unreachable
This isn't what she thought she'd be doing today. Visit Sin, maybe do some work. She had interviews she wanted to look over. She still had her hopes up about finding Thor the God of Thunder.
Take a stroll with the dead? Nope, not on her to do list. Maybe she could fit it in tomorrow.
All it took was Jedda touching her in the middle of her forehead. It was like he pushed her soul right out of her body. Turning, she was able to watch him do the same to Zon.
As soon as cat Zon was back at her side, he roared and ran at someone else in the room with them.
A little old lady smiled at her, while another little old lady tried to shoo away the enormous cat. They were both dressed like they were from the fifties.
There was no one else in the room. "Jedda, I think you messed up. There's no one else here. Jedda? Ritz, can you hear me?"
She couldn't hear Ritz, but she could feel her. She could feel all of them. "Jedda?"
There was still no answer. "Zon, stop chasing that old lady and help me figure out what went wrong."
Zon crouched low, then leaped at the old lady. Like a puff of air, they disappeared until she was the only one left in the room.
That wasn't good.
Doors appeared all around her. In front of her she could just make out Kellum calling to her, so she faced the other direction and opened the door. She wouldn't go back till she found Lusiana's monster.
Seeing her dad in this room, she tried to turn back, but the door closed, and other doors appeared.
She refused to face him. "Go away. I don't want to see you. I don't want to hear anything you have to say."
She went through the nearest door and this time she came up behind him. Her dad turned to face her.
Shaking her head, she closed her eyes and felt along the wall for another door. When she came upon her father again, she took a deep breath. "Go away. You have nothing to say that I want to hear."
"You don't need to hear it, you need me to say it."
She didn't want to hear his voice. She ran across the room and opened another door. This one still held her father, but he was younger in this one and he was only moments from leaving. "Go away! Jedda, don't leave me here. Zon?"
No matter how many doors she opened, they all held her father. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"
"You don't need to hear it; you need me to say it."
Finally, she stopped running. "Then say it. If it means you leaving, then say it."
"I was wrong. You were never like me. You're like her."
"I already know that."
"You needed to know that I know it. Goodbye, Jessalynn."
Seeing her dad walk away, she felt like that kid he abandoned years ago. "Don't go."
"I always walk out." His face saddened. "There's no do overs. All you have to remember is that you're not like me, you're like her."
Kell's voice was to the back of her, but she wouldn't go back, and she refused to go through the door her dad just left through, so she opened another one. This one was empty, but there were voices. Kellum was still behind her, but she could hear Jedda ahead of her. Annie and Adrian.
Before she could open this door, she heard a weak voice call to her. Out of all the voices, it seemed to be the one who needed her the most.
In this room, it was so dark that she couldn't see anything. She almost went back the way she came, but the voice called to her again.
"My Queen, I can't find you. Why do you stay hidden from me? My Queen? My King?"
Jess reached in the darkness and found a hand that engulfed hers. It was cold and trembled.
"My Queen?"
"It's me, Pensley. You don't have to keep looking, you found me."
"I don't know the way out. I keep looking."
"We'll find it together. Frey, is looking for you."
"I can't feel her, my Queen. I lost her in the dark."
"Don't let go of my hand." She led him back to the door she'd come from, but instead of finding the other room, she found a room covered in paint.
"The colors run. It is always the same. What do you think it means?"
Thankful it was no longer pitch black, she smiled at him. "The others are here. We must find them."
"I cannot, my Queen. I have tried. It is always the same three rooms. The dark room, this one, and the one with the sounds of war all around me. I knew you were lost in the dark, so I kept going back to it."
"Okay. Jedda said this is a dream walk. I guess your visions could be dream walks and this is a vision you can't escape."
"How long have I been here, my Queen?"
"I'm unsure because I've been lost myself, but I think for a long time."
"I am weakened, my Queen. Before much longer I fear I will not be able to stay on my own feet."
"Well, you're a big guy so let's make sure that doesn't happen." She looked at all the doors again. "I'm looking for Jedda. Can you hear him?"
"I feel him."
"Me too, but I'm not sure which door. Hold tight to my hand, Oak Tree." The door she chose was wrong, and they ended back in the dark room. The next room was the room with the sounds of battle around them.
"I remember this. It was aboard the prison ship. At least it sounds like it. All the fighting and the swords. Hear that? That is Zon roaring. Hurry!"
She pulled him towards the roar but as they entered the room; the fighting ceased and all of it, including cat Zon, vanished.
They were back in the color room and every door she opened led her back to this one room.
"In the dark, you found me. In the war room it was a battle we'd already fought. Did you see these things before you got sick?"
"Yes, My Queen."
"So, all these visions were trying to tell you what was going to happen. In the dark room you found me, and it went away. The battle went away as soon as you knew what it was. In my room I had to listen to my father. They are our ghosts. Not being able to warn your king haunts you, Pensley. You might not know what the color room means but I might. I've already lived it."
He looked so weak that she put her arm around him, but that would be pointless if he went down. He'd just take her with him.
"What do you know about the colors, Pensley?"
"They led me to the darken room where you were."
"Okay. The colors led to me being lost." She looked around the room. Black ran along the floor and now coated her shoes. Silver dripped from the ceiling. There were navy blue patches everywhere and now and then drops of red, yellow, blue, and green would drip from the black.
"Your visions make no sense, Pensley."
