by BC Powell
“I can’t believe you’re here!” I whisper in her ear.
Her chest heaves against mine. “Oh my God, Chase!” she cries. “You’re really alive!”
Setting her feet on the ground, I lean my head back and stare into her big chocolate-brown eyes. Tears roll down her smooth, round cheeks. “I told you this world is real,” I say.
“I know you did. I wanted to believe you, but . . .” She shakes her head.
“Shit, Ally. If you’re here . . . You don’t have a tumor, do you?”
“No,” she answers, sounding a little confused. “I’m pretty sure I’m asleep right now. But I don’t think this is a dream.”
“No, it’s not. This is real.”
“She appears to be a traditional Teller,” Eval says from our side.
Still holding each other in our arms, Ally and I both glance at Eval. The other Disciples are walking away behind her.
“The reason for her being chosen,” she continues, “obviously has something to do with your presence here. We were surprised by her knowledge of Krymzyn until she mentioned your name and explained your relationship. After we discussed the status of your plane, I summoned you so that you could have time with her as well.”
“Thank you,” I say to Eval. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”
“We’ll leave you alone for the duration of her visit,” Eval says. “She shouldn’t leave the Telling Hill, however.”
“Can I call Sash to meet her?” I ask.
“Of course,” Eval answers before cordially bowing to us. “Ally, it was a great honor to spend time with you.”
“For me, too,” Ally says.
My sister steps away from me and returns the bow. As Eval walks down the southern slope of the Telling Hill, Ally and I hug again before sitting side by side on the grass. I slip one arm around her back with my hand resting on her shoulder.
“Am I dead on Earth?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she sighs.
“Was it an aneurysm?”
Ally nods her head in response while wiping tears from her cheeks.
“How are Mom and Dad taking it?”
“It’s been hard on them,” she answers, her voice trembling slightly even though her crying has subsided. “But they didn’t want you to suffer. It was easier for them after they talked to Dr. Baskin.”
“Why? What did he say?”
“He didn’t want to tell you until after the surgery, until he had confirmation, but he thought the cancer had spread into areas of your brain that were inoperable.”
I look away, feeling like I already knew what she just told me. Maybe it was by instinct, or maybe Krymzyn planted the idea inside my head.
“Did he say how long I had?” I ask, returning my face to hers.
“Six months. Maybe a year. And it would have been painful for you. Mom said your aneurysm might have been a blessing in disguise.”
Gritting my teeth, I brace myself for her response to my next question. “What about . . . Did everybody figure out what I was planning to do?”
“Mom and Dad don’t know,” Ally says.
“How could they not know?” I ask, dumfounded by her response.
“I covered for you, Chase,” she answers firmly. “I couldn’t let them know.”
“How did you keep it from them?”
She stares at me for a few moments. I know it’s a struggle for her to talk about my death on Earth, but I have to know what happened. When she speaks again, her voice is surprisingly calm and steady. “Connor called me after he talked to you. He said you didn’t sound right, so I told him everything you’d told me. He was really worried that something was wrong that night. After we talked about it, he called you back, but your phone was off.”
“I think I sounded pretty upset when I talked to him.”
“He went to your apartment. When you didn’t answer the door, he broke in through an open window. He found your body, but . . . but you were already dead. So he called nine-one-one. Then he called me and said he’d found a shotgun, a flash drive, and a note. We both realized you were planning to kill yourself, but I didn’t want Mom and Dad to know.”
I’m almost unable to comprehend what she’s telling me. “How did they not find out?”
“Before the ambulance got there, Connor hid everything in his car. Then he called Mom and Dad to tell them what happened. I got on a flight an hour later. He picked me up, and we read your journals. We started at the end and saw that we were right about your suicide.”
“So, Mom and Dad never saw my journals?”
“They did,” she replies. “But only after I took out everything about you killing yourself and having to die on Earth to stay in Krymzyn. As far as they know, you were planning on having your surgery but didn’t want to tell them until it was over. I rewrote parts of your journal so it said that if you died naturally on Earth, you thought you might still live in Krymzyn.”
Overwhelmed by appreciation and relief, I wrap her in a hug. As heartfelt as my embrace is, it can’t begin to express my gratitude for what she and Connor did. “My God, Ally. Thank you so much. You really are the best sister anyone ever had.”
“I did it for Mom and Dad,” she hoarsely whispers in my ear.
Pulling my face away from hers, I focus on her eyes. “Now that you’ve been here, you have to tell them the truth. They need to know I’m alive.”
She scrunches her eyes at me. “What am I going to tell them, Chase? That I had a dream and went to a world called Krymzyn that has red grass and really tall people with orange hair, and oh, by the way, you’re alive there? They’d have me committed.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” I mumble, but then I remember the recordings I made. “What about the videos of my seizures?”
Ally shakes her head. “When they read your journals, they thought what you wrote was just you fantasizing about things you’d seen in hallucinations and dreams—pure escapism. So I showed them the videos. Dad had someone look at your computer. They said the light in your eyes could have been caused by electromagnetic pulses from your brain interfering with the camera. There’s always a scientific explanation.”
