One Foot In

Chapter Five – The Other Place

A/N: I’m currently writing Chapter 7 and I’m 58% on the way to 50,000. Feel free to wave “hi”. As usual this is a rough draft. Expect typo’s and a few grammatical errors. Anything really glaring, I’d love to hear about, with the understanding that I probably won’t have the time to fix anything until the whole shebang is done.

AG


Karate was uneventful and I felt much better for having taken it. It had gotten some of the cobwebs out of my head. Still, I found myself making excuses to not return to the building. The negative associations were beginning to outweigh the positive ones.

I thought about my dream of the Talking Unicorn. I remember that he had come from a childhood fantasy based on my father’s storytelling. I had a unicorn doll made of white plastic with a Technicolor mane: sort of one of those ‘My Little Pony’ toys that little girls love. I had named him Champ, short for Champion.

On impulse I headed into a camping goods store. I didn’t have a lot of money in my bank account. I had just finished a long-term temp assignment replacing a woman on maternity leave. And the money was being directly deposited in my bank account. But with Josh’s new job, I hadn’t been careful enough with money in general. What I was doing in this store was a bit of a mystery to me. I suppose I was playing a game of “what would I need if I went there.” Now, we all know what place ‘there’ was, except I didn’t. Daddy alwaalways called it ‘fairyland’ but if it were my family’s territory, Elfland would have been more appropriate. William Curtis White was a romantic who had never grown up. Sometimes I think my mother was relieved when he’d go away on his sales trips because life would become quite dull and she liked dull. Me, I lived for my adventures with him. Every night I’d hunker down into my bed and listen to him tell me a new story. And they were never sad. He was a great liar, just like me, except I call it acting talent.

Thor had told me not to go. He had also suggested that I speak to Leo before doing anything. Leo. He’d been very quiet this morning. I was worried about him. I was also worried about my crazed hormones. I suppose that I did want to hear it from himself that his attentiveness was nothing more than an attempt to get information out of me regarding who I was and what was I doing there. That he knew my father sort of creeped me out. He should have been honest with me. Anyhow, it was Monday and he still had about 48 more hours of being a wolf.wasnwasn’t going to wait. I wanted to find my father and Sadie, today if possible.

I spent about $300 dollars on a lightweight backpack and other camping gear. Suddenly the idea of going to find my loved ones was becoming quite the reality. I snuck my gear to my room and then got them all packed up. I went through my clothing to find my lightweight but very warm ski pajamas, which I wore under my blue jeans. I then put on a sweater and ski parka. I included my gloves, hat and scarf and tucked them all into the pack. I put on my hiking boots and was ready to head into the basement.

I went down, remembering how nasty those wooden stairs had been on my bare feet. I hid my pack in a shadowy corner and went into the light. Sure enough the entrance, portal-- whatever was being guarded by the Satyr. I tried to remember his name. It was Vega. Not really of course, I finally had spoken to him and realized the only reason he chose that name was because his skin was quite swarthy, but here in America he could have chosen any name and it would have been accepted.

“Hi, Mr. Vega. I think one of the Weird Sisters needed to speak to you right away.”

“Oh, hiya, Miss White. Well, if you want to keep an eyes on things.” He pointed out the gong and the long tunnel with led out of the basement.

“Sure thing. Oh and you can call me Cindy.” I flashed my most trustworthy smile.

“Hey, call me Arn.”

“’Kay, Arn.” And I looked innocent until he was up the stairs. Then I ran and got my backpack and I headed down the tunnel.

I felt more than saw the loam beneath my feet turn into something slick and slimy and a couple of times I had to catch myself from falling.

It grew darker and I could hear the sound of water trickling around me. The light from the basement was almost totally gone and just as I started to wonder if I’d need to get out my flashlight, I saw some light ahead of me. I continued to walk although I was now sloshing downwards in a tiny rill. The mouth of the tunnel was narrow and it seemed to me that it had been created by the water from this tiny stream.

