Your Dimension Or Mine? (12 page)

“Feel better? I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.”

For two days, Ari was rarely allowed to leave the tiny room. Whenever she had to use the bathroom, Cory practically had a panic attack and would stand outside and chant something the whole time she was in there. It was very hard to actually relax and use the facilities, Ari thought, when she was afraid someone was going to whisk her away to another dimension at any moment.

On day three, she woke up to find herself staring into the eyes of her grandmother. Her grandmother, who should look ancient, looked only a few years her senior. “Abigail,” she said calmly, sitting up, not in the mood to hug the woman who seemed to have started the whole thing.

Abigail’s lips twitched. “A bit angry with me, are you? Well, I can’t blame you there. Hard enough finding out you aren’t even from this dimension, let alone being stolen away to another one without your okay.”

After using the restroom, Ari walked back into the little room to find three chairs and a table had now taken up residence. The table had the same design as the floor. Both Cory and Abigail were seated, and breakfast was waiting for her.

For three days, she had been waiting impatiently for the arrival of her grandmother. Now suddenly she wished she would just go away. This was all her fault, after all. Sitting down with a huff, she dug into her pancakes with gusto.

The other two silently waited for her to finish, which just made her more aware they were there. Finally, when she cleaned the plate, Abigail began to speak. Her first words confused Ari. “Cory, please remove the plate and leave. What I have to say to Arwen is for her ears only.”

“Good luck,” her sister said with a wink, and then she was gone, closing the door behind her.

As her sister and the dishes were gone, she had nobody else to look at so she turned and looked into her grandmother’s warm gray eyes. “Why?” There were so many questions she had, but the why was in everything. Why had he taken her? Why had she never been told? Why? Why? Why?

Nodding, Abigail leaned back. “As much as your mother refused to recognize the truth sitting in front of her at first, and Jane still refuses to even consider it, I think it is past time you learned who you are and where you came from. I will tell you everything. I know you will have a lot of questions. Please try to hold them back until I’m done.”

Annoyed because Abigail sounded like a teacher speaking to her less-than-intelligent students, Ari gave her a sharp nod.
Get on with it, Abigail
.

Abigail’s lips twitched in amusement before she began. “The first truth you must grasp is that this is not the only world there is. There are countless dimensions and realms. Some use the same spot in time and space and others do not. Most dimensions are filled with a conglomeration of beings, some good, some bad, all trying to make their way through their existence.

“Now, one of the ways this dimension differs from my own is the life expectancy. Earthlings only live sixty to eighty years unfortunately. My life expectancy is three to four thousand years.” Ari’s mouth dropped open. “As such, I have plenty of time to see what is truly out there. And that is the next truth you must learn to accept. Many other creatures know how to cross through the dimensional barrier. It is, as you have found, quite discombobulating at first as your body slowly shifts from one dimension to another. If you do it on purpose and shift intentionally, it is still uncomfortable, but it is less likely to make you ill.”

Taking a drink from the glass of water in front of her, Abigail watched her granddaughter for a few minutes before continuing. “The third truth you must accept is that magic exists, though it is not what most earthlings think it is.”

“Then what is it?” Ari asked, unable to stop herself.

“Most people here in this dimension seem to think magic is making something appear out of nowhere. They insist magic is illogical and thus cannot exist.” A slow chuckle left her lips. “Magic, Arwen Maria, is the ability to use energy to make things happen. Everyone and anyone has the ability to tap into this magic if they believe in it. Thankfully, the vast majority of people do not.

“There are, however”—Abigail’s voice hardened—“three realms I know of where every being who resides there is intrinsically selfish and evil. A few of those individuals have embraced magic wholeheartedly.”

“Orion.”

She nodded her head. “Yes, Orion is from a realm so far away he never should have found you. If it hadn’t been for the Interdimensional Dating Service, he would not have been able to.” Anger seethed through her tone, and Ari wondered just how well the two knew one another. “He, unfortunately, is immortal. The bastard cannot die,” she spat. “As I have no idea how long he has actually existed, I cannot tell you how long he has mastered the ability to use energy for his twisted desires, but it is at least five thousand years.”

