Sonder (Rise of the Omni Book 1)
Page 15
“I know, I know.” He comforts her and they continue up the long set of stairs and back into the hospital. “Where do you want to go next?”
Chapter 21
Stepping back through the byway is something Elara insisted she must do on her own. She walks down the familiar halls once again, this time knowing exactly where to go, although certain things about the place have been technology advanced since she was here last. The most notable changes are the vibrant colors now covering the walls, instead of the previous blinding white, and the too tall counter at the information desk. In other words, the hospital now looks just as it did the first time she visited.
She follows the signs in the large building to the customer service desk, this time going around and behind the two workers manning the counter. One is a middle-aged woman and the other a younger man, both tapping away at their computer keyboards. Neither looks up from their work as Elara approaches.
“They’re giving out free donuts in the lounge if you want to go grab some,” Elara says to the pair.
The typing stops and they look up at her, their interest piqued. “You lost?” the middle-aged woman asks, looking Elara up and down with a disdainful glare.
“Night shift. I got held over, and 13C tossed up on my scrubs. I was about to leave, but was thinking I’d be nice and tell you about the donuts.” She mimics the woman’s glare and turns to walk away. “But I see you aren’t interested, so fuck me, I guess.”
The man jumps up from his seat. “I don’t know about you, Beth, but I’m starving.” He looks over at Elara, “Would you mind covering for a sec’?” He pulls his access card from the computer and takes off toward the break room without a second glance. The woman’s face fills with guilt, and her eyes ask the same question.
“Go ahead, I got it. There’s fresh coffee, too. But my card is in my locker downstairs. I’ll have to go get it.” Elara turns again to leave.
“Oh, just use mine, I won’t be long!” The woman takes her zippered jacket from the back of the chair and puts it on, pointing at her desk with her access card still in the computer. She walks away toward the promised donuts and coffee, tossing an appreciative “Thank you!” over her shoulder as she leaves.
Elara sits down and immediately starts pulling up copies of documents and birth certificates on file. She types in keywords and locates her own records. She adds in a change to the certificate, amending her birth name to reflect Elara instead of Calista. As she’s finishing up, a voice comes over the desk, startling her. “Um, excuse me?”
“Yes, can I help you?” Elara responds, concerned someone may figure out she doesn’t belong.
“I was hoping you could help me with some information?” The girl’s voice is oddly familiar.
“Possibly. What’s your question?”
“Well, I’m trying to find a record of my birth and I believe I was born in this hospital.” The girl hesitates, then says, “I was hoping you could check your records… if they go back that far. I’m nineteen.” Fingers grip the counter's edge, and the girl tries to pull herself up far enough to see.
Trying to sound like she belongs, Elara asks bluntly for her I.D. A hand reaches over the counter and supplies her with her own license. Realizing who is on the other side, she pretends to type and buys herself some time with a question. “Your mother’s name?”
Elara quickly attempts to recall how the conversation went previously, afraid that if she says the wrong thing, she could cause serious damage to her own future. She curses herself for not having paid more attention the first time around.
Silence returns her question and she gets impatient.
“You gonna tell me the name or what?” Fear strikes Elara now, unsure if interacting directly with herself will cause an issue with time. All the movies and books she’s read come screaming back into her head, and the endless possibilities play in her mind.
“Oh, right, yes. Um,my birth, I mean my mother’s name is Io Belmont. I-O–B-E-L-M-O-N-T,” her other self says, spelling out the full name.
“I have your records. The birth certificate shows no father listed. I can print out a copy of the records for you, but your mother is no longer at this facility.” She realizes she might have said too much and tries to recover her mistake. “Of course, you already knew that.” A printer hums in the distance and Elara slides an envelope over the top of the counter. She finishes her name change, saving the information to the system and discretely closes out of the window so the main menu is back on the screen.
“What do you mean, ‘no longer in this facility’?” her other self asks.
“I can’t release that information, Ma’am. You’re only entitled to your own records, no one else’s.”
Elara looks toward the end of the hall and sees the male worker making his way slowly back to the desk. She jumps up from the chair and quickly leaves, her heart pounding out of her chest. She walks away hoping feverishly that everything she said was the same as her previous encounter.
She wonders again why her birth certificate doesn’t list her father’s name, which she now suspects her mother knew, and as these questions bounce around in her head, the conversation she overheard between the two Omnis begins to make more sense.
Recalling the hushed conversation between Tristen and Kita in the parking garage, Elara realizes the two must have taken her and created her birth certificate themselves, which explains why her mother’s signature was not on the certificate and her father not listed.
