by Jamie Magee
Landen looked at Marc, who was lying on the couch with Preston beside him. “Are you done for the night?”
Marc nodded. “Whatever you guys are up to, I don’t have the energy to process it. Fill me in tomorrow, will you?” he asked. Landen nodded.
Libby ran over to us and reached up for a goodnight hug, “We’re going to have lots of fun tomorrow,” she exclaimed.
I smiled and hugged her tight. “You be a good girl for me tonight,” I whispered in her ear.
Landen kissed the top of her head. I hugged my mother and made my way out the door. The walk to our house was silent; Landen was somewhere else. It scared me when he acted that way. I’d seen him like this before, and when he erupted we had our one and only real fight.
“Why are you being so quiet?” I asked, walking up the steps to our house.
Landen shrugged his shoulders and pushed open the door. He then walked through the house and turned on the lights to the kitchen. I heard him pick up the phone to call August and Rose. I took in a deep breath, concealing the temper that was trying to break through. I decided to stay on the porch and let the night’s breeze calm me.
I let my mind take me back to every time I’d faced Drake, relishing in the victories and building my confidence. Perodine flashed through my memory; she had helped me then. I daydreamed about being able just to sit down with her and talk. Maybe if she told me more about who I was, it would be easier to remember. Landen found me on the porch. He walked up behind me, wrapped his arms around me, and leaned his chin on my head.
“I’m sorry,” he thought.
“You’re not going to explode on me and tell me to go off with another man, are you?”
I knew those words stung, and wish I hadn’t thought them. Inside Landen, I could feel his regret and anger. He turned me so I’d have to look him in the eyes; he often used them as his secret weapon.
“Never,” he said, staring somewhere deep inside me. “I just don’t like not having control. I want to take you to the furthest corner of the universe and hide you there,” he whispered intently.
I looked down, ashamed that we had no choice but to face our destiny.“It’s going to be fine – we’ve been here before,” I whispered.
Landen pulled me closer to him and rocked me back and forth. “Maybe so...I just want to make sure we all come home this time,” he said quietly.
I hesitated and stepped back, looking up at him. “Delen... is that the name of the city the palace is in?” I asked. He nodded. “Were we in Delen that night we helped all those people?” I asked.
Landen looked away from me; I could feel his dread building. He was hoping I would have more patience and wait before I began to urge him to let us go back.
“In Delen, I can feel the intent to serve Donalt, an immediate fear; the further away from the city, the less intense the fear is. It’s like they know he’s real, but they don’t have to stand in front of him - so their fear is milder. I would guess we were on the other side of the dimension, nowhere near Delen.”
“So, we could argue that wherever we were would be the best place to start helping people?”
A serious expression came over Landen’s face; I felt his intent of stalling me as long as possible. “Willow, there is not a city in Esterious that I would argue was ‘safe’ enough to help people,” he answered, prepared to argued with me.
“But, Delen would be the least safe,” I clarified.
“It’s the largest populated area in Esterious, in clear view of Donalt himself. Yes, it would be the last place I’d begin,” he answered, choosing his words carefully.
I stared into the distance, trying to figure out a logical, safe way to help all the solemn people. I felt Landen studying my face. He gently pulled my chin up and kissed me tenderly.
“How I wonder what’s going on in that mind of yours,” he thought, pulling me closer.
I wrapped my arms around him and let the matter settle for now. I then felt Rose’s excitement and knew she was close. Looking to the side of the house, I saw her shadow emerging. She settled on one of the couches on our wide front porch. August was close behind her, full of an odd excitement; Rose smiled at herself as she felt it, too. August stretched himself out in one of the padded wicker chairs.
“Nyla wanted me to thank you for that painting,” he said to me.
“Anytime,” I answered, giving him a curious look; I was forevermore trying to figure him out.
“Lots of excitement today,” August stated, looking away from me, trying to hide his grin.
I looked at Landen. I had a growing suspension that August already knew what Preston could do. I would even bet that he knew Drake was back. August looked in Rose’s direction, and they both laughed under their breath at each other. Landen shook his head, realizing that August was always a step ahead.
“Would it not have been faster if you’d just told us?” Landen asked, sitting down on the short couch opposite of Rose.
“Actually, we were hoping that we’d be there,” August said with a large smile on his face.
“We?” I repeated, looking at Rose. She smiled, trying to hold back a deep laugh. I shook my head in disbelief and sat down next to Landen.
“Did you know Drake was back, too?” Landen asked.
“I just knew it wouldn’t be long,” August answered.
Landen looked down, feeling the weight of it all fall back on his shoulders. Feeling it rise in him, Rose leaned forward and smiled brightly. “So, um...who did you see move first - Libby or Preston?” she asked.
“Libby!” Landen and I said in unison; our shock told Rose that we had no idea Libby could leave her body.
Rose smiled, raising her eyebrows and leaning back in her seat. “I guess that means you saw Preston,” she said.
“How did you guys see them?” I asked, still in shock that Libby had developed another gift – as if seeing our future wasn’t remarkable enough.
