by Anne Haley
"You should have warned me," Aylin scolded her best friend when she sat down at the table in the café, "I scared her." Eliana had been munching on a salad and looked fairly amused.
"No. This was much better. Payback, if you will," El said with a wave of her hand.
"Four years and you still hold it against me?" Aylin raised a dark eyebrow.
"Damn straight I do." El winked. "So what do you think?"
"She is definitely the third, there is no doubt about it. I’m surprised that we didn’t have to go looking for her." She looked down at her sandwich. "Does it mean something that she came to us instead?" she shrugged, answering her own question. "But I think it’s going to be very difficult, especially now that she’s already running away from me. I have a feeling she has no idea of who she is. Can we be a little more tactful from now on?" Aylin asked.
"Yeah, sure. We’ll approach her like a little scared bunny. No sudden movements." El shrugged.
"Good. We’ll give her some space, let her calm down again. No popping in on her." Aylin narrowed her eyes.
"I already agreed," Eliana snapped. "What did she smell like?" She leaned towards Aylin.
"Oak, cedar, and rosemary." Aylin tried not to look at El, but it was impossible to not see the hint of satisfaction on El’s face. "Very earthy."
"It is only a matter of time then," El nodded. Then she pointed to the vegetable sandwich in front of Aylin. "Now you eat. I promised a short lunch."
"Well, since we are here," Aylin picked up a quarter slice of the sandwich, "I might as well tell you about the dream I had last night."
"A dream?" El’s eyebrows rose with interest.
"It started out like a normal dream. I stood on the shore, in the cove of Orca Point, watching the sea. The strange thing about it was there was no color. Everything around me was in black and white, making the water a black mirror. I could tell it was nighttime because the moon was low on the horizon and larger than I’d ever seen. I could see the sky clear of clouds, but it was also starless."
"Another warning sign," El rested her elbows on the table and had leaned forward.
"Yes. The air was so thick with humidity I felt uncomfortable. But then I had the chills, and became freezing cold. It was at this point I saw the fog traveling above the water, creeping slowly toward me. As it came closer the harder it became to breathe." Aylin brought a hand up to her throat as she had in the dream as she’d fallen to her knees in the sand. "I could feel my heart racing as the fog reached me. The fog was too thick to see through. As the rest of the air disappeared around me I fell onto my back and looked up to the black sky, thinking it could swallow me whole."
El shifted in her seat, clearly uncomfortable with the thought of being suffocated.
"When the fog finally reached me I was too weak to move. It felt like icy fingers on my skin, and it was numbing. I couldn’t take a breath, and all I could think was that it’s too early. We haven’t found the third yet. It isn’t supposed to happen like this. Just as I started to lose my vision I realized I’ve failed. I thought my end would be peaceful, but my only thought was I failed." Tears stung her eyes at the fresh wave of sadness and she quickly blinked them away.
"Aylin, but it was only a dream," El reached out and touched her hand.
"There’s more."
"Go on."
"My lungs were screaming for air, and I could feel the pressure building inside me. Just when I thought this was it, a sound broke through. My head rolled to the side to see someone breaking through the brush in the woods. They rushed toward me and I tried to call to them, but I couldn’t. Just before I woke up he came into view as he dropped to his knees next to me."
When Aylin finished a fresh wave of chills ran down her spine, despite the humid air around her. The feeling of the fog clinging to her skin was still fresh. El took a long sip of her lemonade in deep thought. "Okay," she said as she set down the glass lightly, "so you were trapped on the beach, unable to breathe. Suffocating?" Aylin nodded, her skin paling from the memory of the feeling. "Then a handsome knight in shining armor appears."
"I don’t remember what he looks like, so how do you know that he’s handsome? And now I’m thinking, what if he wasn’t coming to save me?" Aylin asked.
El shrugged. "Now you’re over-analyzing it. You knew he was too late to save you, which means you knew he was there to help not hurt." She leaned back. "I think I would take it as a sign that the hourglass is running severely low."
Aylin nodded. "That’s what I was afraid of." She pushed away her sandwich, unable to finish it.
CHAPTER THREE
Willoughby Island is a small, irregular shaped island. A peninsula juts out on the northern end and it holds a state park with a small mountain and many hiking trails. There is room enough for only a few campsites near the shore. The town is located in the large part of the island with the shoreline filled with beaches and cottages. The shoreline varies from smooth sand to sharp rocky coves. The trees stand tall and thick on the exterior, allowing passing boaters only occasional glimpses of windows or rooftops.
Blake held a map of the island in his hand, and a duffel bag lay at his feet as he watched from the upper deck of the ferry as they approached the island. His heart thudded loudly in his chest, and he had a sick feeling deep in his gut that made it difficult to take in the natural beauty before him. The elder couple standing next to him continued to try to make conversation with him, and he knew more about them than he ever wanted to know. They were celebrating their fortieth anniversary, and they had first met each other on this island. He was a fisherman; she was a waitress that served him lunch everyday. It was destiny.
