allright, my word count has increased today with 2555 words in a short period of time (21-23) and it's looking pretty good. i'm just dead tired, i'm writing this my eyes all crossed: i'm sorry these updates are so boring, but on the weekend i promise to post something more fun! nothing more than ch 9 this time. i hope it'll be enough!
Chapter Nine
We reappeared in the middle of the street.
It all happened too fast for me to handle. I only heard the distant horn of a car – or was it a truck? And Talia’s yell. I was pulled aside with such a swift movement the scenery blurred and flew by.
“Hilla!”
Her reaction was so instant, so instinctive I had no time to react to my new nickname. Blood pounded in my ears and voices came into my consciousness, loud and near.
“I told you it would be dangerous!” Talia cried, her expression anxious as she saw my bruised feet. “Oh dang! Do they always look like that?”
“Trust me, always.” I rose up carefully, still swaying of the sudden tug; leaning against a stone wall. Talia stood straight in front of me. The busy street bustled behind her, the rumble of car engines drilling into my brain. Slowly she lifted her gaze, her eyes widening. “In the name of the elements,” she cussed lamely – way too lamely for a person looking like her.
“What’s it?”
“Warping isn’t a stable way of travel. It depends on the moods of the elements. From all places in this realm we had to end up right here!”
I turned around and backed up. The stone building was familiar. Awkwardly familiar.
I turned around and backed up. The stone building was familiar. Awkwardly familiar.
“Holy shit!”
It was an exact replica of my school.
“You sense it too? The elements are strong here.”
It couldn’t be. Yet it definitely was. Was this what my dream of Earth had tried to tell me? Would Ashley soon come dashing out the doors and-
“You sense it too? The elements are strong here.”
It couldn’t be. Yet it definitely was. Was this what my dream of Earth had tried to tell me? Would Ashley soon come dashing out the doors and-
“But I’m there,” I voiced.
“What?”
I looked into Talia’s ignorant eyes, knowing instantly she wasn’t the right person to tell this. I sighed, turning my back on the sight. “It’s really nothing. Where should we go? Are there any cool hang-out places here?”
I looked into Talia’s ignorant eyes, knowing instantly she wasn’t the right person to tell this. I sighed, turning my back on the sight. “It’s really nothing. Where should we go? Are there any cool hang-out places here?”
Talia’s tense shoulders slumped down. “There’s Pause –the single sweetest hang-out place in whole Kaiya.”
As we moved the streets I recognized everything. My old elementary, the library, even some clubs I used to go into. But they all had different names, different stories.
The most bewildered I was of the fact I was in a different world. This was undoubtedly my hometown – if I had taken a different turn from my school, I’d be home. The awareness of it superseded how Kaiya had suddenly turned from a deserted realm of magic to a swarming metropolis. Cars whizzed past, horns honked, people dashed by as if it was a perfectly normal weekday.
The café was exactly where I had remembered it being. Play had been one of my favorite recreational resorts: a lively youth café with good tea, bouncy music and even a band performing occasionally. Above all, no-one I knew me there. It was a place where one could remain unnoticed without having to deal with anything but one’s own self.
The large, glass windows were at their place, revealing the shiny fluorescents and colorfully-painted walls. Only one thing had changed – the name.
“It’s sweet, don’t you think?” Talia’s words echoed like from the other end of a tunnel.
“Yes, it’s…” I didn’t dare to say how it looked. It looked like the café I had loved since the beginning of my teenage years. Somehow it felt like frozen in time, as if it had captured a moment. I never really finished my sentence. It was cut by my amazed look as I saw three familiar figures through the glass. They sat side to side against a round table in the exact corner I used to sit in. The tables were different.
“I think I know them,” I smiled as we entered.
Inside Pause I expected seeing fur rugs, billiard tables and pink and black cushions. Instead I spotted round tables with scrawny pot plants, creamy-colored carts with empty cups of tea. The scent of it bewitched the senses. Behind the familiar bar sat an earthly woman with a wooden hair stick holding back her ashy curls. Teenagers swarmed all around, drinking cups of coffee and tea, chattering or just minding their own business. Rilla, Chyse and Nolan had pulled up two extra chairs reserved for us. Talia sat gracefully in between the two guys, opposite me. “Nolan, Chyse, Rilla, meet Hilla.”
Chyse gave a laugh. “That’s almost like poetry. But spare us from the introductions. We already know each other.”
Chyse gave a laugh. “That’s almost like poetry. But spare us from the introductions. We already know each other.”
