Circumstellar (8 page)

Bolting up, I offered a hasty “good night” and made a beeline straight for the door. I didn’t even turn around or wait for a reply. When I opened the door to
Lesia’s room, I saw that she was already in bed. As quietly as I could, I retrieved my things and entered the bathroom. Bright red blotted my pale face, and I set about dousing myself with cold water from the sink. Trying to settle myself down, I started brushing my teeth and preparing for bed. Once finished, I crept out of the bathroom and eased into the bed beside Lesia, hoping my heart wasn’t pounding as loudly as I thought it was.

“Good night, Ingrid,” she mumbled in a sleepy voice.

I swallowed a couple of times before finally whispering, “‘Night.”

“Oh, and Ingrid?”

“Yes?” Shut up, stupid heart!

“You really should go visit that
Meissa woman, again.”

I glanced at her from the corner of my eye and saw that she was gazing up at the stars. “Okay, I will,” I promised, hoping she would fall asleep. She rolled over and sighed into her pillow. I also turned and tried to
will myself to sleep. I lay there listening to Lesia’s soft, even breaths. Eventually, I relaxed and the world began to fade away.

T
he sound of running water filled my ears, and I stirred awake. Blinking a few times, I looked around the unfamiliar room. Memories of last night came back to me, and I sat up, shielding my eyes. Lesia’s room was way too bright during the day. Plopping down on the floor, I grabbed my bag and pulled out my clothes for today:  a pair of ratty, old jeans and a plain blue T-shirt. Since Lesia was already in the shower, I decided to go ahead and get dressed. I sat back down on the floor when I was clothed and thought back to what my friends had to say about my predicament. I didn’t get to dwell too deep, though. The scent of sausage caught my attention, and I came to the conclusion it would be a crime to think about such serious matters while a plate of perfectly good food went cold.

I made my way to the kitchen and saw Mrs. Delaney fixing three plates. Sitting down at the table, I greeted, “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Ingrid,” she returned with a cheerful smile. “I hope you’re ready for breakfast.”

“I’m always ready for breakfast,” I said, eyeing the plates.

“That’s what I thought,” she said, setting one down in front of me. The plate barely hit the table when I started digging in. She put one beside me and then sat down with the last. I raised my eyebrow, unable to ask with my mouth full of eggs.

“Ty already left,” she answered my unspoken question. “He was up pretty early this morning. He said he needed to get home and talk to his father.”

Doubt washed over me, and I wondered if that was the real reason. We had just managed to patch things up, and I went and screwed it up. We were laughing and having such a good time and then
bam!,
out the door I go. But in that one moment, I could almost swear . . .
Get real, Ingrid
. He was probably just being a good friend. In fact, he probably didn’t even mean for anything weird to happen at all. I longed to be close to him for so long that I just saw what I wanted to see, felt what I wanted to feel. Now he was home wondering what the hell my problem was.

“Oh, I’m sure it was nothing you did,” Mrs. Delaney spoke as though reading my thoughts. At my startled look, she laughed. “The walls are so thin in these old houses, and Eden’s room is so close to mine.”

A furious blush lit across my face, and I sputtered for a few seconds, trying to come up with any sort of excuse.

“No need to be so embarrassed,” she said, patting my hand. “I’m actually rather relieved. I thought I might have to go in there.”

I didn’t say anything as I focused on devouring my food, hoping the effort would hide my flustered state. I barely managed to avoid chocking when I heard the chair beside me scrape across the floor.

“Slow down, Ingrid.
I wouldn’t want to have to rescue you so early in the morning. You need to breathe a little,” Lesia said, grabbing my shoulder. “Look, your face is all red.”

“Did you girls sleep well?” Mrs. Delaney asked, changing the subject. I was so grateful I almost forgot she was the cause of my discomfort in the first place.

“Yes, I was so tired,” Lesia replied.

“That’s good to hear. Your father called me this morning. He wants us to meet him so we can go out for dinner tonight. We’ll leave after breakfast. Ingrid, I’m sorry to have to leave like this.”

“No, that’s okay.” I said, picking the crumbles off my plate. “I’ll just get my things and head out.”

“Mom, I want to stay with Ingrid,”
Lesia announced. I couldn’t help but smile at her fondly. It was nice to have such a good friend. One who thought you were important enough to want to spend time with, even away from family. But family was important, too. It was the foundation of our lives – a source of warmth, stability, and care that people like Ty and me could only dream of. It was something I knew Lesia, unknowingly, took for granted. I didn’t want that for her. I wanted her to go through life without regrets. I wanted her to appreciate all the great memories her home could give.

“No,
Lesia, you should spend the weekend with your family,” I said. She looked like she wanted to press the issue, so I continued, “I’ll be fine. I have a knack for finding things to do.”

She still looked concerned but agreed with reluctance. Mrs. Delaney smiled at me, and I stood to take my plate to the sink. After cleaning it up, I turned and said my goodbyes before retrieving my things. I exited the house and started walking aimlessly down the street.
Now what?
I really had no destination in mind. There was no way I was going home, yet. I was still too hurt to make amends with Auntie. She would have to pick herself off the floor.

