Between Two Realms: Awaken

by Amber Flora

  “I can’t stay here, this room is huge! Do you have a guest room I could sleep in?”

  He placed my bags next to the bed and began piling wood into the fireplace.

  “You can and you will. My room is just next door and Mac will be downstairs. It makes strategic sense for you to be in this room.”

  I opened the closet door, looking for hangers.

  “So, whose room is it?”

  He looked as though he would rather not answer that question.

  “It’s Mac’s room but he rarely sleeps in it; he usually crashes on the couch.”

  I backed up, heading for the door.

  “Oh no! I am not sleeping on the womanizer’s bed. I know what he uses this room for.”

  Mac strode in and leaned against the doorway.

  “I told you, I’m no womanizer. They come to me— I can’t keep them away, and don’t worry yourself about the bed. I just had it put in this morning.”

  Cody glanced at Mac and then back to me. I don’t know why, but it made blush. I also got a warm feeling thinking that maybe he got this bed just for me. No, that’s silly. That bed probably cost a fortune and he doesn’t even like me. He probably broke his previous bed with the last lady who stayed here and had to replace it. Mac nudged Cody and began walking away.

  “I have some connections I have to pry some information out of. I won’t be gone long, the two of you get some lunch.”

  I left Cody standing in the bedroom and followed after him.

  “Mac, I, um— I wanted to thank you for the bedroom, it's breathtaking.”

  He rubbed the top of head trying not to look at me.

  “It’s nothing, Macree. Get some food in ya, you’re withering away to nothing.”

  He walked out the front door and I spun around to go back upstairs to find Cody standing behind me staring intensely.

  “What happened between the two of you while I was with the council?”

  Oh, that made me mad. The nerve of him! It’s none of his business what I do and with whom.

  “Excuse me?” I barked out.

  “I heard what he called you. What happened between you two?”

  I headed toward the kitchen, looking for a snack.

  “Well you call me little Phoenix and nothing has happened with us. I don’t know what Macree means or why he calls me that, ask him if you want to know so badly.”

  He pulled some bread out of the pantry and handed it to me.

  “I call you that because you are the Phoenix.”

  I opened the fridge to look for some sandwich meat.

  “Well, maybe I’m the Macree too. What does it mean?”

  He slammed his fist on the counter, making my bread fall on the floor, and stormed out of the kitchen. I picked up the bread stalking after him.

  “You need an attitude adjustment, you know that?! You’re bossy and secretive, and I don’t think you even know how to smile.”

  I threw the slice of bread at him and it stuck to the side of his head. I couldn’t have accomplished that again if I had a dozen tries. The sight of him standing there with that scowl on his face and bread stuck to him sent me into a laughing fit. I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe and my sides hurt. Cody picked the piece of bread off his face and slung it back at me. Whomp! It got me square in the middle of my forehead. I gasped in shock.

  “Did you just hit me?” I said, like I was truly taken back by it.

  “You started it,” He replied, taking a seat on the couch.

  “Oh this means war!” I yelled, picking up some mixed nuts lying in a bowl on the coffee table and throwing them at him.

  He was covered in food; mixed nuts clung to his shirt and lay in his hair. I started to run but he grabbed my arm and pulled me down onto the couch with him, picking up his own handful and flicking them at me. I tried to get away, but then he started tickling me. I was convulsing and laughing hysterically while I tried to squirm out of his grasp. Then the fun ended as quickly as it began with the slamming of the front door and an angry Mr. Clean standing over us.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing? You banjaxed my apartment!”

  Cody stopped immediately as I brushed the mixed nuts off of me, trying to clean up the mess.

  “Well that was a quick meeting,” I said, acting casual.

  “I forgot something, good thing I came back before you had time to set my bloody apartment on fire.”

  I sat there like a teen being reprimanded by her parents.

  “Oh give it a rest Mac, I’ll clean up.” Cody went into the hall closet to get a broom.

  “I’m sorry about the mess, it was my fault. If I’m not grounded could I make a phone call?”

  They gave each other a perplexed look.

  “It’s just that I’m supposed to hang out with my friend Lori this week and if she doesn’t hear from me soon she’s going to call the police.”

  Mac grabbed a sheet of paper out of a drawer and stuffed it into his back pocket.

  “Lass, I’m not so sure that’s a good idea, you don’t want to put your friend in any danger, do you? We can’t have a human sniffing around right now.”

  Is this my life now? A moment of normalcy just to be thrown back into the dark reality that my entire existence as a human was over?

  “She’s my best friend, I have to let her know I’m okay. I’ll make up an excuse to buy some time, but you're going to have bigger problems if she starts putting flyers out with my picture on them.”

  They both stood there, neither of them speaking for what felt like a lifetime until finally Mac went into another room and came out with a cell phone.

  “I have to go, but this is a burner phone. It can’t be traced, just try to keep it brief.”

  I sat at the kitchen table for a minute trying to think of what I was going to say to her. This was going to be difficult, Lori knew me better than anyone, she knows when I’m lying. How am I going to convince her I’m fine when I can’t even convince myself of it? I took a deep breath and dialed her number.

