Impossible
ch. 2
I sat bolt upright in bed, clutching my sheets to my chest. Sweat ran down my cheeks and neck, leaving trails of icy cold on my skin. I slumped down into the bed with a sigh of relief, looking around the room. It was pitch black, so I sunk back down into my pillows, I would look again when my eyes adjusted.
I must have fallen asleep last night and not realized it. I ran a shaky hand through my slightly wet hair, brushing the tangled strands from where they suck to my sweaty face.
I jumped as a muffled groan sounded from somewhere very near me. I stared down at the spot, my eyes wide. I was only able to make out the outline of the heap of tangled sheets in the darkness. As I stared, the pile shifted a little, and I heard someone sigh heavily. I yelped and fought my way out of the covers, I was still in my clothes from last night... I must have fallen asleep in them.
The room was slowly coming to life around me as my eyes adjusted, and it wasn't good. This wasn't the room I had fallen asleep in last night. I thought back to the crazy dream, and shook my head. What I was thinking couldn't be true... didn't make sense.
Squinting through the dark, I spotted a window. Blackout curtains were drawn across the pane, but a sliver of rosy dawn light was visible through the miniscule gap between the drapes. I crept to the window, careful not to trip over something in the dark, and threw the curtains open dramatically, letting the crimson pre-dawn light flood into the room.
I spun around, quickly noting the pale gold walls and sleek, black furniture. I also noticed that everything seemed oversized, like it was made for a basketball player or something. The person laying in the bed, which was also huge, was extremely tall... and handsome. His long black hair had a healthy gleam to it, and curled slightly at the very ends. His skin was a pale alabaster which stood out dramatically against his hair, and he had a narrow face and fine cheekbones. The boy clenched his eyes against the light and rolled over, grumbling inaudibly.
With one more glance to the sleeping boy I ran from the room, yanking the door open as quickly and quietly as I could manage. I skidded out into a narrow hallway with a huge floor to ceiling window spanning the entire east side. I turned around towards the oversized door I had just exited, closing it carefully. There were two other doors—both the same too-large size as the other one—in the long hallway. One was at the end of the hall, I presumed that was the exit, the other was right next to the door I had just come out of. I padded to the door at the end of the hall, and tried the handle. As it turned, I heard a strange clicking sound from overhead. I looked up—still clutching the handle—and saw a small dial near the top of the door frame. I watched it closely as I turned the handle further. The dial switched colors as I turned the knob, each color sliding into place with a small 'click'.
I stopped on yellow and opened the door, stepping into a gigantic, high ceilinged room. The east wall of this room, like the hallway, was a floor to ceiling window. The view was stunning, a river ran past the house in a gentle curve, it's waters glittering in the sangria sunrise. Huge trees towered all around the house, creating a black lace of branches against the red sky. If you looked farther out to the horizon, A mountain range was visible through the trees, its dark outline huge and masculine.
"Hiiiiiiiisssssssss!"
I gasped, spinning around toward the angry sound. I ducked just in time to avoid the mass of black fluff that hurtled over my head, yowling viciously. The little creature landed softly on the floor near the window, crouching and looking at me with distrusting, luminous yellow eyes. Despite my shock, a smile crept across my face. It was a little griffin! It was fluffy and soft looking, about the size a house cat, it's lion's tail twitching agitatedly behind it. The glossy blue-black wings quivered by its sides, as if preparing to take off on a moments notice. It sunk into a low crouch and stalked towards me. I settled on my haunches and held out my hand, making sure not to blink too much or make eye contact in case I appeared threatening. It didn't really cross my mind that griffins weren't real, after all... I was probably still dreaming.
The fluffy creature looked up at me skeptically, then cautiously inched forward. After a moment of tense silence, the griffin, with a little huff, nudged it's head under my hand and purred contentedly. I grinned, scooping the fluffy thing up into my arms, and snuggling it close. The purring grew louder next to my ear, amplified by closeness and by the downy-soft fur brushing my cheek.