Is that why Kita appeared to have recognized them? But if Kita and Tristen were the ones to have named her, they should not have been able to make the connection between her birth name and the name she now goes by. The question only grows more confusing when Elara remembers that is was not she who the pair seemed to recognize, but Denton.
She exits the hospital out the rear employee entrance and cuts through the crowded parking lot. Her designation is an abandoned guard shack that sits disheveled on the edge of the concrete pavement. The door grinds along the dirty floor as it opens. The metal frame is rusted and covered in cobwebs, and it takes a shove with all her weight to move it. It’s thick glass insert is layered with a heavy film of dirt, and her fingers leave evidence wherever she touches. Old weathered cones sit outside the shack, also long forgotten, with grass growing between them.
She turns to close the door behind her and the shack falls away from under Elara’s feet the moment the latch clicks shut. Feeling more confident in her abilities, she smiles from ear to ear as the now familiar surroundings of the island appear before her and she sees Denton’s handsome face.
The beauty of the island, the place where all times meet, still leaves her in awe. Trees sway in the wind, some with curious faces listening to their conversation. A sense of relief fills her when she realizes this time her travel did not include ending up sopping wet. She also ponders on the sense of relief and excitement which floods her at seeing Denton again.
“How’d it go?” he asks.
“Um…well, I think. I got it changed. So that’s good,” she says, hoping to avoid having to discuss the finer details.
“What does that mean? What else happened?” She admits to running into her other self while still keeping her explanation vague, but assures Denton that her past self was not aware of who was on the other side of that counter.
They walk and talk, heading toward a clearing at the edge of the stream. A small cottage stands erected in the center, mundane and rudimentary in design. Denton has been continuing his work on the shelter, making a safe place for them to stay until they can decide their next step.
They sit down around a small fire pit near the cottage. Thick logs laid on their side circle the pit and the couple lean in to warm themselves. It’s not a cold day really, but the heat of the fire takes a bite out of a chilly wind.
“What do you want to do next?” Denton asks, restarting the flow of conversation.
“I think I need to go back, again. I want to do more than just
change my name. If I can do what I just did, and nothing in my timeline has actually been affected, why not? I want to stop that shit from ever happening to begin with.” She uses a long stick to prod at the embers beneath the flame.
“Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”
“Given the opportunity, I think I’ve got to at least try. Shouldn’t I?” Distraught, Elara looks to Denton to help her decide what’s right.
“No, I don’t think you should. I can’t imagine what you went through, but I can say I wouldn’t change who you are right now. Do you think if you went back and changed what was done, that you’d be where you are right now? Would you be the same person?” He scoots closer enough for their knees to touch and clasps her hands in his.
“I know what happened ruined me. It made me dirty and disgusting. It took my dignity and continues to affect me to this day. I know that I wish it had never happened. I wish I could forget about it and move on, but I can’t. Why shouldn’t I use my ability to take that away?” Tears well up in her eyes and her voice waivers as she attempts to convince him.
“Are you saying this to convince me? Or yourself?” He pulls her into an embrace, his words soft and calm. “What happened to you wasn’t your fault. You didn’t deserve any of it, and what some bastard did to you does not make you dirty. Do you understand me? I want to make that clear, Elara. It wasn’t your fault, and it doesn’t taint you or make you dirty because of it.” His words hang in the air as she buries her head into his chest.
“I know what you’re saying, and logically it makes sense, but I don’t feel that way. It doesn’t make it not hurt, it doesn’t make me feel less disgusting. I want to go back and stop myself from ever having gone to that concert!” Her words catch in her throat and she shakes with sobs. Memories flood her mind and her anger reaches the surface.
“If that’s what you wish to do, then I’ll support your decision.” He puts his hand on her head and holds her tight to his chest as she cries. He squeezes her protectively and places his head atop hers.
He breathes in heavily, his heartbeat sounding strong through his shirt. Her sobs are muffled by the fabric, and as Denton holds her to him, she feels a sense of comfort wash over her.
He puts his hand under her chin. Tilting her wet face up to his, his mouth meets hers and they kiss for the first time. Her mind focuses on the feeling of his full lips and the connection between them hits like a tidal wave. Time falls away and Elara knows they’re in this moment together.
Her hand slides under his shirt and against his skin. She squeals as he lifts her into the air, her hips pulled firmly against his as he lays her body down on the ground.
This is different, and the consent she exudes exhilarates her. There’s no concern for anything and no one else impedes on their desire for each other as they continue. She senses Denton feels the same without him having to say a word.
The leaves rustle in the wind and pattering sounds echo in the distance. Thunder rumbles low across the forest, and they gather themselves by dousing the fire and retiring to the cottage Denton has worked so hard to make livable. Closing the door behind them, Elara looks him in the eyes and he walks her backward into the bedroom. Her knees buckle as the back of her legs strike a bed frame and she lands on the down bedding.
