The Fallen Goddess

Canada

I land hard on the forest floor, Koreena standing next to me. I stand up too.

"Where are we?" I ask. "And why did you use your powers? You said you couldn't!"

"If everything went correctly," she says, turning to face me. "We're in Canada. In what province, I do not know; I didn't think to specify."

"So, what, your powers just work now? And why did you use them in the first place?" I ask, growing slightly apprehensive, though not knowing why.

"They seem to work better now, yes."

"Why did you use them?" I ask for the third time, trying to remain patient. "And why Canada? I mean, you could have taken us further."

"No I couldn't have. Again, I would have killed us both; this is all I was able to do," Koreena says, slightly irritably.

"Why did you teleport us?" I question, my voice rising despite my attempts to keep it even.

"Because I started thinking about what you said earlier," she says quietly, her voice obtaining a guilty edge. "It was my fault we hadn't gone further, and I was feeling strong and happy when we talking, so I decided to try it."

I don't say anything, but my anger relents, and suddenly I remember our conversation that took place only a few minutes ago.

I was feeling exceptionally happy then, and now, for inexplicable reasons, I feel jumpy and upset.

"I suppose we ought to find out where we are and then find somewhere to stay," I say instead of voicing my actual thoughts.

Koreena nods.

And so we begin to walk away from the forest clearing where we landed, neither of us bringing around the subject that we should be talking about, and both of us hoping for the best.

It's been about a week since we landed, and nothing really memorable happened. Koreena and I just kept moving from place to place, and hotel to hotel. Possibly the most interesting thing that happened between now and landing was that we once had to camp out in the woods; Canada isn't very populated in some areas.

We are walking down a sidewalk in a little town just outside Fort Smith, based on what locals say, when I see another sign in a front yard.

I point toward it, telling Koreena that I might as well go do something; we still haven't talked about the riddle or the problem in a while, and we haven't been able to do much.

Koreena, noticing the sign too, and evidently wanting to contribute to something, says she'll help out with whatever chore they have in store.

We walk up to the front door together and knock; the door is answered by a harassed-looking mother holding a baby in her arms and a couple children running around the house in the background. 

At first, the mother looks thankful and is about to ask if we're here about the sign, but she suddenly stops short and looks intently at me for a second.

"Uh, so, what do you need us to do?" I ask, confused at her expression, not catching on.

"Aren't you that kid that was on the news?" the woman asks, realization dawning on her face. "You are! Blake Strogan, right? Don't worry, I'll call the police!"

But before she makes another move, she seems to notice Koreena for the first time, who also has a look of sudden comprehension on her face.

The woman screams.

"You-you're the kidnapper!" she yells, grabbing me by the wrist, trying to get me inside to help.

"No! No, i-it's okay!" I try to yell, but Koreena grabs my other wrist and is able to wrench me away from the mother, who closes her door with a snap, protecting her children and likely to call the police.

Koreena breaks out into a sprint, and I follow her lead. When we finally feel like we've made it far enough away, we slow to a stop, both panting.

"W-what are we going to d-do now?" I ask, struggling to get words out.

"We c-can't stay at hotels here a-a-anymore; people will be on t-the lookout," she says through her deep gasps for breath. "We have to go s-somewhere e-else."

I nod, not wanting to say anymore than I have to.

We probably ran about a mile and into deep woods, so we are covered and seemingly safe, and I decide this is good enough; I sit down for a quick break.

Koreena, however, remains standing.

"Koreena, sit. Just rest for a second," I urge, but she does nothing. "Koreena?"

Without saying a thing, still panting slightly, Koreena sits beside me and touches my arm.

I wish I could say that I've gotten used to the feeling of being whisked away into nothing, but I'm not sure that's true.

"What the hell was that for?" I yell at her, letting my anger burst. "We were in Canada for a week and nothing but one thing happened! We could have just run!"

Koreena whimpers beside me, but remain defiant nonetheless.

"I had to get us out of the there!" she insists.

We are sitting in a hotel in Cleveland, Ohio. Koreena transported us to this city, and demanded that I save any arguments until we were in a hotel and, in her head, safer. I respected her wish, but the second we got into the room, I exploded.

"It wasn't safe!" she says, taking advantage of my silence.

"We could have just run! I mean, we were already doing that!" I say in response, angry that she refuses to see logic.

I honestly don't know why I'm so angry at her. She got us out of Canada, so what? I can see her point; the authorities will think we're still in Canada, so maybe it is safer here, but I'm still so angry.

I don't know how to explain it, I just don't want her to be right because something is eating at me that I don't want to admit, but if we continue arguing, I'll have to explain. I wouldn't mind admitting it, but I know she'll just get angrier with me, and neither of us can afford to be any more pissed off.

"Why are you so upset?" she throws at me, and for a second my anger flies away; I'm too bewildered that she already asked the question that, above all, I did not want her to ask.

"I'm upset because you could have harmed yourself!" I say, giving up my guard. "You were tired and out of breath, and I already know that, despite how much you try to hide it, teleportation drains you!"

She just looks at me. Stares at me. And she won't stop.

"I'm sorry," I think I hear her whisper, but I don't have time to question her because she is gone.

She left. Left me here, far from home, with a murderer on my tail. She did what she said she wouldn't, and she didn't even bring back to where I want to be.

She just left.