Escape (8 page)

            “Our apologies. We are so used to having company that are our size or smaller,” the wife said merrily, her eyes twinkling with gaiety.

            “Is everyone in Phantasia small?” Amelia asked, feeling that her questions could finally be answered.

            “Oh, yes. Quite small. We have a pot of vegetable stew brewing in the house. If you wish, you can wait out here and we will bring you both some when it’s finished.”

            Amelia sniffed the air and could detect the faint scent of cooking herbs. Her stomach rumbled, eager to taste the broth. “It smells great.” She set down the box and settled herself on the ground to patiently wait for her meal.

            “Fantastic,” the husband exclaimed. “My name is Arradatt and this is my wife, Losgrila. And what might your names be?”

            “I’m Amelia and this is my guide, Connor.”

            The wife peered at Connor curiously. “Hmmm… What strange names. Where do you hail from?”

            “I’m from another world called Earth. He’s from the country of Augustine.”

            “Humph,” Arradatt said. “I’ve never heard of Earth, but I’ve heard too much about Augustine. What manner of beast are you?”

            Connor spoke up for the first time since they left the path. “A demon.”

            Losgrila gave a startled gasp and clung to her husband. She began muttering something in a foreign tongue that Amelia couldn’t understand. But, she did understand her fearful tone.

            “No, no, he’s good. He won’t hurt you guys. He’s just helping me get home.” Amelia hardly knew what she was saying. She wasn’t positive that Connor wouldn’t hurt them, but she didn’t want these two kind gnomes to turn her away now that she realized how hungry she was.

            The two gnomes eyed Connor suspiciously and edged towards their home. “We’ll bring that broth out to you when it’s finished,” Arradatt assured.

            Before the door closed, Losgrila poked her head out and addressed Amelia. “If you need anything, just yell. We have plenty of knives in here.” And with that she firmly shut the door and Amelia could hear them bolt it from the other side. She was sure that their version of a knife would be even smaller than a toothpick and probably a useless weapon against Connor, even if she needed one.

            Amelia was grateful that she would receive a meal, but now their hosts were wary of them. She should have lied and said that he was human too, even though that would have been far from the truth.

            Connor stood, his arms crossed over his chest and staring off crossly into the woods. She wanted to scold him for being what he was. He could have been warmer to the gnomes and reassure them that they were safe with him as their guest. Instead, he let them be terrified of him.

            Amelia sighed and turned her eyes to the ground. Sprouting there was a little dandelion, its silky orb just barely visible in the moonlight. She plucked it up and slowly twirled it between her fingers. It was something so simple, but it reminded her of home. These grew all over her backyard. Her mother hated the weeds, but Amelia loved to blow on them when she was younger and spread their seeds all over.

            She could hear the gnomes softly argue inside about Connor. She didn’t blame them for being hesitant hosts. She was hesitant on traveling with him too. She glanced up to him and saw that he was sitting down now not too far from her, but his stare was still focused on something in the distance that she couldn’t see.

            He seemed so far away, like he wasn’t even there just a few feet from her. She wondered what he could possibly have been thinking about.

            “Do you miss her?” Amelia asked before she could even think about what it was that she was saying.

            Connor turned to regard her. “Who?”

            “Esmeralda. Do you miss her?”

            He looked away and she could see the searching in his eyes. “No, not really.”

            “Weren’t you two a couple?”

            He sighed and lifted his chin a little higher. “We were once, a long time ago.”

            “But not anymore?” Amelia felt an inexplicable glimmer of hope.

            “No, not anymore.”

            “Why not?”

            Connor sighed and was silent for a moment, as if to search his mind for the answer. “We’re just too different. She needed something that I couldn’t give.”

            She curled up her knees to her chest and hugged them tight, willing this moment to never go away. He was opening up so unexpectedly. “How long were you with her?”

            “Too long.” His tone was dark and rueful. It was enough to make her heart break.

            “If you weren’t a couple, why were you living together?”

            Connor shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know. We were so used to each other, I suppose.”

            “Did you ever live anywhere else besides Flagler?”

            He was quiet and she silently begged him not to shut her out again. She just wanted to know a little more, that was all. Just a few more questions were all she wanted, if he would allow. She wanted answers so badly that she could feel tears threatened to spill from her eyelids if they didn’t come.

            “Yes, I did.”

            Amelia let out the breath of relief. “Where?”

            Connor turned and their eyes met. There was such a broken light behind his gaze that she almost dreaded what the answer would be. “Earth.”

            It was only one word, but with its utterance, Amelia felt like a gunshot had gone off. More questions reeled in her brain, making her lightheaded with the desire to know everything. She threw caution out the window and moved forward on her hands and knees to approach Connor.

            “Earth? You lived on Earth? Where? When? Were you a demon then? How did you get here? What happened?”

            Connor held out his hands and eased her back. “Whoa, settle down.”

            Amelia sat back on her heels and let her hands rest upon her thighs, but she couldn’t ease her frantic mind. She had to know more, every cell in her body screamed for it.

            Connor took a deep breath that trembled as much as her hands did. “I was born on a farm in western Pennsylvania in 1760.”

            Amelia could hear the strain in his voice. She wondered if he had ever told anyone this story before. If he hadn’t, she felt so privileged that he would share this with her. She bit her lips together to keep herself from asking any questions until he was finished with his story.

            “I had two brothers and when my father went off to fight in the war for independence, we were left to take care of the farm with our mother. It wasn’t long before we received word that he had been killed in battle.” Connor’s eyes fell away as he relived the moments that he could never forget.

