Alina's Crossing: Guardians of Terrin (3 page)

It was simply amazing.

I walked over to a large
refrigerated container. The whole front was made of glass windows displaying
large drawers inside. I hesitated opening the doors because, let’s face it, I
had already been pushing my not so existent luck. But, I was here and they were
right there...the same logic still proving valid. I had absolutely no
will-power or self-control at that moment. I grasped my lucky necklace, the
pink stone sitting comfortably in my hand.

I opened the doors of the
cabinet.

Nothing happened and no one had
come in.

I took that as a sign to
continue my rebellious search. I opened the first drawer which was empty.
Sighing in frustration, I quickly closed the drawer and hastily opened the next
one. This one wasn't empty, but held a large
something
housed in white linen.

‘Could this be the mysterious Dublin stone?’
I wondered.

 
Dr. Campbell did say it was in this room. My
fingers ached to uncover the mysterious item. My instincts told me not to do
it, but my curiosity won over.

 
I gently unfolded the cloth, noting its
texture, as any good archaeologist would do. As I got to the last layer,
sweeping it aside, I discovered it was a large grey stone tablet with curious
characters. It was simply stunning.

I stared at the stone for a few
moments. The texture was bumpy and looked porous, almost like lava rock, though
definitely not the same color. The consistency did not coincide with any stone
I knew that you could carve into. The characters had sharp, perfect lines,
black in color with no visible striations. They were defined and perfectly
carved. The strange characters filled the whole front of the tablet. They were
definitely not hieroglyphics or ancient Sanskrit. These were absolutely symbols
that the world had never seen before.

 I cautiously reached my
hand out to touch it.

I wanted to feel it.

 
I leaned over the stone and my necklace, which
was dangling from my neck started to sway. At first I thought it was just the
momentum from me leaning over the tablet. The stone on the necklace started to
gyrate so much so that I was getting concerned about it flying up and hitting
me.

In an even more freaky turn of
events, the pale pink stone started to glow.

At first it was subtle, the
paleness of the pink stone slightly illuminated. I straightened up, grasping
the stone on my necklace in order to examine it. The illumination had
disappeared. I bent back over the tablet and continued to further examine it when
it started all over again. The necklace started gyrating and began to glow. I
kept myself bent over this time, watching the pale pink stone to a bright pearlescent
pink. I was confused, but nonetheless mesmerized.

“What is going on?”
I asked out
loud.

I noticed the tablet didn't
look the same as it did before. The characters on the tablet had changed. Moved
somehow.

I dismissed that thought
immediately, because as a scientist, I knew that just wasn't possible. I told
myself that, but I don't think I really believed it. I knew I wasn't crazy and
I did have a pretty good memory. Those characters had rearranged themselves, I
was absolutely sure of it.

I stepped backwards needing
some space.

I was starting to feel dizzy. I
sat back on the stool by the counter, far away from the tablet. I noticed a
water-cooler in the corner so I hightailed it over and took a long swig of the
deliciously cold water. Feeling better, the wave of dizziness gone, I
cautiously returned to the stool, sitting back down. I kept staring in the
direction of the tablet, resisting the temptation I had to go back over to it.
I was still unsure if my mind was playing tricks on me about what I saw and I
wasn't ready to go confirm my suspicions. My brain was still in the process of
analyzing the unbelievable events I had just witnessed. This was just plain
weird and weird stuff like glowing stones and characters on an ancient tablet
moving on their own just didn't happen in real life.

Since I have no willpower and
an insatiable curiosity, I stood up, creeping on tip toes back towards the
tablet. Leaning over it once more the same pattern happened. The stone swirled
over the tablet and then it lit up. I decided to let it go, this time having
enough courage to see it to the end. I wanted to know if anything else was
going to happen.

My necklace swung back and
forth like a pendulum and then it lit up to a bright, beautiful opaque pink.

It then started to swirl
counter-clock wise.

The tablet started to subtly
shake and the characters now took on a golden color from the black they had
previously been. I hesitantly put my finger on the stone tablet, instinctively
looking around me for anyone watching.

I knew I was alone, but I had
to check.

When my fingers made contact
with the tablet, the characters started to shine. I laughed nervously, keeping
my finger where it was. After several seconds, the letters then grew to intense
bright gold color, shooting light up from within the stone, the characters
emanating the light from where they were engraved.

Then abruptly, a large swirling
portal appeared where the wall once had been. It started as a pinpoint and grew
larger with every rotation.

‘How could this be happening? What was happening?’
I thought to myself.

I didn't have time to ponder
any of those questions because quite suddenly, a man came running out of the
portal and into the little room with me. He pushed my hand off the tablet with
great force and the portal closed.

“Hurry Alina, grab the tablet!
We must run!”

CHAPTER
2

ALTERING

 “Who... are.... you?” I
asked, stunned.
 

The man who had just jumped out
of a portal right in front of me was taller than me and had lovely sandy brown
hair and intense brown eyes. He was dressed in simple clothing that looked
homemade. It appeared to be from another time in history but well-made and
sturdy. 

