The Protectors: Book 1 in the Protectors Saga

by P. M. Dooling

Chapter 5

  Avery landed hard on Orcatia once again. She staggered forward and would have been able to remain on her feet if it weren’t for a pesky tree root sticking up out of the earth. As her foot hit the root she knew she was headed straight for the ground. At least she had time to prepare her body this time, placing her hands out in front of her.

  Once she was on the ground, Avery rolled over and sprang up quickly, making sure she was out of the way when Jade came pummeling through.

  Jade came flying out of the gateway even faster and harder than Avery had. She landed face first on the ground without even a chance to stumble around and try to get her footing.

  “Son…of…a…bitch!” Jade shouted, lifting herself up on her arms.

  Avery thought it appropriate that Jade’s last words on Earth would also be her first words on Orcatia, however inappropriate those words might be.

  Before Jade had the chance to fully lift herself up onto her hands and knees, Gumptin came crashing out of the gateway, landing directly on Jade.

  “Get the hell off of me!” Jade yelled at Gumptin.

  In an effort to prevent Jade from physically picking Gumptin up and tossing him off of her, Avery ran over and helped Gumptin roll off of Jade. Once Avery had managed to help Gumptin stand up, Jade was on her feet in one cat-like move. For a moment, Avery thought Jade may try and smack Gumptin, but instead she just brushed the dirt off of her black tank and jeans, grumbling to herself as she did so.

  “Thank you, Jade,” Gumptin said as he took off down the overgrown path which led to the main road, “that was a much softer landing than I had been expecting. I suppose you are good for something after all.”

  This time Jade did make a leap for Gumptin, but Avery grabbed on to Jade’s shoulder tightly, holding her back.

  “Just let it go.” Avery told her, “You obviously made it sixteen years on this planet without killing him, so just do me a favor and try to get through today.”

  Jade very reluctantly agreed, and they followed Gumptin out on to the main road.

  Once they reached the road, Avery noticed a dozen or so fresh horse shoe impressions in the mud that hadn’t been there before they had left.

  “Hey, Gumptin, look.” Avery said, pointing out the impressions in the road.

  “Yes,” said Gumptin, barely taking any notice of it, “by the types of shoe imprints and number of horses, those were left by members of the King’s army, nothing to worry about.”

  The fact that there was a King didn’t surprise Avery in the slightest. From everything she had heard and seen of Orcatia, it was exactly the type of place to have some sort of royalty ruling.

  Gumptin continued, “We tried to keep word of your deaths a secret, but with the Emperor and his followers boasting about the death of the Protectors all over Orcatia, whispers began forming everywhere. When King Draven heard the news, he sent some of his men to watch over the village in case the Emperor decided to attack. After a few days the soldiers left, but they return once a day to make sure everything is alright. Now that you are back, there will be no need for the King’s men to check on the village anymore.”

  The name Draven sounded familiar to Avery, but just like with everything else, she had no idea why.

  “Wait a second,” Jade spoke up after listening to everything Gumptin had to say, “we don’t follow this King do we?”

  Avery knew exactly why Jade had asked. Jade had never been one for following orders, either from parents, teachers, police, especially not from Gumptin, and Avery knew not from any King either. Avery wondered how she had ever been able to get Jade to do anything she had ordered her to do when she was leader, or even how she’d get Jade to follow her this time around.

  “Havyn technically falls into the Nightfell Kingdom,” Gumptin explained, “which belongs to King Draven, but the Protectors are a law unto themselves. Every King in every province recognizes your authority.” He caught himself, then said, “Although, not all of them agree with it. You will most likely have issues with a few of them in the future…if you live long enough.”

  Avery giggled, “That’s not a problem for Jade. She’s use to people in charge having issues with her.”

  Jade reached over and smacked Avery across the arm which only made Avery giggle harder.

  “What’s King Draven like?” Avery asked through her giggling.

  “He is a good king.” Gumptin answered.

  Avery waited for him to elaborate, but that was all he offered her, “Well, have we ever met him?” Avery questioned, not content to let the subject drop yet.

  “No, you have never met.” Gumptin’s short answers were beginning to get on Avery’s nerves. It was the first time since she had met him that she actually wanted him to talk more.

  Avery persisted, “Don’t you think it’s weird that the Protectors have never met the King of the kingdom that they live in?”

  “Yes.” Was all Gumptin said.

  Avery grunted in frustration and looked over at Jade who just shrugged her shoulders as if to say, “Don’t look at me to try and deal with him.”

  They were content to walk the rest of the way to the village in silence. Avery let her mind wander, mainly to King Draven and why Gumptin was being so tight-lipped about him. She wanted to push Gumptin further on the issue, but knew if she did he would only clam up again. Plus, she didn’t know enough about Gumptin to know if he was even hiding anything important or just being evasive for annoyance sake. Instead of dwelling on it any further, Avery looked down at her muddied and scuffed burgundy Doc Martens and wished she had chosen to wear her cheap no name sneakers that morning instead.

  The familiar sounds of the bustling village, distant voices, the whinny of horses, a hammer banging against something metal, took Avery’s mind off of her messed up shoes and on to the fact that they had almost reached Havyn.

  They passed the entrance sign that Avery had tripped over her first time entering the village and walked out into the main center of Havyn.

  Just as before, the villagers came rushing up to them in packs, stopping what they were in the middle of doing and exiting out of their houses to come and see Gumptin and the next Protector he had brought back to Orcatia.

  As a large number of villagers began to approach Avery glanced over at Jade. She wondered how Jade was going to react to them, knowing full well Jade barely tolerated people, especially not strangers, and definitely not strangers who were all crowding around to see and talk to her.

  “Well I’ll be damned,” a burly villager wearing a dirt stained smock and carrying a rake, spoke to Jade, “if it isn’t Jade Kai come back to haunt us.” He smiled broadly and clamped Jade on the shoulder.

  Jade grimaced, but made no move to shove the villager away from her.

  A pudgy older woman, with a thick mop of gray hair piled atop her head, wearing a pink and white striped dress with a red apron, and smelling sweetly of cinnamon and flour, pushed her way to the front of the crowd and laid a giant bear hug on Jade. Jade’s eyes got as wide as a startled horse’s.

  “Oh, come here, you little rascal.” The woman said, still holding on to Jade tightly. Avery recognized her as the woman who had come running out of Bott’s Apothecary & Sweets.

  Jade didn’t hug the woman back, but again she didn’t make an attempt to get away from her either. Avery smiled to herself as she realized Jade was trying to be polite. This was a rarity for Jade, so it showed Avery just how much Jade was willing to do to follow Avery with the whole Protector thing.

  “Didn’t they feed you on Earth?” The woman said, releasing Jade and running her hands over Jade’s shoulders and arms, pinching at her flesh, “Why, you’re nothing more than a splinter.”

  That was it for Jade; the small amount of tolerance she was attempting to display had begun to fade. She stepped away from the woman and out of the reach of her flesh pinching fingers.

  “I eat just fine, thanks.” Jade told the woman, smiling tightly and trying not to make her voice
sound too clipped.

