Zoe Thanatos

by Cierlak, Crystal

  “So what or who else is it?” she asked, hoping to gently prod more information from him. It was unreal to her that a place that sounded so modern and advanced would be ruled by something as archaic as a monarchy. She’d read plenty of history books on English and French monarchies from hundreds of years ago, and even had a brief fascination with Marie Antoinette, the last Queen of France. Taken from her home at a young age and forced to assimilate perfectly into a foreign culture, the little princess from Austria endured ridicule, sparked fascination, and lived in unprecedented luxury before becoming the nation’s scapegoat and later killed. Zoe didn’t envy her at all.

  “The Queen. Kyra Straton.”

  Owyn and Kyra Straton. Zoe imagined they were short and old, stuffy and crisp, not unlike some other monarchies she read about. Evan alleged that he had grown up with the King, which meant that the monarchs were young, possibly close to her age.

  “What is she like?” Zoe wondered aloud as they moved the dining set to the pergola to join the grill. Marie Antoinette came to mind again with her big hair and stiff hooped dress.

  ”Like a Queen,” he muttered.

  “Sounds like you don’t like her,” Zoe observed. “What does she do while the King is ruling over Terra?”

  Evan looked up from the cuts he was making into the plastic covered dining set. “You mean that the other way around?” he asked. His tone surprised her.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The King doesn’t rule Terra. The Queen does.”

  “Well that’s different,” she retorted. She had never heard of such a thing. In all the history books she’d read the King was always the highest rank in a monarchy. If an heir was female and took the title of Queen, her husband would never be titled as King so as to not outrank her. However progressive that may have been in a modern monarchy, she knew it was and would always be a man’s role. Terra, by comparison, wasn’t sounding so bad.

  “How did that come about?” she asked. “I mean that’s so different from countries here that still have a monarchy, whether they rule or not.” They unwrapped the chairs and started bringing them to the dining table one-by-one.

  “That’s just the way it’s always been. The previous Queen and King ruled jointly but she still technically outranked him. When Kyra and Owyn were crowned, Kyra took on all the responsibilities and Owyn just sort of benefited from the spoils of their riches. Truthfully, I don’t think he cares one way or another.”

  “So then if you’re his advisor why does the Queen need you back home? Do you advise for her too?”

  Evan’s back straightened as he put the last chair at the table. “Not officially,” he answered briskly.

  What does that even mean? Judging by the scowl on his face he didn’t seem to like talking about the Queen and King.

  He stopped for a moment and stared down at something in his hands. Though, he looked like he was considering something else all together. “The Queen uses me in other ways,” he finally responded before walking back to the shrinking pile of furniture. Zoe followed him slowly and considered his words. Perhaps it was time to change the subject.

  “So where was the first place you visited outside of home? The first place like here?” That seemed to do the trick. He told her stories of other universes as they went through each piece of furniture and placed them throughout the outdoor space. Lounging chairs with pillows were situated around an in-ground stone fireplace. Chaise lounges were set up beside the pool with umbrellas creating a blanket of shade. Evan installed a small crystal chandelier beneath the center of the pergola, wiring it into the electrical unit built into the structure. By the time all the furniture was set up Evan had told her about no less than four universes and seemed like his usual self again. The stories sounded more like fairytales than personal recollections, and after a while it just seemed easier to pretend that they were fairytales so she didn’t have to wrap her mind around such a complicated subject.

  “I’m going to grab some trash bags for all this stuff,” Zoe said while motioning to the pile of thick plastic. She headed inside and grabbed a large black garbage bag from underneath the sink. When she returned Evan was nowhere to be seen. Sitting on the dining table was the glass device and keys, his shirt draped over one of the chairs. She nearly jumped when his head emerged from underneath the surface of the pool as came up for air.

  “Hope you don’t mind,” he called out to her. “You should get in; the sun isn’t as hot in cold water”

  “Maybe layer,” she replied with a half-smile. She opened the garbage bag with a loud whoosh and bent down to pick up the discarded plastic wrappings. She could hear Evan lackadaisically swimming laps across the length of the pool and considered getting in with him after cleaning up.

