The Getaway

Chapter 5: Welcome Home

As the man steps closer, I begin to realise how much he looks like my dad. Of course, there is no way he is my dad considering he died years ago. Maybe this is just all one big dream. I must be with everything that is happening. You can't just somehow appear places like this, heal so quickly that it seems like nothing ever happened, stop a hurricane, and be on an island with moving tree roots and phoenixes... Can you?

"How do you know who I am? Or an even better question, who are you?" I asked the man as he tried to pull me into an awkward hug that I did not return. Even though the hug was awkward and unwanted, it still felt comforting for some odd reason.

The man pulled away and looked at me with sad eyes. "Your mother never told you, did she?"

What did he know about my mother, and what was she keeping from me? Whatever it was, she was probably too drunk to ever tell me or remember for that matter.  

I guess he could see the confusion on my face. "Cole, go and join the others. Let them know that Alex is finally back home. Alex and I are going to go for a little walk. We'll be back for the feast." Cole responded with a quick nod and then ran off somewhere behind the curtain of vines.

"I'm not going to go anywhere with you until you explain to me what's going on." I said 

He began to walk slowly while saying "Don't worry. I will explain everything before we return to the others."

I began to walk alongside him waiting for him to speak and finally give me some answers. There was nothing but a long silence for the first few minutes of our walk through the island's plantation. Should I just ask him something?

Before I could ask anything, he spoke up. " Do you remember the day you and I-" He cut himself off before correcting himself. "-I mean your father got into that car crash?"

"It's difficult not to remember." I responded, remembering every detail of the accident.

"You were told your father had died on impact, but I can assure you that was not the case." He said.

"What do you mean? I went to the funeral and everything. He's dead."

"Well, you know how you can now transport to wherever you need, want, or should be?" He paused for a moment before continuing. "That's exactly what he did. He's here right now...and he's with you right now." He looked down at me with a smile on my face.

"Dad?" Tears began to fill my eyes as I looked at the familiar face. It was him. He was alive. I couldn't believe it! I jumped up and hugged him as tightly as I possibly could, afraid that if I let go, he'll be gone, taken from me as quickly as he was that night.

The tears begin to fall down my cheeks as I look at the one that I thought I would never see again. Never in my life did I imagine him being here with me right now. But there is still one thing now that bothers me. What did he mean when he asked if mom never told me? Did she know about all this? It still doesn't explain why she turned into a complete wreck everyday since he 'died'.

"Did mom know about this? You? Being alive still?" I asked, curiosity taking over. I probably just ruined the joyous reunion, but there is still plenty that needs to be discussed.

"Yes. She was supposed to help you too. Teach you about your power, and most of all, protect you from those who knew about your power and just how powerful you would become."

Well, my mom obviously did not do a very good job of the whole explaining and protecting thing, but I have a feeling my dad already knew that. "I've been watching over you during the time I've been gone. Two nights ago, when your mother kicked you out, I knew you needed to come here so you would be safe, so I sent Cole to go get you and bring you home." 

Has it really been two days? It's crazy how much can happen in just one day. These two days have seemed really awful, especially with how many times I was convinced that day would be my last. But it was all worth it now that I am here with my dad. This is all I ever wanted after he left. I still don't understand why my mom was/is acting the way she is if she knew all this though.

"Who are the others? What exactly am I?" I asked cautiously. It sounds like I should know by now, but I'm still going to tread lightly on this new turf.

"You are a vindico. Vindico means to protect. That's our job; we protect the world from certain disasters and we even protect them from small things that may only affect one person. Everyone here on this island is a vindico, but you... you're different. You're more powerful than the rest of us." He paused as he turned back to look me in the eyes as he said, "You're the savior."

Woah, woah, woah. What?! Savior?! How is that even possible when I didn't even know what I was until a couple of seconds ago?! This is a lot to take in.

"So what exactly makes me the savior, and what can vindicoes do?" I ask, frozen in my tracks after being told what I am.

"Vindicoes can heal extremely fast-" I've done that already today. "Transport to where they are needed, wanted, or should be to avoid danger-" Also have already done this, even though it seems to put you in more danger than it pulls you out of. " And each individual person has a special ability that makes them unique from all the rest." This is the one thing I am still not so sure of. What is my one special ability?

"What's Cole's special ability?" I ask, thinking back to when the hurricane had mysteriously vanished.

"He can control weather." My dad replies with a smile on his face. "I, however, can control this entire island, or any land mass." Like how the tree roots move. If he made that happen, I wonder what else he can make this island do.

"So what can I do?" I am curious of what I can do, because so far I haven't been able to do anything all that impressive, unless you count almost getting killed, but then somehow ending up getting out of the mess last second.

"Prophecy says that the savior has every ability that has been discovered before, along with their own special ability, but we won't know what that is until the time comes that that ability will save your life." My dad says right as we make it to the curtain of vines;right back where we started.

Dad pulls back the vines and begins to walk through. "Now, let's go meet the others. They've been waiting for you for a long time now."