Eversweet ♥

Chapter 7 ♥

          It takes almost twenty minutes for Jesse to convince me that his whole explanation wasn’t a fake. Then it takes another twenty minutes for him to convince me to check out Argatha, which I still am not completely okay with, but in the end he cracks through my hard head. Just as we’re leaving my house I run inside to write my mom a quick note. Mom, I’m at a friends house for a school project. I don’t know when I’ll be home. I’m leaving the alarm on. xox. Though I highly doubt she’ll even be back from Grandpa’s before I return.

            Jesse and I are walking down the street and I’m pestering him with question after question, though he doesn’t seem to mind. “When did you first learn you can control the weather?” I ask him.

         A darkness shades his eyes. “Last year. Two days after I turned sixteen I was walking home from school, when I lived in Oregon, and three seniors cornered me. They wanted my phone and wallet. Actually- No. They beat me up really bad first, then tried to take my phone and wallet. Before I knew it, it got really windy. Like extremely windy, the guys couldn’t even stand up without just about falling over. Then once the sky began to darken they scrammed. All ran away and completely forgot about me.” He stops. “I don’t really like to talk about because one of them was my younger sister’s boyfriend.”

            “Jesse—”

            “No I’ll finish cause I’ve already started. But long story short the week before I told him to end any ties he had with my sister because she was fifteen and he was eighteen. It’s gross and I was almost positive it was illegal. But she was too scared to break it off with him so I was doing it for her. I was in the hospital with two broken ribs and a concussion for nine days. She cried at my bedside everyday. I don’t know where I’d be without my sister. She’s means everything to me.” He looks around as if I forgot I was there then flushes bright pink. “I’m sorry I don’t mean to ramble. What are your other questions?”

            “Oh um no. Nothing else that was important really. I can’t remember them anyway.” Which is an obvious lie. I don’t know what say. Do I say sorry? I’ve never been good in situations where comfort is required. I always listen because I’m actually interested in what they have to say but I try not to say sorry. That’s the last thing they need is to hear somebody else say “I’m so sorry.” So I don’t.

            “No go ahead ask them. It’s okay.”

            I hesitate. “Well, you said I shouldn’t be showing signs of my second power for another year. What’s that supposed to mean?”

            Angst shows in his eyes.  “Most teenagers don’t experience even glimpses of their powers until sixteen maybe seventeen. Not fifteen and definitely not the power to destroy a full vase at that age. It’s almost entirely unheard of because—” he cuts off and looks down at the ground. “Because Scarlett it’s impossible.”

            I’m at a loss for words. But fortunately we’ve arrived at Jesse’s house so I don’t have to say anything. A pale brown two story house with purple shutters sits quietly in the woods completely obsolete from the entire Western Texas town. I’m still thinking about what Jesse said as we walk up the porch steps. He fishes around in his pocket for his key and opens the door to reveal what looks like an average house. Nothing special. As we were walking he explained to me that his Dad has a portal in the basement. Actually his dad is in Argatha right now meeting with the Committee of Fellows, a group that meets twice a year to discuss top secret information with the King. “You have a lovely house,” I say trying to diffuse the awkward silence growing between us. You have a lovely house? Come on Scarlett, that’s the best you can do?

            “Thanks, it’s not much but it’s home.”

            I nod my head. The house is lovely with matching wood furniture and a log fire place giving it a cabin feel.

            “Okay, so when we get downstairs I’m going to have to say a chant, it’s going to sound really weird let me warn you right now. And you can’t say anything, it will mess everything up. When I’m done a blue haze will appear and you have to step through it immediately. Do not hesitate, it only stays up for forty-nine seconds. It’s strange, I know. When you go through it’s going to hurt like hell. Like all the air from your lungs is being forced out of your body and you’re dying. Like you’re falling into a dark black hole of nothingness. Well, at least that’s how it is for me.  But as soon as it happens it will be over. Scarlett, look at me. Don’t be scared there’s nothing to be scared of.”

            He brushes his hand on my shoulder sending sparks of joy through me. His eyes are shining with delight making any traces of doubt leave instantly. I feel like his excitment is seeping through him and now somehow I can feel slowly it creeping into me. I’m going to a new world. A new dimension. This whole thing is unreal. Jesse is unreal. And it’s all happening so fast that I can only go with it. Because, hey! Fate is fate and everything does happen for a reason. 

                                                                                                           ***

            The basement stairs creak with every breath I take, and my air fogs before me in the frigid cellar. Western Texas gets the worst of the winters with annual snowfalls every year so even in November it’s pretty freaking cold. Jesse takes my hand making my insides squeal with glee.

            “Remember what I said. Don’t say a word and don’t hesitate.”

            I shake my head in what’s supposed to be a nod but comes out more of a twitch. The two seconds of excitement I had are long gone as the realization fully hits me. “Jesse are you sure this is safe?” I say.

            “Safe? Yes, it’s pretty much as safe as it gets. Don’t be nervous, you’ll love it once you get there.”

            That I cannot guarantee. Dread creeps up my neck threatening to strangle me of the musty basement air. Jesse throws one last look at me and I know. This is it. He’s about to start.

            Up go his hands and his eyes shut tightly in concentration. “In the name of James Yond, founder of Argatha, savior of the people, I request a portal opening for the presence of Scarlett Heywood and Jesse Garland both withholding their undeveloped gifts. Jesse of the elements and Scarlett of the movement. I Jesse Garland hereby stand before the current King, Alexander Waymond, and ask his Majesty to allow us entrance to the sacred world of Argatha.” He pauses, and I stare at him; the wrinkles around his eyes defining the strong figure of his jaw bones and I just absorb him. The prominence of his beauty strikes me and makes me look down at my feet. I’ve never been really insecure about myself, because nobody ever noticed me enough to judge, but just standing in his presence makes me feel as if I should’ve put on an extra coat of lip gloss or brushed my hair down from the ponytail that never leaves the back of my head. Then slowly he begins to chant. Spells from languages I’ve never even heard of. Louder and louder his voice grows as a blue fog begins to appear. Bigger and bigger it gets until it’s filled the entire back wall. His eyes snap open and he looks at me and grins. “Ready to go?”

            I walk towards him and take his hand as we descend into the portal’s fog.