Other Side Of Forever (Other Side Of Forever Series Book 1)

by Shannon Eckrich

  “Now, stand loosely. Relax every muscle in your body. Your mind must be completely empty for your universal energy to grow.”

  “This is so not going to work,” I mumbled, remembering the outcome of my past training sessions. Broken bulbs, burning hands. The only thing that had kept me going then was my reward at the end. The warmth of Ethan’s touch followed by his soft lips.

  “Yes it is, now concentrate!” she snapped back.

  Jeremy busted up laughing beside me.

  “You’re not helping,” I said, but cracking a smile of my own.

  “Now, imagine a balloon,” she continued, ignoring us.

  “What color?” Jeremy interrupted.

  “It. Doesn’t. Matter,” she hissed through her teeth. “Visualize it right in front of you.” Her voice returned to normal.

  “Got it,” I said, clearly picturing a bright blue balloon floating directly in front of me.

  “Hold the balloon in your hands and imagine the latex fading away. The only thing left of the balloon is the air inside.”

  “I don’t get it,” Jeremy said. “How can it still be a balloon if it’s technically not a balloon anymore?”

  “Because, Jeremy, I want Allie to see the air, which is now shaped like a ball.”

  I’m not sure which was more amusing, the fact that Jeremy was trying to meditate, or the way he was plucking Kiera’s nerves. They were definitely in love.

  “Well, you should’ve had us picture the ball of air from the beginning. I’m just sayin’,” he continued to torment her.

  “Okay, okay, you guys. Can we finish this please?” I said, breaking up their little lover’s spat. “I’m in a little bit of a hurry. I’d like to get Ethan back by next year.”

  “Where was I?” Kiera asked, her voice still tense.

  “I’m holding the ball of air,” I reminded her.

  “Hold the circular mass of air in your hands. Sense it, see it, feel the pressure it makes in between your hands. Now, center yourself, still concentrating on the ball in front of you. Take a deep breath and draw in the energy around you, feel the energy drawing up out of the earth and into you…hold it…hold it…center it…now exhale. What do you feel, Allie?”

  “I feel the tingle, almost like my hands have fallen asleep.”

  “Good.” Her voice sounded confident. “Let it continue to flow into your hands. Now, use your breathing to direct that energy wherever you wish. Let it flow freely through your body. Then gather all that energy and force it back into your hands, keeping it in the shape of a ball.”

  “No way!” Jeremy yelled. “That is freakin’ awesome!”

  What was he talking about? What was he seeing? I didn’t want to open my eyes, because the last time I did that, I’d lost everything.

  “No—Jeremy don’t touch it!” Kiera screeched like a hawk.

  I cracked my eyes open as Jeremy’s hand landed on the surprisingly cool ball of energy in my palms. His body jerked, and in an instant, he fell limply to the ground.

  “Jeremy!” My eyes widened as I closed my hands. The energy disappeared. I dropped to my knees in front of him. “Is he going to be okay?” I asked Kiera.

  She came to kneel down beside me as I stared wide-eyed at Jeremy’s lifeless body. “Yeah,” she giggled. “He just got a little zap. He’s such an idiot.”

  “Maybe we should take him inside,” I whispered, totally in shock with what had happened, with what I’d been responsible for.

  “No, he’ll come around in a minute.” She kept grinning, clearly amused at what I had done. “See, his eyelids are fluttering.” She pointed, her grin growing wider as he attempted to open his eyes.

  “What…what happened?” Jeremy’s voice was low and weak. His eyes dodged back and forth between Kiera and me.

  “You were being an idiot. I told you not to touch it.” Kiera lifted her brows and peered down at him. “But no, you couldn’t listen to me. You had to be Mr. Billy Badass and reach out to it anyway.”

  “Sorry. I couldn’t resist.” Jeremy gave her a goofy little-boy grin, then turned his attention to me. “Wow, Allie, I never thought in a million years that you’d be able to knock me on my ass.”

  “Well, I guess I proved you wrong.” I shrugged, forcing a smile for his benefit, but not liking the fact that I’d physically hurt him. I stood up and helped him off the ground.

