by Lora Palmer
Obviously, Kara had no clue how bad the dangers on Jantyr had become. I had to wonder if she’d still be as brave about going with us once she knew.
"Good, that's settled, then," Caleb nodded. "We’ll talk again before we leave. There are many things you should know about Jantyr first." He saw the others to the door, leaving only himself, Brian, me, and David in the house.
"I'll meet you back in the living room." Caleb left the foyer and walked down the main hallway with long, graceful strides. The others headed back into the living room, and a short time later, Caleb returned with the communication crystal. It was a clear blue, rectangular pad not unlike a touch phone. As Caleb waved his hand over the control and brought the device to life, I mused that the technology might not be so different.
"So, Leah, what would you like to say? We can begin recording whenever you're ready. I'll break the news to them first and then hand the crystal over to you," Caleb said. "Oh, and I found a picture I promised your parents I’d save for you."
As he handed over the data crystal, I stared at an image of myself as a toddler, being held by my parents. The three of us stood on a balcony of a grand castle, with the clear purple sea in the background. My parents, dressed in royal robes of crimson and gold, complete with crowns, waved at the camera and had me wave as well. This was more than a picture — it was a video recording! As I watched, an airship sailed by, flying high overhead.
I took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm ready. But you go first."
"As you wish, First Daughter." When he held out his hand, I handed the device back to him so he could speak first.
"Greetings, your majesties. I bring you great news! I have found your daughter, and we will be returning to Jantyr shortly. We still have some business to attend to before we may leave, but we should be there not long after you receive this message. Now, your daughter wishes to say hello." With that, he passed me the device.
"Mother, Father...I look forward to meeting you soon," I began, my voice tight. "My brother, my friends, and I are coming to stop all the disasters in time. We have the prophecy that will help us figure out how. We'll be leaving this weekend as soon as we deal with the ones responsible. They've...managed to come back. But we will stop them, and the disasters, I promise. Anyway, I'm not sure what else to say." I paused and gave a small, shy smile. "Except, I'll see you soon. I love you!" With that, I disconnected and set the device down on the coffee table.
"Are you okay?" Brian asked, reaching over to take my hand.
"Yeah." With a laugh, I added, "I'm shaking." It was true. My hands were trembling.
This time, David was the one to clear his throat. "Leah, we should get going. Mom and Dad expect us home for dinner."
Mom and Dad. My heart clenched at the words. I was going to leave them behind. I was going to meet my birth parents. "Right."
"We shall meet again soon. It was good of you both to come" Caleb gave us a nod in farewell before retreating to his study.
"Well, I'll see you both tomorrow," Brian said, his gaze lingering on me. I nodded and stepped closer, until I could breathe in the fresh scent of his cologne. Tilting my head up to his, I let myself stare back into his gorgeous eyes for longer than I should. But I suddenly didn’t care that I should be leaving. He leaned down and kissed my cheek, his lips trailing fiery heat across my skin as he wrapped his arms around me. My knees seemed to go weak, and I sighed, wanting more. Forgetting that David was watching, I pressed light butterfly kisses against his smooth cheek and brushed my fingers through his hair.
When we finally broke apart, thanks to a "subtle" cough from David, Brian saw us both to the door.
Chapter 15
"Kids, what's going on? You've been quiet all dinner and hardly touched your food," Mom said, glancing between her two children.
David gave me an encouraging nod, and I inclined my head slightly. "Mom, Dad, I have a lot to tell you..."
"Let's talk in the living room once we clean up dinner. Trust me, you want to be sitting down for this," David added.
The front doorbell rang on our way into the living room a few minutes later. When Dad, who stood closest to the foyer, answered it, Madame Helena’s voice and her familiar exotic accent carried into the room. Stifling my curiosity, I settled onto the sofa next to David.
"I’m afraid this isn’t a good time, Helena," Dad said. I knew he wouldn’t be keen on anyone intruding during a family discussion.
