Chapter 7

Hombre sits down across from us in a chair and clasps his hands together, “So . . . ask me.”

“What’s up with your eyes?” Beth jumps right in, her words running together a bit in her excitement.

I add on, a part of me afraid he’ll decide to stop answering any minute, “Why did you want my bracelet? And why was that portal in the river?”

He shrugs, “To be honest I have no idea why it was there. My eyes, though, are kind of a warning system for my powers. They let me know when I’ve used one too much or too little.”

Alyssa narrows her eyes, leaning forward, “Powers? Like what you did in the clearing? As in . . . magic?”

He twists his mouth, considering that, “I guess you could call them magic. It’s not like those wizard movies you made me watch, though. I can’t do anything I want.” He sees us looking at him expectantly and adds, “Well, I basically have four powers, but they’re all related.”

Beth’s eyes are wide as she says, “So you do have magic? That’s what we saw? Really?”

Hombre looks away, scratching his head, “It’s not as cool as you think it is.”

“Not as cool as I think it is? Are you crazy? You can do magic!”

I hold up a hand, “Wait, wait, wait. You didn’t answer my question before. What does my bracelet have to do with any of this?” I reach into my bra and pull it out, examining it for some clue. I look back at him and see that he’s staring at it. I narrow my eyes and reattach my bracelet to my wrist, “I’m still keeping it. Don’t try anything.”

He rolls his eyes, “I told you. I’m not going to steal it, but �" ”

I interrupt, “Yeah, yeah. You’re holding me hostage. Honestly, I’m not planning on leaving. Now, tell me why it’s important you have it.”

He hesitates, looking away, and leans back. After a moment he finally says, “It’s one of four artifacts that will save my people.”

Beth, next to me, shifts, and I give him a look, “Are you sure you have the right one? I mean, this is definitely my mother’s. She told me it’s been in my family a long time.”

Alyssa frowns, “What do you mean by ‘my people?’”

He sighs and dodges her question, “If that’s the wrong bracelet, I don’t know how that portal opened.”

I look down at it. It looks so plain. It’s not even very fashionable. Why would it be special?

Alyssa glares at him, “Okay, cool, but what do you mean by ‘my people?’”

He winces, “Listen, does it matter? I’m going to get you guys back home as soon as possible. Right now, the less you know, the better.”

Alyssa rolls her eyes, “I have never known that to be the case.”

Neither of them look like they want to budge, so I speak up again, “You said we had to find another portal, right? Where is it?”

“I thought I made it clear that I didn’t know,” he responds, crossing his arms and looking away from Alyssa’s death glare.

“We could ask Ki,” Beth suggests, a little too eagerly.

I see Alyssa roll her eyes. “You just want an excuse to make him come here,” she mutters, though somehow I don’t think she’d mind having him show up.

Hombre shakes his head, his eyes connecting with mine for a second before they move back to Beth, “I don’t know. Something about him is off.”

Beth frowns, almost looking offended. “He seems fine to me,” she mutters.

“You could ask Ibei,” Alyssa suggests with a shrug.

He raises an eyebrow, “Somehow I think that’d be worse. Why would either of them help us out, anyways?”

“Well, then, how do you expect to find anything?” Alyssa asks, throwing up her hands.

Beth looks at me, “You know, Carmen’s really good at convincing people to tell her stuff.”

I stare at her, frowning, “No I’m not.”

Alyssa raises an eyebrow, “She’s right. Every time we go out there’s some guy who starts pouring his heart out to you about some girl that hurt him and some time he went to Scotland and some great big secret something.” She gestures at Hombre, “He did that.”

I protest, “Hombre wasn’t like that.” He has a strange frown on his face, and my cheeks flush as I stammer a bit: “It’s not like I ask for it. They just . . . they just start talking, I don’t know. Sometimes a complete stranger is what those people need, right? I mean, I’m not going to tell anyone they know.”

“I wish people talked like that to me,” Beth says, sighing, “Having gossip is always useful.”

I look at her, confused, “They’re always random strangers. It’s not anything useful.”

Beth shrugs, “Yeah, until they become like Hombre and we see them everywhere. Whatever. Sometimes people hurt you. It’s good to know you can fight back.”

