Hidden Worlds

by Kristie Cook

  “My parents aren’t dead.” Again, the vague inkling threatened to return to memory, but Therese shook her head. She willed herself back home in her own cozy bed with her dog, Clifford, curled beside her. Hip was not with her.

  “Time to wake up,” she said to Clifford.

  The brown and white fox terrier licked her cheek.

  Therese tossed back her comforter and climbed out of the bed, the warm, wooden floor familiar beneath her feet. She dropped some hamster food into Puffy’s hamster cage and turned on the lamp over her Russian tortoise’s tank.

  “Good morning, Jewels,” Therese said.

  The tortoise winked at her.

  Therese headed downstairs. Clifford bounded behind her, as usual. Her parents were in the kitchen sitting at the granite bar drinking coffee and reading the paper, as on any Saturday morning.

  They were still in their pajamas, but she was in her blue formal gown.

  She replaced the gown with a nightshirt. Poof: There, better.

  “Good morning,” she said to her parents.

  She went through the screened front porch and out into what she was expecting to be the sunny morning on their wooden deck in the mountains but was instead the night sky over the foggy river. Hip greeted her.

  “Nice outfit.”

  “So this really is just a dream,” she said. “None of it’s real.”

  “What makes a dream any less real?” he challenged.

  “Hip, let her go!” the boy from below on the raft warned. “They need to revive her or she’s going to die!”

  “Therese?” a voice came from somewhere above.

  Than flew up and pulled Therese away from Hip. “Let her go, brother. You’re endangering her life.”

  Therese felt weak and she tried to wriggle free but nearly fell from the air.

  Than held her up. “You shouldn’t be here,” he whispered, close to her ear. He sent a shiver down her spine, but his breath was sweet.

  She didn’t like the direction this dream was going. In the dreams in which she was about to die, she usually bolted into the air and changed the events into something happy. Although she couldn’t find the strength to jump up and twirl around, she did manage to throw her arms around the good-looking boy holding onto her. She could make the dream into a new romance. “My dream,” she managed to say as she clung to him. She put her lips against his lips. “You’re … so … lovely.”

  “Whoa, brother,” Hip said. “Today’s full of all kinds of firsts for you, man.”

  Than seemed shocked. He looked at her like she was an alien. “You can’t do this,” he said, but he didn’t push her away. His eyes closed, he sighed, and, almost reluctantly, it seemed, he put his strong arms around Therese, who felt weaker. She could feel his mouth near her forehead. A sound came from his throat, something like a groan.

  She liked being in his arms. “You’re … so … lovely,” she murmured, growing weaker and weaker.

  “Take her back.” Than seemed to be fighting an inner battle. “I’m to take her parents, but not her. It’s not her time.”

  Therese willed herself up. “My parents? Where are you taking them?”

  Than looked into her questioning eyes. He looked as though he wanted to kiss her. She wanted to kiss him, too. His face moved closer. She nearly lost her breath. But her parents! She flew from his arms and down to the raft.

  “Charon, don’t board her!” Than growled, fast on her heels. “She’s not to go across.”

  “Mom! Dad!”

  Her parents didn’t seem to hear her.

  “This is my dream, dammit. Look at me!”

  Her parents turned toward her. “Therese?”

  Than gave Therese a look of astonishment. “How did you do that?”

  Therese flew down to her parents.

  Strong arms went around her and pulled her away from the raft. The brothers were on either side of her. She was fighting a futile battle. The brothers were much too strong for her to break free from them.

  Than smiled. “You’re right. She’s a powerful soul. I’ve never known someone to follow loved ones down this far.”

  “You’re forgetting Orpheus and Hercules,” Hip pointed out.

  “But they were demigods.” Than’s hands tightened their grip on Therese. Hip started to say something, but Than interrupted, “And Odysseus was sent down, so he doesn’t count, either.” Hip opened his mouth, but as before, Than was too quick with his retort, “And Aeneas had a guide and a golden bough, unlike this girl who came all on her own with no bribes.”

  Hip finally got his say, “I told you this girl was powerful. You’re making my case, brother.” He pulled Therese closer to him. “I want to keep her.”