“We just knew that they weren’t sleeping,” August answered.
Landen could sense that they didn’t know as much as we thought they did.
“Jason could see him leave his body, then he saw him when he appeared in Aubrey’s. We only saw him in-between,” Landen reported.
The smile on Rose and August’s faces faded; they looked at each other, then at us.
“What do you mean ‘Aubrey’s body?’” August asked, trying to hide his excitement.
“He just took over; he wanted milk and used her to get it,” Landen answered, more confident now that they didn’t know as much as they thought they did.
My Dad and Ashten climbed the steps to the porch. My Dad took a seat next to his mother Rose.
Ashten sat in one of the chairs, sighing; you could feel the bliss coming from him. “You may be getting a call tonight. They both look so tired,” he said to me.
A smile came across my face. I hope they’d call. With a family as large as ours, we would all have to fight for time to bond with the new baby.
“So, did we miss anything?” my father asked.
“We were just comparing notes,” Landen said, running his fingers through his hair and sighing deeply.
“It would make sense that the two of you knew about this,” Ashten said in a disapproving tone.
“Apparently, they didn’t know as much as they thought,” Landen added, leaning back and wrapping his arm around me, pulling me closer.
August shook his head, smiling at Landen, then leaned forward and looked around at all of us. “OK, let’s just make sure we all understand they can leave their bodies and enter another person’s.”
“They?” my father said, looking at me.
I shrugged my shoulders. “You saw what we saw,” I said defensively.
“How are they doing it?” Ashten asked, shaking his head with wide blue eyes, trying to process what he’d just heard.
“They leave through meditation. I don’t understand how they’re entering another body, though,” Rose said as her eyes searche
d blankly.
I looked at Landen, and he was already looking at me; we both wondered if we could do that.
“This all fits with Mercury - having complete control over your mind,” August stated.
My father leaned forward, staring back in his memory. “Do you remember when Livingston was telling us that Willow should be able to help people realize what they were capable of? Maybe he already knew about this.”
Landen dropped his arm from around me and leaned forward in full defense mode; he didn’t like the notion of me in Esterious by choice then anymore than he did now.
“We are not stepping into other people and taking over...that’s...that’s rude.” Landen said, looking back at me.
I smiled, a little glad he was seeing things my way now.
Rose’s searching eyes stopped, then looked at Ashten. “What did Aubrey say? Did she feel it or remember it?” she asked.
Ashten leaned forward. “She said she watched herself pour the milk - she just didn’t know why,” he said.
“It would have been interesting if she’d overpowered him,” Rose said.
“Believe me - next time, she will,” Ashten said, laughing a little while sitting back in his chair.
August looked at Rose, then at Landen and me. “I want you to understand what we’re talking about here - the next element of humanity,” he said in a deep, slow voice.
“Who, them?” I asked
“Them, you, every child that has reached the age of six recently in this dimension has a gift. At one time, gifts were generational; then it became more common for it to repeat itself - and now it’s seen in every child.
Rose picked up where August left off, “These children are highly aware of themselves. When we begin to teach them a subject, if we don’t make it challenging enough, they grow bored. We have six-year-olds who can read and comprehend math and science as if they were young adults.”
“Is this everywhere, or just here?” Landen asked, relaxing a little under the growing mountain of pressure.
“Jason and I have looked while we travel; these children exist everywhere, but not in the numbers that we have,” Ashten said
“Do they have our gifts?” Landen asked.
“Not entirely. It’s more like they choose their gift, and it could be whatever they want it to be. They don’t see the universe the way we do,” my dad answered.
I envied the mind of a child; they have no fear and forgive instantly. If we could remember that as adults – I could only imagine the peace we would know. I looked at Rose, then at August. “Today, when Allie was born - do know what her first emotion was when she saw another human being?” I asked. Landen smiled as he remembered it. “It was unconditional love. Somehow, we manage to forget that as we get older. What if they just...remember?”
“Interesting...very interesting,” August said. He leaned forward and sighed. “Both of you need to understand that we have no precedence for this. The two of you are the ones writing the book.”
“Fantastic,” I thought sarcastically.
Landen smiled, then cleared his throat. “We’ll just watch them. I don’t want to jump into this. I can only imagine that there are risks.”
They all nodded in agreement. August stood, gathering himself. “It’s amazing to think that everyone may be right.” He was reveling in his own words, staring up at the night sky. I really didn’t know who ‘everyone’ was, or even what they were right about. I only hoped the peace and excitement I felt coming from August was a reflection of the distant future.
Rose and our fathers stood as well, gathering themselves to leave. “It’s good to have you guys here,” Ashten said to me as he hugged me goodnight.
I kissed my father goodnight. We watched them leave before I spoke. I looked up at Landen. “Next element, huh?” I said, elbowing him.
He smiled at me, hesitated, then tilted his head, showing his dimples in a shy manner. “Do think we should try it? What they can do?” he finally asked.
“I don’t even know how to meditate,” I said, feeling a little envious of Libby’s new gift. Seeing that I wasn’t completely opposed to the idea, Landen straightened his head, his eyes growing wider. “Neither do I, but maybe when we sleep tonight we could try stepping into someone.”