  “Lori Cobb speaking.”

  Wow, it was good to hear her voice. It has just been a couple days since I’ve seen her, but it feels like a lifetime.

  “Hey, O’hara, how’s it going?”

  “Ashtyn? Where are you calling me from?”

  Keep it together, you can do this.

  “Crazy story girl, I got a phone call from one of mom's old friends. We got to talking and she invited me to visit her. She has letters and pictures from my mom when she was younger so I thought I would head up to Utah and spend a few days getting to know her.”

  Lori snorted.

  “Utah, Ashtyn, I can’t even get you to go to the beach. You expect me to believe you went to Utah on a whim to visit a stranger? Seriously, where are you?”

  I wanted to spill my guts, to lay it all out there, but the only thing that would accomplish would be putting my friend in danger and that was not acceptable.

  “Lori you know how important it is to me to learn about my family. I had to take this opportunity. Look, I have to go, but I love you and I’ll call you again soon, I promise.”

  There was a pause and I wondered if she already hung up.

  “Ashtyn, are you in some sort of trouble? You're scaring me.”

  I had to end this call; I was going to fall apart if I didn’t.

  “I’m fine, sunshine. I’m sorry I can’t help you study for that part, but I know you’ll do great. I’ll talk to you later I promise.”

  I quickly hung up the phone, setting it on the table. I had always dreamt of a different life. To be like Scarlet and chase my dreams no matter how absurd they might have been. Now, faced with the truth and the opportunity to make a difference and rewrite my fate, all I wanted was to sink back into the normalcy of human life.

  Cody walked in the kitchen and sat next to me.

  “I can’t imagine how difficult this is for you. You spent your entire life not knowing who you really are. I wish you
could have grown up around your own kind, learning your culture and abilities. You have enormous potential inside you, you just need to channel that.”

  I stared at my hands, wanting to believe his words, but I was not brave, or special. I was clumsy, dull Ashtyn who spent her life with her head in the clouds.

  “What is your mom like? Does she feel the same way about me? Does she call me the Phoenix?”

  He shifted in his chair, trying not to look at me directly.

  “She’s very smart, she’s a teacher. She has always thought education and understanding one’s culture is the most important thing. She had hoped Sarah would have followed in her footsteps. But I’m not so sure that’s the path she wanted to take. My mother loved Deandra, but something changed in her when my father and sister died. Her commitment to your mother's goals and dreams made her feel like she was accepting what happened to them as fate and my mother isn’t big on fate.”

  I placed my hand on top of his, trying to provide him comfort.

  “I can’t be mad at her for blaming me, I probably would too if the roles were reversed. To lose your family and home for one person with a dream, it seems unfair.”

  Cody looked up at me. I could see the loss in his green eyes.

  “All great battles are won by sacrifice. My father believed in Deandra, if he hadn’t trusted her visions he never would have left his family behind to protect her. He knew the price that had to be paid and he accepted that.”

  “But did your mother and sister? Or you for that matter? Should all of you had paid the price for his loyalty? What if my mother was wrong or even if she was right? Everything that was lost, is it worth it?”

  The waterworks were coming again, I could feel my eyes getting hazy.

  “To finally have peace within the realms, to live in a place that is ours so that no other generation will have to pay the price we have paid. Yes, it is worth it. If my sister and father were able I know they would say the same.”

  I felt so angry and scared, his family dying for me, my inability to help them get their home back or end the war. I wanted to—no! I needed to— help them. I couldn’t let any of this be in vain.

  “Ashtyn! Your eyes.”

  I wiped them. “I know, I’m crying. I’m sorry, it’s just … ”

  I looked up to see him gawking at me with complete surprise resting on his expression.

  “No, they are teal, like when you are in dream realm.”

  Before I could comprehend what he was saying it all went black.

  One second I was crying like a baby sitting across from Cody, the next I was standing in bustling city surrounded by people. Holy macaroni! Where am I? This certainly was not the human realm unless in the time I was hostage in Mac’s apartment they invented a way to make trains move without a track. A train whizzed by me hovering a good five feet off the ground. I stopped a woman walking nearby.

  “Excuse me, could you tell me where I am?”

  The women looked at me like I had two heads. “Why you’re in Cardician, of course.”

  I let go of her arm to allow her to keep walking.

  “Of course, thank you.”

  I surveyed my soundings. There were people walking back and forth from the train station as if they were in a hurry to be somewhere. They were dressed no different from normal people I would see in my city, but most of the men had long hair and dressed in simple shirts and colors with no patterns. Most of the women wore long purple or black dresses, which struck me as odd because it had to be 80 degrees in Cardician. The streets were not paved; instead it looked as though I was walking on AstroTurf. I clearly did not blend in. There were no signs of cars or any other mode of transportation other than the train behind me. The sky was bright, but I saw no indication of the sun and colors of green and orange danced above like northern lights. Crowds of people walked past me toward what I assumed was the city off to my right. I noticed buildings in the distance that held a old British feel to them with their stone walls and wooden signs.

