CHAPTER TWENTY
HOPE (A HAUNTED CITY)
Bakulu was the quietest town of all the towns she had found along her way. The only town comparable to this was Kakabury, although Kakabury was chaotic by the time they had landed there, since the town was on a general evacuation and it was Gregory who had helped them to escape.
She was getting used to ignoring Clijsters for some time, but she was not so used to the coldness. It was few hours since Santa had missed her for another time, and every moment since then she had become more suspicious and watchful of everything. She tried to conjure the MANA because of what Clijsters had said to her-that she would soon feel the presence of her powers more fully.
Now on their walk through one of the mews that ran through Bakulu; they stopped at the entrance of a house, and Chloe stopped her thoughts and held her breath without realizing it. Clijsters knew with a simple certainty that there was, something in that house. From Inside the house no voices were heard but there was a special part of him confirming a presence in there.
He asked her to follow him; then Clijsters moved straight to the door. “Hello?” he called. Again... “Um... this wasn’t locked.” No response. More silence, except for their breaths. There was a man and woman who paid no attention to them as they entered. Were they occupied? he wondered. Then Chloe paused, staring at the aspect of the house.
“Who are you?” a voice asked.
“Clijsters” he said.
“Crystal...and Who?”
“No, I’ have said Clijsters. She’s Chloe.” Clijsters said, “And we mean no harm to anyone sir.”
But then there was a longer silence before the man started...
“You can’t be here,” said the man in a sharp voice. “This town is haunted and we don’t welcome visitors.”
It was very impossible to find people in this world, and the people they found, unfortunately didn’t like other people. Not moving any further, they stood still. The woman’s face looked so primitive, as well that of the man, clearly showing Chloe that they were not welcome at all. It was an old couple living here.
There was no room for these teens, but both were not willing to leave. Clijsters wanted to scout around. So, he asked Chloe to wait next to the door, hoping to convince this old couple to accept them for little stay. The house was in an odd shape, not totally different from the others they had found before. The walls weren’t strong as they were framed wood.
“Are you one of his disciples?” a cold voice asked. As his eyes shifted towards this old couple, Clijsters realized that it was the old man asking. “No,” he answered. “We’re on our way to the forbidden gates.”
When he straightened and looked at the old couple again. The old man rose above the woman. He stepped closer to Clijsters. He was tall. Clijsters’ face level to his shoulders.
“Now, Clijsters,” he said, as if making a little curtsey, “what help do you think you can get from here?”
He paused. Clijsters moved back, his eyes still upon the old man. He was hoping this man would be as helpful as Gregory.
“Guide us to the forbidden gates. She is bound for home.” Clijsters said, referring to Chloe. Meanwhile, the old man’s wife ended her prayer, and she started watching them. In silence, she gazed over at them and started staring at Chloe before she said, “Chloe, you both are fortunate with your friend, so brave and so beautiful.” She reached up until she touched his shoulder, “No need to panic, one day you will get home.”
The woman revealed something slightly different from what they had expected her to say. At first she had remained silent, not even looking them, seeming to be in a trance, as though she was meditating.
Immediately, Chloe got to her feet, as the woman clapped twice and she fully removed her hand off Chloe’s shoulder. It was an impressive scene, as if Chloe was on remote control for her actions.
“How?” she asked the old woman as the others watched her.
“I have a lot of strange things I can see in the future but...go and walk the frozen rivers.” She paused and then stepped away from everyone and began to roll up her dress, at her own pace, her eyes on Chloe’s. She watched the old woman’s dress in circular folds, passing up the bare bony legs that Chloe saw.
“Fight then, Chloe.....daughter,” she breathed, “my gallant warrior. Go and find your way home. But something tells me that your anointing has something to do with the mana of the fairy.”
A few hours later, Chloe was back to herself; they were out of the house and close to the Ice Mountains. At that point; Chloe needed no explanation. She began to stray away from Clijsters and seriously considered separating from him. When he asked her why she was doing that, she answered snappily, saying that she did not need him anymore and she would be able to go on her own for the rest of the odyssey.
An hour and a half later she had separated from Clijsters, and she begun to hear a striking sound moving towards her direction. All around her were ice-drenched mountains as she continued imagining what it could be that was making that sound. Panic started growing in her as she tried to ignore it. There’s no doubt that she had started thinking about Santa but she could see nobody, nor Clijsters following her.
Then as she crested over a slope, she came to realize that it was the sound of horses following her. That meant she was about to confront Santa as it was not once that she had seen some of his men riding horses. Down the slope; there was a large plain, stretching long enough and covered with ice. The large plain was surrounded by taller mountains, completely covered in snow, as if Chloe was looking at the Swiss Alps that she had studied about in her geography classes.
“Run!” Clijsters shouted.
Chloe turned to where Clijsters had quickly emerged after she heard his voice. He was running up towards her and asking her to run, because something was coming. She was forced to rethink, why had Clijsters started acting so strangely and mysterious?
Together they began a racing run that put Chloe’s mind in a state of terrific fear. It was as if they were not running on snow. The ice was too soft and very difficult to run through. And so, not to fall they had to be more careful.
“Is this far enough?” she asked, having a feeling that they were no longer being chased.