  Therese wondered if they could possibly be talking about her. Powerful? She was anything but, as her inability to break free from them proved.

  Than frowned. “If you try, she’ll die, and then what fascinates you about her will be lost.”

  “Therese?” the voice from above called.

  “Let her go!” Than implored.

  Hip moved his lips to Therese’s ear. “Seek me out in your dreams. I want to find you again. Look for me. Call for me.”

  Chapter Four: A Warning

  Still jarred by his brother’s foolish risk, Than waited in the poppies, until he fell asleep, and then he sought out Hip in the dream world.

  Than knew exactly what Hip would be doing when he found him.

  “I’ll get you, my pretty! And you’re little dog, too!” Hip’s voice rang out over the abyss.

  “Maybe not exactly,” Than thought, rolling his eyes at his brother’s projection of a little green woman in a pointed black cap. “Hey, witch!”

  Hip turned in surprise and spoke in the voice of an old hag. “What are you doing here? I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

  Than looked at the pretty girl cowering in fear before his brother. Then he asked his brother, still in his witch form, “Since when has this been your style? What happened to lover boy?”

  “Now come on, brother,” Hip said. “I’ve been doing this for over a millennium. Shows how often you come to see me.”

  “What exactly is this?” Than asked. “I don’t think that particular character has been around for over a millennium.”

  “Details, details,” Hip said. “I’m talking strategy here, not the details.”

  “Scare them to death?”

  “Never to death, brother. Then you’d get them. I just scare them enough to want a protector.” Hip changed his witchy projection back to himself and spoke in his own voice. “There, there, Melody. I’ll save you from that nasty witch.”

  The girl ran into Hip’s arms.

  Hip gave Than a smirk and a wink. “Works every time,” he said over the girl’s head.

  Hip’s mouth fell on the girl’s. “Nice,” Hip said in between kisses.

  Than remembered the feeling of Therese’s arms around him, her lips pressed against his.

  Hip read his thoughts before Than could block him. As twins, they had a special insight into one another’s minds.

  “Aha!” Hip laughed, tossing the girl to the side. “That’s why you’re here. All these centuries you have chastised me, looked down on me for making the most of my lot by having a little fun with the girls, a little harmless fun …”

  “Not always harmless,” Than murmured.

  Melody faded into the background.

  “And here you are now, wanting some tail now that you’ve had a small taste. What a hypocrite!”

  “Tail? Is that what you so irreverently call human beings? They’re not playthings.”

  “Oh? Says who?” Hip folded his arms at his chest. “Get off your high horse.”

  “They’re our responsibility, not our amusement.”

  “They are both, Than. That’s your problem. You take everything too seriously. You need to learn to have a little fun.”

  “Switch jobs with me for a day and then tell me how that’s possi
ble!”

  “Broken record, bro’! That’s what you are! A scratched disc. I didn’t choose our lots. All I can say is, you need to make the most of yours, and you don’t.”

  Than moved closer to Hip, putting his face inches from his brother’s. “And you need to be more careful. You almost killed that girl before her time.”

  “You’re just mad that I get to go to her now, and you don’t.”

  “Leave her alone, Hip. I mean it. She’s been through a hard time, losing her parents.”

  Hip moved his face so close to Than’s, that they almost touched. “That’s exactly why she needs me, to help divert the pain. And believe me, bro’, I’ll show her a good time.”

  Than shoved his brother out of his face.

  Hip flew back to retaliate, but then didn’t. He smiled, took a relaxed stance. “Lighten up. I’ll leave her alone.”

  “Good.” Than backed off, about to leave, about to wake in the field of poppies.

  “I’ve never seen you like this before,” Hip teased. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you like this girl, Therese.”

  Than ignored him and opened his eyes. Another death beckoned him to China. But as he met the old man to lead him to Charon’s raft, his mind went back to the red-haired girl who had kissed him.

  Chapter Five: Figments and the Underworld

  “She’s waking up! Sheila! She’s waking up!”

  “Tell Dr. Burton her patient is waking up.”

