“Shhh... You must not wake the butler.” He said as he began to back away from the house and deeper into what appeared to be a dark forest, which surrounded the house.
“The butler? What butler? What do you mean? And why are you-” Robin had been walking tenuously towards the boy as he retreated into the trees but stopped in her tracks. She now noticed something peculiar about him that she could not have discerned from her previous position at the window.
“No time for questions outsider. You must follow me and I will keep you safe. But please do be quiet or the butler will… come for you.” He motioned for her to follow him then turned and started to disappear into the forest.
Not sure what to do or who to believe, Robin stared back at the house she had left. It was very wide for a two-story house. The outside façade was gleaming white and made of wood paneling. Although it shone bright and white it looked somehow sickly against the backdrop of the hunter green sky.
The windows were dark and she could just make out the small doll figures within. Some stood precariously on the window panes and she was sure there were many more littered about in various rooms throughout the house.
On the very front of the dwelling, just above the red front door was a white sign with black lettering that read, “The House of Intrigues”. Before Robin could wonder more on the sign and its meaning her eyes caught onto something. In the window of the room where she had once stood, a flurry of movement caught her attention.
As Robin strained to see through the window, she saw the silhouette of a large man move to stand before the same spot she had been when she first awakened. He wore a black and white butler tuxedo with a black bow tie at his neck. His hands were encased in pristine white gloves.
She could not make out anything other than this, as his coloring and face seemed to be hidden in the shadows. He did not look at her but used his hands as eyes as he moved them over the dolls on the window sill as if he were surveying them and mentally counting each one. All of a sudden his hand stopped in mid-air as if he had finally realized something was missing. Robin shivered in fear and wrapped her skinny arms about her middle.
Not waiting to see what happened next, Robin turned towards the spot where the boy had disappeared and ran after him. Her old gray sneakers beat against the hard ground. With each step she scattered rocks, dislodging sky blue dust which swirled in the air behind her.
Robin’s frantic yell echoed throughout the dense dark forest, “Hey wait! Please wait for me!”
CHAPTER 3
Robin ran like the hounds of hell were at her feet. Everything passed by her in a blur of colors and sensations. Her focus was solely on the back of the young boy who was now her only connection to normalcy in this strange new world. Leaves swiped past her face, branches and twigs scratched at her legs and arms. She nearly tripped twice but was able to right herself just in time.
Thankfully Robin was in pretty good shape and had ran track for a few years while attending school. She had been addicted to extra-curricular activities as they allowed her to stay away from her countless “homes” as much possible. Robin had joined any team or group that would take her. Running was something she had found to be mildly therapeutic.
While running, her body and spirit seemed to slowly separate. While her legs and feet held to the rhythmic pattern of the forward motion, her mind would slowly slip away into a blissful cloud of whiteness. She loved finding this ethereal place where time, space, pain and hurt did not exist. Here, Robin could just float without worries. That is where she was slowly going as her feet pounded over rocks, logs, branches and other forest debris towards the young boy who held all the answers to the questions she needed answered.
“Please wait!” she said breathlessly as she followed where he led. It seemed to her that he was going to run forever. Just when she wondered if she could keep up their wild pace, he began to slow down and then stopped altogether.
When Robin finally caught up with the young man he was standing beneath a large tree breathing heavily from his run.
She doubled over as well as she gulped down mouthfuls of sweet oxygen. As soon as Robin regained her composure she dived straight into interrogation mode, “Who are you? What is this place?’
The boy stared at her as if she were some sort of miraculous creature that had fallen down from the heavens. His eyes were wide and his lips gaped slightly open in surprise.
“I can’t believe it. You are here... finally here standing before me. I never dreamed this could happen. I don’t even understand how…it must have been the rocks… I threw some rocks at the window to… I’m not sure why I did it actually… I mean, I guess I just wanted you to stop crying but I suppose maybe the rocks hitting the window somehow dislodged your doll and... I just don’t know what I was thinking…” He continued to mutter to himself while Robin looked on in both annoyance and growing frustration. She blinked her eyes and stepped back from him praying her rescuer, was not a raving lunatic.
Robin put up her hands in a sign of surrender to show him she was completely confused, “Hi, Hello! Will you please slow down and just…I mean, what the heck are you talking about? I asked you who you were, and what this place is and you’re talking about dolls? Are you alright?” She rolled her eyes to the heavens only to get another glimpse of the strange dark green sky spread out above her. Her breath caught in her throat and her slightly slanted brown eyes opened wide in wonder. The spherical orbs hanging in the sky reflected in her eyes and she licked at lips which had suddenly gone dry. Robin could not help but shudder in fear.
She slowly let go of her tough façade and in defeat let her eyes drop from the sky to look down at her feet. This did not help matters as she finally noticed that the ground beneath her, both grass and dirt were an odd shade of light blue. The tree they stood beside had a green wooden trunk and glowing light blue leaves which waved in the wind. All about them similar trees swayed to and fro as if laughing at her look of absolute confusion.
