My brain doesn't know how to react knowing this young woman in front of me recognizes who I am. The first thought that comes to mind is how quickly she came to me. Is it a coincidence that the first creature that I met might know me and the first person I came across knew exactly who I was and she was right there to save me? So many more questions are emerging that I don't know if I should speak first or wait for her to, but I have nothing to say about myself and she looks like she has so much she wants to talk about.
She locks her blue eyes on me, "Did you have Adelaide with you?"
I'm confused, "No, um. I- I don't think I did." I have never heard that name before and most definitely don't know her either.
She looks back at me, probably reflecting the same expression on my face, "Well she left us a week after you came up missing..."
Her words are short because a massive range of questions float around in my head that I can not hold back, "Who is she?" I attempt to smile but when it feels awkward I stop and look down shyly at my sopping wet cloths.
"Let's get out of the water. I'm sorry, I'm just so shocked to be seeing you after this much time. I thought you were dead, we all did." I can't help but give her a puzzled look back as she tries to embrace me in a hug. I step back, not meaning to but becoming quite afraid for no reason. She stops seeing how I have become uncomfortable with physical contact.
"You don't seem as thrilled to see me though."
"I am, you saved me." She just stares at me so I add, "I just don't think I know you."
"You don't recognize your own sister?"
I gasp, "I- no. I don't know anything about myself." My words are hushed but still echo through the cave.
I have a sister! I have a sister!
Her slight grin falls and she appears hurt by my reaction, "Elenor, you don't remember me?"
My eyes widen. Elenor. Elenor? Is that my name? For the first time in my so called new life I get this amazing feeling inside of me. I'm treated with my own name and this truly makes my day, even if it was awful at first. I have a family! I am loved. My heart leaps, I'm no longer alone! I take a breath as she says, "Um...okay. Then lets get you all cleaned up and we can talk."
She leaves the pool, gesturing for me to come with her and apprehensively I do so. I am entirely ecstatic that I have something to call myself and how I've found someone who claims to be my sister. But is this all too much right now? Is this even real? A tear escapes my eye, and I hear it land into the water as I walk up the huge steps.
We leave the room and go into the hallway I noticed earlier, but now that I'm closer I can tell it is still part of the cave, with boards on the sides to keep it sturdy. We walk into what looks like an old fashioned living room and a kitchen with a small dining table. Off to the left is another cave that must be a bedroom. On the opposite side of the room near the table is another opening but larger, showing off a small library.
Almost everything other than the furniture is covered with bright green vines and dark moss, it thrives like it gets everything it needs to live down here. The kitchen as well has a great assortment of plants and what I recognize as herbs. They hang off the walls, over the countertops and even in pots that are the same color as the grey stone of the cave itself.
The woman plasters a frown upon her face as she gestures for me to sit at the table. I listen and watch her closely when she reaches into a wooden cupboard and takes out some cups. At the sink, which is an old fashioned pump, she fills them with water for the two of us. She then gets a box of crackers, and then cheese from an ice box. She places it in front of me, "I'm going to get you some warmer cloths while yours are drying."
I slip off my shoes to air them out and hang my jacket on the backside of my chair. The water pools on the decorative stone floor and I stare at it, hoping it won't upset the woman who called herself my sister. My damp feet dangle from the chair I'm sitting in, they are cold and wrinkly.
When she calls for me I enter the bedroom and change into some cloths she laid out on the bed for me. Nothing extraordinary, just a comfortable shirt and some leggings. But they do feel much better than my old cloths that were too big on me. Looking down at myself I remember how small I really am. The leggings are too long at the bottom but they almost fit perfect.
Afterwards we hang our clothes above the fireplace in the living room and I eat my snacks and a sandwich she made for me. She sits across from me, taking in my presence like she doesn't remember the last time we were together. I can totally relate to that one.
I ask her, "What do you want me to call you?"
She sighs, "Oh right, I forgot you don't remember me. My name is Janalyn Box, but everybody calls me Jane."
"You are really my sister?"
"Yes," She announces proudly as I gaze at her.