The little griffin was, after only a few seconds, getting tired of being held, and wriggled uncomfortably in my grasp. A small clatter from another room caught my attention and I crept over to the wide, arched doorway in the wall. I peeked around the corner and gasped, spinning back around away from the door, clutching the griffin to my heaving chest. Oh. My. God. Strolling about in the kitchen were two huge figures, each towering over my height like giants, and though they were thin as willows the height was intimidating.
I sat back against the wall, breathing hard. The griffin squirmed in my arms and made a loud sound that was somewhere between a squawk and a yowl. I gasped and shushed him desperately, my heart pounding like a frantic bird against the bars of its cage. I fervently hoped that the two people hadn't heard anything... I'd be dead for sure if they found me here... I could feel it in my bones.
"What's up with the fuzz ball...? He sure is making a lot of noise." Asked a male voice in the kitchen, while a cacophony of metallic clanks echoed in the background. I tensed at the sound of footsteps coming closer, and clenched my jaw as the boy came closer to the archway, his shadow looming across the floor next to me. I kept one hand firmly clamped over the griffin's beak... the other pressed over my mouth to hush the sound of my frantic breathing.
"Oh, he and Zar are probably going at it again... Darn it! I left the sea salt we got from the 1800s at home. Can you run and get it?" This time the voice was female, and seemed to be the person who had been looking in the cabinets.
The footsteps stopped just before the living room and the voice sighed, the footsteps echoing further away again. I nearly melted into the floor with relief when the boy turned away, his hulking shadow retreating from view. My arms went limp, allowing the griffin to wiggle free and run into the kitchen, licking his fur regally as if to say. 'Oh my goodness... I can't believe you would have the gall to touch me Human...'
"See, knew you would forget something." The giant boy chided, I heard the girl giggle slightly, then there was a rustle of feathers-which was certainly odd, was there a bird in the kitchen?-and silence reigned once more.
'wake up, wake up, wake up!' I thought desperately, clamping my eyes tight shut, and squeezing my hands into fists. I counted silently to thirteen, then opened my eyes... only to be in the same place as before... I bit my lip until it hurt... oh man... this was it... this couldn't be a dream! In a last ditch effort I pinched myself, just to be sure... yeah, it hurt.
I started shaking nervously, my eyes brimming with tears. 'Oh no, oh no, oh no!' I thought, scrambling to my feet and peeking around the door again. The griffin was rubbing up against the legs of the girl, who was tall, and thin, and willowy, and gorgeous... She looked like a super model. I gulped, and looked around... but I couldn't for the life of me find an exit that didn't involve getting caught, and quite probably beaten to a pulp.
I took in a shaky breath and crept away from the door, hiding instead behind the huge lounge couch.
The sounds of cooking came from the kitchen, and an enticing waft of air carried the smell of scrambled eggs to my nose. I gulped and willed my empty stomach not to grumble. The sound of feathers again caught my attention and the boy's voice spoke again.
"What'cha listening to?" He asked the girl.
"You." She teased. "Would you get the rest of those potatoes shredded for you and Theo's hash-browns. I dislike hash-browns..." I could hear the distaste in her voice... though I couldn't conceive how anyone didn't like hash-browns.
I buried my head in my arms, my breathing refused to slow down... Oh I was so terrified! I was so dead! There was no way out of here! I was trapped! A soft, rustling gait caught my attention, and I huddled closer to the couch, trying to be as small as possible in case the person looked in my direction.
A tired voice came from the door I had come through. "Why are you guys up so early?" The sleepy voice asked, a hint of annoyance coloring its tone. "I wanted to sleep in today..." The voice and the foot steps paused. "What is that?"
I cowered into the couch, it was over... I was dead. The foot steps came closer and then stopped just a few feet from my inadequate hiding spot. I braced myself for the worst... yelling... hitting... possibly some "get out of my house you crazy kid!" sort of talk… all that bad jazz. But none of it came...
"Are you ok?" said the same voice as before, this time sounding concerned.
I dared to look up, my eyes growing huge with fear... he was even taller than I remembered. I laced my fingers together and brought them against my lips.