            “My older brother went off to war just a year later. My mother begged him not to go, but he couldn’t be talked to. He was killed too. My younger brother was too young to join the militia, but not old enough to be of any help on the farm. Mother did some work, but her health was failing and she was too overwhelmed with grief to do much. I wanted to go and fight, but I couldn’t leave them behind. They depended on me.

            “One night in 1779, I was tending the fields by moonlight. It had to get done and I was running out of time. I was at my wits end. I cried out to God, to anyone, for help. I couldn’t handle it anymore. We needed the war to end, we needed money, and we needed hope.”

            Connor’s expression shifted from pitiful to the familiar bitterness that Amelia knew so well. “Then, he came. He was dressed in all black and standing there in the middle of the field. I shouted at him to go away, but then he was right in front of me. I fell down and he said that he heard my cry for help. At first, I thought he was an angel from God, but when he continued, I knew he was anything but that.

            “He said he would offer me and my family rest from our troubles if I agreed to serve him when the time came. I asked him what kind of service he needed, but he wouldn’t tell me. He only said that it would be in my best interests to agree. So I did.”

            Connor paused, taking a moment to arrange his thoughts before continuing. “I didn’t see the man again for weeks, but I saw the benefits from our deal. The harvest had never been bigger and it was all ready for market. And we sold so much that it looked like we wouldn’t need to worry about money again for a long time. It was a miracle.”

            “But, something must have happened.”

            “Something did happen. The British came. A group of them came to the farm asking for provisions and shelter for the night. My mother was a die-hard patriot, as were my brother and I. She refused. When they asked again, my brother came running out with my father’s gun and shot an officer right off his horse.

            “One of the other British officers attempted to shoot my brother, but my mother got in the way and they shot her instead. A few more shots later, my brother was dead. I watched it all from the barn. I grabbed a pitchfork and started to run towards the soldier that shot my mother, but the man appeared again and held me back. He told me that now was the time for me to serve him.

            “I felt a sharp pain in my back and everything went black. I thought he had killed me, but then I woke up in this world. I was in a nice house and it was nighttime, but no one was around. I could see so much clearer, hear everything, and smell things I couldn’t smell before. I found a mirror and saw what I had become. The man appeared and finally introduced himself as Baal. I had heard teachings about him in church, but didn’t realize that he was so real.

            “He owned me. He still owns me. I did his dirty work, stealing souls, making deals like he had with me. For a century I jumped back and forth between this world and the next until I ran away from him. I found Flagler and Esmeralda. Baal did not have jurisdiction there and he couldn’t come to claim me. So, I stayed there.”

            Amelia was fascinated and heartbroken by his story. She couldn’t imagine losing her family like that. “So, if you left Flagler, then Baal could come and take you?”

            Connor’s voice grew ominous. “He can try.”

            The gravity of Connor’s situation hit her sorely. It was her fault that he was in danger now. Baal could come any moment to press him back into his services. “Is there any way to break the contract with Baal?”

            “Only if one of us dies. And I know it won’t be me.”

            Malice dripped from his tongue with each word, so much that it frightened Amelia. If they came across Baal, what would happen? Would Connor fight to the death to reclaim his freedom?

            “You should go back to Flagler. It’s safer there for you. I can make it on my own.”

            Connor shook his head. “No, you can’t. And besides, I’ve hidden in that hole for long enough.”

            Amelia hugged her knees to her chest once more and settled her chin atop one of her knees. They were silent for a while, Amelia processing all she had been told and Connor rebuilding his internal defenses.

            Amelia couldn’t cut the tension with the sharpest steak knife. It must have been so hard for him to talk about all of these things. He didn’t say it, but she knew he missed Earth and the human world. It occurred to her that perhaps he hated humans because they reminded him of what he once was and wished to be again. He didn’t hate them at all. He envied them.

            “Has Earth changed much since I was there?” he asked, his voice barely audible.

            Amelia looked up and nodded. “It’s changed a lot. We have cars and airplanes. We fought in a lot of wars. We’ve discovered cures for diseases and invented a lot of stuff like cellphones and computers. But none of that must mean much to you, huh?”

            “No, not a lot.”

            She brightened a little. “But, Flagler is pretty similar to some towns. It’s a little more old fashion but we have electricity too.”

            Connor nodded in understanding. “What was your home like?”

            She met his composed stare and realized that it was her turn to share now. She hoped it wouldn’t be as hard for her.

            “It’s a small town, nothing too fancy.” She went on to explain about her school, her neighborhood and her favorite places to go in town like Main Street and the park. He listened attentively, showing real interest. It felt good to talk about her hometown. It made her miss it that much more.

            “And your family?”

            Amelia opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t find the right words. What was there to say about her family? She didn’t want to lie and say they were perfect, but she didn’t want to make it seem like her misfortunes were greater than his. She knew they weren’t, not by a long shot. She still couldn’t fathom the thought of losing her parents like that. Despite everything, she did love them and the idea of their mortality was something she didn’t want to think about.

            “My mom is a real estate agent. My dad is a banker. They’re nice parents.”

            She hoped that saying so little was enough for Connor, but his stare became intense. She wasn’t fooling him. Amelia sighed and decided to let the flood gates burst open.

            “They are pretty busy most of the time and don’t come home a lot. I never see them anymore. We don’t have meals together like normal families do and no matter how good I am in school or at home, they never seem to notice.”

            “Perhaps they’re just busy.”

            “I know they’re busy, but that shouldn’t be any excuse.” Amelia’s voice grew harsh and overcome with emotions she never knew she had. She took a moment to calm herself before continuing. “It just seems like if I really mattered, they would make an effort to see me every once and a while.

            “When I have to go to the grocery store because they haven’t shopped in weeks, I see other parents shopping with their kids and start thinking to myself ‘when was the last time I did that?’ And you know what? I don’t remember.” Amelia shook her head regretfully.