I came out to a crystal clear day in a forest on the side of a mountain. There were leaves underfoot, but the temperature of the air was unexpected. It seemed to be either spring or early summer. The leaves of the trees were a light yellow green. I realized that I was severely overdressed. And then I felt panic uncurl in my gut, because I saw no roads or paths on this mountainside. There was only the streambed and I thought perhaps that would be as good a path as any down the mountain. I also wondered how the heck my father ever found the place. I looked around me trying to memorize the crack in the rock in hopes that if I needed to I’d find my way back.

I’d mark the place myself, only I was aware that we didn’t want the wrong people finding their way to our building.

I continued down the mountainside, now walking along side the stream that had broadened considerable. It was also getting warmer. I smelt wood smoke, which meant that there was civilization somewhere near. Or at least I thought so.

After about an hour, I came to a clearing where a fire had recently been doused. It was still smoking. I took a step forward only to had someone clap a hand around my mouth and grab me. I treated the matter the same as if a headlock had been put on me and within seconds my assailant was on his back and I was over him about to break his face. Fortunately I recognized the face!

“Thor!”

He stared at me. And then grabbed my fist in a bruising grip. “How the hell did you do that?” he growled.

“My ex-boyfriend forced me to take self-defense classes. Don’t think I’d go in for that geeky crap on my own, do you?”

“I ought to take you over my knee.”

“Granted that you’re a couple of years older than me, but don’t you think that’s a bit too kinky even for you?”

Suddenly I was across his lap and he was swatting my fanny. I tried to scramble away but this was a position I never handled in grappling. Also, I was laughing too hard to be able to think about getting away.

He handled my body like it was a rag doll and I found myself sitting on his lap. I reached around his neck and kissed him affectionately. Don’t ask me why, after all he’d left without me. I should be angry; instead I only felt relief.

“So, you decided to come against all good judgment?” He shook his head. Okay, how did he manage to make me feel 15 again and like I’d just dinged the family car?

“You know this place doesn’t seem that different from where I grew up.” All right, Westchester County isn’t exactly the Catskills, but what did he know?

“Almost everyone is gone and the cities are in ruins-- towns and villages are empty. But yes, out here in the middle of nowhere, everything seems normal.” His face was dead serious.

“So you have the device with you? And you are going to find my father?”

“Wrong. I have to take you all the way back to the building. Lock you up and then go find your father. If he’s still alive after our little detour.”

“I command you as daughter of the Warlord White to take me to my father,” I said in my best imperial voice.

He rolled his eyes. “Come on, it will be sunset soon. We got to get you home.”

“I’m not going.” I folded my arms and smiled. “I can fight you, and I will fight you every step of the way. And when I get away from you, I will run so damned fast…”

“All right you brat.” He looked like he was ready to strangle me. “You’re not worth all this fuss. But you have to agree to listen to me. You don’t know anything about this place.”

“Well…”

“Except the sugar coated stories from your father.”

“Why did you build the fire and put it out?”

“I could hear you from a mile away. You are no backwoodsman that’s for sure.”

“I was a girl scout,” for about six months I mentally added.

“Yeah. Well, I heard you and didn’t know if you were friend or foe.”

“Wouldn’t it be dangerous to have any fire at all?”

“It depends which frightens you more-- monsters of the two legged or four legged kind?”

“So the people around here are not too bad?”

“There are no people around here. There are demons and there are wolves and some creatures that are pretty alien to either our world or this one.”

“So you aren’t worried about the demons, but the wolves are…”

“Not very shy at all. The fire might help a bit.”

I looked up at the sky, already the sun was glowing a soft red and setting.

“Well, let’s get that fire going again.”

He muttered a bit and sent me off to get more kindling. Maybe I was out of my depth, but hell, I needed to find my father and cousin. I couldn’t just wait around. I got an armful of twigs and such and headed back to the clearing.

We got the fire going and we sat quietly just watching the flames. He reached into his bag and got out sandwiches. I did feel a bit peckish, by the way and got out my own sandwiches.

“Want to trade?” I asked.

“What do you have?”

“Salami on Rye.” I said. “And you?”

