BlackWell

The Gateway

The desert is unlike any place in the world. A world of rock and sand, and belligerent heat. Survival in such a place should be impossible, and yet it breathes with life. I was certain as a child if there could be life in the desert, then there could be life on Mars. Well, I never really stopped believing that. I still devour science fiction as much now as I did then. Of course, not even the surface of Mars could compare to the Arizona desert at night.

The temperature would drop as the sun sank below the horizon. The sky would dissolve into a mass of stars. So vast and consuming it would make your stomach drop. Creatures would pull themselves out of hiding to hunt one another, in the cool of the night. You could hear them if you were quiet enough. The coyotes were hard to miss. They would have conversations miles apart from one another. Howling across the dark expanse, the sound echoing off the rocks.

It was on a night like this that Gwen and her husband took a dozen foster children to go stargazing. Julian and I were among them. They took us to a spot they had found years ago, about ten miles away from the farm. I remember that rush in the pit of my stomach as I stared up into the sky. Thomas, Gwen's husband, strummed his guitar and told stories.

On ventures like this, I was always sat next to Julian. He was the oldest at sixteen and acted as a third parent. My younger self definitely needed three sets of eyes on me, but that didn't stop me from sneaking away. Sitting at the fire I had felt a slight burning sensation run down my back. Someone was thinking of me, but it wasn't anyone near the fire.

Not even Gwen.

This person was far off, somewhere beyond the hills around us. I don't recall how I slipped away but I managed. I was up and over the hill scanning the darkness. I jumped when Julian sat down beside me. "Why is it always you?" he asked, resting his head in his palm. Ignoring his question I pointed out into the dark. "I feel like someones watching me." He looked into the darkness briefly, "I don't see anything. let's go back to the fire. It's too cold."

I rolled my eyes but stood up with him. The moment I turned to follow him, I hand grabbed my shoulder. I looked up into shiny black eyes. A broken shriek tore itself from my chest. Julian through some miracle, or a rush of adrenaline. Hurled himself at, whatever it was, and he went tumbling down the hill with it.

Then like someone flipping off a radio, it all stopped, and Gwen was there. Standing on the hill between me, and Julian who laid sprawled out at the bottom. There was nothing but us three and the desert.

I Replayed it all in my mind as Julian and I sat on a covered bench, the rain falling down around us. The city passing by unbothered. Julian had put his arm around me at some point, I didn't even remember walking to this bench. " I lost you for a second, you just turned off." He said as he watched the cars go by. I could tell he was there too, in that desert. "How long have we been sitting here?" I asked, blinking the dryness from my eyes.

"Probably thirty minutes or so." He said, finally looking at me. "So it was real, that thing we saw. That thing Gwen scared away." Something in his voice sounded desperate. I smiled, in a bittersweet way, he was more perceptive than I gave him credit for. I stood up, his arm falling away from me, "Come on, I've got something to show you." He looked quizzical as I offered my hand. "You have to promise you won't send me to some hospital after I tell you everything."

He stood up quickly, "You're actually going to work with me." he beamed, grinning from ear to ear. I sighed dropping my hand, " I thought cops were supposed to be solemn." I said heading off into the rain. He followed behind me. " Well, I don't cut up dead people for a living, probably why I can still laugh."