"I'm sorry I don't remember you. I don't know anything about myself or my life before the men locked me inside."
"So Koda was right!" I flinch at the raise of her voice and blink down to the stone floor. It is covered in puddles, trailed all over the place where the two of us have walked. "We have a lot to discuss then, but first you must know about our family. This will be a lot to take in so I must make sure you can handle everything first."
"You have siblings..." I trail off when she gives me a stare. "I'm so sorry," I plead with only a whimper.
"Yes we do." The frown upon her face is noticeable but she does not get angry with me. Her patience gives me comfort and the thought that I should be able to trust her enough to talk to her freely.
"Who is Koda?" I murmur, this time scanning my eyes around to find that the lights are actual fire. That must be a pain to light every day, and how does she reach them?
"He is our younger brother."
Every word she says changes my mindset completely. I can not believe that my family is out there living and existing while I was locked away all alone. But did they know what happened to me? Jane doesn't seem to know where I was or why I was there. I refuse to be angry when I don't know the whole story, just like they don't know mine so I'm not going to say anything about it yet. And besides, speaking always gives me a disadvantage anyway. I most definitely don't want her to think I am crazy.
"We have a good sized family," Jane eventually says with a quiver in her voice. "And there are some people we can not talk about, so when we say nothing know it is our vow of silence that keeps the truth from escaping. It is to protect all of us."
I try to keep a straight face but feel my eyebrows furrowing anyway while she looks at me apologetically, "We have our Grammy and Papa who don't live too far from here. Our uncle, aunt, and cousins..." She pauses for a long while, biting her lower lip and squinting at her fingernails, "...I wouldn't say they live too far away. We see them all the time. They're going to be thrilled when we arrive!"
I'm not ready to be around people yet, but I can't refuse to go meet them with Jane. When she says nothing more I force myself to whisper, "I imagined that someone was always looking for me, but I did give up hope."
Jane's lips quiver, "We did, some are still looking. Koda left us a few months after you came up missing. I've only seen him a couple of times since then. And our sister Adelaide, she is the youngest. Was. She left after you and never came back." There's a waver in her voice, "She must be dead, I wouldn't doubt it. And for Koda, he was out looking for you. Last I knew he was on to something about this group of men who take higher class people. He is brilliant, but if he got taken by the same people who had you then he would crack under pressure."
I feel a ping in my heart. What ever happened to me changed everything for her. She lost me, and then our sister and our brother all within the same time.
"How old was our sister?"
"She just turned fourteen when she left." Jane leans over the table top, getting as close to me as possible, "You have no idea how long you've been gone have you?"
My shoulders fall and I shake my head no.
"It has been three years, well in the fall."
I sit up a little straighter now. It couldn't have been that long? I think I would've known how long I was stuck in that prison, every day was a nightmare. Then again everything seemed to blend into one and my memories of life beforehand are gone.
Again I have no words for her so she finally asks, "What happened to you?"
I take a long while to organize in my head what I want to say, making sure I keep out all of the crazy supernatural events that happened to me in the woods. I frown, "I escaped the men, and ran through the woods. I'm not sure if they knew I escaped, but they never followed me. It got dark out and then I woke up in a cave. It filled up with water and now I'm here."
"That's all you know."
I lie, "Yes. And that the men are the reason why I don't remember, I thought they did something to my head. The building is not far from here at all."
She tilts her head for a second, "Koda will freak when he knows where they are."
I wince feeling as if I was smacked in the head. Here it comes, my memory is horrendous and I forget almost everything I do. It all blends together into one massive and endless day. Now that I am thinking about that place, I can still feel the endless void it made me endure.
"Don't you have questions?" She gives me a look of suspicion.
I take a short look at her then move my eyes to the cup in front of me. It is night time, "How did you know I was coming?"
Jane takes a long look at me, making me wonder if she's trying to keep something from me, "Well, something told me."
She must be talking about the spirit, but how can I know? I shoot my shot anyway, "A spirit."
She leans back in her chair with the same expression of bewilderment on her face as before, "You know about her?"
I didn't realize it had a gender, "I met it in the woods."
