It was just Mr.
Sorrows, Parrish’s dad. He set two more heavy bags down beside
the others, then stared at them, counting on his fingers.
Noah turned away and
headed back down his driveway. He spotted his basketball in the grass
next to the pavement and scooped it up. He tossed it toward the hoop
over the garage and it swished right through. The ball bounced once
before he grabbed it up again and dribbled it against the white
cement of the driveway.
Across the street, Mrs.
Sorrows joined her husband. He couldn’t hear exactly what they
were saying, but it was obvious they were arguing over something. As
usual. Man, those people were always fighting. He could hear them
from here. Something about Zoe’s violin. It was always
something about Zoe. They seemed so proud of her, but at the same
time, her success really seemed to stress them out all the time.
He tossed the ball
through the hoop a couple more times, never missing. He concentrated
on the sound of the ball pounding against the pavement. He dribbled
twice moving further from the goal before taking his shot. Even from
here, though, the ball passed easily through the hoop on the first
try.
The garage door across
the street slammed so loud Noah couldn’t help but look over.
Mrs. Sorrows was gone. Her husband had a sour look plastered on his
face. He kicked at the one of the suitcases and went to punch the
side of the car, but stopped just short, his fist still balled up
tight.
Mr. Sorrows shook his
head and walked around the side of the house. He threw a quick glance
back toward the garage, then stepped into the shadows under a large
tree. He leaned over and grabbed something from between the bushes on
the side of the house.
Noah squinted to see
what the guy was doing. A couple sparks, then a flame. Then smoke.
Mr. Sorrows stepped back into the light for just a second and Noah
saw the cigarette in his hand and laughed. He couldn’t blame
him.
He jogged out a few
extra steps, then bounced and turned, lobbing the ball toward the
hoop with one hand. Twenty consecutive shots and not a single miss.
Way better than normal. He was really on a roll here. Too bad no one
was here to see it.
He glanced back toward
the house across the street. Something in an upstairs window glinted
in the sunlight and he looked up. Parrish stood in the window,
staring down at him. Their eyes met across the distance and his
already racing heart jumped.
He lifted a hand in a
half-wave and smiled, but she didn’t react at all. No wave. No
smile. She just turned away, letting the white curtain fall back
across the window.
He stood there for a
beat longer than he should have, just staring up at the space she
used to occupy.
What was it with that
girl? He thought maybe after their talk last night, she’d open
up to him a little more. He thought maybe he’d finally pierced
through that hard outer shell she liked to keep around herself. What
was it going to take to get closer to her?
Noah shook his head and
tossed the basketball at the hoop one last time.
The ball rolled around
the edge of the hoop, then fell in.
Hurry up, people.
Crash tapped his toes
inside his boot and shifted the stacks of water bottles a little in
the shopping cart so they wouldn’t fall. He leaned over and
counted the people in front of him again.
Twelve, and he’d
already been standing here a good ten minutes. What the hell was
taking so long? Did they seriously only have two lanes open on a
Saturday? He hadn’t seen lines this long at the grocery store
since that snow storm hit a year and a half ago.
He glanced behind him
and counted another fifteen people standing in line. The man next to
him coughed into his palm, then wiped it on his jeans.
Seriously, dude?
Crash took a step back,
disgusted. He didn’t want to catch whatever that guy had. His
eyes were ringed with dark circles and his skin looked almost grey.
Someone behind him
started coughing. Then another person. He turned around and looked,
tension building around his eyes. At least three other people in the
line behind him were coughing and blowing their noses. Several people
had similar dark rings around their eyes.
What the hell?
He glanced down at the
shopping baskets these people were carrying. Almost everyone in line
was waiting to buy the same types of items. Tissues, cold medicine,
comfort food like chicken and noodle soup, cough drops.
Everyone.
He swallowed and
gripped the stack of water bottles tighter.
Had it just gotten
hotter in there? Crash wiped a bead of sweat from the back of his
neck.