She felt Kellum at her back and turned that way, but when she looked, he wasn't there. "Colors. You were seeing what was going to happen. I was lost."
Black covered the floor, quickly overtaking all the other colors. Blue puddled in spots around the room. Silver dripped, but it was also on the floor. Black, blue, and silver. "My enemy is your enemy." She whispered. "It's the elders. They tried to take over everything. They are the reasons I was in the dark."
He vanished from her arms. "Pensley, you better not be dead when I get out of here or I'm coming back, and I will not be happy."
"Jessalynn."
Kell seemed closer so she rushed for the door ahead of her, then at the last minute she stopped herself. If he was one of her ghosts, then she had to stop running from him. She went towards Kellum's voice. When she opened the door, she was back where she started. The two little old ladies. Von was lying down and licking his paws until he saw her. He came to her side.
"Glad to see you. Have you seen, Jedda?"
No answer was forthcoming. "I think we need him to get through this."
She held tight to Von's fur, and it made her feel stronger. "Why were you chasing little old ladies, anyway?"
He licked her free hand.
"You think this is your room?"
She was pretty sure he just shook his head at her.
The old ladies didn't seem able to see or hear them any longer. They talked to others, but she couldn't hear what they said or what was said to them. "I bet this is Annie's room."
"Of course, it is. Why was that damn cat chasing me?"
Zon growled.
Jess shrugged. "I don't think he likes you."
"And who wouldn't like me?"
When she turned around, the room was now full of people. Dozens of them, and they all tried to talk at once.
Jess faced the man who bowed his head at her. "My Queen."
Instincts made her bow her head. "My King. Have you seen Jedda?"
"He was behind you and now he is a head of you."
"I don't know why you're talking to him. Excusing you, your highness, but what do you know about the dream world? Do Syrian's even dream?"
Frowning, the king disappeared.
"Everyone thinks they know everything, and no one knows anything." The old woman grumbled.
"Gloria, be nice." Annie ordered as she appeared.
"Annie! I thought you couldn't be here?" Jess was so glad to see the other girl.
"I'm not here." The other girl smiled. "Not really. I think I always have a foot in this in-between world. Close your eyes and remember why you came here. Once you complete your task, find your tether. It will lead you back. Remember, you're strongest together." Annie looked over Jess's head and when she looked back at her, she was afraid. "You better hurry. He can't fight him alone."
Holding on tight to Zon, she thought about why they were there. To save Lusiana.
As soon as she thought about the other New Ruler, she heard Jedda scream as he fought someone. She and Zon both ran that way. She opened the door and Zon attacked instantly. The man had a red face with horns everywhere and large teeth.
She went to Jedda and put her arm around him so she could help him stand. "I couldn't find you."
"Sorry, my Queen. I got delayed. My King did not react well to not being able to feel you. We must hurry and we must do this together."
"What do we do?"
"Show him who he really is. It will weaken him."
Zon was still in attack mode, but the hideous beast was holding his own against him. When Jess would have gone towards them, Jedda laid his hand on her arm.
"Call him to you."
"Zon, come here, boy. Come here." Cutting her eyes at Jedda, she shrugged. How else would you call a tiger to you? "Zonsonee, come to me."
He stopped and came to stand at her side. "Thank you, Zon."
"We see you for what you really are. Weak. Small and pathetic. Where I come from, a man would never strike a woman. He would never strike his mate. Make him see, my Queen. Zonsonee, give her your strength."
"He's right. You're weak. Only the weak prey on the small. Only the weak prey on someone he is supposed to care for. She's stronger than you and she will be free of you."
He came at her but suddenly, he wasn't a red demon he was the Ratkilgons who tormented her. Two came at her as one heated the metal rod.
"No, my Queen. He feeds on your fears. Use my strength."
Zon wrapped himself around her legs.
They strengthened her. Even when she hadn't had them at her side, she'd never bowed down to these asses. "You hurt everything you touch. Do you really think that makes you stronger than the ones you hurt? No, they are stronger because they stand up against you. Because they keep standing up to you even when that means having to get back up again. The only one here who is weak is you."
The demon was back in front of her, but he was smaller. "I'm not afraid of you. She's not afraid of you. You will be nothing but a bad memory one day and she'll be free of you. The world will be free of you. You're nothing anymore. You can't harm her anymore."
The man left standing in front of her was in his twenties. He was just a man. Just a man who couldn't hurt anyone anymore. "You don't belong here. You can't beat us. She's no longer alone and we won't let you hurt her."
He vanished slowly until there was nothing left.
"Well done, my Queen."
"That wasn't so bad." She smiled, but he didn't smile back at her.
Hearing a sound, he walked towards it. He disappeared before he reached it. When she looked down at Zon, he was already gone.
Double fudgy crap.
She stared at all the doors, but none of them seemed to call to her. She closed her eyes and tried harder. "Julian? Mel and Aunt Sarah?"
She even called to Annie and Jedda, but there was nothing. No sounds from any of the rooms.
Fear kept her from opening one of the doors and having to start all over again.
"I have a tether. I have many who love me. Many who need me."
She closed her ears against the advisors. They seemed to be coming from all the doors now.
"Jessalynn." His voice was strong. His tone urgent. He's need and desperation called to her.
"No, I don't want you to be my tether."
"Why won't you save yourself? Think of somewhere else." She heard the river all around her and she was afraid of what she'd see if she opened her eyes.
She said what she'd said that day. "I want to stay with you. I just want you."