“Tongue on white bread.”

I shook my head. “Deal’s off. Enjoy your tongue.”

“Hey, have I just been insulted?”

“Oh, no. It’s just that what you are having is such a culinary delight that I wouldn’t dream of depriving you of it.”

“Just for that, I won’t share my candy.”

He had said that magic word. Suddenly, I had to know.

“It’s not chocolate, is it? I mean your talking Skittles or something fruity like that. Right?”

“Like I would tell.” Did I mention that I totally despised this man? And me with nothing to trade, I was dying. I sat quietly and ate my sandwich and watched the fire. It was peaceful. It wasn’t crickets, whatever it was making noise it had a higher sound and softer. I looked at Thor and decided maybe now might be a good time for a few questions

“Um, Thor?”

“Yeah?”

“What are they?”

“Huh?”

“At our building.” Duh.a

“You mean the Weird Sisters and the Vegas and the others?”

“Right. You’re human; I’m half Elf or something, although I’m not small and brown like some Rackham sketch. But they all look halfway between animal and human.”

“Arthur Rackham. I like his stuff.”

“So do I.” I smiled. It was a bit of a shock that he’d like something whimsical what with the sort of artwork he had displayed in his apartment.

“As far as I can tell, they are older than the Faerae and older than the Elfish. They were here first. Sort of nature spirits, I guess you’d call them.”

“Ah.” I didn’t explain much but I really needed to break this all down and take in small bits. Anything more and I’d wind up with a headache or just gibbering.

I finished my food and took a swig from my water container. Suddenly, there was half a Hershey’s bar in my hand.

I kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you. You’re a mensch after all.” I happily devoured it, and then licked my fingers. It couldn’t have been all that late but the mountain air was having its effect on me. I spread out my bedroll and got ready to sleep.

“I’ll take the first shift and I’ll wake you for your turn.”

“Sounds good to me.” I mumbled and turned over.

The next thing I knew the sun was out and I heard birds tweeting. And there was someone nuzzling the back of my neck. “Hmmm. Thor. Hey, you are a morning person, why didn’t you--” I turned around and looked up into the big blue eyes of a horse. Blue eyes? But then I saw the horn. I jumped up and started doing a crazy jig. I startled Thor out of his sleep, some guard he was, by my dancing and yelping.

The unicorn was giving me the hairy eyeball, like ‘get her’? But I didn’t care. A unicorn, a unicorn, out popped my six year old self. Finally, the illustrious equine snorted and said, “What’s your problem?”

And I stopped dead in my tracks. “You do talk!”

“Yeah. Whazzat to you?” Oh great, a talking unicorn with an attitude! I was in heaven!

“It’s just, just, Thor look, look.” Thor was looking disgusted.

“How much more tourista can you get, Cindy? Yes, it’s a talking unicorn. Are you gonna insult him by keeping this up or are you gonna get real?”

I looked from my companion to the honest to god, real, talking unicorn. They stared back. Okay, get real. I can do this. I can do this.

I rubbed the dirt off of my hand and extended it to his nose, so held sld smell me like most horses do.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t shake hands.” The unicorn was beginning to sound annoyed. Thor stood up behind me and patted the unicorn on its neck.

“Are you hungry?” The unicorn looked pleased with the question.

“What have you got? Something sweet, perhaps.” Thor checked his pockets and found some Starbursts. He removed one from its wrapper and put it on his hand, just like a sugar cube. The unicorn took it and thoughtfully chewed. “Not bad human. Shame the half-breed isn’t as kind.”

I thought I’d burst into tears. I checked my pockets but I didn’t have any candy or even an apple or carrot. I had just made a couple of sandwiches. My first meeting with a unicorn and I blew it!

“I’m sorry, umm, umm, could you tell me your name?”

“Get that. Doesn’t even have something for me to eat and wants a name. The nerve…” He turned around, broke wind in my general direction and started to leave.

“Don’t go.” Thor took my hand and stopped me from following.

“You don’t boss a unicorn around, Cindy.” I looked at him and he seemed grim.

