Image (Insight #3)(2)
We stepped inside our dimension, Chara. Landen had driven his Jeep to the passage that morning because we knew we were going to August and Nyla’s for dinner, which was a distance way too far to walk. On our way there, we drove Dane and Brady home. Marc and Stella’s house was just before August’s, and Landen slowed as we drove by; they hadn’t come out of their house since their celebration. I knew they needed time to themselves, but I was anxious to show Stella all of Chara, her new world. As I noticed that all the drapes were still pulled, I sighed and looked at Landen – who was laughing under his breath. He may have teased me about my impatience, but at times I thought it was one of the traits he loved most about me.
“It won’t be too much longer,” he promised.
I knew he was missing Marc, too.
Nyla was waiting for us on the porch, and somewhere in the house I could feel August; he was frustrated.
“He must still be trying to read the scroll,” Landen thought.
When we were told that there were eight beyond the sun and the moon, we thought that each time one of the planets orbited, we’d face the trail of that planet’s influences. August wasn’t so sure of that conclusion anymore. It seemed that the time of day that we’d redeemed Delen, in Esterious, was twelve hours before Mercury had orbited. To August, as well as to all of those that were raised in Chara, that was a distance that could span a lifetime; in the stars above, with each moment that passes, the universe moves. According to theory, the five minutes between Landen and Drake’s birth decided who I’d love, who would see through all dimensions. I personally wouldn’t have cared who was born first or last or which dimension in which they were raised - because I knew it would be the soul inside of Landen that I would have loved.
It was an odd thought, though: what if it were reversed? What if Landen’s soul had been born in Esterious as Livingston’s son? What if Drake had been born in Chara? In that case, in theory, Landen and I would have been able to redeem the entire dimension without even really having to try. In that scenario, Drake would have been raised in Chara, without any knowledge of me, and he would soon be searching for his soulmate. It seemed that would have been easier. I mean, if we’re up there free to “choose our path,” then why didn’t it happen that way? Now, with the path we’d chosen, I must hurt Drake, and he must hurt Landen and me. I took refuge in the idea that with great suffering comes great reward.
Nyla reached up and hugged Landen, then me. “I’m glad you two are here; now maybe he’ll come out of the study,” she said in a lighthearted tone.
“Has he been in there all day?” Landen asked
“I haven’t seen him out of there in two days. That’s why I called you this morning; he’ll come out for dinner if he knows you’re here,” Nyla said, extending her arm to lead us in.
Their house was the most unique out of all of ours. Every single wall in every single room was book shelves; from the floor to the ceiling, row after row there were books. August prided himself on having read all of them. They all told a different history of different dimensions, and he was fascinated with how similar dimensions responded to the same issues - and how differently.
We made our way to the dining room. Nyla already had dinner on the table, and she left us there to go down the hall to August’s study. I felt his surprise and joy as she told him we were there. He came swiftly to greet us, and Landen and I both stood and hugged him before sitting again.
“You’ve been in there a while, huh?” Landen said, looking over August. “Any answers?”
August’s smile faded, and he cleared his throat before he answered, “Only more questions; but I’m most certainly convinced that it’s not the orbit that compelled the trail.”
“Then what is it?” Landen asked
“I don’t know...maybe the influences of the planet in the order of the orbit...I just know that the time between the orbit and your action was too great for it to be linked as a source,” August replied.
Nyla tapped her finger on the table to get our attention. “Now, now, that’s enough. After dinner, you two can lock yourself in the study with him - but right now we’re going to have a discussion without all of this anticipation of the unknown,” she said, looking at all of us.
She picked up her fork and began to eat her salad. I laughed under my breath; I’d never seen her so bold, demanding. I began to eat my salad, and Landen started a conversation about all the progress that had been made in Delen. Nyla seemed happy to hear about that topic.
I helped her clean the kitchen after dinner, and Landen disappeared into the study. Nyla had made two trays to take to Marc’s house, and I thought about taking them for her - but I didn’t trust myself to leave them there and walk away; I knew I’d knock on the door and call them out.
I shuffled through the living room, looking at all the books and wondering how it could be possible for August to recall them as individuals. There was a dark purple book just above my eye level; I reached for its tattered bind and gently turned through the pages. I didn’t recognize the language the words were written in, but every few pages had illustrations of symbols. As I turned the pages, the symbols seemed to grow more evil - so I slammed the book closed and squinted my eyes, trying to block the memories of my nightmares, the weight of the demons on my chest.
I went down the hall to August’s study, letting my fingers dance across the book shelves. At the end of the hallway, I could see Landen leaning over a table, looking at the scroll with August. Keeping my distance, I leaned in the doorway. When they looked over documents from my first life, I always felt haunted, like there was a voice from then screaming at me - my voice. I reached for the charm on my neck, a sun with a crescent moon. My thumb outlined the star that now rested behind them; this charm had seen more than I’d ever be able to recall. I felt like it was a part of me, that somehow it would unlock the past and help me face my future.