"And she took you to me, just like she took me to you." I nod and she says, "So you do know about us?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"What really happened in the woods? If she came to you, you must have been desperate." She blurts, "I guess that is proof that you don't have memories of anything, because you would have already known where to go."
"Have I seen this spirit before then?"
She nods, "I am so sorry. You probably thought you were crazy, seeing her for the first time."
Now it is my turn to look at her strangely, "So what do I not know about this spirit?"
"You will have to wait for that answer. We are safe here so I think we should wait until morning to leave."
"Where?"
"Home, to see our family of course."
"And how do we get out of this place?"
"My home has one way in and the same way out. But you wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me." Right away I cover my mouth, feeling as if my reply was rude considering these circumstances. I fiddle with my fingers, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't mean to be offensive..."
"No," The sweet sincerity in her voice makes me feel better. She sighs, "You came in through the ground to that cave, which is called the gate. No one can get down here unless I'm with them."
"Because you somehow can't drown." I realize aloud.
I await for an answer but Jane doesn't reply, "Why don't you get some rest and we can leave straight thing in the morning." She stands, "Come, you can sleep in my bed. I'll sleep on the couch."
I get to my feet for the first time in a long time and suddenly start feeling the pain in my body. It exists everywhere and I'm too tired to argue with her, knowing that she will not accept no for an answer. She takes me into her bedroom and tells me to stay as long as I like. When she leaves and I am laying under the warm covers my mind goes into oblivion.
Enduring all of this from one day is difficult but I still can't prevent myself from thinking about how strange it is that I found my sister. We are underground in some cave home and not too far from that place that I was held captive in. All this time we were so close and the both of us didn't know? My mind tries comprehending all of this. How does no one know what happened to me?
But I can't argue we are not related, her skin is covered in freckles just as mine and her voice could be easily mistaken for my own. Then there's that spirit. She knows a lot about it. My mind goes back to that white rabbit. He is the real mystery here because he knows me too, but does Jane know him?
****
When I awake Jane is preparing some breakfast for the two of us before we go off to meet our family. I sit at the table just as she is placing down the ancient looking plates. I eye the bacon on mine first, not recalling how it's going to taste but seeing how appealing it looks. I take a bite of it, enjoying the taste as Jane starts to speak, "How did you sleep?"
"I have never slept that well." I reply, not adding in the part where I had nightmares. Besides, there's nothing she can do about that. I always dream about awful things that the men could do to me. I wasn't ever physically tortured but still I dream that they do the most evil things to me.
After we eat Jane takes me into the fragile little library off the dining area. The room is dark but I am astonished to actually see how many books are displayed on the shelves, "These books are worth more than anything, so don't touch any of them. I have to find something special for you."
The room is simple with two chairs and a small table between them, but the books all around the room make up for it. When I inspect them closer I declare that they have been here for generations, maybe hidden for a reason. Their spines are faded and frayed in many places, very few are bright colors. I have the urge to run my hand along them and feel what it is like to hold printed knowledge in my own hands.
Jane walks around the room for a while before she stops at a shelf, running her fingers along the books. I expect her to hand the one she picked out for me but when she doesn't I can't help but peek at the cover. The first time I read it I don't believe my eyes and so I read it again, completely astonished, The Portal and its Secrets.
A portal? I want to tell myself that it has to be fiction but with how serious Jane holds it like it's the most precious information ever written I know it has to be real. But really, a portal? It is way more mysterious than everything else I have discovered within the last day or so. Thinking of such impossible things after breakfast makes me wonder what else could be out there besides a talking rabbit, a spirit in the woods, a strange underground home with a woman living inside who may or may not be a mermaid.
She takes me to the pool after I have gathered my belongings, which consist of a thin pile of old ratty cloths that I had worn who knows how long and a pair of shoes that have a rip in the sole. I put my soggy shoes on, letting my socks that I borrowed from Jane squish into them.
I step into the pool, hoping the memories of last night of me drowning will disappear but they don't and I'm afraid to go any further. I cringe at it's feeling, even though it is warmer than room temperature. My trust in Jane has gone and I realize that maybe I can drown. So suddenly I don't want to go back into this pool and never want to touch water ever again.
