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“Mom, I never thought I would be putting you in a plastic bag.” I laugh a little harder and cry. I have been walking a knifes edge and this moment is so fucking weird. Kreed stands next to me and grabs the bag to open it. I slowly shake my mother into her plastic coffin. “Add some chicken and we can have some shake and bake.” I laugh harder, wiping my tears on my shoulder. I look up at Kreed who is looking at me in confusion. The man has no idea what shake and bake is. I calm down and get mom poured into the bag and put her back into the urn. I pull the end drawer open and grab out the packing tape. I pull a few strips and tape the lid down to itself. “Okay. I’m ready, Kreed. Hopefully, this is the right decision and you’re not going to murder me.”
Kreed stifles a laugh, “If I wanted to kill you I would have already. No point in drawing it out.”
“Gee, that makes me feel swell, Kreed.” He gives me a half smile. Then, he looks at me with a concerned face. “Yes?”
“I know you don’t want to complete the bond but it may happen while we are traveling. Tethers kind of pick and choose when they want to complete. I know I have hugged you and just gave you a kiss but we would be able to pull away from that. On the journey there,” he trails off for a moment as I connect the dots. “I won't be able to let you go.” He shuffles from side to side. Clearly not wanting to make me uncomfortable or mad. For someone who is so big and menacing looking, he looks very boyish right now. It’s quite endearing.
“Shit. Okay yeah. Uh-What–How does the bond work?”
“The hand holding, hugs, basically skin on skin will pull us together but then there is a place we will have to go to solidify the bond. We pulled away the first time so it’ll choose when to do it again but I think it also takes in the person's wants and needs. It’s alive in its own way.”
“Oh, well, it’s inevitable right? No time like the present.” I step into him and I can see the pulse in his neck skyrocket. My heart is thudding in my chest. He steps back and I frown.
“Dana, I want this. I have wanted my tether for centuries but you do not. I’m not going to force this on you. I don't want to be your consolation prize.”
“Oh gods, Kreed. That's not what I meant, I’m sorry. My head isn’t screwed on right. I don't think you're a consolation prize but I’m guessing this is inevitable. I didn’t want it to happen while we were teleporting or whatever you call it and scare me and I let go and I end up falling through space and time. That would be a real grand way to end my real shit week.” Kreed steps forward and hugs me. I huff and puff into his chest. “I’m so sorry Kreed. I’m such a bitch.” Kreed rubs my back.
“It’s fine, Dana. I get it.”
“No, it’s really not. I shouldn’t have said that. You have been nothing but the perfect gentleman.”
“People say things they don't mean when they are hurting. It doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt me but I get it. Now, let’s put mom in your backpack and we can lock the front and back doors. We can come back in a few weeks if you would like but I would like to get you out of here for a while. Okay?”
“Yeah.” I think about all the things I have. Am I missing anything? Do I need to lock up anything else or grab something? I was fired from my job, I guess being a no show opens space for someone else. I did pack my scissors and clippers. In case I wanted to shave my head.
You know, have a crisis and all.
“Wait, do we have a minute? I want to go through my mom’s boxes.”
“Yeah, do you want some company?”
“Yeah, that would be nice.” I grabbed his hand and headed towards the basement door. “This is where Noah and I found out there were other worlds. I was hoping it was an elaborate hoax.” I laugh at the memory. Then sober quickly when I get down the stairs. I have lost so much. Two of the only people who have been in my life have gone. One willingly and one not.
Suck it buttercup, we’re gonna change our life starting now.
I walk over to the few boxes I have of my mother's things. I didn’t go through them when I packed it. I just grabbed all the things that looked important and stuffed them in boxes. Too distraught to deal with what life handed me at the time. I pull one down and Kreed is right there to grab it from me.
“Let me. I'll pull them down, you do the sifting.” I nod and smile at him. I pop a squat on the floor and tear the box top open. I pull out her favorite scarf and her favorite brightly striped sweater. She wore this on her days off in the colder months. Sitting at her chair by the window reading her favorite fantasy novels I’m surprised it’s not full of holes. I can’t believe I just blindly packed this stuff and it’s been sitting here in a dark basement for years now.
I hold it close to my face and breathe in deep. It still smells faintly like her. Before I start crying uncontrollably I fold it and put it to the side. Meanwhile, Kreed has pulled down the last three boxes. I sift through more of her stuff. There’s only nicknacks and cd’s. I push that box to the side and pull another in front of me.
This one had her books. Her favorite fantasies with action and a badass heroine. She probably liked the fantasies because she missed home. Was she one of those badass heroines? Was she good with a sword? Or axes? Maybe something different. A whip or bow and arrow? I always hoped to be a little like her favorite heroines. They always walked with their heads held high, no room for bullshit and could sever the head of a fly with one swipe of their sword. I think I will aim to be a little more like my mom. Strong. Unbreakable.
I sort through the books and came across a journal. I set the journal on top of the sweater to take with me. I keep sorting through and find a rectangle box. The top slides open and there are probably one hundred envelopes in it. I pull one out and it is addressed to me. What? I picked out another one that's also addressed to me. And the next one. And the next one. I put the envelopes back in the little box and set them to the side, by the journal.
I push that box aside and when I see it is just more books. I pull the next one. This one is full of bank statements and small velvet bags full of gold coins, silver coins, uncut gems. Fuck. I’ve been sitting on a gold mine. Why in the hell did we live in such a tiny apartment? Maybe this was just in case shit hit the fan? Did I not pay attention to what I was packing when I packed? Did I throw away important papers? Or heirlooms? Fuck, that makes me queasy that something important to her might be rotting in a landfill.
I hold a few of the gold coins up to get a better look in the pitiful lighting. Kreed comes to sit next to me. “These are the currencies of Bathaile. We sent her with plenty of gold, silver and gems to keep her afloat. While she sought the information we needed.” I look over at him. This close I can see the multitude of different greens in his eyes, it’s unnatural. Well, for Earth anyway. The white scars on his cheek stand out against his freckles. His nose is slightly crooked with a little bump on the bridge. I shake myself out of my thoughts.
“It’s funny to see this,” I say with a wave of my hand over the spilled gems, “when she worked two jobs and we lived in a small upstairs apartment all my life. Till the day she died.”
“Maybe she saved it, so if you guys needed to leave or escape you could. Since she couldn't portal back and we couldn’t bring her more money. Gods, it hurts my soul knowing she was stuck here. How many times did she try to come back? We practically grew up together, she was family. We weren’t that far apart in age. We hung out in the same social circles.” He pulls more out of the box and finds a couple of thin, square boxes. I take one and he takes the other. I open the box and I’m blown away by the delicate tiara laying in it. Gold, with woven vines all along the band. Five little spears each with an uncut dark green gem topping it. The gems have veins of gold swirling through them.
“Woah, is this my mothers?” I ask, turning toward him. He looks at me and then down at the tiara.
“Yeah, it is. She loved this one. She has many back home but this is the one she always wore. Li-ana still has tiaras commissioned for Naomi. She still does every couple of years.” We go silent for a moment while I look at every detail of this tiara. “I-I think this one is yours.” He hands over a tiara that is almost the same as the one in my hands. This one is silver and the spears all have an uncut dark blue topaz. The middle spear has a black diamond. The headband is identical to my mothers.
“How do you know it’s mine?” I ask, looking at the tiara.
