The Journey (7 page)

“Umm hmm.” He tossed me my cloak. “Come on, fradie cat. We’ve got work to do.”

*****

Being allowed into the vault at St. Anthony’s was a breeze. Well, it was a breeze for Drella. I’m not sure I would have
ever
been granted access. Not by my own measure.

We walked in the door, Drella asked for the stone, and we were taken to it immediately.

“Wow… I wanna be a Seeker.”

He snorted. “You’d get bored within a week, Ladybug. Come on. Let’s grab some lunch before we get into the heavy stuff.”

“The heavy stuff?”

We both squinted as we walked back out into the warming sun.

“Yeah, the heavy stuff.” He motioned toward the stone around my neck. “Namely like… what’s that tiny red stone for?”

“Tiny
red
stone?” I mumbled, looking back to the pendant. “Hey, Babe… how long were we in there? Why’s it so bright out?”

“A few hours… give or take.” He squeezed my hand. “What did I tell you about calling me Babe?”

“Wha— You
said
I could.”

He smiled. “I’d hoped you had forgotten.”

“You hate it that much… really?”

“Nah, not when
you
say it, Pooh.” He gently kissed my forehead. “Hungry?”

“Starving.”

“Maybe you’ll take my advice next time about breakfast.”

“Pffts… Not bloody likely,” I mumbled as he tugged me along behind him. “How were we in there for hours? It didn’t feel like more than a few minutes.”

“Time doesn’t move the same. Not where this type of work is concerned. You’ll get used to it soon enough. Now, enough with the questions. What would you like to eat? It needs to be somewhere quiet, preferably close.”

“I’m in your hands, Babe.”

He shot me one of his gorgeous, crooked grins. “If only that were still true.” He winked at me. “Come on. I know the perfect place then.”

*****

The pub was pretty quiet. Our table was back in the corner. Yet, the food was way too greasy for my palate.

“Not hungry, little lady?”

“I’m good, sir. Thanks.”

“Will that be all, then?”

“I’ll take another draft. Oh, and some soda crackers if you got’em.”

The man walked off, mumbling under his breath.

“What’s up with you, Ladybug? I’ve seen you eat stuff in Osaka that made
me
gag.”

“I don’t know, Drell. I’m still a bit queasy, I guess.”

“You said you didn’t care where we ate.”

“And I don’t. I just… well, I mean… I thought they’d at
least
have a house salad on the menu. Who doesn’t offer a house salad? It’s like the easiest thing in the world to make.”

“Pffts.” Drella shook his head. “I almost forgot how much I missed you.”

We sat in silence until my fresh draft arrived.

“Do you ever think what it would have been like?” He took another bite of stew. “If we’d been given a chance?”

“…Every single day,” I whispered.

He smiled. “Tell me true. What is your favorite fantasy concerning the two of us?”

“I don’t know if you’d call it a favorite or not. I only have one vision of our shared future…
if
we’d been granted one.”

“Then tell me, Pooh. What do you think life would have been like for us?”

I sighed as I ran my thumb down the tall glass, watching the moisture bead-up with its passing.

“I would have become pregnant.”

He strangled on his beer.

“Within three or four months… I would have had to stand in front of my loving parents and tell them I was carrying your child. We would have gotten married before graduation, of course. Seeing as how I’d be knocked-up and all, I’d lose my cross country scholarship… and no more barrel racing for sure. I’d keep on working at the gas station and you would have to quit school to find a job with health insurance. We’d end up living in a little piece of crap trailer off the main road. Before the baby came… you’d drink too much and we would yell at each other… a lot.”

“Damn, Pooh…”

“We were kids, Drell. Way too young to be that in love.” I sort of snorted. “I could never deny you, Drella. I worshipped the ground you walked on. You’re the only one I’ve ever felt that way about.” I took a long, cold drink. “But… you didn’t let me finish. After the baby, after the fear and the stress and the regret… all I can see are smiles,
our
smiles. We may not have had much to start out with, but we had each other. And for me, that was enough.”

He took my hand in his and gave it a tiny squeeze. “That sounds like an amazing fantasy.” He kissed my fingertips and smiled. “And to be honest, it’s probably not too far from the truth. As crazy as I was about you, I can see every bit of that happening. Although I
will
have to disagree with you on one point.”

“Oh yeah, and which point would that be?”

“It wouldn’t have taken you three months to get pregnant. If you had allowed me, I would have
known
you for the first time the night of our first date.”

“That’s what I’m saying, Drell. You were my kryptonite. I would have allowed you
anything
.”

“Dear god…” He squeezed tight my wrist as he looked away. “Stop before you kill me, Pooh.”

So, I did. We finished our drinks in silence before paying our tab and walking back to the Inn.

“You’re tarrying, aren’t you, Drella?”

“…Yes. I can’t help myself. I told you, I always stay until
you
leave
me
. I’ve never found the strength to walk away first.”

“So… if I were any other Witness you were tasked with seeking out?”

“We would have gone to St. Anthony’s as soon as we stepped from the Nether.”

“I see.”

“About what you were saying back at the pub. If things had been—”

“Drell… you can’t unbake a cake, Babe.” I looked away, biting my lip to keep it from trembling. “I can’t unbake a cake,” I whispered.

*****

I collapsed across the bed, relishing the feel of the cool night air settling across my still-steaming skin.

