Empyreal: Awaken - Book One (15 page)

Coralie followed Courtland closely,
still holding onto his hand.

She realized how safe her hand felt –
how safe she felt. She realized how natural her hand fit into his.
How perfectly they fit together, like puzzle pieces, as if they
were made from the same mold.

Every few moments, Court would give
Coralie's hand a light squeeze. She had decided that this was his
way of giving her a sign of reassurance, though she didn't know
what for.

Nonetheless, it made her feel safe. He
made her feel safe.

He stopped, bringing her close beside
him. There, they stood at the edge of the water on the mossy
bankside.

Coralie watched as Court stood
peacefully, looking out across the water, breathing in his
surroundings. He looked so magnificent, she thought, with the sun
highlighting his blonde hair and reflecting in his bright light
blue eyes. His perfectly flawless skin glistened in the sunbeams.
Trying to tear her eyes away from him was almost
impossible.

Finally, she looked down at the
rippling water, splashing just before the tips of her shoes. She
knelt down, sticking her fingertips to the water. She skimmed the
surface, making figure-eight circles atop it. The water was cool,
but not unbearable. It actually felt quite nice.

She rose back up beside him. “This is
absolutely beautiful, Court.” Coralie said, smiling in
bewilderment.

Court gave at a half-turn and let a
smile spread across his face. “I'm glad you think so, but this
isn't it...”

“There's more?” she asked, looking
around them. She looked back at Court, as he was smiling looking
out into the water. “But where? Where else is there?” she asked,
puzzled.

He let go of her hand, and began to
take his shoes off.

“What are you doing?” she questioned,
still baffled.

Court began to unbutton his shirt and
slowly walk into the water. He tossed his shirt onto a nearby
branch and turned to her. “You coming?”

“In there?” she asked, with
wide-eyes.

He nodded, and then beckoned her to
come in and to follow him. She was hesitant at first.

“You coming or not?” he said,
beckoning and bobbing in the water.

“I don't know ... I'm not so sure that
I should...” She lied. Court knew that she would follow him
anywhere. She slipped off her flats and uniform knee-highs, and
then unbuttoned her uniform top shirt. With a nervy presentiment,
she turned to hang her top shirt next by Court's, which hung
loosely on a nearby tree branch.

Turning back to face him, Coralie
grimaced, “I'm going to regret this, aren't I?”

“Oh, come on in ... the water's fine
... I'll be with you the entire way...” Court called out to
her.

“Okay...” she started, but halted,
with widened eyes. “Wait ...
the entire way
? Where exactly
are we going?”

Court smiled. “And spoil the
surprise...” he teased, “I guess you are just going to have to
follow me to find out, aren't you?”

And how could she not? With a
surrendering sigh, she continued her trudge into the
water.

Finally feeling the water deep enough
to begin swimming out towards him, she began taking long strokes
with her arms. Up and over. Hand over hand. Coralie used her long
sleek arms to pull herself through the water.

While splashing and propelling herself
through the cool water, she became very aware that she was not
exactly dressed for a mid-day, or any time of day for that matter,
swim. She could feel her plaid uniform skirt and white tank top
clinging to her body as she swam.

The likelihood of being out of the
water at some point, she was sure, was somewhat high, so she pushed
away the urge to stop and discard another layer, for the thought of
their next destination.

A secret place.

A secret place that Court wanted to
share ... with her.

Hand over hand, she continued until
she reached Court. He was smiling, patiently waiting and bobbing in
the water.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

Coralie just gave a slight and nervous
nod.

Court smiled. “Take my hand...Do you
trust me?”

“Of course, I trust you...but –”
Coralie started, taking his hand.

“Okay,” he said, not allowing her to
finish, “... follow me...” He took a deep breath, Coralie following
in sync, and they both went underneath the water’s
surface.

They began to swim under water,
pushing themselves farther and farther away from the bankside.
Suddenly, Coralie began to feel herself descending, further down
into the deep lake water.

She realized that Court was still
holding her hand. Holding her hand
,
and pulling
her
.

Pulling her down.

Further and further down.

Down into the deep water.

Towards the bottom of the
lake.

Coralie started to panic. She wanted
to rush back up to the surface and gasp for air. But her panic was
short lived as she suddenly realized that her lungs were still full
of air. And they did not feel like they were about to explode,
though she had utterly expected them to.

Paused underwater, to explore her
escape options, Coralie noticed that the water was so clear she
could see Court.

Court was next to her, now, still
holding onto her hand. He gave it a squeeze for
reassurance.

Though she did not know how or why,
Coralie's panic diminished.

Just as they had begun to swim again,
Coralie noticed a glimmer in water. Something shiny, bright,
illuminating.

As they got closer, she felt a pull –
not a physical pull, not from Court – but a drawing sense that seem
to be from the light ... the shimmering …
What was this? The
surface?

Coralie took a breath. Her head was
above water. She was breathing in air, actual air. She looked
around, with Court circling around her in the water, with his smirk
ever present.

“Where are we?” she asked, expecting
to be breathless, but noticed she wasn't.

“Olympios Lake, the other side of
Empyreal Lake...” he answered, still encircling her.

“Oh...” Coralie said quietly, to daunt
away from the fact that she was very confused.

“Come on,” Court said taking ahold of
her hand, “I want you to see it from up there...” he finished,
pulling her closer to shore.