  “Where do we go from here?” I looked at Kiera. Not only did I feel like a complete failure for not being able to keep the energy in my hands, but I also felt like the worst best friend in the world for almost harming Jeremy.

  I loved Ethan with all of my heart. He was my world. And I would do anything to reach him, but would I risk endangering the life of my best friend? No, of course not. I had to find a way to exclude Jeremy, a way to keep him away from me until all of this was over.

  “What do you mean?” Kiera answered, her expression confused as she shook her head.

  I sighed and brought my hands up to my hips. “I just don’t see how manifesting a ball of energy in my hands brings me any closer to Ethan.”

  “This is only the beginning. Don’t you see? You’re learning how to bring the energy together, to control it. Once you’re able to do that, you’ll be able to bring enough of it together to open the doorway.”

  “Then why don’t you open the portal?” I urged, wanting all of this to stop. Wishing she would just manifest the stupid doorway so I could reach in and grab Ethan, and that would be the end of everything.

  She brought her hands up to her ears, tears welling up in her eyes. “Because I can’t!” Then she turned away from me and stormed through the backyard until she disappeared into the house.

  I stared blankly at the back door. Why had she gotten so upset? What did she mean, she couldn’t open the portal? She was an Asterian. And all Asterians could control energy, right?

  “I’d better go talk to her,” Jeremy said, sounding just as baffled as I felt.

  He started toward the door and I slowly followed him in. But as he continued into the kitchen and through the living room, I stopped and sat down on the sofa, knowing it would be better if he talked to her alone.

  The hands slowly ticked around the clock, with every minute, every second, feeling like eternity, until the setting sun cast dark shadows around the room. My eyelids started to weigh. I had no idea how much longer I could wait for Jeremy to come back downstairs.

  What could be taking them so long? What could they be talking about? The suspense was killing me, but I knew it would be wrong to intrude. They needed their time, just like Ethan and I had needed ours.

  Time slipped by, and darkness eventually crept into the room.

  And I drifted away.

  Even in my sleep, I couldn’t escape the nightmares that haunted me. The memories of Ethan being taken away. They replayed over and over in my head. And every time I thought I had him, thought I had pulled him to safety, his hands would slip away as he called, “Allie!” The only difference between my nightmare and the reality of what had happened was the color of the immortals eyes and what they were about to do.

  Instead of being deep and dark, they were glowing crimson red. And they were all centered on me.

  In my dream, Kiera and Jeremy appeared behind me, grasping my shoulders, holding me back, urging me to stop as Marcus, Tobias, and Arcadio turned to Ethan. They placed their hands over his face, his flesh melting with their touch, disintegrating, leaving nothing but bare bones as he called out for me to help him. I screamed for them to stop, told them that they were killing him, but they refused to listen.

  I leaned forward, desperate to make my way to him as the floor opened and swallowed me up. My body was falling, with no end in sight, into a dark nothingness.

  Away from Ethan.

  Away from Kiera and Jeremy.

  Away from everything.

  My eyes flew open as I gasped for air. I sat up on the sofa, heart pounding, sweat and tears streaming down my face, only to discover I
wasn’t alone. “Kiera,” I whispered. My voice cracked as I reached up to wipe away the moisture that clouded my vision.

  “Yeah, it’s me,” she answered, her voice low and soft. “I owe you an explanation for what happened earlier.”

  “What time is it?” I asked.

  “Quarter after two.”

  “And this couldn’t wait until morning?” I glanced at her silhouette on the other side of the sofa.

  “Not really…I couldn’t sleep.” She lifted her shoulders. “I kinda have a lot on my mind.” She pulled her knees up against her chest, hugging her legs in her arms.

  “What’s wrong?” I squinted through the darkness, wondering what could be bothering her besides Ethan’s absence.

  “I’m not as powerful as them, Allie. That’s why I got so upset when you asked me to manifest the portal. I can’t do it. I’ve only been an immortal for three years.” She pressed her face against her knees.