After swimming up through the water Jane and I enter the cave safely, making me know she has done this many times before. I clutch my hands to my chest, trying to keep warm as Jane holds my arm. I hear her press against something above our heads and then before I can comprehend what she is doing a brightness blinds me.
The smell of dirt, leaves, and fresh air comes into my nostrils making me even more confused. I open my eyes to find that we are in fact standing in the forest. My mouth pops open in shock as my head turns to look at Jane. She wrings out her sopping wet shirt like nothing even happened. I take a glance around, see we are on a little hill, and recognize were I am. This must be where I was when I got sucked into the earth, and now only to be popped right back out the next morning.
I don't know what to do with myself now experiencing this for the first time. It was like we just teleported back here as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. I don't comprehend what just happened or how Jane managed to do it so effortlessly. When I was drowning I could have done the same thing but no, instead I have a fear of water now that is going to haunt me more than these other strange events have.
My whole body feels weak and so I look down at myself and make sure I am intact. My knees are shaking but other than that I can't move a muscle. Jane grips my harm tighter so I don't fall off balance and then gives me a second to compose myself before we continue on our way. It takes me a few minutes before I can follow Jane without feeling dizzy and out of breath but still, going through the woods is just as mentally draining as before.
I am completely paranoid one of those men will pop up out of no where and force me back to that wretched place. But so far we haven't come in contact with anybody and I would like to keep it that way. Though I would rather have anything strange happen before one of those men came to take me away again. I do refuse to tell myself we will go unharmed because truthfully anything is possible in a forest like this one, which is why I've begun to trek with a purpose. My ears strain but I force them to do so, keeping focus on any indication that a person or animal will be nearby.
Jane was leading the way until I began to walk ahead of her slightly with no sympathy about her falling behind. She says nothing, probably realizing how I'm extremely in need of getting away from the place I have such atrocious memories of. To anybody else the chirping of the Spring birds here may sound so inviting but for me it's like they are whole different creatures that see every odd phenomenon that occurs here. I've come across some of the most mysterious things here that I worry to find something worse.
Even though we go along a path, one that I would have never recognized if Jane didn't mention it, I still look over my shoulder and keep my eyes peeled. In this short amount of time we have gone far and safely as well. My body has become freezing cold but that's only because of the salt water still dripping down my skin. Suddenly I feel so inclined to ask Jane about the water being so abnormal in a place like this.
The two of us approach a field surrounded by shrubbery and trees as she answers my question, "Well I had never thought about that before, I guess it could be the sea water from home."
I'm about to speak but she adds, "Don't worry, I have spare cloths for the both of us in my trunk."
I look up from the ground finding two cars parked in the back of the field like it was a casual place for them to be. It takes another two or three minutes to get to them, and when we finally do Jane unlocks it with a key she had in her pocket. She pops the trunk and pulls out some cloths, then goes into the backseat to change first. I wait with my back against the trunk as I watch the tops of the trees sway in the breeze.
A sound catches my ears, a small thumping noise against the ground. It is a something I have heard before but can't put a finger on it quite yet. I keep my eyes out for a peculiar sight and almost instantly something out of the corner of my eye startles me. I turn before he can disappear, knowing full well that this white rabbit is the same one I met in these woods before. Without any hesitation I march right up to the pine tree he is hiding behind and meet his gaze.
"You saw me." He says as if he planned for me to see him.
An anger washes over me that I've never felt before...complete betrayal, "Why are you following me and why did you tell me to follow that- that thing? I almost died. You almost killed me!"
"Kill you? Why would I? You're the reason why I'm alive, I could never kill the person that created me."
A pit in my stomach makes me weary. What is he talking about? "What? What do you mean I created you? I most certainly did not! You're going to be wishing that I did drown in that cave after I'm through with you!"
He takes a step backward and chuckles just like a hurt human trying to hide their feelings, "All I did was tell you to follow the spirit and you did. That was your choice."
"But you led me on to think I was being taken some place safe."
"You were, it brought you to your sister."
"She found me... Wait how do you know that?"