Robin swallowed hard to keep from getting hysterical. “Please... I am very scared right now. I don’t understand this- this- place. Please just help me. Please…” Robin finally broke down. Her false tough front crumpled from bricks into dust as the reality of her situation seemed to fall all at once on her thin shoulders.
She heard his soft, mellow voice pipe up beside her. “I am sorry. I too am confused by all of this. But I will endeavor to explain what I do know.” The boy seemed to have calmed down marginally although he still looked at her as if she were an alien.
Robin smiled at his sincere words and nodded for him to continue. A few tears she had not known were there; fell as she moved her head up and down. She wiped each away quickly, hoping he had not seen them. Robin could not afford to appear weak in front of anyone; especially not a stranger. She had been taught that particular lesson far too many times to count.
Feeling a little more at ease with Robin, the young man cleared his throat and began to explain, “My name is Roami. I am from the Tinktu tribe. This place that we are now in is called ‘Source One’. It is the main world of all the worlds in all the galaxies. Some would even say it is the center of existence.” Robin looked at him in complete shock. Before he could utter another word of nonsense she put up her hand to stop him.
“Whoa! Wait. Stop right there! You’re kidding me right? Wait...” Robin’s head began to swim and her fingers tingled oddly. Before she knew it, she was hyperventilating. She bent over and took deep breaths to calm herself down. The tough inner-city girl, who had been through nearly every extreme situation a person could be in, had finally met her limit. When she had steadied her breathing Robin stood up to stare at the boy standing before her.
She wanted to believe that he was lying or just plain crazy but his physique alone told her that he might just be right. In the frenzy of the run and the insanity of his disclosure, she had not been looking at anything properly. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that she had been looking with her eyes but her
mind had been unable to process much of what she was seeing. Not until that very moment.
Robin finally realized what had seemed ‘off’ about her young companion. Her body felt as if it could take no more of these shocking revelations. She felt dizzy and wondered if she should sit down on the ground before she had no choice and crashed into it in a dead faint. Without a doubt Robin was definitely not in New York City anymore.
“Well, no… it could still be New York City. There are all types of crazies in Manhattan but this is definitely not…Earth.” Robin said to herself and laughed shakily.
“I’m sorry, what is that you said?” Roami asked politely.
“Nothing. Just talking to myself… I do that when I’m nervous...or scared out of my mind…like say… now.” Robin looked over at the young boy named Roami. This time she truly looked at him with open eyes and mind. She was absolutely amazed that she had missed this initially.
He looked like any other boy her age except that his skin was a brilliant shade of royal blue. His large eyes were slanted exotically and they were golden-brown in color; without a doubt they were the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. His ebony black hair was curly and coiled handsomely against his sculpted and angular face. His body build was slight and yet toned. She knew this because what he wore was quite flimsy. His shirt was a soft woven brown t-shirt that left his arms bare and a matching pair of shorts which stopped just above his knees. His legs were slightly muscled and on his feet he wore dark brown sandals with thick soles.
“You’re blue.” she stated with a blank look on her face.
Roami looked at her as if she were not too intelligent. “Yes. I know”. He replied with a bit of question in his voice. He stared at her now with a hint of concern, “Are you okay? I know this is a lot to take in all at once.”
“No, seriously... You’re blue. Absolutely, blue. Is that paint?” she asked as she leaned forward and swiped her index finger over one of his long slender arms.
Roami jumped back as if she had scalded him with her touch. “No, it is my skin. Have you no blue skinned people in your world?” He seemed slightly annoyed by her shock.
Robin laughed for the first time since she could remember. The sound was a bit rusty and she was sure she would have to do it a few more times to get the hang of it. “Heck no there are no blue people! Well, at least not by nature.” She said with laughter in her voice as she thought of a few blue skinned guys with spiky blond hair and body piercings she had once saw running and howling through the east village one night. At the time, she had been kicked out of her latest foster home and ended up walking through the streets of the city looking for a place to sleep for the night.
She had seen tons of very odd people enacting unimaginable actions that night before finally sleeping on a park bench in Union Square. Shaking her head she tried her best to focus on this odd dream that had apparently become her reality.
“Oh...” Roami said. He continued to stare at her as if she were a mythical creature from a storybook which had just jumped out of the pages and into real life.
“Well here in Source One we have every color there is. We have some browns in the likeness of your shade. I think it is very beautiful... your skin pigment.” He said softly. He looked away nervously.
“Thanks…” Robin said off-handedly and turned to look back in the direction they had come. “What was that house I was in? There was a sign in front that said ‘House of Intrigues’.”
Roami nodded his head, “Yes that is what it is called. No one knows how it originally got its name. It is something that has been around almost before the idea of time itself. In fact, The House of Intrigues is one of the greatest mysteries of Source One.”
