"Did you hear that?" Addison asked as she set her drink down on the bar, "It sounded like somebody was yelling."
Hayden looked around, confused. He, Addison and Gill were the only ones sitting in the Brass Bar that night. "I didn't hear anything." Gill replied, looking concerned.
"Me neither, nobody else is here." Hayden answered.
"Maybe it was the wind…" Addison wasn't so sure.
"Maybe it was that," Gill said chuckling as he pointed to Addison's drink.
"I am not drunk off of one drink!" Addison protested loudly, her face flushing with anger. Both Gill and Hayden laughed loudly at her protests.
When they left the bar the strange yell was still nagging at Addison's mind. The air was noticeably warmer than it had been earlier that evening which was not characteristic of the island weather. Addison also noticed the streets were oddly empty, the only other person she saw was the bar waitress Kathy lingering outside the bar but she didn't say a word to them. Addison could vaguely catch the scent of roses drifting through the air.
"So tell me, is it really as bad as you thought it would be here?" Gill asked her.
"Honestly, no. I like it here. I like it here a lot. It feels peaceful here, safe here, easy here, and warm here. Not what I expected."
Addison expected to see joy on Gill's face but instead what she saw was a twisted mixture of sadness and concern, "You can't always chose what is easiest Addison."
"What are you talked about Gill?" Addison wasn't sure if she should be more confused or angry at his vague answer. But instead of replying her simply turned away from her.
"I have to go now Addison, its dark. I hope I see you again."
Without another word Gill turned his back on her and walked into his home, slamming the door behind her. Addison stood stunned, completely unsure of how to process what happened. She was painfully aware of the complete silence around her. Addison considered walking back to the inn but she felt a strong need to see her home one last time.
After taking a couple steps down the dirt path towards the ranch she noticed the ground was soft and dark. "The hell? Did it rain?" she wondered out loud. One look towards the sky revealed no clouds at all, "Maybe the drinks in this place are just really strong."
At that moment Addison was sure she heard Gill calling her name, "Gill? Are you there?" she yelled out through the night. She looked behind her but nobody was there. A shiver of fear crept through her as she started walking faster towards her home.
"I must just need to rest, it has been a stressful weekend," she muttered to herself as she continued along. Her shoes were loudly sloshing through the progressively muddier ground. The breeze that had been so persistent throughout the day was absent now. For the first time Addison realized how much darker it was out here than it was back home. There were no streetlights or headlights illuminating the night, even the moon had decided to take the night off tonight. Stars provided the only time flicks of light.
A shrill sound permeated the eerie silence of the night. Addison jumped out of surprised but once the initial shock faded off she felt an odd sense of familiarity with the sound. She looked far head towards the source of the sound and made out a strange white figure that looked to be illuminating. Beside the figure was the darkened silhouette of a human. Addison's first instinct was to turn back and run towards town but a deeper pull within her forced her to walk towards the strange sight. Within her mind the strange sounds persisted, it sounded like whispers scratching at her mind trying to desperately to reach her but not quite making it.
The shrill sound filled the air again and Addison was finally able to recognize the sound. It was a sound she had heard many times as a child, a sound she had loved and looked forward to. As she got closer the muddled white shape sharpened to that of a gallant white horse, neighing and padding at the ground impatiently.
"Star Dancer," Addison gasped. This wasn't possible. Star Dancer had been an adult when she was a child, there was no way she could be standing before her with such brilliance so many years later. But there she was, staring right at Addison. Mira stood beside her, gently stroking her face. The look she gave Addison was a haunting mixture of sorrow and disappointment.
"What has brought you here young one?" Mira asked her. Star Dancer took a step towards Addison and nuzzled her with her face. Addison wrapped her arms around the gentle mare's face, running her fingers through her mane. It had been so many years since she had felt her soft hair and the warmth of her breath on her face. The feelings of happiness completely engulfed her and the world around her seemed to stop. Her mind was flooded with memories – the first time she had met Star Dancer, her first time riding her, even her first time falling off and her father encouraging her to try again. She remembered running along with beach with her hair blowing in the wind as well as being bundled up tight making jumps over snow banks. The memories completely blocked out the strange whisperings in her mind.
"Addison." Mira's call to her was sharp and chastising. The second she opened her eyes and pulled away from Star Dancer the feelings of happiness were torn away and she was left filled with the same strange feelings of dread. "You have to move forward, not backwards."
"I am!" Addison protested, feeling angry. Who was this woman she barely knew to tell her how to live her life.
"Are you?" Mira replied, "I'm not so sure."