“I’m sorry that I don’t understand unicorn etiquette.”

“Yeah, well they are pretty stuck on themselves. Best I can describe them is as rats with hooves and horns. It’s always gimme, gimme with them. You’ll do better with the next one.” And he handed me a Starburst. Sometimes Thor was all right. I didn’t care for the description, but then I was new to all this.

“Well, got to get going.” And he started to break camp. I helped make sure that the ashes in the fire were quite cold. We didn’t have anything hot and I thought I’d probably kill for a Starbucks. In fact, I’d turn back for a Starbucks-- only it was too late for that. We had to find my father.

We continued to walk down the mountain. I thought were heading to a valley, but then it seemed we were heading uphill again. Thor didn’t have any maps and yet never paused or hesitated, damn him. I was getting blrs ors on top of my blisters and the spots where I had removed the splinters from the other day were starting to scream out, don’t ever, ever do that to us again! All in all I walked, I sweated and I worked hard to refrain from moaning, only because I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. I knew what he was thinking, Spoilt little princess should have stayed home. Yes, well, maybe I should. He didn’t tell me that the unicorns were no good, lazy, worthless in win who wouldn’t give you a ride unless you were a virgin and that there were no roads, and no forms of transportation. He didn’t warn me. So it was his fault entirely. I kept thinking that and it again kept me from complaining.

“So how far are we away from our destination?”

“About ten minutes closer than the last time you asked.”

“Okay, and you don’t have a map so how do you know where you are going?”

“Unlike you, I know this place. We are about a half day’s walk away. Relax, and stop bothering me. We won’t get there until sundown if you keep asking questions.”

Still I did not complain: nope not a word about the tediousness of traveling with someone who was obviously NOT a good conversationalist. Josh before his morning coffee and constitutional-- one half hour on the toilet reading Newsweek-- was friendlier.

I began to hum a disco song. Thor gave me a dirty look. I switched to Queen, “We are the Champions,” I like the irony. Eventually he sneered at me and said, “Shut up!”

“All right, then you come up with a song.”

“It’s a bad idea to do any singing around here. You’ll give up any advantage you might have. Though with feet as heavy as yours, a person would have to be deaf to not hear you.”

I am a magical being, I am a magical being, I am…. So why couldn’t I do any magic?

“Thor, what sort of magic do Elfish do?”

He groaned. We walked.

“Well, I asked you…”

“Compared to wh he he growled.

“Well, Daddy, it seems, sort of had mind control. What was Sadie’s talent?”

He seemed to relax a little. I think he had a sweet spot for her. “Sadie had visions. And before you ask, Leo, even before he was cursed, had a sense of smell which was quite accurate. Also herillrilliant as a tactician.”

“How are Faerae different from Elfish?”

He shot me a look, “Didn’t your father tell you anything?”

“Very sweet, warm sentimental stories of pretty things that would dance on rainbows and washed in dewdrops.”

Thor looked uncomfortable. “Some imagination your father has.”

I was happy that he used present tense. It made everything seem better, safer.

“Elfish look more human that Faerae, and can breed with humans. Though the product didn’t always have any powers at all, so it was considered a bad idea.” I stuck out my tongue at him and made a face to his back. He continued, unaware of my attitude, “Faerae tend to be less substantial, more likely to change form into other things, change size, turn into air or water or live in a tree. You never see Elfish doing that. Different type of magic, too. When your grandfather brought over the first of the demons, the Faerae fled. Simply headed elsewhere, and they haven’t returned. Meantime, the Elfish have suffered as well as the common folk.”

“Common folk?” I remember Leo mentioning it in passing but I hadn’t been paying attention to anything but his eyes.

“Yes, you were asking about them. They look like animals. They are the folk.”

“So do they have towns?”

“Too dangerous, now. Demons like to have tribute, even though they don’t need it. Everyone has scattered and is in hiding.”