Robin’s forehead crinkled in question. “Source One? You keep mentioning that. You said it’s the center of existence… but… I still don’t get it. What is it exactly?” She asked.
Now it was Roami who looked confused. “How could you not know what…” He drifted off into thought then piped back up, “Oh well, I suppose you would not know, being locked up in the House of Intrigues for so long. Source One is everything you see around us. It is the world of all worlds. The... source... of everything.” He chuckled to himself, “I am sorry. It is just… I am not sure how to explain it. You see, to me it is so basic and fundamental. I cannot find the words to express what just ‘is’ to me.”
“But please try… I'm sorry I just realized I haven't told you my name. I’m Robin." She smiled at him as best she could. Robin was not really one for smiling and could not remember the last time she had looked at anyone with anything more than a blank stare, sarcastic smirk or deep frown. For some reason she could not help but act out of character with this boy. He was one of the few people Robin had met who seemed genuinely…. ‘good’.
He smiled back a bit sheepishly, his gold eyes twinkling in the semi-darkness. "Now do you think you can explain everything...from the beginning? I really need to know what I’ve gotten myself into here.” Robin pleaded.
“Okay. But first let us sit down and find a comfortable spot to talk. This explanation may take a while.” When she nodded at his request, Roami led Robin through a copse of blue trees and into a small clearing of sea-blue colored grass.
As they walked Robin took in her surroundings trying her best not to completely freak out. “Great, the sky is green and the grass is blue and the trees are… blue and you are… blue and… I-I…oh my goodness… I think I really need to sit down.” Robin felt dazed and out of sorts. Her head pounded and her palms were sweaty.
“Yes, of course. I just wish there were something for us to sit on besides the damp ground.” Roami said as he looked around for a secure spot to rest. He bit his lip as he searched about for an ideal location. “I explore the forests often so I just have to get my bearings to figure out where we are exactly.” He explained. “I’m usually pretty good at this but… right now… I seem to be a bit…” He looked at her oddly and let his words fall off with no conclusion.
Robin returned his odd look with a sardonic lift of her eyebrows. The longer she was in this new world the more comfortable she got and could not help her usual safety mechanisms from taking over. She focused on helping Roami and also looked around the small clearing.
“You know what? Forget it. We can just sit on the grass here and-” Roami moved to sit cross legged on the grass. Before he could finish the thought Robin spotted something black as ebony, jutting from a few bushes nearby. It gleamed against the dim light of the spiky orbs in the sky.
Walking towards it she swiped at the tree branches covering it. It was a small black metal bench. The back of its frame swirled into beautiful circles and diamond shapes. It looked sturdy enough to hold both of them.
“Hey, here’s a bench right here.” Robin sat down to test its durability then motioned for him to come sit beside her.
Roami looked surprised and got up from the ground to sit beside her. “I don’t recall ever seeing that before…” He looked at the bench in confusion but quickly left off his investigation of the bench as he felt Robin’s stare burning into him. She was obviously eager to get some answers and was not about to wait a minute longer.
“Yes, so…Source One…” She prompted him as politely as she could muster despite her desire to just scream out, Tell me everything now or else!
“Yes, so…Source One is... everything. There are countless worlds in countless universes. While they may be light years away from one another and appear to have no contact between each other; this world can act as their one true connection. Source One is like a network of wires all tied to alien lands and exotic places you could never imagine. It is also a very finicky, shifty sort of place. One must be careful what one says, or does; touches or even thinks because the invisible lines that connect Source One to all of these worlds, are very sensitive and have no rhyme or reason.” Roami paused to catch his breath and looked off into the distance as he recalled a particularly unbearable memory.
; Robin took advantage of the moment to stare at Roami. She took in his beautiful golden eyes, the thick long black lashes, his pert blue nose, full lips, glossy black hair and strong yet lean fingers. He looked absolutely amazing to her. When he looked up from his thoughts and into her eyes, she blinked then looked away, embarrassed for having been staring so intensely.
He swallowed hard, his adams’ apple moving in response. She could tell from his determined expression and furrowed brow that he was about to delve into a somewhat painful memory. Robin was all too familiar with those and so prepared herself for what was to come.
His soothing voice piped up again, putting an end to the uncomfortable silence. “For instance… when I was younger, I had a friend named Tobias. He was a corky and fun fellow and we were inseparable as children. One day we went out to play in Gilaboo Forest which surrounds my village. His bearer and mine told us repeatedly not to play ‘Hide and Seek’ that day for they felt a sneaky mist was in the air. My people call any ill feeling they have, a ‘sneaky mist’ because that is how Source One can shift on you…very slyly. One day the links to the other worlds can be very weak and the next day, it can be so strong that the air crackles with the intensity of it. When the links are strong a blue colored mist can be seen floating through the air.” He explained.
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