  I decided to stay away from the creepy floating train and headed in the direction of the buildings. I turned a corner past a big brick building and saw shops lining the street. Signs that read “potion shop” and “magic door bookstore” caught my attention. Well, we're not in Kansas anymore, I thought. I opted to go into a store called Clairvoyant Recitations. I opened the door to the sound of a bell announcing my entry.

  “Hello, is anyone here?” I asked, walking up to the counter. An older woman looking to be in her 60s walked out from the back room.

  “Hello, young lady, what can I do for you today?”

  What could she do for me, I thought. A lot, actually, but I doubt she could help me with any of my current problems.

  “Do you have a phone?”

  What a dumb question, who was I going to call? The service would have to be phenomenal to reach Cody in the human realm.

  “A phone? Honey you’re not from around here, are you?” I raised my hand admittedly.

  “Guilty.”

  She looked at me, intrigued by my ignorance.

  “Very interesting, and yet, here you are.”

  I was as interested in my strange appearance in another realm as she obviously was. In fact I was downright terrified. How did I end up in magic realm? I had only ever flashed once and I knew nothing of my current surroundings.

  “Where exactly are you from, my dear?”

  I wondered how much I should reveal to her. Obviously she knew I wasn’t a wizard, but I didn’t find it wise to disclose more than that.

  “I don’t exactly know,” I said, with a small fragment of honesty.

  I didn’t know where I belonged. I grew up always believing I was human only to find out I was half dreamwalker. I didn’t fully belong anywhere.

  “Would you mind if I gave you a reading? Free of charge, of course.”

  I thought about it, on one hand I didn’t really believe in psychics, yet on the other hand if I was in the magic realm she was obviously legit. It was possible she might find out something she wasn’t privy to. Well, it wasn’t like I had a lot going on at the moment.

  “OK, sure,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

  The older lady gave a sweet smile. It comforted me and I felt like I could trust her.

  “Excellent, come with me.”

  I followed her into the musty back room; it was full of things I had never seen before. I expected to see a crystal ball or those tarot cards I see the woman using at the county fair. Instead she led me to a booth-style chair and motioned for me to take a seat while she sat on the other side.

  “Do I need to give you my hands or anything?”

  She smiled politely like I was a child annoying her with my ignorant questions.

  “No need, your eyes will tell me everything I need to know. What a beautiful teal they are.”

  My eyes were still teal. Well, that was noteworthy. She sat there looking straight into my eyes, I tried to not look away, but it made me uncomfortable; it felt intruding somehow. Then her eyes grew enormous and a complete look of fright fled across her face.

  “Ashtyn!”

  What the hell? How did she know my name? I wiggled free from the booth backing into a corner.

  “How do you know that?”

  She shot up from her seat, pulling on me.

  “You have to go home, you can’t be here.”

  I pushed her back— not hard but hard enough to breach a gap between us.

  “If I knew how to get home don’t you think I would be there right now? Who are you?”

  She ran over to a shelf toward the back wall reading potion labels out loud.

  “I’ll send you home, but you need to go quickly.”

  Part of me knew she was right; I needed to flee not only this place but her. Yet the other part of me wanted answers and she seemed just the person to provide them. The paranoid lady handed me a bottle filled with blue liquid.

  “Not until I get some answers, how do you know
me?”

  I sat the bottle of potion on a counter crossing my arms.

  “I don’t, but I know your father, if anyone discovers you are here you will be in danger. Drink the potion, and go home please child, you must hurry.”

  Well that was a bombshell. Was she really expecting to just lay that on me and then poof me home. I was starting to understand Mac’s warning about wizards.

  “You know my father? Who is he? I want to see him.”

  Now I know little old ladies are supposed to be sweet, but I guess the magic realm played by different rules. The last thing I remembered was a white light shooting out of her hand, slamming me to the ground with such a force that I was out for the count.

  Chapter 8

  When I gained consciousness I spotted two attractive and angry men standing over me.

  “Ashtyn, thank the heavens.”

  My vision was blurry and my head throbbed, but I was glad to find myself still alive.

  “What happened?” I asked, tasting something bitter in my mouth. Then recognition dawned on me.

  “The crazy old bat poisoned me!” I said, trying to rise to my feet.

  “Who poisoned you, where did you go? One minute we were talking and then you vanished. Mac and I have been looking for you everywhere.”

  Cody helped me up and led me to the couch.

  “How long was I gone?”

  I leaned back on the comfortable cushions.

  “Almost five hours, lass. We were about to go ask the council to help hunt you down.”

  Five hours? It felt like only minutes had passed.

  “I was in Cardician.”

  They both looked at each other in shock.

  “Magic realm— what were you doing there?”

  I gave him an are-you-kidding-me stare.

  “Oh I decided to take a stroll, how the hell should I know? I flashed there somehow and wandered around until I met a woman who owned a psychic shop. After a brief awkward reading I found out she knew who I was, but more importantly, she knows my father. I tried to get information out of her, but she blasted me with her fingertips and shoved some blue stuff down my throat, and here I am.”