“Do you think that the kidnappers were from this time period?” I asked Jassy after she’d put me through a particularly grueling magic lesson.
Because I was surprised to discover that the world that I was in and the three dimensional homeland that I longed to return to existed on parallel planes and along the same timeline and the fact that I was a traveler, I couldn’t help asking the question.
The look on Jassy’s face as she considered my question made me think of a cartoon showing a lightbulb going off in the person’s head. She spoke with a hint of excitement. “It is not something that I considered. I question if anyone has until now.”
I thought about it for a moment while I wiped the moisture from the back of my neck. The magic that I was learning proved physically demanding to the extent that my body perspired heavily. “Do you have people who travel in time? Or, do they
I spent the next few weeks continuing my training. I didn’t let Nora’s vicious vampire attempt to harm me dissuade me from wanting to keep up with her progress in regaining her humanity. In fact, it made me all the more eager to assure myself that she would soon return to normal. I made a daily quest to see her, but was consistently denied access to the area where she was kept. I even alternated the time of day of my attempts in hopes that I’d encounter a more lenient guard. The frustration was practically overwhelming. When I approached Jassy for help in this matter, she was adamant that it was best for me to stay away until Nora was finished with her transformation.She never said humanity, but, since she emphasized the word transformation, I allowed myself to believe that was what she meant. I couldn’t, for one second, let any other fate for my dear friend enter my thoughts.&n
Jassy’s claim that the cafeteria was packed was no exaggeration. I’d been their guest for about a month. During that time, I don’t believe I ever rubbed elbows with as many diners in the oversized hall. It was not only disheartening to realize just how well protected the kingdom was, but creepy knowing that the people I was mingling with weren’t people at all, but were lizard-like creatures who ate humans.I forced this fact into the recesses of my mind as I lightly mingled in a practically elbow to elbow environment with the crowd so that I could discover which part of the border was less guarded. I questioned if there was a need for me to be careful to ask inconspicuous questions while I by-passed the meat dishes in favor of the vegetables amidst the array of savory cuisines on the buffet. Their attention was so focused on the topic of returning Nora’s humanity to her that little thought was given to what I a
I’d wrestled with the temptation to free only Jason and not bring attention to ourselves. To my relief, Nora had settled my mind’s debate by making sure that all of the cell doors got opened. I understood why she felt compelled to release them all. No matter how much I didn’t want the chaos, I know in my heart that I couldn’t have walked away and left those poor people to such a fate.My hesitancy in freeing the mob because of the raucous they’d cause soon turned to relief. The madness distracted the guards to the extent that I doubt we were even missed.The sounds of the chaos that ensued after the release of the captives slowly faded as we raced into the woods that bordered the city. I was fairly confident that we were safe, but I didn’t want to take any chances.Lance was surprisingly winded when we stopped for a short rest. “The sun will be setting soon.&nbs
Unlike when I passed through the portal to rescue Nora, winter was no more. It was clearly summer.It was dusk and the gnats were out full force. I brushed at a few that were attempting to feed on me while I studied our surroundings.“Amazing,” I mused. “This is the same place that the portal Gail and I used was located.”“It is a power point,” Lance explained. “Unfortunately, the power is predominantly dark.”“That would make sense, since the land belongs to a very dark man,” I said. “He had me kidnapped and used most of the magic that you put in the box so that I couldn’t contact you.”A look of hate filled his normally gentle eyes. “Tillman and I have some business to settle.”“He is locked up,” I assured him. “In fact, the society that holds him was supposed to be holding your brother
A thin layer of powdery snow blanketed the ground. Beneath it was an icy crust that had assaulted the landscape just hours earlier. The frozen moisture on the trees gave them a glassy appearance. We’d had one of the worst recorded snowstorms in Virginia history and it was still coming down. I stomped the snow from my boots and took them off. Setting them on the boot tray, I slipped my feet into my office loafers. Then, I opened the door to shake my jacket outside of the building. I worked as fast as I could so that minimal falling snow replaced what I was shaking off it.“You’re fighting a losing battle,” Nora said as she snuggled under an afghan while sitting in a tapestry covered winged back chair that she’d taken from one of the rooms in the unused west wing of the mansion sized house that Lance turned over to me when we were married back in time. She’d strategically placed it in fron
It was surprising how much of the snow from Mother Nature’s onslaught didn’t stick around. By the time Monday night arrived, we could see large patches of green glistening grass that had been beaten down, but was, once again, reaching for sunlight.As she’d expected, Nora came down with a whopper of a cold. The five days grace that I gave her to be ready to go to dinner was all that she needed to aggressively treat it with vitamins, herbs, and chicken soup. She managed to kick it out of her system enough that she could attend the dinner without ruining the experience for herself and our host - or even me- by showing up with a runny nose, watery eyes, and a cough.I swear that the woman had a natural remedy for everything.“Are you sure that you’re up to this?” I asked as we rang the doorbell. “I know that you claim Agatha set you straight, but we have no idea what awaits us
I spent the next few days learning the purpose of and how to use the equipment that Nora had purchased in preparation for our taking on the paranormal. I found it both interesting and frustrating. There were gadgets for almost everything one might imagine, such as electromagnetic detectors and thermometers. Apparently, ghosts use electricity to help them manifest and, when they do, the temperature in the room will change even if you can’t see them. Being a skeptic at heart, I found the equipment both interesting and amusing.Although she insisted that she was up to task, I was adamant that we stick with our original arrangement of her handling the office affairs and me doing the investigations. The last thing that I needed was for Nora to freak out if I uncovered ghosts in the Havershaft attic.Fully armed with my newfangled paraphernalia and fairly confident that I knew what to do with it all, I trekked on over to Cecil’s home
Nora and Roger gave us time to move past the awkwardness of realigning our relationship before rejoining us. We spent the evening playing scrabble and teasing each other about made up, screwed up vocabularies. By the time my best friend and her lover were ready to call it a night, Killian and I were back on track with our friendship.“I should probably go home,” he said with hesitation as he watched Nora and Roger climb the stairs.“You shouldn’t have moved out,” I complained with conviction. “This house already felt too big without the void that was created when we lost you.” Then, after a brief moment, I giggled and added, “Nora saw us in the closet.”He stifled a snicker. “How much did she see?”“She yelled at me for having sex with you and driving you away,” I admitted.“Ouch,” he moaned. “I’m really sorry.&r