  She stood up to tie the ends of one garbage bag when she noticed a black spider the size of a quarter on her stomach bunched in the fabric of her top.

  “Oh my god! Get it off! Get it off!” She screamed and hastily pulled the tank from off her shoulders and threw it to the ground with a shriek.

  “What’s wrong?” Evan climbed out of the pool and ran up beside her, chlorinated water dripping from his body as he looked her over for a visible sign of her torment.

  “There was a HUGE spider on me!” she yelled, pointing to the discarded top on the ground. She winced and took a small step backward as Evan bent down to examine the garment. He picked it up by the hem and shook it out, a dark object falling lifeless from the fabric.

  He picked it up between his fingers and held it in the air in front of her. “Is this the offending item?” he asked.

  When held between his fingers it was clearly a scrap of dark colored tape and not a spider, bug, or any other sort of creature. She was both relieved and embarrassed at the same time, knowing she had screamed like an idiot for no reason whatsoever.

  “Good thing I got here before it stuck to you to death,” he joked, clearly holding back the urge to laugh at her expense.

  Zoe breathed deeply and shook her head. “I thought it was a black widow or something. You probably don’t have those where you’re from but here they can be quite dangerous.” She crossed her arms over her chest before realizing she was standing in her bikini top and shorts, having thrown her tank top to the ground. She held her arms tighter across her chest and considered whether she should retrieve the top and put it back on or just retreat back inside and give in to humiliation.

  He stepped in closer and put his hands on her shoulders as if to comfort her. “It’s okay, Zoe.” His hands moved up and down her arms leaving trails of water on her skin. In an attempt to not look up at him her eyes moved to his chest and saw that he was also topless with droplets of water falling down his toned chest. She looked instead to the redecorated backyard and hoped to god he would stop sensing her discomfort.

  “Thank you for helping with everything. It would have taken me a week on my own”

  “You’re welcome,” he smiled. “How exactly do you plan to plant all those flowers if you’re afraid of spiders?” he asked. She knew he was just teasing her but felt her cheeks blush anyway.

  “I just assumed they would wait and hide in their little spider dens until I was finished,” she joked.

  “A likely story,” he replied softly. His hands moved from her arms to her neck, his thumbs gently tilting her head back so that she was no longer looking at the ground but at him.

  His hands felt intimate on her skin as if they had been welcome there before. Embarrassment forgotten, she knew that she wanted him to kiss her and at once wondered why he hadn’t yet. Maybe there was a reason why?

  “Is there someone besides the Queen and King waiting for you to come home?”

  For a moment he seemed confused by the question, as though it were the last thing he was expecting. “What do you mean?” he asked. His eyes were heavy and potent, searching hers for a meaning behind the question.

  “Someone you love or who loves you?” She wondered if ‘girlfriend’ or ‘wif
e’ would translate.

  His eyes dropped from hers and she felt a sting of disappointment. Did she even have a right to ask? Sure there were moments of closeness in their brief time together and there was no mistaking that he liked her in some capacity, otherwise he wouldn’t be with her. However, there was always the possibility he was simply a nice guy and that she had mistaken that quality for something more personal.

  “Why do you ask?”

  Because I’m dying to know why you haven’t kissed me yet, His thumbs moved softly along the sides of her face, tracing along each side of her jaw. It tingled and warmed at the same time, resonating through every nerve ending down to her neck and shoulders.

  His eyes grew dark, all the charm and ease draining from his face. “Zoe this is very complicated,” he said, settling on that particular word. “I’ve never been involved with someone who wasn’t from Terra. I don’t know how it would work.”

  Zoe felt her face fall as the disappointment grew inside her. She knew he was being rational, practical even, but knowing that did nothing to quell the irrational part of her brain that just wanted to remain in the excited state his presence gave her. “I know,” she responded finally.

  She looked up and saw him was gazing at her intently. His hands were still on her neck and face, holding her close to him. He moved infinitesimally closer to her and her heart felt like it skipped a beat.

