Val_2: Time

  The Time chapter 2_



         She found John there, sitting on a fence rail looking out towards Twilight Acres. Resentment flooded through her. "What are you doing here?" She demanded furiously.

         He jumped and stumbled forward as he slid off the fence rail. As soon as he had his balance, he whirled around to face her. When he saw her he relaxed a little. "I was going to look for Twilight."  He slipped through the fence rails to the Roady side. "I wasn't meaning to bother you, Valer- I mean, Ann! Honestly."

         She glowered at him, her mind formulating a livid retort. Before she could vocalize her thoughts, however, the sound of hoof beats and ringing laughter caught their attention and they both looked around for the source.

         Two horses came bolting over the top of a hill from the direction of the house at Twilight Acres, their riders laughing and shouting as they raced towards the fence. One of the riders was Twilight and she was riding her horse, Shooting Star, a black gelding with a flashy blaze and a single white stocking. The other rider was a boy mounted on Mr. Southerland's bay mare, but Valerie could not see him clearly enough to recognize him.

         Shooting Star and Twilight were behind him and gaining rapidly. As she got close, Twilight shifted to the side, stretching her fingers out so she could touch his arm. Then she immediately cut Shooting Star away in an opposite direction.

         The boy shouted in good natured protest as he wheeled the mare around. Valerie and John could hear what he shouted breathlessly at Twilight as he took out after her. "You just wait, Twi. One of these days I'll have you beat at this!"

         She turned and shouted back over her shoulder, laughter resonating in her voice, "Dream on, Shay!" Then, suddenly, she sat straight up and Shooting Star began slowing to a walk.

         The boy quickly began slowing down his mare to match her pace. "What?" He asked as they drew to a halt, side by side.

         Twilight looked past him. "Val and John are here."

         He looked over at the fence where Valerie and John were standing, staring at them. "Oh. So they are."

         The two riders began walking their horses over towards them. Valerie's breath hissed out in surprise and John gave a soft exclamation of startled pleasure. They could both recognize the other rider now. His blonde hair, dark brows and startlingly blue eyes were known by anyone who was familiar with the Mystics. He was Shay Thomason, the Mystics' drummer, capable of executing a fantastic drum solo as well as causing over half the girls at Centerville High school to sigh hopelessly.

         He and Twilight stopped in front of them on the other side of the fence.   

         Shay Thomason smiled down at them from the bay mare's back. "Hi. John Velez and Valerie Ann, right?"

         Valerie had seen his picture before. Jesse had a crush on him and had taped posters and pictures of him all over her side of the room. So Valerie had known he was good looking, but the pictures had failed to convey how mesmerizing his fiercely blue eyes were or how clear his low bass voice was.

         John looked up. "Yeah. And you're Shay Thomason, right? Mystics' drummer."

         Shay nodded and reached down to shake John's hand. "That's me. But go ahead and drop the Thomason. Just call me Shay. I'm glad to meet you, John." He had a slight accent and a smile that easily accompanied his words.

         Valerie pushed her hands deeper into her pockets and observed quietly, refusing to step forward and introduce herself. 

         Twilight kicked one foot out of the stirrup and hooked it across the front of her saddle before leaning an elbow comfortably on her knee. "We didn't expect to see you guys out here so soon." she said. "You're faster than we thought." Her eyes were gently teasing.

         John looked over at her, frowning slightly. "I don't quite understand what you mean."

         Twilight shrugged. "That's okay. You don't have to. Now, at least." Her eyes went to Valerie and seemed to soften a little. "Hi, Valerie. This is Shay. He's a close friend of mine."

         Shay nodded his head to her in a strangely respectful, old-fashioned gesture. "Valerie. I'm pleased to meet you."

         Valerie nodded shortly. "Same here. But people don't call me Valerie. It's Ann."

         "Oh, I know." Twilight said cheerfully. "But Valerie is your first name though and I like the name Val. Stands for valiant or valorous. Anyway, Valerie was the name of one of the Unicorn People." She freed her other foot from the stirrup and slid lightly to the ground.