“Shower’s all yours, Babe. The water’s kinda hard, though.”

“Don’t worry about me, Ladybug. I am no longer human, no longer alive in this realm.”

I glanced at him sideways. “So, you don’t bathe?”

“Not like
you
do, no.”

I buried my face in the pillow and sighed. “Drella?”

“Yes, Pooh.”

“You gotta walk away this time.”

“I can’t do that.”

I moaned before dragging myself off that comfy bed and plopping down beside him on the couch.

“You
have
to.” I snorted out a bitter laugh. “Because I don’t have a clue where to go from here. As long as you sit here, I’ll just sit right here beside you.”

“I can’t leave. I still have to tell you about the keys.” He picked up the little wooden box the priest had given him. “…And how they work.”

“Do I have to get dressed?”

He smiled that cute little crooked smile I loved so much. “I’d prefer if you didn’t.”

I chuckled. “Pfft… pig.”

“Tease.”

I pinched his arm before dropping another sugar cube into his coffee cup and taking a drink.

“Help yourself, Ladybug.”

“Oh, do you mind?”

“What’s mine is yours. It always has been. You know that.”

“How is it we just picked up right where we left off all those years ago? How is it you are
exactly
the same as I remember?”

“My life stopped, Pooh. In this form, I am as I was.”

“
This
form? So… you’re not Drella anymore, are you?”

“I am when I’m with you.”

“Just… stop… please.”

“Hey, Pooh. Don’t cry again. Come on now. I want to see you smile.”

“Drella… I’ve been going along with this like it was a dream, a splendid sort of preposterous fairytale. But it’s not, is it?”

“…No, it’s not.”

“So… you’re not real, are you?”

“I’m not human, no.”

“We aren’t in this messed-up dream together, are we?”

“No, Pooh. I am a Seeker—”

“Yeah, yeah. And I am a
Witness
, or whatever.”

“Listen to me, my love. We live in different realms now. Your eyes have been opened, remember? That is how you’re now able to see me. Now, with that being said… I’m glad
I
was the lucky one to greet you in your new role.”

After a few quiet moments and a few more sips of coffee, my frayed nerves were back under control.

“I’m sorry for acting like such a brat. Forgive me, Drell.”

“There’s nothing to forgive, Ladybug. In truth, I’m amazed you’re taking this as well as you are. Most people, they just completely lose it.”

I snorted. “Yeah, I bet. And I’d be counted among them… if I hadn’t spent the better part of my life reading all there is to know about the
unknown
… about the Otherworlds.”

“Pooh… why did you never form ties? You walk through this life like you’re the happiest soul who ever lived. At least, that’s what you
show
people. Yet… you are completely detached.”

“You see me as I truly am, Drella. And… you can also see that I’m fine like this. Okay?”

“Very well, Pooh. We’ll leave those words for another day.”

“Anyway… I’ve been looking at my pendant. Call me crazy, but there’s no little red stone.”

“There is. See? There, above the brown one… next to the bail.”

“Umm… That’s not red, Drell. It’s clear.”

“And that’s why you need
this
.”

He slid that little wooden box open to reveal a lovely ornate dagger.

“A knife?”

“An Extractor. The last Witness who used this, he preferred a blade.”

“Pfft. Airport security’s just gonna
love
that. I hope it’s not important. It’ll get confiscated the moment I try to leave jolly old Ireland.”

“The Extractor is a tool you can never be without, Pooh. It is invaluable. And… the only way to make the keys work.”

“But how am I—”

“Just take it. When the Witness accepts the Extractor, the tool will take its proper form.”

“What do you—”

“Just… take it, Pooh.”

I ran my fingertips down the jeweled hilt. It was a truly breathtaking piece of ancient artwork.

“Pick it up. It’s yours now.”

When I carefully lifted the antique artifact, it glowed, faded, and then disappeared altogether.

“Wha… What happened? Did I do something wrong?”

Drella quickly grabbed my hand, turning it palm up before growling under his breath. “It’s in your nail. Dammit.”

“My
what
?”

“Your right thumbnail. Look.”

“Seriously? My thumbnail is metal now?”

“Not metal. Well, not any kind of metal that will set off alarms. It’s called Prisalyn. Just make sure you keep them painted and no one will notice.”

“Well,
that
won’t be a problem. I’m never too far away from some rockin’ awesome nail polish. Got a super sparkly one in my bag as we speak.” I chuckled. “Hey… Drell? What’s with the scowl? This is great, no? I was worried about keeping up with it. This way, I’ll only lose it if I lose a finger.”

“I’m not scowling.”

“Yeah, you are, Babe. Stop it. Your brow gets all wrinkly when you do that. It scares me. Makes me think you’re about to get into a fight.”

He ignored me.

“…Drell?”

“Let me see the pendant,” he grumbled, snatching it.

“Hang on. Don’t get the chain caught in my hair. Jeez, Drell. Calm down.”

He continued to ignore me as he laid the green stone we had taken from St. Anthony’s, just below the brown one I had found whilst studying in Jordan. I watched as his lips moved, but he didn’t make a sound. After a few seconds, he held the long chain up. The pendant dangled from it, now whole.

“Wow. It’s almost
pretty
now.”

He gently slipped it over my head. Still, he did not speak.

“So… now when I mediate and find myself in the Nether, I can just walk right back out.”