  Avery was perfectly happy standing back and watching Jade’s uncomfortable interaction with the villagers when a familiar face in the crowd caught her eye. It was the boy who had hugged her when she had first came back. The very first person she had seen on this planet. Avery motioned for him to make his way up to them. She was grateful for the familiar face even if she didn’t know anything about him. Something about his laid-back countenance and gentle smile made Avery feel at ease around him.

  The boy smiled and made his way up to stand off to the side of Gumptin. Avery noticed it was the furthest spot he could stand away from Jade without looking too obvious that he was trying to avoid her.

  “Jade,” Avery said, getting Jade’s attention away from the other villagers, which Avery could tell by Jade’s look she was grateful for, “I want you to meet…” Avery stopped as she realized she had no idea what the boy’s name was.

  “The name’s Pip.” The boy told Avery, seeing her confusion, “I work over at the stables with Thomas, my boss. I’ve been taking care of village’s, including the Protectors, horses for over half my life.” He smiled brightly while speaking of the last part and Avery could see the pride behind his eyes.

  “Hey.” Jade said, sticking out her hand for Pip to shake it.

  Instead of taking Jade’s hand, Pip shook his head and laughed, “Never thought I’d see the day when ya’d offer to shake my hand. Truth is you ain’t too fond of me, never have been.” Pip laughed harder at Jade’s disconcerted face, “In fact, last time I ever saw ya, ya threw a stable brush at my head for putting your saddle back on the wrong rack.”

  Jade shrugged one of her slender shoulders and threw Pip a baiting smile, “Sounds like a perfectly reasonable thing for me to do. Get it right from here on out and I won’t throw things at you.”

  Pip laughed even harder, “Good to see your attitude wasn’t lost along with your memory.” He reached out and took Jade’s hand, which was now resting on her hip, “Good to have ya back.”

  “Hmmm,” Jade said, leaning in to whisper in Avery’s ear, “I can see why I wasn’t too fond of him before.”

  After shaking Jade’s hand he placed his hand on Avery’s shoulder and gave it a light squeeze, “If ya need anythin’ I’ll be over in the stables.” As he took off, he turned back around and shouted, “I’ll see ya later, Avery!”

  It startled Avery to hear Pip say her name with such familiarity. Part of her wished she could remember Pip, Gumptin, the sweet smelling lady who liked to hug Jade, and all the other villagers, but another big part of her didn’t want the memories, knowing that on top of everything else they might just cause her to curl up in a little ball and refuse to move.

  Jade grabbed Avery by the shoulder, shaking her out of her deep thoughts. She turned Avery towards her and gave her the, ‘Get me the hell out of here’ look.

  Avery decided that before Jade got past just conveying meaningful looks to her and went straight to yelling at people; she would take Jade someplace private away from swarming villagers.

  Avery told the villagers she was taking Jade away to get some air and then took her over to the two small wooden benches on the outskirts of the village where Gumptin had attacked her with the knife. When they reached the benches Avery took a seat, taking in the quiet of the forest behind her, happy to be away from their overzealous greeters. Jade paced back and forth in front of Avery, refusing to sit down.

  “So, how you doing?” Avery asked, already knowing the answer.

  Jade stopped pacing and sat down next to Avery, “Well, everyone seems to know me and that’s weird. Plus, there was way too much hugging and touching for my liking, but,” she took a deep breath in, “at least it’s not a trailer park.”

  Avery nodded, thinking back on all her horrible memories of Rebel Moon Trailer Park.

  “So,” Jade said, looking around the village, “which one of these freaky tree-house things are mine.”

  “Ummmm…” Again Avery had no clue.

  Even when she had first seen the giant trees with their windows and doors, the idea that she had actually lived in one of them had completely escaped her. Before Avery had a chance to let down Jade again with her lack of knowledge involving their life on Orcatia, Gumptin came up and interrupted them.

  “You two done holding hands, yet?” He asked them brusquely, “We have got to go back and get the others.”

  “This should be fun.” Jade scoffed, standing up, “They’re not gonna believe this in a hundred years. Especially Sasha, that girl’s more stubborn than I am, and that’s saying something.”

  Avery thought about it for a second, “You know,” she said, “I think we should try a different tactic than I did with you. I say we just get them to the park somehow, we’ll lie to them, and then once they’re there, we’ll show them Gumptin and the Ora Gateway.” Avery could foresee hours of mindless explaining if they talked to each girl individually, “Then, even if they try to argue we’ll have Gumptin there to point out the gateway and explain the truth.”

  Jade nodded her head in agreement to the plan, “Plus, that way, if they try to make a run for it, we can just push them through the gateway.”

  “Brilliant!” Avery beamed, wondering if they’d actually have to pull off that last part of the plan.

  The landing back on Earth wasn’t any smoother than the landing on Orcatia had been. The only difference was this time Jade made sure to pick herself up off of the ground fast enough to avoid Gumptin falling on top of her.

  “So, where to first?” Jade asked, once they were all up and situated.

  “Well,” Avery said, hesitantly, “I was thinking we’d stop by your place first.”

  Jade looked at Avery suspiciously, “Why?” She asked.

  “That way we can split up and get things done faster.” Avery tried to sound convincing, but Jade wasn’t having any of it.

  “You just want to split up so you won’t have to go get Sasha!” Jade accused Avery, nailing her motivations on the nose.

  “No!” Avery shouted, trying to look offended and make her lie seem believable.

  “Don’t even try to play me; I know you too well.” Jade told her, “Besides, you’re the fearless leader, don’t you think it should be your duty to retrieve your followers.”

  “Hey!” Avery huffed, annoyed that Jade was already bringing the leader detail into her arguments, “I’m not leader on Earth; I’m just Avery. Look, you know Sasha won’t put up as big of argument with you. She’s too scared you’ll punch her! Plus, Bunny annoys you anyway. I’ll go pick up Bunny and Skylar and you get Sasha.” Avery knew she had Jade right where she wanted her at the mention on Bunny’s name.

  Jade sighed, “Ugh, that girl does get on my nerves for some reason.”

  “Also,” Avery said in a sing-song voice, “you’ll get to ride your big noisy bike around Sasha’s snooty rich neighborhood.”

  “Dammit!” Jade yelled, genuinely upset that the idea of riding her bike for maybe one of the last times ever, mixed with pissing Sasha and her uppity neighbors off, made it impossible for her to say no.

  Avery smiled and turned to walk towards her parked car, but stopped abruptly when she realized Gumptin was following her.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” She asked him, placing her hands on her hips in an authoritative stance.

  “With you, of course.” he responded, looking at her like this was well known information.

  Avery laughed mockingly, “Oh, no, you’re not, not this time. You saw how well that worked with Jade. No, this time you’re going to wait right here until we get back.”

  “Wha…what am I suppose to do while you are gone?” He stuttered, acting very put-out.

  Avery shrugged, “Why don’t you hide behind a tree…you’re good at that.”

  Avery could hear Gumptin quietly fuming to himself from behind a large tree as she and Jade got into her car.

  After Avery dropped Jade off at her trailer, she drove down
the highway until she reached Main Street. Once there, she took a right and drove down the town’s central fairway. She passed all the small shops, the bakery, the hardware store, the town’s one doctor’s office, and her mom’s flower shop. Avery noticed that her mom’s car wasn’t parked out front, which was unusual for the time of day, but she didn’t have time to dwell on where her mother might be.

