Forbidden Choices

by Jen Weddle

  Chapter 7

  I suddenly feel sad as I sit on the edge of my bed. I have a million unanswered questions.

  I know my dad isn’t dead but going to a funeral doesn’t exactly put someone in the most chipper mood either. I stare at the mirror across from me. My eyes are puffy from crying. But he’s not dead; I have to keep reminding myself. The tears shimmer playfully off of my cheeks as if laughing at me for even considering that I might not be as crazy as I thought at first.

  I grip the piece of crumpled paper tightly in my hand and dwell on all the years I never had a father. I was never able to hug him or tell him how much I love him. I know he left me to protect me. I look down at the tear stained paper I wrote on for his funeral.

  All of my deepest feelings were poured onto this poor innocent creature. I was going to put it neatly inside of his casket. I fold the paper up carefully and put it in my purse.

  I retrieve the simple black dress I packed for the day from my backpack. It stops mid knee with cap sleeves that fit snugly around my arms. I zip the back up and slip into a pair of sparkly black flats. I never wear heels. I told myself it’s because I don’t like to feel so far from the ground.

  My lack of grace may also play a small part in it. I hold the black veil attached to a headband in my hand and walk over to the mirror to slip it on. I adjust it a few times until I’m finally satisfied. I’ve always been a bit of a drama Queen, so I felt that the veil was appropriate.

  I dab on my cherry chapstick and toss my cell phone, my handwritten note and Kleenexes into the classic gold and white leather vintage clutch. It shuts with a snapping sound and I tip-toe down the stairs to find Theo rearranging things in the kitchen.

  He’s wearing a form-fitting gray suit. He hums a beautiful song as he scrubs the dishes.

  “What are you humming?” I enquire.

  “Just some old song my mom used to sing to me. Would you like to hear it?” He asks spinning around joyfully revealing a skinny gray and black tie with spiral patterns over a metallic gray button-up shirt. He clears his throat and something magnificent escapes him. It’s a sound as airy as the wind but as deeply rooted as trees are. The language is glorious.

  “Tihr a' Lahn,

  Unasae,

  lye dagore Fuin.

  I' dome Athan.

  Gurth Nuin, ar' kalina

  hinter lyee' dagora Adel.”

  I want to say something, but I’m speechless. I feel a strange sense of uplifting within myself though—it’s indescribable.

  “The song is another incantation…it was used by our ancestors before they were about to go to battle. It’s still used today to soothe children. I guess it would be like a human lullaby.” “Dance in light,

  Don’t give in

  We battle darkness

  The night beyond

  Death beneath us

  Light behind.”

  “I thought you could use the song before we start your first mission as part of the Royalty.” He whispers, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

  “I loved it.” I cry and I hug him to both of our surprise. He lifts me in the air and spins me around placing me gently back on my feet again.

  “You look beautiful.” He says. “But even the most beautiful creatures must be prepared for this dangerous mission we are about to accept. So our first initiative is to recover the King’s body. You will take your teleportation device back to Newhollow…”

  “What teleportation device?” I exclaim.

  “Your father told me that it’s an elephant with amethyst eyes hidden in the library.”

  I open my purse and hold out the elephant.

  “Perfect. Your father and I will have to find a closer destination since teleporting with two people is almost impossible. The closest portal is in Deepwood Forest, which is still a four-hour drive so we will have to drive there. We will drive to the end of the Mississippi River and that will be in close enough proximity to enter the forest with a device.”

  “That sounds like a really well-thought out plan and all… but how am I supposed to teleport to somewhere that I’ve never been?” I ask frantically.

  “Easy. You just repeat the name of the location and eventually the device will pinpoint it either exactly or within close proximity.” He says, as if that was the simplest answer and anyone should know it.

  I flip the elephant around in my hands, stroking its trunk gently. The amethyst eyes glow bright enough to consume the rest of the light in the room and a dark haze begins to gradually surround us. I’m falling quickly and I can’t breathe. I swear I’ll be suffocated and die in this place within minutes if I don’t escape it.

  Everything stops. The wind and the sounds cease to exist and we fall into a pile of leaves that don’t even crunch as we hit them.

  I stand up dizzily clenching the elephant in my left hand infuriated with it. My eyes attempt to adjust to the brightness of being outside, and I suddenly realize where I am.

  “I’m glad you know how to teleport now.” Theo teases me and straightens out his tie. “I just hope no one saw us basically plummet out of the sky.”

  I look over at the newly dug up dirt and the hundreds of headstones with similar words inscribed on them. There’s a small gathering of people at the very end of the cemetery that are huddled around whispering quietly to one another, as if afraid anything above a whisper will wake the dead around them.

  I attempt to readjust my dress and brush the dirt and grass off my bare legs. Theo picks a stray leaf out of my hair and we walk briskly over to the funeral procession. My father’s funeral has already started, and of course I am late. Everyone turns to see the late newcomer but when they see that it’s me, their eyes awkwardly shift anywhere but directly at me—the few that remain staring at me seem apologetic.

