Melissa's Quest

by Blair Drake

  Then she understood. The talisman brought her to her last physical home.

  She wrapped her arms around her chest as the pain tightened against her breath. It had been a long time since she’d felt like she had a home. So, the talisman brought her to the home where she lived as a small child.

  This was the last time and place she remembered seeing her mother. What kind of a mother loved you and then left you?

  Now that she understood what this place was, she slowly walked through it again. Her fingers drifted across the walls as she wondered if somebody else lived here now. Nothing was recognizable. She stood by a window and looked out at the street but didn’t know the area. Once again, no vehicles drove by; no people walked by; no animals ran past. She was caught in the 2-D world still.

  She asked a voice in her head, “How do I get out of this flat world so I can interact with real people?”

  “That is your—”

  “—lesson,” she snapped. “I get it.”

  The trouble was, she didn’t get it. She didn’t have a clue what to do to get through this mess; she just knew that whatever was going on was not working out so well.

  Back upstairs she returned to her bedroom and stopped, surveying everything. Was this her actual bedroom, preserved as it was last used by Melissa, or was this some other little girl’s room now?

  This was definitely a young child’s bed, and it was a place to stay, to lie down, and to rest. It wasn’t bad. She picked up the little stuffed cat toy and tucked it under her chin as she lay down, dropping her head to the pillow. Had she really slept in this bed? She would’ve been—what—two or three years old maybe? She was four at the most.

  It appeared to be the room of a child who was well loved, but Melissa didn’t remember that stage of her life. She closed her eyes, curled up in a ball, and tried to sleep. With the door closed, she let Winter run down to the bed and explore.

  Just like not needing to go to the bathroom, not feeling hungry, or not feeling thirsty, she wasn’t tired. Her mind just wouldn’t stop; everything just ran in circles. She watched Winter scurry around the room and climb the small bookshelf.

  Somehow she had to figure out how to reconnect with people, get out of this flat world, and make it home again.

  She heard an odd sound at the window. She hopped to her feet and raced over, hoping to see a vehicle arrive. But instead the black cloud raced across the other houses toward her. It had found her somehow.

  Shit. Was it alerted every time she used the portal? Maybe it just took time to catch up to her current location.

  Regardless, it was coming after her. Even as she watched, it seemed to lock on her and head in her direction. She snatched up her talisman, trying not to panic as the black cloud raced even faster in her direction.

  Didn’t it have anyone else to torment? Instantly, she felt bad. The last thing she wanted was for that evil-looking cloud to go after any of her friends.

  But neither did she want it getting its clutches on her.

  She held the talisman tight to her chest, closed her eyes, created the portal, and called out to Winter, “Let’s go, buddy. Time to go home.”

  Winter sat up on his back legs and looked at her. She left the window to scoop him up. “Sorry, maybe we can stay longer at the next place.”

  With her mouse friend safely tucked into her pocket, she whispered to her talisman, “Take Winter and me someplace where the darkness can’t reach us.”

  The mauve portal instantly appeared, and she laughed. “This is getting easier and easier.”

  She stepped through the ring. Instantly, a blast of icy wind surrounded her, followed by the cold. An intense chill slammed into her skin and ate its way through to her muscles underneath. She opened her eyes and cried out. Icy tears formed in the corner of her eyes and promptly froze.

  She was right back on the ice field, the same damn place she started from.

  The same place where she picked up Winter.

  Wonderful.

  Chapter 8

  “I’ve come full circle.” And somehow, standing in the frozen wasteland where she first, felt a whole lot more appropriate this time. “So, if this is a safe place away from the darkness, that might explain why I landed here first.”

  This time no voice spoke, but she felt almost a silent pat of approval on her head.

  She smiled. “So, the hand I felt pushing me out of the circle on the rooftop maybe wasn’t trying to hurt me but trying to direct me to a safe place?”

  She waited.

  And there it was.

  The second pat of approval. Feeling much better, she looked around, no longer terrified of the ice field before her. She could get out of this anytime she wanted to. But what she really wanted was to figure out just what she was supposed to learn so she could return home.

  She stood in the circle and slowly turned. “If this is a safe place, everywhere I travel from here will jump me into that two-dimensional world. Yet, does this jumping point also return me to my original 3-D world?” She waited intently, trying to assess if anybody would respond.

  “You need to ask the question they can answer,” Melissa said to herself. “Will this portal lead me home?”

  “Of course. All portals could.”

  Right. However, if all portals could, and she still couldn’t get home, she was missing a very big lesson here. Something she must learn before being allowed home.

  “If this is a safe place, then every place I’ve jumped to has been into a two-dimensional world and were practice jumps. So, is this a safe place to put into practice what I have learned?”

  A smile whispered in her mind. Such an odd feeling too.

  She’d take that as a yes. “So, I’m here where I belong. This is a place where the darkness can’t get me, and while I’m on this side of what happened on the rooftop, whatever I do can’t affect the real world, correct?”

  There was a chuckle.

  “Was that a yes or no?” Then she decided it was likely a yes. “So…”

  She was getting an idea about what was happening. She didn’t understand the whys, but she was more concerned with the hows—about how to get back first.

