The Way Home | ONC2021

Chapter 10

"Oh. Nooooo!" She yelps and thrusts her and into her pocket. They come out sticky. "WHYYYYYYY?" She drags in frustration. She looks at the tiny jar that had emptied half its contents into the pocket of her shorts. Immediately, she fixes her mistake by sealing it properly and is about to stand and dust her now ruined shorts when a rancid stench assaults her. 

"Eeeewwwww!" She pinches her nose. "What's this stink!? Where is it coming from!?" She questions in a nasal voice. 

Gabe gasps. "Oh, dear!" He exclaims, "Impossible... How come-" He trails off. 

"Must hide!" Aristotle says in an urgent whisper before vanishing from the opened page of his book. 

The reactions don't go unnoticed by Zhandra. It is precisely at this moment that Alex suddenly sits up and looks at Zhandra. Tears roll down his cheeks. He jumps down from his bed. "Zhan, he took it. He took all of it." He wails, throwing his arms around his sister. 

"Hey, I am right here. And daddy is next door." She reassures, wrapping her brother in a warm embrace. "I won't let anything hurt you, alright?" She promises, stroking the back of his head. "Now that you are up, If you want, I can help you brush and change." She offers, leaning away and smiling at him. 

Alex nods slowly and is about to leave his sister's lap when his eyes fall on something on the floor. It is green and glowing. He yelps and scrambles a few feet away. "Get away from there, Zhan. It's the monster." He pleads his sister with big scared eyes. 

She falls on all fours and looks at the place Alex had pointed out seconds ago. "What is scaring you, Alex? There is nothing under your bed. She pinches her nose as the stench washes over her. 

Alex shakes his head vigorously. "No, there is. There is a monster under my bed. He is the one who has been stealing my crayons!" He replies and starts pulling Zhandra away, stopping her from bending over to take a closer look under the bed. 

Meanwhile, Gabe crawls to the edge of the bed and tries to catch a glimpse of the commotion. The first thing he sees is a blob of green slime. It is unmistakably the residue of the creatures that had once threatened them as well as human beings. But that was almost a millennia ago. After the Washi War between the fairies and Demasters, The Lady had made sure that they won't be able to bother humans again. Even Gabe, a senior-level fairy ( who prided himself about knowing everything that there was to know about the happenings of all three realms, both official and unofficial), had not heard anything about the Demasters entering the human world. So how was it that there was green slime under Alex's bed? What was more concerning was the fact that the said slime looked fresh.

Alarm bells go off in Gabe's mind. "Get away from there!" He commands, startling the kids.

Alex lets go of his sister's arm and turns to the celestial being. His lips quiver; tears start rolling down his cheeks. "It's the monster. It's green and blue. Its eyes are yellow. Gabe, tell Zhan that I am not making it up." He cries, making his voice crack.

Zhandra doesn't move. She, however, narrows her eyes at Gabe. "You know what's in there, don't you?"

Gabe doesn't answer. Ignoring Zhandra's question, he gestures them to come over. 

Alex looks at Zhandra questioningly, and when she nods, he leaves her side and goes over to Gabe. 

The wheels in the girl's mind start turning. She recalls the second line of the riddle. 'It will show what is hiding in plain sight; the path will glow.' Her gaze lands on Gabe, who looks scared. Beads of sweat dot his forehead. 

'He is still refusing to answer my question. Is he scared that if he answers, the oath we have taken will break? If that's the case, then that means that what Alex is seeing has something to do with the riddle.' She pulls out the jar, and on a whim, takes a tiny sip of it. She expects Gabe to say something, but he doesn't; his eyes, however, widen.