A frown twists the corners of my mouth, but Alyssa raises a hand and interrupts before I can say anything, “Let’s not get off topic. Why are we going after these artifacts at all?”

Hombre looks almost relieved to be answering questions again, even though his answer is short, “They belong to my people.”

Alyssa grimaces, her voice tinged with annoyance, “And you’re never going to tell us who they are. Fine. Why does Carmen have one of these artifacts, then?”

“I don’t know.” He shakes his head, his eyes flicking over to consider me as he says, “Some of it doesn’t make sense to me either, as I’ve said before.”

I feel like he’s with-holding, but before I can find a way to prod for an answer there’s a knock on the door.

We all look at each other. Hombre looks happy for the interruption.

There’s a key in the lock and then the door opens to let two men in, each carrying trays of food which they place on a table to the side. They say nothing and leave quickly. The door locks behind them.

“Thank you!” Beth says cheerily, standing up and hurrying over.

“Thanks,” I echo as I walk over, lift a cover, and examine the food. It all looks strange. There’s some type of meat under an ochre sauce and, to the side, some leafy, orange vegetables. The only familiar thing is the glass of water, of which I take a sip for confirmation. Yep. It’s water.

By now everyone else has grabbed a plate and a seat, so I sit down, too. There are some claw-like things that seem to be our utensils. They’re like forks, but with two stretched prongs instead of three or four. As long as it works, I guess. We all dig in, almost inhaling the food. I didn’t even realize I was so hungry. It’s all very rich, and after a few huge bites I find I have to slow down so I don’t get sick.

Alyssa opens her mouth to ask a question, but Hombre raises a hand, “I’m eating.”

She lets out a little huff and sends glares over his way as she picks through her food.

There’s a thick slab of black glass sitting on the table, its screen covered with words, and I pick it up and examine it, finding it about the size of a thin textbook. On it is a list of laws. This must be what Ibei was talking about.

Most of them seem basic, such as forbidding any murder or theft or bodily harm, but I find odd additions: “One must not deceive another with their form unless under instruction.” I have no idea what that means. How do you deceive someone else with your form? “Final ruling defaults to divine rule if a satisfactory outcome cannot be found.” ‘Divine rule?’ What does that even mean? Do they have Commandments or a Supreme Court or something? Or is this some kind of monarchy? There’s a long list of clauses underneath this one, but none of them really help, they just list exceptions. “Excessive public intoxication, to where it damages one’s form, is not permitted. Rule-breakers will be subjected to arrest and isolation until control is regained, on opinion of the imprisoning officer and his/her superior.” I frown, wondering what, exactly, counts as ‘excessive.’

Hombre pushes his plate away. “I’m tired. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

He disappears into one of the rooms before we can even open our mouths to protest. Beth lets out a small sigh of disappointment, but Alyssa looks after him with her jaw set and her mouth twisted. She turns back to her food, pondering it. I try to place aside the questions which bubble up now that he’s disappeared.

“Could I see that, Carmen?” Alyssa asks, gesturing at the slab of glass. I hand it to her.

Beth leans over to glance at it and then shakes her head. “Uh . . . Someone just let me know if there’s anything important on there.”

Alyssa raises her eyebrows, “I thought you could read.”

Beth snorts, “I’m not reading that. Are you kidding me?”

I finish my plate and look over to see Beth’s left her vegetables. I can’t help but smile, “Are you a little kid or something?”

She shrugs, grinning back at me, “Maybe. You can have them. I figured I ran enough today that I could just eat the good stuff.”

“We didn’t even run that much,” Alyssa states, looking away from the glass to stare at Beth judgmentally.

Beth rolls her eyes, “Yeah, alright. Just go back to being a nerd.”

“Go back to being a four-year-old.”

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

Alyssa ignores her and turns to me, “Carmen, do you think we can trust him? I mean, really. Do you think he’ll get us back home?”

I look over at the closed door. “Well, I think he’ll try, at the very least. I know you don’t like him, but he’s always kept his word when he promises something.”

She gives me a look, “I don’t know if that’s true.”

Beth sighs, “Why do you hate him so much? I mean, yeah, sometimes he needed us to pay for things, but he always tried to get us back for it.”

I frown, nodding in agreement, “You’ve barely even been around in the time we’ve hung out with him.”

She avoids our eyes, looking down at the screen, “He’s just always seemed like a liar to me.”