Addison leapt up onto Star Dancer's back and the feelings of bliss began to creep back over her. She sighed with relief and she once again wrapped her arms around Star Dancer's neck and rested her head against her, "Let's go home girl," she whispered lovingly.
"Everyone around here is acting really weird and I don't appreciate it. I don't know what you're trying to pull but it isn't funny," Addison called to Mira as she sat up straight on Star Dancer and kicked her heels to push her onward. She glanced back once and saw Mira's eyes full of sadness as she melted back into the night sky.
Galloping through the night made Addison feel alive. The further she rode the quieter the persistent odd voices around her grew as the memories flooding her mind began to feel more vivid. She could see them clearly, could hear them and even smell them as they sped by her conscious. She remembered the first day Gill had come to see her, the day she had taken her mother and Tyler to their new home, her graduation day where Tyler sat alone cheering in the stands, her first day at work. One of the most vivid was the first time she had met Tyler, so tiny and pink and completely unaware of the mess he had been born into. Her mind flashed back all the way to that day she had been taken away from the island with her mother, standing out on the ferry deck sadly as she stared at the fading image of the only place she had known as home.
For some reason the memory of the ferry deck stuck with her. An odd fog blurred the memory even though Addison was sure it had been clear that day. She shivered slightly as she could always feel the coolness of the fog around here despite the warm night air. With that memory the odd voices slowly trickled back to her mind and a strange beeping pulsed through her mind. She pushed it away, spurring Star Dancer on faster.
The ranch she arrived at was not the same ranch she had seen before. Fresh wheat was rising through the soil and cows were happily munching at the grass along the edge of the field. A duck was splashing about in the well her father had used to water the fields and trees. Addison dismounted and looked around in shock as Star Dancer made her way to a tree and started crunching on an apple that had fallen beside it. The house no longer looked disheveled and every light in the home was on, shining twice as bright as Addison ever remembered before. For a moment she was worried she was at the wrong ranch but there was no mistaking it, this was the home she had lived in.
Cautiously she made her way to the door. The closer she got the lighter her body felt and the now dulled voices were completely gone. Her heart pounded in her chest and hands shook widely as she reached for the doorknob. It was unlocked and opened without a single creak or complaint. Addison had to shield her eyes and look away when she opened the door, the brightness flooded her senses and overwhelmed her perception. She blinked, trying to accustom her eyes to the light.
As soon as her eyes focused she was sure she was dreaming. The house was sparkling clean and free of dust. The furniture was now uncovered and the television was displaying a notice about an upcoming festival about shooting stars. A fire was crackling away and Addison held herself with her arms, realizing it was much colder in here than outside, she could even see the blurred outline of her breath before her. She noticed the smell of her favorite beef stew in the air and turned towards the kitchen.
Her heart stopped. Nothing in the world could have prepared her for what she saw. Standing over the stove stiring the stew was a tall man with messy brown hair dressed in jeans and a large brown leather coat. He hummed to himself as he took a sip of the stew and nodded in approval. Addison's voice cracked as she finally managed to speak, "Dad?"
He turned around and Addison was able to take in all his features. He had tan skin and the short stubble of a beard on his face. Looking a his green eyes was like looking right into the mirror for Addison. He dropped the spoon in surprise, "Adi? Adi why are you here?"
Addison was so surprised and elated she didn't process how upset her father's voice had sounded. Without saying another word she ran to him, barreling into him and lacing her arms around him as if she expected him to disappear at any second. His strong arms found her shoulders and pushed her back as to look into her eyes, "Why are you here Adi?" he asked again with a pained urgency.
Addison was confused by his question and even more confused by the fact she she didn't have any answer, "I felt like I had to come here. I belong here. Here with you."
Chris took a step back to look upon the woman his small daughter had become. His eyes shone with pride as he looked upon her, "You've grown into a wonderful young woman Adi. But this isn't where you belong."
"Why not?" Addison asked, hurt. She had been elated to see her father but he seemed very reserved and concerned. She shivered as the cold seemed to press in on her, making goosebumps pop up along her skin.
"Come here," her father instructed as he led her over to the couch. She sat beside him and he wrapped the blanket that had been neatly folded on the arm of the couch over her. Addison pulled it around herself tightly and then curled up beside her father, burying her head in his shoulder. A small part of her mind was yelling at her that this wasn't possible but she paid it no attention. She didn't care if this was impossible or a dream, all she cared about was that her father was beside her and all the scars on her heart had vanished. She could feel the pain of the later part of her life leaving her, slowly making its way down her body and seeping down onto the floor. A feeling of complete and total peace replaced it, filling her with a serene calm she had never felt before. Everything in the world was right and bright and slowly she gave into the feeling. Her eyes began to feel heavy and her body limp as she slumped against her father barely awake.
