Secret of Words

by Allyson Huber

  Dad’s small silver sports car was parked in the driveway, which was strange since he never got home early on weekdays. The breeze picked up as I walked up the rugged stone steps of our large red brick house and my jacket’s hood fell off. My hair whipped viciously at my face, stinging my cheeks. I grabbed my hair and wrapped my hand around it as I walked up to the door. Our maple wood door had an old-fashioned coal-black knocker in the center of it that I was tempted to use. I opened the door and walked inside, shutting it behind me and catching sight of the usual things I noticed about my entry hallway: the eggshell-colored walls, the variety of umbrellas leaned up against entry table, and the small floor mat for shoes.

  I strolled beside the hallway’s lamps and the cherry red mirror hanging in the middle of the wall. Faint scents of lavender floated through the room, probably from the little candles lit on the drawer. On the high ceiling was a chandelier with cheap, dangling crystals. The dark dining table had a floral pattern around the rim of lighter wood. A single, jagged cut in the wood stood out on one of the legs of an otherwise flawless table. A gold satin loveseat was pushed against the wall on the other side of the room with its two pillows, a dark golden color. This room might have looked old-fashioned to most, which might be lame to other families with modernized furniture, but I thought it was elegant.

  I disliked the neatness of the dining room, being a naturally messy person. Someone shouted farther into the house, presumably my father. I quickened up my pace, opening the door to the next room, which was a beautiful kitchen with expensive white granite countertops and dark wooden cabinets. There was a bowl of fruit on the island in the center of the kitchen. The faint roar of the dishwasher could be heard, indicating that someone had recently turned it on. I went through one of the two doors in front of me, choosing the one to the right, and was welcomed by another shout.

  “Natalie?”

  “Coming!” I called, jogging through the hallway, my soft steps hardly making a noise on the wooden floors of our house. I finally entered the office room where my father was sitting, hunched over a handful of paperwork. He looked stressed as though he had spent a long day of arduous work at his job. I had my father’s blue eyes and his dirty blonde hair with streaks gold and brown. Now, just barely, you could see the streaks of gray at the top of his head.

  “You’re early. How come?” I commented, deciding to go the direct approach instead of dodging around the real question. I mean … it was beyond strange he was here early. This was the time I spent lying on the couch for a couple of hours, reading a book.

  “How was school?” He asked, changing the subject instead of following my direct method.

  “It was good, I guess.”

  “Take a seat, Natalie.” He motioned to the chair across from his desk and glanced around at the piles of paper scattered before him.

  “What’s up?” I asked, sitting in the leather chair and folding my arms across my chest as I leaned back. He rarely came home this early and didn’t usually look this uncomfortable talking to me.

  “Natalie, it’s time something changed in this family.”

  I groaned inwardly and fought the urge to roll my eyes. Parents always started lame speeches with stuff like that even when it’s about something as pointless as doing chores. But, when I glanced up, the seriousness of his expression was impossible to ignore.

  “Your mother left us almost nine years ago.” My father’s eyes darted to his paperwork before he met my gaze, blue to blue. Now, I was listening. I felt as though I knew what he was about to say in a few seconds, but didn’t want to hear it. I resisted the urge to plug my ears with my fingers and say gibberish, so I didn’t have to hear any of this.

  “It’s about time I tried someone else,” He continued, then paused, waiting for me to speak.

  What was I supposed to say? Never before had we discussed replacing my mother. I felt like I could live without her now and could provide for myself. Dad just never seemed interested in another woman or trying the dating field again, which is why I never even had to worry about this topic.

  “You are merely fourteen years old …”

  “Almost fifteen.”

  “Almost fifteen years old. I can’t have you growing up without a mother to guide you. I’ve tried the best that I can, but as your father, I find it hard to give to you what your mother could have. It’s time I moved on after ten years. I have met a woman that I’d like to spend some time with. Her name is Liza. She will be eating dinner tonight with us. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Oh, okay. That’s all right, I guess.” I said awkwardly, glancing down at the floor.