Madame Helena stepped inside, anyway, her heels clicking against the hardwood floor. "For the conversation you are about to have, you need me here, John. Remember what I told you when you first considered adopting Leah? The time has come."
Dad let the bookshop keeper pass and ushered her into the living room. She chose the seat next to me, giving my shoulder a light squeeze. With an elegant gesture toward Mom and Dad, she urged me to begin.
"What I’m about to say will sound crazy, but..." Halting at first, then with growing confidence, I told them everything — the pendant and the prophecy, the disasters, my newly discovered abilities as a MirrorMaster, and my origins on Jantyr as the daughter of a prime minister.
"What?" Dad stared at me in stunned disbelief when I’d completed my story. "You’ve created what sounds like an amazing fairytale, honey, and you should write it down, but you're acting so strange, as though you think it's real. You and David both are."
"It is real, Dad," David replied. Nudging me, he added, "Go on. Show them."
I ambled to the large rectangular mirror hanging over the fireplace mantle. Summoning the image of the castle that had been my first home, I stepped slowly back when the stunning image came into view. "This is where I come from. Billions of lives are in danger there — I have to go help them."
Behind me, I heard my parents gasp. They stood and surrounded me, watching the mirror with wide eyes.
"This is the sacrifice I said you would have to be prepared to make," Madame Helena said, holding the disbelieving gaze of both parents. "That world is real, and as Leah said, it is in peril. The disasters that have begun on Jantyr will destroy this entire galaxy if Leah does not fulfill her duty to stop them. The two of you have prepared her well, as I knew you would. Now she must carry on the lessons you’ve taught her. They will see her through the task she faces."
"I remember Mom and Dad talking about Leah being unique and about a possible sacrifice, years ago, but I didn’t want to believe that it was connected to this...," David said, massaging his forehead with one hand. Beneath his tan, he’d gone pale as snow. "So Jantyr is in our galaxy."
I dimly registered Madame Helena nod in confirmation and say something about the summer triangle and a star map she had with Jantyr's location on it. Madame Helena’s words about a sacrifice echoed and reverberated in my head, over and over until I wanted to scream. When I could finally speak, I turned to my parents, and in a strangled voice choked out, "You all knew? What about your promise to never keep anything important from me again — like, oh, I don’t know — the fact that I’m from another planet? That I’d have to follow this prophecy, this destiny?"
Dad shook his head and sighed, suddenly looking older than I had ever seen him. "We had no idea the scope of the sacrifice Madame Helena claimed we’d need to prepare ourselves to make one day. She never told us about any prophecy or nonsense about another world."
"Somehow I always knew this day would come, the day when you had to find out about your past. I just never expected it would be like this," Mom said, still in shock as she gazed at the image of another world displayed in her living room mirror. She reached out, as though to pull me into a hug, but she must have realized I didn’t want such an intrusion, because she let her hand drop back to her side. "You are coming back to us, aren't you?"
"Coming back?" Dad said. "Carol, you can't even consider letting Leah do this. It's too dangerous! No, Leah, this is out of the question."
I caught my breath, some of my fury and betrayal easing at the realization my parents and David hadn
’t known everything. They should have told me about this mysterious sacrifice long ago, but I could forgive them for that. I wouldn’t leave them holding a grudge.
"I’ll prove it," I said. I showed him the disasters plaguing Jantyr, reaching through the mirror to pluck a desert flower, its red, yellow, and orange blossoms lit with phosphorescent stripes. One petal, scorched as the desert sands by vicious lightning strikes, had withered and crumbled into dust at my touch. Although it would make my parents even more fearful for my safety and for David's, I realized this was the only way to make my case for why I had to go. "Do you see now? I don't have a choice, Dad," I said quietly but firmly.
"The information contained in this prophecy points to how to stop what's happening there. And something about me makes me the only one who can activate a device that will end the disasters. I can't live with myself if I do nothing while everyone dies, and that whole world — along with our galaxy — is destroyed! I have to at least try to stop it. But afterward, it may not be safe for me to come back here."
