~ July 10, 2016
Lacey set James in the grass and stood as Holiday and the Seasons neared. She meant to ask, “What do you want,” but it came out as, “What are you doing here?”
“Lacey,” Autumn gasped. “I remember you.”
“Yeah, well, I remember you too,” Lacey crossed her arms.
“Are you the Seasons?” Elias asked.
“Yes,” Summer replied.
“Where’s the other one?”
“She’s still in the lab, probably knows we’re here now.”
“She makes a potion that was a strange effect on our emotions,” Autumn explained. “We’ve been drinking it for years. Now we’ve decided to put an end to this awful experiment.”
“It’s about time,” Lacey sighed. “That’s my son over there,” Lacey gestured to James. “This has been going on for so long that my son and I were both part of a trial.”
Spring looked over at the realm exit in the distance. “Winter will meet us there,” she told them. “When we get there, we’ll get her to stop doing the experiments and stop making the potion.”
“Let’s do it tomorrow,” Summer decided. “These kids have just been through the nightmare realms.”
That night, everyone slept huddled together. Holiday had gone around and checked on everyone before going to sleep. James had woken up when everyone was just falling asleep. He found himself between Alex and Cameron who both had an arm around him. He moved his head around until he located his mom not too far from him.
“Are you awake?” Alex asked.
“Mhm.”
“How are you feeling? Still scared?” Alex worried.
James stared at Alex. He looked older now; it was obvious even in the dark. His hair had grown out in a way that had bothered his eyes at first, but this was something everyone with bangs had gotten used to. His face had used to be rounder, which had made him look a little more feminine. One of the things that hadn’t changed really was the way Alex looked at people like he genuinely cared about them. James remembered the realms where copied of Alex had played with his emotions. He gasped.
“What’s wrong?”
“You’re not straight, are you?”
Alex stared blankly at him for a moment, placing a hand to his chest. “Why would you accuse me of something like that? Of course not,” he laughed. His expression changed when he realized James had really been worried about such a thing. “Hey,” he whispered, stroking James’s hair. “I love you.”
James reached out and hugged Alex, holding him close and letting Alex rest on his chest. “Are you still scared, after your realm?” James questioned.
YOU ARE READING
The Maze of Realms
Adventure[PG13] October doesn't really know what's going on. He just woke up in a room and was told that his name is October and that there are eleven others who live with him. These are the Months. They don't know why they've been gathered into the large ho...