Beth and I meet eyes. I mean, she’s not wrong. I shrug, for some reason wanting to defend him, “Well . . . he seems like he’s trying to be honest, now.”

Alyssa frowns, looking between me and Beth, “What? Are you two ganging up on me, now?”

I shake my head, “No. I mean, it would just be nice if you could get along with him. You know, try to trust him. He’s been good at making sure we haven’t been killed so far.”

Alyssa looks at me, “We’re prisoners right now. You got that, right?”

I can feel exhaustion starting to weigh on me. I don’t want to have an argument, so I lean back and say, “Nevermind. I think I’m going to go to bed, too.”

“Goodnight, Carmen.” Beth says, smiling. Alyssa nods, but she looks irritated and won’t meet my eyes. I just give them a smile and enter the other bedroom, lingering by the door as it closes behind me. I chew my lip, hesitating. I shouldn’t have said anything, should I?

Through the door I hear Beth ask, with a sigh, “What’s bothering you?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re the one being a liar, now.”

Alyssa huffs, “Fine. I just . . . she’s talking about trust and everything, but she doesn’t even seem to trust us. She was having a full-on panic attack in the car and you’ve told me that you’ve heard her crying at night. I mean, obviously I want to help her and have her feel better, but take some of your own advice.” I can feel my heartbeat, my cheeks flushing with shame. My teeth sink into my lip. She’s right, isn’t she? I’m being a hypocrite. But, I don’t want to tell them, I don’t want them to worry or freak out or to have them think I’m disgusting.

Beth sighs, “Maybe there’s a reason why she can’t talk about whatever’s bothering her. It doesn’t mean that you should ignore what she’s saying. She is right, you know.” Even though I’m still biting into my lip, I feel a bit of relief. At least Beth understands.

“Oh, shut up, Beth.” Alyssa pauses, “Fine. I’ll try, okay?”

I pull away from the door, afraid to hear anything else. I feel slightly nauseous as I slip my shoes off and move to the low bed, hiding myself under the covers. Somehow, I drift away almost immediately, maybe because it’s been awhile since I really had time to sleep.

I don’t really remember most of my dream, but at the tail-end of it I’m running away again to the river. This time the portal is in the water and instead of trying to open it, I’m trying to force it closed. Something horrible is on the other side and I can hear it clicking and cackling and I’m terrified and screaming for Cal and, just in time, he’s there to force the door down. He pulls me into a hug, smiling, as he says, “I always have to protect you.” I want to tell him that maybe I should be the one to protect him this time, but it’s almost as if he hears my thoughts as he whispers, “Don’t worry, Carmen. You’ll be strong enough soon.”

I wake up as a tear traces its way down to my pillow.

It hits me like a tidal wave. I miss Cal. Even though I haven’t seen him as much since I’ve been at college, the realization that I might never see him again now gnaws at me, and more tears threaten to pour down my cheeks.

Alyssa’s on the bed next to me, so I slide out of the covers, carefully, and open the door that leads into a bathroom. I don’t want to worry her. Maybe she sees it as me shutting her out, but if she knew the level of screwed up I am, I doubt she’d actually want to listen. I’ve almost opened up to her so many times, but each time my mouth goes dry, and I get that same taste of ash. I just need people who will help me be happy. I don’t need anyone to know how weak I am. I close the door and sit down on the smooth floor, putting my face into my hands.

My vision’s blurry as I try, unsuccessfully, to hold back tears. I touch my bracelet, twisting it anxiously so that the dragon’s on top. Somehow turning it calms me, though there are plenty of questions still demanding answers. I mean, what am I looking for? My mom? Does some part of me still think she’s here? Am I looking for some adventure? I don’t really know, but I know I’ve screwed up my big brother’s plans for me.

When my dad died, Cal dropped out of high school and started to work full-time to support us. Whenever I told him I felt bad, he’d say, “Well, make it into college, hermanita, and all of it will be worth it.” So I did. I didn’t receive enough of a scholarship to get into the best school I got into, but the second-best seemed right, so long as I worked some hours to help pay for it. I was going to get my business degree and start making tons of money at some huge firm, and now . . . now I’ve ruined it.

