A Perfect World

Chapter 11

We meet up with the rest of our group outside and split into two cars, the first takes Dan, Ty, Jaydia, and Meg, and the other takes me and my siblings. I hear Jack and Matt thank Emory and Emma for their help, and something about meeting up later somewhere, but not many details. Matt and I both call shotgun, so we compromise with an arm wrestling contest. Matt wins but lets me take shotgun anyway. For the first few minutes, we talk and throw things at each other, ya know, as siblings do, but eventually, we settle down.

“So Aydin-” Jack starts, but I know what he’s gonna ask by his tone, and cut him off with a laugh, “No,” I say, drawing it out with anticipation of what they’re gonna ask, “Whatever you’re about to say, stop.” Jack stops, but as twins, Matt naturally picks up for him, “You know the blonde kid well, I take it?” He says with a teasing smile, easily dodging my half-hearted attempt to smack him.

“C’mon, answer the question, Ayda! You’re totally crushing on Dan, aren’t you?” Claire says with a loud laugh.

“Uhg! Stop!” I say, trying not to smile and blush as they tease me about a guy that I only met a day ago. I hide my face in my sleeves and lean against the dashboard, 

“I’m gonna take that as a yes until I’m convinced otherwise,” Jack says with a satisfied grin.

“Forever, then?” Matt says, fully aware of what his older brother means.

“Oh, forever and a day, more like!” Claire adds, giggling a bit to herself. I take the chance to taunt Jack.

“You’ve got a thing for Emory, Jack.” He stumbles over his words as he tries to deny it, his smile falling as the tables turn, “Don’t even try to deny it. You blush like a sunrise if she’s within 20 feet of you, and you’re always looking at her.”

“No, I’m not!” Jack says loudly, “I only look at her occasionally.” He adds quietly.

“But you don’t deny that you like her?” I say with my own satisfied smile.

“Eh, I guess not…” He says, rubbing the back of his neck as his face turns the color of a rose.

“Oh!” Claire yells, “Jack’s got a crush on Matt’s ex!”

Matt and Emory dated for 5 or 6 years, but they broke up a year or so ago because Emory didn’t think it was working, but they stayed good friends. Even just the day after they’d still talk as if they hadn’t been dating for years and just broken up. I guess that’s part of why Emory helped us out because she felt like she owed Matt something. But one thing still didn’t make sense. Jake, Emory’s little brother, had been killed in a car crash almost 4 years ago when Jack, Matt, Emma, Emory, and Jake had been going to see a movie, but they all acted as if it had never happened. Sometimes I was thankful for that, but sometimes I wonder if they are actually okay, or if they just pretend to be.

Finally, we quiet down, and the three in the back fall asleep. Jack is slouched down, his arms crossed, on the right side of the car. Claire sleeps with her head on Jack’s shoulder and her hands resting in her lap peacefully, and Matt is asleep in the seat behind me, laying his head against the window. Eventually, I fall asleep against my window, my arms crossed over my chest when a sudden thought jerks me awake. What if Jake wasn’t dead? I mean, obviously, he died, Claire drove us there as soon as we heard, and we both knew first-hand who had sustained what injuries, but what if he was brought back? There are all kinds of strange magic and power in Haiwa, some of it could bring people back from the dead. Doctors use it all the time, so it wouldn’t be hard to believe somebody else could tap into it, is it?

I’m gonna ask Jack when he wakes up.

But he’ll think I’m crazy.

No. I’m asking.

Somebody else might think I’m crazy, but that hasn’t stopped me from doing worse things. Like stealing. Claire and I used to be partners in crime, and we’d go around stealing from shops and houses. Our parents didn’t care, and our brother’s never found out, so we just kinda went with it, but eventually, I got sick of it. We had almost gotten caught, and I didn’t want to know what would happen if the cops found out the scale of our crimes, so I cleaned up my act.

Mostly.

Claire still went out, and once or twice she got shot, so I learned how to remove and take care of bullet wounds, even if it was just for my sister. Turns out, those skills came in hand when Dan got shot, and when we had to sneak around. My fighting skills had come from Jack. He had learned how to street fight to protect Matt from elementary and middle school jerks, then he taught us. Matt’s good, but he doesn’t like fighting, and I’m almost better than Jack, but he gets me at the last second every time. Claire’s the only person that’s ever been able to beat him, even with a weapon. She can take any of us out in a second, and she has during practices, but she wouldn’t really hurt us, even if her life was on the line.

As we drive I stare out the window, daydreaming, but eventually the other car pulls up just in front of us and Dan and I sign to each other through the windows.

<Is everybody in your car asleep?> He signs.

<Yeah. How about yours?>

<Scarlad was awake a little while ago, but I think she’s asleep up front now.>

<It’s probably a good thing that they’re asleep. I doubt any of them have gotten a good night’s sleep in a while.>

<I know I haven’t, but I can’t sleep in cars.> He signs with a smile. 

<I’m mostly just trying to figure some stuff out. I can survive for a week off of 2 hours of sleep a night.>

<What kind of stuff?>

<Backstory first. Emory had a little brother named Jake, and he was killed in a car crash with Sport, Tech, Emma, and Emory about 4 years ago, but not of them seem the slightest bit bothered by it, so I was thinking, what if he isn’t dead?>

<You think somebody could’ve revived him?>

<I think it’s possible. Doctors use that kind of magic all the time, so why is it so impossible that someone else, or even another doctor, could have used it to bring him back?>

<Is that magic that strong? I know it can be used to revive recently deceased patients, but somebody who’s been dead for sometime->

I cut him off, <Unless someone that was already there knew that kind of magic.>

<What are you suggesting?> He asks, his expression curious, and slightly confused.

<Emory’s parents are doctors. She could have discovered it from them somehow and used it on her brother. She doesn’t let anyone go easily, if at all when she can help it.>

<You really think she would do that?>

<I know she would, especially since it was her brother.>

Suddenly a large truck swerves into our lane, and we roll into the other car, knocking both vehicles into a ditch. I hover between conscious and unconscious states for a few minutes before I black out and wake up in a hospital. No one’s around, so I drop my feet onto the floor and walk into the hall. I don’t see anyone, but a kind voice from behind me prompts me to turn around.

“Morning, Aydin.”

I see a young boy, maybe 16, sitting on the bed, his long, white hair falling into his face every time he brushes it away. Eventually, he gives up keeping it out of his big, gold eyes, and stands up, a wide, excited smile on his face as he introduces himself to me, ‘Hello, I’m Lewis.” He says, offering his hand for me to shake. I shake it, still looking around for something to tell me anything about where I am.

“Hi, Lewis,” I say, distracted, “Where am I?”

“You’re in Palace Ple Art’tar, The time and space between life and death.”