A waitress brought Nolan a new cup of tea – vanilla, I guess. I breathed deep, parting the flavors and sinking into my memories of the place: an acoustic band playing and candles burning – everyone waving their hands in the flicker of light. I enjoyed going into cafés and clubs once in a while – the magnetizing feeling the music gave me – figures swaying back and forth, shadows in the spotlights. The air around was thick of haze, waves of energy flowing through me, giving myself up to a frenzy of light and movement and life-…
“Hilary!”
Rilla snapped her fingers at my eye level and I blinked, diving out of the memory. I noticed my breath had quickened, my skin started to sweat. It must have looked like I was in the middle of some sick fantasy Rilla had just interrupted.
“You’re like in another dimension,” she notified. “Don’t you like The Cities?”
“I do!” I responded almost too suddenly, almost knocking over Rilla’s cup of café latte.
“I do!” I responded almost too suddenly, almost knocking over Rilla’s cup of café latte.
“But?”
“It’s really nothing!” Jeez – these guys weren’t giving me the privacy I was used to. “It’s just my first time here. Give me the right to wonder.”
“It’s really nothing!” Jeez – these guys weren’t giving me the privacy I was used to. “It’s just my first time here. Give me the right to wonder.”
Talia leaned over across the table with a curious glint in her dark eyes. “It’s not real different from Earth, is that what you’re thinking?”
I returned her a sarcastic smile. Too ironic she was absolutely correct. It wasn’t that different from earth. In fact, it was almost the same.
“Admit it, you were thinking about something else,” Chyse teased. “Or somebody.”
“Oh please!” I felt my cheeks turning hot red. “Just give me a break, okay?”
Chyse shrugged his shoulders, apparently displeased by my fast temper. “Change of topic?”
“Sounds good,” Talia smiled. “Any sweet gossip?”
Great. Talia revealed a new nosy teen-side of her.
Chyse shrugged his shoulders, apparently displeased by my fast temper. “Change of topic?”
“Sounds good,” Talia smiled. “Any sweet gossip?”
Great. Talia revealed a new nosy teen-side of her.
“Apparently the council of light has a new representative,” Nolan informed. “Someone we didn’t know about.”
“The council of light has always been kinda shady to me,” Rilla notified, gaining a strict look from Nolan in return. “What’s the name of that councelor who left? Was he the young one?”
I remembered the gold mountain with the blonde dreadlocks. “What’s happened to him?”
“Nothing, actually,” Chyse assumed. “He’s just been replaced. Someone overpowered him.”
Overpowered?
“The council of light has always been kinda shady to me,” Rilla notified, gaining a strict look from Nolan in return. “What’s the name of that councelor who left? Was he the young one?”
I remembered the gold mountain with the blonde dreadlocks. “What’s happened to him?”
“Nothing, actually,” Chyse assumed. “He’s just been replaced. Someone overpowered him.”
Overpowered?
“I just hope he’s nice,” Rilla mumbled. “Unlike you guys.”
She elbowed the two, making Talia bend before her. Nolan’s empty teacup hurled over and rolled at me. I furrowed my eyebrows, deep in my thoughts.
“Looks like Hilla’s falling down the rabbit hole again,” Chyse stated. “What’s it? You’ve been so thoughtful all this time.”
“I’m thinking about this world and Earth,” I breathed, almost to myself. “The connection between the two.”
“At least that’s not a taboo for Nolan,” said Rilla. “What about that?”
“I’m thinking about this world and Earth,” I breathed, almost to myself. “The connection between the two.”
“At least that’s not a taboo for Nolan,” said Rilla. “What about that?”
“I was just thinking… when I came here, through the portal thing, whatever you call it-“
“Veil,” Nolan corrected, picking up his empty cup and burying his gaze in it, as if he was reading tealeaves.
“Veil,” Nolan corrected, picking up his empty cup and burying his gaze in it, as if he was reading tealeaves.
“Yes, veil – how does it work?”
The four looked at me suspiciously. “What do you mean?”
“Did I just appear here without anything changing? You guys told me it’s not impossible to get back on Earth. If one goes in, does another get out? If the worlds must be balanced, wouldn’t it shake balance for it to happen too often? People only coming in but no-one-“
The four looked at me suspiciously. “What do you mean?”
