Morning Rising (13 page)

“Dylan?” Kara said softly. “Are you okay?”
Dylan’s eyes swung in her direction, settling on her face for a
moment before she answered.

“Yeah.” Dylan nodded absently and pushed her
hair out of her face. “Thanks for the sweatshirt.”

“No problem,” Kara said. “Do you know who I
am?”

“You’re Kara.” Dylan’s eyes seemed to focus
as she spoke. “Sorry I freaked out. What the fuck did I take?”

“Do you know where we are?” Kara asked, not
wanting to answer the ‘what’ part if Dylan didn’t even know the
‘where’ part.

“Some asshole’s apartment?” Dylan asked. From
the sound of her voice, Kara knew that Dylan didn’t believe it.

“We’re in Inbetween, Dylan,” Kara told her
gently. “At Baron’s apartment, we rescued you from Kade last
night.”

“No,” Dylan whimpered, taking a step back.
“It was just a dream.” Her eyes filled with tears. Kara felt her
eyes do the same. She had never been able to stand the sight of
Dylan in pain. “Tell me it was a dream,” Dylan said, her words were
a whisper full of pain, and Kara wished she could tell her what she
wanted to hear.

“It wasn’t,” Kara said. She went to Dylan,
hesitating briefly before pulling her into a hug. The other girl
tensed for only a moment, and then relaxed into Kara. She didn’t
hug her back, but she seemed to take comfort from the contact as
she cried silently.

“What did he do to you?” Kara asked. She
pulled back and pushed hair away from Dylan’s face. She wiped away
Dylan’s tears. “Did Kade hurt you?”

“I don’t know.” Dylan looked away toward the
wall. “I can’t remember.”

“It’s okay,” Kara assured her, squeezing her
arm. “You’re with me now. Everything is going to be okay.” Dylan
met her eyes and Kara smiled reassuringly. She hoped Dylan believed
her.

“You’ll protect me.” Dylan nodded and
sniffed, looking away again. Kara got the idea Dylan was trying to
convince herself.

“Always,” Kara tried to make it sound
confident. “Let’s go find some breakfast. Are you hungry?” Dylan
nodded, unwilling to meet Kara’s eyes. Kara slipped an arm around
Dylan’s waist to lead her out into the main room.

Alster practically jumped from the couch when
he saw Dylan. He bowed so deeply Kara worried he wouldn’t be able
to straighten himself again.

“Morning,” he intoned looking at her with the
greatest respect.

“Morning to you too,” Dylan muttered, leaning
closer to Kara. Alster looked so flustered by Dylan’s reply, that
Kara couldn’t help but smile. She was relieved to find Baron in the
kitchen, chuckling to himself at what he had heard.

“Baron, give her breakfast,” Alster snapped,
covering for his own embarrassment.

“I am,” Baron said. He set a plate of toast
and eggs with purple yolks in front of Dylan on the counter. Dylan
looked skeptically at the plate.

“Everything I’ve eaten here has tasted good,”
Kara assured her, accepting a plate from Baron with a nod. Dylan
reluctantly took the plate.

Dylan moved across the living room like
someone half dead. She sat on the couch and began to tear pieces
off her toast. She ate slowly while staring out the window. In the
light of the living room, Dylan looked worse than before. There
were bags under her eyes as dark as bruises and her hair hung
limply around her shoulders. Her usually tan skin was sallow and
pale.

Alster stood beside Kara, watching Dylan with
unsettling intensity. Kara was glad Dylan was too lost in her own
world to notice.

“Alster,” Kara hissed, bringing his attention
back to her. When Alster looked Kara’s way, she added, “stop
looking at her like that, you’ll scare her.”

“She’s so weak,” Alster said. “I hadn’t
expected to find her this way. We need to use an awakening stone.
She isn’t able to take care of herself, let alone run a kingdom.”
He clucked his tongue.

“Won’t her father be doing the actual kingdom
running?” Kara asked as she dipped her toast in the purple yolk of
her eggs. She was surprised Alster was so eager to use the
awakening stone.

“I mean here,” Alster said. His eyes shone as
he watched Dylan. “I told you, the two of you together have the
power to take over this world, to make it something better.”

“Yeah, the thing is we really don’t want to
do that,” Kara replied, narrowing her eyes at the old man. All she
wanted was to get Dylan safely out of Inbetween, not stay around
for some sort of revolution. Alster turned his gaze on Kara.

