For me, seeing Elliot alive was confusing, but, to Tyler, it might seem a betrayal. He’d grieved the death of his friend and mentor, and Elliot had left us to fight for ourselves. Yet now, here he was, whole and well.
“Tyler,” was all Elliot said as he reached us, and Tyler allowed himself to be drawn into Elliot’s arms. Although he appeared less than fifteen years older than Tyler, he looked like a father holding his son. When they drew apart, both had tears in their eyes. Elliot told Tyler something when they’d touched, and Tyler’s expression changed. Whatever he’d said, it made everything right between them.
“What happened?” Sarah’s voice cut through the brief silence as she and Dee came through the door of the building.
“Elliot!” Dee cried.
Sarah reached him first. They took turns being wrapped in his arms.
When Dee drew away, she looked at him in wonder. “You came back.”
“Not to stay. Just to say good-bye.” Whatever he’d shown them had been enough. He added, with a half-smile, “I understand you humans need that sort of thing.”
“How …?” I started to express my puzzlement.
He placed his hand gently on my arm. Instantly, I saw the night I’d died. I lay in the field. He and Jared knelt over me. There was a flash of lightning, and his body, charred and damaged, lay beside Jared’s in the grass. They were both so still, so pale. After a moment, yellow light emerged from them, like the energy surrounding the living. It glowed brightly, flickering above them for the briefest moment before disappearing into the atmosphere. The bodies didn’t move.
What was that?
“Everybody has an essence,” Elliot explained softly. “When World Maker brought me home, he brought Jared, too.”
“Why?”
“Why not? He’d died protecting you, honoring me. If anyone deserved a second chance, he did. He made the choice that mattered, in the end.”
“Why couldn’t he come back here with you?”
“He’s not like me. World Maker designed Earth for his first body. He doesn’t have that anymore. The body he has now can’t travel worlds like mine.”
“Did we wipe out the entire species?” Of all the questions I had, it was the most pressing.
“No. But all the ones inhabiting this world. It will be more difficult for them to return here.”
“You made the weapon. Why didn’t you—or World Maker—just use it? Why didn’t you help us?”
“We gave you the earth and the tools to protect it. With my infusion, you had everything you needed. I never left you.”
“So, we’re safe now?” Dee asked, still clutching the weapon he’d given her.
He didn’t respond right away, and his silence was unsettling. We knew what it meant. There were still people working against World Maker—and against his followers—on earth. And there were more creatures out there somewhere. But, for now, earth was safe. Nobody would have any idea how close they’d come the end.
“Will our powers still work?” I asked. Will we still be connected?
“You share my DNA now,” he said simply. “That will never change. But it wouldn’t hurt to have more people with you. Four’s a pretty small number.”
“More? But if you’re not there—”
“You share my DNA, remember?” He looked skyward again and then back toward us. “It’s time for me to go now, and time for you, too.”
I held out my hand to stop him. “How will we know if the creatures come back?”
The dimensional fabric thinned as he prepared to send us home and close the rift.
“You’ll know,” was all he said. He opened a small tear in the atmosphere around us. Dee burst into tears again as she saw it and wrapped her arms around him. Sarah and Tyler raised their hand in a brief goodbye, and I nodded to him. He enveloped our dimension around us, warm and wet, and we stood in light rain outside the ashes of the burnt building. The blue of the sky was just beginning to deepen.
The four of us looked at each other. Our collective energies blended even as we stood apart. Wordlessly, Sarah and Dee turned and started walking back toward the highway.
“You gonna call a cab?” Tyler called after them.
“Maybe,” Sarah called back, her voice sounding lighter than I’d ever heard before. “But it’s a really great night for a walk.”
Dee laughed softly but tears glistened in her eyes. Happiness for Elliot? Grief for Jonathan? Or relief this was over, if only for a while? She might tell us later. Or not
Dusk deepened unclouded areas of sky to indigo, and the sun lingered just on the horizon. Overhead, the rain clouds were alight with pale orange reflection. Sirens sounded in the distance.
Tyler watched Sarah and Dee for a moment, then turned to me. “Wanna get something to eat?”
I should go home.
My parents were probably freaking out again, although maybe not as much as before. They now knew I had some secret agenda and place to go. But I’d skipped school, ignored my punishment, and stayed out without telling anyone. There would be consequences, but that didn’t seem so important anymore.
Someday, I might tell them what I did. Or not.
Together, my friends and I saved the world today. Together, we would stand guard against any future attacks.
“Rachel?” He tipped his head toward his bike, silhouetted by the setting sun. “Something to eat?”
I kept my promise to Hope, and I would continue keeping it. For her. For our world. And I wouldn’t have to do it alone.
“Sure.” I took hold of Tyler’s hand. Gravel crunched underfoot as we walked together along the path.
About the Author
Alyssa Thiessen is a writer and a teacher hailing from the vibrant center of Canada—Winnipeg, Manitoba. Although she loves the beauty of the written word and the thrill of engaging learners, her greatest joy is found in her family. Life with her husband and their three fantastic children make every day a beautiful adventure.
Other titles by Alyssa Thiessen
Dragonfly
Amber Rain (with co-author Celesta Thiessen)
Other titles available from Charlie Dawg Press
By Deb Kemper:
Full Mackintosh (historical fiction)
The Legend of Graeme Macpherson (fantasy)
Mallory Ridge (contemporary fiction)
Lies and Old Lovers (contemporary fiction)
Keeping Reggie’s Widow (contemporary fiction)
The Belles in Scotland (contemporary fiction)
Life Beyond the Toaster: A Gluten-Free Cookbook
By Alma Quick:
Molly’s First Golden Year (contemporary, senior)
Children’s books by Russ Swigart (with Julie Swigart):
Sheep in a Sweater
Bigfoot Fancies Wool Socks
Pippa Finds a Home
Pippa Becomes a Big Sister
Percy Makes a New Friend
Children’s book by Frances L. Freeman:
Sounds of Snow
By GL Francis:
Under Every Moon (speculative poetry)
Leyfarers and Wayfarers (science fiction/fantasy short story collection)
By Thomas Pelham Gross
You Don’t Have To “Do Church” To Please God
Contents
Infusion
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
About the Author
Other titles available from Charlie Dawg Press
Infusion Page 17
