AllFreeNovel
Share Us
All heat has evaporated from my body, and I’m starting to shiver despite the pleasant realm temperature. “You know, I think I’m going to leave.”
“I’ll come with you,” Miriam insists.
With a tight smile, I tell her to stay and enjoy the festivities. She tries to argue with me. But I silence her with a stiff hug, before stomping from the field. Visions of the Void haunting my thoughts.
******
Back in my apartment, I try to piece together what took place at the festival. A knock at the door interrupts that task. It’s Miriam.
“Hey, I thought you were staying at the festival,” I say ushering her inside and over to my tiny couch, where we cram in together tightly.
“No chance. I wasn’t about to leave you alone after what happened. That was truly bizarre, and more than a little intriguing. I think it’s time to spill.”
“Where do I start?” I sigh.
“How about with how and why you came to The Between? Oh, and Eleos…and what did you mean about the dinner?” She is speaking so quickly her words are rambling together.
“Okay, here goes everything…”
I start by telling Miriam about the Challenge win. Then I explain part of the prize was a dinner with the gods on Mount Olympus.
“So that’s why Apollo mentioned your replacement.”
“Yes, I think so. My best guess is that it was Alexandraya.”
Miriam gasps, “Of course it was,” she says sarcastically.
My mouth has become dry. I swallow the lump forming in my throat before proceeding with the events that brought about my inhabitancy in this realm. Through a high-pitched voice that sounds foreign in my head, I continue speaking, starting with the kidnapping—how I was wrenched from my bed in the obscured nocturnal hours. My voice drops to a whisper when I mention the Void.
I feel a light squeeze in my palm and look down to see that Miriam has picked up my right hand with both of hers. The gesture helps me persevere.
I resume the narrative with the appearance of Eleos and the cryptic message she conveyed before vanishing. Finally, I tellher about my rescue, and the loss of my Propensity power. That being the catalyst for my decision to relocate to The Between.
At some point during the story, I abstractedly pulled my legs to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. Just like I did in the Void.
Miriam’s normally sunny disposition has turned thunderous. She reaches over and dabs the tears I didn’t realise had trickled from my eyes with the back of her sleeve. “I’m sorry that happened to you, too.”
My stomach twists into a knot. “Too?”
“I was also taken from my hut in the middle of the night. Then dumped in the Zen River,” she says tightly.
“Oh Miriam, I remember that awful day. It was one of the worst things to have ever happened on an otherwise peaceful Evolirium. Did you see who did that to you? Do you know who it was?” I ask desperately.
“No, I didn’t see anything. It all happened so quickly. Before I knew it, High Power Omnisensus was fishing me out of the water. Even though I hadn’t then chosen my Propensity and received my coloured finger, my magic was eradicated. Whoever was responsible took everything from me. The whole stupid stunt nearly cost me my life. What’s ironic is that I wish I could return to Evolirium. I still feel like a part of me is missing. The memory of my former magic still haunts me.”
Miriam’s anguish mirrors my own. I miss my power. Even though average and unpredictable, I feel naked without it. Lost. And I also miss Evolirium. Try as I might to forget it, my thoughts habitually wander there—to Roman, and Braxton…especially Braxton.
Reining in those faraway thoughts, a random question pops into my mind, “Who was the girl you bound in chains on Evolirium?”
“Alexandraya,” she responds, and we both look at each otherin a lightbulb moment.
“Do you think the TON were responsible? There were so many rumours saying they were guilty straight after your incident.”
“The TON?” Miriam says tilting her head to the side, brows drawing together.
“It stands for ‘Trio of Nightmares’. It’s the name I made up for Alexandraya, Melodie and Davina when I first arrived on Evolirium,” I say embarrassed.
Miriam stifles a giggle, despite the misery of reliving her past trauma. “I thought so at first because Alexandraya openly threatened me in the classroom and both Melodie and Davina do everything she demands. I begged High Power Omnisensus to investigate my theory. He soon confirmed Alexandraya was spotted with both Melodie and Davina at the Etherial Room at the time of my incident, therefore ruling her out of any involvement. I left the realm the following day.”