I close my eyes and take a shaky breath. It’s too late to do anything, now. I just need to stop thinking, because sometimes I think too much and drive myself crazy. I take another deep breath, stand up, and wipe my face. My eyes are red, so I just decide to use the shower and see if the extra time will help me to pull myself together.

There doesn’t seem to be any shampoo or conditioner, but there’s soap, so I just use some of it for my hair. As I rinse off, I’m hyper-aware of the jangle of my bracelet, its contact as it moves, slightly, up and down my arm. What does having it even mean?

I shake my head and turn the water off. As soon as I do, a huge fan turns on, venting hot air into the room. I close my eyes, appreciating the warmth, and stay in until I’m only slightly damp. As I step out of the shower, the fan turns off automatically. I have a hairband on my wrist, so I tie up my long hair, even darker than normal, and then pull my dirty clothes back on. When I look in the mirror, I’m happy to see my eyes aren’t as red anymore.

I creep past Alyssa into the living room and see Beth passed out on the couch. I’m surprised she didn’t try to crawl into bed, too, but I’m not sure there would’ve been enough space.  It looks like she’s somehow figured out how to turn on the screen attached to the wall. The images are crisp, clear, but nothing out of the ordinary. It looks like an ad is currently playing, with smiling, happy, pretty people sitting at a table, eating. The familiarity of it makes me uneasy. As I stand there, though, Beth shifts.

Not wanting to talk to anyone, I turn and scurry to the porch. I slide the door shut behind me as I take a deep breath of the hot, humid air. It’s much darker outside, now, and I look up at the glass ceiling to see that the sun seems to have retreated so much that even the mirrors can’t catch its light. It doesn’t really seem like it matters too much, though, when I look down at the city. Huge, bright floodlights have turned on in certain areas, like the fields that are just below us. The walls are full of lights, too, though it’s definitely brighter over there than here, in the center. An ornate structure on the wall catches my eye. The lights surrounding it are particularly dazzling, highlighting that the style of it is at odds with most of the other buildings around it. It’s highly decorated with stone carvings, much like the interior of the tower, and made of the same strange, metallic substance. Even some of the same green and yellow bulbs protrude out of it. It’s surrounded by parks and many violet-robed individuals. A number of them have gathered for a ceremony in one of the larger gardens, while others walk in some type of pattern, tracing a symbol I can’t quite make out from here. Are they some type of religious order? Some different take on spirituality, or a practice creepily similar to one back home?

Something flashes near the corner of my eye, and I turn to see another huge building, undulating with fluid images and, to some extent, taking on their shape. It seems to be constantly changing, lighting up the area around it with brilliant, colored lights. I’m not sure how I hadn’t noticed it before, but now it sticks out like a sore thumb. Perhaps it’s because the structures around it no longer shine with the dazzling light that’d made me squint earlier in order to make anything out.

The majority of the buildings look modern, with only a few hinting at a distant past, and they’re all rounded and interlocked. The roads are tangled all over the place: across the tops of houses, behind them, over porches, even tacked up underneath in some cases. Porches, gardens, and greenhouses stick out into the void and metal supports crisscross everywhere, as well as piping and wires and catwalks. The city is full of people, but in most cases I’m too far away to make them out distinctly.

The whirring of the trains serves as the backbone to unite all the other sounds of the city. They zip back and forth, either on the large rails across the chasm or on smaller lines which circle the whole pit itself. Some of them act like elIbeitors, ascending and descending to other stations. One of the trains in the station just below me shoots off across the pit and people immediately begin to gather again, some of them rushing up to the gate in hopes that it will be back sooner rather than later. One man trips and spills his papers everywhere, and I see a few people pass him before someone finally helps him collect them all. A woman is playing a flute-like instrument, a small crowd gathered around her, watching. Again, it’s so weirdly similar to what I’d see back on Earth that I don’t know whether to be freaked out or homesick. I tighten my grip on the porch railing and look for something like the robed people, something which isn’t so familiar.

The bustling city below offers many distractions: clubs booming music; bright, flashing lights; giant waterfalls that pour into basins; strange architecture that separates itself and beats back my feelings of familiarity.

I lose track of how long I’m there, trying to collect myself, but after a while I just creep back to bed, hoping for better dreams.

Ki doesn’t come until the next morning.

Author's Note

Thank you for any and all comments. =)