Songbirds After Dark

Addie III

By the time Kiera got back, Addie and Jorge were arguing.

"'M not dead, though." Addie insisted as Kiera came in.

"We're going over this again?" Jorge sighed. "You died. It sucked. it's time to move on, love. Look, Kiera's back. Did you bring tea, Kiera?"

"I did," Kiera said, flashing a bag of dried sprigs.

"Lovely," Jorge scrambled for a flint, then conjured a fire from the ashes of its predecessor. "Water?" Kiera already had some ready. Addie watched the two work in harmony as she rubbed her temples with her thumb and index finger.

Dead?

She remembered going under, and she remembered breathing in the water, but she had come back up. She had resurfaced here, in this new place. The place with moving reeds and anthropomorphic people.

Maybe she was dead.

"Who's going to take care of my cats?" Addie asked no one in particular. Kiera gave her an almost-pitying look as Jorge poured the tea into three lumpy clay cups. "I gotta get back to college, man."

"Things tend to work themselves out, love. Maybe you'll find them again when you're back on earth." Addie took the cup that he offered to her. The tea tasted bitter and a little bit sour. She drank it all.

"I need to go back," she said, her voice threatening to break as she maintained stared at the cup.

"You can't" Jorge's voice was soft. It reminded her a bit of how her mother would talk to her when she was little and sprained her ankle or rolled herself into a rosebush. Only this wasn't scrapes and bruises, she had drowned and come back in a strange place and she had no idea what to do.

"This doesn't mean 'm dead." Addie insisted. Kiera gave her a sidelong look and refilled her cup. Jorge didn't say anything, just watched her.

This time Addie didn't drink her tea. The three of them sat around the fire in silence, watching the flames lick the dirt floor.

Kiera was the one to break it. "I saw Amare while I was out," she told Jorge. "we got to talking. He said he's been in the south. Heard some rumors of a witch doctor down there, sending people back to their old lives. I think I'm going to check it out."

"I don't believe it," Jorge sipped his tea. "Amare believes everything he hears. You know how this place works, it doesn't just let people go."

"Well, I'm stuck here anyways, what's the harm in checking it out?" Kiera demanded.

"Kiera, you know how I feel about anyone messing with-" she cut him off by slamming her cup down with enough force that it was a wonder it didn't shatter, and stormed outside, cropping up dust behind her. Jorge watched her leave with tired eyes, then turned to Addie. "Would you mind going after her, maybe get her to come back in? I've no hope of reasoning with her when she gets like this."

"Oh," Addie put her cup down. "Sure thing, I guess." She went outside and found Kiera digging into the ground with her hands. Addie walked up to her tentatively, trying to keep out of sight. "It doesn't rain much here, does it?" Addie asked. Kiera started, then turned around and shot her a glare. If looks could kill....

"No, it doesn't. Not while I've been here, anyways." She stopped digging. "But it does rain a lot in the East, I've heard. I don't know. This place can be confusing sometimes." Her eyes softened a bit. "What did you say your name was, again?"

"Addie," she said, "you alright?"

"I'm always alright. But I can't stay here. Jorge may be content to just stay here, but not me. I'm getting out." Kiera said the words with such conviction. Addie thought back to the way the reeds had cleared a path for her. This place was alive; maybe Jorge was right, maybe it didn't want anyone to get out. "I've got my people back home. I gotta get back to them, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." There was silence. Addie spoke. "I wonder how m'folks are dealin' with me dying."

"We're getting back, so it doesn't matter." Kiera said. Addie gave her a sidelong look.

"We?"

"If you want to get back, then yeah. My odds are better with someone who's new, so there would be worse things in the world than you tagging along." Kiera had found what she was digging for. Out of the fresh wound in the ground she pulled a dirty canvas tote bag that had probably been white at some point. Addie could make out the vague shape of a smiley face, but not the words underneath it. She swung it over her shoulder. "So, you coming?"

"Don' we need to pack? 'S not as if we can jus' go an' take off, right?"

"What's the worst that could happen? Death?" Kiera snorted. "No, there's nothing to lose. What about your parents, huh? You an only child?"

"Yeah," Addie said.

"Then I'm sure they're missing you like hell. Don't you want to get back to them?"

Addie's throat tightened. Of course she wanted to go home, but God, she didn't even know where she was. She had pinched herself until the skin on her arms turned red while Kiera was gone, yet she was still here. "Alright." Kiera looked at her, a bit surprised.

"So you're coming? That was easy."

"What else am I supposed t'say? It's not as if I can jus' wait here. God, I can't stay 'ere." Addie started to cry. She almost never cried in front of strangers, yet here she was sobbing in front of a woman who had pulled a knife on her within five minutes of their meeting. She let her dreads fall over her face, embarrassed. Kiera seemed unsure of what to do, frozen in a crouched position over the dirty bag, grimacing at Addie. She leaned over a bit and placed a furry hand on her knee.

"Look, kid. It's not as if things are likely to get any worse." She looked like she wanted to say something else, but she didn't, and the two of them just sat there for a minute, then Kiera stood up. "Come on, then. You said you were coming, let's go." Kiera took her by the arm and pulled her off the ground. Addie wiped under her eyes and sniffled, looking at her with wide eyes, trying to get a read on her. It was hard to tell her expressions with the strangeness of her face, but if Addie had to guess, she would say that she was determined.