Insight (Web of Hearts and Souls #1)(108)

I immediately felt guilty. I’d promised Felicity that I’d help her. That I would calm her through the pain.

Landen wrapped his arm around me. “They think we deserve the time alone, too,” he thought, washing my guilt away.

I leaned into him so thankful that he was real, that I had found him.

A few feet later he stopped at a bright yellow light. We then stepped through, out onto the summit of a large mountain. Behind us a home was built perfectly into the peak. It was made of a deep red wood. The entire front of the house was glass, which mirrored the sunset back at us as we looked into it.

“I think this will do for tonight,” Landen said, guiding me up the stone steps. He moved a piece of wood from the front steps, reached in, and retrieved a key. “Wait here. I need to go turn on the generator,” he said, setting the bags down on the steps.

I watched him walk around the side of the house, then slowly sat down and gazed at the last moments of the sunset, taking in its beauty.

Suddenly, my guilt came back over me. I had left without saying goodbye to my parents. I wondered for a moment if Libby had told them that I had left, if they would understand. Behind me, lights came on and shined through the glass front of the house. Landen then casually walked around the house, smiling at me.

“So who does this house belong to?” I asked him when he got closer.

“All of us. When we take people to different dimensions it’s just easier to have a place that you can call home while you teach them,” Landen said, picking up our bags, climbing the stairs, and unlocking the front door.

“I bet Clarissa has some clothes in here that would fit you,” he said with a bit of a laugh.

“I have clothes,” I protested.

“Yeah, but if we leave here and go into town you’re going to have to wear clothes that match this dimension,” Landen said, raising his eyebrows.

“And what might they be here?” I asked, seeing he was amused.

“They only wear yellow. They see the sun as a god and honor him by wearing only a very bright yellow,” he explained, holding his hand out for me to go in.

The house was beautiful, wide open. The ceiling arched into a frame, the living room had over-sized leather couches centering it, a fireplace was in the center of the couches, and there was a bar that separated the living room and the kitchen. I walked slowly to the couch and collapsed. It was so soft, framing me as I rested there. I heard Landen going through the kitchen looking in all the cabinets. I knew he was looking for food.

“I’m not hungry,” I thought.

I closed my eyes and saw the photo of Drake and me again. I debated on just telling Landen. The last thing I wanted to do was stir up a conflict that had barely rested. Neither of us understood why we, of all people, were tossed into a conflict that began over four million years ago. It didn’t matter that we supposedly chose this or that we were the ones who lived four million years ago. We just wanted to live our lives without conflict. I ultimately decided that I’d be protecting Landen from unnecessary pain if I just forgot, like Olivia had told me.

“Are you sure you’re not hungry? Marc was just here. The entire house is stocked,” Landen said as he made himself a bowl of cereal.

I turned my head from side to side against the couch. Marc had traveled relentlessly since the day we laid his father Livingston in the ground. He used the excuse that Landen needed to spend time with me, and people still needed to find their soul mates. Landen and I knew it was his way to grieve.

My father had started to travel again, too. It was easy to see that he loved it more than he ever loved being a doctor in Franklin.

I moved my legs to the couch and stretched out. I then closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind. A few moments later I felt Landen crawl next to me.

“Wait for me,” he thought. I sleepily opened my eye to see that he had turned off the lights and was covering us with a blanket. As I felt him nestle against me I let my heavy eyelids fall.

When my eyes opened I realized that I didn’t focus on anywhere the way Landen and I always did as we fell asleep. It was our way of assuring ourselves that we’d be in the same place.

I was standing in the center of a gray street with gray buildings. I took in a deep breath realizing that this was Esterious. The weight that was always on my chest when I came here in my nightmares was absent. I could feel almost everyone around me, whereas in the past I could only feel the one that had called me here and after that I would always face Drake. Panic seized me. I could hear my heart thundering.

All at once I found peace. Landen placed his hands on my shoulders. I turned to look up at him. I could sense his alarm as well.

“How did we do this?” I thought.

“I don’t know. Are you in pain? Is this a nightmare?” Landen thought.

I shook my head no. “I can feel all of them,” I thought, watching all the people in long black coats go about their mundane day. Their faces were as solemn as they felt.

“I can, too.”

At that moment, a small child was walking at her mother’s side down the street. Landen was in their path, but before he could move, the little girl passed through him. A tantalizing rush soared through the two of us. I could feel his emotion intensify. For a moment, he felt just as sad as the little girl. After she passed through him, shock came over him, yet the little girl was filled with peace and love.