Since I didn't want to ruin the rest of our day, I made myself talk in a stream of upbeat chatter, mostly for Dune's sake. I could tell that Ailith wasn't the most thrilled with this idea, but at least she kept up the pretence. Dune seemed reasonably satisfied with this though, as evidenced by his relieved smile.
We had attempted to start our route at the left of the Memorial, and work our way towards the right. However, it was hard to ignore the pull of the Hope, and my gaze unconsciously kept wandering in it's direction. I couldn't concentrate on the histories of the artefacts that Dune was trying to explain to us, and, despite my best efforts, Ailith had detected my distraction.
"It's pretty, isn't it?"
I pulled my stubborn eyes back to her. She was looking at me with a mixed expression. It was somewhat calculated, but also worried. "Did you notice the sentinels? They've been patrolling the grounds near the Memorial."
"No," I answered, confused. "I haven't. Why do you ask?"
"Because they've noticed you. They have been coming closer every time you look at that thing."
On an impulse, I looked over my shoulder and briefly meet the glare of a tall, blonde and intimidating man. He was wearing an armoured purple uniform with golden shoulder plates. Attached to his belt was a long sword.
It glistened menacingly in the sunlight.
"Don't look at him," hissed Ailith. "And don't look at the silver stone."
"What's going on here," I whispered back to her, not really expecting an answer. "This is a public place! We're allowed to be here and if we want to look at a piece of ore, then I don't see a problem with that!"
"Neither do I, " cut in a smooth and commanding; yet strangely comforting voice. I recognized it instantly. I looked behind me again. There stood a middle-aged woman with salt and pepper hair, her strong face subtly creased from weathering the tough times she had endured. She had piercing ice blue eyes that held mine prisoner in their power. She was smiling in recognition.
"Selena," cried Dune, rushing up to her and giving her a huge bear hug. She chuckled and stroked his dark hair.
"Oh, it's so good to see you Dune," she beamed. "And look how tall you are!" She lifted Dune's arm and weighed it in her hand. "But you've gotten so skinny since I've seen you last!" Her expression became concerned, "have you're siblings been feeding you?"
Dune's chin rose defiantly. "Kiara does her best, Selena. And so does Brandon! It's not their fault! Plus, I can feed myself, thank you very much." Selena chuckled and looked up from Dune's pouting face and into my smiling one.
"Well, hey there pretty young lady," She opened her arms in invitation. I rolled my eyes and gave her a bear hug of my own. "Tell me about this problem you're having? The guards?"
"Yes. There're very scary," I mumbled in the best kiddie voice I could manage. "Make the mean people go away, Selena." My lips were in full pout mode as I copied Dune's sulking expression.
"Oh, grow up, silly girl." I laughed and straightened my back, illustrating that I was now a grown up. I sensed Ailith's discomfort from behind me and decided it was time for introductions. I backed up so that she was now included in our circle of conversation.
"Ailith, this," I proclaimed with a smile. "is Selena. She was my mom's best friend before she left and is practically apart of the family. I haven't seen her in a while though," I admitted.
"Only because the timing wasn't right. I've tried coming down to the trench but apparently the guards need all the help they can get. I've been working non-stop!"
"Told yeah she was a guard," Dune said, smug.
"Okay, and Selena, this is my best friend, Ailith." Selena smiled warmly at her and shook her hand.
"Well meet, Ailith"
"Nice to meet you too, Selena." Ailith seemed a little nervous. Everybody was when they first met Selena. She was just so powerful and wise, but at the same time, she looked too young and gorgeous for such wisdom.
"So," Selena inquired with a more serious expression. "What has got these guards so worked up? Would you care to tell me? We can go to my house for some tea." We all nodded in unison; tea sounded extremely good. But first…
"Wait," I pleaded, desperately. "Please, before we leave. Can I touch it?" It was such a silly and childlike impulse, but it consumed everything. I. Had. To. Touch. It.
Ailith and Dune gave me their best "Are you going crazy?" looks, but Selena just nodded. Her expression was hard to read.
"Interesting," amended Selena before calling off the guards. We advanced toward the marble pillar. The guards retreated reluctantly only after throwing dagger-like glares in my direction. It was hard to believe how protective they were. I mean, it was only a piece of silver, right?
But as I got closer and closer, I felt the Hope's pull, and I couldn't blame them for their tenaciousness. It was like a magnetic force that emanated from the stone and goaded me forward. I glanced at the others for their reactions. They only looked at it with a curious expression, totally different from the ravenous one that I was sure showed on my face. Ailith looked worried.
I walked right up to the stone, my gate was not so different from the one of a mindless zombie. It was now at eye level. My hand reached for it, as if I didn't control it, and stroked the top of the oval. I thought that I felt it hum happily beneath my fingers. Strange. Stones don't hum.
Then, everything changed. The humming altogether ceased and the silence almost hurt my ears. I dropped my hand as if it had electrocuted me. I looked around, feeling foolish.
"Okay," I choked out, my face reddening. "Let's go." My eyes stung and humiliation coursed through my veins. I felt strangely rejected as I ran away from the Memorial, not bothering to wait for the others.
They found me in a shadowed side street. I was curled in on myself and my face was in my hands.
The reproachful faces of the guards- watching me as I ran - flashed through my mind. I'm sure they hated me.
"Oh, you proud fool," I reproached myself, with bitter amusement. I laughed mockingly. I heard footsteps approaching, but I ignored them and continued to punish myself for my bizarre reactions. I felt too horrible about running away to face them now.
"If you think that you are a fool, then you must be going crazy," I heard Ailith's voice beside me. A hand stroked my hair.
