Extraordinary

by Amanda McGee

  I know him.

  The muddle of hair atop his head framed his stunning features in messy waves. Dark brown eyes, which I worried could peer right through my reinforced emotional walls, did little to decrease the mystery surrounding him. A dazzling smile illuminated his perfect face and I was fooled into eager acceptance. I nearly ran to him.

  I paused, reminding myself that we had never actually met.

  His modest confidence was impossible to ignore. He stepped towards us, shoulders back, head high. When the distance between us lessened, his head tilted down and he shoved both hands in his pockets. Yet another aspect of him I found indisputably fascinating.

  He was the ideal blend of All-American boy and sexy heartthrob. Though, not as brawny as Blaze, he was defined enough to send my hormones into a tailspin. This had happened to me once—in a dream.

  I laid a hand on my heart, trying to hold it in place. Blaze and Sadie turned to see if I was listening to their discussion. Though I knew they were conversing, I had not heard a word of it.

  Sadie examined my expression.

  Gasp.

  “That’s him isn’t it? The guy from your dream?”

  With a quick nod of my head, Sadie leapt off the ground so high I feared she might float away. Her feet touched the ground and Sadie clapped her hands together with a big cheesy grin stretching her lips. Then, without another word, she ran off towards Blaze who was almost face-to-face with my dream guy.

  I once again defied the urge to bolt ahead of my new siblings and tackle the stunning creature where he stood. The situation was peculiar enough, so I walked behind them utilizing every ounce of self-restraint.

  I stumbled more than I walked, thanks to my focus being more on the circumstances ahead of me than the unknown ground below me. Had I been paying attention I could have noticed the dips in the lush grass beneath me. Everything but him was of little concern.

  “Alex, did you forget how to walk?” Blaze asked, as I stepped on the back of his shoes.

  “Shut up. I’m injured!”

  Thank God I put on sneakers today. Think of the massacre.

  Granted, I did not know my brother very well but he seemed a bit more on edge than usual.

  He was uneasy in this person’s company. He sought to defend and protect us, his sisters. Blaze had taken on the role of older brother without any of us having time to realize it. I reached for his arm and received a modest shock from the electricity still coursing through him.

  “No,” was all I could manage but it was enough for him to stand down.

  After what felt like an eternity on a very long obstacle course, I was in his presence. Blaze was rather non-reactive, sizing him up. Sadie's line of vision bounced erratically between the three of us while he smiled shyly at each of us. I waited for my heart to burst.

  “Hello, I am Tristan.”

  I cannot say for sure what followed other than my knees wobbling. Sadie wrapped her arm around my waist to steady me.

  I had no idea why we were there or how we would return home. I was clueless as to how my life had become so unrecognizable or how Sadie was finding the strength to support me.

  But I knew with great certainty that the man of my dreams was named Tristan.

  ****

  Chapter Ten

  Not a word passed my lips.

  His presence distracted me. His name whispered its way around my brain like a scratched record no one bothered to adjust. My deepest concern was not making a fool of myself. I found great consolation that the inner workings of my mind and body would remain secret pending that I resisted the urge to profess otherwise.

  Therefore, I remained silent.

  To be honest, I was still trying to process it all. My hyperactive thinking accomplished very little in the way of solutions or conclusions. My current situation was by far the most convoluted circumstances my poor brain had been forced to ponder and, for once, it was something I had no part in concocting.

  Not only were my dreams literally coming true but now Sadie, Blaze, and I had fallen down a mystical rabbit hole. To top it all off, we were welcomed to the new land by yet another person from my dreams.

  I had already figured out my power of foreshadowing but somehow Tristan had slipped my mind. In the midst of super abilities, family bonding, and engaging in commonplace activities like breathing and witch confrontation, I had forgotten to truly consider that the gorgeous man I fell for in my dreams could be real, too.

  Perhaps a little preparation could have prevented me from having to be the weird, quiet girl who sulked in the background.

  Doubtful.

  "I'm Sadie. This is Blaze and Alex."

  Sadie lingered longer than was necessary on her introduction of me. I knew what she was doing. I shot her a look that either urged her to stop or resembled pain.

  “It is wonderful to meet you all,” Tristan said. “But we can't stay here. We must get you to a safe location.”

  His words flowed in an unrecognizable accent, almost British, maybe Irish. Tristan looked each of us in the eye when he spoke and possessed a magnetism that caused my breathing to stutter. His black, button-down shirt was untucked and the sleeves were rolled just below his elbows. His dark denim jeans, subtly faded over his thighs, crumpled neatly over his black and white sneakers.

  “Where are we?” Sadie asked.

  “Haliwick,” Tristan answered.

  I was still playing mute, while Blaze was too busy being stoic to fully display his surprise. His furrowed brow and crossed arms told me he was just as lost in our predicament as I was—minus the supersized crush on Tristan. I waited for Sadie to be the spokesperson for our dysfunctional group, knowing she would not disappoint.

  “Haliwick? As in alternate universe Haliwick?” Sadie asked right on cue.