"I know who your sister is and she's right there," He points a fluffy paw to the car a few feet behind me. "I told you to follow the spirit and she kept you safe. She knows everything and did what's right for you. She never intended to hurt you."
"Well this spirt almost drowned me."
"You don't understand what I'm saying. The spirit does not kill anyone who comes from Elyria, she can't. And she filled up the gate with water and took you down to Jane. She brought you to your family, just like I knew she would."
"Elyria?" The name rolls so easily off my tongue as if I have said is many times before.
"What?" I hear Jane from behind me, asking through the half open car door.
I spin around and meet her gaze, "Oh, nothing."
"Who are you talking to?"
"Um..." I turn back, moving my eyes to where the rabbit was just standing. Almost right away I step back with astonishment wondering how he has suddenly gone so soon. Seconds later, when I scan across the open field I discover that he is no where to be seen at all. "I was just talking to myself."
After I finish getting dressed and hop in the passenger seat of the car, we are off driving through a clearing in the woods. It doesn't look too great to drive through but Jane does anyway and eventually we get to a gravel path, then a narrow dirt road. I watch out the window with the rabbit on my mind knowing full well that he deserved what I said even if the argument was sort of pointless.
He should've never given me false hope, I wanted to think at the time it was okay to follow the spirit into that dark cave but now I am wondering how I could be so stupid. It was like it was dragging me against my will. I can never be alone in these woods again, because maybe someone would convince me to do something I never intended to.
But now after I have left the white rabbit behind I'm angry at myself for not finding out how he knows Jane and I. That rabbit is definitely more than he seems to be and I want to find out who he really is, because what if he knows too much? What if he will hurt my family? I would tell Jane all of this if I wasn't deathly afraid of her thinking I am crazy.
I take a deep breath thinking that it is all done and over with and we can't go back to see him. My mind wanders as I stare out the window. The trees start to pass by so quickly that a sense of peace washes over me like I have never felt before. The only thing on my mind that still bothers me is leaving the rabbit behind, although maybe he will show up again some day.
I take a peek at Jane for the first time in a very long time. She is such a total stranger in my mind that I am shocked why I allowed myself to go with her. There's no proof she is my sister but what else could I have done? I can't say that I was uncomfortable in her little underground sanctuary. I felt the safest there then anywhere else I have been and so far I haven't had any problems with Jane herself.
I brush my dripping hair from my face and ask a question I've been longing to know since she saved me, "How did you breathe underwater? How could you bring me that far and I am just fine?"
"I knew you'd ask eventually..." Jane takes a long breath and then sighs, "We are not human."
Her words ring in my head, making me wonder if I heard her wrong. But no, my ears are never wrong and so I just wait for something more. It sounds out of context but all she does is wait for my reaction. I guess my initial thought is aliens. What other could it mean? Are we a hybrid between a human and something else? Isn't that impossible?
Thinking longer, the thought of being inhuman would explain a lot. It gives me a reason why I was taken away in the first place and why the men kept me for so long. It is a reason why they convinced me these woods held evil and a reason why there are strange things here as well. Also that explains why Jane has some kind of power were she can breathe under the water.
"We have to go home so everyone will explain the truth about our family." Jane pauses, most likely awaiting a reply from me but I'm just too overwhelmed to say anything. She finally says, "You don't know how hard it's been without you."
I don't want to argue but still say what's on my mind, "At least you weren't alone thinking no one wanted you."
The frown on her face makes her eyes sink, "You being gone tore apart our family more than ever but I hope that when the news spreads of you being back everything will get back to normal. We thought you just got up and left, or that you were dead. But now knowing that you were abducted by someone puts some new thoughts to mind about where our younger sister is." She stops talking, wiping her eyes probably to prevent any tears and then adds, "Ellie, never think there is nobody that cares about you. There were so many people back home looking for you but we never found anything."
Right away I start feeling bad for what I said and now I don't know how to respond to her. A long silence makes me uncomfortable until she continues the conversation, "Let's not talk about this, you will help me find our brother and sister when everything calms down and then we can be a family again."