"Oh please don't hurt me! I didn't mean to break into your house I swear! I just woke up and I was here! And and... and this isn't a dream because... I mean, I t-thought it was, then I bit my lip, and I pinched myself! And it hurt! Which means I'm not dreaming! Which means this is bad! And oh my gosh... you're all really big! And you could just squish me right now... and-and-and I don't want you to 'cause I'm still... I'm still really confused, and I want to figure this out before I die! And you really... really... shouldn't-"
The boy was blinking down at me with bright gold eyes, a grin playing across his face. He chuckled and brushed the tears of my cheek with his thumb, I cringed away at first, then looked up at him in confusion.
"Calm down." He said, smiling at me. "My goodness. Why would I squish you? Come and have some breakfast with us and maybe we can figure this out."
I looked up at him, a blush creeping over my cheeks. No crushing? No hitting? No yelling? Wow, that wasn't what I had expected. Was I being stupid before? ...Probably... I took a deep breath and grasped the hand offered to me, following the boy into the kitchen.
"Oi, Theo. Who're you talkin' to?" The girl asked, poking her head from the kitchen, spatula in hand. She blinked her rainbow eyes then pointed at me. "Oh it's you!"
A blonde head poked out of the kitchen and blinked in confusion, "You who?" The boy from before asked the girl, but she ignored him.
"'Bout time you got here. Now do you like your eggs scrambled or over-easy?" she called walking back to the stove. The boy frowned, then shrugged... he was apparently used to the girl's strange ways.
I blinked, even more confused than I had been before. "Um... over-easy...?" I muttered uneasily, making it sound like a question, following the dark-haired boy into the kitchen and to the stools lining a big island.
Theo-at least that's what I thought they had called him-sat down on one of the stools and looked at the girl with the rainbow eyes. "How did you know she would be coming?"
The girl looked away from Theo her face claiming innocence. "Oh, no reason just... um... a feeling?" she offered, knowing it was useless.
"But that doesn't matter right now..." she turned back to finish cooking, brushing her long blonde hair over her shoulder.
I wasn't really paying attention... I was too busy with trying to figure out how I was going to climb onto the high bar stools... I felt like a toddler in this kitchen. All the counters and everything were just as tall as the people using them.
A gruff voice came from the living room. "You guys are up? This is stupid... Why aren't you sleeping?" Footsteps were heard crossing the room, and a boy identical to Theo walked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. I blinked... he was also extremely tall... what was up with this place?
The boy saw me and tilted his head in confusion. "Oh my goodness... you are... very tiny."
I glared at him, angry enough to scrape up enough courage to speak. I had been short for my age up until tenth grade and it still made me angry to be called 'tiny'. "No I'm NOT! You're the ones who are freakishly tall! What's going on here?"
The first boy, the blonde one, walked over to me and grabbed me about the waist.
"Here I'll help." He soothed, lifting me up and setting me on the stool as if I were light as a feather. He smiled kindly at me then turned and thumped Levi up the back of the head, "Be nice to our guest." With this he turned back to me. "I'm Kain." He introduced with a grin.
"And I'm Jinx!" The girl said as she was moving food and other things to the island. Kain walked over to give her a hand, and asked her, "Is this why you were up last night?"
Jinx shrugged, "I don't know, I'll look into it later. But definitely not here." Kain nodded his agreement.
The boy with gold eyes looked over at me, smiling the sweetest smile I'd ever seen. "I'm Theo."
His twin, still rubbing his head, also smiled warmly. "I'm Levi."
I looked down at the granite counter tops... they were stunning... black with gold and white swirled in, and spots of red garnet... but that didn't matter... I looked up. "I'm Luna..." I said, smiling nervously.
Jinx clapped her hands together and rubbed them, "Good, now that that's over, let's eat!" she began to dig in, but not before giving me a smaller plate and my over-easy eggs.
"So, Luna, what are you doing here?" Jinx asked.