         "The Unicorn People?" asked John, raising an eyebrow slowly. "I've never heard of them. Are they another band?" He asked doubtfully.

         "Of course not." Twilight shook her head incredulously, as though the fact was so simple that even an idiot should be able to understand it.

         Shay nudged Twilight with his elbow. "Speaking of which, hadn't we better be moving? It's about time, isn't it?"

         Twilight started to reply, but John spoke first. He crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing a little. "What is going on here? So far I have no objections but I am very curious. One of you please explain what this is about and why you were expecting us." He was getting that determined expression that meant he was going to hound this issue until he had an answer that would satisfy him.

         "Sure." Shay said agreeably. "Sorry. Twilight and I don't exactly belong here." He gestured to all of their surroundings. 

         "What do you mean, exactly?" Valerie asked suspiciously. In her experience, when someone started talking like that it was time to talk to a therapist. Or call a lock-up.

         "Just that. We are from someplace else." Shay said, dismounting smoothly.

         "Well, we knew that." John was trying to understand and make sense of what he was being told. "You're from Ireland, the Mystics are."

         "Yes, as a group we are, but that's not what I meant." Shay said.

         Valerie eyed him warily, "What then?"

         "I-" he faltered. "Ummhmm, this is hard to explain." He looked sideways at Twilight.

         She grinned at him. "You got yourself into it, Shay boy. I warned you."

         He signed and thought for a while before saying, "Well, how about I tell you that we're just from a different place and we're now getting to go home. We're finally going home!" He gave a jubilant whoop.

         "Home is a much better place than this old world." Twilight said, almost absently as she pushed Shooting Star's muzzle out of her hair. 

         "Oh, well. Nice that you're going home. Now does that concern us in the slightest?" Valerie asked testily, her bad mood becoming fouler by the second.

         Twilight apparently didn't hear. "It is a really wonderful place, but something is wrong. I got a message this morning." She said this more to Shay than to Valerie and John, who exchanged uncertain looks. Valerie was becoming more and more in favor of beating a retreat as the minutes passed.

         "What about?" Shay asked, his face becoming sober as he looked over at her.

         Twilight opened her mouth to reply and then saw the look passing between Valerie and John. Valerie's urge to leave was written in every line of her body so Twilight changed whatever it had been that she was going to say. "Just a kind of update on how things have been. But it is a wonderful place all the same."

         "Still, what does this have to do with us?" John asked insistently, watching them both carefully.

         "Well, you're coming with us. It's time." Twilight sounded surprised by the question.

         Valerie's eyes widened with the shock of the announcement. John was still floundering for a reply when she spat out her reaction.

         "Impossible! Mrs. Roady would-  ha! Like that'll happen."

         John frowned. "Whoa. What is this supposed to be here? Win a trip with the Mystics or something? Give me a break."

         "Let's make a little sense here." Valerie snapped.

         "We are." Shay assured. "Don't worry about it. You don't have to worry about your… Mrs. Roady, Val."

         "What about my parents?" John raised his brows and inquired flatly, "And why should we go with you anyway? Give me a good reason."

         "Because you're supposed to." Twilight said. "And your parents already gave their permission. I talked to them."

         "How do I know?" John asked.

         Valerie snorted and muttered, "Don't have any."

         "Yes, you do and they most certainly did." Twilight told Valerie before turning to address John. "And you don't know. But I did explain it to them and they gave their permission quite willingly. Your parents aren't exactly naive in the business of the Circle, you know. But you will have to trust us for now."

         John looked at her hard. "And if we say no-?"

         Shay shrugged. "We do our best to talk you out of it then go back without you. Then someone else comes to try to persuade you. Hopefully anyway." he muttered.

         "Alright," John said slowly. "I think I trust you."

         They all looked at Valerie. She had her arms crossed, looking at them with a wary lift of her brows. "I still don't get it."