  She frowned, thinking about what else was a full circle—her talisman. She pulled it out of her pocket to find another light was dark, and the one next to it was fading. Less than one-third of the lights still shone the lavender hue.

  “That shouldn’t matter because I’m in the safe space, so as long as I stay here, no more lights will go dark on my talisman.”

  But instead of the laughter, a chuckle, or a pat, there was almost a whisper of fear sliding through her.

  She frowned “So that’s a no?”

  That meant she only had limited time to figure this out and confirmed the portal use burned through the lights as well as the passage of time. It was like a surge of power, where the lights dimmed faster that way. So, she needed to stay put and not use the talisman for portals until she was sure she would have enough to get home.

  What would happen if her talisman stopped working? She stared at it.

  Then it hit her.

  “When it runs out of lights, does that mean it will no longer work? Then I can’t create portals which means I can’t get home?” Again, a shiver of fear ran through her. She pinched the bridge of her nose and whispered, “Oh, crap.”

  Because now time and physical energy were important—and she was flagging—she couldn’t help but think of the others. She sent another thought to Annalise. I hope you are doing okay. Stay strong. You can do this.

  At least Melissa hoped Annalise could.

  Melissa slipped two fingers into the other pocket of her blazer and stroked Winter’s back.

  “Did I have to come back to return Winter?” she asked in low tones. She’d be devastated to lose him, but he was home where he belonged. Right?

  Not hearing an answer, her heart heavy, she slowly lowered Winter to the frozen snow beside her. “There you go, little one. Thank you
so much for keeping me company. You had no choice in the matter before, and you handled it all like a trooper, but now it’s your choice.”

  He sat up and wrinkled his nose at her, then ran forward a few steps and disappeared onto the ice. Teary but happy to give him his life back when hers was such a mess, she took a deep breath and stepped away. “Have a good life, Winter.”

  Resolutely refusing to let the tears fall that were threatening to drop, she sat in the same spot she’d arrived in, realizing the cold wasn’t touching her. She could feel the substance of the snow and ice with her hand. She could feel the wetness, but there was very little sensation on her fingers...as if she was numb to it...as if she was missing one very important aspect. Senses! Her pants were soaked when she arrived here the first time, but had she lost sensation the longer she was here, or did she not feel it because her mind now knew this wasn’t the same experience? Could she will the cold away? Was something dulling her senses? Still, she was cold, so it’s not like whatever was happening was perfect. So bizarre.

  With that thought, she closed her eyes, held her talisman next to her heart, and said, “Talisman, I want to go back home. People there need me. I don’t know how much I can do to help, but I need to do what I can for them.”

  She opened her eyes and looked for the portal, and there it was in front of her, same as it was before. Rather than get up, she stuck her head forward and looked through to the other side. It was not the school. She pulled her head back, waited a moment, closed her eyes again, and said, “You don’t understand. I get I was to come here because it’s safe. I get you’re trying to keep me safe. It was probably Hettie’s idea, and I love you too, Hettie. Now I need to go back to help. Surely, if I can open a portal, I can be of some help to somebody there. I know there are rules I don’t understand, but if I’m living in a two-dimensional world, how am I to understand the rules?”

  She opened her eyes, and the portal was still there. This time she stood up, took a deep breath, and stepped through. But she held one arm behind her, still connected to the other side in case she changed her mind. However, here she was. On the front steps of the school. With a joyous fist pump, she pulled all the way through to find she truly stood at the front doors.

  Would they open? She didn’t know if she was in the real world or the 2-D world, but she was here where she wanted to be. She opened the double front door, stepped inside, and smiled. She was back at the school where she belonged.

  Except…for the lack of sound. Usually there was always music or something in the background. Sometimes the noises sounded more like chimes. She’d questioned Hettie about it once, and she just smiled gently and said, “Don’t worry about it. Some things are just part of the natural order.”

  At the tim,e Melissa wondered what the heck that meant, but she hadn’t cared enough to keep questioning. Now she wondered if that sound might have something to do with the protective fence she saw all around the outside.

  Emboldened with her new knowledge, she walked down the hallway, hoping against hope she’d see something, someone, but nobody was here. The headmaster’s office door was closed. She opened it and stepped inside. It was empty.

  In dismay, she asked, “Really? Am I still in the flat world?” Her voice echoed hollowly around the room. She spun and raced toward Headmistress Hettie’s office. That door was also closed. Melissa opened it and rushed inside. There was no sign of Hettie, but the huge cat Melissa spent so much time with was curled up, looking at her with an unblinking glare.

  She approached cautiously. “Gideon?”

  He blinked.

  She leaped forward with a cry of joy, grabbed the cat, and hugged the solid form close.

  Gideon didn’t seem to mind. As soon as he was in her arms, his engine kicked in, heavy and fierce. It brought tears to her eyes. She buried her face in his thick fur and just cuddled him. “Dear heaven, Gideon, thank you, thank you, and thank you for being you.”

  Leaving Winter behind was brutal, but it was the right thing to do.