  “I don’t know what will happen if I kiss you,” he whispered. He drew himself so close she could smell chlorine in the droplets of water on his skin. The thin yellow fabric of her swimsuit was all that separated her from intimately feeling his skin on hers. She was more than willing to find out.

  The doorbell rang.

  Evan expelled a breath so loudly it sounded like an expletive. He took a step back and she could no longer feel him against her. “That’s not what I meant,” he cursed to himself.

  Disappointment, excitement, and irrational anger; she had never been through so many feelings in so little time. “I’ll be right back,” she excused herself. Reluctantly she turned away from him and headed back into the house towards the front door, each step an angry reminder of what she had just missed out on.

  She swung the door open with unintended force and her anger immediately subsided when she saw it was Eva on the other side.

  “Hi. Hope I’m not interrupting anything,” she remarked, quickly scanning Zoe’s face.

  Zoe shook her head and tried her best to manage her surprise. “Not at all. Come in. We were just hanging out by the pool.” She opened the door widely and tried to regain her composure as Eva entered the house and walked past her. She shut the door and pointed towards the French doors leading out the backyard.

  “Evan’s out there. I’ll order some dinner and join you two in a few minutes.” She checked the time display on a digital clock in the living room and saw that the hours had gone by without notice. Darkness would soon descend on them to close another day.

  “Are you sure? I don’t want to put you out,” Eva protested ever so politely.

  “Of course not! I order out all the time.” She headed towards the kitchen counter where she kept a neat stack of take-out menus. In her peripheral vision she watched Eva enter the backyard and greet her brother, who had since put his shirt back on.

  She picked through a folder of menus while discreetly keeping an eye on Evan and Eva. They seemed to be having some kind of tense conversation and she wondered what it was about. She continued to watch them as she dialed the restaurant and placed a delivery order. Zoe wondered what their relationship was like back home. Evan admitted he hadn’t seen his sister for a while so maybe there was very little relationship at all. Eva was there to bring her brother back home with her, and despite his protestations Zoe suspected that Evan would go with her whether he wanted to or not.

  The delivery confirmed, Zoe hung up the phone and set it down on the counter next to the other menus. What would it mean for her if he left? Evan divulged that he was away more often than he was at home, so did that mean he would inevitably come back? How would that even work? He’d just pop in and out of universes as freely as he wanted, vacillating between Terra and Earth? Even with her limited scope of knowledge about the multiverse it sounded complicated, and like one hell of a long-distance relationship.

  An hour later they were congregated around Zoe’s new outdoor dining table, enjoying a feast of chicken, beans, rice, tortillas, and all manner of vegetables and side dishes. It was enough food for three times as many people. A bottle of wine sat uncorked on the table, Zoe and Eva each with a glass.

  “Zoe you have such a lovely home,” Eva mused. “I just love Spanish and Mediterranean style architecture!”

  “Thank you,” Zoe smiled.

  “Have you travelled to either place?” Eva inquired.

  Zoe felt her cheeks flush as the memory of her visits to Italy and Greece came to mind. “Um, very briefly.” She looked up to find Evan smiling discreetly from across the table.

  Eva’s nose crinkled. “How long is briefly? A week?”

  “More like five or ten minutes,” she admitted before taking a long sip of wine.

  Eva’s eyes shifted from Zoe to Evan and recognition dawned. “No. That’s not possible.”

  “What?” Evan asked, his eyes fixed pointedly on his sister.

  “I mean it’s literally not possible. It’s been tried before and each time the person from Earth either couldn’t do it or ended up with nasty radiation burns. Zoe looks perfectly fine.”

  Zoe looked from Eva to Evan, trying to find an answer in either one of their faces. Brother and sister looked strangely at each other Zoe wondered if they could read each other’s minds.

  “Were the effects immediate in each case?” he asked.

  Eva nodded. “Yes. That’s why we don’t do it. Are you sure nothing happened to you, Zoe? No strange side effects like rashes or burns? Nothing out of the ordinary?”