  After driving a few more blocks, Main Street turned into a small suburb area. It was there that Avery made a left, passed five houses, and then stopped at 113 Tumbleweed Dr, also known as Bunny Claiborne’s house.

  Bunny’s house was a red brick two-window building, with yellow shutters and door. It was smaller than most of the other houses on the block with only two bedrooms and one bath, but what it lacked in size it made up for in character. The entire front yard of the house was basically one giant garden. There were carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, and strawberries secluded in a soil bed on the right side of the front yard. Pruned citrus trees offered blankets of shade over the entire front yard. There was a cobblestone pathway leading from the street to the yellow front door, entirely lined with rose bushes of every color blooming big and bright. The left side of the yard held a small white bird bath in the shape of a crescent moon and was surrounded by a carpet of perennial flowers. Bunny had always had the most extraordinary green thumb. She tended to and kept every single plant alive year-round, no small feat in the blistering Arizona summers.

  It was only Bunny and her mother that lived in the house. Although, no one really knew Ms. Claiborne that well, not even Avery and she was over at Bunny’s house all the time. Ms. Claiborne mainly stayed in her room when she wasn’t working as a file clerk at the city courthouse. She hardly ever spoke, even at work. In fact, the most she usually said to Avery was, “What would you like for dinner?” or “See you later, dear.” Admittedly, Bunny’s mother was a bit of an enigma, but then again, so was Bunny.

  Avery got out of her car and walked up the cobblestone path to the front door, breathing in the scent of the flora as she did. She rang the doorbell, which chimed a whimsical little tune and stood there waiting. A little tabby, one of Bunny’s many cats, purred and rubbed itself along Avery’s legs, and Avery knelt down to stroke it. As she was petting the purring cat she heard the door open. When Avery looked up she saw Bunny’s smiling face staring down at her.

  Bunny was tall and thin with straight chestnut brown hair that fell to her shoulders, which she always wore in a braid with shaggy bangs covering her wide forehead. She had sun-kissed skin, crystal blue eyes, and a bright easy smile that always made Avery happy just to see it. Bunny was all limbs, long legs and arms, but despite that she still managed to move with a slow grace. Avery assumed it was because of Bunny’s artistic soul. Bunny loved anything to do with the arts; she drew, knitted, gardened, painted, and played the flute. She was the studious one of the group. The one the other girls came to when they either needed help studying, or more likely, their homework done for them.

  Avery had always considered Bunny to be one of her closest friends, even before she knew about their shared destiny. It was during one of their group playgroups, when they were about five years old, and Avery had stolen Bunny’s Rainbow Brite lunchbox, and Bunny had swiftly whacked Avery over the head with a plastic sandbox shovel, that a connection had been formed between them. From that day on they never went more than two or three days without seeing each other, even during the summer.

  Avery thought of Bunny as a sweetheart, quieter and meeker than the rest of the girls; the one she needed to protect, but there was also a darker side to Bunny that not many people besides Avery got to see. For instance, once in junior high when Avery was walking with Bunny to her house after school, Alex Marquez had ridden up next to them on his bike and began poking fun at Bunny’s new haircut. Bunny acted as if it didn’t faze her, but after Alex had finished with his teasing and sped up to ride away, Bunny picked up a rock the size of a lemon and pitched it at the boy. It hit his wheel, denting it, and sending him flying over the top of his bicycle, splitting his head open on the cement, and requiring fifteen stitches to close him up. The whole thing had freaked Avery out, but Bunny didn’t seem bothered in the slightest by it. To this very day it was a secret that Avery and Bunny shared. Everyone else, including Alex Marquez, just assumed he hadn’t seen a large rock in the road, hit it, and flipped his bike.

  “Avery,” Bunny said, fixing her bright smile on Avery, “were we suppose to do something today?”

  It wasn’t at all unusual for Bunny to forget whether she did or didn’t have plans. It was another characteristic that Avery attributed to her artistic soul, her flightiness.

  “No.” Avery answered her, standing up and shooing the small tabby cat into the house.

  “Alright,” Bunny said, not sounding the least bit fazed by Avery’s answer, “do you want to come in?”

  “No,” Avery shook her head, “I really don’t have time.” Avery thought it was best to just tell Bunny outright what she wanted her to do. After all, she might get lucky and Bunny would say yes without any question. That way, she wouldn’t have to muddle through some terrible lie that she was sure Bunny would see right through anyway, “Bunny, could you do me a favor and come with me somewhere?”

  “Come with you where?” Bunny asked, curiosity spreading over her face.

  So much for getting lucky. Avery still didn’t want to take a lying approach, so she decided to beat around the bush, “There’s something I want to show you in the park by the school, I just can’t tell you what it is right now.” Avery saw curiosity turn to suspicion in Bunny’s eyes, so she quickly added, “It’s a surprise!”

  Bunny stared at Avery silently for a moment, and then she shrugged, “Whatever,” she said, “it beats staying here.”

  Avery sighed, that was so much easier than it had been with Jade. Of course, Bunny still didn’t know the real reason Avery was abducting her, but that was a technicality. Avery should have known that Bunny would be an easy sell. It was in her easygoing nature.

  After Bunny had gotten her purse and locked up the house, Avery told her, “Oh, by the way, we have to stop and pick up Skylar.”

  Bunny shrugged again, “Whatever.”

  Avery only hoped that Skylar would be as easy as Bunny.

  Skylar Bavol resided in one of only two apartment complexes in the entire town, Cowboy Palace Luxury Apartments, the nicer of the two. It only took them three minutes to reach their destination. When they got there, Avery parked the car under the pink plastic parking-lot awnings. Bunny opted to stay in the car and read.

  As Avery swung open the white metal gate that led into the inner apartment complex, the smell of chlorine from the gated swimming pool smacked her right in the face. She walked over to the rusty green iron staircase and climbed it up to the second floor. Avery knocked on door number 12B and a moment later Skylar’s mom answered.

  Skylar’s mother was a tall woman with shoulder length blond hair that stuck out in every which direction. Ms. Bavol made a living by reading people’s palms, tea leaves, and tarot cards. In the sixth grade, she had read Avery’s palm and predicted that she would be a strong leader for good one day. At the time, Avery had thought it had been a cool prediction, but knowing what she did now, she realized it had been less of a prediction than actual knowledge…sneaky woman. Most of the town thought Ms. Bavol a bit of a nutter, considering she went around town passing out chakra beads, hugging trees, and organizing solstice parties. Despite all this, Avery found her completely likeable. Granted, Avery thought she might have been certifiably crazy, but she was a genuinely good person with something nice to say about everyone, and Avery admired that, just so long as she stayed away from her palms.

  “Avery, my dear girl,” Ms. Bavol exclaimed, wrapping her wispy arms tightly around Avery, “I just knew you’d be here soon. You have seen your true path laid out beneath your feet and now you walk it. Destiny waits for no one.”