She is getting slightly demanding as if I knew how to find them when in reality I have no idea what they even look like. Our best bet is that somehow the men have them too, but I don't want to suggest that because I'm terrified she will make me go back to that place.
"Once we get home, our grandparents will most likely send us to see the rest of our family. The four of them live someplace..." She takes a breath, "Well they live someplace kind of different. You really loved it there, even though we had our own... well... problems. Now since you have no memories of when we were little I will not burden you of those thoughts."
I nod, speaking for the first time in a while, "So our family is strange too?"
"Yes we come from a big family line, something I will have to explain to you much later once you know about Elyria."
Out on no where it is as if time has frozen hearing that name once again. Elyria. The spirit does not kill anyone who comes from Elyria. That is what the rabbit said before he left. Is that the place I am from? A whole other planet? I don't think Jane knows how much I have pieced everything together.
I keep my mouth shut, listening to the thoughts running through my brain like a whole other person talking to me. There is a spirit in the woods. A talking rabbit knows more about me than I know about myself. I have a family that is not human. I am not human. My sister can breathe under water. There's a book about a portal in the backseat that gives me the most haunting feeling, as if it came from a whole other world. Elyria is where I am from. It has to be a whole other planet.
For a while the time passes too quickly to comprehend as the sun shines beautifully up in the sky. I watch it peeking through the trees that have just grown new spring leaves. We begin passing houses here and there, making me wonder how many individual people have picture perfect lives, nothing compared to what I have endured. The road has widened but the forest still surrounds us with an internal darkness making me note to myself that I'll never go back again.
Now that the road is smooth and we get further away from where I came from I no longer have a churning in my stomach. I told myself I would be excited to leave, which still I am but now there is a pit in my throat. I guess I could call that nervousness, not from the car ride but what's to come at our destination.
The thought of saying the wrong thing gets to me, and so I don't say a word even when Jane slows the vehicle down and we pull into a long winding driveway. Instantly I get overwhelmed when my eyes fall onto the massive home standing on the most gorgeous piece of land I have ever dreamed of seeing. This is the home where my grandparent's live and where they are missing me from their lives.
I didn't imagine we would be out in the country, but here we are parking in the driveway that belongs to a mansion. This is not where I expected to end up and now it is bringing me new thoughts on what our family is like. I just hope they are everything I've hoped for within the past few years or so. People who are never boring and who are caring enough to do anything for anyone.
Stepping out, and grasping ahold of the book that Jane has suddenly handed me, I admire the home that I used to have memories of. I don't recall anything but standing here makes me know it meant a lot to me to be here. I just don't know what those old thoughts hold and it is something I will never get back.
Being surrounded by wilderness on both sides of the home makes me a bit anxious. My mind wonders, I must have had adventures when I was little in those woods, and in this case they look enchanting and beautiful. Lines of pine trees circle up to the driveway, making it impossible to see the home from the road. Being secluded does have its perks, especially when you are looking over your shoulder worried someone is watching. No people means less worrying for me.
Even the yard is massive like the house standing in front of us with its large windows near the front steps. Instead of going down the sidewalk and up the stairs to the large front door we go the opposite direction. I follow a sidewalk on the right side of the house, finding flower beds to the left, a door and lots of windows next to it.
Before we go inside I snatch a peek of the backyard, seeing a big open field behind it, trees, and rolling hills in the distance. It is quite beautiful, making me realize how high up we really are. Its like I can almost touch the sky with my own hands but before I can look any further Jane instructs me to follow her through the garage.
In the garage I follow Jane up some concrete steps and up into the house with no warning of what I am going to find. I don't even shut the door behind me before Jane is calling out, "Gram, I'm home!"
Right away a woman emerges from down the hall to our right, "Jane? Who have you brought with you? Come in so I can see you both." Her voice is sweet, almost as if she was expecting us this whole time.
Jane reveals me at once, not mentioning a word of anything to the woman I assume is our grandmother. I meet her eyes, finding her staring back at me in complete and udder shock. She has to place her hand on the white trimming of a door to her right so she doesn't collapse of surprise. She tries to speak but trails off saying, "Impossible..."
