First World (6 page)

He shook his head.
“Nothing on Earth. The dead zone is more encompassing than we’d ever anticipated. I’d need a storage amulet, which is rare; a sacred stone, even rarer; and, as a last resort, a power on the other side to assist.”

I smiled in delight. “
Quarn, this may just be your lucky day.”

Moving to the wall
, I retrieved my pack before reaching in to unearth the stone. Cupping it with care, I held it out in front of me.

“Is this a sacred stone?”

It was impossible to describe his expression. A sense of reverence fell over him. He stepped forward, laying a hand lightly, respectfully, on its blue surface.

“No, this isn’t,
Aribella. This is something much more than that – it’s one of the royal pair, the most important stones in our world. Your
lanina
– mother – sent it with you ... I thought it was lost.” He whispered the last part.

I interrupted.
“
Mother?
You know my family?” Panic laced my tone.

He nodded. “Your mother
, Lallielle, is one of my oldest friends.”

I shuddered, trying to fill my compressed lungs with air. “Does she have long dark hair? Green eyes a little lighter than mine?”

He nodded again.

I smiled
; I’d guessed right for once.

“She was in my dream. She told me about the stone and then it just appeared. Could she have anything to do with this?” I was overtaken by an uncontrollable urgency.

He shook his head. “I don’t know. Which is not a comfortable place for me. I would have said not possible, but with the dream-spanning Lalli must have found a way.” A thoughtful look crossed his features. “The stone has power. It may have decided that it would come to you.”

He was reiterating my previous feelings
: this stone was powerful. Still, I had not been very comfortable with its sudden appearance. In my world the very things you either want or need do not just appear before you. But there hadn’t been time to question it.

“Do you know a way to get there? Abby needs to meet her family.” Lucy’s blue eyes were huge
.

Quarn
held a hand out for the stone. At the last second before it left my hands, I realized I didn’t want to part with it. Despite my hesitation, I released it. We were out of time; I was surprised the Gangers weren’t back already.

“I do not know if this will work. My aim is to open a
doorway, long enough for two energies to cross. Then it will close. No one will be able to follow and you will not be able to return.”

I grabbed his arm and, yes, may have stomped my foot like a child.

“Why only two? How many ways do I have to tell you? I’m not leaving without Lucy.”

He stepped away,
dispelling my hand. “No, Aribella, it is I who cannot leave.” His demeanor changed. “There’s something I can’t ... won’t leave yet. The time-frame has been accelerated.”

He seemed oddly vulnerable in that moment; the normal piercing of his blue eyes w
ere dulled. I would have pried further, but a sense of panic consumed me.

“How will we survive without you? We have no idea what we’re doing.”

“You’re stronger than you think, Aribella. Don’t doubt your instincts; I have seen them serve you well on these streets. The same skills are required when you step through the door.”

Lucy grabbed my arm. “Abby’s been there before,
Quarn.” She tugged on my arm. “You haven’t told him about the forest incident.”

Oh, right.
There might be some significance or wisdom he could impart.

“The day after we met, I came back to this alley to find you. This crazy pain, like knives carving into my skull, struck, and when I opened my eyes I was in the ‘
royal forest’
...
” I trailed the last word. “Does that mean anything to you?”

Quarn
gripped my other arm, pulling me closer. Lucy wasn’t budging, so her tiny frame flew through the air as she was dragged along.

“What happened there? Did you meet anyone?”

He was intense, waiting in great anticipation for my answer.

“Well, there were two people there. Someone named Lucas, who I didn’
t meet, and Brace. He ... uh ... crashed into me in the forest.”

Confusion crossed his features. “I don’t understand,
Aribella. Of all the people that could have drawn you there, people far more important, why was it Brace?”

“I don’t know.” My words were quiet. “But Brace and
Lallielle are the two from my dreams.”

Quarn
shook his head. “There must be a connection there. Something I do not know.” He looked uneasy. “You need to tread cautiously with Brace. I know his father, but that family has always struck me as odd ... unnatural.”

“Probably Brace’s sexy hotness.
From Abby’s description, that’s unnatural.” Lucy turned to look at me. “Kind of like Abby’s hotness.”

“Luce, shut your trap.”

She saluted me. “Yes, your majesty.”

Quarn
shook his head. “How did you know, Lucy, the sexy-hotness of Brace is always the first thing on my mind.” He said this in a complete deadpan voice.

I spluttered out my laughter
. Quarn’s sense of humor was always unexpected.