It was May, right? Flu
season should have been well over by now. Seasonal allergies maybe?
Allergies that brought
them all in to this one grocery store at exactly the same time?
No, definitely not
possible.
Something was going
around. He didn’t know how he’d missed it. Okay, well
maybe he’d been playing that new first person shooter for the
past two weeks straight and hadn’t even bothered to leave his
apartment once. But something this bad? He should have known about
it. He should have seen something come across the boards.
What if this was the
big one he’d been waiting for? Dreaming about?
He studied the people
in line again. Almost every one of them was showing signs of some
kind of major illness. One lady even looked like she was one step
away from just passing out right here in the grocery store. She could
barely hold her head up straight.
If this thing was
airborne, he was already screwed. He was standing in a cluster of
sick people. He stared at the cart full of water bottles. He really
needed these to complete his water stash and the coupons he had
expired tomorrow. If he didn’t get these today, he’d
totally miss out on the deal and might not be able to afford to pick
them up for another few weeks.
But if he didn’t
get out of here soon, he was going to hyperventilate. He could smell
the sickness in the air.
Just ahead, some guy
with a name tag walked by.
“Hey, buddy, any
chance we could get another lane open?” he called out.
Several people behind
him mumbled in agreement. The manager looked over at him, but shook
his head.
“I’m doing
everything I can,” he said. “We had five employees call
out sick today. First time in history. I’ve got someone calling
to try to get a few extra hands in here. I promise we’re going
to get you through as fast as we can.”
Crash leaned over and
counted again. Ten people still in front of him. At this rate, he’d
be here another hour before he got checked out. By then, if he hadn’t
already caught whatever it was these people all had, it would be a
damn miracle.
He shook his head. So
not worth it.
He pulled the cart out
of the long line and abandoned it next to some giant display of
peanut butter candies. He pulled the collar of his t-shirt up over
his mouth and walked past the rest of the people standing in line
and, finally, out into the fresh air.
Someone was coughing in
the next room.
The witch opened her
eyes slowly, the lids sticking together as if she hadn’t opened
them in weeks. Her bones ached, every muscle tight and tired.
A heavy blanket covered
her body and sweat trickled across her temple. She grabbed the edge
of the blanket and moved it to the side. The fabric seemed to weigh a
thousand pounds and the muscles in her arms screamed at the simple
motion.
She sat up, but the
room began to spin and she had to close her eyes to keep from falling
backward. She moaned and ran her fingertips across her forehead.
Footsteps sounded on
the floorboards outside her room, followed by a knock at the door.
Startled, she looked
up, taking in her surroundings for the first time. She shook her
head, not remembering at first. Nothing here looked familiar and she
wondered if she was still caught inside a dream.
“Are you awake?
Mind if I come in?” A man’s voice followed by another
soft knock.
The witch went to
answer, but her voice was a mere whisper. Her throat was dry as a
desert.
The door opened slowly
and a pair of blue eyes peered inside. When he saw that she was
awake, the man’s face broke out in a smile. “Hi,”
he said. He motioned toward the table by her bedside. “Do you
mind?”
She shook her head,
still trying to swallow and find her voice.
The man carried a small
tray inside and set it down on the table. He poured a cup of steaming
brown liquid and handed it to her.
She lifted her hands
and wrapped them around the warm cup.
He nodded to her, then
glanced at the drink.
Slowly, she brought it
to her cracked lips and took a sip. The taste was bitter, but felt
delicious against her sore throat. She took another sip and her
stomach rumbled.
The man reached for the
wooden chair near the door and pulled it over toward the bed. He
turned it backwards and sat down facing her. His eyes never left her
face. “How are you feeling? I can’t tell you how relieved
I am to see you awake,” he said. “I was going to give it
one more day before I drove you into the city. I would have taken you
sooner, but Momma’s really sick herself and said she didn’t
want to be moved. I didn’t feel right leaving her here alone,
but I was scared you weren’t gonna make it.”