Chapter 22
Morning invades the room as they wake at nearly the same time to light streaming in between sheer curtains. Denton’s chest heaves steadily with his breath as he watches Elara open her eyes, her head still resting on his shoulder.
No words are exchanged as they both find clothes tossed in all corners of the cramped room, pausing often from their efforts to get ready for the day to kiss or touch each other. Neither wants to break the spell of the night before.
Pulling a patterned caftan over her head, Elara ties her hair in a messy knot and slips shoes on her feet. He follows her out, heading for a proper basin.
With no reason to rush, she ambles, but Denton doesn’t catch up to her right away. He stays back giving himself a moment to admire her from a distance, and allowing her that same time to work through the hesitations in her head on her own.
The clear water is cold as she dips her feet into it and Elara shivers. She extends her hand to lace her fingers with his when he approaches. Together they wade in the stream until they’re fully submerged, their clothes billowing around their bodies.
Everything falls away around them all of a sudden and nothing but silence fills the air. The clear water is replaced with waves of corn, and the crops lay flat on the ground where they’ve come through. A section of the earth looks to have been dug in an obvious pattern from a tractor having planted the crop at the beginning of the season, making them mindful of their steps.
“You’re getting good at this, I didn’t even know this was possible,” Denton acknowledges.
“I guess it’s an Omni thing?” She shrugs.
“It definitely is. There’s no way a regular Traveler could manifest another end of a portal in the middle of nowhere.” He looks around, smirking at their surroundings.
“Hey, I resent that. This isn’t in the middle of nowhere just because it’s in the country. You, City Boy,” she says with a playful nudge.
“City Boy? You forget who you’re talking to, Kid.” They continue to tease as they walk toward the booming music of the concert.
After parting the crop, they finally see the parking lots surrounding the stage and cleared field. Hundreds of people are walking from their cars toward the concert, and traffic guards are guiding drivers to lots farther away as the ones closest fill up.
A nicely-dressed man smoking a cigarette and leaning against a car stands out to them as dirt clings to the damp hems of his pants.
As he turns in their direction, Elara makes eye contact with his sunken dark eyes and sharp-featured face. She immediately knows who he is. “Shit!” she whispers to Denton and grabs his arm. She pulls Denton back with her in the direction they came, smacking the corn out of their way as they run into the field. Over and over she chastises herself for being so stupid.
The sound of heavy footfalls overlay the distant music behind them, and they hear the rustling of a pursuer. They make it to the clearing where they first arrived and turn just in time to see her father break through to face them.
“I told that ugly fool to get rid of you from the beginning!” he screams at her, his breath barely affected from the run. Elara watches as he advances on her, his face hot with anger and pure hatred. “Figures he couldn’t even manage that!”
Denton steps in front of Elara, his arm extending across her body as if to protect her. He stares directly into the face of the foul man.
“How could you?” Elara exclaims, trying hard to keep her voice from shaking as her body does. “You’re my father, doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“Your father? Maybe so, but you’re a disgusting mutt, a half-breed of the worst kind.” He spits on the ground, no longer moving toward them, but looking her up and down with distaste in his eyes. “This world is meant to be ours. We’re meant to be worshiped like the gods we are. Your mother was just a means to an end. A pitiful peace offering to hold a treaty until we could come back stronger than ever. I never wanted to be with that wench.”
“You didn’t love her? After all that time?” Horror fills Elara’s mind as she recalls the beautiful woman from the market, full of hope with a new baby on the way and such happiness in her face. Her father having deceived her mother like that broke Elara’s heart. “Did you put her in that ward?” she asks as realization hits her. Disgust for the man in front of her deepens.
“She gave me no choice; she was becoming stronger when she got pregnant with you. She was no longer listening to me, and my powers had no effect on her anymore. It was bad enough living with a Light Fae, but when she began using her ability again, I seized my opportunity. The treaty said I had to marry her, it didn’t say I had to live with the cunt,” he adds with an evil grin.
“We were decimated in the last war. The light court has a soft spot for the pitiful humans. We wanted to rule, to continue in the glory we’re owed. They felt bad for the way the humans were treated, and so we went to war. We set out a disease to take their numbers down, but it backfired. To save our numbers, we signed a peace treaty, forcing one of the dark king’s sons to marry one of the light king’s daughters. Surprise, surprise, I was picked for the deed. By the time the black plague had run its course, humans forgot about us. We were reduced to myth or lore,” he finished with a snarl on the last few words.
“But, why? Why conceive, if you didn’t even like my mother?” Elara studies the man before her, trying to find any semblance of herself in his wicked features.