We went back to trudging along in silence. You know when you read about these things in books, they are kept interesting. Frankly, walking along trying to reach a destination which would probably take you about 20 minutes by car, is pathetic and boring. Why didn’t we bring a bicycle? Or even better a motorcycle or an all terrain vehicle? Vroom. In fact, if met any demons, why not bring a whole hunting store arsenal? It just seemed to be that we weren’t using our noodles here.

Then I got a whiff of something. “Thor, you really need to find a better deodorant.”

He froze. ”That’s not me,” he whispered.

“Is it them?” Oh my. Did demons smell this bad? I didn’t think I could do this without throwing up, fainting or maybe both.

Just then a 5 and a half foot tall skunk, or something which smelled like a skunk and had black and white spots, walked out in front of us.

“Thor, what is that?” I whispered.

It turned and looked at us. “Well, the minion has returned.” The skunk furrowed its nose and looked annoyed.

“Lu, what’s been going on?” Thor didn’t look too comfortable.

“You mean like has the whole the whole plan been shot to shit and there’s nothing left?”

Thor looked down at his feet. “Yeah. I’m sorry.”

“To hell with you.” And the thing began to waddle off. Thor followed although it was at an angle to the way we had been going. I ran to catch up with him.

“Where are we going?”

“He’s got information that could change everything. If he’ll talk to us, that is.”

“He has a bit of a B.O. problem, is that a demon thing?”

“No. Look, Cindy, it takes a bit, but after a while your nose will give up and you won’t notice it, hardly.”

Oh yes, I was so reassured.

So we continued to follow the polecat or whatever. Okay, I’ll just call him Lu. So we followed Lu to his hole in the ground. Literally. And when he went in, we followed.

“This can’t be safe,” I whispered.

“Hush, don’t offend him.”

I didn’t say anything about the smell, but it got much stronger the further into the burrow we went. I started thinking Warner Brothers cartoons of Bugs Bunny and how went we got all the way in we’d find a bed and an armchair and electricity. No, it just stunk, and after a while you couldn’t see for the dark. Which might be a good thing, because I didn’t want to see what I was walking on. Then Lu stopped.

“White’s been taken. There are about six tents in a circle. White and Saree are being kept in the blue and black one. I hope you have the device.”

Tears sprung to my eyes. Damn. I didn’t want to believe that he was no longer free. Yet he had broken off communication so quickly, I wondered if that was when it had happened. And Lu said ‘Saree,’ didn’t he mean Sadie?

“What if I don’t?” rumbled Thor. It was dark in there, and yet, even though I’ve never eaten my carrots, my eyes were adjusting quite well. I could make out both their faces.

“Then you are smarter than I give you credit for, and braver.” Snickered Lu.

“Do you know what it does?” Yeah, I can ask questions, too. He looked at me for the first time. He seemed surprised that I could walk and talk. Thor made a little movement.

“Like most of them, I assume it does a summoning,” said Lu in a biting tone. “But what it summons, we can’t be sure. May I see it?”

I looked at Thor. He knew all along, so he was just lying to me. Why?

Thor took it out of his backpack. Lu caught his breath and seemed to stink a little more from sheer excitement. He carefully held it and turned it all around in his hands. It was a small brass box heavily covered with colorful enameling. It seemed to me that these were symbols inscribed on the sides.

Lu cleared his throat, “If you were to take it to the Mage, I bet you’d know.”

“Right and by the time we track him down they will be killed. It won’t work.” Said Thor.

“Hold on. So what do you think we should do now?” I was feeling a might confused.

“Cindy, they’ve got both your father and your cousin.”

“Uh. Yeah. So do we use this thing and summon something to help us-- Like a genie in a lamp?”

“Hey, Thor, where’d you find this one? A real live one, ain’t she?”

“Shut up, Lu. She’s White’s daughter.”

“Nah….” The way he said it was mildly insulting. I felt myself get annoyed; I mean this guy didn’t smell so great. Who did he think he was?

“Cindy, it would be nice if we knew that we could control whatever we called up. But it could just be a nastier thing than what we already are dealing with.” Thor sounded like he was explaining it to a simpleton. Good thing I don’t get offended easily. I mean between Lu and Thor, I could get a complex.