“I'm Jeb, Alina. I'll explain
everything later. All you need to know right now is that we must hurry and get
you somewhere safe.” he said quickly, wrapping the stone tablet back inside its
linen housing.

“How do you know my name?” I
demanded.

“I know a lot about you, all of
which I can explain at a later time.” he said as he grabbed the stone out of
the shelf drawer, tucking it snugly under his arm.

“Wait! You can't take that! It
belongs to the museum!” I yelled, charging him.

“I
can
take this. It
belongs to
you
Alina, not the museum.” Jeb said loudly, yanking the
tablet out of my grasp and tucking it back under his arm.

“I'm not going anywhere with
you. I will not steal from the museum.” I said stubbornly. 

I paused for a moment and then
realized I had a question for him, much to my chagrin.

I often spoke before I thought,
which got me into trouble.

“What do you mean that tablet
is mine?” I asked.

“Alina, when you placed your
hand on this tablet, YOUR tablet, you set events in motion on the scale of
something you could never even fathom. Did your necklace glow right before the
portal appeared?” he asked.

I shook my head yes with wide,
shocked eyes.

“The stone you wear around your
neck creates a reaction that makes it glow when it is around the type of
material this tablet is made from. They have magical properties that when
combined, create a chemical reaction that generates magic out of thin air. If
you can just do everything I say, when I say it, I will be able to properly
explain everything later.” said Jeb.

Jeb opened the door slowly,
peaking both ways down the hallway before crouching down and exiting the room.
Once out of the door he set to crouch-walking. He frantically started
looking left and right, making sure the coast was clear for us to turn a corner
and enter the next hallway.

“I need to have my head examined I think.”
I mumbled to myself as I realized I was willingly following
this strangely dressed time traveler.

I was still puzzled about my
current situation and still dazed about Jeb's mysterious appearance but that
didn't stop my insatiable need to follow him. I couldn’t match his urgency to
‘get somewhere safe’
and I still didn’t
know what I was in danger of.

“What?” asked Jeb, turning his
head.

He must have heard me mumbling.

“Nothing.” I said, quickly.

“Where are we going?” I asked
instead.

Jeb stood up when we turned
another corner, grabbed my hand and yanked me down the hallway.

“And why do you keep looking
behind us? There isn't anyone down here.” I pointed out as we ran.
  
“There isn’t anyone yet, but there may be. We
have to get to another location in this museum and return through the portal to
the other side.” Jeb explained.

“Return THROUGH the portal? Did
I catch that part right?” I asked.

“Yes. Through the portal. We
need to get to the right corresponding point in the museum so that the next
portal we open will exit in the right spot on the other side.” he said, evenly,
like it was an everyday occurrence.

“Exactly what is the other side?”
I asked, exasperated.

“Ssshhhh!” said Jeb, crouching
down again quickly, straining to keep his back tightly sandwiched against the
wall while trying to peer around the next corner.

“Sorry.” I whispered. “The
other side of what?”

I thought I saw Jeb roll his
eyes at me.

‘He jumps out of a portal and has the audacity to be annoyed
with
MY
questions? I think not.
’ I thought.

Jeb grabbed my arm and pulled
me along after him. I don't know why, but I did trust him. It didn’t matter
that he was a complete stranger whom I had met by way of him jumping out of a portal
that I created from touching an apparently magical stone tablet.

I pinched myself on the arm. I
was definitely not dreaming any this.

“You said someone will be here.
WHO will be? Why am I in danger?” I asked, louder than I had meant to.

He had not made any attempt to
answer any one of the questions I had asked.

 
I was feeling frustrated and went straight to
stubborn.

“I am not moving one more step
until you tell me who you are, where you are from and HOW in the world did you
jump through a portal that this stone created?” I yelled, holding up my
necklace.

I planted my feet on the ground
and folded my arms obstinately.

I saw Jeb breathe out in
frustration.

I knew he was in a hurry to
'get me somewhere safe'
but he knew the
reasons for all of this and I didn't. He had to give me something to go on,
something that would make me understand even a little bit. He expected me to
just willingly follow the most strangest of strangers without any explanations.
‘
Hasn't he heard of stranger danger
before?’
I wondered.

Jeb rushed me into an alcove
that held vending machines and entrances to the men's and women's restrooms on
either side. He pushed us into a corner, my back pressed against the wall. He
was very close to me, close enough to whisper into my ear.

“You are in danger of Shael.”
He whispered.

“Ok. What is a Shael?” I asked.

“Shael is a man. An evil man
from my realm.” He said.

“Why is he after me? What did I
do?” I asked, confused.

I was tightly holding onto the
cloth-wrapped tablet, not wanting any damage to come to the precious item that
I was apparently getting ready to steal. My necklace was doing the glowing
thing again. The stone looked like it was on fire, but it wasn't hot. I
remembered what Jeb had said, that the two items created magic when they were
near each other, so, I took my necklace and turned it around to hang down my
back.

“It's not really what you did,
it's more like who you are.” he said.

He was talking at me instead of
talking to me, his eyes constantly on the move, looking for things I couldn't
see. All I saw was doors and empty hallways.

