“Are you happy with him?” I asked.
She took a moment before answering. “Most days I am. He’s good to me, but his insecurity makes him keep me close.”
“And shuts you off from the rest of the world,” I added.
“Not the rest of the world, just you. He’s threatened by you, Ray. I think he’s jealous of how close we were.”
I hadn’t expected that. I had presumed Derek was just an ass and a control freak, simple as that. But now that she mentioned it, I had seen Lauren hang out with a few friends.
“And here we are. What do you think he’d say knowing we were having coffee together?” Would she tell him or keep this secret?
“I’m sure he’d be upset, but he’d just have to get over it.” She sat a little straighter and tilted her chin up in a defiant way making her look even more adorable that she already did.
“Well I’m glad we did this. I missed us.”
“Me too.” She smiled. I had never stopped loving Lauren or hoping that one day we would find our way back to each other. “Come on, I’ll drive you home.”
We paid the bill and Lauren excused herself to the bathroom.
“I can see it in your face.” The strange teen leaned against a nearby booth behind me. “You have every intention of going to Yardis. Why?” He pushed off and took the seat across from me.
“Who are you?”
He gave a half smile, then looked away. “No good will come of it. Stay away.” He stood and left the store.
“Who was that?” Lauren slid back into the booth.
“Just some guy I met a few days ago.” I didn’t feel like getting into the lengthy story with her. “Come on, I gotta get home.” I had already broken the rule of coming straight home and it landed me a visit from the guy I was trying to avoid. I considered texting my parents to tell them about the encounter but decided since I was safe, I’d wait and enjoy the last bit of my time with Lauren before facing their angry or concerned words.
Lauren pulled up to my house, and I noticed Dr. Jonas’s car parked in my driveway.
Worry took center stage as I wondered why he was here sooner than he had planned. Had something happened? Were we leaving early for the trip up north? How long would we be gone? All of these thoughts cycled through my head. Dr. Jonas had cargo tied to the top which led me to believe the trip was happening today.
I caught Lauren studying me. Her face morphed from curious to concerned, and to be honest, her expressions reflected what I felt inside.
“Ray, what is it?” She set her hand on my shoulder and rubbed it gently. Her familiar touch soothed me.
“I have to go away for a while.” I took her hand in mine. “I’m glad we went out today. It felt like old times. It’s been awhile since I’ve felt this happy.”
She smiled and my heart melted. “Me too. I forgot how easy it is to be around you. You’ll always have a piece of my heart.” She squeezed my hand. “When will you be back?”
“I don’t know. We’re going up to Northern Canada. I’m hoping I’ll be back right after spring break, but I honestly don’t know how long this will take.” I looked at Lauren and wondered how this trip would affect our relationship. Would my time away help or hurt our chances of being something more besides friends?
“But you are coming back?” Her focus shifted between me and my house.
I didn’t know the answer to that, so I said nothing.
“Ray?” She waited for me to look at her. “Why did you never ask me out?” Why did she care about this now?
Screw it. I was leaving, and there was a chance I might not return. What did I have to lose? What risk was there in telling her how I felt? “I didn’t ask you out because, as much as I loved you, I didn’t want to risk our friendship. It was the one good thing, my life preserver, that I had during the crappy rough waters of middle school. I didn’t think I could survive without it.” I couldn’t look at her. “It was selfish and safe, but I chose to have you as a friend rather than lose you all together.”
She scoffed, “So I ended up with Derek, who has shut you and I out of each other’s lives.” I still couldn’t look at her but I could tell she was shaking her head. “Your plan backfired, Ray. To get the things you want in this life, you need to step out of your comfort zone and take risks. I know the vEDS makes you extra careful about things, but you can’t live your life treading water. That’s not much of a life. Take the risk and see where it takes you. Good or bad, at least you’ll be moving forward and living this life you’ve been given to the fullest.”
I had closed my eyes as I listened to her honest thoughts. She had always been the one who reminded me to stop worrying and enjoy the adventure before me. She had reminded me to live.