  “But, you said—”

  “I know what I said. And I’m sorry I lied to you, and to Jeremy. I wasn’t curious about what mortal boys were like—I was curious about what Jeremy was like. But I wanted you to trust me. I wanted you to know that I’m not the enemy. And the only way I could think to do that was to make you believe I was as old as Ethan. That I have suffered as much as he has.”

  “So all of what you said,”—I narrowed my eyes as the heat reached my cheeks—“about watching your friends and family grow old and die, all that was a lie?”

  “Sort of…”

  “What do you mean, sort of?” I pressed her, wishing she would just spit it out and get it over with.

  “I did watch my friends die. That part’s not a lie,” she said. “They were trapped on the bus. We were on a class trip…but something happened, and the bus careened off the road.” Her voice began to quiver. “I don’t remember much except that I couldn’t breathe in the smoke. And I remember the screaming. I still hear it now and then, especially when I’m sleeping. Ethan was always there to silence it. But he’s not here now.”

  My cheeks cooled and numbed and a heavy emptiness settled in the pit of my stomach. “Who saved you?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

  “Ethan,” she answered, choking on her sobs. “He was driving by and saw the whole thing. I’d been thrown from the bus and he’d found me just as I was dying, I guess. He did that thing to me the Asterians do, when they give someone who’d just died immortality. That’s another reason we’re so close.”

  I scooted next to her on the couch and wrapped my arm around her, pulling her to my chest where she continued to weep.

  “Why didn’t you tell me this?”

  “Because I didn’t want anyone to know. It’s not something I enjoy talking about. It’s a part of my past I want to forget.”

  “Where are your parents?” I asked, not sure if this was the right time to bring them up, but wondering if they still were living.

  “They’re in Nevada,” she said, sitting up. “That’s where I’m from.”

  “Do they know about you? I mean, do they know you made it through the accident?”

  “No.” She shook her head, her eyes falling to the floor. “They assume I’m dead.”

  I gasped. “Assume?”

  “After the accident, I read in the paper that not all the kids could be identified. A bunch of us used to go to the same dentist, but his records were all messed up. There was one body unaccounted for, but the police assumed there had been a mistake on the roll sheet. So there was no way my parents ever knew I wasn’t among the dead.”

  “What—you haven’t let them know you’re alive?” My eyes widened as I stared at her.

  “I can’t, Allie.” She lifted her head until her gaze met mine. “They can’t see me like this. Never growing old, never getting sick.” She paused, swallowing hard. “They’ll have questions. They’ll wonder why I didn’t burn up on the bus like everyone else. Wonder how I managed to survive. Then I’ll have to tell them.”

  “Is that so bad?” I tried to reason with her, but she just kept shaking her head.

  “Do you have any idea what that would do to my parents?” Her eyebrows knitted together. “For my parents to see the immortals, to see what they, and now I, can do? It would probably put them into cardiac arrest.” She leaned back on the sofa. “Besides, knowing now what’s happened to you and Ethan, I’m not sure how far Marcus would go to keep what he thinks is this Darkness out of Asteria. And I’m not willing to take that chance with my family. Because to Marcus, all mortals are evil.” She glanced over at me, finally smiling. “Especially you.”

  “Yeah. Go figure.” I laughed along with her. “If they only knew I was more of a danger to myself than anyone else.”

  “You’ll figure your powers out. It just takes time.” She smiled. “Learning to control all the energy in the universe isn’t really the easiest thing to do. I’m still learning.”

  “Well, I couldn’t care less about controlling all the energy of the universe; I’m just worried about controlling mine. And opening the doorway, of course.”

  “You can do it. I believe in you.” Her deep, dark eyes focused on mine.

  We sat on the sofa, sharing our life stories until the orange glow of the sunrise peeked through the window. Sharing about Ethan, Jeremy, and the families we’d once had. I’d never imagined Kiera could be so like me. Even though we were at opposite ends of the spectrum—Kiera abandoning her family and my family abandoning me—we still shared the same pain.

