While I Was Away(21)

“If I do go home,” she spoke slowly. “Will I ever see you again?”

“Adele, you can't worry -”

“Will I ever see you again?”

There was a heavy silence, then Jones closed the small gap between them. His hand moved to the side of her face, his palm warm against her cheek. He'd never touched her so intimately before, it was like a shock to her system.

How many lifetimes had she spent in this limbo, never experiencing any sort of intimacy? How could she have forgotten what touching felt like? What caresses and affection did for the human spirit? And surely they hadn't ever felt like this before – like their souls were moving back and forth between their skin. Like they were one person, and she was just now realizing it for the first time. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, fell into his love.

“That's not for us to decide,” he whispered. “Just know that while you were here, you were never alone.”

“I always feel alone,” she whispered back.

“No. Don't say that. I wish ... I wish things were different, Adele. You're very special to me. I don't know why, and I don't know what it means, but ... you are so special.”

She didn't know what it meant, either. She didn't know what anything meant, anymore, and she hadn't for a long time. Her life was gone and she was stuck in purgatory with some man she'd never met before; a man whom she was pretty sure was her soulmate. She didn't know what the rules were, and she didn't know how to keep going.

How do you keep going forward when there's nothing ahead of you?

Adele finally opened her eyes and stared at Jones. He was a lot taller than her, she had to tilt her head back to look him in the eye. It kinda felt like she was standing under the magnolia tree – basking in his shade and his strength. She wanted to hold onto him, wanted to wrap around him so tightly she'd never be able to let go. And then she wouldn't have to worry about where she was going anymore. She could finally just be in the now with him.

I'm so tired of being scared.

And with that thought, Adele turned away from him and took a running jump off the side of the cliff.





10




Spend enough time anywhere, and a person will eventually learn the ropes. Even in a place where rules didn't exist, and the laws of reason and logic were openly defied, order could be found.

Adele started getting better at controlling when she was able to go. Sometimes it was as easy as having a passing thought. Other times, she had to really concentrate. But falling always worked the best.

When she'd jumped off the cliff, she'd landed on her bed in her room. So she'd kicked out the railing at the top of the stairs and after a test leap, she'd discovered that simply stepping off the second story of her home would send her to Old Town.

She'd noticed Jones had a tendency to leave her alone when she was in her parents' home. Giving her privacy, she assumed. But if she went out and about, he would always pop up. Now that she could somewhat control where she was going, it all became like a game to her, to see how long she could stay ahead of him before he found her.

Jones didn't find it very funny, though, and eventually he turned the tables on her. One day, after she'd spent what felt like hours on the endless beach, she'd started to cry. What if he never came back? She wasn't sure if she could remember how to function without his presence. There was endless time and there was him, and that was it. That was her universe.

So any time apart from him felt like too much time.

Then, while she'd been sitting there crying, she'd sensed movement behind her. His legs had come around either side of hers, and his arms had wrapped around her, and then he'd held onto her through her sobs, gently rocking her.

“You're never alone, so never be afraid,” he'd whispered.

And just like that, all had been right in her world again.

So what did someone do when everything was going right, and they were with the person they most adored?

They celebrated.

There were no clocks where they were; no dates, no calendars. And yet oddly enough, things were planned. She wasn't quite sure how it worked. She'd been skulking around Old Town, determined to grab someone and shake them till she could see their face clearly, when a little man – at least she assumed it was a man – had handed her a flier.

A Gray Party. Come Dressed Accordingly. Where: The Tunnel. When: It Happens.

After reading that, Adele decided she couldn't be in purgatory. No, because clearly she was through the looking glass. That was the only explanation there could be for an invitation like that; like it was written by the Cheshire Cat himself.

But Jones was always telling her to go with the flow, so she decided to do just that – a party would be good for both of them, surely. So she went about her usual antics, going from place to place, to wherever the falls took her, and she waited. She didn't concentrate on anywhere in particular, and she didn't mention the party to Jones.

And after a particularly terrifying jump off the castle's balcony, she found herself outside a door marked “The Tunnel”. When she looked down at herself, she was wearing a gray satin gown.

Apparently “It Happens” means right now.

The Tunnel wasn't really a tunnel. It looked like a normal enough building, the same as the rest in Old Town, all stone and brick on the outside. The door led the way into a round room, which had a staircase skirting its walls. They descended for about two hundred feet, and at the very bottom of them, a party was in full swing.