“Jeb?!” I yelled through
gritted teeth.

Saying his name brought him
back to where I was. His face looked defeated. I think he sensed that I
wouldn't stop talking, interrupting and questioning him about what was going on
and he would have been
absolutely
correct.

“You are going to be a problem
aren’t you?” he muttered.

“Yes.” I said, pleased that I
was able to annoy him into submission.

“Alina, this stone tablet is a
part of a puzzle that unlocks the secret whereabouts of a weapon that can stop
Shael, who is an evil and ruthless madman in the 2nd Realm. You are thought to
be the only one that can interpret the carvings on the stone. When that portal
opened, Shael would have been able to track it and he will come looking for you.
He knows your fate as well as I do, but he will try to kill you. You are not
who you think you are and you are really not from this place. Satisfied?” asked
Jeb, his eyebrows raised in question.

I was quiet for a minute, running
the events from the last few moments of my life.

‘
First, a glowing stone, second, a portal appears and a man jumps out it,
third, found knowledge of an alternate realm. So, yah, me being the KEY to some
weapon that can stop a crazy person who was now looking to kill me sounded
about right.’
I thought, sarcastically.

I knew what Jeb was saying was
the total and absolute truth. I always had great intuition about people, almost
always correct about a person's motives. I don't know why I believed this fantastic
story but I knew that everything Jeb was saying was true.

‘Could my life really be in danger? Is there more to this
world than what I know?’
I
wondered.

I was suddenly anxious to find
out.

‘
Alina's insane curiosity
wins again.’
I thought.

“Ok FINE, I believe you Jeb. I
will be quiet and compliant from this point on.” I said.

That was really hard for me to
say. I was usually in charge of my own destiny, my own choices. I had now put
both of those precious things into the hands of someone I didn't know.

Relief flooded Jeb's face.
“Thank you Alina. I promise this will make sense to you soon.

“We only have a few more feet
to go, to that room right there.” He said, pointing to the last door on the
right. We had inched out of the vestibule.

“We are going to dash there on
the count of three. Once we enter the room, I am going to close and lock the
door behind us and then you are going to re-open the portal.” Jeb instructed.

He sounded completely confident
that the events he listed would happen as he said them. I, however, was less
than convinced.

“Sure.” I said sarcastically.

He counted to three and we ran,
making it through the door with no issues. Jeb locked the door behind us and
hastily started unwrapping the tablet.

The room we entered was a
sparsely furnished, run of the mill office. The walls were institution-grey and
old, the paint chipping in many places. There was a large wooden desk with
piles of papers strewn about, along with a few dirty coffee cups and a
half-eaten sandwich. A small fan blew towards the empty chair, an indication
that whoever’s office this was, they would be coming back.

 
“Ok, just do what you did before.” explained
Jeb as he handed the tablet back to me.

I stood there dumbfounded.

“I don't know what I did
before!” I yelled, my tone filled with panic

 
“What do you mean you don't know what you did
before? I was told you would know what to do!” he said.

“Jeb, I don't know what you
thought but this was all accidental!” I said, waving my arms around. “I was
just looking down at the tablet and my necklace started to swirl and glow. I
touched the tablet, then the writing started to change colors. Then you popped
out of the wall. I didn't do anything! It just was all.... glowing.” I
explained.

“Ok Alina, just try touching it
again. Try to remember.” Jeb urged calmly.

 I took a series of
calming breaths, intending to clear my mind and focus on what he was asking me
to do. I had flipped my necklace back around, holding it over the tablet like I
had done before. I was just about to put my hand on the tablet when I noticed
out of the corner of my eye.

There was something was moving
under the door.

“Jeb.” I whispered, not moving.

He looked at me with raised,
inquisitive eyebrows.

Frantically pointing towards
the door, he moved his eyes to the direction I was pointing.

“What... is... that?” I asked
in a scared, frantic whisper.

A large, black plume of smoke
with sparkly silver flecks was painstakingly shoving itself into the space
between the door and the floor.

“That............ is the Shadow.
Hurry Alina, open the portal! The Shadow can’t enter the portal. We have to go
now!” said Jeb, directing my attention back to the tablet.

“What's the Shadow?” I asked,
wide-eyed and scared.

“It's a...well it's just bad.
Really, really bad. I need you to hurry now.” Jeb urged, turning my attention
back to the tablet.

Our voices grabbed the
attention of the Shadow. It was slithering under the door faster and there was
more of it in the room with us.

Way more of it.

I was more scared than I had
ever been before in my life. The fear was preventing my ability to concentrate.
I put my hand on the tablet and expected the letters to glow immediately like
they did the last time, but they didn't.

“What happened?” I yelled.

“I don't know. Try again!” he
said urgently.

I put my hand on the tablet and
got the same response.

Nothing.

Jeb had his back to me, keeping
watch on the Shadow. It was almost four feet high by this time, inching closer
to us, growing larger by the second. I didn't know what this thing was or what
it would do to us but I didn't want to be here to find out.

I then thought of something Jeb
said earlier
. 'Do what you did before'
.