“I guess there is,” I say. “At least you’ll know the truth.”
“I don’t think I will. Eval told me I won’t remember being here.”
“That really sucks,” I despondently reply.
She takes my hand in hers. “But I’m here now.”
“It’s so good to see you,” I say, squeezing her hand. “How long have I been gone?”
“About six weeks.”
Considering everything that’s happened to me, the changes in my life, it’s almost inconceivable to me that not even two months have passed since I left Earth. It would take me several morrows to explain to Ally everything that’s happened to me here, and I doubt she’d believe it all. But as I study my sister’s eyes, I realize what I want to share with her more than anything else during this time together.
“I want you to meet Sash,” I say. “Let me call her.”
“Sure,” she replies.
After taking my hand out of Ally’s, I rest my fingers on the ground and whisper, “Sash, please come to the Telling Hill as fast as you can.”
“I’ll be right there, Chase,” I hear in my head.
“What did you just do?” Ally asks.
“I summoned Sash,” I answer. “Things are very different here. She can hear me through the ground if I say her name.”
Ally squints at me like I’ve said the most absurd thing she’s ever heard. “Through the ground?”
“It’s really complicated,” I say. “Like a lot of things in this world.”
Apparently trying to phrase her next words, she silently holds my gaze for a few moments. “Do you like it here? I mean, would you really have—”
“I do like it here, Ally,” I interrupt, not needing to hear the rest of her question. “I miss you guys every day, but I belong here. I’m not sure why, but I know
I do. Amazing things have happened to me. Not always good, but it’s definitely an adventure.”
“And you’re really in love?”
“I’m in love with Sash in a way I never knew I could love someone.”
My sister finally smiles at me. “I guess that’s the most important thing.”
“It really is,” I reply, returning her smile.
“I’m happy for you, Chase,” she says. “Can I tell you something on that subject?”
“Anything.”
She nervously fidgets with a handful of crimson blades in one hand and lowers her eyes to the ground. “Connor and I are kind of seeing each other. Since a few days after your funeral.”
I instantly grin, remembering my last phone conversation with my best friend and his confession of romantic feelings for Ally. “That’s awesome!”
“He’s a great guy,” she replies, looking up from the grass to my eyes. “I can see why he’s your best friend.”
“He’s the best, Ally. I’m really happy for both of you. I hope it works out.”
“It’s tough with me up in San Francisco, and he works a lot. He really misses you, Chase. But he’s doing well at his job, and they just moved him up to associate producer.”
“That doesn’t surprise me at all,” I say. “How about you? How’s school?”
“School’s going really well. I’ll graduate a semester early, next December, and I’ve already been accepted into a graduate program.”
“That’s great, Ally! Is it a doctorate program?”
“Atmospheric and ocean studies,” she replies, nodding.
“Are you planning on putting an end to global warming?”
“I’m going to try.”
“Well, keep your eyes open, Einstein,” I say, turning my head to the hills in front of us. “You’re about to see something that’s going to blow your mind.”
As though she heard my cue, streams of light cross over a hill, blast across the meadow, and recede into Sash. She slows to a walk halfway up the slope. Ally jumps to her feet with her jaw hanging to her knees.
“Remember I told you once about light blending?” I ask as I stand. “Well, you just saw it.”
“I don’t . . . What the . . . What did I just see?” Ally stammers.
“That’s called blending your light. It’s how some of us get around here.”
With her eyes wide open, she snaps her head to me. “You can do that?”
“I can. It’s a bit of a process to learn, but it’s what I do here. That’s why my hair has blue in it. That’s the sign of a Traveler.”
She reaches a hand to my hair and runs her fingers through it. “That’s real?”
“Yeah. Everything you see here is real.”
Sash reaches the top of the hill and stops in front of us. Tilting her head to the side, she examines Ally’s face. Probably recognizing my sister from the drawings of my family, a big smile comes to her lips.
“You’re Chase’s sister,” she says. “I’m called Sash.”
“Oh my God!” Ally gasps. “I’ve seen so many pictures of you that Chase drew, but . . . you’re real.”
“I’m happy you’re here,” Sash warmly replies.
“You’re so beautiful,” Ally comments, almost under her breath.
“Thank you,” Sash says. “As are you.”
“Eval told me Ally’s a true Teller,” I say to Sash, “although I’m not sure why they need one from my world.”
“They wanted to know about our environment,” Ally says. “They seemed really interested in our oceans and climate change. They said you don’t have oceans here, but they still seemed to understand everything I told them. Even some very technical information about oceanic ecosystems—everything from microorganisms to whales.”
“The people here are incredibly intelligent,” I reply. “Their minds process like supercomputers.”
“Yeah, I noticed. At one point, Eval spit out a calculation to me that was kind of mind-boggling. I was explaining decreasing mineral levels in the arctic flow over the last hundred years, and she projected it forward by a thousand years.”
“Believe me,” I chuckle. “I always feel one step behind.”
