*
From my hut, I collected all I'd need: the money, the vials of blood, and so forth, for the journey back and left as quickly as I'd come. I swept past my locality's hub, where all immortals were required to proffer the details of their comings and goings to and from Danso.
After some time, I launched into the air, putting as much distance as I could between myself and the bordering mountains to the back of me. The Passage loomed closer as the hours passed, leafy trees giving way to lifeless ones.
My heart slammed against my chest, and coupled with the sting in my shoulder, I could hardly breathe. Jumping from one spot to another, my eyes threatened to tear out of my head. Finally, the green glow of an access point seeped through the naked branches. I swooped down for a closer look.
It wouldn't take me to Dorem; I knew this as the access point to the city had always been blue, but I'd be dropped off nearby, not far from Lindima's borders. As I neared the portal, something curled around my leg, and brought me down a few inches over the ground. I dangled in the air, clutching hard at my travelling bag.
Three figures loomed over me. The whispy spirit of a skyweaver hovered behind Akaze, who bared his teeth in his typical sly smile, and Apparis. She threw a parcel to the ground. I groaned, unable to reach for it.
"Take this. I can see your determination knows no bounds."
The skyweaver wrapped its second tail over my waist, pulling me up, and propped me against a tree. It blew Apparis' parcel into my hands, snatching away my travelling bag before I had the time to reflect upon the action. I pulled back the parcel's old paper to reveal a black leather box, inside of which two small vials had been nestled. The brews inside them both were translucent.
"These are weak," I said.
"And they're what I could spare," Apparis snapped. "Be grateful." She rooted through my bag, taking out a waterskin filled with the last of my sacred water. The creases around her eyes faded by a fraction.
"So that's why," I said. "After all of this, you still depend on me for something. You're afraid."
"Of course I'm afraid," she said. "My charges are dying of the plague, and I lose more by the day."
I bit back a retort, hung my head in shame.
"You're a selfish creature, Efua. You no longer deserve to be an immortal," she reprimanded, stealing a glance at Akaze. He looked between the two of us with bemusement. "First him, and now you. Where they find you new immortals, I don't know."
"Please don't bring Eddie into this."
She continued, her hot words fuelled more by my plea, "If these brews aren't good enough for you, I'd be happy to have them back."
Tears stung the corner of my eyes, and my face heated with the anger of having been caught sooner than I would've liked. "I'll take them."
Apparis nodded, latching one of her hands over Akaze's wrist. "We'll have a discussion about this when you return," she said. "I expect you at my home within the following week. Until then."
They both disappeared, leaving me. I looked up at the skyweaver that'd been left behind. It stared at me for a second, it's green, reptilian eyes shining, and then swerved through the branches, melting into the shadows.
With not much else to do, I stood up and tucked the box beneath my arm, bracing myself as I passed through the portal.
Little time passed before a glowing opening tore ahead of me, through which I hurtled, into the mortal world. My body collided harshly against the floor of a wooden bridge. A man, who'd been whistling to himself, whipped his head around, and his mouth fell open, just as I scurried away.
It was still early; grey had begun to eat away at the dark blue of the sky, but glowflies still moved through the air. I ducked under a tree branch and arrived at the side of a large road. There were no signs of any sort around.
"Excuse me," I huffed, running back to the man at the bridge. He made to move away, but I caught up to him. "Wait! Please."
He ignored me and ran
to the trees. Having had enough, I took to the air and fell down next to him.
"Get away!"
"Please, I don't know where I am. I have no money, and someone's expecting me."
The man hesitated. "Who are you?"
"I'm...Gale. Look, I know this is strange, but-" Pausing to catch my breath, I gave the man a chance to consider.
His eyes searched mine. "My cart's not far from here. I'll get you as far as the village centre."
"Thank you very much!" I beamed, fisting a hand.
"Yes, yes. Follow me."
"I forgot to ask. What's your name?"
"Not important. Speed up, now."
I obliged, scurrying forward to keep time with his long strides.
