Take Me To Your Reader: An Otherworld Anthology (20 page)

"
I'm fine. Becca found me and brought me back."

"
That's good." The relief won over and his features relaxed. "We were worried."

"
I can tell," I said dryly.

Bone didn
't meet my gaze. Marnie giggled.

"
Where's Dieben?" I asked.

"
In his room last I checked. He got a call from home," Bone said, giving me a pointed look.

Dieben
's bedroom door opened and he stepped out. I caught sight of his communicator as he slid it back inside his pocket. "You made it," he said. His level of relief was nowhere near Bone's. Typical Dieben. He either hadn't worried or hadn't cared.

"
Just now. How long?" I asked.

"
As soon as we're ready," he said.

I sucked in a breath. It was time.

"You have to go?" Becca asked.

"
Yes, I'm … due home tonight," I said quietly.

"
Oh. I see." Her expression mirrored my own thoughts. Neither of us was ready to say goodbye. "I didn't realize … I thought you had more time."

Bone and Marnie slipped away and headed for the balcony, giving us privacy. Dieben returned to his room. Probably for the same reason.
"Today was my last day. I have to get back," I said, not quite meeting her eyes.

"
Sucky timing, huh?" she said, smiling in a way that didn't seem at all like a smile except for the curve of her lips.

"
Horribly sucky," I agreed.

"
Well. It was fun meeting you and hanging out today," she said, her voice bright with what sounded a lot like false cheer. "I mean, aside from the whole fugitive thing."

I chuckled.
"Right." 

Silence fell between us. I shoved my hands in my pockets to keep them from reaching out for her. Was it me or my host that couldn
't stand the thought of leaving without ever touching her? I swallowed, unsure what else to say but unwilling to walk away just yet. Becca seemed just as lost. Her eyes darted from spot to spot on the carpet before finding mine again.

"
Maybe you can visit again sometime?" Becca's brows rose, her expression hopeful.

I stared back at Becca, at a loss.
"Maybe," I agreed. I'd spent the last week lying. Why stop now?

The door to Dieben
's room opened. He stepped out and caught my eye, nodding once. I sighed. "It's time," I said.

Becca bit her lip, seeming to debate something. After a moment, she darted forward and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me into a hug. I took a step back to regain my balance—and recover from the shock of the unexpected contact—and then wrapped my arms around her in return, holding her close. 

The simplicity of the gesture combined with the wave of pleasure it gave reminded me of Colryn's words. Their compassion and kindness … He'd spoken of that with such meaning. Such force.

Force!

The Force that'd caused him to remain. Could it be this? And if so, what was this? Compassion? No, more than that. It was caring. It was feeling for another human. Love, said the host's voice in my mind. It's love.

I held on to Becca and buried my face in her hair, inhaling the scent of her body. Love. So that
's what the humans called it. That force, that thing that pulled two people together so tightly they couldn't bring themselves to leave. Not for another human and not even for life on another planet. I wondered if Colryn had been in love or just discovered its existence and beauty as he observed it in others. Either way, there was no question in my mind this was it. The Force, the thing I'd searched for all week. I'd found it in a girl--over pizza and dirty dishes.

And now I had to walk away from it forever.

As I let her go and followed Dieben and Bone out, the temptation to stay was tangible. It was more than a feeling; it left a taste in my mouth. But I couldn't let my family down. Not twice. Not after Colryn. I had to return. To take my father's place. To step into my future. Besides, I had my answer now. The Force wasn't some monster hiding in an alley, ready to attack. It wasn't violence or something to fear. It was compassion and kindness and above all, it was love.

And maybe, by some miracle, Becca would prove to be right. Maybe I
'd be back—although probably not. None of my kind ever got a second trip. But one thing was certain, I'd never be the same.

By Tiffany King

For information on other titles

Visit the author
's website:
http://www.authortiffanyjking.blogspot.com/

"
Are you sure we're not going to stick out like a sore thumb?" I asked my friends as we climbed out of James's beat-up Ford truck. How I had let them talk me into going to Ultra-Con was still a mystery to me. Tara and James, and especially my boyfriend, Bobby, were the sci-fi freaks, not me.

"
Trust us, Jenn. You would have stuck out more if you would have worn jeans and a tee shirt like you wanted to," Tara scoffed, linking her arm through mine. "I mean, look around," she continued, pointing to a guy dressed head to toe in a red spandex ensemble with a lightning bolt on the chest. I couldn't help laughing as he zigzagged through the long line of cars waiting to turn into the parking lot. He would run past them, pumping his arms to give the illusion that he was moving faster than he really was. That was just the tip of the iceberg. Everywhere I looked, I saw people dressed in costumes from their favorite TV shows, movies, comics and video games.

"
Sweet. Check out the dude in the Master Chief armor," James crowed. "Come on Tara. We've got to get a picture with him."

"
Holy geek. Are you serious?" I yelled after my friends who tore away like they had seen a celebrity. "I guess you know what a Master Chief is too?" I asked Bobby.

"
Of course. Who doesn't know Halo? Well, except you, of course," he said, hugging me in his arms from behind.

"
So, why aren't you over there getting a picture with them?" I asked.

"
I like you better," he said, giving me a soft kiss on the neck. "How do you feel?"

"
Except for feeling out of place in this nerd kingdom, I'm swell."

"
No, I mean, you know—are we still on for tonight?" he probed.

"
Oh, that," I said, turning around to face him. "Yeah. What about you?"

"
Hell yeah," he said.

