Talis Man

13 | Kathy

"Where should we go, Talis Man?" I pull my arm away from his grip. "Because I'm surely never going to wherever Levon, his girlfriend, and creepy little Siegrist are going and I most definitely do not want to go back to The Host. And I don't particularly want to stay in the forest with you."

His eyes narrow. He drops the hood off his head. His hair is long and wild but the top is swiped into a bun. It takes me aback. My charm has a man bun? Viking hair? I guess I was so used to staring at my charm, I never thought about what his hair looked like.

"Wherever you decide to go," he says, voice low. "I go."

My stomach gurgles. "Would you go to town with me so I can get some food?"

He looks around and says, "Did The Host not speak with you?"

"The Host? You mean Levon?"

He grits his teeth. "I mean The Host."

"No," I say, "Levon told me some rules and stuff."

"And you spoke of me?"

I nod and peer around him. Ah, the beautiful call of the Siren. I'd follow her beautiful sound to the moon and back but before I get to listen to another note, he moves to stand in front of me again.

He says, "You should not have told him of me."

"How could I possibly know that?" I throw my hands up. "No one has told me anything. I have these letters to read. Levon told me something about Leavers and Protectors. Something about saving my mom. That you," I gesture to him, "are my charm but now you're real." I pace back and forth. "What the hell is going on?"

"Lyla?" His voice vibrates through my chest. It makes me stop. Completely, totally stop. "I cannot come with you into the Lifeworld. I can only come with you to The Host and to the Otherworld. I can take you to food but I cannot take you if you head into the Lifeworld," he says. "But if you do not listen to me, I cannot stop you. Know this, do not speak to anyone. Levon should have told you this rule." He touches my arm again but I pull it back. "Stay with me and I will take you-"

The singing, it's back.

"This," he says, pushing me towards the wood line. "This is from a Hiyulah. They are evil, dark things that want you." He pushes me again, harder. "Run, Lyla."

So I do, with Talis behind me. We break through the brush and the limbs which scratch against my arms until sunlight bursts through the canopy and opens into the yard. I stop right as the grass swipes against my legs. The driveway and my g-rents house are bathed in the light from the cloudless sky. And for a moment, I forget Talis is with me but the moment is fleeting.

"When you turn from the Siren," he says, jerking me back into the surreal reality. "You cannot hear it. So when the Siren sings you must turn from it."

I sigh. "Okay."

The breeze whips around my face. So many thoughts sprint through my mind while I trudge through the yard to the porch. The porch swing is brand new. It looks unreal against the peeling-paint-porch backdrop. What else looks unreal, unnatural? I'm not sure anymore. Sirens are real. Levon is with his Protector and apparently his girlfriend, Tessa. My grandparents are on vacation, somehow, though they are so ancient, I don't know how they could manage do it. Their house is terrifying. Talis Man is behind me. He's real. Unnatural but real.

He's real.

So this is all real then?

I'm so hungry and something about expired cereal and stale coffee does not sound good. With that thought, I head inside the house and grab Levon's keys on the table. Getting some fresh air, far away from this place, or at least to that restaurant bar thing mom and Levon talked about, might help me sort through these thoughts. It's just too much at once, you know? Way too much. And, if I leave this house, I might find that my head clears and everything goes back to normal, and if that's the case, I'll call the fire department to come here and check the carbon monoxide levels because maybe all of this is from poisoned air leaching from the ground. But, also, maybe a dose of waffle fries and peanuts will help me decide what's real and what's not.