The witch narrowed her
eyes at him and placed her hands in her lap, still holding on to the
delicate cup even though it was empty. “Where am I?”
The man tilted his head
a bit. “Don’t you remember? My momma and I found you
outside on the ground a few days ago,” he said. “You were
passed out for Lord knows how long. Momma said maybe days. No idea
how you survived it, really.”
She shook her head.
“No, I mean where am I?” she asked. “What’s
this world called?”
The man’s
nostrils flared a bit and he laughed. “This world?” He
sat up straighter. “What do you mean? Like what county?”
The witch looked down
at the cup in her hands. She wasn’t thinking straight. She
needed time to gather her thoughts and figure this out. She
definitely wasn’t still in her homeland. No, wherever Tobias
had gone, it was definitely another dimension.
She’d never seen
another world before, but she’d read about them many times in
the Council’s history books. Before the War of Fire and Ice,
witches and wizards used to travel freely between dimensions. It was
only after the Dark One was banished that the guardians made it a
crime to use portal magic. They never told anyone where they’d
sent the Dark One, and they’d hoped no one would ever be able
to find her.
But Tobias had led her
straight here.
“What’s
your name, anyway?” the man asked.
She lifted her eyes to
his. “I have no name,” she said.
He laughed again.
“Everyone’s got a name.”
She lifted the delicate
cup and put it back on the man’s tray. “Thank you for the
drink. It was very kind of you to take me in.”
He shrugged. “It’s
no problem,” he said. “Up here in the mountains, we don’t
get many visitors and it’s a long way to the nearest hospital.
I would have called a doctor, but me and Momma, we don’t have a
lot of money right now. The crops haven’t been that great this
year. Not enough rain.”
She nodded, trying to
understand what he was telling her.
“Are you feeling
better?” he asked.
“Much.” She
managed a smile and looked into his eyes again. They were kind eyes.
He smiled back. “You’re
so pretty,” he whispered.
She touched her knotted
hair and shook her head.
He swallowed nervously.
“You’re the most beautiful girl I ever saw.”
The young witch
blushed. No one had ever called her beautiful in her whole life. No
one had ever looked at her like that. Like he thought she was
something special and unique.
In the next room, the
man’s mother started coughing again. She called out to him,
calling him Marcus. Disappointment flashed in his eyes as he stood
and moved the chair back to its place against the wall. “I’ve
got to go see about Momma,” he said. His eyebrows pinched
together. “She’s not feeling so well these past couple
days. Might end up having to call that doctor after all.”
The man nodded to the
tray beside her bed.
“There’s
more tea in that pitcher if you want some,” he said. “And
there’s plenty of food in the kitchen if you feel up to coming
down in a little while. I’ll fix us some supper here in a bit.”
“Thank you,”
she said.
He turned and started
out the door, then looked back at her. “I’m really glad
you’re feeling better,” he said. He reached into the
pocket of his jeans and pulled something out. He stepped toward her,
his fist outstretched. “I almost forgot.”
She lifted her hand to
his and he dropped a small purple stone into her palm.
The witch gasped and
pulled the stone closer. The Fatalis stone. She thought it had been
lost with Tobias. She picked it up carefully and studied it, turning
it around and around in her hand. It was faceted with five sides.
Each side had a unique mark engraved on it.
“Where did you
find it?” she asked.
“It was laying on
the ground in a pile of dirt where we found you,” he said. “I
figured it must be yours.”
She nodded. “Thank
you.”
The older woman coughed
again and the man glanced nervously toward the hallway. “I
better get going,” he said. “I hope I see you for supper
later.”
He shut the door behind
him as he left.
The witch clutched the
purple stone close to her heart. She had no idea how to use it, but
seeing it made her heart soar. Tobias had used this stone to somehow
create the portal that brougt them here. If she could figure out how
to use it, maybe she wouldn’t be trapped here in this world
after all.