"
Well, I'm happy to hear that," I returned.

"
Hey, come on lovebirds. Let's get inside. I want to see everything," James said, sneaking behind Bobby and kissing him on the cheek. Bobby drew his fake sword and took off after James, who pulled out a laser gun from the holster on his thigh.

"
Come on, children. You want to go inside, or fight out here?" Tara called as she hooked her arm through mine.

"
Hey, remind me who I'm supposed to be again," I asked as we headed for the doors. I had on camouflage pants, a black tank top and mirrored aviator sunglasses. The cherry to my sundae was a fake plastic machine gun. I had nothing to do with any part of my ensemble. This was all Tara.

"
OMG, for the hundredth time, you're Sarah Connor from Terminator Two."

"
That's right. I've got it now," I said. I was just thankful she didn't try to dress me in skintight spandex or some kind of furry getup.

I knew my friends were into this hoopla, but for the most part, it never trickled into our everyday lives. When Tara begged me to come to Ultra-Con with them, I had grudgingly agreed, figuring it would be like the Twilight convention my mom and I went to a few years ago when I was in my preteen Twilight craze. We had seen a few fake vampires, but most people simply wore tee shirts declaring which team they were on. Of course, I was Team Edward, but after I met the actor who played Carlisle, I was ready to defect. For an older dude, he definitely had a cute thing working.

The more I looked around, it was clear this convention was far different than Twilight-Con. For one thing, it was so crowded we could barely walk without stepping on the heels of someone in front of us. Regardless, everyone seemed to share an odd camaraderie, so it felt like a big party. You would almost think the thousands of people here knew each other. I had to admit, some of the costumes were really pretty, but there were others that were downright scary. And I don't mean monster scary. I mean, "holy hell, that's just wrong for a grown man to wear that" kind of scary. Like the guy ahead of us, whose costume was so tight it left little to the imagination. I think you could literally check his pulse if you looked close enough. Not that I wanted to. Then there was another guy who had to weigh at least four hundred pounds. He was the biggest man I had ever seen in my life. Somehow he managed to fit his body into purple glittery spandex that even Bobby or James would have had a hard time fitting into. It was at that moment I realized I was going to need a mental guidebook to get through the day. Rule number one: try not to make eye contact with anyone. It only encouraged creepers like the purple spandex guy to start a conversation.

"
See, I told you it would be fun," Tara said, taking how I clutched her arm as a sign of enthusiasm.

"
Right," I answered, urging us to move forward.

Thankfully, the crowd at the entrance of the building swallowed us up, and I was able to escape my purple spandex-covered stalker.

"Cool, huh?" Bobby asked, taking in the large space we had entered. There were tables and brightly colored booths as far as the eye could see.

"
Wow, it's like another world in here," I said. The inside of the convention center was huge, but it seemed like every conceivable space was being used. Booth after booth, selling everything from comics and toys to shirts and memorabilia, were all crowded with people. All I could think was how much money these guys had to be making, because it didn't look like people were hesitant to buy what they wanted.

I was still gawking at my surroundings when I noticed Tara and James had disappeared.
"Where'd they go?" I asked Bobby.

"
They took off in that direction. We'll catch up," he said, pointing into a never-ending sea of people. Rule number two: never take your eyes off your friends when you're in a large crowd of people who are dressed as characters you don't know. One minute Tara was beside me, and the next, she and James were gone. I linked arms with some poor girl to my side who looked at me like I was some kind of freak. After apologizing profusely while Bobby stood and laughed, I grabbed my phone from my pocket so I could give Tara a piece of my mind. She had sworn on a box of Godiva chocolates that we were hoarding for our next sleepover movie marathon that she would not leave my side.

Stepping out of the main traffic area, I put my finger to my free ear in an attempt to muffle the noise. It was only after the call went to voicemail that I noticed there was no signal to be had in the convention center. Great. I was going to kill Tara when I found her.

Standing on my tiptoes, I scanned the area for a glimpse of the red costume that Tara was wearing. "You're never going to see them in all these people. Come on, let's walk around. I guarantee we'll run into them eventually," Bobby said. 

"
Fine," I reluctantly agreed. It was during my third sweep of the crowd that my eyes landed on the most piercing stare I had ever seen. At first, I thought it was only my imagination—that our eyes just happened to meet as we were scanning the crowd at the same time. I pulled my eyes away momentarily, and then looked again discreetly in his direction, but this time it was clear. His eyes were deadlocked on me. It was creepy that he didn't seem to move. Even among the crowd of people jostling around him, his focus remained on where I was standing. "Bobby, look," I said, yanking on his arm to pull him close.

"
What?" he asked, not knowing what he was supposed to be looking at.

"
That guy over there. He's looking right at me."

"
Where?"

"
Over there," I pointed, but when I looked again, the stranger was gone. "He was over by that booth with the big wall of tee shirts," I said, pointing to a crowded stand about twenty yards away. "It was creepy. He was staring right at me."

"
He was probably just acting like whatever character he was dressed as. Everyone here does that. Or, it could be you were imaging it, and he was looking at someone else," he teased.

"
Why, 'cause I'm not cute enough to catch the attention of some random guy?" I asked, feigning being insulted.

"
Oh, here we go," he said, grasping my hand. "You are gorgeous, especially dressed up like Sarah Connor. It's seriously hot. I'm just saying, there's like two thousand people in here, he could have been looking at anyone. Come on. Let's go see if we can find Tara and James." I hoped he was right, but for the moment, I still felt a little weirded out.