Lucy nodded, as if she was not surprised.

“
And Lucas is the Emperor’s son. He is the last of his line. That might be important information for you,” Quarn finished on a more serious note.

I looked at Lucy. “We are so screwed.”

She nodded.

I felt a great sadness. Examining
Quarn’s weathered features, I sighed. “Will I see you again?”

“I don’t think your time in New York is finished,
miqueriona
.” He nodded respectfully.

It was so old-fashioned, I couldn’t help but smile.

Cradling the stone in his hands, Quarn stepped away, and within seconds his lips were moving, the words quietly spoken. All I knew: he wasn’t speaking English.

A shimmer like a thousand fireflies descending in sync to form a veil set the alley wall alight.
But it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

Quarn
shook his head, his lips moving even faster, the intensity building.

It started slowly this time, like a whirly
-wind building up strength.

The misty glow fell over the alley again, and this time it stuck. I stared in fascination at the beauty of the shining wall.

“It’s just like those old Christmas trees covered in fairy lights,” Lucy whispered in awe.

I nodded, captivated, unwilling to move.

Quarn moved closer, disturbing my love-fest. “Safe journey, little ones. Find Lallielle. She will help you to embrace your destiny.”

He zipped the stone into my pack and, stepping around, faced me. His blue eyes were surprisingly gentle, his stern features softened, as he leaned down and laid a kiss on my forehead. Tears pricked my eyes, but with a deep breath I kept them at bay.

“Keep the stone safe and secret, Aribella. It will seem peaceful there, especially compared to New York, but don’t be deceived; these worlds are more parallel than you think.”

“Well, that’s comforting
. Thank you,” Lucy interjected, hands on her hips in impatience.

He smiled. “You two look after each other. It’s rare, in all of the worlds, to have someone you trust.”

Right ... all of the worlds ... of course.

He nudged me forward,
toward the shimmering wall. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed Lucy’s hand. But I didn’t have to worry about her backing out. She was out in front, dragging me through. I closed my eyes at the moment of crossing.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, a tingle, some type of whooshing sound, but it was calm, like stepping through an opaque mirror. One step and we were on the other side.

I sucked in a few deep breaths. Wafts of cool, fresh air drifted lazily through my lungs. It was intoxicatingly clean, no soot, smoke or pollution.
I wondered how I had missed this the last time I was here.

“Oh, my
god, Abbs, are you breathing? Tell me you’re breathing.” Lucy was next to me, eyes closed, face raised. “Un-freaking-believable.”

I shook my head. “I keep waiting to wake up and find I’ve been in a coma for the past week.”

Lucy’s quick grin should have been my indication, but she was too fast, reaching over to punch me – solid hit to my bicep.

“Ouch! What the hell was that for?” I growled at her while rubbing my arm.

“I was just reassuring you. You don’t feel pain in dreams, or coma-dreams.”

“Oh, right. And you know this how?” I rubbed harder.
Where was she hiding those muscles?
“You just wanted to punch me.”

She shrugged.

I shook my head before taking a moment to examine my surroundings. I should be freaking out. I knew it, but instead I felt this great sense of relief. There must be elevated oxygen levels here.

“So, are we going with alternate universe?
Another planet?” Lucy’s voice was calm. Deceptively calm.

“I have no
fracking idea. I’m still trying to get my head around the fact I’m standing in dreamland.”

“Did you just say ‘
fracking’?” She shook her head.

I shrugged. “I’m trying to clean up my potty
mouth. You know, meet your mother, get mouth washed out with soap.”

“And you think
... fracking ... is the way?” She threw me a look of dismay. “That’s terrible. Just stick with swearing.”

I
couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped. “Are you kidding? It’s the best. There are at least three different curses in one.”

She disregarded this with a wave of her hand. I knew
how she felt – arguing with a crazy person could get tiring.

“
So this is your dreamland, Abbs? It’s very ... green.” She looked around.

I laughed
louder. Lucy must have been expecting her dream land – shoe stores.

“It’s so wild and ancient looking.” She craned her neck
. Her blond ponytail ruffled in the light breeze. “These trees are out-of-control tall; I think the clouds are floating through their branches.” She dragged in large deep breaths. “And this air – ah-
ma-zing.”

I nodded. “God, yes, especially compared to the crap we were breathing in New York.”

Dust lived in New York air, like some type of symbiotic relationship. Of course, I never really noticed until right then just how bad it was.