"Or a proud one at that! If anything you are the too humble," infringed Selena. "A humble girl who beats herself up for not living up to other's expectations." Her voice was chiding, but not unkind. I've always liked that about her, but at that moment, it made me feel worse. I've disappointed Selena now too!
"Kiara, we love you," whispered Dune. I looked up from my arm and noticed that his eyes were red. He always cried when he saw me unhappy. Touched, I took his outstretched hand and smiled pathetically at him.
What's wrong with me today?
Selena's house was amazing! She leaded us through the maze of side streets that was the Mesa and right to a beautiful log house. I wasn't sure if we could get any farther from the Sinkhole, since this house sat almost on the edge of the Mesa, exactly opposite from the entrance to the trench. It had a wrap around wooden porch and more windows than all of the houses in Sinkhole combined. A colourful garden and perfectly trimmed shrubberies also framed the house. The first thing that popped out of my mouth was a very exasperated:
"How much money do you have?"
"After building this? Not a lot," she laughed. "That's why I've been working so much lately. Come on in." She headed up the steps, crossed the porch and opened the door for us. We trailed behind her.
The way the house was decorated gave out a very calm and clean vibe. The walls were a creamy yellow with white trim around the doorframes and where the floor met the walls. There was also a whole lot of wood included in the house, from flooring to tables, chairs and decorations. These decorations were mainly pieces of driftwood with intriguing shapes.
This is definitely the biggest house that I've ever been in.
We were ushered into her living room, which was much like the rest of the house, except for a very large window at the back of the room. There were some chairs spread out in a semi-circle around it and a burgundy rug on the floor. But this wasn't what made this room amazing. It was the view out of the window.
This window made the house seem like it was suspended above the edge of the Mesa. The ground was nowhere to be seen, as if it had dropped right from under the house. Visible was only thousands and thousands of pine trees that covered a large space miles below. I squinted into the distance and saw the glisten of a lake to the left, and the loom of the mountains to the right.
Ailith and I shared a bewildered glance.
Dune was having fun putting his face to the glass and making himself dizzy from the height.
Selena was savouring our reactions with an amused smirk.
"Now you know why I don't have much money left," she said.
"It must have taken forever to do this," Ailith gasped.
"It's a side project that I've been working on ever since I arrived at the Mesa. Fortunately, many people have been very generous with donating their time and contributing their effort." She noticed how Ailith and I hovered at the entrance of the room, unsure. "Would you like to sit down?"
Ailith started for a chair and so did Selena, but I stayed put. I watched them with a strange, hesitant feeling. Without my permission, my legs shook.
"What's wrong," sighed an exasperated Ailith. I understood her frustration with me. I haven't been the most cooperative today.
I gave her an apologetic smile. I felt bad for not joining them, my body wouldn't let me move forward. "Uh, I think I'll stay here."
"Don't tell me you're afraid of heights, Kiara," chuckled Selena. I blushed and looked down, offended. She was laughing at me.
"It's not funny."
This made her laugh more. My stomach hurt as I watched her. Ailith was just as confused.
"Oh. I wasn't laughing at you, hun. I'm laughing at the irony of everything." She let out another snort. "The universe indeed has a sense of humour!"
"Don't know what you're talking about," I muttered, annoyed. My mood didn't last long, though. It had been too long since I had seen Selena, and I wouldn't risk spoiling a nice visit. I even ventured into the room, but I made sure that I was seated on the chair furthest from the window.
Dune eventually grew bored with the scenery and joined our conversation. We talked all day, everything from the hot summer weather, to the growing number of starvations in the Sinkhole, to the increasing amount of clothing that the Uppers swathed themselves in. We deliberately stayed away from the topic of recent events though, for which Selena had my deepest thanks.
The sky was now completely dark. I realised with surprise that I could still see because the moon's light filtered in from the window. I looked over at Ailith and Dune. Dune was passed out on the carpet and I had caught Ailith in the middle of a yawn. She smiled sleepily at me and blinked slowly. Selena stretched in her chair.
"I don't think I remember our way back," I stated sheepishly. I didn't mention that even if I had, it would take another 2 hours to make it to the Sinkhole. Selena seemed to know that already though.
"Don't worry yourself. There are cots already made up in the basement, if you would like to stay."
"Thank you," I responded.
"Really, there's no trouble. This just gives me an opportunity to prolong my time with you three."
Ailith and I expressed a very appreciative goodnight to Selena and then struggled with the task of carrying Dune's sleeping figure down the shadowed stairs. I tripped multiple times but still seemed to manage to not drop him, which I was extremely grateful for. When we arrived in the basement, it was, not surprisingly, dark and cool. We shuffled along the room until we bumped into the cots. There were four all together, one along each wall. We positioned Dune on the nearest cot, groaning with effort. He wasn't as small as he used to be. I took the one on the right wall of the room, while Ailith took the one on the far wall, opposite of the doorframe.
It took a while to get settled, and during that time I found myself reviewing the day's events in my head. Without my permission, my mind dwelt on my obvious neophyte reaction to the draw I had felt to the ore. I played my foolish behaviour over and over in my head, and realized that it wasn't my curiosity in the stone that had humiliated me, but how I handled the sudden feeling of withdrawal I felt after the humming had stopped. I felt that I had failed some kind of test, or something strange like that.
I never blew up like that, and I didn't usually feel chagrin for doing something silly. I would normally just laugh it off, but apparently the day was just too eventful for someone who had spent most of the summer in her house.
Maybe I was hallucinating due to all that pent up frustration.
Maybe Ailith's cooking wasn't very good and the eggs were bad.
Who knows?