Blake didn’t think that what he had set out to do had anything to do with destiny. It was about rescuing and salvaging relationships, flying halfway across the country and finding his runaway.
The ferry docked at a small ramp near the marina, and from the top deck of the ferryboat he could just see the main marina. He could see the sailboats and small yachts anchored inside the cement walls, protecting the boats from heavy waves. Following the older couple off the boat, he declined a ride into town with them. He could see the edge of town down the road from where he stood on the shore, and he needed to stretch his tight legs after a full day of traveling.
The single lane road led him into the quaint downtown. He passed by three restaurants, all advertising fresh seafood in their small buildings. Two of the restaurants were converted houses with large porches and manicured gardens lining the porches. He stopped when he came to the city park. A large white washed gazebo stood in the middle of the lawn. A man playing fetch with his dog could be seen on the opposite side of the gazebo, along with a few children trying to fly their colorful kite. According to his travel guide the Chester Inn should be on the same street as the park. He turned right and spotted the Inn immediately. A large Victorian style mansion that had been converted into a hotel stood out from all the other buildings on the street. Brilliant white on the outside, it had a large wrap around front porch filled with rocking chairs and benches. A welcoming place to sit on a hot afternoon with a large glass of iced tea.
When he entered the hotel he had to stop at the view of the interior when he first walked in the door. The counters and tables were made of dark marble and the dark wood shined under the glossy polish, mixing together to make a formal lobby. A small table in front of the door held a large arrangement of flowers perfuming the air, and the desk was located just behind. The woman greeted him with a friendly smile, and his check in was done with ease. Surprisingly an elevator had been added in the old building, and when he stepped onto the ornate carpet that lined the bottom of the elevator he looked up to the mirrored ceiling. He felt a long way from home.
Blake stood on the sidewalk on Second Avenue. The short walk from the Inn to this point told him why Terra had picked this place to escape to. It looked just like home, except for the fact that this was an island. In this town it was easy to pick out the reside
nts from the tourists, the tourists with their bright new shoes and casual dress code, even though they mingled together like old friends. The air smelled salty and warm with the promise of a hot summer on the way. The storefronts were filled with merchandise from clothing to flowers, pastries to beach toys. He could guess that in a few days the streets would be bustling with the summer crowd.
Taking a deep breath, he returned his gaze returned to the store directly across the street from him. It hadn’t been difficult to find, since it was the only bookstore on the island. Barely two blocks away from the Inn, it had been a short walk. Whale of a Tale Bookstore was smaller than he had guessed after looking at the amount of business they do each year. There were a few people sitting in chairs in the windows of the store, oblivious to everything around them, fully engrossed in their books.
They reminded him of Terra. He took a deep breath, knowing he was only putting off what he came to do. He had to face her. The anxious feeling in his gut traveled up, forming a hard lump in the base of his throat. He tried to push it down by swallowing, but it had little affect. Considering the fact that he didn’t know if she worked today, and if she did work when she would be done with her shift, he decided waiting outside for her wouldn’t be the best idea. If he waited she might spot him and slip out through the back. He needed to confront her and get this over with.
Blake walked into Whale of a Tale Bookstore, barely taking in his surroundings, and approached a young man behind the register. "Excuse me, is Terra working?" he asked with a hushed tone.
"Yeah. She’s in back." The man raised a questioning eyebrow that rose above his small square glasses. After giving Blake a once-over he relaxed his brow. "I’ll go get her."
"Thank you." Blake gave him a quick nod and turned away from him. He didn’t want to answer anyone’s questions. He was here to ask the questions.
A few moments later Terra emerged from the door marked Associates Only. The sight of her made him pause, forgetting the anger he felt towards her. She looked so young still. He had expected her to look older, harder around the edges. It tugged at him that she looked the same as she did when she left their town. The only difference he could see was the distance in her eyes. Standing only feet from each other, she might as well have been on the other side of the earth. The tell tale sign to him that the wall she had built around herself the last few years was still solid, and she wouldn’t easily let him in.
Her face broke into a large smile, warming her eyes. "Blake!" she almost shrieked and ran into his arms. The weight of her body crashing into his didn’t move him an inch. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. Her body thinner than last time he saw her, and her skin was pale. "What are you doing here?" she cried.
"I am checking up on my little sister." He pulled away from her enough to look down into her watery eyes. "You left town while I was away, and you haven’t called me since." He stopped himself before he asked why she left, he knew that this was not the time or place for such a conversation.
"I know," she looked down at her shoes so she wouldn’t see the hurt in his eyes. "I’m sorry," she said quietly, barely a whisper. She stepped out of his arms and chewed on her lip. She blinked away her tears and wiped her face with the back of her hands. She sniffed and looked back up to him, trying to summon up some kind of strength. "How long are you staying?"
"I don’t know." He welcomed the slight change of subject. "As long as it takes. I have a room at the Chester Inn."
"Great!" She perked up. "That’s close to here. Wait, why do you have a room? Blake, you can stay with me."
"I wasn’t sure what I would find when I came here," he said with a shrug. "I didn’t know if I’d be welcome in your new life." Now it was his turn to look away from her. He had never felt so unsure about his role in her life.