  Therese grabbed the plastic tubing in her mouth and yanked. It scratched her throat, and tears welled in her eyes. Hands in latex gloves guided the tubing out and away. Therese gagged, heaved a dry heave. The latex-gloved hands held out a cup.

  “Take a sip of water.”

  Therese put her parched lips to the cup and sipped. Her neck hurt when she lifted her head, so she lay back again. She blinked and looked up, squinting against the bright lights. She cleared her throat. The crud was still there. She cleared again. Took another sip. Ow, my neck.

  “Therese, can you hear me?” It was her Aunt Carol, her mother’s sister from San Antonio. What had happened to the brothers? They were right here, so close to her. How could they vanish like that? Carol kissed Therese on the forehead. “Oh, sweetheart!” Therese felt a flutter of kisses sweep over her cheeks. “Oh, Therese! I’m so glad you’re finally awake!”

  Why would Carol be here without her parents? “Where’s Mom and Dad?”

  Carol took her hand and squeezed it. “First tell me how you feel. The nurse needs to know.”

  She looked around the room. Machines beeped beside her. An I.V. ran through a needle in her hand. A nurse stood beside her aunt.

  “My neck hurts.” Then she added. “I’m so cold.”

  Carol pulled the covers up around Therese. “Can we get her another blanket, Sheila?” Carol said to the nurse.

  Sheila left the bed and opened a nearby cabinet.

  “Anything else hurt?” Sheila asked.

  “I don’t think so.” Therese cleared her throat again. “Where’s Mom and Dad?”

  Another woman entered the room in a white coat.

  Carol said, “Oh, Doctor, I’m so glad you’re here.”

  She nodded hello and took a small flashlight from her front pocket. “Hi there, Therese. I’m Dr. Burton.”

  “Where are my parents?”

  Sheila unfolded a thin white cotton blanket and added it to the heap of covers already atop Therese. Although the three persons in the room, including her aunt, looked at her with the kindest eyes, she had a sudden feeling of dread dragging her down like a heavy weight into a sea of gloom.

  “Your parents didn’t make it, Therese,” Carol said, squeezing her hand. “They died in the crash. I’m so sorry.”

  Therese’s mouth dropped open. Despite the dread and the inkling memory she had suppressed, she was utterly surprised. “But I just saw them. They were right there with me, hugging me, kissing me. I saw them plain as day!” Then, against her will, she remembered the shooting, the car plunging into the lake, and her parents drowning in front of her. She saw her father writhing in the water and her mother’s yielding face. She felt panic gripping at her chest. She was all alone. Her mother and her father were gone. A silent scream of terror rose in her throat, but she pushed it down.

  She wanted to be a little girl again sitting in her father’s lap, curled in her mother’s arms. She wanted to be a tiny thing making sand castles with her parents at the Great Sand Dunes, canoeing and kayaking on the lake and down the river, making snow people and snow animals in front of their house. She wanted to feel the warmth of her father on a summer evening standing on their deck around their house with binoculars turned toward the mountains beyond the reservoir in front of their house. She wanted to bake brownies with her mother one more time. She didn’t need to lick the bowl; she didn’t need to eat a bite; she just wanted her mother there telling her what to do with the big wooden spoon and array of ingredients. She just wanted to hear her mother’s voice one more time. She wanted to be a baby again, safe and swaddled, and listening to her mother’s sweet lullabies:

  Sweet Therese, my precious girl; you’re my love, my life, my world.

  Then she remembered the boys, the brothers, and her parents on the raft with the old man. It had been a dream, hadn’t it? But at least she could be with them there. She wanted to be with them any way she could. She closed her eyes and tried to go back to the dream.

  “Therese, try to stay awake,” the doctor said, shining the flashlight in her eyes as she held open each lid, one at a time. “I need to check your reflexes.” The doctor tapped an instrument against Therese’s elbow, then her knee, her foot.

  No, she thought. I want to die. I want to go be with my parents. She closed her eyes again.

  Sheila strapped a band around Therese’s upper arm. The band expanded and squeezed Therese’s arm, hurting her, forcing her awake again.

  “Where are my mom and dad?”