  Avery pulled back and s
tared up at Ms. Bavol. For a moment Avery thought she was just spouting out some of her new-age self help jive, but then Avery realized she was actually talking about being a Protector. She knew their parents had all their memories from living on Orcatia, but she wondered why Ms. Bavol would bring it up now.

  “How did you know that I know?’ Avery asked.

  “Oh, silly little lark,” Ms. Bavol said, bopping Avery on the nose with her finger, “the Ora Gateway has been used. Your parents and I, true Orcatians, felt it inside.” She pounded her fist to her chest, “Like a string pulling us to home.

  “Alright,” Avery smiled politely, not really sure what Ms. Bavol was telling her and not really wanting to hear any more of it, “is Skylar here?”

  Ms. Bavol swooshed her arms back and forth inside the door jam, imitating a breezy dance, “My daughter of the wind is partaking in her other calling at dance practice.”

  Avery scolded herself for not trying to reach Skylar at dance practice first. Skylar was at dance practice more often than she was at her own home; if Avery would have thought of that she could have avoided Ms. Bavol’s awkward insights into her life.

  Avery thanked Ms. Bavol and made her way back to her car. When she reached her car she found Bunny beginning to doze off in the passenger seat, her open book lying on her lap.

  When Avery sat down she closed her car door hard enough to wake Bunny up.

  “Where’s Skylar?” Bunny asked, rubbing the fresh sleep out of her eyes.

  “Where do you think?” Avery answered, starting the car.

  “Her precious practice.” Bunny mumbled, “Next time,” she yawned, “don’t wake me up unless you need me.”

  Avery pulled up in front of Saguaro Dance Hall, a large red brick building with two purple and green awnings over the arched entrance way and a bright pink neon sign flashing the studio’s name. The building not only served as a dance studio for many of the girls, and two or three boys from the town, but it also served as a bingo hall every Thursday night, and a senior citizens line-dancing club every Friday.

  Leaving Bunny in the car, Avery opened up the building’s front doors and walked through the over-plush sitting area, filled with crimson colored cushioned chairs and couches, and deep purple wallpaper with tacky velvet paisley lining.

  She walked into the main wood-floored dance hall, and the first thing Avery noticed was an image of herself on the mirror-lined wall opposite her.

  “Oh, my, God!” Avery said aloud, momentarily forgetting everything except the image in front of her “I look vomit worthy!”

  Her hair was completely untamed, even more so than usual, with auburn curls sticking out in every direction. To make matters even worse, as she turned her head a bit, she saw she had a small twig caught up in one of her misbehaving curls. Avery cursed everyone she had seen that day who had failed to mention the offending twig. Her jeans were covered in grass stains from falling out of the gateway onto the ground and her purple plaid shirt had a tear in the pocket revealing a peek at her pink bra underneath.

  “Now I actually do look like I’ve come back from the dead.” She said mournfully as she reached up and pulled the twig out of her hair.

  Avery yelled at herself to try and snap out of it. She told herself there were more important things to do like find Skylar and save the Universe, that what she looked like didn’t matter, but deep down she was contemplating whether or not she had time to go home and get changed. In mid-contemplation she spotted Skylar pirouetting across the long wooden dance floor.

  Skylar was the most talented dancer in all of Redemption. In fact, some town members speculated in all of Arizona. She had been dancing since she was old enough to walk, and her one dream was to travel to New York after high school and pursue a career as a professional dancer. Everyone expected her to accomplish it; she was that good. Skylar had the skill, and she had the looks. She was beautiful, incredibly tall and slender, with long, wavy, electric blond hair and wide violet eyes highlighted by dark lashes.

  Despite Skylar’s angelic appearance and ballerina poise, she was definitely the wildest and craziest person Avery had ever known in her entire life. In the eighth grade, she had flashed a bus full of choir boys in town to give a Christmas performance at the local Catholic Church. At the end of semester dance her freshman year, Skylar had somehow managed to take three different boys as her dates, and even more amazing was the fact that she was able to keep it a secret from all three of them. That is, until the next Monday at school, when Bunny spread the truth all over campus, and the boys got suspended for trying to kill each other in the middle of the cafeteria.

  One of the things that Avery loved about Skylar was that she brought out Avery’s wild side. Whether it was ditching school to drive down to Phoenix and hit the dance clubs early, dying their hair the most ridiculous shade of pink or just skinny dipping in Sandy Gulch Creek, Skylar was always behind it.

  Even Jade was a fan of Skylar’s, although she always got anxious about Skylar and Avery spending time alone together. Especially, since two years ago Skylar had suggested horseback riding through Rattlesnake canyon and Avery’s horse had spooked, tossed Avery, and broke her wrist. Jade had been furious, but Avery didn’t mind and two weekends later she was back hanging out with Skylar, Dune Buggying through the desert.

  “Skylar!” Avery shouted, wincing as her voice echoed throughout the dance hall.

  Skylar stopped mid-pirouette and turned to face the disheveled looking Avery.

  “Avery?” Skylar said, looking surprised at first, but then abruptly busting out into a roar of a laugh, “Why do you look like you just went through a garbage disposal?”

  Avery reached up and tried to straighten out her hair, to no great success. Again, she had to tell herself to ignore Skylar’s comment and ignore her appearance.

  Skylar walked over to Avery, away from the rest of her dance class, “What’s going on?” She asked.

  “Hey, Sky,” Avery said awkwardly, “I was wondering if you could come with me right now to the park by the school?”

  Skylar squealed, startling Avery, “Are the Sunshine County Fire Fighters doing their work-out routines there again?” Skylar lightly jumped up and down in her excitement.

  “Ummm…that would be a no.” For a second Avery thought she should have said yes. In fact, she thought that might excite Skylar more than a gateway to another world, “Look, I promise that what I have to show you will be just as equally interesting.”

  “Alright,” Skylar agreed, always up for a surprise and a good time, “just let me go grab my stuff.”

  Avery waited for Skylar in the parking lot. Once Skylar was changed and ready she met Avery out by her car. Avery suggested that Skylar just drive her own car and follow Avery out to the park. Avery was always in the mindset that the more people with their own transportation the better. So, Skylar piled herself and her stuff into her yellow Volkswagen Beetle and followed Avery to the park.

  When they reached the park, Avery could see Jade’s bike parked up alongside the curb; she pulled up behind it and Skylar behind her. She got out of the car and saw Jade leaning up against a tree, her hands stuffed into the pockets of her fitted leather jacket, and Sasha sitting on a picnic table nearby, chatting away into her phone.

  “Was’ up Kai!” Skylar shouted, walking up to Jade and giving her a side hug.

  Jade smiled despite herself, the way she always did around Skylar, “Sky.” She said and then nodded towards Bunny in a much less friendly manner, “Bunny.”

  Bunny nodded back along with a small hand wave.

  “So, when’s the big reveal?” Skylar asked, “What are we all doing here,” she rubbed her hands together, “the anticipation is killing me?”

  Avery looked around for Gumptin. She wondered if he was waiting for her to announce his presence. He had a large dose of arrogance to him, so that’s what Avery assumed he was doing.

  Before Avery did officially announce Gumptin’s presence, she noticed that S
asha was still talking on her phone, “Hey, Sasha, could you get off the phone?”

