Orenda (3 page)

Lil's eyes warned him not to say anything more. Her parents had no idea how terrible she was doing in physics. The only reason she was passing the class at all had to do with copying Bray's assignments. It wasn't as though she was a bad student; she just didn't understand a single concept. All the science and math seemed like a foreign language.

“I don't need to find a new lab partner,” Lil muttered under her breath.

Bray laughed, and his smile widened. “I don't mind being lab partners,” he confessed. “Especially if it turns into wrestling matches.”

Jamey giggled. “Bray's flirting with Lil.”

“Shut it, Jamey,” Lil said, letting go of Bray. She untangled herself from the covers and she stalked upstairs.

“Where are you going?” Bray called out after her.

“Away from the two of you!” She was upset. Lil’s frustration with Jamey was growing, and Bray wasn't helping matters.

Bray climbed out of his blankets but didn't move as Lil slammed the bedroom door.

“Think she'll be back?” Jamey asked.

“She can't stay up there forever.” Bray stood. “How about we find some breakfast, and if she doesn't come down by the time it’s ready, I'll go get her.” He hoped Lil would cool off by the time she came downstairs.

The Sanctuary

Chapter 2

Early the next week, Mr. Roberts handed Lil the physics exam. She pulled out her calculator, pretending she knew what she was doing before the teacher moved on to pass Bray his test. The equations and numbers jumbled together as she stared at the stapled pages. There was no way she was going to pass this test. She could only hope she'd get lucky and guess a few right answers in the multiple choice section. She'd settle for a passing grade of D.

Five minutes into the exam, while she was still fumbling with the first problem, there was a knock on the classroom door. Her physics teacher exchanged a few words with someone in the hall, then walked over to Lil and loomed above her desk. “Pack your things, Lil.” He handed her a note from the office. “Your cousin is here to pick you up today.” Mr. Roberts didn't appear pleased with the situation, but there was little he could do to stop it.

Lil didn’t know what to say. She shouldn't be leaving school early today. Her cousins lived in Chicago and there weren’t any plans for them to visit. Had something happened to her parents or her little sister? She zipped her bag, tossed it over her shoulder, and handed her blank exam to Mr. Roberts.

“You'll be expected to do a make-up test when you get back.”

Lil headed for the classroom door, glancing back once at Bray, who kept his head down, answering the questions on the exam. Lil walked to the office. Her stomach flip-flopped as she saw the stranger who had been in her dream and then outside the classroom window on Friday.

“Hey, Willow. Ready to go?” The boy had a few years on Lil.

She hesitated a second before she signed the sheet for the office administrator and followed the boy outside the building. Everything inside her told her this was a bad idea, but he was her ticket out of class. She needed to get out of her physics exam and this was the perfect opportunity. She could walk home after she left the school.

Once they stepped outside the school doors, she took a tentative step away from the stranger. “I'm not going anywhere with you!”

He eyed her curiously, and his pale gray eyes sent a shiver down her spine. “Then why'd you leave school with me?”

It was an honest question, but she wasn't sure he deserved an honest answer. “You got me out of an exam I was going to fail.” That was a half-truth. She was itching to know who he was and what was going on around here. She didn't like waiting for answers, sitting around idle wasn't part of Lil Porter.

“I'm Rawlie,” he said in a thick Australian accent, walking toward a convertible.

“This is your car?” Lil glanced at the candy apple red car with black leather seats. It was sporty, but she wasn't impressed. It didn't matter what car this guy drove; she was not an idiot. She remembered all the stranger danger warnings and the “don't trust crazy guys who take you out of class” lessons her parents drilled into her brain when she was younger. Or maybe the second one she'd never actually heard, but it was becoming one she'd teach Jamey.

His dark locks fell into his eyes, and he pushed them aside. “We don't have much time. I need your help, Willow.”

Lil's eyes narrowed. “It's Lil,” she said, correcting him. “Why should I help you? Why should I even go with you?” She stood beside his car, her heart thumping in her chest as she crossed her arms.

“Jamey's in trouble,” Rawlie said.

“How do you know my sister?” Lil’s eyes narrowed.

“We don’t have much time.”

