Illusion: Destiny Awaits (In Editing)

8 - Sabrina

I squint as my eyes adjust to the bright sunlight. Soft granules of sand wedge themselves between my toes, but I don't care. I'm free! We're free. I glance back and find Christi brushing herself off, she must have fallen. I run towards her, almost falling in the golden grains.

"Christi! We did it! We're free!" I exclaim joyfully. I can feel the stares of other people at the beach, but I don't care. After all that we had gone through, we are home.

"Where are Lupo, Skifter, and Igbo?" Christi questions, pulling me out of my little celebration. I scan the shoreline, nothing.

"I have no idea. Do you think they were caught?" I ask, worry building up in my stomach.

"Hey, my necklace has another charm on it!" Christi exclaims, fingering the hawk charm. "Skifter must be there!" I look down at my chain, to find that I have two more charms. Besides my heart of course!

"I have Lupo and Igbo!" I tell her happily.

"Humph," she huffs. "Why do you get Igbo?" I shrug.

"Maybe because he and Lupo are similar animals?" I suggest.

"I dunno," Christi trails off, drinking in the image of land and home. I too gaze around the familiar land. It might not be much, but I love it.

"Come on Christi, let's go to your house!" I say happily.

"Um, Sabrina, you're forgetting one thing," she tells me.

"What? What am I forgetting?" I ask in confusion.

"Our parents, our family. They probably got the police into this. Are we really just going to waltz up to them and say 'Oh, we were just camping at the beach. We thought we told you!'? I don't think so," she states. Oh. Hmm, I never thought of that in my excitement. Christi has a point. We can't just pretend we were camping or something. Knowing my parents, they would have called the police on the first day I was gone.

"Skifter? Lupo? Igbo? Any suggestions?" I ask the little charms. Oh great. I'm definitely going crazy now, talking to an inanimate object. Or actually, inanimate objects.

"How would they know?" Christi asks irritably. I shrug in response. "Well, we can't go back until we figure something out." Christi sighs exasperatedly. The sun beats down on my bare skin, and I realize: I'm still wearing my swimsuit.

"Well, let's at least go in the shade, I'm roasting like a steak in this heat!" I suggest. Christi makes no comment, just plodding through the scorching sand into the cool shade. I follow hurriedly.

"What's up with Christi?" I mutter under my breath. I immediately stop talking to myself, afraid Christi will hear me. She's been acting up ever since we came home. Shouldn't she be happy? Did something upset her? Did I upset her?

"So, how are we going to deal with our parents?" I ask hesitantly after a few moments of silence. Christi shrugs. I sigh angrily, what is her problem?

Use this mentelavar, Lupo's gruff voice bounces in my brain. I listen for more, but nothing comes. I again, sigh, very frustrated. What the heck is mentelavar? All of a sudden, I feel a slight tug in my being. I freeze, what is pulling on me? Christi glances over at me but just goes back to her imaginary world, that I am apparently not invited in.

"Lupo?" I whisper into the humid air. No response. What is it with people and not responding to me? Or, I should say, people and animals. Although, people are technically animals... enough Sabrina, focus!

The force keeps tugging me towards a very large stone, and I wearily step forward to it. Christi is still off in her little world. What if it's a portal to another dimension? What if it sucks me back to Zaroho? What if...Okay, really Sabrina? Come on! The small grains give way beneath my feet, and my foot lands on something hard, and pointy.