  All of the people gathered here are old neighbors from my past. There is not one face that I do not recognize. I scan the faces in the crowd trying to find an odd face that I don’t know—but the truth is my father didn’t work with humans—he ran an imaginary Kingdom. I stop at one face in particular. It’s still youthfully beautiful—but incredibly dangerous.

  My mother scowls at me from across the crowd of people. She has two security guards on either side of her.

  The priest begins the eulogy. I can hear sobs coming from all different directions. I look down at my shoes—too afraid to look anywhere else. I will not look at the casket.

  Hot tears flow steadily down my cheeks as the priest continues to compliment my father, he tells the gathered crowd about his amazing accomplishments and his active participation in helping to rebuild the community. He blesses the body and slowly the lowering of the casket begins. It sinks into the ground slowly and people toss white roses into the open grave. I put my hands over my face and sob silently.

  With the last bit of dirt patted down, I run to the front of the waning crowd and drop to my knees next to the freshly piled dirt mound. I curl up and sob until my heart feels like it might explode and my throat aches from the heaves of silent tears.

  I hear a noise that sounds like a muffled grunt and I look up. My mother is protruding light from her entire body; she whispers something quickly under her breath while the body guards wither into husks of nothing beneath her feet. She races towards me with her hand outstretched; she grabs the neckline of my dress as I choke and sputter.

  She looks so frail and weak—but appearances can deceive us.

  “Take me with you, Ali.” She manages to choke out the words in a muffled speech before she falls to the ground.

  “She’s been poisoned!” Theo shouts frantically.

  “I don’t know!” I exclaim. “You couldn’t help me when she was trying to kill me a second ago?”

  “What? It can't be. Has she been poisoned?” Theo asks from my side.

  “She was communicating telepathically with me. We’re going to have to take her back to the house—and our plan has changed now that we have two bodies to take back to the Kingdom
with us.”

  “We have to do the mission earlier than expected. There’s been a slight bump in our former plan.”

  “What?” I shout above my pounding heart.

  He hands me a shovel that he had hidden behind a tree and then he starts walking around in a circle whispering enchantments under his breath and spreading a blue powder around us.

  I start to dig all the while staring at Marylyn’s lifeless body—waiting for her to pounce again. I know what we look like right now, we look like crazy grave robbing thieves. I continue to dig up the freshly packed dirt. I don’t want a felony on my record. How am I going to explain why I’m digging up my father’s freshly dug grave to anyone?

  “What if someone sees me digging up a body in the middle of the day?” I ask. “And how are we going to get these two bodies out of the graveyard without anyone seeing us?”

  “I’m trying to do a complicated incantation…we’ll only have an hour before it wears off, but it should shield us from the humans for the time being.” He answers gravely.

  Theo continues to chant, “Coiasira Putta.”

  The noises from the outside cease and people in the distance look like frozen statues:

  Has he stopped time?

  He takes the shovel from me and digs at a much quicker pace until we hear a loud noise. He opens the casket and heaves the body up on solid ground.

  I try not to look. Theo manages to climb up from the bottom of the freshly dug grave gracefully. He’s breathless and covered in mud and I look at my own hands which are stained black. I rip the veil from my head and toss it in the grave.

  Theo whispers another incantation, “n’alaquel.” The coffin clunks shut underneath us and the dirt shifts and moves back in a steady formation until it looks untouched.

  “Ali you have to carry your mother.” Theo manages to say underneath the weight of my father’s body as he attempts to carry him. “I’ll meet you back at your house.”

  He vanishes from sight and I want to run after him. It’s just me and the monster now—her red hair blows lively in the wind. I manage to lift her up. It’s not easy but I toss her over my shoulder and reach for the elephant. I think about home and then we’re both sucked into the bottomless pit of nothing until we collapse on a hard floor.

  “That was a much better landing then last time, Princess.” Theo jokingly applauds.

  I stick out my tongue.

  “Ali we have to go now!” Theo yells as he grabs for my hand and we race for the rental car. We toss the bodies into the back seat and Theo floors it. The dust dances around us and we’re on our way to a faraway place. He has a very concentrated look on his face so I remain silent.

  “I’d like to kiss you one day.” He murmurs to no one in particular. “Maybe when we’re not being chased by people who want to poison and torture us.”

  “Okay.” I agree with him. Something stirs in the back and I feel a cold shiver down my spine. What if this is all a plot and Theo is helping my mother finally kill me?

  “My head, it hurts.” A frail voice whines from the back of the vehicle. My eyes dart to see where it came from. My mother stares at me in awe—it’s a different look then the one I’ve come to know. It’s familiar somehow.

  “You revived me?” She whispers.

  “I-I-I what?” I stammer. “Let me see your hand.”

  I show her my hand, and quickly pull it away to look for myself. It glows a violent purple and tiny speckles of silver race through my veins. My mother takes my hand in hers and places it next to her cheek. My fingertip glows a brighter shade of violet when she does this. She places my hand on my father’s head and I cry out.

  “It burns!” I shout.

  “You can revive him. It’ll only hurt for a moment.” She promises.

  I see his face begin to contort and change shape, his eyes slowly open and then darkness consumes my entire being. I can hear Theo shouting at my mother in the background, but it feels so peaceful and warm here. I decide I want to be the darkness.