Lil was torn in two. She shouldn't go with Rawlie, but the thought of something happening to her sister was even more terrifying than any gruesome scene she could imagine landing in herself. “What happened?” She looked back as the main door to the school opened and the principal came outside to the lot. It was now or never. If they waited any longer, he'd be wondering why she wasn't in class.

“If we're leaving, now would be a good time.” Rawlie jumped into the car, not bothering to open the door. He unlocked the passenger side and Lil pulled the door open, glancing back at the principal before getting into the car. A moment later, Rawlie sped off and away from Twain High.

The drive was like nothing Lil had ever experienced. She secured her seatbelt, tightening it as much as possible. The wind burned against her flesh, tearing at her skin worse than the most painful sunburn she’d ever experienced. The forest shifted in waves around them. She opened her mouth to speak, to ask what was going on, but the words didn't come. The forest grew darker the faster they drove. The trees billowed overhead and though it was spring and there had been leaves on them, the dark forest looked dead. Lil glanced back behind them, seeing a shift and a ripple, the same odd glimmer she'd seen when Rawlie first appeared outside the school.

“Where are we going?” Lil choked out, gasping for air. A bird swooped down just above her head and she flinched, swatting it away. She’d never liked birds, and she definitely wasn’t a fan of ones with large, sharp talons coming at her face.

“Yeah, I don't like birds either. Getting to Orenda through the forest isn’t an easy drive. It’ll be okay.” Rawlie moved an arm to cover and protect Lil while he drove with the other.

“How is any of this okay?” Lil’s eyes widened with alarm as the dead trees closed in on them. The roar was as deafening as a lion's, causing the windshield to shudder and her heart rate to quicken. From a distance, she could make out the faintest hint of pink light streaming in from the edge of the forest. She doubted they'd make it in time. The forest was swallowing them whole. “I want out!” she screamed, fear overtaking her.

“If we stop, we're both dead.” Rawlie didn't let up on the gas. He pushed the pedal harder to the floor, his arm protecting Lil from anything that might attack as they narrowly escaped the forest. He should have put the top up on the convertible before they left, Lil found herself thinking. A moment later, they reached the clearing and Rawlie put both hands back on the steering wheel as they came to an abrupt halt.

Catching her breath, she stared up at the bright pink sun. It wasn't a dream. It never was, was it?

“Orenda isn’t like your world.” Rawlie shut the car off and got out. “Come on. Don't waste time outside; it's not safe.”

“Orenda?” Lil jumped out of the car, rushing after Rawlie and following him up the porch steps. The house looked just like her house back home, except there were no neighbors. Bray’s house didn’t exist—only the grass that extended as far as Lil could see and the strange forest across the street.

“Come inside.” Rawlie ushered Lil into the house, past the squeaky screen door. He closed and locked the solid wood door behind them.

If it hadn’t been for the frightening drive, Lil would have stayed outside and demanded answers. She had the strange feeling that outside wasn’t safe.

“Answers now!” Lil demanded upon seeing the familiar house, but knowing it wasn't her home. “Is Jamey here?” she asked, moving between the rooms downstairs, looking for her little sister. The house looked the same until she reached the stairs. Pausing, she examined the pictures lining the wall. Every photograph was of Lil and a young boy with a mess of brown hair and steel-blue eyes. One photograph at the top of the stairs contained the three of them—Rawlie, Lil, and the little boy. Nothing in this house made any sense, but that was the least of her troubles. Lil ascended the staircase, finding a little boy—the same one from her dream—standing in the loft, looking lost.

“I'm Jamie,” the young boy said, “but you're not Willow.” His sad eyes made her stomach flop.

“No. I'm not your sister . . . and I don't have a brother,” she said, acknowledging things were different here. She didn't quite know where
here
was, though. She glanced at Rawlie. “Explain yourself. Now!”

“Take a seat.” Rawlie gestured toward the sofa in the loft. Unlike her home, where the loft was allocated as a computer room, this loft had been heavily furnished as a living area.