She squeezed my hand, “Ray look at me.”
I opened my eyes and turned to face her, but found myself kissing Lauren. While I’d been lost in her words, Lauren had moved closer and caught me in a kiss. It took a moment for the initial shock to die off and let my hormones kick in. Her lips were soft and velvety, dancing gently over mine until I could no longer feel them. I opened my eyes, missing her lips already. Lauren sat before me, blushing. “I’ve been waiting five years to kiss you, Ray Cross. That is how you take risks!”
My head was muddled and the words for this moment had hidden themselves away, deep in the recesses of my mind. I settled on, “If I was nice, I’d care about Derek and how this affects him, but I don’t really give a shit. Right now all I wanna do is kiss you again.” I leaned over and pulled her closer for a longer but less nervous kiss.
As she sat back, I noticed her cheeks had flushed. “I’ll figure Derek out. Good luck on your trip, Ray. Come back to me.” We pecked one more time, before I exited the car.
I watched Lauren drive off before heading inside. “Let’s go and get this over with,” I told myself.
My parents came out of the kitchen, followed by Dr. Jonas and another high school-aged kid. He had a good two inches on Dr. Jonas and was built like a footballer.
“Raynar, this is Torin, my dependent and your twin brother.” Dr. Jonas clapped his hand on the tall teen’s back. “Please pack your essentials into a duffle bag. Your mother already has your medications and medical supplies ready.”
“Hey.” I nodded at Torin. He returned the nod but said nothing more. “Nice to meet you. I’ve never seen you around Midland High School.”
“I don’t go there. I homeschool with private teachers,” he answered.
“Ahh.” I turned to Dr. Jonas. “Why are we leaving today? It hasn’t been a week since you came by.”
“Lysa and Jaron told me your encounter with a magic user. We decided it was best to make the trip now in case our initial plans had leaked to an outside party. We want to avoid any ambushes set to deter us from our course.” I wondered if Dr. Jonas knew that kid had visited me today.
“Okay, give me a moment and I’ll collect my things.” I headed to my room and began shoving things into a bag. Besides clothes and toiletries, I packed a journal and one of my favorite books that seemed fitting for this trip, The Hobbit. A duffle bag didn’t hold much. I took a final look around my room, hoping I’d return soon to my life in Michigan.
“I’m ready.” I walked into the living room and tossed down my bag.
“Ray, we’ll call the cellphone company and see if we need to do something to get you some service up there. You might want to power down your cell in case it’s awhile before you stop and can charge it,” my dad suggested.
Mom grabbed something from the entertainment center and approached. “This is for your father, King Vintras. It’s a photo book showing you as you’ve grown throughout the years.” She handed me a book wrapped in a sheer cloth, tied with a string. “And this is for you.” She opened her right palm revealing a gold necklace with a rectangular medallion with an ornate symbol that looked like the fletching of an arrow carved into it. Both my parents wore this charm. “It’s your father’s. It is the Web of Wyrd, a powe
rful symbol that represents all parts of life—past, present, and future—being interconnected and influencing each other. The Guardians of our village wore them—they are spelled to hold three memories. Here, try it.” I had assumed the necklaces were nothing more than a symbol of my parents’ love for each other. She urged me to bow my head down making it easier for her to clasp the necklace around my neck. The medallion felt lighter than it looked. “Now, hold the pendant in your hand and say ‘Vennex’.”
I held it and repeated the strange word Mom had said. And for a brief moment, I saw Mom, Dad, and myself playing like a GIF on the computer screen. I was learning how to ride a bike, only I saw it through my dad’s eyes. My parents high-fived and cheered as a young me wobbled about on a bike. I felt the sting of the slap, smelled the hot pavements. I sensed Mom’s worry like I’d never felt it, and Dad’s pride swelled in my chest. Tears pricked my eyes, and I quickly wiped them away, disguising how I felt by looking at Dad and saying, “You were totally crying there. This is just your memory.”
