sure they had put together a nice supper while I sulked in my room all day.

  I went downstairs, and started when I saw Aunt Jessie and Uncle Dave setting the table.

  “Hey, birthday girl!” Aunt Jessie said as she walked by.

  Pop came in off the deck carrying a plate of grilled chicken. “There she is! Finally showing her face today. Happy Birthday, young lady!” His eyes twinkled like they always did when the family was all together. As he set the plate down, he kissed my mother on the cheek.

  The front door shut with a crash. Uh oh. There was only one person missing from the table.

  Nicole walked into the kitchen, staring at me with her eyes wide and lips pursed, but said nothing. It might as well have been a slap for what it meant.

  Gram saved me by announcing it was time to eat. Everyone loaded up their plates, the typical chatter going on across the table. I was about to take my first bite when Nicole spoke, her voice loud enough to stop all other conversation. “So, Al. I’m glad you’re okay.”

  “I’m fine, Nic,” I replied without looking up. I knew my family was looking at Nicole for an explanation.

  “That’s really good, you know, because I was convinced you were in some sort of accident or that you’d been mugged...seeing that you haven’t answered your phone all day.”

  “Nope, I’m all right,” I said evenly, fighting the urge to apologize. I had a secret now, something that set me apart from even Nicole, and I had to keep it that way.

  “Fabulous.” Nicole said sharply.

  Gram cleared her throat pointedly, and my head snapped up. My grandparents, aunt, and uncle were quietly cutting the food on their plates, and, my mother was slowly sipping her drink gazing out the back door. Finally, I raised my eyes and met Nicole’s hard stare. I shook my head and looked back down at my plate.

  ***

  I turned on the sink and picked up the sponge. Dinner was over, and helping to clean up was the best excuse I could think of to avoid Nicole. But Gram stopped me.

  “It’s a beautiful evening, and your birthday, so why don’t you go enjoy it on the deck?”

  I sighed. It would be no use to argue. I nodded and gave her a kiss, then took my iced tea out back and sat in a lounge chair. Nicole inevitably followed.

  She leaned back on the railing and folded her arms. “All right, let’s hear it.”

  “There’s nothing to tell.”

  “I’m used to this sort of thing from you,” Nicole began, “but I’m family, I have no choice but to accept your weirdness.”

  “Nic—”

  “No, let me finish. You told Ethan you’d go to lunch with him. Now that I see for myself that there’s no catastrophe, I don’t understand why you would blow him off.”

  “First of all, I never agreed. And besides, I haven’t been feeling well, and I just laid down for a minute and...” I trailed off, not wanting to lie but hoping Nicole would come to her own conclusions.

  “This is Ethan we’re talking about, Al. You have been in love with him since you were in the first grade! So, what’s the deal?”

  “It was a mistake, Nic,” I whispered.

  Nicole shook her head and stalked back in the house without another word.

  I closed my eyes, and let my head fall back on my chair. The sounds of the dishes clattering in the sink began to fade.

  I walk into a room. I’ve seen it before . . . the curved ceiling is familiar. A man stands in the center of the space, his black hair pulled back at the base of his neck. His face is all sharp angles, and he smirks at me, a cruel and twisted smile. He looks like he’s been expecting me, but I’ve never seen him before.

  The cry of bird makes me stop, my feet not wanting to enter any farther into the room. A large black bird lands on the man’s outstretched arm, and he looks into the bird’s eyes, then back at me.

  His laughter is as cold and sharp as an icicle as he turns to look at me again. “Do you know where your mother is, girl?”

  “Allie?” I jumped at the sound of my name, and woke to find Ethan gently shaking my shoulder.

  “Where is she?” I shouted.

  “Whoa, Allie, it’s okay. It was just a bad dream,” he said as I stood up. “You were kind of thrashing around.”

  I gulped in the summer air and tried to catch my breath. “I’m . . . I’m fine. I’m just not feeling that great.”

  His expression was hopeful. “You must be coming down with something. Nic just told me you slept all afternoon.”

  I nodded and stretched my arms above my head.

  “We were thinking of doing your cake, sweetie,” Aunt Jessie said as she stuck her head out the back door and smiled sheepishly at us.

  “Oh, thanks Aunt Jessie,” I said, grateful for a reason to not have to give Ethan any more explanations. I gave him a halfhearted smile as we headed inside.

  My family was seating themselves back at the table with coffee, and in front of my seat was a beautiful cake with lemon icing—my favorite.