Lil took a seat, watching as the young boy sat across from her. Rawlie opted to stand as he paced the small length of the room, forming his thoughts. “Willow was taken.” He glanced at Jamie, his eyes glistening. “It's okay. Lil is here to help us get her back.”

“Willow? Who’s Willow?” Lil asked.

“The girl you met the other night, when you visited us here. How were you able to do that?”

“I don’t know. I was asleep. At least, I thought I was sleeping.” Lil pinched the bridge of her nose, frustrated. “Where am I?”

“In a parallel world. Orenda.” Rawlie remained calm, answering her questions.

“How is any of this possible?” Lil felt her breathing hitch and her pulse quicken. How would she ever find her way home?

“I don’t know. Our worlds always have had soft spots allowing travel for certain individuals. I was able to bring you here because of my gift from the Mystics, but I don’t know how you crossed over on your own. It shouldn’t be possible. Not with Willow guarding the gate.”

“Gate? How do you people know about me? How’d you know about Jamey?” Lil was still concerned for her sister.

“Willow and I occasionally travel to your world, when we need food or supplies. Right now, we need your help, Lil.”

“Help how? I don’t understand what's going on!”

“Eilith has taken Willow. We believe you’re the only one who can help us bring her back.”

Bray waited by Lil's locker as the building cleared out and the other students rushed to the bus. He glanced down at his watch and slung his bag over his shoulder and headed out to the parking lot.

Bray climbed into his car, surprised Lil hadn't returned to class. He'd been in the middle of his physics exam when she escaped the test. He assumed she had come up with an excuse to leave early. He started the car and pulled into traffic at the back of the line. On the way home, it was impossible not to drive by Lil’s house. He parked the car in his driveway and walked across the street. He knocked three times on the front door. There was no response.

Of course Lil wouldn't be there. If she'd left early, there must have been an emergency. Hopefully, it wasn’t anything too serious. He turned around and jogged home across the street. It didn't explain why she hadn't texted him, but perhaps her mind had been somewhere else. He tapped a message to Lil.
R u ok? Call me.
It was short and simple, to the point. He wanted to know everything was all right.

Two hours later, Bray was sitting in front of the television when there was a persistent knock at the door. He paused the show on the DVR, got up, and didn't bother with the peephole. He threw open the door.

“Jamey?” he said, surprised to see her standing on the porch steps.

“Lil's not home. Is she here?” Jamey asked.

“No.” Bray walked back in, shut the television off, and grabbed his phone and keys. He slid his shoes on and followed Jamey outside the house. “We should go back to your house. Did you call your parents?” He couldn't fathom why they'd pick only Lil up if there had been an emergency.

“I can't reach Mom, and Dad told me to find you. He thought she might be over at your house.”

“We should call your father again. Lil left school early.”

“What? Why would she do that?” Jamey asked. “Who picked her up?”

“I don't know.” Bray called Lil's father, telling him the situation. Bray led Jamey across the street, promising to stay with her until her father returned home.

Bray and Jamey waited in the living room, until there was a knock at the front door. “Stay there,” Bray said. Jamey sat on the sofa, crying. He walked to the door and glanced through the peephole to find two police officers standing on the other side. Bray let the officers inside and closed the door.

“I’m Officer Roberts and this is Officer Johnson. We’re here to investigate the disappearance of Willow Porter. Do you mind if I take a look in her bedroom?” the younger, pudgier of the two asked.

Did Bray have a choice? “Go ahead.” Bray gave them permission, and the older officer walked upstairs. He hated that they were rummaging around Lil's bedroom without her permission. She'd hate it too and would find it unforgivable that he’d let them into her private space. If there was any chance it could lead to them finding her, he'd accept responsibility. Even if it meant she'd want to kill him. “You should start with our school, Twain High,” Bray said. If the police were here, Lil's father must have told them about the strange visitor.

“We have an officer investigating at the school. The first two hours are the most crucial. Is there anything else you can tell us?” the younger officer asked, pulling out a pad of paper to take notes. “Did you see who picked her up? Does she have a boyfriend?”

“No, I didn't see who picked her up. No, she doesn't have a boyfriend.” Bray would know if she was dating someone.

The officer wrote down a few notes. “Do you have any idea where she might have gone?”