  Sadie’s voice reached an extreme level of pitch and we all cringed at her nail-to-chalkboard response. Part of me was quite happy that I had taken a vow of silence, for a reaction like that would have never been as endearing coming from me.

  “Yeah, well,” she added. “We really should have seen this coming.”

  “You are from the earthly realm?” Tristan asked.

  “Umm,” Sadie answered. “Yes, Earth. Georgia to be exact. Have you heard of it?”

  “The border between your world and this one is only penetrated by our most powerful mystics. Even they rarely have a reason to do so. Most of us have only heard stories and only a handful have ever seen it for themselves…mostly just the Elders.”

  “That is more than we can say about your world,” Sadie said.

  As we trekked across the unfamiliar landscape, no one was particularly talkative. This did not bother me in the least. I was too jittery to walk without stumbling so communication would have proven disastrous.

  Haliwick was stunning. From the path we were traveling it appeared that most of the land was either meadow or forest. Rows and rows of various unrecognizable flowers painted a rainbow canvas across every field and down every path. Lush green moss surrounded the earth beneath the trees and another lighter shade of moss hung sporadically on the branches.

  Even the sky was different. The blue was more vivacious and the clouds seemed to hover out of the path of the sun so as not to inhibit its brilliance. Though the sun shone brilliantly and its rays warmed my skin, it was not humid. The elements worked together to create the perfect summer day.

  The few houses we passed were neatly tucked away in their own corner of this heaven. Yet, I saw no one out and about. I wondered if everyone was as beautiful as Tristan. Even Katerina had been stunning, though her bad attitude sullied her good looks. I hoped she was one-of-a-kind and that we would not encounter other bothersome creatures...or Tristan-like creatures. I was barely able to hold it together as it was.

  “So before we go any further,” Blaze said. “Why are you helping us? Why don’t you seem surprised by our arrival?”

  “It is my duty to know,” Tristan said. “I help a friend keep an eye o
n the borders. If anyone comes or goes, he knows about it.”

  “What are you going to do with us?” Sadie asked.

  “Help you, of course. Something tells me you didn’t come here on purpose.”

  “Hmm,” Blaze mumbled.

  "Here we are," Tristan said.

  My first impression of Tristan’s home could be summed up with an exaggerated gasp. In fact, that was precisely the reaction I had.

  Tucked away in a small corner of the supernatural town, through the forest and in total seclusion, rested a dwelling almost as breathtaking as Tristan himself.

  Nestled among the trees and countryside as if Mother Nature herself had built it, his home resembled an enchanting cottage straight out of a fairytale. It was not too big, not too small. Perfect.

  A rustic white stone wall and surrounding landscape enhanced the residence’s curbside appeal, but not so much, I predicted, in the area of safety measures. The home itself was made of dark brown logs meticulously interconnected. The moss that decorated the trees along our path also lined the slanted roof.

  The interior was even more majestic with its fireplace constructed of smooth white boulders cemented into their respective positions and beautiful wood-beamed cathedral-style ceilings. The home was as organic as the forest surrounding it. Without being an architectural aficionado I recognized the craftsmanship that went into every aspect of its construction.

  No item, as far as I could see, was machine-made or synthetic. Every piece of décor, right down to the hand-carved rocking horse perched on a rectangular table behind the couch, was created from the most immaculate wood I had ever had the pleasure of seeing.

  The walls further accented Tristan’s choice of natural décor by being thoroughly stucco. I recognized it because I was once roped into helping Kate’s Dad stucco the exterior brick of their house. After a few hours he finally admitted that it was harder for an attorney and two teenage girls to do than he thought, and called a professional.

  Oh, Kate is not gonna believe all this.

  “How do you have electricity?” Sadie asked. “I mean, the lights are on but there are no cords or outlets.”

  “It’s magic,” Tristan answered with a chuckle.

  “Why are you helping us?” Blaze asked as everyone moved into the kitchen. “You stumble upon strangers in a field and take them home, which albeit is nice of you, but what’s your game? What’s in it for you?”

  The distrust in Blaze’s tone diverted my stare from the floor and right to Tristan. Tristan looked back at me and we made eye contact for the first time.

  The room began to spin. I reached for the back of a chair to balance myself. For a moment, I convinced myself that it was another unfortunate side effect of our new magical existence but I was the only person affected.

  My sea legs had nothing at all to do with magic but had everything to do with Tristan. He flashed a shy smile in my direction, and then turned his attention to Blaze. Still, clinging to the back of Sadie’s chair, I, not surprisingly, wondered what the meaning behind his grin was.

  Does Tristan know what was happening to me? Does he feel the same way and therefore recognize the symptoms? Or maybe he just finds my strange behavior laughable.

  In a matter of thirty minutes I had become a total girl.

  “Alex, where is your head right now?” Blaze asked.

  At some point during my girly mind rant, Blaze had moved across the room and was standing beside me. Embarrassed and still convinced silence was the best path; I pushed him away and struggled to regain some semblance of confidence.

  “It’s not every day that people enter our world,” Tristan said. “We had a breach, if you will, a few days ago so we were already monitoring the situation. That helped us see you coming, I was told to find and keep an eye on you until we knew more.”