“Does it feel like home? I ca
n’t believe your mother is here ... somewhere. Think about it, Abbs, you’re not from New York – maybe even Earth.” Her face fell.

I nudged her gently to break the mood. “So I’m an alien from the jungle.” I paused, looking around at our surroundings. “Though, technically, here – you’re the alien.”

Lucy’s expression lifted. “Word.” She nodded. “Let’s pick a direction and get this show on the road.”

Through the towering treetops, glimpses of the sky shone through. White fluffy clouds dotted around the dark blue-
ish purple. Yes, you heard right. Purple. Shaking my head, I tore my eyes from the skyline to stare at Lucy.

“Can we take a minute to address a few things?” I held a finger up. “One – it was afternoon and freezing in New York. Here
– ” I squinted into the sun. “I’m guessing mid-morning and hot, hot, hot.”

I lifted the hem of my shirt, trying to rediscover the cool breeze. The heat was different to any I’d felt: heavy and damp. Drops of moisture already beaded my forehead. I raised a second finger.

“And two – the sky is freaking purple.”

Lucy shook her head at me. “Purple – seriously, Abby? Have I taught you nothing? It’s indigo.” She sighed. “I might have to get out my
color chart again.”

I shook my head.
“Purple – indigo – maroon. The important part – the sky should be blue.” I took a deep breath. “And I live in constant fear of having to sit through ‘what color suits Abby?’ again.” I raised my voice in a high-pitched imitation of Lucy.

She proceeded to both flip me off and stick her snooty nose in the air. “One day my skills will serve us well. You just wait and see. And I got nothing with the sky. I’m just going to pretend
it’s normal.”

I looked around. We were standing in the centre of a jungle that was denser than I remembered from my last visit to crazy town. I couldn’t determine any path through the vegetation. From our compound stash, I’d packed a few energy bars and three bottles of water, but that wouldn’t last long. We needed to find shelter first, followed closely by food.

“Is that a slight pathway through there?” Lucy pointed out a small gap between what could have been two bright green ferns.

That was my guess, anyways, because nothing back home really compared.

I shrugged. “There doesn’t seem to be a path anywhere. We’ll have to push our way through and see what’s on the other side.”

I moved first, the foliage hugging close on either side. Once we were past the initial large bushy plant,
a type of path widened enough for us to move more freely.

“How old do you think this forest is?” Lucy swatted away at some small flying bugs as she followed. “These trees are as tall as skyscrapers.”

I looked up again; the trees were massive and intimidating. I felt like a dwarf walking amongst the giants. And the noise – life echoed throughout – a chorus of insects, birds chirping and sporadic rustling throughout the undergrowth. There was nothing stagnant here.

“This entire forest looks ancient. Back home, long ago they’d have demolished this for a housing complex or something equally useless. ”

I shook my head, thinking of how bad the over-development problem had been in the early twenty-first century, throwing Earth’s entire eco-system out of sync. Now New York had thousands of abandoned buildings, but zero food – priorities, people.

I gestured to nearby flowers, gorgeous orange blooms. “Imagine how pretty New York would be if there were still flowers and trees. This is the way a world should look.”

Lucy brushed her hands through the leaves as she walked. “Eeeeeek ... eek ... crap! Get it off.” She was jumping up and down now, spider webs trailing along her arm and in her hair.

Laughing, I helped de-web her. Luckily, there was no sign of the web owner, although Lucy made me spend an additional ten minutes double-
and triple-checking her hair.

Finally she relented, shuddering as she looked around. “You know, at least when there’re less plants there’re less bugs, and that’s fine by me.”

Lifting my face, letting the sunlight bathe me in its glow for a moment, I shook my head. “Not me – I love plants. When I was younger I’d sneak around the compound burying seeds, but the soil was too dry and leeched of nutrients. Nothing ever grew.”

Lucy’s eyebrows rose in astonishment. “Are you freaking kidding me? How could I not know that about you?”

I laughed. “Gardens aren’t exactly your thing, Luce, so I just kept that little quirk to myself.”

She nodded. “True, I can appreciate the beauty of nature as much as anyone, but I’m more about the clean sheets and walk-in wardrobe.” She paused, pulling at some missed web and leaves in her hair.
“Although it’s growing on me. There’s something recharging and peaceful here. It’s hard to describe.”