         "What don't you get?" Shay asked patience in his tone.

         Valerie took one hand out of her pockets and held up one finger as she made each statement. "Where you're from, where we are going, why I should trust you and why you want us to go with you in the first place."

         "We are from a very special place, a place that most people here will never even hear about. We are allowed to take you two and it will be our pleasure to do so." Twilight said.

         "Why us? Why not someone else?" Valerie shot back at her.

         "There are..." Twilight hesitated slightly before continuing. "Somewhat special circumstances. As I said before, you will have to trust us for now."

         "Why should I trust you?" Valerie lifted her chin with a challenge in her eyes.

         Shay lowered his chin and met her gaze with an answering challenge in his fierce blue eyes. "What have we done to break your trust?" The challenge was unspoken, but Valerie understood it clearly enough.

                'Are you afraid?'

         She was, but her experience had taught her that was never a good thing to show. She tossed her hair back from her face and narrowed her eyes. "Why not then? What's holding me here?" she added somewhat bitterly, thinking of the Springvale facility. All of her things had already been packed but no family had agreed to take her. She knew that was where she was going.

         The soft voice of her conscience was gently reproving in her mind, Well, I told you to be easier to get along with. You've scared everyone away now.

         In the middle of this thought, Twilight laughed, a pure, happy sound that brought a smile to the faces of John and Shay. Valerie's face remained stoic even as she envied the happiness clearly evident in the other girl's face.

         "Come on! Let's go so we can get there sometime before the Bountyfest." Twilight tossed Shooting Star's reins up over his neck and turned him loose with a slap on the hip. Shay did the same with Mr. Stazak's mare.

         John watched with faint surprise. "Won't they run away?"

         "They'll just go back to the barn," Twilight said. "Dave knows they're coming."

         Shay glanced at his watch. "Come on, Twi. Let's go. I want to see Myria."

         "And I want to see Lady Dawn," agreed Twilight. "Let's go. Follow us, you two." She directed Valerie and John. She and Shay then turned and began walking south along the fence line. Valerie glanced over at John, who slipped through the fence and began to follow.

         Valerie made a wry face. She really might as well. It was either that or go back and face the new caseworker and the Springvale facility. She climbed over the fence, shoved her hands back into her pockets and started out after the others.

         They walked for about fifteen minutes along the fence that marked the property line of Twilight Acres and then turned towards the jutting corner of the Sand Bluffs that extended onto the Stazak land.

         John and Valerie were both walking in silence, watching the backs of Twilight and Shay ahead of them. The two other teens were talking quietly. Was Twilight relating her 'message' to Shay? Valerie wondered.

         Several minutes after they entered the Bluffs, a region of treeless hills covered with loose sand, grass and rocks, they came to what looked like a simple rockslide. Boulders broken loose from the top of the hill had at some time rolled and bounced their way down to rest in an untidy jumble at the bottom of the hill. Twilight and Shay made their way around to the far side and they found a dark crevice between one of the tumbled boulders and the sandy hillside. Twilight and Shay walked straight in, stooping to fit into the tight space.

         John stopped, hesitating to go in. Valerie stopped beside him. "Well? Are you going?" Her voice was flat and toneless. She had distanced herself from her emotions to halt the uncertainty that had begun tying her stomach in knots.

         The emotionless tone in her voice disturbed John. He studied her face carefully, searching for an expression or reaction of some kind. "I don't know. I do trust Lila though. Are you?"

         Valerie half shrugged. "I guess."

         "Oh," John took in a breath. "I'll go first." He squared his shoulders, then bent down and walked in warily, trailing one hand along the wall.

         Valerie followed closely. She couldn't see well at all. Once they were away from the entrance it was pitch black around them. Valerie relied on the sound of footsteps ahead of her and her hand on the wall to keep her going in the right direction. The ground beneath her feet was almost smooth and sloped evenly downward, but her steps were cautious and uncertain.

