CHAPTER#82

"It's go time." Daryl leaned across Dana, opening her car door. She realized that they were parked at the end of Mike's block - she had gone into a road trance. Stepping out, she held the clock tightly against her chest. Daryl walked behind her, casually assessing the neighborhood.

"Smells like a storm just rolled through here," he said, staring at the sky. Dana smelled it, but she also smelled sand, smoke, and soil. Approaching the Radley house, she smiled at the sight of the roof over the large stone walls. This place had always been cool to look at, a mysterious force all its own. Turning the corner, they walked between the large stone lions perched atop the wall. It was where the driveway and walkway met up, then split apart. The house was quiet, but it looked like some repairs had recently been done.

"Keep going without me," Daryl told her. "I'll watch from here." Nodding, she walked up the driveway, the smell of smoke getting thicker. She was nearly at the door when her brain registered that a car had crashed into the front porch.

How had she not noticed that? Looking across the yard, she saw that a large amount of sand had been spread across the yard, and part of the porch had collapsed. Was she really that out of it?

"Whoa." Looking up, she saw a crack in the sky. There was also a large scorch mark in the middle of the lawn, the grass turned to ash. Turning around to face the door, she saw that the porch was soaking wet. What had happened here?

There was no time to think about it. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.

What would she say? Would she show him the clock? Convince him to invite her inside, maybe talk about the fact that she had fixed his pet mimic?

No answer. Walking along the porch, she peeked in the window. Nobody was inside, and the furniture had been tossed about.

"Fuck," she whispered. The clock in her hand chimed quietly. She grabbed the doorknob, letting herself in. The inside of the house contained a plethora of smells, too many for her to decipher. She smelled water, sand, and several different musky odors that made her think of sex with Alex after a day-long hike. Walking through the front rooms, she heard several voices speaking to each other in the back. Approaching the back door, she saw a beautiful ornate fountain in the garden. Inside the fountain, a woman with flowing blue and green hair was addressing a few others.

One of the women was all white, from her hair to her feet. She was also floating a few inches off of the ground. The next one looked ordinary - her black and red hair hung loosely around her shoulders.

The last one was a horse. Mouth open, Dana watched the centaur circle the back of the fountain. All four of them were speaking in hushed tones, something about the witch out front. Dana hadn't seen anyone else, but she now felt like she had stepped into an alternate dimension. What was one more anomaly?

"Hold it." The woman in the fountain held up her hands, then looked directly at Dana. "Come out. Don't be afraid." Stunned, Dana stepped through the back door, the clock held tightly to her chest. The others watched her approach.

"Who are you?" The normal woman asked.

"I'm Dana." She couldn't keep her eyes off of the centaur. "I'm looking for Mike."

"How did you get in?" The same woman asked.

"I let myself in," she said, nearing the fountain. Something about the woman in the fountain made her feel at peace. "I brought Mike's clock back." Standing there, she felt a slight pinch at her neck, like a bug had bitten her. Scratching it out of habit, she made eye contact with the red and black haired woman who now stood next to her. "What?"

Everyone else exchanged looks.

"She should be asleep by now," the woman said. "There's no reason she should still be awake, unless..."

"I feel like I'm asleep," Dana said. She set the clock down on the edge of the fountain. "This all feels like a bad dream. I wish I could wake up from it."

"Well, let's see if we can help you wake up." The woman in the fountain sat down on the edge, taking Dana's hand in her own. "My name is Naia. I'm a nymph. Why don't you tell me about yourself?"

To her own surprise, Dana told her everything.

…

"...and that brings me to here." Dana sat on the edge of the fountain, her chin in her hands. She wondered if she should feel more upset, regaling the others with her tale. Tears were beyond her ability. The strange numbness of her body applied even more so to her eyes. She could no longer feel them, and it was taking effort to remember to blink. "So if I don't deliver Mike or whatever special treasure the house hides, he will leave me like this."

Naia, Cecilia, and Zel looked at each other. Zel had been examining Dana's body during her story, doing some simple tests. Dana still had her basic reflexes, but her pain sensors were completely gone. Zel struggled to gather a few blood samples, as Dana's blood no longer flowed.

"I'm curious," Naia said. "What does the Society think the house is hiding?"

"I don't know, and neither does he." Dana shrugged. "It's kind of like the lost city of gold, right? They are convinced something is hidden away here, but they have no idea what or how."

"Oh, something very powerful is hidden in this house. That's a fact." Naia frowned at Dana. "It's something that Mike will have to discover for himself, I'm afraid. I've had my suspicions for years, and each Caretaker has stumbled upon at least a clue or two."

"Did the last Caretaker find any? Maybe they knew where it was."