Hearing my father’s surname gives me a renewed strength and I tighten my hold on Daniel before releasing him. Daniel quickly turns away from me, not looking back as he walks toward the rest of the team.
Caleb and Balthazar are already speaking to the team. Balthazar speaks quickly and nervously, “We don’t know when Michael relayed that message to Sam. They could be upon us right now. We need to pack up and get out of here.”
Monica pulls r
ank and starts herding the team. “Get to your rooms, get your things, meet back here in five minutes. Balthazar, I will get the caravan ready. Are you on the transportation out of Japan?”
Balthazar nods.
“I’m on it.”
Before he leaves, Balthazar strides back to Sebastian and embraces him. Words are exchanged, but I do not hear them. I look over at my team now, memorizing their eyes, their faces, the presence they hold in my heart. Each of them so different, distinct, and individual, yet we all hold a similar purpose. It make
s me think of the ant farm.
Oh no the ant farm!
I turn to Sebastian and Xander. “I need to do something before I leave.”
Everyone is yelling after me, but I ignore them and rush through the door moving as fast as I can to my room. The entire time, running
from one hallway through another hallway, the memory of Ezra and I and those damn ants run through my head. When I get to my room, I throw it open the door and stride to the table. Carefully, I pick up the ant farm, tuck it under my arm and run back to the lab. Elisha and Nick are lingering by the doorway. I slow to a walk as I approach them and pull the ant farm from under my arm. “Where is Angela?” I honestly don’t know what makes me choose Angela to be the keeper. Maybe I let fate decide this one.
Angela comes into sight, exiting the door. “I’m here.”
I tug on her hand and place the ant farm in it. Carefully, she grasps it with her hands, cradling it close to her chest.
I start to explain, “Ezra. It is something that...”
Angela interrupts me, “Jes, it’s okay, I know. I will keep them until you come home.”
I nod. Ang and I have never been super close, but in this moment, when she says that she will keep them until I come home, the very words I promised Ezra, I don’t think I could feel any closer to her then right now.
Her voice trembles, “Love you, Jes.”
I wrap my arm around her neck and hug her close. “Love you
, Ang.”
Not wanting to prolong the goodbye, I quickly release
her and head back into the lab. Xander is standing in front of Daniel putting electrodes on either side of the nape of Xander’s neck.
Sebastian motions for me to come over to them. “Ready?”
I quickly walk over and nod. “Yeah.” I connect the cables to the device and start to peel off the backs of the electrodes. I place one on each side of the back of my neck. They feel cold and sticky at first, then warm to my skin’s temperature.
Daniel tosses hooded sweaters at Sebastian, Xander, then me. “Put these on. It will keep the cables, electrodes, and device protected and out of plain sight.”
Caleb gives Sebastian a small backpack. “This has three devices coded for Earth as the final destination. There are extra electrodes and cables.”
Three additional devices.
One for Ezra and one for Nate. The last must be for Sam
. I look at Xander working his jaw over time. He lowers his gaze from the backpack, adjusts his sweater, and then zips it up. I do the same as Caleb and Daniel continue to talk, explaining that we will need the devices to open a wormhole from the other realm to get back.
Daniel
says, “Okay, all three of you need to hold onto each other.”
Sebastian
, Xander, and I look at one another for a moment. “You mean like hold hands?”
Caleb snickers, “Holding hands won’t keep you together when you pass through the event horizon and plummet into a black hole.”
Sebastian, Xander and I look at him stoically failing to see the humor.
Caleb quickly clears his throat and takes on a serious ton
e, nudging Sebastian and Xander. “You to need to huddle and interlock your arms, the less space there is between you, the less likely you will be ripped apart.”
Daniel interrupts, “He means pulled apart.”
I look at Daniel and raise my eyebrows. “Not much better.”
Xander comes up behind me, wraps his arms around me and pulls me against his body. “Wrap your arms around my forearms.”
Caleb nods. “Yes, that will work. Sebastian wrap your arms around Xander and Jesca the best you can.”
Sebastian links his arm through Xander’s arm and wraps his other arm around the front of me, clasping the bicep of Xander’s other arm. Once he feels his hold is secure he says, “Got it.”
Daniel says, “You will be coming back to this exact location. We can’t be sure of what you will be coming back to though.”
Monica comes to the doorway. Sebastian, Xander and I release each other to look in her direction. Her voice is softer than normal, tender even. “Caleb, everyone is ready to go. Balthazar is ready to load the transports and two piloted jets are ready to go at a nearby, undisclosed landing strip.”
Sebastian asks, “And Caleb, Eve, and my grandchildren?”
Monica looks at Sebastian. “Caleb, Eve, and the babies will be traveling via jet from an alternate landing strip.”
Sebastian looks at Caleb and nods. “Right then. Let’s get going.”
Caleb walks up to his father and pulls him into a firm embrace. Sebastian pats him on the back firmly. Caleb lingers then breaks away. He and Daniel move slowly toward the door heads cast down. Monica, Caleb, and Daniel do not turn to look at us and they disappear beyond the doorway.
I look at Sebastian, then Xander. “Whatever happens, don’t let go of each other.”
We all huddle in tighter, place our finger on the device that will open the wormhole, pierce the fold. Sebastian says, “On my mark.”
Silence fills the room, except for the sound of my pounding heart beating in my chest.
Ezra
When Nate’s and my thoughts to Jesca and Xander don’t get a response, Nate rises and starts circling the small opening we are in. “Jesca! Xander!”
I no
longer hear the wheezing in his breath, but he still has the panicked look of a deer in headlights from the whole experience. I shake my head. “They are gone.”