“Then you will never live up to your
potential and rescuing her from Demitar was almost pointless,”
Alster replied, his voice laced with venom.

“Well since you didn’t do much to help rescue
her, I don’t see what you’ve lost,” Kara said in an ice-tinged
voice. “I’m taking her back to the Daylands where she belongs, not
leaving her here to change some world which, from what I can tell,
doesn’t want to change.”

“You ungrateful little changeling,” Alster
said. He stepped so close to Kara that she could feel his warm
breath on her face. It smelled like coffee. His golden eyes blazed,
but he kept his voice low. “I’ve done nothing? She wouldn’t even be
here if it wasn’t for me. You never would have found her on your
own. I should just-” Baron interrupted before he could finish the
threat.

“Alster.” Baron glared at the old man. “It’s
their decision in the end. Kara is right to want to get Morning
home. She’ll need her strength back.”

“No,” Kara insisted. “I don’t care how strong
she, or we, get. We aren’t going to be used to lead some
rebellion.”

“Good luck finding the gateway to the
Daylands then.” Alster spun on the heel of his shoe and left the
room. Kara sat open mouthed, watching him go. The door to his study
slammed, echoing through the living area. Silence fell over the
room.

“Is he serious?” Kara asked Baron. “He's like
a five-year-old having a temper tantrum. How do you put up with
him?”

“He’s a bit eccentric,” Baron admitted with a
wince. “I’m sorry about that.”

“He’s insane,” Kara said. Anger grew in her
stomach. “Keeping Dylan here would mean death for both of us. I’m
pretty sure if we make it out of here alive, coming back to take on
Demitar and change this ugly little world isn’t going to be high on
my to do list.”

“Okay.” Baron grinned. “Calm down. I'm okay
with that. I agree with you. This was never supposed to be about
changing Inbetween, it's about getting Dylan back to her best.
We’ll get you back to the Daylands and everything will be fine.
Breathe. Alster’s just upset right now.”

Kara took a deep breath. “Sorry.” She smiled
self-consciously. “I guess I’m a bit tense.” Kara glanced at Dylan,
systematically slipping small bites of toast into her mouth. “I’m
worried about her.”

“Not to add to that, but the city is in
absolute chaos,” Baron said. His smile disappeared. “I don’t think
Demitar knew what he was unleashing when he posted the reward for
us. Everyone out there is looking for us. They're going to destroy
anyone and anything that gets in their way just to capture us. We’d
already be dead by now if we were in the city proper.”

“That’s reassuring,” Kara said
sarcastically.

“I never said it would be,” Baron said. He
looked grim. “How do you feel about the awakening stone? Do you
think she’s up to it?”

“I really don’t know.” Kara sighed, dropping
the last bite of her toast. She wiped her hands together over the
plate. “I mean Alster almost had a coronary when you gave it to me.
She seems worse off than I was.”

“He may be right though,” Baron argued
quietly. “She isn’t in her right mind.” He sighed and glanced over
at Dylan where she sat silently on the couch. “Getting out of this
city will be hard enough with her at full strength, let alone like
this.”

“So you think it’s worth the risk?” Kara
searched Baron’s eyes, hoping to tell if he was making the right
decision.

Baron leaned against the counter and crossed
his arms, thinking before he responded. “I think with you by her
side, she’ll come out all right,” Baron said.

“How will it work?” Kara asked. After going
through her own awakening, she wasn’t in a hurry to feel that pain
again.

“She’ll hold the stone and you’ll put your
hand over hers. You two have a deep connection. If you hold the
stone together it will be confused and slow down. You should be
able to scan through her memories until you find one that feels
right to start the whole process. After that memory settles in, the
rest should go easier. You’ll act as a filter for all of it.”

“Okay,” Kara said. She took a deep breath.
“Do you have the stone?”

“Here." Baron turned and opened a drawer in
the kitchen. After a moment of digging he pulled out a small black
stone. He crossed the room and held it out to Kara. When he spoke
again, concern filled his voice. "Be careful, you don’t want to get
pulled in with her, if you feel her going over the edge, pull back.
We can try again with her, but if you’re trapped in there with her
it will be impossible. Your mind would be bound to hers.”

“Alright,” Kara agreed. She took the stone
and held the stone tightly. It seemed so ordinary in her hand that
it was strange to imagine the true power it held.

“Do you remember how to activate it?” Baron
asked as he cleared away Kara’s plate.

“Left, right, left,” Kara said.

