Insentient

Chapter 10

Funny thing about Magic Mushrooms. You remember everything. I mean everything. I'm lying in bed, remembering every dumb thing that came out of my mouth last night almost as soon as my eyes open.

He's amazing. He can make it dark on his own, he can zap anywhere he wants in the blink of an eye, he can alter terrain, build palaces and walls and he can put someone to sleep by commanding it.

How cool is that? I am in very real danger of falling for this guy, and I know I need to stop this. Everything has an expiration date, he said, and I know my time here is one of those things.

Unless I stayed. Can I stay? Would I want to? Funny, I was trying so desperately to leave only a short while ago, so the fact that I'm even thinking this has me completely perplexed.

I push up from the bed, the darkness beyond the window used to be a tell-tale sign of his absence, but now, I'm not sure. I saw him vanish before my eyes before I fell asleep, but I have no clue how long I've been out.

A fire casts flickering shadows from my fireplace below and I wonder if he started that or if someone else came in and did it as I scooch to the end of the bed and place my feet on the floor. I stand tentatively, almost expecting to teeter or feel queasy and I feel nothing out of the ordinary.

It's so completely silent, almost eerily so as I change from my dress into the plainer garment Lisette made me before I step down the stairs. I can see a fire burning in front of my home and I almost expect to see a multitude of bodies but there are none.

Stepping out, a sharp intake of breath racks me when I realize that everything is gone. No tables, no decorations, the stage and the arch are gone. It's almost as if the wedding never happened...

I walk slowly toward the crackling fire, my head turning and eyes scanning the surrounding area, expecting to see people step out to join me like they typically do, but no one comes.

Seating myself before the fire, my eyes stare at the burning mass, my mind replaying every word, every interaction from last night and soon I run through some facial acrobatics as I scowl, then smile, then cringe and repeat that routine a few more times as I recall our conversations from last night.

He kissed me, I definitely remember that, although it wasn't hot tongue on tongue action, like I asked for...

"Ugh," I grunt out and shake my head in embarrassment.

A bright white streak races overhead in an almost sonic wave, completely wiping my thoughts and making me gasp in alarm as my body to turns to watch it. I have never seen anything like that here and it was so fast, I'm not sure if I imagined it or not.

All at once, there's a flurry of activity. The distinct sounds of rustling in the surrounding brush, some yelling and what seems to be an approaching stampede of footsteps has me standing and turning in all directions before Ivan appears next to my fire.

"Come Liz, come!" he shouts excitedly as he waves me toward him.

"What is it? What's happening?" I ask as I step toward him.

"A new arrival! Come!"

My feet quicken their pace until I'm running with the rest of the throng along the main path to the palace.

This may be more exhilarating for me, the prospect of someone else in this strange land, I think as I listen to the chatter around me. It's almost a frenzy and I'm caught up in it as wave after wave of people join us on the main path.

The gate is thrown open easily and we pour into the courtyard, the smaller people headed in one direction while the taller people head for the door I'm more familiar with.