The Visitor

Ch. 36 - The Calm

Jared shook his head. "Earl is handling it, don't you worry. Just get some rest okay? You've been through a great deal. Do you need anything?"

"J-just a glass of water." Alysa answered, gripping her head and falling back onto the bed.

Jared once again nodded Rodney out the door as he followed behind to fulfill Alysa's request.

"What do you think she meant, 'We all have our part to play.'?" Rodney asked, descending down the stairs.

"I think there's something coming. Something that could change everything." Jared thought, closing his eyes as he imagined the small children he met in Al's coven, now memories.

"You should be getting home mate, the sun's going down soon." Jared said observing the dimming sky.

Rodney nodded, setting his hands in his pockets as he headed out the door.

"Just ... be careful." Rodney called as he left, looking up at the door to Alysa's room.

Jared carefully opened the door and set the glass down on the nightstand, happy that Alysa was peacefully sleeping and no longer trapped in her own subconscious.

He shut the door and after making his way back to the lounge chair thought of just how much had changed over these past few months.

Meeting Alysa, everything they'd been through, when she was kidnapped, when he and Rodney went searching for her, when they managed to get her out, and now the coven ...

How could something be worse than what had already happened.

The mere thought sent shivers down his spine.

Alysa stirred upstairs reaching for the water.

As she looked into the glass she thought of the water surrounding her, and how she'd almost succumbed to falling deeper than she could escape from.

She closed her eyes and took a sip letting the cool liquid wash down her throat.

She stared at the blank ceiling, wondering to herself.

What separated this world and the void she had been stuck in?

Both were shrouded in a layer of darkness that threatened to smother any light it found.

People like Mark Daegon sought to control what they could not explain and in doing so diminish the beauty that was held within this world.

Thinking back throughout the ages the pattern of good against evil was always evident.

Wars, conflicts, genocides, battles, and destruction.

Humanity could never agree to disagree; they had to be in constant argument, constant aggression.

She let her eyes drift closed once more blocking out the thoughts of death.

With the signs surrounding her that the storm was nearly upon them, she needed to reserve her limited strength.

Earl came through the front door locking it as he did, tired from a day of arguing with the townsfolk.

Why people never believed him was beyond his comprehension.

She's just a girl like any other. So what if she can make things float or heal people. She's not hexing us left and right.

He sighed, thinking it may be time to pack up shop and move along.

As much as he loved this town, and the shop was his great-grandmothers the wind's had changed.

He looked around the tiny shop before making a cup of tea and joining Jared in the back room.

"What do you think about getting out of town my boy?" He asked, gently sipping on the warm mug.

"You mean like... leaving?" Jared responded, blinking into the dancing fire.

"Yes." Earl answered, warming his hands on the cup.

"Be-because of everything that's going on? I mean it makes sense, but this is our home. We've never been anywhere else..." Jared said, looking out the window. The world suddenly seemed so much bigger.

"It's never too late for an adventure." Earl chuckled winking at Jared as the two shared a loving laugh.

"It will be hard to say goodbye to this old place, but it may be time." Earl spoke solemnly.

And suddenly the room seemed colder as a shadow hung over the Faloris house.

Their time had run out.