My eyes move around the hall to the cherry wallpaper, to the doors around me, the light yellow tile floor and eventually Jane. She just stands there speechless just like the rest of us with teary blue eyes. I blink over at my grandmother standing across from me who is as well. I never meant to startle such deep emotions in the both of them like this, I'm just unsure how I should act.
Our grandmother brushes her short blonde hair out of her ocean blue eyes and tucks it behind her small ears, revealing a thin stripe of white in her hair. I notice how she is shorter than I am, even I thought I was very short compared to the few people I have been around these past months. I guess being small runs in the family, though Jane happens to be taller than the both of us by a few inches.
"Maybe we should all sit down," Jane suggests staring her down, who is breathing heavily and spinning what looks to be a wedding ring around her finger. Jane steps past me and takes ahold of her, guiding her back into the room she came out of at the end of the hall.
It is a nice size for a little sunroom, with a couch, armchair, table and chairs, and a big decorative box that holds lots of different kinds of plants. There is a door on the left that goes outside to a large patio, which seems to connect to the back side of the house as well with a deck that overlooks the yard. The whole left side of the room where the door is has windows, that run along the other side of the room as well. They overlook the freshly budding flowerbeds by the side door where Jane and I entered the garage.
All of the windows are open, allowing a warm breeze to rustle my damp hair. I stand in the doorway, watching Jane and my grandmother sitting on the couch until Jane glances at me, causing me to bring my attention down to the floor. It is a white tile, smooth and shiny. I look at my reflection in the floor wondering what I really look like. I am unsure because all I can see is the silhouette of my petite body.
"Ellie please sit." Jane orders softly.
I listen and sit in the armchair across from them where I can see the hall through the doorway. I watch Jane take her shoes off and get comfortable on the couch. I on the other hand don't move a muscle, and keep my head down at the book clutched in my hands.
"Where did you find her?" A soft voice finally asks, "I just don't believe it!" She stares off over my head until tears start streaming down her pink cheeks.
Jane explains exactly how she found me and nothing more, knowing that I must tell the rest. But I don't, instead my grandmother is the one speaking, "You have been gone this long and haven't spoken this whole time?!" She sounds furious. "Why have you not been yourself?"
My lips quiver, "I am not sure what happened to me," I take a breath knowing in all reality that the person I once was no longer exists. "I lost all of my memories."
She jumps, "WHAT? HOW?"
I'm startled and blurt, "I don't have any clue."
Afterwards I keep my mouth plastered shut not having a sentence planned up in my head. When she comes forward and pulls me into a tight hug I declare I've already had too much human interaction in one moment. She stands again, "I'm sorry if I have become too much for you. I could've never expected you to come back to us."
I nod just as Jane starts filling her in on some things she has planned, "I have to tell Ellie about where we come from and who our family members are. Then we can take her there to meet them."
Instantly the thought of going to another planet makes me stiffen even more than usual. I can imagine us in some kind of spaceship flying up through the clouds and into space to a planet the world doesn't know about. A place so beautiful that nobody could ever know anything better than its cities, skies, and creatures that walk its land.
"Elenor, are you ready to know where you come from?" Jane questions me slowly.
I nod, still thinking it is strange being around people and having them call me by my actual name. I try not to wiggle with anticipation but I do end up placing the book down that I just remembered I had and start pulling at my fingers, making them clammy.
"So it starts in the very woods we just came from. The cave that we were in is called the gate..." I have heard somebody say that before. The rabbit maybe? "...which literally is full of a magic that we can not explain. The book in your lap tells a story about the gatekeeper. The woman who lived in my home and protected the gate and the portal."
THE PORTAL?!
I'm quite relieved to hear that we certainly do not fly a spaceship to the land that I come from, but instead go through a portal. I bet it was right there under my nose and I had no idea! I guess the news of who I am and where I come from really is a lot to take in. Jane did warn me but mentally I am not truly prepared to hear the rest.
