Winged (Aetharian Narratives) (13 page)

There was only one person who had ever been recorded as owning it. C. Riley was the only name that had been listed as owner of the house since its construction. As many times as I had been through all the books in our library researching, I had never come across the name except in the listing as the property owner of 1 Celestial Court. Since no one had ever seen anyone enter or come out of the house, I was afraid that C. Riley was dead in the kitchen. Or I would have been, that is, if I didn’t also wonder who would pay the property tax on the place if that were the case.

I looked over at Mom. She had as much fear in her eyes as I was sure I did.

She looked at me and gave me a quivering smile. “We have to see her, Emma. I…” her voice trailed off. There seemed to be a lot going on in her head. “I should have brought you here a long time ago.”

“Who is she?” I said. “Why do we have to see her?”

Mrs. Amest put a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, dear. All your questions will be answered soon.”

Mom wrapped her arm around my shoulders and gave me a big squeeze. “I love you so much.”

Mrs. Amest looked at her husband and nodded.

He took a step forward and lifted the knocker on the door. After a moment’s pause he slammed it against the door three times. Mom tightened her grip at the sound of the clanging metal.

Considering the size of the house, I was surprised that only a few moments passed before we heard the doorknob turn. The ancient wood creaked and the door was pulled open. But it was opened by the last person I expected. A teenage girl stepped out of the darkness. She looked around the group.

She looked at the Amests and then at me.

Her blond hair was braided and pulled up in a circle around the top of her head. She wore a long, silky, purple dress. From the looks of her, she had to be close to my age.

“Only an Aetherian can see this house for what it is,” she said.

I shifted on my feet uncomfortably. Her eyes didn’t leave me for a moment from the second they found me.

“You are not one of us.”

Mr. Amest stepped over the threshold into the house. The girl let go of the door and took a couple of steps back into the house.

“I lifted the knocker,” he said.

“Fine,” she said with an air of snobbishness in her voice. “But why did you bring an outsider here?”

“She’s not an outsider,” said a new voice.

Everyone looked away from the girl and into the shadows of the house. A much older woman was walking toward the door now. She looked to be about eighty years old, but she walked with the swiftness and speed of a person much younger. The heavy skirt of her dress swished with her movement.

“I told you to answer the door,” she said to the girl. “I do not remember asking you to interrogate our house guests.”

“I wasn’t interrogating them,” the girl said. “I wanted to know why they brought an outsider within the gates.”

Even if her hair had not been pulled up into a huge bun on her head, the lady would have stood inches taller than the young girl next to her. Her thin, wrinkled lips broke into a smile when she looked at me.

“Like I said,” she said, “she is not an outsider.”

The girl looked me up and down with a sneer on her face. “Well, she certainly doesn’t
look
like one of us.”

I frowned. She reminded me of Emily far more than I wanted.

“Now, Arie, what have I told you?” the lady said. “Appearances can be deceiving. Please, come in.” She waved us into the house.

I didn’t move when the Amests walked forward. Mom gave me a small push in the back and we entered. I stood next to Mr. Amest in the cavernous room. It was too dark to see anything inside. The girl closed the door behind us and what little light there was disappeared completely.

“Arie, please turn on the lights,” the lady’s voice floated out of the dark.

I heard the sound of footsteps on the stone floor and saw the outline of the girl walk to a nearby wall. She pulled a lever down. A chandelier on the ceiling lit up. Individual lamps around the room filled with light as well.

“Well, Emma, I have been expecting your visit for a very long time now,” said the lady. “I would have expected you to have come sooner.” She looked at Mom. “Much sooner.”

Mom looked nervous. “I’m very sorry, Celeste. I could have brought her sooner, but—”

“It’s fine, Cordelia,” she said. “She’s here now, and that’s all that matters for the time being.”

She walked over to Mom and gave her a hug.

“Corinne, Arian, it’s good to see you,” she said, turning to Mr. and Mrs. Amest.

“It’s great to see you, too, Celeste,” said Mr. Amest.

“You’re looking well,” said Mrs. Amest.

She leaned forward for a hug, too.