Soon, we trundled along rocky paths, passing over more bridges and through shady avenues. I bounced atop the sacks of grain piled high in the back of the cart, shielding my eyes from the glare of the sun as we left one final avenue behind us. My helper skirted around a fountain, stopping in front of it. Market goers moved around us, bustling forward rowdy children and hauling bags of groceries. I jumped from the cart.
"Thanks again," I said, looking to the cart. My companion ducked his head, tossing a purse at me.
"For the road," he said, stirring his mule and moving away at a brisk pace.
I put the purse into one of my cloak's hidden pockets, hugged my box closer to my chest, and set off in search of a carriage man of some sort. I found a small establishment in town and had just enough money to get to the edge of Dorem, continuing to the hotel on foot. I all but burst through the front door.
"Excuse me? Is Jacob Agyekwa here?" I asked the receptionist, heaving.
"Left just over two hours ago."
"Is anyone else here? Akosua, perhaps?" The receptionist tapped her fingers over the desk.
"Greta Akosua Appiah, Janelle Akosua Brenan or Anna-Lee Akosua-"
Right. Akosua. Her day name, I thought.
"Kaia then?"
"Miss Kaia Akua Boateng. Of course." She dialled a phone, clutching hard at the black receiver. "Miss Boateng a..." The receptionist looked back at me.
"Boahinmaa. She knows me."
"...A Miss Boahinmaa for you."
Heels clicked against the floor tiles towards me less than half a moment later. Kaia greeted me with a wave and pulled me up to her suite. Akosua lounged on the double bed, applying eyeliner carefully onto her face. She acknowledged me with a nod.
Clothes had been tossed half haphazardly over the floor and the bed. Makeup littered the dressing table.
"We're just getting ready," Kaia said.
Akosua picked up a red dress.
"But we'd be done by now if someone hadn't taken so long in getting here." She gave Akosua a demeaning look, but was ignored.
"Try this on. We're about the same size." Akosua stood up and came over, giving the dress to me. The top half was adorned with a typical dashiki print and glittered with gold accents. She then twirled a lock of my hair over her finger, scrutinising it. "Your hair's grey."
I looked at it myself and realised she was right. "Oh."
"We could give it a quick dye," Kaia suggested, turning from her place at the dressing table.
"Could I not get it bleached?"
"Bleached?" Kaia's eyes grew wide.
"You know the stain glass window in Il. Gale Uman, correct?"
"Yes, but what's that got to do with anything? Wait, you want to look like our immortal, with the white hair and everything?"
"I'd hope to since I am her."
"You're what now?"
"What shops sell hair bleach around here?" I pressed.
"Just sit tight," Akosua said, brushing past me. "I'll pick some up."
"Don't you have some at the house? Get Freya to bring it over," Kaia said, eyes fixed on the mirror before her.
"She's out. And we don't have any," Akosua threw over her shoulder, closing the bedroom door behind her.
An hour later, my hair- newly white -fell over my back. I had Akosua's dress on and was smoothing on a final coat of lipstick before the bathroom mirror when the others called for me.
"Bo, let's leave," Kaia said.
Both girls were ready, though Akosua was still transferring the last of her things into a small bag. They couldn't have looked any more different from one another; Kaia wore a long-sleeved evening gown, appearing graceful in the crimson dress and the delicate beaded necklaces laying over her chest, while Akosua dazzled in a sleeveless, floor-length shift and a matching head wrap of the lightest shade of blue. Once finished, she looped an arm through the chain strap of her bag, adjusting the silver choker resting against the base of her neck.
"I thought the party was starting at nine-thirty. It's only quarter to nine," I said.
"I'm sure Jacob said eight," Kaia replied.
"What? Then we need to go, go, go!" I grabbed the bag that Kaia had lent me, checking once more that the brews were inside.
"Why are you in such a hurry?"
"No time," I gasped, flinging the door to the hotel room open.
*
Discussion: Gale is back and ready! What's the significance of her returning to her old look, do you think?
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