I explored the streets for half an hour before deciding to check out the arcade. I didn’t have any change, but since it was Saturday, the place would be packed. I might be able to bum a few coins off some chump or watch a competition. Those could be pretty entertaining. It was amusing to watch the arcade dwellers get into fist fights over who had the best stats. Feeling energized by the prospect of a good time, I made my way to the arcade center.

It had been easier than I originally anticipated
to get some spare coins. I’d like to think it was my reputation that helped me out, but I knew deep down that being the only girl in the room was the sole factor. It was a shame, my contributors soon found, that physically being a lady did not warrant lady-like behavior in the field of gaming. As I let out my latest steam of expletives and kicked the machine, I saw my last charitable admirer sprint for the door.

“No! Damn it!” I cursed, kicking the machine. “I’m so close! I just need one more!” I screamed, watching the countdown to failure start ticking. I scrambled for my bag, starting a desperate
dig for anything that resembled a round, shiny object. There had to be at least one lost in here somewhere! My fingers grazed what felt like a slip of paper and I stopped. I barely even registered the “Game Over” as I pulled out the paper, a little pink note that read:

Go to the temple.

Love,

Lesia
  

Grumbling, I balled up the little note and chucked it into the nearest trash can. She must have slipped it in there while I was still asleep. Not that it matter how it got there. Nothing could make me go back to that crazy place. I did feel a little bad about telling my friends I would when I had no intentions of going, but they didn’t understand. No one could truly appreciate the madness that was Meissa without encountering it first-hand. After grabbing my bag, I exited the arcade and found a nearby bench to rest on.

I couldn’t understand it. It seemed like I was the only one in the whole town that had any idea of what was going on. All I really wanted was to find out more about my father and maybe learn a little something about myself on the way. My mind kept drifting back to the other night. I’d like to think this was just about me, but the more I thought about my attackers, the more I knew there was a bigger picture I was missing. Something big was happening, and my only leads were a drunk and a retirement home escapee. Sighing in frustration, I stood up and started walking again. I let my feet do the guiding, still encapsulated in my thoughts. I had no idea where I was heading, but I knew where I wasn’t.

This was unbelievable. There were only two destinations I was determined not to end up at, yet somehow, I managed to daydream walk right to one of them.
I can’t believe I came back to this stupid temple
. I even managed to find the stairs this time, too. As I ascended the last stair, I narrowed my eyes and set my jaw.

“Well, well,”
Meissa’s arrogant voice rang out. “This is a surprise. I thought you could at least make it forty-eight hours.” She leaned the broom she was using to sweep the walkways against a nearby wall and smirked at me.

“What makes you think I’m here to see you?” I argued hotly. “I just went for a walk and ended up here.” At that, her lips stretched even wider.

“Is that so?” she questioned, turning away from me. She started walking down the path towards her home. I glowered at her back, fighting the urge to shout after her. As it turns out, there was no need. “What are you doing still standing there, silly girl? Unlike you, I don’t have all day to piss about.”

I could feel my blood pressure rise, and as I often found with this woman, I was caught between curiosity and murder. Swallowing my pride, I briskly took after her. All I could say was this better
be worth it.

I
followed Meissa with reluctant obedience. I honestly couldn’t say what brought me here in the first place, but since I made the trip, I figured I might as well see what fantasies the old crow had come up with this time. She entered her house, and I paused in the doorway, my eyes burning with the memory of what happened last time I was in this room.

“Are you going to come in or just stand out with the pigeons? Should I get something shiny?” she mocked. I gritted my teeth and stomped into the little hut.

I took a few steps past the threshold when my foot hit a sudden slope, and I stumbled to catch myself. Looking down in bewilderment, I saw I stepped into a wide hole. The wood flooring was completely shattered around it, and it even extended a few feet into the hard clay of the hill. It was as if a small crater had been created in the floor.

“A memento from the last time you were here,”
Meissa said. “I haven’t had the chance to repair it, but since you’re here . . .”

“You mean I did this?” I asked in awe. I must have been more enraged than I thought.

“No need to be so impressed with yourself.”

“Well, I mean,” I began, looking at the hole again, “it’s enormous.”

“Tell me,” she said, sitting at the table in the center of the room, “did you come to hear what I have to say or to admire your handiwork?”

Tearing my eyes away from the “Ingrid Crater,” I glared at her before moving to the chair on the opposite side of the table. Plopping down in the seat, I gave her the most unpleasant look I could think of. She raised an eyebrow and puffed on her cigarette. She must have retrieved one while I was occupied.

“You’ll never get a boyfriend if you keep making faces like that,” she commented. I bit back the retort that was dancing on my tongue. The more I argued with her, the longer this would take. I wanted to be done with this place as quickly as possible. Seeing I wasn’t going to feed her anymore material, she started, “Now, where did we leave off?”

“You just assaulted me with a strobe-light-rock-thing,” I spat out.

“Oh, yes,” she said, amusement glinting her eyes. “Do you remember what I told you about the five keystones and the warriors?”