  "Are you helping us or guarding us?" Blaze grumbled.

  Does it matter?

  “Someone tells you to help a group of strangers and you do it no questions asked?” Sadie asked. “Are you like military or something?”

  “Not exactly. My friend is a gatekeeper of sorts. The borders between our world and other worlds are not meant to be crossed. It upsets the balance.”

  “Hmm,” Blaze mumbled.

  “What Blaze means to say is ‘thank you.’” Sadie shot him a cease-and-desist order.

  “It is my pleasure,” Tristan said, showing us into the kitchen.

  “So what now?” Blaze asked.

  “We will get you back home but for this moment I need you all to try to relax for a bit, you may feel lightheaded as you adjust to the environment.”

  “And to you,” I said. My cheeks flushed, recognizing my words before I did. “I mean thank you.”

  Smooth.

  My vow of silence was for naught. I managed to lay all my cards on the table with three words. Tristan’s presence proved to be more difficult to adjust to than the environment, but I did not want him to know that. All that I had been through and it would be a boy that did me in.

  “Oh, I was wondering if you spoke at all,” Tristan joked.

  I did not dare try to respond with words again. Instead, a nervous laugh slipped out, making me feel like a bigger idiot. I plunked down at the dining table, diverted my attention to the view outside the window, and prayed Tristan and everyone else would just ignore me.

  At least until I found my misplaced bearings. I couldn’t seem to hold onto them these days.

  “Can I use your bathroom?” Sadie asked.

  “There’s one down the hall to the left and another in the master bedroom, first door on the right,” Tristan answered.

  Sadie and Blaze all but climbed over one another trying to get themselves to a bathroom. It was almost comical watching Blaze wrestle Sadie for who got to enter the first bathroom. Sadie put up a good fight. Blaze conceded and disappeared further down the hallway.

  Once they were out of sight, the humor vanished. I was now alone…with him.

  Without the others to maintain the conversation, it was up to me to stop acting like an idiot and say something.

  Say anything!

  “Your home is lovely.” I cringed at my choice of adjective.

  “Thank you, I built it myself.”

  I bit my lip to keep from broadcasting my full adoration. The artistry of the dark oak cabinetry and precision applied to every inch of the property including the doorknobs was inspired. There was something agonizingly attractive about a man creative and patient enough to select elegant doorknobs and then carve his own décor from blocks of wood.

  “Wow, no kidding? That is quite impressive.”

  “My dad believed it was important to know how to build and create. Mom thought it necessary for me to learn art and music and to recognize the beauty in the world. I tried to incorporate a bit of both when constructing my home.”

  His smile grew brighter with the mention of his parents. My stomach tried to somersault across the kitchen. Certain my quaking was visible, I wrapped both arms around my waist just to be safe.

  “I’d say mission accomplished. Where are your parents?”

  “They passed away.”

  The impact his parents had on his life was apparent. Even in death their memories lived on in the work he did and in the person he became. I hoped one day I too could think of my Mom, or even my Dad, and offer a grateful smile instead of an emotional scowl.

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “Our mom passed away a few months ago. We aren't exactly sure about our dad.”

  His eyes glowed with the sympathy I saw in so many friends and strangers the day of my mom’s funeral. It was little consolation then or now.

  “Every day it gets a little easier,” I said, attempting to divert an empathetic reaction. “For us, I think, it is more regret than mourning.”

  Sadie strolled back into the kitchen ending our stories of family tragedy. I was relieved to have the conversation cut short. A chat with Tristan was tricky enough without the
added emotion that accompanied remembering deceased parents.

  “I feel better now,” she said. “What are you guys up to?”

  “Nothing,” I blurted.

  My tone bordered on harsh, so harsh that I worried Sadie might see through my cover-up.

  “What’s going on?” Blaze asked, reentering the kitchen.

  “Apparently nothing,” Sadie said with an obvious grin.

  “She zone out again?” Blaze asked.

  “Oh, I think she’s fine now,” Sadie said

  My nose and forehead crinkled. I really needed to pull myself together, if not for the ridiculousness of my actions but for my mental state that was definitely being evaluated. Judging from Sadie’s smirks, I feared my silence was only drawing more attention.

  “Alright then,” Blaze said. “Enough small talk. I want some answers and since you volunteered yourself Tristan, I expect you can give them to me.”

  “Blaze!” I said, offended for Tristan and myself.

  “I’ve seen war and death,” Blaze said. “I’ve slept in the dirt and I’ve been shot at and nearly blown up but the past few days have been the damnedest I’ve seen. I’m a part of a family…not just a family, a magical family who’s been transported to another realm. Not another country, another realm! So excuse me if my tone is insulting.”

  “Meow!” Sadie said, making a clawing motion with her hand.

  Even Blaze was no match for Sadie. His entire body relaxed and a semblance of a smile formed on his face. Tristan seemed to take notice of Sadie's uncanny ability to defuse Blaze's ticking bomb. He offered a congratulatory nod her way.

  “I apologize,” Blaze said, rubbing his forehead. “But I can’t be the only one. This is all just weird.”

  “I guess you missed the day the Marines trained for this,” I joked.