Tale of Life (Essence Series #2) (25 page)

Breccan recognized her distress even though he couldn’t see her face. He marched over to her and turned her around, making her stare into his face. A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away quickly. “You’re my best friend, too,” he said. “And I—I love you.”

The tears poured down her cheeks at his words and she wiped them away again. Easton wrapped her arms around his neck and held him for a moment. “I love you too, Breccan.” She buried her face in his shoulder as she
cried, dropping the brave façade she always wore.

Easton dropped her embrace and turned to Calloway, who she hugged tightly, and he returned her hug with equal force. “I love you, Calloway.” She sniffed.

“I love you too, Easton,” he said. He ran his hands down her back, trying to comfort her as well as he could, but his own emotions were running out of control. He felt a tear slide down his cheek when he realized that his friends might not survive—
he might not survive
. An image of his aunt and uncle formed in his mind, but was quickly replaced with Weston’s face.

Calloway wiped his tear away then ended their touch. “Can you do something for me?” he asked.

She nodded, too overwhelmed to speak. The tears fell from her eyes and she didn’t bother to wipe them away.

Calloway pulled a note from pocket and handed it to Easton. “Give this to Weston if—if I don’t come back.” He had been up the entire night composing the letter to the love of his life, writing down everything he wanted to say to her but never could. If he died he wanted her to know how he felt about her—that he loved her like the flowers loved the sun.

Easton took the letter with shaky hands. “Okay,” she said. “But we are coming back, Calloway. All of us.”

Calloway nodded. “Just in case,” he whispered. “It’s better for her to know how I feel about her in death, than not know at all.”

Easton nodded. “She loves you, Calloway.”

Calloway felt his heart skip a beat. He always wondered if she did, suspected it the night of the prom, but he was too scared to ask her, worried that he would chase her away. “Did she tell you this?”

“No.” Easton sighed, looking down at the ground. “But I know she does. She has never acted like that with anyone before, never been so affectionate. If the Hara-Kir incident hadn’t happened, she would probably be yours, Calloway.”

Calloway took a deep breath. “That is both comforting and heartbreaking.”

“Just remember that she does, Calloway. She loves you. There isn’t a doubt in my mind.”

Calloway nodded. “I hope you are right.”

“It’s so obvious, Cal,” Breccan said. “Who is that affectionate with someone just because? You guys are like star-crossed lovers, staying apart for idiotic reasons. Life is too short for this, Calloway. When we get back, you better talk to her.”

On the night of prom, Calloway almost had the courage to tell her how he felt about her. If only he had spoken his mind at that moment, he wouldn’t have noticed Beatrice kissing Hawk across the floor, and he wouldn’t have gone outside and spotted the Hara-Kir lurking in the shadows. It was his biggest regret. If only had just told her the truth, she might be his girlfriend at this very moment. He might have tasted the freckle in the corner of her mouth. “I will.” He sighed.

Breccan clapped him on the shoulder. “Good,” he said. “It’s a lot better than reading a love note from a dead guy.”

Calloway laughed. “I suppose. I guess it is a bit creepy.”

“
A bit
?” Breccan smiled.

Calloway stared at his cousin for a moment, knowing this may be the last time he would ever see him. They had their differences but they always protected each other from everything. Breccan wasn’t just his cousin—but his best friend and brother. Calloway embraced him and hugged him, clapping him on the back quickly before he pulled away. “You better not die,” he said.

Breccan nodded. “That goes both ways, brother.”

Calloway took a deep breath. “Is there anything else?”

Easton shook her head. “I left the Kirin Book in my sister’s basement. Just in case I die, she’ll have it.”

“Good,” Calloway said. He pulled the hood over his head, clouding his face in shadow, and the other two did the same. “Everyone has their knives?”

“Yes,” they both answered.

Calloway approached the wall in the back corner while his two friends followed behind him. When they reached the portal wall, he looked at his two friends. “Remember, if something happens to me you need to go—you promised me.”

“We will leave you if we have no other choice,” Easton said. “Otherwise, we always stay together—no matter what.”

Calloway nodded. “Are you ready?”

Easton took a deep breath. “The anticipation is always more terrible than the action itself.”

“We aren’t getting a shot,” Breccan said. “We are entering another world—where we could die!”

“I am aware of that,” she snapped.

Breccan sighed then grabbed her hand. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m ready.”

Easton flinched at his touch but she didn’t pull away. “Okay.”

Calloway pulled the globe from his pocket and squeezed it, causing the light to illuminate the dark corner of the library. The almost inaudible hum returned and blared in Calloway’s ears. He stepped toward the wall and his friends stood right behind him. Calloway could feel his heart hammer in his chest and he feared it would give out from the anticipation. He stepped closer to the wall and held out his hand, about to the touch the surface, and when his palm touched the wall, it continued to pass through the solid barrier. Calloway gasped and pulled his hand back out.

“We just step through,” he said.

Easton and Breccan stood on either side of him, and together, they pressed their hands against the wall.

“Ready?” Calloway asked.

They both nodded.

Calloway stepped through the portal, and his friends followed behind him instantaneously, disappearing from the mortal plane of the earth and vanishing into an unknown land that none of them were aware of—unsure if they would ever return.

The Anti-Life

Calloway’s body fell forward when his shoes hit the ground. He rolled into the fall and finally halted after a few feet, stopping himself before he continued to fly down the hill. Easton and Breccan appeared a moment later, tumbling just like he had. He caught them both before they went too far.

Breccan sat up and looked around them. “What are we?” he asked in a mesmerized voice.

