3 Gone with the Wind (1/2)

I sat up groggily on my bed and rubbed my eyes before I looked over my surroundings.

The backdrop of the dawn rising over the horizon bathing the hilltop in sunlight's rays was replaced by white-washed walls and a nearly empty room. No posters of famous rock bands or hanged photos on the walls. No furniture for books or toy figures or computer consoles. Only a single mattress and a chair beside it for the stuff I'd need close at hand. My bedroom was Spartan—and that's just the way I liked it now.

I felt tired. Sleep was no rest for me as I spent that time awake in the Fayne. Half of my life. That was the deal all viseres made.

My eyes swiveled to the alarm clock on top of the chair. It was six in the morning. Sunlight peeked in through the gap in the window curtains.

I sighed. Another night had come and gone, and I was no closer to freeing Luca from the fairy realm.

I looked over to the lone photo propped up next to the alarm clock.

The photo showed four people smiling in front of a loose ring of tall grey stones. These were my parents, an eleven-year-old Luca, and twelve-year-old me. We'd taken this photo three years ago during our last family vacation. We were happy then. Our smiles were warmer and more genuine. We'd traveled to the U.K. because Dad wanted to visit the Stonehenge for research to help with writing his new book concerning the legends surrounding the stone circles scattered across the world. Specifically, the one about how they were actually portals to another realm.

That a rumor like that even existed was proof that some people knew the truth and were trying to warn others. It's too bad that I didn't pay attention. Things would have been easier if I learned all the fairy stuff sooner.

Dad never got to finish his book. He died in a car accident that same year. His body was so badly damaged that the only thing they could use to identify him was his teeth.

Dad's death sent our mom into a fit of depression that would last for months before she finally snapped out of it. Her psychiatrist always worried the depression would come back so he encouraged my brother and me to do our best not to agitate her. And we did, for a time. Luca and I excelled at school so mom wouldn't have to worry over us. I got top grades in my year while Luca did his best in sports and quickly became the high-school basketball team's star rookie. However, despite our achievements, mom fussed and fretted over us twice as much as before, especially with Luca. She seemed so worried that something bad might happen to him, almost as if she was certain it was a foregone conclusion. As the big brother, I did my best to assure her I was watching over him, and it felt like I was doing an okay job too. In fact, things were going pretty well until the night Luca disappeared three and a half months ago.

I remembered it like it was just yesterday. I was out with my friends that night. We'd join the line snaking the street outside Starlight City's biggest movie theater for Endgame's opening night when I got the call.

My mom was frantic over the phone, repeating over and over that Luca hadn't come home from practice, and that he wasn't responding to any of her calls or texts.

I checked my wristwatch. It was a quarter to midnight. Fifteen minutes before the biggest cinematic experience of all time would start. But I barely hesitated when I told her I would look for him. I put the phone down and explained the situation to my two best friends, Ty Cruz and Arah Tan, and neither of them hesitated when they offered to help. We each spared one last look at the poster for the movie sequel we'd been waiting an entire year for before we left the line in search of Luca.

The first place we visited was Edward's Chocolate Bar down on 5th Avenue. It was a well-known café that was the usual haunt for the jocks of my school. A friendly interrogation of Luca's friends there led me to the discovery that my brother left basketball practice an hour before it ended because he said he wasn't feeling well. This was strange for me to hear as I remembered seeing Luca bouncing on the toes of his feet that morning. After all, that day was his fourteenth birthday.

Arah, a pretty half-Chinese girl with glossy black hair she liked to tie in a ponytail who had grades that were almost as high as mine, suggested we check out the local hospital. Maybe Luca felt worse and had dropped in for a checkup. We followed her suggestion and visited St. Lucy's Medical Hospital at the corner of 5th Avenue and 32nd Street but the receptionist inside the Emergency Center told us no one with Luca's name or description had checked in that night.

We were outside the hospital, walking along 5th Avenue when Ty said something that sent cold shivers up and down my spine.

”Um… do you guys remember Ashley Johnson?” he asked.

I looked over to my friend. His buzz-cut head was bowed, but he was tall enough for me to see the contemplative look on his face.

I remembered Ashley but I couldn't say so out loud. I just didn't want to think about what happened to her now of all times.

”Sounds familiar… but I can't quite place the name,” Arah answered. ”Refresh my memory, Tiberius.”

In case you're wondering, Tiberius was Ty's first name. His dad was a huge Trekkie fan who named his son after Star Trek's fictional captain of the Enterprise, James Tiberius Kirk, hoping Ty would inherit the adventurous spirit that Captain Kirk possessed. No such luck. Ty was a gamer geek who spent most of his time indoors while glued to a computer monitor playing Fortnite or Final Fantasy XIV. The only time Ty visited the outdoors was when Arah and I drag him out of his boy-cave.

”Well…” Ty started. ”No, it's probably nothing…”

”Speak up, Tiberius, or I will smack you,” Arah threatened, jokingly.

Ty glanced over to me hesitantly.

”Ashley was a year older than us,” Ty said.

”Was?” Arah repeated, noticing Ty's word choice.

”She went missing two years ago… on the night of her fourteenth birthday,” Ty revealed.

A moment of suspenseful silence passed before Arah smacked Ty on the shoulder with her fist. This wasn't easy to do as Ty, being just an inch below six feet, towered over the both of us.

”You jerk! Why the hell would you say that now?” Arah hissed.

”Because you insisted I tell you!” Ty countered.

”Well, read the mood, dude… Geez,” Arah replied.

Now, before either of them could continue their banter, I said, ”I remember her. Brown hair. Green eyes. Cute… You had a crush on her, right, Ty?”

”Dude!” he scowled. ”That was like a million years ago… no need to mention it now… or ever…”