“Yes, yes,” the lady said. “I’m getting up in years, but I’m still surviving…”

“Where’s Viper?” the girl said, looking around the room.

“We made him go to school today,” said Mrs. Amest. “He has some things to take care of there.”

The lady turned around to face me again. “Emma, I’m Celeste Riley,” she held her hand out to me.

I shook it. “Celeste Riley?” I said with a curl in my lip. I half expected everyone to start laughing. “You can’t be. That’s impossible.”

“Oh, is it?” Ms. Riley said with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes,” I said, stunned that we were even having the conversation. “I’ve looked through all the record books in our library. C. Riley would have to be…”

“Two hundred years old, from the information you would be able to find,” she said. “But in actuality, I am much older than that.”

I had to keep all of the muscles in my face in check to keep from smiling. “You’re … two hundred years old.”

I didn’t know if I should be amused or extremely concerned about the situation.

She smiled at me and looked over her shoulder. “Well, it seems that Arie has run off.”

I hadn’t noticed that the girl wasn’t standing over by the wall anymore, but I wasn’t about to let go of the subject that easily.

“Seriously, what do you—?”

“I guess that means that it’s lunchtime," she said. "All of you will join us, won’t you?”

I looked at the others. Mom put her hand on my shoulder and nodded.

“Of course, Celeste,” Mom said. “We’d love to join you.”

VI

A reunion

I am starting to hope that the earth has somehow melted away and I am simply taking hours to fall through its center. I open my eyes in an attempt to confirm my optimism when I feel something hard smash against the back of my head. The impact makes my head collide with the head in front of me. All thoughts of hope, concern, or anything else lingering in my head slip from my mind’s grasp. There are explosions of red fireworks before my eyes and I know all hope is lost.

* * *

“Lunch is out on the balcony on the second floor,” Ms. Riley said. “I hope you like fruit.” We made our way to a staircase on the side of the entrance hall and walked up the stairs.

Now that the room was filled with light I could see that the walls were covered with large tapestries. I looked at the tapestries as we walked by. Each one was about twelve feet tall and six feet wide. There were trees on them with quite a few boxes and lines. I figured they were all family trees. There had to be around eight of them in the room. We reached the second floor and walked along the balcony to a glass door. Ms. Riley pulled the door open and walked outside. I seemed to be the only one concerned with the temperature outside of the door; everyone else followed her without question.

“This place is protected,” Ms. Riley said. “Weather is not a concern out here.”

The surprise on my face must have been evident when I found that the temperature on the balcony was quite pleasant. The girl was already sitting at a table with a bowl in front of her. I walked to the edge and looked over the marble railing. There was a group of kids wandering around in the wooded area.

“Can’t they see us?”

“They could,” Ms. Riley said without looking. “But only if they knew what they were looking for.”

I looked at her. “Pardon?”

Ms. Riley sat down next to the girl. “If they knew that they would see a balcony with people walking around on it then, yes, they would be able to see us. If they didn’t know what to expect they would look up and simply overlook us.”

“Ah,” I said, “okay.”

I went to the table and sat down next to Mom. I didn’t even try to make sense of what I’d just heard and did what I could to keep the confusion off of my face. Mom passed me a bowl of fruit salad. I took the ladle and scooped some into the smaller bowl sitting in front of me. I put the bowl in the middle of the table and looked at Ms. Riley. The girl was staring at me over her slice of spiced bread.

“I am so sorry, Emma,” Ms. Riley said, putting her spoon down. “Emmeline, this is Arabella, my niece. We call her Arie. She comes to visit me often to keep me company. I’m sorry if she was rude to you when you first arrived. She isn’t accustomed to seeing someone quite like you.”

“And what exactly do you mean by
someone quite like me
?” I said.

I knew redheads were hard to come by, but I didn’t think people found the color of hair
that
strange.

Ms. Riley looked at me. “You know, different,” she decided was the right word.

I stared at her. I was still confused and had no idea what she was talking about. She looked at Mom. I did the same in time to see Mom shake her head at Ms. Riley.

“Ah,” she said, somewhat amused. “Well, we will discuss that a little later then.”