  Sasha either didn’t hear her or completely ignored her, so Avery got right in front of Sasha’s face, “Sasha,” she said, hand gesturing for her to hang up the phone, “get off the phone.”

  Sasha held up her finger, giving Avery the ‘one minute’ sign. Before Avery had a chance to ask Sasha to hang up again, Jade came over, grabbed the phone away from Sasha, and shut it closed.

  “Rude, Jade!” Sasha shouted, grabbing her phone back, “I’m only here because you threatened to mess up my face for tonight’s party. I have a lot of stuff I still have to do before tonight!”

  Well, Avery could think of no better time to let Gumptin handle things than right now.

  “Girls!” Avery shouted loudly, getting everyone’s attention, “Jade and I brought you here to meet somebody who’s pretty much going to explain things to you that’ll turn your world upside down.” Avery looked to the tree she saw Gumptin sneak behind before they had left to get the others, “Gumptin, come on out!” Avery yelled loudly and waited for him to pop out from behind the tree, just like he had done to her, but after a few beats nothing had happened.

  “Gumptin sounds like a fungus.” Sasha told her sarcastically.

  “If he’s a guy, I hope he’s hot!” Skylar gushed, taking a seat on the bench next to Sasha.

  “Gumptin get out here now!” Avery continued to yell, but nothing happened. She looked to Jade and Jade rolled her eyes, letting Avery know she wasn’t surprised by him not showing.

  Avery walked over to the tree she had seen Gumptin scurry behind before she left, looked around it, and saw him curled in a small ball next to a large root, sleeping. She reached over and picked him up by the collar of his tunic, shaking him out of his sleep.

  “How could you have fallen asleep?” Avery huffed, continuing to shake him, “You’re making me look like an idiot, Get up!”

  Gumptin smacked his lips together and rubbed his eyes, “I have not had a decent sleep since the five of you were killed. It is exhausting being your guardian.”

  Avery didn’t want to hear it; she waved her hands in the air, “They’re all over there waiting, go do to them what you did to me.”

  Gumptin straightened his wardrobe and ran his fingers through his beard, attempting to brush out all the dirt and debris he had collected while napping under the tree; it was only about half successful. As he walked off to go confront the girls, Avery stayed behind the tree, leaning her back and head against the strong wood. She took a deep breath and decided to stay where she was until after Gumptin had made his introductions, not wanting any more questions thrown her way.

  Avery heard a collective gasp from the girls and a small squeal from Bunny, so she assumed they had now all seen Gumptin.

  She heard Sasha screech, “Oh, my, God! What are you?” And she heard Skylar mumble, “Well, he’s definitely not hot.”

  Gumptin was in the middle of listing off the girls names and how he knew them when Jade appeared in front of Avery’s face, “Wanna take a walk?” She asked, and Avery agreed, grateful to take a breather away from all the craziness.

  Jade and Avery walked over to the picnic bench they had sat on together after Jade had been shown the Ora Gateway. It was out of earshot of Gumptin and the girls, so they could just sit there in silence listening to the distant cars pass by, the birds in the trees calling out to each other, and neighborhood dogs barking. It was a peace they both appreciated, knowing that they wouldn’t have too many peaceful moments in the near future.

  Avery wasn’t able to hear what Gumptin and the girls were saying, but she could still see them. She saw emotional Bunny with her hands over her eyes just rocking back and forth. True to fashion, Sasha was up in Gumptin’s face arguing, and Skylar just sat on the bench smiling, not giving any emotion away by just looking at her. The conversation only continued for a little bit longer before Gumptin motioned for them to follow him.

  “Ooh,” Avery said excitedly, “he’s taking them over to the gateway!”

  Jade, who had been leaning back looking at the sky, turned herself around, “Well, this I’ve got to see.”

  They watched as Gumptin said the words, and then watched each of the girls’ reaction as the Ora Gateway appeared before them. Bunny began to get teary eyed, which Avery could have predicted. Sasha shut up for the first time since Gumptin had emerged in front of her, and Skylar began laughing so hard that she doubled herself over.

  Jade turned back around to face Avery, “For the first time since I’ve met Gumptin, I actually feel sorry for the little jerk.” Then, she laid her head in her folded arms to rest her eyes.

  Gumptin continued talking to the girls for another twenty minutes before leaving them by the gateway and walking over to Avery and Jade.

  “I am taking them back to Orcatia now.” He told them when he reached them, “You two best go back to your houses, gather your things, and get your family.”

  The thought of dealing with her family made Avery queasy. She still wasn’t sure if she was mad at them or not for keeping everything a secret from her. Plus, involving her family made everything completely real, there was no turning back after that.

  “You don’t want us to come with you guys?” Avery asked, hoping to stall for a little more time before she had to face her family.

  “No,” Gumptin told her, dashing her hopes, “when the girls return and are ready to leave they will contact you on your voice communicators.” Avery figured Gumptin was talking about a phone, but she knew it pointless to tell him what they were really called since he’d most likely just forget it anyway, “Also,” Gumptin said, turning away to leave, “you are human, so the fewer times you travel through the gateway the better…what, with breaking down of your molecules and everything.”

  Avery and Jade exchanged looks of horror. Avery instinctively hugged herself, willing her molecules to stay in place, “Thanks for telling me after my fourth trip, you evil gnome!”

  After watching each of the girls go through the gateway, some more reluctantly than others, Avery and Jade walked over to their vehicles. Avery felt lucky that she had asked Skylar to take her own car, that way she didn’t have to worry about how the other girls were going to get home when they got back to Earth.

  Avery got in her car and pulled away from the curb. She turned her car back out onto Main Street and drove home the same way she had every single school day for the past year. She continued driving left on Main Street until it was no longer called Main Street anymore, just a small pot-hole filled two lane road called Roadrunner Boulevard. Avery traveled slowly down the Boulevard, making sure the old broken road was delicate on her tires. After traveling a mile down the Boulevard, passing subdivisions of houses built in the seventies, a public swimming pool, and a strip mall filled with a sizeable and flamboyant pink and orange building whose purple neon sign flashed “Coyote Dave’s Bowling Alley, Roller Rink, and Diner! Open till the rooster crows!!” Avery reached the turn she wanted. She turned right on Dust Devil Avenue and her stomach clenched, it would only be a few more minutes before she reached her home. She stared out her window at the open desert and mountains stretching in front of her and tried to clear her mind. To the left of Avery was a large park with basketball courts and a large baseball field where the little league teams played. It had a picnic area where every spring multiple families would have barbeques, and a small playground with a rickety swing-set and plastic green slide.

  Across from the park, on the right side of the road, was the neighborhood that Avery lived in. Tall Jacaranda trees and brown lampposts lined the sidewalks. Avery turned her car in to the third street down and stopped in front of the first house on the left, 5821 West Sunset Drive, Avery’s house.

