AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I can’t believe you were lost for so long,” Savannah says for probably the millionth time. “I would have been terrified. I was so scared that you were gone forever, like that missing person poster. Who was it?”
Savannah hasn’t let me out of her sight since my return except for while I was being interrogated by the authorities. She won’t even let me shower alone, sitting on the toilet while I do.
“Michael, that was his name,” Gail throws in. “Michael MacGregor.”
It takes a moment to register what they’re talking about but then I remember the poster we saw at the train station when we arrived. A few days for them, but it’s been weeks for me.
“Fortunately not,” I say. I try to make my smile reassuring, but my thoughts are so far away from here, it’s hard.
“There were search parties and everything,” Savannah goes on.
“Yeah,” I agree. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to cause such a fuss.”
I’ve said sorry a lot since my return. My classmates keep expressing their concerns, which I appreciate. The thing is, I don’t feel sorry. I haven’t really felt anything since my return. This world seems less real than it did. It’s unimportant, like we’re all living in a thinning façade and if I look too closely, I’ll see the flaws and cracks in what we all accept as reality. As I did in the Fae realms. Like I’m walking in a perfect glamour, but don’t look. When you look, everything falls apart.
Savannah places her arm over my shoulders and slides across the bench seat of the van, holding me tight. Professor Galmatin is sitting in the front behind the driver and even he is oddly quiet. He has barely spoken since my return. I can’t imagine the stress he was under with losing a student under his care. I don’t think he has recovered yet. Probably be the last trip abroad he takes.
I stare out the window as the van trundles down the road, taking us to the airport. I’m connected to this land. Its grip on my heart is no longer tenuous and definitely not imaginary. There is a phantom pain as if ice cold fingers grip my soul and it's being stretched as we race away.
Duncan. Live. You have to live.
Empty fields roll past, delineated by a long running fence with evenly spaced posts. A raven sits on top of a post. As we pass, I lock eyes with it. It caws and I hear it in my head more than with my ears.
The fae isn't done with me yet.
That’s okay. I’m not done with them either.
“I’m really glad you’re okay,” Savannah says softly. “Seriously, I was so scared. How am I supposed to live without you?”
I force myself to tear my eyes off the passing countryside. We’re leaving the highlands behind, the fields flattening and giving way to farmland which makes it somehow easier. This isn’t the land that has a hold on my soul.
“Me too,” I say, honestly.
“That fog was so thick,” Savannah says. “I tried to find you then at last they made us take shelter before the storm broke. I can’t believe you were out there alone. And you found a hermit lady. How strange is that?”
“I’m glad I did,” I say. “I don’t know how I would have survived without Alesoun.”
“You’re home now. That’s what matters.”
“Home,” I say, a deep, melancholic sadness blanketing my heart.
I hold back the tears by swallowing hard and looking away. Did Duncan survive? Did any of them? How do I get back? I’m going to; there is no question of that. The only question is how?
I close my eyes and rest my head against the window. The vibrations from the humming tires are soothing as I let my thoughts drift.
I’m at a crossroads but this time neither path is clear. I have to choose, but in my heart, I know no matter which one I do, there are going to be consequences. What are they? How do I choose when I don’t know?
“Are you okay?” Savannah asks, her voice far away.
“Yeah,” I say, not opening my eyes and thereby not leaving the crossroads in my mind. “Just thinking.”
“What about?”
“Choices. The choices we make and the consequences of them.”
“Heavy thoughts.”
“I know. How do you choose the path forward when you don’t know the consequences?”