  As I blew out my candles, I wished for the same thing I did every year—to be strong enough, and capable enough, to take care of my mother.

  But, this year’s wish was slightly different. I hoped for a real chance at my mother getting better.

  ***

  When I got
up the next morning to go for my run, it was already in the eighties and the sun had barely risen over the trees. The humidity made my tank top stick to my skin, but I didn’t care. My headphones blared in my ears, cares shattered into pieces by the pumping bass line. I welcomed the sweat trickling down my back and pushed harder.

  I walked the last half mile to cool down, and as I came around the corner I saw Liam standing, once more, in the path leading up to his property.

  As I approached, he raised his hand in greeting, and something silver gleamed out from the short sleeve of his shirt.

  “Good morning, Allison.”

  “Hey,” I said, feeling awkward and not sure how to act after all he’d told me a few days before.

  “They’re beginning to clear the property today.”

  I looked up the path to see a group of men pulling chainsaws out of a truck. “I guess I won’t be sleeping in anytime soon.”

  Liam laughed a little, and his lips curved upward. He had a nice smile—I hadn’t seen him smile much since I’d met him.

  “I had another dream last night,” I said, grabbing my ankle to stretch my leg.

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah,” I said, suddenly unsure if I should share it. He waited for me to continue, and I shook off the fear. “I was in that same room where I saw Aoife before. There was a man with long, black hair. He had a black bird on his shoulder.” I looked straight into Liam’s eyes. “He asked about my mother.”

  I didn’t like the way his eyes widened at this. “Breanh,” he murmured.

  “And that means...what?”

  “Breanh is Aoife’s adviser. He’s the one who introduced her to dark magic in the first place. I’m sure he’s trying to find Aoife right now.”

  The way Liam was talking now, fast and without really looking at me, filled me with dread.

  “Wait a sec! That doesn’t really tell me anything. This guy is the one you think will hurt Mom?”

  For a moment, Liam just looked down, his jaw working. When he finally raised his eyes, his expression was tight and reserved.

  “If Breanh discovered why I’m here, he’ll use your mother against me. In order to get Aoife back.”

  “I’m guessing letting Aoife go is out of the question?”

  Liam sighed. “It would just make everything worse if we released Aoife at this point.”

  “Worse for who? How can I keep my mother safe if she’s now some evil fairy’s bargaining chip?”

  Liam sighed again, heavier this time. He looked up at the house where my mother was probably watching the early talk shows.

  “The workers will keep him away for now, I think. But the nighttime is more of a concern. Stay inside today. I think you’ll be safest there.”

  “No way,” I said, raising my voice. “I can’t just stay home and hide. I need to do something, find a way to protect her.”

  “I just need to speak with Niamh, We’ll figure something out.”

  “No, that’s not good enough.” I was nearly shouting, but the words died in my throat as Ethan’s pickup truck pulled up next to me.

  Liam turned and walked quickly into the woods in the opposite direction of the workers.

  Ethan hopped out of the truck, shutting the door with a thud. “Good day for a run,” he said with a smile.

  “Oh, yeah.”

  He turned to look at me then. I felt like he could see past all my secrets, so I quickly looked away.

  “I just have to go over some things with these guys,” he said as he gestured toward the lot next door. “But, after that, I’m free for awhile. You wanna grab lunch?”

  “Actually, I was thinking I’d like to spend a little time with my mother before I take over for Lenny at the store.”

  Ethan nodded slowly, rubbing his hand across his chin. His gaze traveled in the direction where Liam had walked off. “I was hoping to talk to Liam for a minute today, too. Think he’ll be back?”

  I was caught off guard. “I don’t know. He didn’t say.”

  “I had thought...” He struggled to find words, but I already knew what he was going to say.

  “What, Ethan?” I asked, keeping my voice low and cool. “You won a bet. What more do you want?”

  “So, that’s it?” He straightened up. “I think we both know it was more than that.”

  I felt backed into a corner, so, I used the only weapon I had. “I’m sure it’s hard for you to believe,” I said, adding ice to my voice. “But, it’s true.”

  “Fine.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded. “I guess I’ll see you around, Al.”

  He narrowed his eyes and stared hard into mine, stripping me of the last of my defenses. Without another word he turned and walked away.

  I headed inside. It really was a scorcher outside. As I headed up the stairs to take a shower I wiped the sweat from my forehead and the tears from my eyes.

  Chapter 7

  The hardware store was slow that night, and it was even harder to get through the hours than usual as I was constantly fighting back tears. When I could finally close up, I went straight home. I hadn’t heard from Liam yet and it was nearly seven, and between worrying about my mother and replaying my conversation with Ethan, I was completely exhausted and beyond emotionally drained.