  She got out of the car and began to walk up to her house, but stopped shortly afterwards. Instead, she leaned against one of the tall jacarandas planted in her own front yard and just stared at her house for a little while. It
was just a little after four and the sun was beginning its slow descent in the sky, throwing its bright rays on to her peach adobe house, making it almost look like it was glowing. She looked over the three large oval windows with the brown shingles and stopped at the third window, knowing her bedroom lay just behind the glass. Avery got choked up as she took in the entire front exterior of her house, the green front yard with multi-colored flowers scattered throughout, the different shrubs, the pecan tree, and the dark green vines with heart shaped leaves covering most of the adobe on her house. Just looking at her house she thought of how comfortable and safe it made her feel, and now those things weren’t hers to keep anymore.

  Knowing she couldn’t stand out there wallowing all day, especially with the sun beginning to set, she made her way up the yard, under the vined archway and up to the light blue front door. Instinctively, Avery turned the doorknob, not really expecting it to be unlocked, but to her surprise the door swung wide open.

  Avery’s two giant German Shepherd’s Justice and King bounded up to her, knocking her back against the entry wall and showering her face with slobbery kisses. Bailey, the family’s old Great Dane waited patiently behind the two younger dogs for his chance to give his master some love.

  “I missed you guys, too.” Avery laughed as she pushed them off of her and scratched all their heads lovingly.

  Avery walked past her three dogs, out of the walkway, and turned the corner into her living room. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her parents sitting on opposite sides of their over-stuffed floral couch, and her sister Cinder sitting in between them. They were all just staring at Avery, as if they were expecting her.

  Immediately, Avery’s eyes went to her younger sister, Cinder. Cinder was only seven years old with blond curls that fell to her shoulders, big baby blue eyes, and peachy tan skin. Cinder was the little golden child with a lovely exterior, infectious laugh to go along with her dimpled smile, and a sweetly independent spirit. Avery’s parents spoiled Cinder, showering her with attention and praise, buying her cute outfits and stuffed animals to go with her baby doll looks. Still, Avery couldn’t resent Cinder the attention or the gifts, for she absolutely adored her sister. Cinder was always the one cheering Avery up at home when she felt depressed or stressed. Cinder would come into her room and show Avery the new tap dance she learned that day or tell Avery a story about how a kid at her school was so dumb he had to wear a helmet just so his brains wouldn’t leak out of his ears. All of her life Avery had looked out for Cinder, making sure she was never picked on and that she always had her homework done, so that she never fell behind in class. Cinder gave Avery two very important things in life, joy and responsibility. If Avery could have, she would have told her parents to give Cinder all the attention.

  Of course, thinking about it now, Avery realized they might have given Cinder so much consideration because they knew one day they would have to take her to a world that wasn’t her own and away from everything she knew. Because, even though both Cinder and Avery had no prior knowledge of Orcatia, Avery figured at least her parents knew that, at one time, Avery had had a life on Orcatia, even if she couldn’t remember it, whereas poor Cinder only ever had this life on Earth. Plus, Avery figured the whole being a Protector thing probably caused her parents to worry about her more in some way, like dying, and less in other ways, like how it might emotionally scar her to leave the place she thought of as home.

  Whatever, Avery thought; she didn’t have time to worry about herself. Now, like her parents obviously were, she was worried about Cinder.

  Avery walked up to her little sister and knelt down in front of her. She saw that Cinder’s eyes were slightly red from crying.

  “Are you alright?” Avery asked her sister gently.

  Cinder nodded, sticking her lower lip out in a slight pout, “Mommy and Daddy said we have to leave and I’m not gonna see my friends anymore.”

  Avery sat up a little and gave her sister a hug, “Well,” Avery told her, “I’ll be there and we’re not just sisters, but we’re friends too, right?”

  Cinder smiled and wiped at her already dried tears, “Yeah, plus we get to bring Bailey, Justice, and King, and they’re my best friends!”

  Avery nodded in agreement, somehow alright with being placed fourth behind three dogs.

  “And,” Cinder continued, excitement in her voice, “Mommy says that there are a lot more animals where we’re going, and really big trees, and waterfalls, and magical stuff, and a lot more kids for me to play with!”

  Cinder’s trademark dimples appeared, as the more she talked, the more and more excited she got.

  “Sweetheart,” Avery’s Mom stopped Cinder before she could go on with the hundred other things she was looking forward to, “I already packed your clothes. So, why don’t you go get your pink duffle bag, go to your room, and fill it with the things you want to take with you.”

  “Alright!” Cinder said joyously, bounding up from the couch and away from Avery.

  “Remember,” Avery’s mom shouted after her youngest daughter, “just the items that you really want!”

  Avery could already foresee Cinder crying her eyes out an hour from now when she’d want to take more than her parents would allow. Avery bemused at how quickly a child’s emotions could change and wished she could be able to express her feeling with as much abandon as Cinder did.

  Once Cinder was gone and out of earshot, Avery stood up and faced her parents. Jaw clenched and arms folded, she stared them down. Avery knew why they had kept everything a secret, she could even understand it, but that still didn’t stop her from being angry with them about it. She had given her parents that hard, I’m pissed face enough times for them to know exactly what Avery was thinking. Instead of trying to defend themselves or explain they both stood up from the couch and walked over and hugged their daughter. The daughter they had traveled to another planet for, just to bring her back to life.

  It didn’t take Avery long to cave and hug them back, “You could have said something.” Avery said, her face buried in her mother’s shoulder.

  “I’m sorry, baby,” Her mother told her, stroking Avery’s long auburn hair, “but we just couldn’t risk it.”

  Avery pulled away and looked up at her mother; a pretty middle-aged woman with short dark brown hair and gray eyes, “Mom,” Avery said loudly, “my whole world just got turned upside down in one single day!”

  “We were strictly told not to tell you anything, Avery,” Her father, a tall, sturdy man with sandy brown hair and a beard, said to her, “and we weren’t going to go against anything the Elementals told us to do.”

  Avery shook her head and turned away, biting her lip to keep from crying. With everything that had happened she hadn’t cried once today and she planned on keeping it that way.

  “Honestly, Avery,” Her mother told her, coming up and placing her arm around her, “it was sort of a relief for us to have you grow up as just a normal girl. We didn’t have to worry about you the way we did on Orcatia and you didn’t have to worry about things like you did on Orcatia.”

  Avery wished her mother would stop talking. It was bad enough that she couldn’t be angry with her parents like she wanted to, but she didn’t want to have to be grateful at this very moment, as well.

  “I know you can’t remember anything, sweetheart, but if you could I know you’d be happy you had this time on Earth to just be a girl.” Her mother said.

  Avery pulled away from her mother; she didn’t want to hear anymore, “Why do you think I’m upset?” She told her parents, “I’m upset because I love my life! I really love everything about it! It’s not about me not being ready for it to change; it’s about me not knowing if I want it to change!” Saying it out loud almost forced the tears out of Avery’s eyes.

  Avery’s mom looked like she was about to cry herself.

  “Believe us, Avery,” Her dad said, “if it was our choice, we’d stay in Redemption.”

  Avery wondered
if that was really true. Gumptin had made it sound like her parents had given up a full and whole life to come to Earth, which made Avery wonder about what her life was like back in Havyn. Whatever it was like, she wasn’t going to imagine it now. Right now, she wanted to distract herself.

  “I’m gonna go to my room and pack my stuff.” She told her parents, and when she saw their still upset faces, she added, “I’m really alright. I just needed to vent a little, but the more time I have to let it sink in the more fine I am with it.” She lied.