         The farther they walked the damper the air became and it began to get cooler as they went down. The darkness closed in, seeming to grow thicker and heavier. Valerie had always had an intense dislike of the dark that, at times, bordered on fear. She felt tension building in her back and beginning to curl in her belly. Glancing over her shoulder, she confirmed that the faint light of the entrance had disappeared.

         Just then, John abruptly stopped and Valerie walked straight into his back before she could stop herself. He stumbled forward and she quickly stepped back, mumbling an apology.

         "It's alright, Valerie," John said. His voice was hushed and sounded almost damp in the blackness. He gave a short laugh that sounded a little strained. "Pardon me for stating the obvious, but it sure is dark down here. I can't see a thing. Sorry about stepping on your heels, Shay."

         "No problem," Shay replied. His words echoed hollowly around them. "I didn't mean to stop so fast but I wasn't sure..." Valerie heard something scuffling around ahead of them and then Shay spoke crossly, "Alright, Twilight, where'd you put those lights? Maybe you can see down here but I can't and neither can anyone else."

         Twilight laughed quietly somewhere ahead of them. "Aw, c'mon. What are you fussing about?"

         "Twilight." Shay's low tone was warning.

         She gave an exaggerated sigh, "Well. Since you're complaining-" She snapped something and a small light appeared, seeming to hang in midair. For a moment it was still, than began to flicker and spread along a coil that was suspended in the lantern in Twilight's hand. The coil began to glow slightly.

         "Shield your eyes." Shay advised, turning his head away.

         "Why?" John asked and simultaneously the coil shot brilliant light into every corner of the small rock chamber. Valerie and John, who had both failed to follow Shay's advice, were struck with sudden blindness.

         "Sorry," Twilight apologized. "I forgot you didn't know they did that."

         Valerie and John blinked until their momentary blindness was gone. They stared at the light in Twilight's hand. The lantern light had dimmed from that original flash and the coil was now burning with a brilliance that was no longer blinding and kept steady without wavering.

         "What is it?" John asked curiosity overcoming the indignity that had beset him.

         "A root of maluni. It has a fiber that burns very brightly for a long period of time, so we use it to make our lanterns."

         "Oh, of course." John's tone was something between desperate and skeptical though he was striving to look casual. He nodded, his face just a little pale, and looked around. Valerie stepped up beside him to do the same. They were standing in a small chamber that was little more than a wide spot in the tunnel they'd been following. There were two folding chairs sitting to the side and three boxes stacked beside them.

         Twilight grinned at their expressions. "Our luxury suite. Make yourselves comfortable if you want."

         Shay sat on his heels and leaned against the wall, looking up at them. "I tried to talk the rest of the guys into hauling down some nice chairs and a sofa or two but they weren't for it. I told them we should make it livable at least."

         "Livable," Twilight scoffed. She set the lantern down on one of the chairs and began digging through one of the boxes. "Name me even one time we ever were in here for more than ten minutes."

         Valerie leaned against a wall, her arms crossed. She wasn't sure how or why she'd agreed to come along in the first place. All she was doing here was waiting and, strangely, a feeling of disappointment trickled through her. Whatever she had been expecting, it hadn't been this. This was just a cold, rock tunnel with two folding chairs and a couple of boxes. Considering what had led to it, it fell vastly short of expectations. For people who left impressions as strong as Twilight and Shay did, there should have been some spectacular, awesome place.

         They just didn't fit here.

         "So where does this go?" John asked, gesturing around at the tunnel. Valerie suspected he was dealing with the same kind of disappointment she was.

         "Home." Twilight said briefly.

         "You live down here?" John was trying not to sound too shocked.

         "No, of course not," Shay sounded amused. "She meant that the way to home is down here."

         "Oh. So, what are we doing here?" John inquired.

         "We stopped to pick up a couple of things. For us to get home and bring you, we'll have to take a journey, John. That's the only way to get anywhere."

         Shay nodded. "This isn't our destination, John. Just a momentary stopping spot."