“So if we don’t use it?”

“We could exchange it for your family,” said Thor with an air of finality.

“So in exchange for Daddy and Sadie, we are going to give something to the demons that would only summon more demons? Am I missing something here?”

“It was how my master was killed.” Thor said it slowly and terribly, like it had really been something to watch.

“Were you there?” Boy, watching one smelly immortal off another, definitely a Pay-Per-View moment.

He was silent but nodded his head. Suddenly it occurred to me that with the tunnel mouth so far away, I shouldn’t be able to see them at all. I had Talent!

“It’s like Russian Roulette, then?”

“Yes, what comes through might be worse that what we already have.”

“Or,” said Lu, “it could be one of the beings of light.” Light, he said light. I know we all sort of have this prejudice, right? Light vs. dark and good vs. evil.

“So what do they do?” I asked hopefully.

“Don’t get your hopes up, Cindy.” Yada, yada. Warden. Thor was such a killjoy.

“So can we do a summoning?”

“Lu, see what you started?” Thor sounded very stressed.

“Well, why not?”

“It takes Ability.” Said Thor.

I got Talent, why not ability?

“Okay, Thor, I got it. You pretended you didn’t know what this did, so you wouldn’t have to tell me. So you’re just going to hand it over to them, when obviously, it might do us some good? You know Daddy wasn’t going to give it to them!”

“No, he might have been planning to trade it for Sadie. We don’t know.”

“Maybe Daddy would want me to do the summoning.”

“And get us all killed, you idiot!” rumbled Thor.

“What do you think, Lu?” I asked.

“Well—“ I could tell Lu was very happy that I had asked his opinion.

“Shut the hell up Lu. Look, Cindy, I’m in charge of this. You must see that it’s more important to exchange this for your family than to risk it all.”

“Did my father bring this back to our building?”

“Yes, he and Leo staged a raid. A lot of the folk and Elfish were hurt trying to get this.”

“And that’s why they were being hunted, even in the other place?” Oooh, boy. Look at me go. Am I bright or what?

He mumbled something “I “I can’t hear you.”

”Yes, it seems that this one that has been stolen is of more value than most of the others. I’ve never seen demons so desperate to get one of these back.”

“Well, if I were to create a diversion, you and Lu could sneak in and free Daddy and Sadie. There, isn’t that easy?”

“What kind of a diversion?”

“A summoning. If these creatures were fighting each other, then that could be a major distraction.”

“You are crazy.”

“Hey, Thor,” said Lu. “I’d go for it. You can’t trust that the demons wouldn’t just put our heads up on a pike if we tried to negotiate with them.”

“We don’t want to waste the summoning. We don’t even know if Cindy has the ability to make it work or control it.”

“Back it up, Thor. What ability are you talking about?”

Thor squatted. Lu and I joined him. “Your father released the demon who killed Beallin, my master. The new demon, Accalla, was worse in a lot of ways, but it bought them some time since Accalla didn’t know about the other land. Unfortunately, your father and cousin decided that they were going to try to get their lands back by stealing another demon summoning device and using it, in hopes that they could permanently get rid all of the demons. It was a dumb idea and I washed my hands of it.

“But they went ahead and stole it anyway. That’s when Accalla send out hunters. It seems they found an alternative way into the other land, we don’t know how, but both your father and Sadie sensed them.

“Your father, I suppose, was afraid that the hunters would find you and his wife so he cut loose and pretended he was dead. I’m only guessing, but it sounds like something White would do.”

I nodded my head. Daddy had a lot of explaining, but it sounded right.

“And Sadie?”

“I can’t even begin to guess. But her talent is as a seer. There may have been something that came to her suddenly.”

Dear sweet Sadie always seemed so practical and down to earth. I always thought of seers as people wearing gypsy garb and staring into crystal balls. No image could be less like my best friend-- no cousin. And if all went right, I’d be seeing her soon, her and Daddy. No two ways about it, Thor just had to go along with this. He just had to.