  Carol gave the doctor a look of concern and then stroked the bangs from Therese’s eyes. “Oh, sweetheart. They didn’t make it. They’re in a better place.”

  Her aunt’s hair was red and straight like her mother’s, but shorter, in a stylish bob, the front ends slightly longer than the back. Her eyes were the same blue as her mother’s and her eyebrows had the same arch. Even their slender noses looked alike. Therese was grateful Carol was with her. She loved her aunt like a big sister and had relished every Christmas and spring break and summer vacation they had ever spent together either in San Antonio or here in Durango. She held her aunt’s hand and allowed the flood of tears to pour from her eyes. “But Carol, where are they? I mean their bodies. Are they in the lake?” The sobs shook her. She thought she might be sick.

  The band released its pressure on her arm.

  “Her vitals are normal,” Sheila informed the doctor.

  “Oh, thank God!” Carol cried. She squeezed Therese’s hand.

  “Tell Lieutenant Hobson he can come tomorrow,” the doctor told Sheila. “Let’s give her today to rest.”

  “Yes, Doctor,” the nurse left the room.

  Carol caressed Therese’s forehead. “You’ve been in a coma for a week. We’ve already buried your parents.”

  Therese tried to understand what her aunt had just said.

  “I’ll check on her again later.” The doctor excused herself.

  Therese turned to Carol. “A week?”

  Carol nodded. “I’ve been staying at your house. Puffy, Jewels, and Clifford are fine.”

  “It’s really been a whole week? I missed the championship meet?” As if that really mattered now.

  She briefly wondered if her swim team had won, but then indifference set in. It no longer mattered anyway. Her parents were dead. Nothing mattered anymore. She closed her eyes and tried again to find her parents in her dream.

  ***

  Therese quickly realized she was wearing nothing but a t-shirt. No shorts, no undies, no socks and shoes�
��as if socks and shoes mattered when she was wearing no shorts and undies. She pulled the t-shirt over her hips and sat, crisscross, in the middle of the gymnasium floor. The entire freshman class soon noticed her. They stopped playing basketball on the half court. They piled into the stands, all pointing, staring, and laughing at Therese sitting there in the center of the gym floor with her shirt pulled over her naked bottom. Soon the entire student body, all 1, 352 students, sat in the stands laughing.

  Even Vicki Stern, the new girl Therese had befriended because she felt sorry for her, pointed and laughed.

  To complicate matters, Puffy, Therese’s hamster, was loose and running across the floor.

  “Get Puffy!” Therese cried out. “Save him! He could get hurt!”

  No one, not even Jen, came to her aid.

  “Wait a minute,” Therese whispered. “I’m not a freshman anymore. It’s summer. And I would never forget to put on shorts and undies. This must be a dream.” She willed herself into a pair of jeans. To be sure it was a dream, she jumped into the air and swam the breaststroke toward the ceiling. She swooped down, picked up Puffy, and soared back into the air. She kissed her hamster on the head. “Where do you think you’re going, mister?”

  She dove down to the gym floor, made an announcement over the microphone that everyone was to return to class, and looked across the room for Jen. “There you are. Ready to drive me home?”

  Jen drove her truck toward Therese’s house, toward the outskirts of Durango. They rode over the Animus River and into the San Juan Mountains.

  Therese tried to remember the important thing she was supposed to do. Didn’t it have something to do with finding her parents, or someone who could help her find her parents?

  Without transition, she found herself in the back seat of Jen’s pickup with the steering wheel in her hand. She was trying to see from the back, but was having trouble. She strained her neck as she approached an intersection flanked by tall pines. She turned to the left. The road looked as though it was winding in impossible dimensions. The steering wheel came loose and the pickup swerved out of control.

  “What are you doing?” Jen asked.

  Therese let go of the broken steering wheel, jumped out of the window with Puffy in her hands, and dolphin-kicked up to the clouds over Durango. “I’m taking control again. I call the shots in my dream. Which reminds me: I need to find Hip.” Therese kissed Puffy and told him to go home like a good little hamster. “Feed Jewels and Clifford,” she told him.