Saying this out loud brought the reality home in a way that nothing else could have, and I found that tears blurred my vision. A painful lump formed in my throat, and I couldn't speak.
"The police chief found a key, a metal key that's like nothing on Earth," David explained for me and went on to tell them about how I’d had to go get the key from my sister.
"Leah, you could have been killed! You could be arrested if they get something from the video surveillance or fingerprints! What were you thinking, going there?" Dad was absolutely furious. I cringed away from him, as I'd never seen him so angry before, not even the other day when he'd argued with David about college. His jaw and fists were clenched, and his face had turned red. I was sure I saw a vein in his neck throbbing.
"Without that key, I couldn't have gotten into the locked part of the box that had the rest of the prophecy. For all I knew, it could even have unlocked the way there to that other world. I needed that key, Dad," I said miserably when I finally found my voice again. Neither Dad nor Mom would be all that understanding about this, I was sure, but they at least deserved an honest answer.
Dad sighed and sat back down in his armchair, shaking his head. His neat, orderly world had been completely turned upside down.
"If Leah goes, she may not be safe, but if she stays here, none of us will be. This galaxy will end," Madame Helena said.
These words, if nothing else, seemed to convince my parents. Mom went over to Dad and put her hand on his shoulder. She, too, apparently felt like her head was spinning and nothing would be all right again. They were about to lose their daughter soon. "Honey, you do what you need to do. Just stay safe. And use that mirror to contact us every chance you get," she said with a sniffle.
A sob caught in my throat. I nodded. "I will, Mom." With that promise, I went over to Mom and hugged her. Mom’s embrace comforted me, and I needed that right now. "Thanks," I whispered.
"I don't like this idea," Dad said. "Honey, I don't want you getting hurt, or worse. But I know you. And I know that you're going to do what you feel you need to when it comes to something as important as this. Lord knows I can't stop you..." At this, the hardest admission he'd made in his life, his voice broke. "Just stay safe."
I could only nod as I reached over to hug him, too. Then Mom opened her arms to draw David into the family hug.
Chapter 16
Finally, Saturday arrived, and the group was gathered at the Wharf setting up for the start-of-summer bash, which Sea Cliff Heights High held every year in lieu of a prom. The event included students of all years, not just the juniors and seniors, and was funded through bake sales, donations from local businesses, and ticket purchases. This year, my group had volunteered to serve as the party committee. I had been arranging floral centerpieces on all the tables. Strategically placed candles enhanced the decor, creating a sophisticated, elegant atmosphere.
"This is looking great, Leah!" Kara exclaimed as she finished blowing up a silver balloon. Glancing around, she absently tied a ribbon to the balloon and handed it to Jenny, who was creating a balloon bouquet.
"Thanks!" I said, beaming. "I can't wait to see it all come together. Once we get all the balloons and lights in place, we'll be good to go." As we worked, we blasted the radio. Kevin arrived from his shift to find me singing and Kara dancing to the music, while Jenny watched as she tried to hide an amused smirk.
"Hey guys!"
"Hey, Kevin," I greeted, dancing over to him to pull him into the room. "I'm glad you're here. Brian needs help hanging the lights."
"Sure. Where do you want them?"
"Around the windows, across the metal work, and around the palm tree in the corner."
"You do have big plans for this room," Brian said with a chuckle, wrapping his arms around me briefly before shaking Kevin's hand.
"Leah's got vision," Jenny agreed, making her way over to greet Kevin with a kiss on the cheek.
Glad to see that my friends were getting through the rough week, I lost myself in the beat filling the room, swaying to the pulsating rhythm of drums and bass guitar. I knew Jenny was going through a lot, but she seemed to be bouncing back. "As soon as I finish setting up the last few tables, I’ll help hang the lights so the rest of this vision can come to life."
"We'll get started in the meantime," Kevin volunteered. He glanced over at Brian, who nodded, and they began hanging the lights around the windows, using the closest ladder already set up for the task.
