by Donna Wagner
Another man appeared in the doorway behind the frozen one. "Come quickly. You know it doesn't last forever."
Grandpa Cire's face lost all color, but he clutched Grandma Aras' hand tightly and they followed the man. All the other grandparents and Anna's parents looked like they were in shock as well but followed too. Soon it was just Anna, Tim and Goldie left in the room. Grandpa Siul paused in the hallway and called back, "Come on kids, it's okay, hurry."
Tim picked up Goldie, thinking she'd have trouble keeping up. She squirmed in his arms. "No, Tim. I can't go. I need to stay connected to the Ymedaca. Take the medallion from around my neck and close the door after I go through. I'll be able to find you again as long as you have that medallion. If you need me, just call."
Tim took the medallion, barely listening to what she was saying, then quickly pushed the chair holding the door open out of the way. Goldie went through and Tim closed the door after her. Then he grabbed Anna's hand and they ran after everyone else. Anna let out a cry and Tim felt her pulling back on his hand. He spun around. The frozen man was no longer frozen, and he had grabbed Anna's other arm.
"I'll deal with the rest of them later, but you two are the important ones anyway.”
"Go, Tim, run!" Anna cried, letting go of his hand.
"No, I won't leave you," he said trying to pull her away from the man.
"Trust me, Tim. Let go." Anna's voice was loud in his head.
Surprised, he let go and stepped back. The light Anna could make was glowing. It kept getting brighter, but instead of turning to fire like her grandfather's, it turned blue. The man let go, his face showing fear again, but it was too late. Anna directed the blue light at him, and it shot from her hand and hit him squarely in the chest. It hung around him for a moment and then suddenly, the man was gone. The force of whatever Anna had done was shaking the whole castle. "Come on!" he grabbed Anna's hand again and they raced away from the shaking walls.
Anna and Tim kept running. They didn't know where they were going, since they didn't know which way anyone else had gone. They ran through the hallway where all the portraits were and back into the version of Tim's house. This part of the castle wasn't shaking so when they reached the room Tim had arrived in, they stopped to catch their breath. As they were standing there, there was a horrible crashing sound. "I think I made that part of the castle completely collapse," Anna said, in shock.
"Yeah, what was that?" Tim asked.
"I don't know. I think my light is actually energy. I think I found my power, but I don't think I like it," she said, with a short laugh, and then collapsed onto the floor.
Tim rushed to her side. She was unconscious. Tim didn't think they could stay where they were much longer. He didn't know how the man had gotten into the castle and if he did, others could be inside now as well. He also didn't know who the other man who had led everyone else away was or where they went. He looked at Anna again, lying on the floor. She was small. He thought he could carry her, at least for a little while. He scooped her into his arms and carried her through the wall.
PART II:
NORMAL LIFE… SORT OF
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Tim clicked save at the top of the computer screen and sighed. His report on the Civil War was the last thing on his mind and he’d barely put any effort in it. Myra would be upset if he failed again, but knowing what he was supposed to be doing, and knowing it was more important than eleventh grade history homework, he couldn’t quite bring himself to care anymore.
He thought back to that day- more than two years ago, when he’d come through the wall and stumbled, not expecting there to be anything in his way. What he’d saw surprised him. The secret room was set up like an office, with a small couch in the corner. He’d placed Anna on the couch, gently, when he’d heard a gasp behind him. He’d spun around to see a woman standing there, eyes wide, staring at him.
“You came back. Something must have gone horribly wrong!”
Then she had run out of the room. Torn between leaving Anna alone and following the woman, Tim’s curiosity had won out. The woman had run into the kitchen. It was still Tim’s house, but everything was different. Tim quickly realized that other people lived here now, but this woman hadn’t seemed surprised he’d come through the wall. She seemed more surprised that he’d come back through the wall.
“Yes. Okay. I will see you shortly, then.”
Tim heard the end of her conversation as the woman hung up the phone. “Adam will be here soon,” she had said, not showing the slightest surprise that he’d followed her to the kitchen.
“Who’s Adam? Who are you? And why are you in my house?” Tim had been yelling by the time the last question came out.
“Calm down, honey,” she had said, reaching out to pat his arm, but her hand had fallen short before making contact, “Adam will explain, don’t worry.”
Tim had shaken his head. He hadn’t believed it was really happening. The woman hadn’t attempted to hurt him, or Anna, but she hadn’t answered his questions either. He had turned and run back to the secret room. Anna hadn’t moved. He had checked, just to make sure she was still breathing. He didn’t know what her power was, but it had hurt her too, and that wasn’t a good thing. “She’ll be fine.”
Tim had looked behind him. The woman had been standing in the doorway. Tim ignored her and bent to pick Anna up again. He’d decided they couldn’t stay in his house. It wasn’t his anymore, apparently. He had carried Anna passed the woman, who moved out of his way, to the front door. He’d tried to shift Anna’s weight so he could turn the knob, when the door opened on its own. At first, Tim thought maybe he’d discovered a new power, only to realize there was someone standing on the other side of the door. It took a moment to register. It was the social worker. Tim had almost dropped Anna, but the social worker had reached out and steadied him. “Careful, son. It’s okay. You’re safe here.”