Nate stops walking, breath
s out deeply, closes his eyes, and pinches the bridge of his nose. After a moment, he walks over to me and extends his hand. “Thank you.”
I grab
hold of his hand and he pulls me up. I nod at him. “Not necessary, Nate.” I’m about to let go of his hand when Nate tightens his grip.
“No, it is necessary
, Ezra, thank you.”
I grip his forearm with my other hand. “You are welcome.”
I look around to get my bearings. We are surrounded by trees in a very small meadow-like area. “We need to keep moving. A moving target is a target that stays alive. Plus, we need to find water. We won’t be able to go much longer without it.”
Nate
asks, “How long have we been here?”
It could be a matter of hours, but it felt like days to my taxed body. “I’m not sure.”
I find a trail leading out of the open meadow we are in and start to follow the path. “Here, this way.”
We walk for about fifty yards, whe
n Nate grabs me by the shoulder. His voice is calm, but low, “To your right.”
I look in the direction and see a flash of something, somebody small and low to the ground,
moving with immense speed, zig-zagging through the forest. Then as quickly as it appeared, it disappears beyond the canopy of the woods; a sunlit opening in the forest.
I move forward in the direction it went, curious to find out if we are on the
edge of the forest. Nate grabs hold of my arm. I see worry in his eyes as he shakes his head at me.
I look back at the canopied opening. “We have to be on the edge of the forest. Maybe there is a lake or a stream beyond it.”
Nate says, “Maybe there is a creepy little boy wanting to kill us beyond it.”
I roll my eyes,
and then look at Nate.
He pulls the defensive card.
“What? It’s true.”
I look down at the leaf-covered ground as I think and notice that it is soggy. Really soggy
, actually. I start walking around in circles, then branch out a little widening the circle as I step.
Nate moves out of my way when I approach him, stepping and pushing on the ground with my full weight. Nate
asks, “What are you doing?”
I look at him and push with the weight of my foot and it sinks further into a muddy, wet area. “Water.”
Nate looks at the spot I am standing in and scans a few feet out in front of me. He walks over to a spot he is focused on and steps. “This is a small creek bed covered with leaves. That is probably why we didn’t notice it.”
Nate slides his feet step by step, making progress down the creek bed now. I look to my left, the canopied opening at the edge of the woods is still vacant, but I feel something watching us.
I stay alert as Nate takes us down the creek bed. I am facing the opposite direction of the creek walking backward when Nate says my name.
“Ezra.”
I partially turn in his direction. He is in a wide stance looking down at a small stream that is flowing in the small creek. I wonder if there is some kind of spring below the surface here.
Nate squats down, looks at me,
and then cups his hands under the small trickle.
I rush to him and grab his forearm before he puts his cupped hands to his lips. “Wait!”
We can’t be sure it is water unless we try it. I should be the one, not Nate. I cup my hand under the small stream of water, collect a small amount, and bring it to my nose. There is no odor. I take my finger and dip it in my dampened palm. Nate is watching me closely. I pull my finger back and place it on my tongue. No bitter taste or sweet taste. I look at him and nod. “Drink up.”
We both take turns cupping our hands under the small stream and drink. I drink until I am sated. I stand and look down stream while Nate continues to drink and run water over his face. I start to walk along the stream. It begins to widen a bit. I turn back to make sure Nate is alright. He stands and turns to look in my direction, then follows me.
The small trickle in the creek bed yards back becomes a smooth moving stream now. The creek has widened by a good foot and river rocks are visible on the bottom of the bed now. I remember this place. I stop and look down stream again. The bed widens even more and curves to the right, but I cannot see beyond it due to the sharp turn. I close my eyes for a moment and listen to the stream and the wind rustling the leaves. I breathe in deeply; it even smells the same. Nate is by my side now. “What is it? What do you hear?”
I open my eyes and walk with determination down along side of the creek and around the sharp bend in it. As soon as I make the sharp turn to the right, I see it. I lose my footing a little and step ankle deep into the stream. Nate rushes up to me and grabs
hold of my arm to make sure I don’t fall.
It is just as if I was standing in the middle of Noses Creek back in Georgia. The stream is moving swifter now and just beyond Nate and I, there is a dip in the bed before it widen
s to a good six or seven feet, beyond that the rushing subsides and the water calms. The canopy of trees above intertwine, and the reflection in the water below mirrors the interlocking branches above. The vortex like image pulls my eyes to the edge of the creek where the canopy’s tight knit branches open up to intense sunlight. I whisper, “I know this creek. It leads to the Etowah River.”
Nate’s voice is
skeptical, “You know this river? Ezra, we are in another universe, another realm. The river you know doesn’t exist here.”
I nod.
“I know. But it is here, visible to us for a reason.” I step back out of the creek and continue heading down stream, frustrated with my progression.
Nate calls to me, “Ezra! It is an illusion! Remember, bad things happen with illusions!”
I start to turn around to look back at Nate, when my eyes pass over a small figure hiding partially behind a tree. I do a double take and land on the most hauntingly familiar green eyes. Nate starts to move toward me, but I put my hand up, warning him not to move any closer. I’m sure my eyes reflect shock and Nate immediately responds by stopping in his tracks on the edge of the creek bed.
The little girl slowly steps away from the tree, towards me, then stops. Those startling green eyes and dark chestnut hair remind me of…
Jesca?
It can’t be her. It is an illusion. The little girl speaks in the most delicate voice, her voice. “It is an illusion, but not to manipulate you. I didn’t want to startle you with my true form.”
Nate starts moving toward me again, concerned by the presence of this little girl. The girl watches him and I both, for sudden moves that may threaten her.
Her true form?