  “And this idea, it doesn’t bother you at all?”

  “No, it makes sense,” I lied.

  “Good.” Dad sighed in relief, and the tension in his body left all at once. He had thought I would put up a fight … I guess he really didn’t know me at all. It was much easier to hide my feelings than to share them. “I’ll see you in a few hours then.”

  “Yeah.”

  I walked out of the room, struggling with the turmoil inside my head. What didI think of this idea? Oh, yeah, great! I can’t wait to have a new mother! A dry, hard laugh escaped my lips as the door slammed behind me. I didn’t want a replacement; I wanted the mother that had left ten years ago. But, I’d realized over time that she was never going to come back. This situation was kind of inevitable, wasn’t it? We had severed all ties to my mother anyways. Dad had gotten rid of all of her stuff when she left, even the gifts. He never spoke of her, but sometimes I know he stayed up late at night in his office, staring into the nothingness

  We had even left the house she lived with us in. I needed to keep an open mind about this dating thing because it was what Dad wanted. It wasn’t worth fighting over, and really, thinking about it, I would be unfair to fight it. I mean, I hadn’t complained about moving either. Dad knew I was old enough to deal with change and to respect his decisions. Everything about this move had all been about growing up and breaking the old ties, hadn’t it? Besides, it wasn’t like our family was normal anyway. My mother had left when I was five. We rarely did things as a family. Maybe a little change was exactly what we needed right now.

  Chapter Two

  After about an hour, I got sick of thinking about any of it, so I replied to Olivia’s text with a few words, threw on my black coat due to the chilling temperatures, and headed to the front door.

  “I’ll be on a walk,” I shouted to Dad as I opened the door, pausing for a second halfway through, wishing he’d say anything back. Maybe, he’d tell me it was all a joke and that our family was just perfect the way it is. Maybe, he’d tell me he needed to talk to me, that he actually cared about my opinion on the matter. But, he didn’t care … that’s why no one answered. He’s probably engrossed in his work, was my thought.

  The temperature had dropped in the past two hours and the dark gray storm clouds overhead spoke of bad weather approaching. The rough winds thrashed against my unprotected skin. I buttoned up my coat and put my hair up in a messy bun before walking down to the sidewalk and heading down the street. So that’s why he was home early today. Didn’t he always have a reason when he came home early? Last time my father was home early was the day he announced we were moving. I wished he had given me more of a chance to deal with the idea of him dating before throwing me into the wolves, but it didn’t look like that would be the case.

  The quiet, continuous rhythm of my feet walking across the ground was sort of nerve-racking for some reason, but the tension I carried started releasing due to the peace of the outdoors. The street remained silent with no commotion; I was the only person in sight. We luckily had moved into a street with very few children, and they mainly stayed inside anyways, playing video games.

  A few feet away from the street beside the sidewalk was a wooden bench that I sat down on and pulled out my iPod. I slumped against the bench, letting the quiet drawl of Nirvana steal my thoughts for the moment.

  I
opened them when I heard the faint sound of heels clicking on the sidewalk through the quiet, alternative music rumbling in my ears. Apparently, I’d been wrong about being completely alone, but the figures had appeared out of nowhere, or at least that is what it seemed. I couldn’t see who they were yet, but I automatically became alert.

  “Natalie! Hi!” The hard to mistake, loud voice of Emilie shattered through the music I was listening to. An annoyed sigh escaped my lips. The last thing I wanted to do right now was to have another wave of bizarre wordplay with this strange girl. Why did she have to be here at this same split second?

  “Hi.” I could see Emilie now that she was closer and noticed she wore the same outfit from school: a pair of black jeans, a white tank top, and a fitted blazer. The outfit seemed more like the outfit of a businesswoman than a teenager but whatever. Since when had I become a fashion expert?