  Thankfully, everything was quiet when I got home. I walked into the living room to find Gram sitting on the couch folding laundry.

  “Just the person I was thinking of,” Gram said as I dropped my purse on the sideboard.

  “Hi, Gram. Where is everyone?”

  “Your mom is upstairs lying down. Pop is down in the cellar, I think.”

  I sat down in the recliner and leaned my head back for a minute.

  “Are you feeling okay, honey? You look a little pale.”

  I yawned and settled further into the chair, opening one eye to look at her. “Just a little tired, that’s all.”

  Gram stood and hauled the laundry basket up to her hip. “There are leftovers in the fridge, I’m just going to put this laundry away, and I’ll heat something up for you.”

  “I can manage,” I said, stretching one more time before I stood.

  I took the leftover pasta out and heated a bowl in the microwave. As I waited for it to cook, I sliced a piece of fresh Italian bread.

  I wanted to be able to tell Gram everything, to share the weight of all I now knew with someone. But there was no way I could even tell Gram and Pop about who Liam was, let alone all the insane-sounding things he’d told me about his life. Plus, I hadn’t had a chance to come to terms with his arrival yet myself, as my father.

  I took a deep breath and watched the microwave. Now that my mother was in potential danger, I needed to take care of this myself. There could be no more distractions. But the image of Ethan staring into my eyes, his expression cold and angry, was burnt into my memory. He’d never been angry with me before. But—I reminded myself—angry was better than hopeful.

  Once again, I was left waiting to hear from Liam. The hope I’d let myself feel since he’d shown up was being replaced by dread. Liam had said Breanh was dangerous. But would Breanh even know where we were if Liam hadn’t shown up here? Now he may as well hand-deliver my mother right to the bad guy.

  The ceiling creaked loudly, and I looked up, wondering what Gram was doing up there. It sounded like she was scurrying in and out of the bedrooms. A second later, she bustled down the stairs. Her face was flushed, and strands of white hair escaped from her bun.

  The bread knife slipped from my fingers as she approached me, landing with a clatter on the cutting board.

  Mom. Something was wrong.

  “Gram?”

  She blinked at me before hurrying over to the living room window. “Your mother isn’t in her bedroom,” she said as she turned away from the window.

  “Tom,” she called as she walked toward the cellar stairs and opened the door. “Tom, have you seen Beth?”

  “Coming, Jane,” I heard Pop holler from the bottom of t
he stairs. “What is it, dear?”

  “I can’t find Elizabeth. She isn’t down there with you, is she?”

  “No,” Pop said, wiping sawdust off his brow.

  “Maybe she wandered out into the backyard again,” I said. Before anyone could respond, I threw open the screen slider and hurried outside. I ran around the entire house shouting her name, but there was no sign of her.

  I climbed the porch steps two at a time and charged upstairs to my bedroom. My hands shook as I scrolled through the numbers on my cell phone, trying to find the one Liam had called from.

  I heard him pick up but was speaking before he had a chance to say anything. “My mother,” I shouted. “She’s missing.”

  After a moment of silence, he finally replied. “I’ll be there in just a moment, Allison. Stay put.”

  I threw the phone down on my bed. Pacing back and forth, I tried to imagine how this could have happened. How could she have left the house without my grandparents even noticing? It just didn’t make sense.

  Pop was on the phone when I came back downstairs, and Gram stood by the slider, wringing her hands, looking out into the darkening backyard. My grandfather hung up and walked over to where Gram stood. He wrapped his arm around her, and she leaned her head into his shoulder. I could see she was trembling.

  “She can’t be far, Jane. I told the police about Beth’s condition—they’ll be here soon. They’ll find her.”

  “I just don’t know how this could have happened,” Gram said in a shaky voice.

  “Mom?” Aunt Jessie walked down the front hall and froze by the side table, looking back and forth between me and my grandparents.

  Gram pulled away from my grandfather and pursed her lips. At Gram’s expression, Aunt Jessie rushed over to her.

  “She’s just...gone,” Gram murmured into my aunt’s shoulder as they held each other for a moment.

  The sound of car doors cut through the tension then, and we were out on the front porch in seconds. A police car was parked in front of the house.

  While the officers spoke with my grandparents, I caught sight of Liam standing on the sidewalk a few yards away. He had his back to me, and it wasn’t until I was just a few feet from him that he turned around.