“I thought we agreed it was rude?” I said defensively.
Landen’s impish grin told me he was shifting back to his initial thoughts on the matter. “Maybe if they were being hurt - but on the other hand, if you did it to help someone, that would be different,” he said, shifting his weight and following my eyes as I tried to imagine how any of this was possible. “Remember that little girl when we ended up in Esterious? She changed without me even trying,” he continued, searching my face.
A shiver came through me; stepping into someone on purpose felt like an invasion of privacy. I was sure I didn’t want anyone inside my body beyond myself. As clarity came over me, I looked up at Landen.
“How is it different? You’re basically causing them to act or do something against their will,” I finally answered.
He sighed deeply and said, “Alright then, let’s have a friendly debate. How many images did you ask if they wanted you to change them? And how many times did you just change it against their will?” Landen said, sure of himself.
“That’s not fair. I couldn’t ask them. Besides, emotions and bodies are completely different,” I said defensively.
“Are they, now?” Landen said, seeing that he was beginning to convince me.
“OK then, I stand by the point I made about emotion: if someone doesn’t want to change, then they won’t. You could push happiness through them all day, but if they enjoy self-pity, they’ll go back to it as soon as my touch fades,” I said, trying to prove my point.
“Right, but what about the ones who want to change? When they feel the good you’re giving them, they have the determination to maintain it,” Landen countered.
“So what are you saying - we should step into people to give them assertiveness to do what they want to do?”
“I think that’s just a small part of this – well, I think that’s the fun part of it. The next element of humanity is to open up parts of the mind that have never been used,” he said, smiling widely.
“But where do the mind and soul separate? When we leave, are we leaving with our soul - or through or minds?” I asked, raising one eyebrow.
“I’m not a doctor,” he answered, laughing at my expression.
“You were the one that wanted to debate.”
“Which was foolish of me - everyone knows not to debate a Scorpio,” he said, looking away from me and trying to hide his smile.
I was about take the discussion to another level when I heard the phone ring. Landen went inside to answer it. I hoped it was Brady. I eagerly ran up the stairs to change into something more comfortable.
I loved this house. Landen had taken me to all the homes that our family had established across other dimensions - well, at least the dimensions he felt were safe enough for me to travel to. Out of all of them, this was my favorite. It was made with our personality: historic, yet modern. Detailed and out of control.
I washed my face and pulled on some running shorts and a little T-shirt. I then walked downstairs to meet Landen, but he was walking into the room.
“Baby duty?” I asked.
He shook his head no. “That was Dane. He wanted to know if we wanted to go to New York sometime this week. Olivia and Chrispin are going with them.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I didn’t tell them one way or the other, just that we already had plans for the next few days.”
“It might be fun,” I said quietly, almost to myself.
Landen nodded and looked down at the tattoo on my wrist. Shielding his fearful emotions, he turned to walk to his side of the bed. “What - New York, or being with them?” he said under his breath.
I covered my wrist, unconsciously remembering Drake’s perfect touch o
nce again. I then cleared my throat and did as Landen did: push down my fears. “Olivia and I have never spent this much time apart, and I’m sure Chrispin and Clarissa are missing you, too,” I said in a low tone.
Landen nodded and started to change out of his clothes. I walked over to my side of the bed and pulled back the covers.
“Maybe you should call Brady. Let him know that we want to watch the baby,” I said.
“I already did. He said to just check on them. You know he’s not comfortable with what we do,” Landen said with a crooked grin.
I think leaving our bodies was Landen’s favorite gift. I smiled shyly at myself, understanding Brady, knowing that a few months ago I could have easily found a lot of things foolish that I know now. “I can see his point,” I said under my breath. The thought of seeing us hold the baby out of our bodies would be disconcerting to any sane, normal person. A little disappointed, I turned off the lamp and climbed into our bed. Landen found my mood humorous. He opened up the doorway that led to the balcony to let the night air in before settling next to me.
“So, where shall we go first, my love?” he whispered, looking into my eyes. I knew then that he hadn’t changed his mind on letting us go back to Esterious to help. I sighed, too tired to try to persuade him to go.
“Our place,” I whispered. He smiled and kissed my lips softly, and I took in the warmth of them. The only two things we craved when we went to the beautiful place where we’d spent our childhood was the warmth of bodies and essence of sound. We laid side-by-side and gazed somewhere past the surface of each other until sleep came.
Walking through this world, we felt a peace that couldn’t be matched anywhere else. This place had sunsets that would bring one to tears, waterfalls, lush green valleys - it was like no other dimension. Each night, we would come here - at least for a moment - and try to unravel the mystery of it. Why could it not be found any other way? Why did it have no sound?
After a peaceful walk, we stopped and looked at each other. If we wanted to move from one place to another, we’d both have to picture it. We focused on Brady’s front porch and stared at each other. A white haze came over us, along with an addictive rush, and we found ourselves standing on the front steps of the porch at Brady’s house.