“You said each of the warriors was given a statue to guard,” I recalled. “That each one had
been passed down in their families.”

“Correct. Perhaps this won’t take as long as I anticipated.”

“Perhaps I’m not as dim as you think I am,” I shot at her.

“On the contrary, Ingrid, I believe you to be quite sharp,” she retorted.
“If only with your tongue and nothing else.”

I watched her smoke her cigarette, not quite sure if that was a compliment or some back-handed insult. It was almost weird to think of it as the first. I’ll admit, I’d done my share of trash talking while at school, but this woman was something else. She was a fine one to talk about having a sharp mouth.

“That rock I ‘assaulted’ you with wasn’t just some fancy trinket. When Ourania made the keystones, there were some pieces of the meteorite left over. That was one of scrap pieces,” she explained.

“So, you mean to tell me,” I said, skepticism setting in, “that was some kind of ancient space rock that your family has kept for –”

“Over twenty-two hundred years,” she finished. “Yes, it has been in our possession for as long as the Orion Stone.”

“But if you had the key, then what was the point in keeping some leftovers?” I asked, wondering where all this was going. It was unreal. When I was away from this place, it was so easy to convince myself that everything this woman said was just a bunch of bulk, but when I was sitting in front of her, I couldn’t help but want to go along with it. I’d spent the last six years learning to accept the harsh reality that was my life, and now that reality was being broken down. No matter how hard I tried to rationalize all that I witnessed, there was a small part of me that refused to cooperate – a part of me that so desperately wanted to believe.

“While the stones are the most important objects passed down, that jagged piece is quite special. You see, each of the keystones has a connection to the individual bloodline that was chosen to protect it, but that piece has none.”

“What does that mean?”

“It
means
,” she stressed, “that the shard can react to any one of warriors.”

“So why did it glow when I grabbed it?” I
asked, my patience threading.

“Why do you think?” That unbearable smirk was back.

“‘Cause it thinks I’m one of those Ankida things. It tried to attack me,” I accused, remembering the bright light that shot out and temporarily blinded me.

“An interesting theory,” she responded, “but incorrect. The stones do not lash out and attack anyone,
Ankida or otherwise. You’ll have to try harder. I suppose that mouth
is
the quickest talent you possess,” she teased.

I pushed down the annoyance that was rising in me and focused on puzzling together my connection the meteorite. If it wasn’t because of the
Ankida, then there was really only one other possibility. The small, fantastical part of me pulsed with excitement.

“You think I’m a descendant of one of those warriors?”

“I know you are,” she said smugly.

“But there’s just no way
– ”

“Did you speak with your aunt?”

“I asked her about my father,” I told her, my mind whirling. “And she said he came looking for something. It was something that had been lost, and they had to learn to fight.”

“The keystone,”
Meissa said as if it was the obvious thing in the world.

“You don’t know that! It could be
– ”

“Impertinent
and
obstinate,” she cut me off again. “Definitely someone I know. Must be my punishment,” she muttered, taking a deep drag from her cigarette. “Orion, Cygnus, Hydra, Leo, and Therion.”

“Huh?”

“Those are the five keystones.”

“The five keystones,” I repeated. The names danced through my mind, some having a familiar ring to them. I wracked my brain and had a vague recollection of what
Lesia said about Orion being a constellation. I’d heard of some of the names, but one in particular I couldn’t place. The more I dwelled on the name, the more a certain question kept popping up.

“So,” I started slowly, “which one is mine?”

Meissa smiled around the cigarette. “Therion, absolutely.” Her smile grew wider. “The beast.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. Through my teeth, I gritted out, “Never heard of it.” Honestly, even when I bought into this woman’s tales, she still managed to insult me.

“Ah, well, the name has been changed. Now they like to call it Lupus,” she sneered.

“Like a wolf? I like that better,” I said.

“Call it what you will,” she said, flicking her hand at me. “It’s still the same.”

“I’m still not sure I believe any of this,” I said, speaking my mind. “This is just way too incredible.” I looked over to see what her reaction would be. She didn’t say anything for a few seconds, studying me with her intense eyes.

“I’ll tell you what,” she propositioned, “providing you don’t put another hole in my floor, come back tomorrow. I’ll prove you are the Therion warrior’s descendant
and
,” she paused, “I’ll teach you how to fight.”

“What if I’m not the descendant?” I queried with a smirk of my own. “You’ll be wrong.”

“Trust me, silly girl, I’m never wrong,” she said with complete confidence. “If you’re still stubborn enough to deny what’s in front of you than think of it this way; at least you’ll get some useful self defense tips.”

“All right.
I’ll take you up on the offer,” I agreed, standing up and gathering my things.

“Good.”

Avoiding the hole in the floor, I made my way to the door. I just passed through the threshold when Meissa’s voice called out behind me.

“I’m glad you remembered where the stairs are!”
              Rolling my eyes, I continued on. There was so much for me the think about; I didn’t want to waste the effort getting worked up over that hag. I couldn’t deny as I walked home there was something that made my whole body feel lighter. That small part of me that reveled in the impossible radiated with intrigue and grew a little larger.