  I was ashamed at myself for ever thinking of her as the enemy, the person responsible for ripping Ethan away from me. The fact was, she needed Ethan too. He was to her like Jeremy was to me. Her best friend, her life support, the person who kept picking her up every time she fell down. I didn’t know how much power she had or what she was able to do. I didn’t think she knew either, but together, we were determined to bring Ethan back.

  * * *

  By the time we’d finished talking, it was a little after six in the morning. And both of us were starving. Kiera followed me as I got up off the sofa and headed into the kitchen. She veered to the left to the cabinets to retrieve a frying pan, while I made my way to the fridge.

  “I want to find a way to keep Jeremy out of this. Maybe try to send him back home or something,” I said, grabbing a loaf of bread and eggs out of the fridge and balancing them in my arm.

  “Why would you want to do that?” She glanced at me as she placed the pan on the burner.

  “Because I don’t want to see him get hurt,” I answered, dropping everything on the counter. “You saw what happened yesterday. I could have really hurt him.” I stuck four pieces of toast in the oversized toaster.

  “He’s not going to go—not now.” She purposely turned her eyes away from me while she cracked an egg across the rim of the pan.

  Kiera refused to look at me as the yellow-white liquid mixture began to sizzle. I had a feeling this may have been more about her not wanting to be away from Jeremy than her actually worrying about his safety.

  “He’ll go if you tell him you’re going with him.”

  Kiera sucked in her breath as her head flashed around. “And what? Leave you here alone?” Her eyes widened. “I don’t think so. You wouldn’t have a chance against them.”

  “Well, at least I wouldn’t have to worry about either of you getting hurt.”

  “First off, Jeremy won’t leave your side,” she stated, flipping the eggs. “Second, there’s no way I’m leaving you here alone. And you’re absolutely insane if you think I would.” Kiera turned her head to look at me, frowning. “Not only would that be suicidal for you, but if Ethan does make it back and finds out I left you here alone, it would be the death of me, too.”

  “I know, I know. It’s just that I don’t want anything to happen to him,” I said, pulling three plates out of the cabinet. “And Jeremy seems to have no idea how dangerous this could be. Hell, I don’t even know how dangerous this could be.”

 
Kiera kept silent for a while. I waited until the toast popped up, then spread butter over the craggy whole wheat, waiting for her to speak.

  She placed the eggs on the plates, nibbled her lip, then said, “You worry too much. I think everything will be fine. We just have to come up with a game plan, because I know Marcus isn’t going to let us waltz in there and grab Ethan. Somewhere along the line there’s going to be a confrontation.”

  “And they’re much stronger than we are.” I knew someone would end up getting hurt. And more than likely it would be Jeremy.

  She sat silent for a while, eating her eggs. Her gaze flicked from corner to corner of the room, as if she were working up a plan in her mind. Finally, she spoke. “Not if we get to Ethan first. He’s almost as powerful as they are. Together, you two could possibly scare them enough to make them retreat.” She got up, dumped her plate and fork into the sink with a clatter, then sketched me a wave and disappeared out the door. Probably off to wake Jeremy.

  I sat down at the table, my head in my hands, wishing that all this were over, wishing it had never happened. But it wasn’t over and it had happened. This wasn’t a nightmare that would go away if I blinked. This was real. And everyone who I truly cared about, except Erica, was involved. This time it was up to me to save everyone. But I didn’t know if I was capable of doing that. What if something went wrong? What if I failed? What if I just couldn’t do it? But my biggest fear was: What if I never saw Ethan again?

  Jeremy strolled into the kitchen. “Hey, Allie,” he said, his voice full of excitement, a tell-tale sign that Kiera had kept our conversation a secret.

  I glanced up at his big brown eyes and his wide smile, knowing that Kiera was right. Jeremy would refuse to leave me right now. I would have no choice but to try to protect him the best I could, if and when we made it to the other side.

  “Hey.” I finally answered him as he pulled out the chair beside me and sat down.

  “You talk to Kiera yet?” he asked, taking a bite of toast.

  “Yeah…she’s okay. I just thought that since she was immortal that she would be as strong as Ethan,” I explained. “But I guess I was wrong.”