Bridging Destinies

Chapter 29: A Space of Months

What we found in the lock box was almost alarming, and we knew that we would have to follow the clues for much longer than previously anticipated. There were fragments of information, traces of the human names that we used when living among them, and names of contacts who were aware of us, but only knew the surface of things. There were also locations listed, some with specific addresses and other clues that would need to be followed until we could scrub clean all incriminating elements that we could find. It appeared that Sang-Hoon had been gathering notes on our kind for a long time.

Once we returned to the Airbnb, Dana had gone into a deep trance, as he watched the paths, in order to decide on the next course of action. It was necessary to decide where we should go next and how we should proceed. When Dana came out of his trance the next morning, close to noon, he announced, "We will need to go to South America, next."

"South America?" I asked, with an internal groan.

"Chile, to be exact." He told me. I lifted my face to the ceiling, then turned my head to glance at Na'reen who cradled a hot mug of tea between his hands.

'Will you still need me?' He asked into our minds.

Dana nodded, responding, "We will. Frankly, we could have used you months ago when we recovered Belisael."

Na'reen shrugged, and I answered for the somewhat reticent male, "We all know he was not available then, but he is now. When do we leave?"

The events of months ago were old now and passed. Na'reen had not been available, having gone through a once in a century cycle that made it impossible for him to relate to anyone safely. It was our wild time, influenced by the Mother and always a cycle that brought us closer to her and the earth. It was mostly experienced by males and at his age, he was not immune to it. Either way, it was not important at this point. He was here now and that's all that mattered. Dana said no more on it, having gone through his own wildness many times. Instead, he answered me succinctly, "Tonight. We have four hours to prepare."

With this news we set our next tasks to making arrangements and preparing to leave the country. As noon turned to later and the clock ticked away the hours, we drew closer to our time of departure. I knew I would need to toss the phone I had with me, but before doing so, I looked at all the texts from Namjoon, reading through each one. There weren't many. He seemed to understand that I was busy and wouldn't respond quickly. But reading through them, I sighed deeply, feeling a pain in my heart. I sent him a single text in return. "I apologize Joon-ah. I will need to be gone for much longer than I thought. I cannot say why, but know that I will not forget you and if I can, I will find you again." I told him.

Not waiting for a response, I deleted all the messages on the phone and submerged it in water. I then broke it apart and proceeded to break it into small pieces. I would toss it later in a location away from the safe house.

~~~

'How long had he truly known Felina?' Namjoon wondered to himself. 'Maybe two days, if that?' If he counted the time he had seen and spoken to her during the accident, which was a brief moment in his life, then saw her again in the park, followed by the time he had spent with her later that night, it had not been long at all. Still, it had been deeply profound and the time spent with her had changed his life, in a way. Outwardly, he was the same Kim Namjoon. The same rapper in a group of seven. But in free moments he had thought on it a lot, going over every detail, trying to understand it with his limited knowledge.

That Felina was not human, he had firmly established, but as time moved on and he did not hear from her, he began to question what he had experienced. 'Was it all smoke and mirrors?' He wasn't sure. The last message he received from her had sent his heart into his stomach, and he was afraid he would never see her again, "I apologize, Joon'ah." Was the note of a nail in the coffin of his feelings for her. Or it was the first slam of the hammer onto the nail. Yet, there was a part of him that held on, hoping he would see her again. He asked himself again, as he had so many times before, if she was an addiction and half wondered if it were true. He was less able to scoff at the thought, as deep inside he held on to a glimmer of hope.

It had been months. Two and a half to be exact. They were preparing to go on a North American tour, through the states and Canada and had been busy with new songs, dance practice and all the arrangements that went into it. He was grateful for the chance to be busy, but in quiet moments, he still wondered about her. The last thing she had said, "... if I can, I will find you again" lived in his heart. It was a quiet, dark corner of his heart, but that was his glimmer.

Some of what he felt went into new songs. Some were only a small piece. A line here, or there. Only Yoongi understood what the lyrics were about. Only Yoongi understood the struggle that everyone else could see. They asked questions and wondered, and suspected it was because of Felina, but did not know anything else. And when Namjoon had confided in Yoongi, he didn't express everything. Most of it he kept to himself.

He asked himself why he was holding on. He couldn't contact her, couldn't see her, and did not know if she was dead or alive. He had tried to text her again after her last message, but his texts did not go through. He had even tried to call, but he could not reach her. It was as if a relationship had ended and he was left picking up the pieces. It had been a relationship of two days, but it had felt like an eternity.

He was surprised to see the drop of a tear fall onto the page in front of him as he sat staring blankly at it, lost in his thoughts. He wiped the lingering tears from his cheeks and closed the book. He wasn't focused on the book, he knew, and his break was over anyway. They had a scheduled event to attend this evening and he needed to prepare for it. Putting it from his mind as much as he could, he laid the book down and left the room.