Monsters & Fairytales (60 page)

It was only Sebastian. He was right in my face, though.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“I was dehydrated.” I said, innocently.

Had I just drunk from a sacred lake or something? That would be my luck.

“Do not run off again.”

He stuck his hand out and shook it for me to take. Were we really back to that? What had I done that had been so terrible? The lake was only a few steps off to their right.

“Okay, sorry.” I sighed.

“And don’t look at his face.” He warned me.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Exactly what I said.”
He said out of the corner of his mouth.

The fish peered up from the water to watch me go. They were sorry for me. I waved to them as unnoticeably as possible. Sebastian squeezed my hand and tugged me along. The fish dashed away up the stream.
             

I faced
forward and watched where I was going with a bit of hesitation. Before us were rock paths to each house. Sebastian led us down the one to the far left. The house it greeted was a type of green yellow that would blend into the grass perfectly, minus the whole rainbow forest backdrop. Now it just looked like an open meadow; which I suppose was still camouflage. It was strange how the camouflage worked better the closer you came to it as well
.

Carlyle and Sebastian stopped next to me before we reached the patio stairs. Loki kept walking right up to the door. The noise his wings made as they hit each step made my stomach hiccup. They sounded hollow and broken. I wondered if that hurt them at all, or if he even noticed anymore.
             

When he reached the top, he held his hand up in a fist in front of the door. A strange horn echoed on the other side. I imagined it to be a team of guards announcing his arrival. There was a loud crack, like old wood splintering, and the door swung open. Loki stepped in to the doorway. There was no band from what I could see. I went to follow, but Sebastian pulled me back. Carlyle hissed from next to me.

“We are not welcome here.” He said.

“Then how come-”

“
Shh
.” Sebastian interrupted me.

I sighed. I felt like such a child around them. Regardless, I kept my mouth shut. Making less noise allowed my other senses to be heightened, so I tried to listen for footsteps or some sign of life on the other side of the cracked door. After a few moments of straining, I gave up. I couldn’t make out anything. If they could just let me step a bit closer, or open the door just a tad more, maybe I would know what was going on.

As if it were reading my mind, the wind picked up and blew the
door open
a bit more. I couldn’t help but laugh. Carlyle glared at me. I bit my lip and looked away from him. When I was certain he was back in statue pose, I searched the open doorway.
Nothing.
There was absolutely nothing inside. It was completely black without any sign of ending. I didn’t understand it. I went to ask Sebastian but then I remembered I was supposed to be quiet and thus, asking him would be talking. So, we just stood there and stared at the door to the abyss.

Not long after, Carlyle and Sebastian had turned to stone. I couldn’t; I was human. I kept fidgeting and sighing and looking for things to distract myself with. After standing there for what felt like an hour, I let go of Sebastian’s hand and sat on the ground. Carlyle went to object, but then held his breath. I didn’t care. They couldn’t expect me to stand that long doing nothing. Attention spans of humans were not very well kempt in these dull situations of waiting. Even if I were waiting on the answer of whether or not I got to see my mother, I was unable to focus on simply that.
             

Then I remembered what Loki had said to me. Was that why it was taking so long? Had I lost sight? I wanted to see her. I needed to prove it. I was such an idiot. That had to be why Sebastian had told me not to talk. He couldn’t directly affect me again. He knew that if I started talking my brain would trail off and I’d get lost in my thoughts completely, straying from the whole reason I was supposed to be silent. Oh...right.
             

I leaned back against the porch and closed my eyes. Deep, rhythmic breaths helped calm my nerves. There was a sensation growing from my chest. I saw her face. Everything stopped moving around me. I was stuck in time. My hand reached out for her. When I tried to grasp her shoulder, I missed. I needed to try harder. I had to want this more than anything. I sucked everything inside of me and screamed for her. Silence engulfed me.

Something soft tapped my hand. I looked down and a flower was drinking a tear drop up. I didn’t even know I was crying. Touching my cheek, I felt nothing that signified I had been crying. What created that droplet? It didn’t rain here. It was too perfect for rain. Just to be sure, I looked around me. There was nothing. Had my attempts even broken through?

Zerach had to have seen them. She was every fiber, every particle of my being. If he could just feel that, if he could just know how much I wanted
it, that
should help their discussion. I wish they would’ve let me in. I could’ve talked so much better than sitting out here screaming for her. No, focus, Mira; think happier thoughts.
             

I brought myself back to the first day that I met her. The dark haired man that reeked of cigarettes was driving. The woman with the short dress was laughing in the passenger seat. I remember wanting to know what was so funny, but had assumed they were just happy I was finally out of that last foster home. I was certainly happy to be gone, even though my hopes weren’t too high for this next home.
             

When we pulled up, I had peeked over the car door and out the window. I remember her standing there in the doorway. She had her arms crossed along her chest and was standing with a hunch. I didn’t want to judge her, but I knew she was judging me just as much as I was in fact judging her.

Her shoulders were covered in a blue shall and just below her long, plaid, wool knitted skirt was loose bunched up panty hose around her ankles. I’d never had a grandmother, but that’s the impression I got from her. Well, I suppose I actually got the impression that she was somebody’s mother that had never had a grandchild, making me her very own. I didn’t mind being a grandchild. I had been a maid,
a
waiter, a paper boy, a cook, a babysitter, but I had never been a grandchild.

She smiled a smile full of sincere happiness when I walked up to her. My heart skipped a beat of joy unknown to me before. I felt safe with her. I hadn’t even spoken a word to her yet, but I already trusted her with my life. She loved me before she knew I existed. And in my heart, there was a place for her before I even knew what it meant.