"You're not some government agent looking for Jinx are you?" Kain joked laughing, receiving an elbow from Jinx, who glared at him. "What I was just joking!" He complained, rubbing his side.
I looked down, taking a whiff of the eggs... they smelled delicious. I picked up my fork, and took a bite.
"I don't know... I just woke up here... In your bed actually..." I admitted to Theo, blushing fiercely. "I kind of freaked out... I'm surprised you didn't wake up."
Levi snorted into his orange juice, nearly spilling it everywhere. Then looked up, wiping his face and chuckling. "Oh, please. He would sleep through the texas chainsaw massacre... I love super old horror movies."
I frowned, taking another bite of egg. "That's not an old movie... well... not that old." Theo and Levi gave me identical questioning looks.
"What it isn't... right?" I turned to Jinx and Jay for back up. "Right...?"
Kain looked at me nervously. "What year do you think it is Luna?"
"It's 2010..." I responded cynically. "Has been all year."
Levi and Theo sat in a sort of shocked silence.
I frowned at them. "It is! It's 2010! October 28, 2010. I went to school yesterday, and my teachers said it was the 27th... so today is the 28th..."
I looked around the shocked kitchen, slightly annoyed by the bewildered looks I was receiving. "What?"
Kain frowned then placed a hand on my shoulder, "Sweet Heart, it's not 2010, it's 2310." He glanced at Jinx who was holding her face. "Jinx, you didn't have anything to do this? Did you?"
Jinx lifted her head, "No, I just knew she was coming." Jinx leaned forward, looking intently at me, "Have you had any odd dreams lately?"
I nodded, still frowning. "yeah, I got sucked into my mirror... It didn't seem like a dream... I never remember going to sleep... But it had to be a dream. But-" I took a shaky breath, looking at all of them, my voice raised up a few octaves.
"-so what? Who cares? You guys must be crazy it's not 2310 that would be three hundredyears in the future that's... that's impossible..." my voice faded away, my eyes welling up. "T-that's impossible..." I bit my lip, looking down, blinking rapidly to dispel the traitorous tears.
Jinx's eyes went all watery and Jay gave me a one armed hug.
"It's okay, it's okay. No need for that." he said, comfortingly, I sat still, tears rolling down my cheeks... Everyone I knew was dead... It couldn't be true... It couldn't be.
Jinx nodded, "It was probably a time wrinkle, Remember the last time we delt with those Theo?She must have had some kind of connection to this time period that pulled her through."
Jinx now talked to me, "Luna, in your time, did you ever watch this TV series called Doctor who?" I nodded, I had liked that show.
"Good, that will make explaining this easier, The Doctor described time as a 'wiggly-wobbly timey-whimmy thing'."
Kain rolled his eyes and began to eat again.
"Well that's like what happened to you, a cross of the timelines. The dream was more of a mental portal so that your mind could accompany your body through the jump." she then munched on a piece of bacon, thinking.
"Hey Theo," She asked, "You don't think she's a gifted do you?"
Theo sat forward, elbows propped up on the counter and nodded thoughtfully.
"Now wouldn't that be something..." He looked at me as I wiped some left-over tears woefully from my eyes. "Have you ever done anything weird... something you couldn't explain?"
I sat up a little, leaning a bit into Kain, and cleared my throat.
"Now that you mention it... " I said, sniffling and wiping the tears from my cheeks ashamedly. "I did do something weird yesterday..." Well, yesterday three hundred years ago. I had been late for school, "I was in detention, because was two seconds late that day," I frowned at the injustice of the sentence, "and all I could think is that I wanted to leave, I was staring at my teacher and thinking, 'Just let me out!' then he froze, and said in a kind of funny voice, 'Get out Luna.'" I imitated his raspy voice, making it as evil as I could... that cruel, cruel man... I looked back at Theo. "Does that count?"
Theo nodded eagerly. "Yeah! That's perfect. Think she's a manipulator Jinx?"
Jinx clapped her hands together excitedly, "Oh how exciting! The government always gets their hands on them first, so I was never able to meet one in the flesh!"