Dad stepped toward me and pulled me into a hug. “Yup. I was. But I wanted to remind you that sometimes all you need is a little confidence and a gentle push.” He pulled back and ruffled my hair. “You’ll be fine with Jonas. Come back to us soon. Love you, kid.” “Love you too Dad.”
Mom’s fingers played with an identical medallion hung around her neck. “You can load two more memories in it. Hold the medallion and think of the memory you want to store in your mind. Think about the emotions, the sounds, smells, all the things that pull you back into that moment. Then say, ‘Virale’. It also will allow you to speak and translate any language.”
“Thank you.” I kissed her cheek. “We have to go.” Dr. Jonas urged.
Mom wrapped me in a hug. I could feel my shirt dampening from her tears where she cuddled into my chest. “I love you. Stay safe.” She placed a gentle kiss on my lips, then she turned toward Dr. Jonas, “Jonas, please be safe.”
He nodded his answer and lead the way out to the car. My dad wrapped me in a tight hug and said his farewells. Torin, who had claimed the front seat, glared at me through the windshield as I rounded the car. I didn’t know him, but the vibe he gave off was less than welcome. Was Torin and Dr. Jonas as close as I was to my parents? Even though they weren’t my biological parents, they had raised me with love and care and I never once doubted their affections for me.
Chapter 5
We rode in silence, only the sounds of the wheels turning on the rough pavement and the wind rushing past filled the car. Dr. Jonas drove us over the Mackinac bridge to a town in Canada called, Sault Ste. Marie. He nearly hit a pedestrian when a self-driving Google car pulled up beside him. Torin and I shared a laugh when Dr. Jonas confessed he had never heard of such a thing and first thought it was a ghost piloting the vehicle.
My parents had insisted I keep my passport active, though I had never understood why since we had never travelled outside of the U.S.. But now the reason was clear: a passport was needed to cross from Michigan into Canada, where the village of Yardis was located.
Dr. Jonas parked in the empty lot behind a small Italian café. “We’ll grab a bite before starting off again.”
I powered on my phone and listened to the cacophony of alerts anxiously awaiting my attention. Beeps and buzzes sounded for almost a minute. Torin and Dr. Jonas stopped dead in their tracks and turned toward me with baffled looks on their faces.
“Sorry.” I shrugged and continued past them into the restaurant, scrolling through my notifications. I had several comments on Instagram and a few on Facebook. I had a text from Mom that said she loved me and several from Leo.
Leo: How’d the date, I mean coffee, go with Lauren?
Leo: ????
Leo: This place is so friggin’ quiet. Dad’s workin’ late tonight. Where u at, bro?
Leo: Tried callin’ you. Where you?
Leo: Ray???????????????????????????
I saw I had missed three phone calls from him and there was a voicemail. Before checking it, I shot off a text.
Me: Leo, I’m on that trip with Dr. Jonas and my twin. Had to leave earlier than planned. We’re up in some Canada town called Sault Ste. Marie. Torin is like a Bizarro version of me. Reminds me of Derek. Hopefully trip won’t suck.
Finally, a waitress greeted us and directed us to a table along the wall. The table had a red and white checked cloth, paper napkins, and hard plastic water cups. “Here’s the menu. I’ll be back to take your order after I finish up with them.” She nodded toward a large party at the front of the restaurant. Besides them, there were only a couple of tables occupied.
My phone dinged.
Leo: YOU’RE ALIVE!!! Thought maybe you fell of the face of the Earth. When will you be home?
Me: IDK
Leo: I’m guessing no cell service where you are headed.
Me: Probably not—my parents said they are calling cell company to see about service but idk
Dr. Jonas and Torin ordered their drinks, and the waitress waited patiently for me.
Me: Gotta go, text you when I can.
Leo: Stay safe.
I powered off my phone and apologized to the waitress. “Sprite please.” I looked over the menu and when she returned with our drinks, we placed our orders. Torin and the doctor did not say much to each other, and I wondered if they were always this quiet or if they had a disagreement. “Dr. Jonas—”
“Please, call me Jonas from here on out. That’s what everyone where we are going calls me,” he corrected.