“Did I just appear here without anything changing? You guys told me it’s not impossible to get back on Earth. If one goes in, does another get out? If the worlds must be balanced, wouldn’t it shake balance for it to happen too often? People only coming in but no-one-“
“It doesn’t work like that,” Chyse interrupted. He fixed his posture, taking a smart tone, like he was giving a lecture. To my surprise, it actually was convincing. “The population of Earth outnumbers Kaiya. It’s not about the amount of living beings at all. It’s about how the elements work. Humans are only vessels of them. The only problem with the veil is humans cannot manifest the elements on Earth. If someone would enter Kaiya, learn how to manifest them and return to Earth, it would shake the balance between the worlds.”
There are some things that are meant to be.
Chyse paused shortly, leaning over, his blue eyes suddenly tinted purple, as if something was ablaze within. “Have you ever wondered why the guardians don’t name things?”
I thought of the way all seemed to be somehow personified – palaces were a she or he, like they had a soul of their own. I nodded in agreement.
I thought of the way all seemed to be somehow personified – palaces were a she or he, like they had a soul of their own. I nodded in agreement.
Nolan finished Chyse’s sentence. “Cheres, the earth guardian told it to me when I was younger. ‘We here, we don’t name things. We do not create. We maintain. The nature itself is rational, and humans have for millenniums created systems, rules to take control of nature. But the nature is free. Humans have for centuries brought chaos.’”
Something in Cheres’ words made my bone freeze. I had never met the earth guardian myself, but even quoted they mastered great power.
“So… is this what the earth guy is talking about? That Earth is meant to be free? Of systems?”
“That is your interpretation,” Nolan said. “The way I see it, he means Kaiya is the purest place of all worlds for the elements to rest. It is the duty of the guardians, our duty, to maintain this peace. The elements in their purest form live here. Fire, water, earth, wind, light and darkness on Earth are only the manifestations of these.”
Aurora had referred to Kaiya as the soul of Earth – as if Earth was the body through Kaiya functioned. The truth struck me like lightning.
“That is your interpretation,” Nolan said. “The way I see it, he means Kaiya is the purest place of all worlds for the elements to rest. It is the duty of the guardians, our duty, to maintain this peace. The elements in their purest form live here. Fire, water, earth, wind, light and darkness on Earth are only the manifestations of these.”
Aurora had referred to Kaiya as the soul of Earth – as if Earth was the body through Kaiya functioned. The truth struck me like lightning.
“How long have you been here?”
Nolan shook his head in surprise. “Me?”
“You all,” I asked. “The guardians, for instance – they’re ancient. They’ve forgotten Earth. You can’t be that old, can you? At least not you, Talia.”
Nolan shook his head in surprise. “Me?”
“You all,” I asked. “The guardians, for instance – they’re ancient. They’ve forgotten Earth. You can’t be that old, can you? At least not you, Talia.”
Talia smiled, turning her head expectantly at Nolan who sat next to him.
“I remember,” he recited, as if in a trance. His brown eyes were somewhere far, far away. “I was six. It has been fourteen years since.”
Wow? Ashton was twenty? Talk about age difference – Rilla looked like she was about fifteen.
Wow? Ashton was twenty? Talk about age difference – Rilla looked like she was about fifteen.
“I consider myself as one of The Disappeared,” with capital letters, of course. “On Earth there are thousands of unsolved disappearance cases – from private persons to school buses and airplanes.” I immediately thought of the Bermuda Triangle. “I was the child of a wealthy family. I was kidnapped and put to sleep. When I woke up, I was on Earth no more.”
My voice climbed pitch with worry. “Wasn’t it confusing? You were just a kid!”
“I didn’t really understand,” Nolan carried on. “Somehow my disappearance was obligatory for the remain of balance. I have never questioned it since.”
I would have been questioning it forever. A kidnapping was never right. The disappearance of a child wasn’t right in any situation.
My voice climbed pitch with worry. “Wasn’t it confusing? You were just a kid!”
“I didn’t really understand,” Nolan carried on. “Somehow my disappearance was obligatory for the remain of balance. I have never questioned it since.”
I would have been questioning it forever. A kidnapping was never right. The disappearance of a child wasn’t right in any situation.
Yet my mind flashed with the amount of criminal scenarios going on in the background. What if Nolan had to disappear? If he… if he had been kidnapped as a kid by a wealthy family and his real mother kidnapped him back? What if his parents were serial killers and the kidnapper prevented the murder from happening?
I shook myself out of the thought, regaining full consciousness. I noticed my head hurt. I turned around, awestruck by how bright the autumn sunlight burned through the glass. My joints and muscles were sore. Nervously I started to waggle my feet and tap the tabletop with my fingertips, knowing I couldn’t stay still. Looking at the flow of traffic behind the windows made me dizzy. I instantly remembered what I had been looking for.