  Zoe could think of nothing. “No, I’m fine.”

  “She did pass out,” Evan remarked to himself. “The first time I thought it was just the circumstances of the situation. The second time was in Greece after we had already transported to a few places. I just thought she was exhausted.” His eyes looked to Zoe contemplatively.

  “Hmm,” Eva mumbled. “Strange. I never heard of anyone just passing out. At least not anyone from Earth. I knew a girl from Terra who passed out when she first came here, but that was different.”

  Zoe had no difficulty remembering everything she felt as Evan took her around the world, and none of it was bad. She felt better than she had in a long time. Maybe it didn’t affect everyone? Perhaps she was lucky.

  The conversation quieted down as each of them finished eating and drinking and soon the sky grew dark. Bright pocks of golden light illuminated the pergola around them creating what Zoe hoped was a romantic setting. She wished it was just her and Evan sitting there; completely at ease and basking in the afterglow of what she devised would have been a kiss to end all kisses.

  She felt of the corners of her mouth perking up into a small smile. Her eyes moved from the golden lights of the chandelier to Evan, whose own green eyes were staring heartily back at her. She wondered if he, too, was considering their missed opportunity. There was no mistaking the fact that had Eva not rang the doorbell Zoe would have been locked in his embrace feeling his mouth against hers.

  “I really am sorry, you two,” Eva’s voice broke Zoe’s concentration. She looked at her and frowned, seeing what she understood to be an apologetic smile on Eva’s pretty face. “Clearly something has been happening between you and I’m afraid I’m just the bearer of bad news.” Eva looked to Zoe first, and then her brother.

  “What are you saying, Evadine?” Evan asked.

  Eva sighed, looking as if she would take no pleasure in the words she was about to deliver. “I tried to put this off for as long as possible but I’m afraid there’s no more time. Evan, the Stratons are demanding you come ho
me immediately. I tried to get more time for you but you know how impatient they can be. Something is going on and neither Owyn nor Kyra will tell me what it is.” She looked pleadingly at her brother.

  Evan’s eyes looked away, his face setting an unhappy resolution. After a long moment he nodded, looking again to his sister to pass on some silent confirmation. Zoe watched their exchange, anger and disappointment returning to her chest. She decided that she loathed the Queen and King of Terra, hated them for their incessant meddling and for using Eva to bring Evan back home. She knew it was irrational, but she didn’t care.

  Eva picked up the napkin that was lying in her lap and put it on her empty plate. She looked to Zoe and attempted a smile. “Thank you for dinner. I enjoyed meeting you and sincerely hope I will see you again soon,” she affirmed. There was something about the way she said it that made Zoe believe she was telling the truth but it did little to subdue her own feelings of resentment.

  Eva stood from the table and looked down at her brother. “I’ll be waiting for you at the gate.” She touched her hand affectionately to Zoe’s shoulder as she left the table, showing herself out the front door.

  Finally it was just the two of them again, but it was not nearly the way Zoe wanted it to be. The light from the chandelier no longer seemed romantic and the atmosphere between them had declined. She didn’t like it. She wasn’t ready for their time to come to an end and yet there was seemingly nothing she could do about it. How could she have expected any differently?

  “Thank you, Evan, for all of your help,” she asserted. She picked up each of their discarded plates and turned for the kitchen, feeling Evan’s eyes on her as she left the table. By the time she placed the dishes in the sink he appeared behind her carrying their glasses and the bottle of wine. He placed each carefully on the granite countertop and stood there in silence. Apparently he had no idea what to say either.

  Zoe shrugged at him and gave a smile she knew was insincere, but she could hardly produce a real one. As short as their time together had been they had experienced so much. She’d woken up a different person, an opportunity she would not have had if he hadn’t been on that island to catch her. It was her responsibility to live that day better than the one before, and it would be her responsibility every day hence forth. But she couldn’t deny that he was at least partially responsible for the opportunity for a fresh start by virtue of saving her life.