"Of course you are. You are always welcome in my life. It’s not a new life…" She looked away from him and looked outside. She had so much to say to him, but she couldn’t say any of it here. She blinked and shook her head. "No, I have a spare room. It’s a really small house, but we can get along. Can you hang around for half and hour? That’s when I get off." She looked at her watch.
"Of course, I’ll be next door," he nodded, pointing towards the café.
"Okay, thank you." She took a step towards him, but then thought better of it. She smiled at him and he turned to walk out.
No, he wouldn’t allow her to feel uncomfortable around him. No matter what happened before she was still his younger sister. Whether she ran away to start a new life or not he needed her to know that he’ll always love her. Even if that love hurts him. He turned back around and took two long strides towards her and hugged her tightly. After she squeezed him back he let her go and left.
Blake felt rattled by the sight of Terra. His mom had been right, there was something wrong with Terra. She had never seemed so shaky, like she was a ball of nervous energy. Sure, she seemed happy to see him, but what would come next after the surprise wears off? He didn’t know if she would ask him to leave her alone, and if she did then he would believe she would never go back home. She had never seemed restless in their small town until last summer when she had become jumpy and scared like a skittish cat. She had spent a lot of time away from them wandering in the woods. Terra claimed she keeping herself in shape with hiking. But in his heart he felt that she didn’t want to be around them anymore. When he would drop by her home unexpectedly she would seem startled by the sight of him. Most of the time she wouldn’t even let him in the house.
Then this past spring he started traveling for work, having to go into Wisconsin to help out with the lumberyard. He’d received distraught phone calls from his mom when Terra wouldn’t show up for work. Once when his mother stopped by her house after she hadn’t shown up for work for a week straight, Terra screamed at her. Terra told their mother to never stop by the house without calling. Terra then stopped answering her phone. A week before he was supposed to head back home from Wisconsin, he received a phone call in the middle of the night from a sobbing Terra.
"Blake, I don’t know what’s wrong with me!" she cried. Her words were slurred, like she had too much to drink.
"Terra, calm down. What’s going on?" he asked, feeling very awake even though he had been in a deep sleep. It hadn’t taken much to rouse him to full alert when his sister sounded so unbearably miserable.
"I can’t do this anymore. I can’t hide anymore." She sniffed. "I just can’t Blake. I don’t understand."
His heart hurt at the sound of her crying. "What happened? Talk to me," he pleaded.
"No. I can’t." Her sobs grew harder, and her breath was ragged. "I’m so sorry Blake," she said and hung up.
Blake called his mother the next morning at the bookstore that she and Terra ran together, to tell her about the call. But he didn’t get a chance to relay the news, because his mother told him that she had stopped by Terra’s before opening the store and Terra was gone. She had left a note on the kitchen table saying she needed to get away for a while, and didn’t know if she would be back. She wrote that she would call in a few weeks.
"A few weeks Blake!" his mother exclaimed on the phone. "We used to talk everyday, now I don’t even know how to get a hold of her. Her cell phone was on the table with the note. What if something happens to her?" It took a long time to calm his mother down. When he got back he went to one of his old friends that knew how to obtain any type information on a computer. His friend did enough digging and investigating to find out that she had bought a ferry ride from Seattle to Willoughby Island. Blake immediately took time off work and bought his first plane ticket to Seattle. Terra had been gone for three weeks now and he had felt frantic to see her. He had left home without any hesitation.
CHAPTER FOUR
Blake stepped into the small café and ordered a black coffee. He was thumbing through a magazine when the door opened. Blake looked up and couldn’t tear his eyes away from the woman that walked in. She was the most beautiful
woman he’d ever seen. She glided into the café and her long black wavy hair had his finger twitching with want to touch. Her hair hung past the middle of her back, and it was paired with smooth, creamy white skin. She wore a white peasant top that lay open at the neck and tight denim capris. She went straight to the counter and ordered a drink, then stayed and chatted with the worker, leaning her hip against the counter. Her back faced him and he waited for her to turn to face him so he could see her face again, and he was oblivious to anything else. So oblivious that he didn’t notice Terra joining him.
"Hey," she smiled.
He blinked out of his daze and tore his eyes away from the goddess. He tried to return the smile to Terra. "Hey," he said roughly and cleared his throat.
"What’s with you?" she asked, taking a sip of his coffee.
"No-nothing." He forced himself not to look at the goddess leaning seductively against the counter. He cleared his throat again and forced the woman from his head. He had a job to do here, and drooling over beautiful women wasn’t part of it. He had to give Terra his complete attention. "So, what now?"
"Well, I think we should check you out of the Inn and move your things to my house. It’s only a few blocks away. And I’m renting it, so don’t go destroying anything."
"Terra, I don’t destroy things," he said and then smiled. He had a flash memory of playing touch football with a couple of buddies in his parent’s living room. He was grounded for a long time after that. Apparently the vase they had broken was old and very expensive. "Well, just one time."