“There are an innumerous amount of death cases along with them. No-one really knows what happens to them after blacking out and waking up here. It’s impossible to tell.”
I nodded knowingly, the sight of my old school in Kaiya still haunting me. “Was Kaiya different, then? Fourteen years ago.”
“Somehow,” Nolan answered. “It’s hazy often these days, at the council. I haven’t found an explanation for it.”
“What about The Cities?”
Nolan laughed. “I didn’t know this place, then. I lived with Hestia until I was sixteen. I became a guardian around the same age. When I moved to The Cities, it was pretty much the same.”
I nodded knowingly, the sight of my old school in Kaiya still haunting me. “Was Kaiya different, then? Fourteen years ago.”
“Somehow,” Nolan answered. “It’s hazy often these days, at the council. I haven’t found an explanation for it.”
“What about The Cities?”
Nolan laughed. “I didn’t know this place, then. I lived with Hestia until I was sixteen. I became a guardian around the same age. When I moved to The Cities, it was pretty much the same.”
I sighed, turning towards Chyse. “And you, smart-ass?”
Rilla shot a poisonous look at me – wrinkling her nose in a cute, haughty way. “That’s my nickname for him!”
“Well, Jesse,“ Chyse looked amused, not really getting the reference – “And you?”
Rilla shot a poisonous look at me – wrinkling her nose in a cute, haughty way. “That’s my nickname for him!”
“Well, Jesse,“ Chyse looked amused, not really getting the reference – “And you?”
His eyes didn’t take him back, but his story didn’t have much emotion in it, either. He chanted it as if he had done it thousands of times. “I was around your age, Hilary. I was a freshman in a high-standard college. I had the most excellent grades. In the beginning of my school year I received an invitation to a secret society. I entered the welcome ceremony with pleasure. There’s nothing I remember of that night. The moment I got to the society, I was knocked out.”
Rilla gave a laugh, as if she was used to Chyse telling the story. “The first time he told me I thought he had made it up. It sounds totally like some B-class movie.”
Chyse raised his sandy brows. “To me, too. I’ve been making up different ‘after death’-scenarios. What did they do to my body? It’s depressing to think they just threw it into a garbage truck. Sometimes I speculate if there’s a body of me at all on Earth – or if their intention was to knock me out – kill me, whatever. As Nolan said, we don’t know what happened. But in behalf of balance… I guess this ‘knock-out’ was mandatory. Maybe the society really was up to some shady stuff, and after my ‘accidental’ kill they were revealed and thrown off campus. I’ll never know.”
Rilla gave a laugh, as if she was used to Chyse telling the story. “The first time he told me I thought he had made it up. It sounds totally like some B-class movie.”
Chyse raised his sandy brows. “To me, too. I’ve been making up different ‘after death’-scenarios. What did they do to my body? It’s depressing to think they just threw it into a garbage truck. Sometimes I speculate if there’s a body of me at all on Earth – or if their intention was to knock me out – kill me, whatever. As Nolan said, we don’t know what happened. But in behalf of balance… I guess this ‘knock-out’ was mandatory. Maybe the society really was up to some shady stuff, and after my ‘accidental’ kill they were revealed and thrown off campus. I’ll never know.”
“You haven’t been here for long,” I noted almost melancholically. “You’re not that old.”
“Thanks,” Chyse shot me a blinding grin. “Yeah, I’m around Nolan’s age. It’s my third year here soon.”
“Thanks,” Chyse shot me a blinding grin. “Yeah, I’m around Nolan’s age. It’s my third year here soon.”
“Don’t you lose track of time here easily? It’s not Earth, after all.”
Talia spoke for the first time in a long time, answering my question. “It’s not so different, either. We have clocks and all. They’re just different to the ones on Earth.”
Talia spoke for the first time in a long time, answering my question. “It’s not so different, either. We have clocks and all. They’re just different to the ones on Earth.”
There was a long pause, and my gaze wandered around in the room, in case I’d find a clock ticking somewhere. But the only sound I could hear was my own pulse, beating loud and somewhere in the distance, yet like it was everywhere. The disc had ended, the café completely silent of everything except talking teenagers and the jingle of cutlery and hiss of the coffee pan.
When I awoke from my slumber, I noticed Rilla had disappeared: the guys and Talia had turned their backs on me, facing the space behind the bar which apparently was empty. Talia, feeling my gaze on her back, turned around.