"She was killed but the portal ended up preserving her soul, which is why the portal has a spirit. The very same one that lead you right to me. She is there to guide somebody who needs help, but only somebody who comes from our world. A place that is on the other side of the portal. Another thing about the portal is that a human can not go through it by themselves because if they try it will kill them."
I remember the rabbit telling me the spirit didn't mean to harm me, now I feel bad for thinking that he had bad intentions for me. He most definitely comes from there so maybe all rabbits talk and he somehow knows us. But still he is more mysterious than anything this far and that is why I will not tell anyone about him.
"Our home planet is called Elyria and is much smaller than Earth. Most places there do not have electricity, no vehicles, no powerlines and telephone lines, nothing as technically advanced as Earth. But it does have many things you could never find here on Earth. Elyria and its creatures are full of magic-"
Suddenly it hits me, "That is how you can breathe underwater? You have powers?"
She nods her head, "All supernatural beings in Elyria have something... well compared to a human, abnormal about them. We fall into one of the most basic types, an Elyrian. Each Elyrian has their own power. Normally one or two kinds dominates a family but we are a very strong family and range in some of the most rarest powers out there."
How is all of this real? I mean we come from a whole other planet, we have special powers, and it seems like magic runs the whole world. Elyria sounds like a frightening yet exciting place to live in. I am not sure if I would like to go there after all that has happened to me recently or if I should jump right into it and find out myself.
"I am what you would call a water elemental." Jane adds.
I stare with disbelief, "So I have powers? What are they?"
Jane shruggs, "It's complicated. You left before your powers came so I do not know."
"Did those men take them away from me?"
"That is one thing no one can ever do. Your own magic is in your DNA, it can not be changed but you can add to it or alter it for a certain amount of time."
I don't really understand what she is trying to say, " What do you mean?"
She looks at me for a long time until our grandmother speaks up softly, "There is magic than can change you..." She thinks for a moment and then continues, "If an Elyrian was bitten by a vampire they would still have the same powers they grew into but they would also develop powers of a vampire."
"They exist?" My voice is sharp.
"Yep, just as much as Elves, Mermaids, Werewolves and so on."
Jane says, "And once and a while you will find someone who is a mix of different creatures."
Now hearing this I am not seeing myself as an alien any longer. It is just like a made up story to me, more surreal than aliens from space. My mind is spinning. How could they just exist, how could we? And humans have no clue that we are real.
"So people just travel between this portal?" I ask holding up the book that I completely forgot about.
"A select few, our family included," Jane answers. "Different creatures have their own thoughts about leaving Elyria, and it depends on where you are from as well. The planet is small but still it is difficult to travel long distance. The only creatures that really go to Earth are the ones who live right by the portal. That kingdom is like the capital of the whole planet, but it isn't much of a populated city as you would assume. Then there are creatures who totally disapprove of other's who have gone to Earth and interacted with humans. They have certain morals, and going to a human world is more than frowned upon."
"We aren't liked are we?" I blurt, feeling more talkative than ever before.
"We have never had problems with being who we are when we visit the capital. It is called Provence of Elyria, but most call it Elyria or The Provence City. When you come through the portal that is where you end up. Most creatures that live there are Elyrian, but you can find all types of creatures there really. Very few kingdoms are populated with all types of species, so that makes the capital even more special than it already is. It does have a lot of vampire as well and some witch folk, the rest are different species of creatures, outcasts, mixes and hybrids. Other kingdoms aren't as nice and forgiving as the Province is."
My understanding of this new world has not gotten any less confusing. I am just in disbelief and excitement all together, "Is that where I was born?"
Jane and our grandmother look at each other instantly, "No." My grandmother answers me.
"So where are we from?"
I watch my grandmother stand and turn away from me, "We do not speak of that place and never will."
"Gram, don't leave." Jane says softly.
My hands unknowingly open up the book and I stare down at it like it is controlling my body. I flip to a page and bring my head down to read it, wondering if maybe this book has something it needs to tell me. Before anything more can happen Jane snatches it away from me saying, "I knew you wouldn't be ready for this book yet."
"It will tell you where we were born, but you can not know. It would ruin your fresh and innocent mind." Our grandmother says right as she steps out the door and goes down the hall.