Jenny placed her finished balloon bouquet on the closest table. "Five down, six more to go," she reported.
"It's looking awesome!" I said, glancing up from my work at one of the last tables to be dressed with linens, flowers, and candles. We had gone with deep red tablecloths, white candles with elegant crystal candlesticks, and red and white roses to complement the decor. The balloons were silver, black, and red.
Finished setting the tables, I set to work helping Kevin and Brian hang the twinkle lights while Kara and Jenny continued creating the balloon bouquets.
It didn't take us long to finish, especially when David took a break from working in the kitchens preparing food. When everything was done, we stepped back to admire our handiwork.
"Perfect!" Kara exclaimed, wrapping her arms around me. "I can't wait for everyone to see it."
I took in the room. A floor-to-ceiling mural of the castle on Jantyr stood against one wall, courtesy of Brian. It brought the party’s otherworldly fairytale theme to life. "Brian's mural is incredible. It looks exactly like the real thing," I said.
"Thanks, Leah," Brian said, running a hand through his hair, cheeks flushed. He smiled at me, and our gazes locked into one of our trademark soulful glances.
"Aww," Kara teased. "How cute!"
"On that note, I'm going to go check on the food. Anyway, great job, guys! We’ve outdone ourselves this year." With those parting words, David retreated.
My cell phone rang, jolting me back to reality. "Hello?"
"Hi, Leah. It's Melinda. Are you able to come to the office for a few minutes? I found something in your file that belongs to you. You should know Police Chief Jacobs is attempting to get your file subpoenaed, and I’d like you to have this item before he gets his hands on it."
"Okay, I'll be right there."
"What is it?" Jenny asked.
"That was Melinda. She has something for me," I explained, filling the others in on the rest of the conversation.
Jenny shook her head in disbelief. "They wouldn't order the agency to release your records, would they? This is your private information!"
"They might," Kara said, frowning. "And if they do, who knows how they'll use the information? If they get your file, it may not be safe for you to come back." Her voice sounded tight, choked.
"I know." My own voice was tight and quiet. Taking a deep breath, I said, "All right. I need to go get whatever it is Melinda has. There's nothing else I can do about my file without raising even more suspicion."
I noticed Jenny had a calculating expression on her face again as she left.
A short while later, I bade Melinda goodbye, ready to get back to the Wharf to make sure everything was perfect for the bash. "Thank you so much for everything, Melinda," I said.
Those two little words, "thank you", seemed so inadequate to tell her how grateful I was for her willingness to do anything, even commit a crime, to keep me safe.
"Honey, I know this item could spark some dangerous speculation like nothing else in your file could. I hope this leads you to the answers you're looking for. Keep this hidden no matter what, all right?"
"Don't worry. I will," I promised, hugging her. I took off for the Wharf, sparing one last glance back at Melinda with the sudden certainty that I would never see her again.
Back at the Wharf, everyone gathered around, curious to know what Melinda had given me. I reached into the pocket of my shorts and withdrew a slender data crystal pad similar to Caleb's. "Melinda said I had dropped this on the beach before I went in the water when I first got here. The woman who rescued me found it and gave it to her, saying I’d had this with me. All these years, Melinda kept it hidden in my file and forgot about it until she came across it today."
"Good. This will come in handy later," Brian said, nodding in approval.
"She knows too much," Jenny frowned. "So, she gets this to you to keep others from finding out. But she still could be made to reveal what she knows, right? That's my main concern, along with the fact the file still exists."
"I doubt the court would actually require access to my file," I said. Maybe it was naïve of me to believe this, but I didn’t think so. "No way, not even if Police Chief Jacobs threatens or begs. Besides, he's trying to do this quietly. Is he going to say he wants this file to try to prove I'm an alien?"
Kara laughed. "He would risk becoming a laughingstock if he did. As long as they don't get anything from the video or fingerprints, they've got nothing."