Tim had laughed. He couldn’t help it. “Seeing as someone who looks exactly like you just tried to kill us, I don’t think I’m going to believe you.”
The man’s face had paled. “He tried to kill...,” his voice faded out.
“Yes. But don’t worry. Obviously, he didn’t succeed.”
The man had then looked at Anna, who was still unconscious in Tim’s arms. “Did he do this to her?”
Tim had stared at the man for what seemed like forever. His arms began to ache from holding Anna. Finally, it seemed like his whole body had deflated. These people knew who they were. There was nowhere else to go. He could either trust them, or not, but the end result was the same. He was thirteen years old and needed help. He had looked at the man, but before he could ask any questions, the man beat him to it. “Let me first say, I do not want to kill you. I’m sorry my brother tried. I did not know he was going to do that. Let me start from the beginning. I’m Adam Cooper.”
Adam told him about himself. He and his twin brother Aaron were born in the backwards world, but their mother had told them stories about Snillotia and about how wonderful it was growing up there. She had left because she met their father. He was from the backwards world and had come to Snillotia by accident. Tim had interrupted him at that point. He had questioned how someone could come through by accident; how anyone could get through the portal more than once and without a key. Adam had nodded and explained that he knew that the understanding was that only royals and those they chose to bring with them could pass through a portal and only with a portal key, but somehow his father could do it as often as he wanted. He also didn’t need a key. Tim filed that information away for later. Apparently, his one-of-a-kind power wasn’t that one of a kind. Adam had continued and explained that his brother had grown obsessed with Snillotia after hearing his mother’s stories. When Adam and Aaron had turned thirteen, their father had taken them through a portal. It was the one in the park that Tim and Anna had gone through with Anna’s parents. When they came through, they realized that what his father had thought was an old abandon
ed army fort in Snillotia wasn’t abandoned any longer. It was there that they had been captured by the group that later became known as the Rebels. This group was very interested in the ability Adam’s father had. They tried to make both Adam and his brother go through the portal alone to see if they possessed the ability as well. They didn’t.
It was that night that the Rebels staged their uprising on the palace. Adam’s father falling into their laps had been a sign that the royal’s powers were changing. If a man of no royal blood could pass through the worlds, at will, then anyone could rule. His father did not want to help them. To encourage him, they kept Adam and Aaron captive and let their father go home. They told him that if he helped them, they would treat his sons well and would reward him. Aaron had been so happy to be in Snillotia, he hadn’t cared he was being kept prisoner. He soon learned he had developed quite a useful skill to the Rebels. He could get in and out of anywhere. Whether being in Snillotia awakened a power in him, or if he just became very good at picking locks, Adam didn’t know. Adam never developed any powers. Aaron soon was more than a prisoner. By the time he was fifteen, he had become a private in the Rebel army. Their father had come and gone many times in the two years that had passed since they were captured. He had figured out how to imbue communication keys with his power, making them portal keys anyone could use, letting whoever held it come and go between the worlds at will. He had also come up with a way of communicating between the backwards world and Snillotia by using old walkie-talkies, wired to a portal key.
After almost three years in captivity, Adam’s father came to see him in his prison. It was a nice enough room; he was just never allowed to leave it. His father secretly gave him a portal key and told him that Aaron was lost to them, but if he ever had the opportunity, to take it, no matter what else happened. That time came shortly after that conversation. His father suddenly appeared and opened his locked door, then ran away from him. Adam only found out what happened next years later. To free Adam, his father had attempted to appeal to his brother’s better nature. He had gone to him, with the hopes that he would come home with them and escape back to their old life. He had grabbed all of the portal keys he had made and tried to make his way back to the portal. He was caught, however. They told him they would punish his behavior by torturing Adam. It was then they discovered Adam was gone. Upon losing their leverage, they told Aaron that he had to kill his own father to prove his loyalty.
Aaron proved loyal.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Adam had found his way home, of course. For years, he and his mother had believed his father was still alive, just taken prisoner. Adam had gone back to school. He’d graduated and gone on to college. He’d decided he wanted to be a social worker because he wanted to do good in his world. He tried to forget his brother. He met Myra at work. She was a secretary at the office. They’d married a year after dating. They’d been married for a little over a year when everything changed.
The old walkie-talkie that Adam’s father had made work as a communication device between the two worlds was in a box with other junk Adam had brought to his new home. Myra was cleaning the attic one day when a voice started coming through the device. She had known Adam had a brother and that he’d disappeared years before, but not much more than that. When the voice in the walkie-talkie announced he was Aaron, Adam’s missing brother, Myra started talking back. He convinced her he’d been held hostage for all these years and finally found a way to get free and that he wanted to see his brother. She was so happy she’d be able to reunite Adam with his brother; she didn’t question anything. She gave him their address and invited him for dinner.