Calloway stared at the scenery. It was dark, black as night, and they were deep inside a massive forest with tall trees that reached high into the sky. It was no different than a forest on earth, but Calloway was mesmerized by the sight of the nighttime stars. There were too many to count and they were close—
very close
. The stars on earth appeared distance, flickering faintly, but these stars were large, the size of planets, and Calloway was captivated by the sight. He felt like he was in a living painting of Van Gogh’s
Starry
Night
.

After he recovered from the innate beauty of the land, he checked for lurking Hara-Kirs, peering into the blackness and listening for even the faintest sound, but found nothing discernible. The lack of sunlight made it difficult to see but the glowing stars illuminated the land with just enough light. He could still see the lines on his hand as well as the leaves on the trees; it was just fainter. As much as Calloway hated to admit it, this unknown world was breathtaking.

The three of them sat together for a long moment, jumbled together with their knees touching and their elbows embedded in each other’s side, but none of them moved away. The sound of their hearts echoed in the glen, and it was so loud that it almost shattered Calloway’s ear drums.

“What do you we do now?” Easton whispered. “This was not what I was expecting.”

“And what were you expecting?” Calloway asked.

“A building of some sort or a rocky wasteland, nothing like this beautiful place.” she said quietly.

The faint sound of chirping birds and woodland creatures emitted from around them. A buzzing sound could be heard in the distance and it reminded Calloway of a flying bee. A slight breeze glided up the hill and brushed the hair from his face. The air was slightly warm, like the temperature of a summer night.

Calloway rose to his feet and looked behind him. A large slab of rock was embedded into the ground and it resembled a stone wall, long enough to fit five people astride. He stared at it for a moment then turned back to his friends. “That must be the exit,” he said. “We have to remember how to get back.”

Breccan nodded. “We’ll rip off pieces of our cloaks and leave a trail.”

“Where are we going?” Easton asked as Breccan helped her to her feet.

Calloway shrugged. “Forward.” He turned around and looked at the entire forest and noted the stone mountains behind him, reaching high into the sky. The rock walls were white in the light of the stars, almost unreal. They weren’t rocky and chaotic like other scenes of nature. It almost looked manmade. Everything in this place was different but had remnants of life on earth. Calloway wondered what the connection was.

He walked down the hill with his friends following behind him. “Don’t make a sound,” he said. “They can see us better than we can see them.”

Breccan nodded. “Hopefully they assume we are other Hara-Kirs. They probably won’t suspect humans to cross over.”

“We don’t know what they expect,” Easton said.

They inched deeper into the woods and moved between the wide trunks of the trees, passing deeper into unchartered territory. Every few feet, Breccan would lay down a piece of cloth as a marker.

“If only we had come during daylight,” Breccan said. “This would be easier.”

“But they might be sleeping at night,” Easton said.

“Do they?” Calloway asked.

Easton shook her head. “It didn’t say in the Kirin Book.”

“That book is good for nothing,” Breccan spat.

“Well, it got us this far,” Easton said defensively.

Calloway stopped moving and grabbed them both by the arm, squeezing tightly. “This isn’t a game,” he whispered. “You can save your arguments for another time. I intend to escape—
alive
.” He released his hold and moved forward, not waiting to hear their comments.

Breccan and Easton followed behind him but didn’t speak, abandoning their previous argument, much to Calloway’s relief. He would put up with their disagreement at any other time except now. While the land looked calm and peaceful, Calloway wasn’t easily convinced. The Hara-Kirs could be watching them.

They etched deeper into the forest until Calloway heard a familiar sound. Moving water was colliding with a nearby beach, making loud waves that could be heard from where they were standing.

“Is that an ocean?” Easton whispered.

“Do they have oceans?” Breccan asked.

Calloway looked up into the sky, seeing the tip of the nearby tree reach out into space. “Well, they have trees and trees need water. It is very possible.”

“And all life needs water,” Easton added. “Perhaps this place is no different than earth.”

“It is,” Calloway said. “It reminds me of earth but everything looks slightly different—exaggerated. When have you ever seen trees this tall?”

Breccan nodded. “That’s true.”

Calloway led them farther into the woodland then he heard a snap of a twig a short distance away. He stopped in his tracks then looked at his friends. Without speaking, he told them to hide in a copse of bushes, sneaking behind the brush out of sight. Calloway couldn’t fit alongside them so he moved behind a tree and waited.

The sound of moving feet could be heard then a hiss echoed into the night. Suddenly, a Hara-Kir charged for the bush that completely hid Breccan and Easton from view, and he pulled a sword from his belt and started to slash at them.

Calloway sprinted from behind the tree and stabbed his blade directly into its heart. Then he kicked it in the knees so it fell back. Easton inserted her blade into his chest, and Breccan placed his alongside hers. They caught their breath for a moment before they removed their blades and deposited the body behind the tree.

“How did it see us?” Easton whispered. “It had no idea we were there until it walked into the clearing.”

“He can see our essence,” Breccan explained. “Remember?”

“But Calloway was closer to him and it didn’t attack him,” Easton said. “And Calloway is the easier kill.”

Calloway shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “Perhaps he didn’t see me.”

“But he had to,” Easton said. “And he can’t know who you are just by looking at your essence. I doubt he didn’t harm you because he recognized you.”

“I’m sure he just didn’t see me,” Calloway said. “And we are bound to run into more. We’ll see what happens then.” He pulled his hood farther over his face and continued to move forward while Breccan left more pieces of fabric to mark their way back to the portal.

Now that they had been attacked, Calloway felt panicked and anxious. He was enjoying the exquisite scenery until the Hara-Kir leapt from the shadows. Since the world was so open desolate, he wondered how they were organized in the Anti-Life. He also found the title of their world inappropriate—
the place was full of life
.