The Olympios' bankside was much the
same as Empyreal, except for the landscape was much more lush and
vibrant, which from what Coralie recalled was saying a
lot.

She and Court walked up onto the
bankside and took seat on a plush patch of grass. Beautiful,
brilliant flowers surrounded them. The sun shone bright overhead
through the trees, letting in slight rays that were beginning to
warm Coralie's skin. She was thankful for the sun as she suddenly
noticed that her clothes were drying fast from its rays, but were
still damp and clingy.

“It's really pretty here, Court ... I
have to admit, at first, it seemed like a little bit of a weird way
to get here, but thank you...”

“No, Thank you...”

Court was leaning back, allowing
himself to rest on his elbows. Coralie sat with her knees up, and
she rested back onto her outstretched hands.

“No, I mean, really … thank you for
bringing me here...”

“Well, it is
yours
to see,
Coralie...” Court said, waiting on her to catch a glimmer in his
words.

But nothing... she was still looking
around, taking in all of her surroundings.

Suddenly, Court sat up and leaned
toward her. Leaning in very close, he whispered to her. “I'm glad
you like it here...” His whispers were so close that she could feel
his words on her lips.

Hanging on his every word, she hardly
noticed as he slowly leaned in closer, and then he kissed her.
Coralie melted into the beautiful earth that surrounded
her.

“If this is what you asked me to come
for,” a girl's voice said, seemingly to approach them. “... to
gross me out ... let's just say, that there's a slim chance that
you're getting away from here without a shiner for the whole world
to see ... I'm sure Mom & Dad would love that ... Golden Child
comes home with a shiner from his little sister – I can see it now
in the headlines...”

Coralie heard an amused chuckle come
from Court, who still sat very close to her. Close enough to feel
his breath on her shoulder.

The girl laughed, appearing, emerging
from the tree line. She continued, “... Can you imagine that? Bam!
Take that home to Mom & Dad...”

“Omigosh, Criston –” Coralie started,
standing up to greet her.

“Coralie, nice to see you again...”
Court's sister obliged Coralie's address, trying to be as pleasant
as possible.

“You, too ... wait – I'm sorry, but I
don't think that I understand ... I thought you were in Romania.”
Coralie questioned in confusion.

“Yeah, well,” Criston started with a
smirk, “… my brother, here, is very convincing ... besides, it's
really not all that far...”

“Not that far?” Coralie said,
anxiously, suddenly feeling nervous about her surroundings. “What
are you talking about?”

“Coralie –” Court took her hand to
calm her.

“Court, what's going on? I don't
understand – I don't ... I mean –” Coralie stopped, looking around
herself. Coralie noticed that something was obviously different
about this place. “Why aren’t there any people around ... a
beautiful place such as this ... Olympios, and come to think of it,
Empyreal as well. There wasn't anyone around there
either...”

“Cor –” Court started, interrupting
her. Court had been hanging on her every word, waiting for the
opportunity to step in. But she continued, needing more than
anything at the moment to complete her thought.

“What is this place? Where are
we?”

“Cor –”

“I would think that we would have seen
at least one person other than ourselves, right?” She thought
aloud.

“Coralie, no one comes here...”Court
paused.

“What do you mean?”

“No one comes here,
because...”

“Because of what? No one comes here,
because why, Court?” she asked, intrigued, but afraid. Afraid of
what the answer may actually be.

“No one comes here, Coralie ...
because no one knows about it...” Criston blurted out, “... no one
knows that it even exists...”

Coralie stared at Criston confused.
“What? That's insane!” she shouted in disbelief. “How can that be?
How can no one know that an entire lake exists?”

“Well, by no one, I don't exactly mean
no one
...
we
know about it ... because this is meant
for
us
... so...”

“And by
us
and
we
, you
mean
who
? Like,
you
and
I
?”

“Well, yes and no ... yes, I’m talking
about
you
and
myself
… Criston, as well … but there
is more … there are
others
...”

“More? There are others? What do you
mean by
others
?”

“Yes, there are more of
us...”

“Court, just stop it! This is insane
... She doesn't even know who she is!”

Court cut her words sharply. “Give it
a rest, Criston!”

Coralie sat and stared at him in
confusion. He was trying to give her cues, but none that she
recognized. She knew she should be able to identify and recall what
he was trying to explain to her, but she just couldn't.

Court began by searching for words.
“Coralie, although this is … I mean, yes, this is other side of
Empyreal Lake, but it's not just the
other side
of the lake
– it's just not that simple...”

“Court, I’m not sure that I
understand...”

Okay, so, you see, you can't just walk
to the other side...” Court stopped and sighed, “Do you understand
what I'm trying to say?”

Coralie stood silent, in
confusion.

Court sighed abruptly, once more, this
time in frustration with himself. “Of course, you don't
understand...” he paused, taking another breath, running his
fingers through his glistening golden hair. “... You don't
understand, because I'm talking in circles...”

“Court, what are trying to
say?”

“Court, just spill it - you're
confusing her even more than she already is...” Criston snapped at
her brother.

“Quiet, Criston!” Court snapped again,
trying to gather the right words.

“But I just –” Criston
started.

“I said, 'Quiet'!” Court barked, with
an intense stare. The two of them shared it for a moment, with
Criston backing down first, like a scolded child.

Court turned to Coralie, who was
startled by the intensity being shown by him. “Coralie, we just
came through a –” Court hesitated before saying the word, it
seemed, he'd been stumbling around, “...
portal...”