“Five thousand years!” Ari squeaked, unable even to think in those terms.

“Yes,” Abigail said quietly, frowning. “Five thousand years ago, my great-aunt made a huge mistake. She was one of the first of our family to cross dimensions freely and did not know what to look out for. She crossed into his and was caught in his web. He used all his power to confuse and befuddle her until she was filled with fear and trepidation. She was the first of his slaves who held magical power. He thought he was one of the few who knew how to use it.”

Her eyes turned cold as they locked on Ari’s. “He is smart, very smart. Never underestimate him, Arwen. After he learned about our family, he offered her a way out. He offered her a contract, which gave him access to certain women in our family who he could take at will once a century.” Her voice turned colder. “Unfortunately, my great-aunt’s line died out. So, for three centuries, he has not been able to take what he asserts is his. Finding you, I am sure he is salivating at the idea of making you his slave, Arwen.”

Ari did not understand. This all sounded like some horror novel. “How did he know I was a relative?”

“Arwen, you are the spitting image of my great-aunt Celie. One look and he knew. And the moment he felt your presence enough in that coffee shop, well, he felt your energy signature, which is quite intense by the way, and could not wait to get you.”

Could not wait to get you.
Ari’s throat closed up as her heart began to beat faster. “How can I defend myself against him?”

Abigail took a moment to answer, rubbing her thumbs up and down the glass she held. “Technically, you cannot.”

Dread. Fear. She was doomed.

“At least not yet. But Cory and I discussed it when he took you, and I made a couple calls. The fact is, you need to be trained to block him and fight his control.” She paused. “You wanted to accept it, didn’t you?”

Ashamed, Ari nodded. “It seemed right.”

“Of course it did. His power, combined with that horrible contract he and Celie drew up, created a very hard shield to get through.”

“What is it about the contract and why is it still in force? Isn’t there a judge who can nullify it?” Couldn’t they just deny the contract?

“You have much to learn about magic, far more than Destra knew and even more than I know,” Abigail answered, surprising her granddaughter. “You see, the contract was magically created between Orion and Celie while she was still under his power. The lawyers in this dimension are laughable when they say a contract is ironclad. They have no idea what that means.”

Standing up, Abigail moved her arm and the table and chairs disappeared, leaving Ari and their glasses sitting suspended in air. “The contract they signed magically locks down to our very DNA.” She made another movement and a long strand of DNA appeared, most of it white, with one strip of reddish orange wound around it. “You see the orange strand?”

“Yes.”

“The contract is controlled by that particular strand. Anyone with that DNA has the possibility of being taken by Orion, and there is nobody who could, or even would, fight against it. The entire universe knows you cannot fight a magical contract. It is futile.”

She walked up and grabbed the orange strand, unwrapping it from the rest. “Each one of these calls to him. If he decides to own that particular woman, all he has to do is ask her to accept his possession. Since her very own DNA is pulled to his ownership through the contract, she cannot nor does she wish to say no. The moment she says yes, this happens.”

She tossed the strand back into the DNA where to Ari’s horror, it seemed to take over. Slowly, each white piece began to turn, until a few minutes later, every piece was the same orange color. “It takes less than a second for this to happen.”

“Oh my God,” Ari gasped, wringing her hands together as the truth about what could have happened hit her. “I almost said yes.”

“Why didn’t you? No other woman in our family has been able to deny him.”

“My ankle. It burned so badly, I shrieked ‘no’ instead.”

Nodding, Abigail made another wave and the DNA disappeared, and the table and chairs reappeared.

Ari felt more comfortable knowing there was a chair holding her up. “Now, we will need to get you trained. I know of only two dimensions that are powerful enough magically that Orion dare not enter, Corofus and Zeta.”

“Corofus?” Ari asked in surprise. “One of the guys who wrote me from IDS mentioned that. I thought it was a food.”

Laughing, Abigail shook her head. “No, Corofus is a very strange place. Magical traders hang out there a lot, some of the best and worst of the galaxy. Orion used to hang out there, I’m told, until he screwed up too many deals. His eternal ban was the first of its kind. Zeta would probably fit your imagination a little more as to a magical world.”