"You can't," her father protested, shaking her out of her sedated rest, "You need to remember how you got here."
"I took the ferry," Addison replied, "How else would I get here?"
"The ferry," her father replied thoughtful, "Was anybody with you?"
"Gill was. We were taking boxes back...wait..." Addison sat up straight, confused, "I remember we were leaving but than why am I here. That doesn't make sense." As Addison spoke she became aware of an odd warming sensation lowly making it's way up her left arm and pulsing through her body.
"You have to remember, fight it Adi," her father urged her, taking her hand.
"I don't want to fight. I want to stay with you," Addison whimpered, leaning her head back on his shoulder.
"Just tell me what happened from the beginning Adi," her father asked gently.
Addison took a moment, trying to connect the mismatched memories in her mind, "Gill and I packed up a few things in the house. He agreed to take the ferry back with me to help me carry them home. We almost didn't get to leave because it was foggy that morning so they were going to cancel the ferry. But they didn't...no...they must have or why would we have gone to the bar," Addison rested her head in her hands, frustrated. The dull echo of voices was making a comeback and she couldn't focus her thoughts.
Her father placed his arm around her, "You can do it, focus. Did you get on the ferry or not?"
"Yes..." Addison answered cautiously as she was unsure if she could even trust her own memory, "We got on hours late due to the fog delays. I had gone out on the deck to let Tyler know I was coming late and..." Addison's story was interrupted by her own shriek. A sudden chill hit her feet and she looked down to see a thin layer of water soaking the floor. The smell of salt and fish hit her as the water was slowly creeping up her legs.
"What the hell is going on?" she yelled, jumping to her feet. Yet as the water reached her ankles everything became clear to her in such a sudden burst that she threw her hands over her head. She had got on the ferry that morning with Gill. They had spent half the day waiting at the docks anxiously awaiting news as it whether the ferry would be allowed to travel through the fog. Even when they had been given the okay to board the fog still hung heavy in the sky. She had barely been able to see anything outside the windows the whole duration of the trip. Once the trip was close to complete she had stepped out onto the deck to call her brother.
The water was up to Addison's knees now as the reality of the situation was becoming clear to her. "I don't want to go," she cried as she clung to her father, "I don't want to go back."
It was painfully clear now. After talking to her brother she had taken a moment to consider the conversations she had over the past weekend, especially her moment with Mira. She had been leaning over the railing, looking down at the dark water beneath her that was barely visible through the sheet of fog. The impact had hit out of nowhere and had hit hard. The force of the crash had slammed Addison's abdomen into the railing, causing her to cry out as her body slumped against it. Another jolt rocked the ferry and before she could even process what was happened she had been falling, falling, only to plunge into the freezing water.
"Did I drown? Am I dead?" she asked fearfully, looking at her father. She understood now why her father hadn't been happy to see her, why he had told her she shouldn't be here. Her father glanced towards the door, which remained slightly ajar.
Her father shook his head and ran a loving hand down her face, "You've still got time Adi but you have to fight for it."
"What if I don't want to fight? What if I'm happy here?" Addison persisted, tears forming in her eyes. The water was up to her waist now and freezing. The whispers were forming in her mind again but louder and clearer than before. A painful burning sensation gripped her chest and the world around her began to blur.
"Later Adi, later," her father responded lovingly, "Someday you can stay here. But not now love. You have so much more to do in life. I'll be waiting here for you but I don't want to see you again for a long, long time. You've made me so proud."
"I love you daddy," Addison responded as the tears fell freely. The burning sensation ripped through her chest once again and she could feel herself being ripped away.
"I love you too Adi baby," were the last words Addison heard before the water pulled her under and her vision faded to black. She was able to grasp quick flashes of fuzzy recollections. She glimpsed Gill soaking wet, dragging her limp body from the water, the smoking wreckage of the ferry wedging against the rocks, emergency crews scrambling frantically to help the injured and covered bodies, and the paramedics struggling to warm her body and find a pulse. It was as if she was detached from her body, standing beside it seeing everything that had happened to her. She realized the burning sensation she had felt had been shocks to stabilize her heartbeat. The whispers around her had been Gill and those who were trying to call her back to the world of the living. She recognized the strange beeping as the sound of her own heart stabilizing. She had fought her way back.
Addison's eyes flew open. She lay still for a moment, unsure of if what she was seeing was real. The pain in her body convinced her more than anything that she was alive. Her abdomen was throbbing and her hand ached where the IV needle had been administered. Her energy had been drastically depleted and she surrounded herself back to sleep. Before she drifted off she hoped she could return to her father in her dreams but in her heart she knew she would not be back there for a very long time.