Near dinner time that night, Myra sent Adam to the store, claiming they were out of ketchup, knowing he wouldn’t eat the cheeseburgers she was preparing without it. Myra hadn’t told Adam about Aaron. She thought it would be a great surprise. While he was gone, Aaron arrived. Myra invited him inside and he seemed polite. It was a bit jarring to her, since he looked so much like her husband, yet completely different as well. She was nodding politely at something he was telling her when she heard a thud behind her.
Adam was standing there, his face frozen in shock, the bottle of ketchup at his feet. The rest of the evening hadn’t gone as Myra had planned. Aaron instantly changed. He’d grabbed her and held his arm around her neck so tightly she could barely breathe. He’d basically threatened Adam. He knew all about Adam’s life, somehow, and told him to be on the lookout for a boy who would be entering the system soon. The boy was about to become an orphan, tragically. He’d smiled cruelly as he said it. Then he left, taking Myra with him.
Adam had been beside himself. His brother had left him a note telling him the child’s name and when they’d be made aware he was in need of foster care. Only if he kept Aaron informed of everything they knew about the boy, would Myra be unharmed and returned to him.
The boy was Tim. Adam had done what his brother wanted. As they’d learned about Tim and who he was, Adam knew Tim’s best chance would be to get him away from any link to Snillotia. When that failed, the only way he could get his wife back was to tell his brother Tim had gone through the wall in his house. Adam had kept one thing from Aaron, however. He hadn’t mentioned that Tim was just like their father.
Aaron let Myra go, surprisingly. Adam had to explain everything to her. Myra was the one to tell him Aaron killed their father years before. When Tim’s house finally went on the market, Adam did everything he could to buy it. He knew it had a portal inside. He knew he wanted to be there, if Tim ever returned.
✽✽✽
“Earth to Tim.”
Tim started, jerked from his thoughts.
Anna was standing in front of him. “I need the computer. You’re not the only one who has homework, you know.”
Tim stayed silent and left the room. He made his way back to his bedroom. Anna had changed. She’d woken up two days after they’d come through the portal. Tim had decided at this point that Adam and Myra were safe. He’d told Anna everything Adam had told him and that he trusted him. Adam and Myra had offered them a place to stay until they knew their next move. Tim had never imagined it would turn into years.
As the days turned into weeks, people had started to notice Anna and Tim coming and going from the house. As a social worker, Adam knew he had to do something. They came up with a story that wasn’t too far from the truth. Tim was a temporary foster kid Adam and Myra had taken in, until his grandparents could relocate as they lived in another country. It was semi-believable, since all the neighbors knew Tim and what had happened to his parents. Anna was Myra’s cousin, staying with them while her parents were on an extended business trip. Adam enrolled them in school. Since time moves differently between Snillotia and the backwards world, in the few days Tim had spent there, more than a year had passed. School was hard at first. It had been the middle of the year and it was high school. Tim had struggled. He was still struggling, but he didn’t care. He knew his life was meant for something more.
Anna, however, embraced normal life. She’d never attended school before. Her parents had home schooled her. She excelled. She had also stopped believing they would be able to save Snillotia. She wouldn’t talk about her power. She wouldn’t practice. Using it to completely wipe Aaron from existence scared her. The only thing she continued to use, for a while anyway, was communicating with Tim, telepathically. The only reason she kept up with that, however, was because she didn’t completely trust Adam and Myra, at first. When she realized she did trust them she stopped. Tim missed their talks. Her friends at school thought he was a weird kid she was stuck living with. She even had a boyfriend. Tim hated him most of all.
Tim flopped on his bed. He had to find a way to figure out what happened to their grandparents and Anna’s parents. He wondered about them every day. He hoped they were safe. He wondered about the man who’d led them away. He hoped that man was a good guy and they were all okay. He’d focused all his time trying to figure out how t
o go back and find everyone. He also had learned of quite a few other powers he had. He hadn’t told anyone he could do more things. He was only supposed to have one unique power and possibly one common one. Tim had accidentally discovered many more than that.
He picked up the walkie-talkie Adam had given him. He’d examined it and now knew how Adam’s father had made it work, thanks to the useful power that allowed him to see how something had been made just by touching it. The only problem was that he didn’t know where the other one was. He didn’t attempt to talk into it because he didn’t know who might be on the other end. Aaron was gone, but he most definitely had friends. “Do you ever do anything but stare off into space?”
Tim jumped and looked toward the door. The bane of his existence was standing there. Anna’s boyfriend, Jason King. Although they’d gone to elementary school together, they’d been in different middle schools. Jason was the quintessential high school jock and he loved to pick on Tim. He had started thinking of him the Snillotian way. Nosaj, which he’d shortened too Nosey, though he’d never call him that to his face. It fit him perfectly, though. He was always trying to figure out what Tim was up to. Jason bounced on the bed next to Tim. “What do you want?”
“Can’t I be friendly? Your sister is working on her report. I’m waiting for her. You’re never doing anything, so I figured we could hang.”
Tim rolled his eyes. Jason insisted on referring to he and Anna as brother and sister, even though he knew they weren’t. Jason spotted the walkie-talkie. “Does Timmy have a little friend who he actually talks to?” Jason taunted, picking it up.
“Give it back!”
“You’re no fun. I played with those things when I was like seven. Grow up!”