Zeta? Ari’s eyes lit up. “My anklet was made there.”

“Unfortunately, that is true. The Faerce Jewelry Makers have been around for many millennia. They make jewelry for many different reasons, each one imbued with a magical spell specifically created for its owner. About seven centuries ago, they entered into a contract with the Interdimensional Dating Service to provide magical talismans to their female clients to help them recognize men they might truly match well with. Obviously, yours was also able to tell you when evil contacted you.”

Her head spun with all this new information, but if she had to go anywhere, Zeta sounded nicer than Corofus. “Why do you say unfortunately?”

A sad smile covered Abigail’s face. “That mark on your ankle will be with you as long as you live. And whatever spell they cast upon that piece of jewelry will always be with you. That can be both a blessing and a curse, my dear. And as you have gone through the dimensional shift twice, and will soon go through it again, you will stop physically aging. You will remain with the body of a twenty-eight-year-old until you die.”

Stunned, Ari stood up shakily and walked around the small room. “I won’t age.” Abigail shook her head. “Is that why you look to be in your thirties?”

Laughing, her grandmother nodded. “Yes, though I was technically one hundred and forty-two the first time I shifted dimensions. This is how one hundred forty-two looks in my dimension.”

Looking her age for a long time did not sound like a bad thing, and she could go to this Zeta place and learn how to keep Orion at bay. Then it struck her. “I have to leave Earth permanently?” Her voice squeaked at the end. No more Cory? Or Jane? Or Denise?

Gently, Abigail stood up and walked over, placing an arm around her shoulders. “I know it sounds disheartening, Arwen, but there is a tremendous universe out there to be conquered. You can stay in contact with Cory and Jane.

“To make it seem as though you are still here, you will need to keep up with the Interdimensional Dating Service though,” she sighed. “Orion needs to think you are still leading a somewhat normal life.”

“But if he thought he couldn’t get me, wouldn’t he just give up?” Ari asked hopefully, until she saw her grandmother’s expression.

“No. Orion never gives up. Plus, if he thought you were suddenly unattainable, he might go after Cory or Jane just for spite. Since neither of them have a magical signature as strong as yours, it wouldn’t be good.”

Pain filled Abigail’s eyes. “He would torture them until they were nothing but mindless broken bodies. And he would still come for you.”

Depressed, but not one to just wallow, Ari took a deep breath and stood up straight. “Fine. So I guess I need to quit my job and pack up my belongings?”

“Cory is doing that now. She is grabbing the items that mean the most to you and dumping the rest. You will only be able to take a few things with you. And don’t worry. You will not be going alone. I will accompany you to Zeta, since that seems to be your choice, and introduce you to Mayir, an old acquaintance of mine. He is strict and a bit of an asshole at times, to be honest, but if anyone can teach you how to deny Orion, it would be him.”

A slightly evil glint came into her eyes, which made Ari wonder. “Why can’t Orion visit Zeta?”

Abigail shook her head, her expression filled with sorrow. “Ask Mayir about it once you have been there for a while. You never piss off one of the fae folk. Never.”

Chapter Eight -
Zeta

As if things weren’t going fast enough, Cory returned with three large suitcases comprising the only things in the world that Ari now owned. Two of them were filled with Abigail’s gifts, the other contained her laptop, a few personal items, her address book, and a family picture.

“No clothes?” Ari asked confused, looking through all three cases. To be honest, she did not understand why Cory had retrieved all the Abigail gifts. Couldn’t they have been left them behind in lieu of something to wear?

“No,” Abigail answered shortly, quickly closing them all. “They have a specific kind of clothing on Zeta you will be expected to wear. The last thing you want to do is insult Mayir the first time you meet him.” She grinned as another twinkle came into her eyes. “Leave that to zoors like Orion.

“Good choices,” she added, nodding toward Ari’s sister. “He needs to think she is here. As he has been to her apartment, he will look for her clothing when he cannot find her. I will drop these items in several different dimensions, lead him on a wild goose chase that should last at least a couple months. At some point, he will realize we have duped him, but by then, maybe Arwen will have enough power to resist him.