“Where’s Rilla?”
“She went to the bathroom,” Talia answered.
“She went to the bathroom,” Talia answered.
“She fled,” Chyse filled in. I noticed he and Nolan looked awkward, almost like someone had blurted out something inappropriate. “She… doesn’t really like when we bring up the past.”
“What about that?”
Chyse gnashed his teeth nervously. “Nada. What’s about this whole questioning thing? Was there something you were trying to reach?”
“What about that?”
Chyse gnashed his teeth nervously. “Nada. What’s about this whole questioning thing? Was there something you were trying to reach?”
I wasn’t in a mood for that, anymore – I only raised my neck, trying to get a glimpse of Rilla’s reddish hair.
“Forget it,” Talia whispered. “She’ll come back. Unless you tell us now what’s bothering you, you’ll fall into that coma-state again. It’s not real fun.”
Something in Talia’s words made my blood freeze, but I ignored it. “I was just thinking… yeah. People pop here all the time along with tiny jerks in balance. But… is it possible to shift something else between the realms? Like… more people than one?”
Chyse laughed dryly. “People, yes – they don’t really come in flocks, but pop up here and there time by time.”
Something in Talia’s words made my blood freeze, but I ignored it. “I was just thinking… yeah. People pop here all the time along with tiny jerks in balance. But… is it possible to shift something else between the realms? Like… more people than one?”
Chyse laughed dryly. “People, yes – they don’t really come in flocks, but pop up here and there time by time.”
“What about concrete things?”
Nolan’s eyes had a curious glint. “No. That’s impossible.”
Nolan’s eyes had a curious glint. “No. That’s impossible.”
Bothered by Talia’s sudden disappearance, I pulled back my chair and stood up. It was already way past midday – the sun was sinking quietly. Nolan and Chyse shot curious looks at me, their eyes blinking pure brown and cyan in the bright light.
“I’ll go find Rilla,” I noted, strolling towards the bar, leaving Nolan, Chyse and Talia staring in awe.
The bar counter was empty – someone was apparently having a break – so it was easy to sneak around without anyone really noticing. I admitted myself I did look conspicuous – Rilla, Chyse and Nolan were all dressed casually instead of their usual council robes – there were normal people in Kaiya too. Shifting into stealth-mode, I imagined myself invisible; a ninja on mission. My moments were nothing compared to the gracefulness of Talia or flexibleness of Circus, but I at least I wasn’t wearing pink combats longer. Behind the bar desk there was some sort of tiny kitchen and two doors which opened into bathrooms. I stepped into one, not caring if it was male or female, taking a quick look around. Nobody. The fluorescents in the other bathroom were broken – flashing non-functionally like a fly lamp. Water dripped off an unclosed tap. Definitely not the ladies room.
Still inconspicuously, I sneaked out of the spooky bathrooms to meet once more with the empty bar deck. I noticed Nolan, Chyse and Talia were still seated, chatting about something of their own. Straight behind the bar and a few shelves I noticed a heavy, brown door with the text EMERGENCY EXIT! DOOR OPENED AFTER CLOSING TIME CAUSES INSTANT ALARM: DO NOT OPEN!
Apparently it wasn’t closing time. Ignoring the warning, I pushed the door open.
I saw nothing but an empty parking lot. On Earth I had never entered that door. I was sure it hadn’t looked like that before. Before there had been some sort of storage – the parking lot was on the other side of the building.
I ran to the edge, running into a blank brick wall. There was no other exit than through a heavy wretched iron gate which was definitely locked.
Before the heavy exit closed before me, I darted back into the café. The bartender shot a curious look at me, but I didn’t care. Talia, Chyse and Nolan turned simultaneously into my direction as they heard my footsteps.
“Are you sure Rilla went that way?”
“Positively,” Chyse answered. “We didn’t see her run out the main door, and there isn’t anything on the other side of the café except more tables and a couple of sofas.”
I knew it – I had been there numerous times. But if Rilla wasn’t there, where could she be?
“Gott in Himmel,” I breathed with exhaustion. Chyse’s eyebrows furrowed in anguish, as if he had guessed what I would say next.
“Positively,” Chyse answered. “We didn’t see her run out the main door, and there isn’t anything on the other side of the café except more tables and a couple of sofas.”
I knew it – I had been there numerous times. But if Rilla wasn’t there, where could she be?
“Gott in Himmel,” I breathed with exhaustion. Chyse’s eyebrows furrowed in anguish, as if he had guessed what I would say next.
“Rilla has disappeared.”
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