  Just then she heard a squeak, and something ran up her leg. She jumped back and cried out, “Winter? You came with me?”

  He ran up to sit on her shoulder. Gideon’s purring rumbled upward at the same time Winter’s squeaks tickled her ear. She tilted her hand to stroke Winter. Her heart overflowed with happiness. “I’m so happy to see you here, Winter.”

  She glanced down at Gideon to realize his engine had stopped, his tail twitching with sharp jerks. Then she caught sight of his gaze. It was locked with beady intensity on her shoulder.

  “Oh, no you don’t, Gideon,” she warned. “This is Winter. Winter, meet Gideon.” She took a breath and shifted the feline’s great weight so he didn’t have such a perfect view of Winter. “Now you two behave. Gideon, Winter is not food.”

  The weird sound in the back of the tabby’s throat made it clear he wasn’t getting the message.

  In a stern voice, she tried again, but he wasn’t listening. She groaned and leaned her head back. “I hadn’t expected this problem.”

  From the warmth at her neck she figured Winter had settled down. “Gideon, I’m delighted to have you back, but please don’t hurt Winter. He’s my friend too.”

  At that, Gideon’s gaze shifted, going from a predator on the hunt to one of complete disgust. He shifted and sprawled across her chest, his engine back on, rolling through the room.

  He was the only thing keeping her sanity in the first few months at school. Right now, he appeared just as happy to see her as she was to see him.

  Finally, she eased back, slightly stroking him and scratching behind his ears, his eyes crossed with joy as he lay sprawled across her chest. “Get used to his presence, Gideon. There’s no way I’m letting you go—either of you.”

  Just then she thought she heard a noise behind her. She jumped up, grabbing for Winter as an afterthought. Gideon jumped and tried to escape her arms, but she clutched him, ignoring his sharp claws. She stared at the door and spun around but found no sign of anyone in the room. “Who’s there?”

  No answer.

  “Is someone there?”

  Again, no answer.

  Keeping Gideon tight in her arm, she walked to the door and opened it which opened easily. Frowning, she stepped outside in the hallway. It was empty.

  “Hello? Is anyone here?”

  Nothing.

  Unnerved, she marched up the stairs to her room, carrying both pets. At least she could change out of these clothes and figure out what the heck was going on here. She passed no one on the way, but…she had Gideon and Winter. At least Gideon was calmer and had no intention of leaving her.

  It was a good thing because she had no intention of letting him go—of letting either of them go. At her room, she pushed the door open and walked inside. Everything was as she left it.

  She kicked the door closed and gently dropped Gideon to the bed. Winter ran down her arm and jumped onto her desk. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to have Winter here. He added a wonderful sense of rightness to her world.

  “Gideon, do you know what’s going on?”

  He just stared at her with that same unblinking stare. She pulled out her talisman and showed it to him, but he didn’t even blink. She closed her eyes, held the talisman close to her face, and said, “I want Gideon to talk.”

  She opened her eyes and peeked out. He just stared at her, with a big, lazy, and so-very-Gideon look on his face. “Gideon, can you talk?”

  It was almost as if he raised an eyebrow and said, What are you talking about, girl?

  He didn’t say a word. His mouth was closed, and he continued to stare at her. With a sigh, she sat beside him, laid full length on her bed, so grateful to be in her space again. She reached over, picked up the cat, draping him across her belly and chest. As long as she kept loving him, he would keep loving her. She knew the needs of old animals were simple, but she always found them wonderful companions. With Gideon sprawled on her chest, and Winter sitt
ing on her desk as if he claimed the space, she could admit she was content.

  But she couldn’t stay here, not when it was obvious she was still not in her world. Being in the ice field and now knowing how to open a portal allowed her to get this far, but how did she get from here to the next level where she belonged? And, if everyone else was doing a similar challenge, how could she find and help them? Did they have to do it alone, or could they help each other?

  “That is your lesson.”

  She frowned. “Where have you been?”

  “Here.”

  She groaned in frustration. Gideon sat up and stared down at her. Instantly, she quieted her tone and smiled up at him, gently brushing down the fur along his back. “I’m sorry, Gideon. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  He lay across her chest again, and she stroked him like she always had, loving the contact with a warm body. Talking to Gideon like he was a person, she told him all she missed about the school and how she didn’t understand what she’d done wrong. She couldn’t stop the words from pouring out of her mouth “I just don’t know what to do. How do I get from this 2-D world to the 3-D world?”

  Then it struck her, and she sat up slowly.

  Gideon stared at her with a puzzled frown. He was 3-D. Was she in the 3-D world? How else would she have picked up Gideon? Then again, she had Winter from the 2-D world. She turned to find him sleeping, curled in her sweater on her desk.

  How could she find out for sure?

  She wanted to search the school for students, teachers, Headmaster Auster, and even Hettie. However, it was really not necessary. On any other day of the year, she could she walk the halls and hear everybody, or at least somebody, inside the school building, so she wasn’t in the 3-D world. Yet the presence of the 3-D Winter and the 3-D Gideon had something to do with the animals themselves.