  The walk down the hallway seemed excruciating long to Avery. She passed Cinder’s room and looked in and saw her little sister scrambling to fit every stuffed toy she owned into her child’s sized pink duffel bag.

  Avery reached the door with a poster of the Orion Nebula taped onto it and opened the door to her room. The smell of the vanilla candles she burned every night hit her nostrils, and Avery walked into the room she had thought of as her sanctuary. Its violet walls, wallpapered with posters of her favorite bands, far off galaxies, a ridiculously large horse calendar, and multiple clippings of actors and actresses taken from magazines.

  It felt good to Avery to be able to heave the backpack she had been lugging around with her all day onto her bed, which was covered with a dark purple bedspread and far too many sparkly pillows. She dumped her school books out on the bed and began filling the backpack back up with her most desired possessions. First, went in her poetry books, Avery figured a little Edgar Allen Poe after a hard day of fighting couldn’t hurt. Next, went in her photo album and all the photo’s she had in frames around her room. Then, her journal, her favorite nail polish, a few pieces of jewelry, a stuffed coyote she had since she was six, and a few other necessities. Avery looked longingly over at her shelf of trophies, some for the Chess Club, a few for the Astronomy Club, some for Junior Rodeo, and one very proud looking National Watermelon Seed Spitting Championship trophy. She wanted to grab them all and take them with her, but knew that trying to travel with them would be ridiculous.

  After she was done packing her backpack, Avery joyfully took off her disheveled clothes and threw them in the hamper of dirty clothes that would never be washed. She threw on a pair of black skinny jeans, lacing her boots up over her jeans, and a black plaid flannel shirt. Avery reached into her closet and pulled out her black duffel bag and began filling it with jean, shirts, undergarments, socks, and jackets. She figured she probably had clothes back on Orcatia, but if her style had been anything like what she saw the other villagers wearing, she was definitely bringing her own Earth clothes with her.

  Before Avery tried to pack everything she owned into her bags she decided it was time to leave. She threw her backpack on, grabbed her duffel and hurried out of her room. Avery was out the door with the lights turned off in a matter of seconds, making sure she didn’t turn around and take a final look. She wasn’t sure she would be able to leave it if she did. Luckily, her phone going off in her right back pocket gave her a reason not to think about it.

  “Hello?” Avery answered her phone.

  “Hey, it’s Skylar.” The voice on the other end said.

  “You’re back!” Avery said excitedly, curious as to how Skylar and the others had taken the trip to Orcatia, “How are you? How did everything go?”

  Skylar took a long sigh, “Well, when you told us you had a surprise for us, you really weren’t kidding.”

  Avery couldn’t think of anything to say to that, so when she didn’t, Skylar continued, “Basically, Sasha argued and bitched until Gumptin told her if she didn’t come back and help he’d have the Elementals undo the whole life spell on her.”

  Avery wasn’t really sure if Gumptin would or even could do that, but she thought it a brilliant strategy for handling Sasha.

  “Of course,” Skylar said, “Sasha started to feel a little bit better about the whole thing when I told her she’d definitely be the hottest chick on Orcatia…total lie by the way. Plus,” a lightness entered Skylar’s voice, “being a Protector is kind of like winning a huge popularity contest. Bunny was basically quiet the whole time. You know her, introverted.”

  Listening to Skylar, Avery thanked her lucky stars that she didn’t have to be there to deal with all of that.

  “Skylar,” Avery said, “you’re awesome.”

  Skylar laughed, “I know, but you’re not so bad yourself. Anyway, I just called to tell you we’re all back and should, I repeat should, be ready to leave in an hour. Gumptin told us to go on through and he‘ll be waiting for us on the other side.”

  That surprised Avery, “Wow, he’s actually throwing a little trust our way.”

  Skylar grunted, “I think it more had to do with him being sick of dealing with Sasha than actually trusting us.”

  That caused Avery to laugh, thinking it was most likely true, “I’ll see you in an hour.” Avery told Skylar.

  “I’ll be ready for one wild ride.” Skylar said, “See ya then.”

  Avery hung up and pocketed her phone, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to use it where she was going, but wanting to keep it anyway as a sort of security blanket.

  When Avery walked outside she saw that her parents had already loaded up most of their stuff into the family’s red van. Just as Avery had suspected, Cinder was going on about how it was impossible for her to be expected to load her life’s collectibles into one small bag.

  Walking to the back of the van to pack her luggage, Avery saw Justice, King, and Bailey already loaded into the back seat next to Cinder’s crated white Persian cat Romeo. Avery loaded her bags around the menagerie of pets and hoped that nothing would get crushed or destroyed by furry butts and paws.

  The drive to the park was a silent one, with each member of the Kimball family lost in their own thoughts. All except for dogs and cat whose barks, whines, and meows provided Avery with a much wanted distraction.

  As Avery’s dad parked their van up against the curb at the park, Avery saw that Jade and her family had already arrived. They were standing in silence over by the Ora Gateway. It wasn’t uncommon for the Kai’s to not talk to each other. Their trailer had seen a lot of silent nights. Of course, there were just as many nights yelling at each other. The fact was that Jade’s parents just didn’t know how to deal with their daughter’s wild ways. Now that the truth was known about who they really were, Avery figured Jade’s parents probably saw their daughter heading down the same dangerous and reckless path that led to her death, even if she was on a different planet.

  Avery unpacked her stuff and walked over to Jade. She nodded to Jade’s parents who nodded politely back. Avery had always felt a slight resentment coming from Jade’s parents. She thought it had been because they resented Jade spending so much time with Avery and her family when she barely saw them. Now, however, Avery thought it might have something to do with her leading their daughter down that path to death on Orcatia. Maybe it was a combination of the two. Either way, Avery just smiled politely and then pulled their daughter away so that they could talk out of earshot.

  “So, how’d it go?” Avery asked Jade.

  Jade shrugged, seeming agitated, “When I got home they had already packed my stuff.”

  Avery shook her head; she couldn’t see what the big deal was.

  Jade continued, exasperated that she had to explain it any further, “Avery, my mother and I barely exchange glances, let alone a fashion sense. I had to unpack everything, re-pack, and all the while listen to my parents go on about how I better be more careful this time because their hearts couldn’t take losing their only daughter again.”

  Avery let Jade act like it had irritated her, but she knew that deep down Jade had really been touched by her parents concern. Jade may act like she didn’t care, but Avery had been on to her act since they were five. Secretly, all Jade wanted was acceptance and love, and she desperately craved it from her parents. Avery suspected that was why Jade always acted out so much.

  A car door slammed catching Avery’s atte
ntion and signifying Skylar’s arrival. Skylar, Skylar’s mother, and their small black Cocker Spaniel, Shalom, all piled out of Skylar’s tiny Beetle.

  Next, Sasha and her parents arrived, along with Sasha’s younger brother Shawn. Shawn was only ten years old and in the same position as Cinder. He had never had a life on Orcatia and was now being forced to go there, and as far as Avery could see he didn’t look happy about that fact at all. Oh, well, Avery had her own sister to worry about; she would let Sasha and her parents deal with Shawn.

