Cursed To Be With You

Chapter 19 (Part 3 ~ ONC #13)

"Just so that you're aware, this place is the only lintelled stone circle that is still standing in the world and is thousands of years old."

"Excellent. Thank you for reminding me of how old I am."

"Pardon?"

I turned and looked at Constantino. Even in the darkness of the car in the middle of nowhere, I could still see him easily. Cars might whizz past us, but that didn't make any difference.

"I was newly crowned when they were found. They've fought me on the subject ever since. It was like they knew that there was something worth opening the gates for."

"Humanity?"

"Perhaps. I have noticed that there is quite a distinct difference between the two worlds and their versions of humans."

"Maybe it's the diet. We have a rather processed life here."

"Processed?"

Opening the glove compartment, I showed him the empty wrappers. Every time I saw Patricia in this car, she had some kind of chocolate bar in her hand or being stuffed into her face. This was her car that she used to run around town and do her odd jobs and socialise with her friends. Harold always said that the Volkswagen was his car and he'd take it to the shops rather than his precious BMW but really, it was Patricia's car. For a few minutes more, it would be my car.

Constantino pulled out the box and the key, sliding it into the hole on the underside of the object. It began to glow blue and, in the distance, something sparked.

"It's doing something," I said with delight.

We got out of the car and grabbed the bags. As I lifted the overnight bag over my head, I looked around at the road. A vehicle was headed our way. Hopefully, it would keep going and not see a big blue glowing thing in the distance. It was the least of our problems because I knew how much security went into places of significance like this one. They desperately wanted to keep out the riff-raff, the brats that wanted to graffiti things and those that only want a chip out of the stone. Because you know, one little chip won't matter. To one person, maybe, maybe not. To a hundred people taking that one chip out, it definitely mattered. Several hundred every year and goodbye monument, hello pile of rubble.

"Constantino."

He stopped and looked at me.

"Promise me that you will do what you can to keep the structure safe."

"Well, I don't plan on knocking it over if that's what you mean. The gate is a different thing entirely. It's supposed to be strong to support the travellers. If it fails, then we will be in trouble."

Dumping the keys under the seat, I closed the door and picked up the bag. Constantino had a backpack strapped to his body like me, his hands free to deal with the marble box and the key.