Kain laughed at Jinx's excitement,
"Oh you just like people who are different like you." He poked her in the side and she yelped, then attacked him back, holding onto his shoulders as he stumbled away from the table, heading for the couches, trying to get Jinx off his back.
I blinked at Jinx and Kain, tilting my head to the side curiously, a sort of hiccuping giggle escaping me. I was smiling again. Then I looked at Theo. "What's a manipulator?"
Theo shrugged. "Someone who can control people's actions and memories... like with hypnosis in old movies... except hypnosis doesn't work that way in real life, it can't make someone do something they aren't inclined to do..." He paused and grinned. "You, on the other hand, could make someone commit murder if you wanted to."
I shoved a whole egg in my mouth, then talked with a hand over it, too eager to wait to swallow.
"Oh my." I said in a muffled voice, then gulped the egg down and asked, "So it's like really special or something?"
"It's a gift darling! You're a gifted!" Jinx called, dramatically waving her hand above her head as she sat on Kain's shoulders, then continued to smack away Kain's hands as he tried to grab her off of his shoulders.
"We're all gifteds you freak!" Kain growled at her and finally got his hands around the laughing girl. He pulled her over his head and held her in his arms like a cat.
I frowned at that comment, my face pulling into its default expression for confusion, my nose wrinkling and my lips pulled to one side of my face like a contortionist. I turned back to Theo. "So everyone has powers... like super heroes?"
He nodded. "More or less... some less heroic than others... some down-right pointless..." He tilted his head, a little grin hinting at the edges of his lips. "But if we're right about your powers... which we usually are... then you're special even by our standards."
I looked away, chewing the inside of my lip thoughtfully, and shoved another bite of egg ungracefully into my mouth.
Theo's twin leaned over the counter to look at me. "But what are we going to do with her?" He asked rudely. He turned defensive at my glare, "I mean, no offense, you're super cute and probably talented... but we don't have any place for you to sleep or anything."
His twin glared at him. "We can't throw her out on the streets Levi! She'd be dead or snatched up by the government before sun rise tomorrow!" The boy looked at me with a glint of protectiveness in his golden eyes. "No one in this house is going to let either of those things happen to you Luna. I promise." With that he shot a waring glare at his twin, who shrugged non-committaly.
"I never said anything about throwing her out." The black-haired boy scoffed, giving me a dashing smile. "She can sleep in my bed if she wants."
I blushed and looked away. "Hell no, you perv! In your dreams."
"Well I just thought that you two..." Jinx glanced between Theo and me a few times with her mouth open.
Kain, who had returned to the kitchen, called, "Staying in the present please, love."
Jinx took away her unpointed finger, "Right... Well then I guess it's a good thing I added another color." she shrugged and threw a hand gesture towards their magic door. "Come 'ere, come 'ere!" she chimed excitedly, dragging me off my seat and after her to the door.
"Okay if you look at the handle on our door there are different colors, Kain's color is the dark blue, mine is the purple, the gold is Theo and Levi's, Green is to the deck and," she ran her finger over an empty spot on the handle and silver appeared when her finger was gone, "silver is yours. Each color represents a room."
She turned the handle until the color wheel spun to land on purple. She pushed the door open and inside was what I assumed was her room. Before I could get a good look she pulled it shut and turned to the green. On pushing it open again, a beautiful deck surrounded by the forest, and a river in the distance could be seen. Finally Jinx turned the handle to the gold and opened it to the windowed hallway I had come from. Just looking down the hall made me blush, I looked down to hide it.
"Each room is in a different house scattered through this forest, if you twist the handle all the way you'll come out into the house your room is in. The forest is owned as private property under my friend Leo's name. He is a very important prince of the Africas, all one country now... unlike during your time. Anyways, you try it!" she stepped back so I could try to find my room.
God, this was weird... I'd been here ten minutes tops, and I had a room! I stepped tentatively forward, taking the handle and turning it until the color in the window was silver, then pushing the door open. A grin spread over my face as I stepped into the large room.