“Jonas…so you took Torin as your son?” I wanted to test Jonas and see his reaction, maybe get an idea of how things were between him and my twin brother.
“I am Torin’s Guardian, not his father.”
Torin shifted uncomfortably in his chair at Jonas’ words. I imagined my own father’s answer to that question and knew he’d proudly say he was my father, even if biologically he wasn’t. Torin stared off in the distance, his face emotionless, despite a growing tension I could feel between him and Jonas.
“When I became Torin’s Guardian, I had no idea how long we would be away. The barrier spell was impossible to break. I anticipated a year, but as time ticked on without word from the village, I had to start making a life in Michigan as I continued researching ways to bring the spell down.”
“That must have been hard, moving far from what you know, trying to start a new life.” My own parents, or Guardians, at least had each other during that time.
Jonas cleared his throat. “The first year with a young baby was difficult. By the second year, I put Torin in daycare and pursued my medical degree—things got better. I think we needed that time apart.”
Torin pushed his chair out and walked over to the old jukebox near the door.
“I homeschooled him to give him the best education I could. He did well; he’s a smart boy. As he got older I started combat training and hunting with him. I knew one day we’d return to Yardis and it would be important for him to have those skills. I wanted him to be ready for whatever future was expected of him, and I think he is.”
I looked over at Torin, who was glaring at Jonas. Our upbringings were completely different. “So even though we’re twins, he doesn’t have vEDS. I mean, he doesn’t look like he has it and I’m not sure he’d still be alive after combat training…”
“No Raynar, Torin does not have vEDS. Yours was a random mutation, a true anomaly.” As much as I would never wish this disorder on anyone, including Derek Mavers, I also hoped to meet another that faced it’s challenges. The internet groups helped me not feel alone, but there is something to be said about meeting someone just like you in person.A heavy guitar filled the restaurant, and Torin returned to his chair without a word. Perhaps it was the vEDS that made my parents raise me different than how Jonas raised Torin. Maybe my fragile state steered them far from combat training and survival skills and instead, had them guiding me gently toward doing my best in their loving care. Whatever the reaso
n, it made me thankful for being paired with my parents instead of Dr. Jonas. They were not my biological parents, but they’d always loved me as though I were their own.
The waitress returned with our plates of pasta and bread and asked if anyone wanted refills.
I still didn’t know if Torin knew we were twins. “What about your mom?”
Torin looked up at me as he swallowed a piece of bread. “What about her?” He stared me down with an annoyed glare. Rather than push my luck, I shut up and ate a bite of spaghetti. “I never knew her,” he said.
Jonas said nothing but continued eating.
“I’m sorry you never knew her. I couldn’t imagine life without my mom. She’s made my hard days easier.”
“This is bullshit.” Torin threw down his napkin and pushed off from the table. “You never knew your mom—at least your real mom! I’m over the happy little family reunion. I need some air.” Torin stormed out of the diner.
Jonas pushed his food around on his plate, giving it far more attention than it deserved.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
He didn’t answer.
“I know there is more to this and I haven’t figured it out yet.”
The bell above the cafe door dinged and I turned, thinking Torin would come rejoin us, but instead I froze when I saw that mysterious kid I’d bumped into back home. What was he doing here? He hurried toward the restrooms.
“Do you know him?” Jonas asked as he followed my eyes as they stared after the teen.
“No, I—” I never got to finish my sentence. A muffled argument that grew louder drew Jonas’s attention. He stood and hurried outside. I followed.
Torin and another teen I had never seen before yelled back and forth. Jonas approached them with his arms out in an attempt to calm the situation and figure out what was happening. “Hey, hey! What’s going on?”
The café bell rang and out came the Few-Fries-Short Guy. He looked at me, and by his expression, he was caught off guard. The yelling from Torin and the other kid pulled his attention away and he ran over to the argument.
Myths & Magic: A Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection Page 248