  Twenty minutes had passed since Sasha and her family had arrived, and there was still no sign of Bunny and her mom.

  The girls and their families had all piled around the gateway, some sitting, some standing. Avery sat on the ground with Jade and Skylar, listening silently to their parents talking a few feet away. They talked mainly of superficial things, what kind of food they had missed living on Earth, and what kind of foods they were going to miss now that they were going back, how they would assimilate back into their old jobs, about certain villagers they were looking forward to seeing again, Avery recognized the name Mrs. Bott and Thomas, but that was it. Every now and then the parents would quiet their voices to barely a whisper and Avery would have to strain to hear them. She missed most of it, but she picked up the word Emperor and Elementals, and she was pretty certain she heard Sasha’s mother say something about praying things go differently this time.

  “Do you think she skipped town?” Jade asked Avery, pulling her away from eavesdropping any further.

  Avery knew Jade was talking about Bunny, she just didn’t know if Jade was joking or being serious.

  “She’ll be here.” Avery told Jade. Jade’s opinion of Bunny wasn’t always the best and Avery didn’t want to say or do anything to stoke that fire.

  Bunny’s mother’s blue four door sedan rounded the curve of the park and Avery breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment she had wondered if Bunny really had become overwhelmed and decided to runaway.

  A few of the parents walked over to help them with their baggage. Avery noticed that although Ms. Claiborne didn’t seem particularly overjoyed, there was a certain excited glow in her eyes, which for her, was more emotion than Avery had ever remembered seeing.

  Ms. Claiborne volunteered Avery and Jade to assist in carrying Bunny’s large flower printed suitcases over to the gateway, leaving Bunny lagging behind them having to carry only her small purse. By the time they had lugged the heavy suitcases the few hundred feet over to the gateway, Avery was sure Jade was going to use one of the flowered bags to beat Bunny and her mother to death with, but she behaved herself as well as she could, instead throwing their luggage hard onto the ground. Avery could tell she was disappointed when it didn’t burst open scattering Bunny’s possessions all over the dirt.

  “Well, now that we’re all here,” Jade said, throwing a sideways glance towards Bunny, “maybe we should get this parade started.”

  They all agreed, although reluctantly. It seemed as if no one was especially ecstatic about going back. The Protectors were enlisting into a life of duty they had no memory of, and their parents were going back to a planet where their children risked their lives every single day. Still, they all knew it had to be done.

  Avery nervously stepped up to the gateway. She had only ever seen Gumptin open the gateway before and had never actually tried it herself. Avery had to admit, she was excited. It wasn’t every day a person got to open up an intergalactic gateway.

  “Ora Gateway!” Avery shouted louder than she probably needed to, just to be sure. It earned her a snigger from Sasha that she quickly ignored.

  Just as it had for Gumptin, the Ora Gateway swirled and opened for Avery. Avery knew it wouldn’t have mattered who said it, but she felt a great sense of accomplishment, none the less.

  Family by family, they took their turns going through the gateway. The animals posed a small problem, but after some coaxing and a lot of pushing the dogs went through. Cinder insisted jumping in carrying her crated cat Romeo, and Avery just hoped the gateway was smart enough to make sure her sister landed on Orcatia intact, without any new cat parts.

  Finally, it was just Avery, her father, and Jade left standing on Earth. Jade had stayed back when her parents went through, wanting to wait for Avery.

  “You go ahead dad. We’ll be right behind you.” Avery told her father, knowing he had intended to be the last person through, just to make sure everyone went in safely, but Avery wanted a moment alone to say goodbye to Redemption, “It’ll be fine.”

  “Alright, but you two hurry up.” He told Avery and Jade before jumping into the gateway himself.

  Avery grabbed a hold of Jade’s hand and smiled up at her. She was so glad it was the two of them standing alone together on Earth for the last time, in Avery had no idea how long. There were so many things she wanted to say to Jade. She wanted to thank her for always being there for her and looking out for her. She wanted to tell her that knowing Jade was going to Orcatia with her made everything less painful, but all she could manage to say, was, “You go on now, too. I’ll be right behind you.”

  “Fine,” Jade sighed, sensing Avery wanted to be alone before she hopped in, “but don’t bum around, because I’m not going to wait for you.”

  Avery laughed at the ridiculousness of Jade saying something like that to her, “Yes, you will.” She said.

  Jade sighed harder, “You’re right, so don’t dawdle. You know how much I hate waiting.”

  Just before Jade stepped her foot into the liquid, she stopped and turned around, “Avery,” she said, becoming serious all of a sudden, “for what it’s worth…this world was only ever temporary. Maybe if you think of it like that, it won’t hurt so much.”

  Avery pursed her lips and looked away, again fighting back the tears that had been so dangerously close to escaping. She put on her best fake smile and motioned for Jade to hurry up and get going. Avery watched Jade go into the watery gateway. She knew she couldn’t take too long, everyone was waiting for her back on Orcatia.

  To the west the sun was setting, causing the sky to dance in flames of oranges and cool purples, casting a husky glow on everything around her. Avery tried to take a mental picture of the place she considered home. She gazed across the park to Main Street, to the subdivision of houses beyond that, and then to her beloved desert which seemed to stretch out forever beyond the borders of the town. Her eyes took in everything, the fiery sky, the vast mountains, and the lush park. Avery shut her eyes and reveled in the fact that she could still see the images burned inside her mind.

  As Avery said her silent goodbye’s to Earth, all the emotions that had been racing around inside of her throughout the day, everything that she had kept pushing down, and the feelings she had pushed away, came rushing to the surface. For the first time that day, after everything she had been through, she began to cry. Avery wiped at the salty tears streaming down her cheeks; she would be damned if she landed on Orcatia with a blotchy face and bloodshot eyes and everyone staring at her. Once she was sure her face was sufficiently dry and semi blotch free, Avery turned to step into the gateway.

  When she approached closer to the gateway, Avery saw something that seemed to be floating inside the liquid, but she couldn’t quite make out what it was. All she could see was a small red glow. Avery moved closer to the gateway until her nose was almost touching the swirling substance. She stared intently as the red glow started to take shape, becoming clearer and darker, until the red had turned into an almost black color. Finally, she saw what it was, clear and unmistakable, two black snake-like eyes looking directly at her.

  Avery gasped and leapt backwards as the two penetrating eyes glared at her from inside the gateway. Avery stood rigid, breathing heavily, staring back at those eyes that held her. They were the coldest eyes Avery had ever seen, reptilian with no emotion or humanity to be found inside of them, completely black except for a small sliver of red running down the center. Avery wanted to look away, but
she couldn’t; she was paralyzed with horror, and her whole body went cold.

  “Aghhh!” Avery cried in pain and fell to the ground clutching her chest.

  A searing pain like nothing she had ever experienced before raged inside her chest. Avery tore her gaze away from those horrid eyes, and within seconds the pain began to alleviate. She calmed her breathing down and wiped at the sweat that had begun to form on her brow. After a moment, she risked glancing back up at the gateway, but the eyes were gone. Avery stood up shakily, still holding her hand to her chest, she began to massage it slowly, the memory of the pain still fresh in her mind and her nerves.