Before I could reach out to her, her arms unraveled exposing the reason they had been crossed. She was trying to hide a white spotted puppy. She bent down and placed him in my arms. Then she finally spoke. She asked me what I wanted to call him. I was afraid to say anything though. I was so used to being overlooked that I didn’t think it mattered much what I had to say
.
             

If nothing she had done had been enough, she was smiling at me the kindest smile to console me. She explained that she had a feeling I was going to be tongue tied, so she already had picked out a name for the pupp
y. His name was ‘Spike’. I knew she wanted my approval, but all I could do was stare at her. It was so much. She was perfect.
             

I felt another drop on my arm. Then another one fell. They were cold. Was it honestly raining or was I finally crying? I opened my eyes to check. When I looked at my hand, the evidence was there.
Rain.
The flower that had been next to me was ducked under the porch steps. It was afraid. I began to lean over to coo it but was distracted from a shadow that was slowly creeping up.
A storm?
What was happening? I stood up and reached for Sebastian’s hand. Why had I ever let go of it?

I realized what was happening, now. Loki had been gone far too long. He said he had been the one keeping me safe. It was over. The Zahn had finally found me. Was I ready? I didn’t think I was ever going to be ready. I still wasn’t even sure of what I was going to do. How could it come now? How did it know what I truly felt when I was so unsure? This had happened the last time. I had given up Earth. I looked at my hands; I was still human, nothing was changing me.
             

Sebastian finally turned around to face the same direction as me. He took a step back and pulled me close to him. He wasn’t going to give me up again. Would it work this time? The Minakai wasn’t necessarily on our side to give that last chance.
             

The clouds rearranged and a face formed. It was a full blown storm cloud now, with eyes and a mouth. The flowing white clouds around it swirled inwards to make thick locks of hair. There was a nose and other features forming. The face looked slightly familiar. I took a step forward and the mouth started to open up. I was completely captivated by it.
             

Lightning struck. I jumped back and returned to my place in Sebastian’s grasp. Why was I constantly finding myself away from him? The cloud’s hair was twirling around with a high pitch whistle every time the locks clashed into one another. The ferocity of the wind was whipping my own free hair in my face, making it hard to see anything. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see anything anyways. It was all so overwhelming. The sound of the whistling had turned into a freight train. The wind was swooping my hair up into a spiral, were we in the middle of a tornado? Rather than picking
me
or anything around us up, it was more bringing the Zahn closer. I was morbidly fixated on it now. The grass tore slowly with a straining crunch, and I just watched it get closer. Soon it was all I could see. Its mouth started to open wide with a deafening blow that made all sound lost from around us. The only thing left was the way my skin settled back into place on my body from the crawling chills the silence brought.
             

Almost as soon as it had been silent, it started to scream. Falling to my knees, my hands covered my ears to block out the cries. The wind had picked back up and continued lashing my hair into my sore cheeks. Sebastian put his hands over mine to help protect my hearing. It was perfect timing, for at that moment, I had dropped my hands. Nothing could distract me from the ooze that was now falling out of its mouth. It was the consistency of pureed ice and the color of the blue sky on a clear day. There was sanctuary in there. I wasn’t sure what was giving me the thought, but I wanted to run inside of it. Black clumps came into focus and I lost all urge to run. A sickness tickled the back of my throat. I had to look away.

Sebastian, still having his hands on my ears, forced me to look at the mouth again. What was he doing? Then I realized the black clumps were actually figures. What was going on? They tumbled down out of the mouth. I jumped up and tried to move out of their path. They were coming faster than my eyes could comprehend. A soft thud against the grass, and they stopped rolling. There were two creatures on the ground in front of us.

Hearing nothing but breathing, I glanced up to the Zahn. It was retreating. The wind was gone, the screaming, the ooze, all was billowing inside of it. The storm was getting sucked back into it as it left. As quickly as it had shown itself, was as quickly nothing but perfectly blue skies shone above us again. I moved my hair out of my face, staring at the place it had been. My cheeks stung, reminding me I was alive.

“What.” I whispered.

“Can’t battle him alone.”
Loki said from behind me.

I jumped around to him. He seemed as if he had been standing there the entire time.

“Where did you come from?” I asked.

“The house, of course.
Someone had to stand guard and make sure the Zahn let them back into the world.”

“Who?”
I asked him.

My heart was fluttering out of my chest. Was it real? Was she here now? It worked?

“Look!” Loki interrupted.

He started laughing the way a parent laughs when they adore their child. Encouraging me to turn around, he pointed to where the people had fallen. My head turned slowly, I had to force it. I was so frightened to see her. I wasn’t sure how I was going to react.
             

I sucked up all the strength I had left. Our bodies were crazy things. I had just stood full force in front of the infamous Zahn, but turning around to face my own mother was where I needed to find the strength. My eyes stayed closed as I pivoted on my heels. This was the hardest part. I could feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I was completely petrified. Opening my eyes and seeing her there was going to send me for a loop I should have prepared myself for. How could I think I could handle seeing her alive again? Would she look alive? Carlyle was right, but for the wrong reasons. I shouldn’t have asked for this.

“Don’t lose sight. This is real. You can handle it.” A voice whispered in my head. It was
Loki’s
.

Against my will, my eyes were forced open. I jumped when I saw a giant black creature was standing there in front of me.
There was blue ice all over his shoulders and hair. Then I saw that he was holding someone in his arms. They were so small and frail compared to him. I couldn’t do it. My eyes shot away from her and I was focusing on Zerach. His face came into focus and I felt my entire body get stiff. He was covered in thick orange scars. They covered his face and right side the most. His wings seemed equally tattered
. They were missing chunks of feathers and the oil shine was fading. Was he reaching the end of his body’s time?