  The woman with her was tall and pretty with pale skin, deep brown hair, and dark eyes. She wore a pair of stylish brown pants and a cream v-neck blouse with a warm, chocolate brown scarf. The pair of thin, black glasses over her eyes made her seem serious. If I had to pick her profession, I swear this woman looked like a health coach or a therapist. Everything about her screamed holistic and nurturing.

  “So what’s up? Relaxing?” Emilie asked in a voice that barely contained excitement. Well, at least ‘so what’s up’ was a normal question.

  “Yeah… Who’re you with?” My eyes switched from the woman’s face to Emilie’s, and I frowned at the expression on her face. It seemed like she wasn’t really concerned with all this small talk. I could tell by the way her foot was tapping on the ground and the way she seemed to be unable to keep herself calm. It made me weirdly nervous seeing her like this.

  “She’s my friend.” Emilie smiled at me. Friend? The woman looked a bit old to be her friend. Perhaps she was her mother’s friend or something of that sort.

  “Was she the person you mentioned was coming to pick you up?”

  Emilie nodded, seeming not a bit surprised I had guessed. “Let me introduce you. This is Shay.”

  “Hi there, I’m Natalie.” I turned to Shay, trying to be polite even though I wanted to be left alone. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Oh yes, I already know about you, Natalie Quinn.” Amusement was palpable in the tone of her voice. “So, how has your night been?” Shay asked me, her brown eyes penetrating mine.

  “It’s been fine.” I said, shrugging my shoulders, but she wasn’t buying it.

  “That’s why you’re sitting on a bench alone listening to music,” Shay replied cynically.

  “Just some family changes. Not a big deal, really. I like it out here,” I added defensively, but what I really wanted to say was I liked it because it was peaceful… before you two got here.

  Shay continued to examine my face, my discomfort growing by the second. “Or it may be a brewing storm.” What the hell was she talking about...? As far as I knew, I’d never met this woman and she knew nothing about my family. These two had to be some of the strangest people I had met recently. They certainly made a strange first impression.

  “Please, Shay, you’re being ridiculous.” Emilie shook her head, laughing. “I mean, really, we’re trying to come off as normal…” A quick, sharp glance from Shay silenced the end of that. Well, I could understand that anyone would want to be normal, but both Shay and Emilie had a lot of work to do to get there.

  “How has your day been?” I asked politely.

  “Entrancing.” Shay replied sarcastically. Emilie laughed like there was some hidden meaning in her reply.

  “May we sit down?” Shay asked, glancing at Emilie.

  “Why not?” I said swiftly, not wanting to be impolite. Besides, all I had to do was make an excuse and get away in a few minutes. I was good at excuses; that’s how I had survived so long in school with my grades.

  “Natalie, do you believe there are parallel universes like other worlds?”

  “Parallel universes?” I frowned at Emilie, thinking it over briefly. Sure, I’d heard of parallel universes in those god-awful repetitive fantasy books everyone raved about these days, but who honestly believed that stuff? Where was she going with this? I gave her one last, curious glance and muttered, “ No, but I’ve read books with them.”

  I looked at the sky and noticed that the sun was starting to swoop under the trees, an orange ball of fire, and the sky was swirling with colors. Emilie’s head bent forward to look at me, blocking my view.

  “Well, there are parallel universes.” Shay finished.

  “What do you mean?” I blurted out before I could stop myself. I rolled my eyes as my brain began processing the information. What the hell? Parallel Universes? Existing? Who the hell were these people? Shay clasped her hands together, leaning back with a thoughtful, brooding expression in her dark eyes.

  “Natalie, have you ever dreamed about being different, about being someone special, unlike everyone else?” Emilie’s voice was faint, but I understood her words well enough. Sometimes I just couldn’t understand why I didn’t connect with anybody, not even my father. I never expressed my full feelings to anybody and couldn’t do the small talk eloquently as everyone else did.

  “Would you believe me if I told you that there are people living on a parallel universe that is different than the people on Earth. People with special powers far beyond any capabilities of people on Earth have.” Emilie’s eyes seemed so serious, but her words were senseless. Stupid. Pointless. Had she been brainwashed by someone? Or, had she forgotten some diagnosed pills and was suffering from a freaky withdrawal?