Dylan hadn’t touched the yolk of her eggs,
but she had eaten some of the whites with her toast. She looked up
when Kara touched her shoulder. “Full?” Kara asked with a smile as
she felt Dylan relax slightly under her touch.

“For now,” Dylan said. “My stomach
hurts.”

“Let’s go to the bedroom,” Kara suggested.
She set Dylan’s plate on the foot stool and took her hand to lead
her back to the bedroom.

Kara tried not to let her nerves show as she
sat beside Dylan on the bed. Dylan was enough of a mess without
Kara letting her own fear be obvious. They were silent for a moment
as they studied the room. Kara was very aware of Dylan’s warm leg
against her own.

“I don’t know you,” Dylan finally said,
glancing briefly at Kara before turning away again. “I mean you’re
Kara, I know that. But as far as who you are? I have no idea. I
feel like you’re important to me and like I’m safe with you, but
there’s no reason for me to feel that way.”

“There are plenty of reasons,” Kara assured
her. You just don't remember them." She cautiously took Dylan’s
hand in hers. Dylan twined her fingers with Kara’s. Kara’s head
swam at the intensity of feelings the simple contact pushed through
her body. She swallowed before speaking again. “I want to show you
the truth, so you’ll know those reasons.”

“How?” Dylan asked. Her voice was on the
verge of breaking as she turned to Kara. “I don’t remember
anything. How can you fix that?”

“This.” Kara held out the stone in her palm.
“It will show you everything, give you back every memory you’ve
lost.”

“I want to go home,” Dylan’s voice was small
and full of sadness.

“We can’t.” Kara shook her head. “At least
not the home we knew. This stone will show you why.”

“No.” Dylan was crying. Tears rolled down her
cheek without shame or sound. Kara felt her heart ache. “I don’t
want this. I don’t want any of this.” Dylan left the bed, wiping at
her eyes, but unable to stop herself from crying.

“Dylan, it’s okay,” Kara said. She stood to
comfort her, moving to hold her again.

“No, it’s not.” Dylan pushed Kara away and
took a step backwards to put more space between them. Kara stayed
where she was. “Maybe it’s okay for you, but not for me. I don’t
want any of this. I just want to go back to my normal life.”

“Dylan.” Kara wished there was some way she
could ease Dylan’s worries, anything she could say that would make
what they were going through less scary. She caught Dylan by the
shoulders. “Take the stone, Dylan. Knowing the truth is the best
thing, no matter how hard it seems.”

Kara moved her hand down Dylan’s arm to her
right hand and set the stone in her palm.

“I’m not ready.” Dylan shook her head, still
crying. They were just words. Kara knew she was ready.

“We’ll do it together,” Kara assured her.
“Move it to your left hand, then your right, and back to your
left." Dylan stared at Kara for a long moment before biting her lip
and nodding.

Kara left her hands under Dylan’s as Dylan
moved the stone from hand to hand. When it was in her left hand
again, Kara put her hand on top of the stone, feeling the warmth
spread as it started to work. Dylan let out a sharp moan as the
stone disappeared from between their hands, pulling Kara’s palm to
press against Dylan’s. Dylan tried to pull away, but they were
connected with the stone as the blackness moved up their arms.
Dylan was wide-eyed with fear and pain. She watched large, black
tendrils curl up and around her arm in scared silence. There were
only two thin ones on Kara’s arm, circling her wrist before moving
up her arm.

“It’s okay,” Kara whispered as she watched
the blackness cover the left side of Dylan’s face. “This is how
it’s supposed to be.”

Dylan stood frozen, watching as the two
tendrils framed Kara’s eye. They curled and twisted around it, then
dove inwards. Kara’s right eye turned black. For a short moment it
reminded Dylan of a scared bird’s eye, and then Dylan’s vision went
black. Together, they fell into the past.

Kara tried to focus on the memories streaming
through her, some she knew, some she wished she hadn’t witnessed.
Kara panicked, wondering how she would ever choose the right
memory. Worse, would she damage Dylan more by choosing the wrong
one? She couldn’t see Dylan anymore, but she could still feel their
hands touching. They hadn't quite fallen into the past yet.

Kara caught a brief glimpse of Dylan crying
as hard as she had been just moments before. Kara remembered the
day well. That would be the place to start. It was partly selfish;
if Dylan could only have one memory it would be the one Kara wanted
her to have. Kara believed it would help though. If nothing else,
it would show Dylan that she wasn’t alone.