Ally looks at Sash again. “So, how is my brother doing?”
“He’s incredible,” Sash says. “He’s already fulfilling his purpose as a Traveler. People respect him, and he’s a very loyal man.”
“Yeah, he is,” Ally replies. “What does a Traveler do?”
Sash glances at me, obviously wanting me to provide the answer.
“We take things and people long distances,” I say. “We’re the only ones who can blend our light. Well, Sash can do it, too, even though she’s not a Traveler, but there isn’t much she can’t do.”
“How does the light blending work?” Ally asks.
“I’m not exactly sure,” I answer. “It just kind of happens when I really concentrate. Basically, we separate the mass of our bodies and blend with the light around us. I guess like down to the atomic level or something.”
“That’s not possible.”
“Physics is very different here. Take my word for it. This place doesn’t really exist the way you see it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, it’s just different. You know I’m not good at science.”
For no reason, Ally raises a hand with her mouth, yawns, and her eyelids droop.
“If she’s tired, it means she’ll leave soon,” Sash explains.
“Eval said I’d be back,” Ally says quietly. “She didn’t know when, but she said I’d return at some point.”
“Eval also told her she won’t remember being here,” I say to Sash.
“That’s how it is with Tellers,” she replies. “They don’t remember. You were the only one, but you were never meant to be a Teller.”
“No, I wasn’t. I’d give anything if she could remember that I’m alive, but at least I know my family is well.”
Sash stares at me, but her eyes are miles away. At first I think she’s having one of her glimpses of the future, but I soon realize she’s trapped in an internal debate. With a sudden sense of urgency, she steps in front of my sister.
“Ally,” she says. “Let me have your hands.”
My sister holds her hands out in front of her. As Sash takes them in her grasp, she intertwines her fingers with Ally’s in the same way she did with mine at the Springs. While tightening her grip on my sister’s hands, Sash tenses every muscle in her body. The amber in her eyes churns into motion like the clouds during Darkness, and Ally seems to drift into a hypnotic trance. When I look at their hands, multicolored light glows from the edges of their palms.
Sash lowers her face to the grass, relaxes her body, and releases Ally’s hands. Tears run down the cheeks of my sister’s face.
“She’ll remember now,” Sash whispers.
“Oh my God!” Ally exclaims. “The way you care about my brother is incredible. I could feel everything inside you.”
“It’s the same thing I feel from him,” Sash answers, tilting her head up from the ground. “You won’t remember the details of being here, but you’ll know in your heart that your brother is alive.”
“Thank you,” Ally says softly but emphatically to Sash.
“Thank you, Sash,” I say.
She turns her head to me and smiles. I start towards her, but Ally yawns again, blinks several times, and appears as though she’s fighting to stay awake.
I grab my sister and pull her close to me. “I love you, Ally.”
“You do belong here,” she whispers. “I believe that now.”
“Hearing you say those words means more to me than you can possibly imagine.”
I have to squeeze my eyes shut from a flash of amber light.
“I love you, Chase.” The words are a distant echo in my ears.
When the light recedes, my arms are empty. I drop my hands to my sides and look down at Ally’s footprints in the grass. Sash
steps to me, slipping her arms around my waist.
“She’ll know you’re alive now,” she says.
“That’s all I wanted. I can’t thank you enough, Sash.”
I reach my arms around her and we hug. As thankful as I am that Ally was here, I can’t help but question why my sister was brought as a Teller.
“I want to ask Eval something,” I say in Sash’s ear. “Do you want to come with me?”
Before answering, Sash leans back and gazes into my eyes for a moment. “I think you should talk to her alone,” she replies. “I’ll walk to our habitat. Catch up with me when you’re finished.”
“I will,” I say.
After I softly kiss her lips, Sash walks to the north. I run down the southern slope of the hill and across a narrow valley. When I reach the top of a hill overlooking the Tree of Vision, I scan the meadow below. Eval is sitting alone on the edge of the field, apparently in meditation, with her legs crossed in front of her and her hands resting on her knees. The outstretched branches of the Tree peacefully drift across the air at her side. I jog down the hill and stop in front of her.
As she raises her eyes from the crimson blades of grass, she says, “I thought you might want to talk.”
Chapter 32
“Why was Ally was brought here as a Teller?” I ask. “You told me you already had a Teller from my world.”
“We did have a Teller from your plane,” she replies. “I told you that we had learned what we needed to of your world from that Teller. What we learned was that at that time, your plane was in danger of falling out of balance. We now know that the situation has grown worse since the previous Teller was here.”
“What do you mean ‘worse’?”
“The people of your planet are destroying almost everything that sustains them.” Her eyes never leave mine, and although her tone is just as even as it usually is, there’s an underlying passionate concern in her voice. “The stories your sister shared with us were almost beyond our comprehension. People’s activities are altering the climate and the atmosphere. They’re destroying species that have existed long before what are called humans in your world ever existed. Entire ecosystems on your planet have been annihilated. Would you call that balance?”