  “No, that’s impossible. Be serious. I mean, there could be planets out there that we haven’t discovered yet. That I could believe, but parallel universes? It’s a nope for me,” I said confidently. “I mean, parallel universes are in fantasy books. Not realistic fiction.”

  “True, but what if the universe is parallel to the Earth we have today. What if no one knows about it because it has been kept a secret for so long.” Emilie continued, ignoring my denial.

  I couldn’t believe this. One moment, we are talking like normal people. The next moment, we were talking about things that weren’t even possible and it seemed like these two actually believed this stuff. Emilie was a little different from the first impression I got of her. She wasn’t mysterious; she was just plain weird.

  “How can there be a parallel universe?” This whole conversation was annoying because it was impossible for a parallel universe to exist, and this was a huge waste of my time. I felt, for some reason, the strong desire to explain precisely why this could not be possible; I felt that I had to straighten them out, to get them to understand how wrong this conversation was, but science had never been my strongest subject in school.

  “Natalie, let me tell you a story.” Shay looked at me earnestly but didn’t stop talking to wait for my reply, which would have certainly been a no. “Emilie and I live on a parallel universe called Aughmortor. There is only one way to get to Aughmortor if you have never been there before. You can get there through dreams once you actually believe in Aughmortor’s existence. The dream is like a movie that never ends. The way to get in and out of Aughmortor is by dreaming of the gate, which will take you directly there.”

  “Aughmortor is a different world even though it is parallel to Earth. There is no sun. Instead, the sky is covered in a foggy mist that produces light. There is no technology on Aughmortor- no cars, no computers, no phones, nothing. Other than that, it’s very much like Earth, minus the fact, very few animals that live on Earth live there as well. Instead, elves, pixies, fairies, dwarves, and other creatures inhabit Aughmortor.”

  “In Aughmortor, there are two major cities that are divided by the two strongest groups in charge. One is Sybra, and the other is a secret town hidden under the ground called Lybrazil. The rest of the cities are mere minors, you might say that, due to their smaller population. Sybra is the city we live in, the city of the Ones of Within.�
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  “Shay, what are the Ones of Within?” The words fell out of my mouth weirdly like they didn’t belong. I didn’t believe any of this for a second, but the story was oddly satisfying to hear, and it was distracting me from all of my problems. Besides, all I had waiting for me at home was my father and his new girlfriend, Liza. Might as well do the world justice by straightening these two out and playing along.

  “Natalie. Do you remember what your mother’s name was?” Shay asked.

  “Her name was Lydia.” I raised my eyebrows, surprised that Shay was asking this. “Was? But … how do you know my mother left?” The only reasonable explanation was that Emilie had told her even though it was a personal topic. This is why I should have never even entertained the conversation on the bus. I didn’t want people knowing these sorts of things about me. I didn’t want them to feel bad for me.

  Shay didn’t answer at first. “That’s a story for later. I’ll tell you of the Ones of Within. The Ones of Within members are people with very important powers … each of them has strengths beyond that of a normal human. Each of them can produce a power that only blossoms when they are truly ready for it. This power is called Vatra. Examples of Vatra are healing, telekinesis, or predicting the future.”

  “All of these powers depend upon the bearer’s spirit. The stronger a person’s spirit is, the stronger their powers will be. The Ones of Within are a group destined to fight against the Larta and protect Earth from them. The Ones of Within protect their Vatras at all costs and never show it to their enemies unless they have to because the Larta can use them to their advantage. These powers cannot be shown on Earth and can only be performed on Aughtmortor.” Ones of Within? Larta? Aughmortor? What was this about? It seemed like a little fairytale that someone had told these two when they were children to make them believe in magic, fey, miracles, and the unknown. Sorry to break it to you, kids, but none of that really exists. Of course, this theoretical Vatra doesn’t work on Earth because it doesn’t exist.