         Twilight finally found what she had been looking for. She pulled two complicated looking bundles of straps out of the box. One of them was bright crimson with gold stitching, the other deep blue with silver trim. Twilight tossed the crimson one over to Shay and tucked the other one through her belt.

         John and Valerie watched silently as she pulled out two bundles of fabric next, one deep purple and one royal blue. Valerie caught a glimpse of silver embroidery in the folds as Twilight held them out towards her.

         "Here. Choose one. You'll need it."

         Valerie hesitantly reached out and touched the blue one, not quite believing it would be hers. Twilight promptly tossed it to her. Valerie held it out by one edge so it fell free, as long as she was tall, billowing and full, with a hood edged with silver embroidery. "What is it?"

         "A cloak." Twilight said simply as she swung hers around her shoulders. She shrugged to settle it in place and pushed the hood back before fastening it under her throat.

         Valerie uncertainly copied her actions and then pulled the long garment around her, covering her jeans and t-shirt.

         John grinned and gave her a half bow, "Miss Valerie, you look very nice."

         Valerie pushed the cloak back off her arms. "Sure." She said dryly as she lifted a corner to study the material. It was surprisingly heavy, soft and warm as velvet inside with a smoothness that reminded Valerie of satin. But on the outside it was coarser and had a curious slickness.

         "Exquisite, huh?" One corner of Shay's mouth lifted. "It'll keep you warm enough and sheds water pretty well. The only thing better is a cured faeirian hide."

         "What is this?" John studied the cloak with interest.

         Shay frowned slightly. "I'm not sure. The Small Folk make it. What do they call it, Twilight? You should know."

         Twilight was rummaging through the top two boxes. She had removed several items and set them on the chairs beside her. It looked like the boxes mostly contained spare clothing although there were a few jars and small, unfamiliar items Valerie wasn't sure she wanted to know about. Twilight set another bundle of clothes on the floor beside her and didn't look up as she answered. "Shay, I never did listen during my lessons. Ask Myria. I don't remember. It starts with 'S' I think. Where did you leave your spare ones?"

         "Bottom box." Shay reached over and slapped the box.

         Twilight sighed and began stuffing things back into the top two boxes. "Of course. Thanks for reminding me."

         John smiled at her briefly before inquiring, "Who are the Small Folk?"

         "Some of the people who live in and around the place we are going. You'll meet some sooner or later, maybe while we're on our way." Twilight opened the bottom box and pulled out two lengths of black material. She threw one at Shay, feigning annoyance, and tossed the other one to John.

         Shay caught his cheerfully and stood up. "These are our cloaks, John. Not as fancy, so they last longer. Not so girlie either." He grinned at Twilight.

         Twilight chose to ignore the comment as she restacked the boxes against the wall. Shay reached down to pick up the lantern, fastening his cloak with one hand. Then they both straightened and looked across at Valerie and John.

         "Ready?" Shay inquired.

         John glanced at Valerie to see if she was still going and nodded. "I guess."

         "Then lead on, Shay." Twilight stepped aside.

         Shay started on down the narrow passage carrying the lantern up at shoulder height so it would give light behind him. The flickering light distorted their shadows into twisted, grotesque shapes moving along the walls. Valerie kept her eyes fixed on Shay's heels in front of her.

         She had lost track of time long before Shay finally stopped. She looked up from the ground as he reached out to hang the lantern on a hook in the wall. A fleck of graying ash drifted down to lay on his shoulder as he turned away.

         Ahead of him, Valerie could see a solid wooden door, covered with carvings of intricately twined lines and shapes of stars and moons. The wood was stained in some places and there were a few deep scars near the bottom of a shape that was familiar, hoof prints. Valerie knew, just by looking, that this door must be very old. 

         Shay spoke, his voice almost seeming to shake with excitement. "Here we go, Twilight."

         Twilight's voice was only slightly more subdued as she answered. "Yes. Open the door. Here's where the journey really begins."