After trekking for thirty minutes, I paused to mop up some of the sweat. We had taken our coats off but it was still stifling hot. Retrieving a bottle, I took a huge gulp of water, letting small amounts of the cool refreshing liquid run down my chin. I handed the half-full container to Lucy.

“Is this a forest or a sauna?” I looked about in despair.

Lucy peered around me as she stashed the now empty container in her bag. Her hair hung in damp clumps, pale skin slightly pink and flushed.

“Does the undergrowth look like it’s thinning over there?” She pointed to the tree line about fifty feet away. Shifting my pack higher, I changed direction. As we moved closer, I could see the undergrowth tapering off to reveal a small alcove in the forest. My eyes took a few minutes to adjust. The canopy was thinner, the light extra bright. I noticed a strange reflection near the back.

“Tell me you’re seeing that house?” Lucy whispered, practically climbing my back to see over my shoulder.

I squinted again. Finally the sc
ene came into focus. “Holy moth... shut the door,” I managed to splutter out as I stared.

There was a house tucked into the trees, and I had almost missed it. And no, my sight wasn’t failing
– the entire house was camouflaged. It looked just like the forest.

I moved into the small clearing. Four steps in and I was standing at the left side of the house. I glanced around furtively before leaning in closer. The material was unusual, smooth with no visible joins. I reached out to examine the texture, but did a double take as my hand reflected back at me.

“It imitates its surroundings, Abbs.” Lucy leaned her face closer, laughing as her blond-haired, blue-eyed image reflected back perfectly.

“That’s pretty damn clever. It allows the building to blend into the forest.” I was impressed. “This is so
‘not in New York’; the gangs would be all over this to hide their lairs or whatever they call them.”

Lucy nodded. “So this is an extremely advanced part of Earth – right?”

Even I could tell she didn’t believe that, but she’d reverted back to denial, the best kind of ignorance.

I shook my head. “You
heard what Quarn said. Do you really think we’re still on Earth?”

Grimacing, she stuck her tongue out at me. Before I could retaliate, a bang shattered the silence.

We both jumped.

My heart galloped in my chest, threatening to burst out like a weird alien baby.

“Ahhh – what the hell was that?” Lucy crouched low.

“I think we might be about to see our first inhabitants,” I whispered back.

Lucy gripped my arm and gestured toward some large trees framing the back of the house. They weren’t going to offer much cover, but better than being caught in the open.

Moving quickly, we made it just in time. Through the branches I spotted a man standing in the exact spot we’d just vacated. And – wait for it – he was tall. Notice the pattern:
Quarn was tall; Brace even taller. Even I was reasonably tall. I looked down at Lucy; she was going to hate it here. 

“Guess I know where your ridiculously unfair height advantage comes from,” she whispered indignantly.

I was determined not to laugh at Lucy’s predictability. She was so touchy about her height.

As we watched, he turned on the spot, surveying the forest from all angles.

To me, he looked to be around thirty with blond, shoulder-length hair tied back against the nape of his neck. He was good-looking, but in that boring guy-next-door way, with lightly tanned skin and a few laugh lines framing his eyes.

My attention was suddenly drawn to a large black baton resting over his shoulder. I shuddered, thinking about being smacked around with that. It looked kind of lethal.
I was distracted from this by movement close to his feet. Emerging from near-by ferns, an enormous gray animal padded over to sit beside him.

What is that?
I turned questioning wide eyes to Lucy. She was mesmerized, her mouth slightly open. I turned back to the scene.

The only comparison I could think of w
ere pictures of a pack of wolves from my animal textbook. The basics were there: body shape, four legs, pointed ears. But everything else was slightly off, its features more elongated, its eyes extra large and intelligent.

I’d always wanted a pet – what kid doesn’t? –
but animals were rare in the city – practically non-existent. And don’t ask me why. Trust me, it’s better you don’t know.

“
Bady, I don’t see anyone, but the alarm did sound. Can you take this side of the area and I will patrol the west end.” The man looked down as he talked to the animal.

Lucy nudged me, not that she needed to. I’d heard
– same accent again. There was a smooth quality to this man’s, something Quarn’s lacked, although I preferred the throaty quality of Quarn’s. It was more real.

Taking into account how foreign this place was, I wondered again about their ability to speak English. I shook my head. This was yet another
question to add to the growing list.

Bady
took off at the command. Either he was well trained, or animals were far more intelligent than I’d been led to believe. The man disappeared around the front of the house.

“Got a plan yet, Abbs? That animal thing is heading our way
,” Lucy asked worriedly.