Though I didn’t look at them, I could feel everyone watching me. I tried to eat the bowl of fruit in front of me, but I wasn’t very hungry. If it were a normal day I would be eating my lunch with Viper, laughing at the poor soccer player who’d tricked Hannah under some mistletoe and gotten slapped in his attempt to kiss her. But no, here I sat pretending that I didn’t notice everyone staring at me. Though, I supposed it wasn’t something that didn’t already happen every day.

I tossed around subjects in my mind to get everyone to talk again.

“So,” I said, “what is this place?”

“Are you kidding me?” Arie said. “Not only does she not look like us, she doesn’t even know where she is.”

“Arie, hush,” Ms. Riley said in a much stricter voice than she had previously used. “Emma cannot help that she has been shut out of our world for so long. I have very high hopes for her right now and you should not be talking to her in such a way.”

“Excuse me,” I said. I did not like the feeling of being as lost as I felt within their conversation. “I’m sorry but I have no idea what is happening here or what you are talking about.”

“That isn’t our problem,” Arie said. “You shouldn’t even be here.”

“Arie, stop it,” Ms. Riley said. “Emma has as much right to be here as any of us do.”

“Why?” Arie said, her voice all but reaching a scream. “You think she’s going to be able to save us? Time is running out and you think a complete outsider will be able to do something?”

“Arie,” Ms. Riley said, “You do not understand the situation—”

“I don’t care if I don’t,” she said. “It’s hopeless. There’s no hope for any of us. We won’t be saved, especially by someone that isn’t even one of us.”

“But she is, Arie,” said Mrs. Amest. “She
is
one of us.”

“No, she’s not. Look at her. How can she be one of us? What does she
do
?”

“I’m sorry,” Mom said.

Everyone looked at her.

“Arie has a reason to say what she has,” she said. “As of right now Emma isn’t one of us because she doesn’t know anything. I’m sorry that I didn’t do my job when I started seeing the signs. We should be able to put our hopes in her. We should want her to try to help us,” she said and looked at me, “and she doesn’t even know why.”

I looked at them, dumbstruck. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t even know what to think.

“So, what exactly is going on here?” I said. “What is all of this about?”

“Emma,” Mom said, “I’m so sorry that I’ve always kept you in the dark. I didn’t want you to freak out or think I was crazy. I tried so hard to keep you away from it. I guess I did too good of a job.”

“It’s time you knew,” said Ms. Riley. “It’s time you knew everything. Emma, we are different people than those in the world you know.” She got up and walked to the balcony railing. “There is another world you belong to with different people about which you’ve never been told.”

Everyone looked at me.

“Um, okay…” I said.

“You see?” Arie said. “She doesn’t even believe you.”

I started laughing. “Two worlds? Different people? Come on, you can’t be serious.”

“But we are, sweetie,” Mom said. “Please hear what we have to say.”

I sighed and nodded for her to continue.

“Ever heard of Atlantis, Emma?” said Ms. Riley.

“Yes,” I said. “Are you trying to tell me that you guys are Atlanteans?”

Things sounded more and more ridiculous as the seconds passed.

“Somewhat,” she said. “And you’ve heard of the Garden of Eden, right?”

“Of course…”

“Atlantis, the Garden of Eden: you’ve read or heard about the place we are from many different times in various ways throughout your life. Though they don’t exist in the reality you know, they do exist as one place.”

“One place?” I said. “You just said each existed.”

“Honey, they are all the same place,” Mom said.

“So, you guys are telling me those places are real?”

“Yes, dear,” Ms. Riley said. “They are Aetheria.”

I shook my head. “I have never heard of that place before.”

“The Christian Bible’s creation story is true,” said Ms. Riley, “but not precise. You take theology class, right?”

“Right,” I said.

“In your theology class you were always taught that God created the Garden of Eden and put all of nature, the animals, man, and woman in it, yes?”

“Yes,” I said. “So that’s really how everything started?”

“It is but not exactly,” she said. “You see, we don’t know if God really created the universe and everything in it, or if He really exists for that matter. No one will ever really know for sure until it is revealed to us when He sees fit. All anyone can do is have faith and believe that He does. Have faith that there is a reason to do good in the world in which we live. That faith should be what is behind everything we do.”