smiled warmly and stepped closer to hug me, checked with me first, with her eyes, to make sure it was okay.
“Oh, please. I know you won’t bite. I missed you.” I hugged her tight, and she looked to Gabe and Gavin before she let me go; I saw Gavin’s face lighting up as he mouthed “thank you” to her.
“I can’t believe you fly,” I said, looked up at the trees again. “It’s so unfair.” In spite of Gavin’s jacket, my teeth chattered as I spoke.
“It’s not as glamorous as you think.” She shook stray leaves from her hair as the wind blew them away.
“Okay,” I turned to face Gavin and Gabe again, pleased with the Audrey peace treaty. “Now will someone please explain Amaranth to me before I have a heart attack over here?” I rubbed my forearms, tried to get warm as I eyed that eerie-looking bayou again. “I feel like I’m in a really trippy nightmare right now. Some clarity would be greatly appreciated.”
Audrey and Gabe stepped back and faced Gavin, his cue to explain.
“Well … as Gabe was saying, this is the portal to get there. Amaranth is a city, an exile location for our kind. Samira guards the entrance to regulate who comes in and out, and to enforce the laws there.”
“The crescent moon is present tonight,” Gabe chimed in. “That’s the only time we can enter.” He pointed to the sky, tilted his head to peer up at it.
“You’re telling me the moon determines when you can go there.” I cocked an eyebrow, adopted the same expression as when I was ten years old and my mother still tried to convince me there was a Santa Claus. I was simply not buying it. “Are you saying it’s not … of this world?”
“You could put it like that,” Gabe replied, squeezed Audrey’s hand.
“It’s not of this world, technically.” Gavin marched past us to stand next to the distorted oak tree that had caught my attention only minutes ago. He felt the side of the robust trunk and slowly moved his hand to a random branch that I now realized was out of place. Thick yet brittle, it jutted out from the trunk, shorter and lower than the others. He gave it one hard downward push, and the branch creaked as it snapped like a rusty old door hinge, expelling dirt as it moved. Rigid instead of lifeless, it hung obediently at the tree’s side, still attached. Gavin let go of it, and Gabe and Audrey shifted away from the water’s edge; the wind still ruffled steadily around us.
All at once they turned to peer at the water under the glistening moonlight. I turned with them and watched as it began to bubble and sway, as though suddenly angry. Audrey and I moved farther from the water, cautious. Gabe and Gavin remained where they were.
The surface began to make graceful swirls in different directions, possessed by a force I couldn’t see, the motion playing tricks on my eyes. An unsettling glimmer pushed through the surface and broke through, ascending from the floor of the bayou’s surface. I continued to watch in astonishment as streams of beautiful transcendental light penetrated from the watery heaven, casting warm amethyst rays into our dark world. I squinted, tried to adjust to the light.
“This is where we have to go,” I heard Gavin say. “It’s the only way in or out.” His eyes scanned the celestial movement, assessed its process before he glanced behind me toward the trees. “Joel’s here. He can tell you everything you want to know. I know this all feels like a dream right now, but it’ll be easier to understand with time … after this is over.”
I pried my eyes from the magic in front of me to look at him, sadness sweeping over me at the realization of his pending departure. He stepped forward, looked straight at me and nodded at the unwelcome guest who I sensed now stood behind me. “Joel is one of my oldest friends. He knew my mother and father, and I trust him with my life. So should you. Stick with him, and you’ll be safe.” He tilted his head to the side to inspect the water’s edge, made eye contact with Gabe and Audrey.
I didn’t bother to acknowledge this Joel guy, but instead kept my eyes on Gavin. “You don’t have to do this.” Begged him with my eyes for some kind of closure before he left me a vagabond