Gravity (13 page)

"Yes,
he's the reason I came for you. Will
you come with me tonight? Red needs your help."

“
I’ll help.”
Dash takes a backpack from behind the door like he’s been expecting
her. While
I was partying,
this kid was packing his bag. I fold my arms across my chest. How
does Violet need this kids help?

“This is Alex Aisling.”

“
Hey.” His chin
rises.
I do the
same.

“And this is
Gabriel.” With a slight nod of his head, Gabriel slings his
backpack on his shoulder. His eyes search the street; he's anxious
to leave Joshua's neighborhood.

“
So do you have
to ask your mom if it’s okay—" Violet's funny. He's sixteen not
six.

“
No.” Dash
looks at the family circus playing out behind him. It's the norm
for him; the total opposite of my house.

“Are you sure?”
Violet clasps her hands together. “I don’t want you to get you into
trouble. I mean we are strangers…”

Dash closes the
door behind him and stands in front of Violet. He's taller than
her. He straightens his shoulders on purpose to show her he's not a
kid. I cover my mouth before I let a chuckle slip.

"I'm old enough
to leave without asking for their permission." It came out harsher
than he wanted. I can barely hold in in.

"Okay." Violet
backs away from him. He strolls down the porch steps and stops as
Gabriel backs away with his head down. Dash moves his hair to the
side and stares at Gabriel.

“
Won’t they
notice you’re gone?” Violet asks. “I’m sure your parents will
worry.”

“I doubt it.” Dash
sighs and looks at his sneakers like he's suddenly afraid to look
at her.

I unfold
my arms. Dash is feeling what I have
often felt when my parents abandon me for their business trips. The
funny thing is this kid has an ever present family and still feels
forgotten. I can relate to this because of the long stretches
between seeing my parents. I often feel deserted too. With so much
family, no one seems to notice him or even care about the things he
cares about. He doesn't even have friends to confide in.

"Okay. This is
everybody. Let's go to my place. I'll explain there."

I like
the sound of that and swiftly walk
beside Violet with Dash following close behind. Gabriel tags along
but with distance behind us. Violet turns around once in a while
just to make sure he's there. I still don't know why she needs the
other two. They don't seem to be as special like me. I can read
minds, so what does she need with a pervert and over-imaginative
nerd for.

***

Alex

I
recognize
the part of the city
we're walking through. My mouth waters when the smell of spices
invades my nostrils points to the long line outside of Hell's BBQ.
I hadn't eaten much at Jake's party and my buzz is long gone. The
deep rumbles of heavy bass rattle the glass of a blackened building
with a neon yellow sign flashing
The Basement.
Lots of artists and musicians play in these clubs and bars.
The street festivals are amazing and the live concerts free.
There's even a record label in this area; a music studio I dream of
recording at one day. One of the schools Mrs. Rubio recommended is
blocks from here; a perfect area to jump-start my music career if
only my parents would let me make my own decisions. A guy sitting
on the window sill stroking a cat's back catches my eye. He's
chilling with a beer in his hand, listening to the sound of the
city. I could live here.

"So where are we going?" I look up to admire
the red lit Rise & Fall Studio sign across the street.

"My home. I need to show you so you'll
understand some things."

"I
know
, but I can't seem to
figure out where. It's not clear when I try to read your
mind."

"You can read
minds?" Dash
pushes up his
glasses.

Gabriel perks his
head up.

It's the first
time I've blurted my secret out to anyone.

"Red made it so
it isn't easy to find. It's hidden and kind of nowhere at the same
time. It's hard to explain. Red made it that way." Violet’s
apologetic smile makes me want to dig deeper into her
mind.

"What do you
mean Red made it that way?" Dash takes the words right out of my
mouth.

She pauses for a moment to collect the right
words. "Red is special. I'm sure you've all experience that in your
dreams. Where I'm taking you is a place he made and I don't mean
built."

Dash looks just
as confused as
I do. I don’t
understand the pieces of information floating around in her head. I
hope she’s not crazy.
She stops in front of a large
abandoned building. Gabriel is taking note of the location as if it
will be a potentially good place for shelter when he needs it.
Since
Violet lives around here,
that’s a plus for him. His thoughts are pretty pitiful.

Gabriel must've felt me poking around in his
head because he's wondering if I can see other things in his mind,
but he won’t dare ask. I can pretty much see everything. I wish I
couldn't.

Violet goes into the
decrepit building.

"Here?"
I cringe.

"Come on, it's nicer
inside, I promise." Violet opens the overly creaky door.

Broken glass
crunches under foot. "D
oesn't
look like it." I sigh when I kick up dust and brittle old
newspapers. I grind my teeth when I hear Gabriel snicker. The weird
kid is used to filth. He's slept in a number of places that rival
this dump. Gabriel can't help but smile as I attempt to try not to
get my new sneakers dirty. I'm so kicking his grimy ass.

We
follow Violet up a flight of stairs
and down a hallway corridor. From the fancy molding, this place has
been around a long time. The window glass is wavy which I remember
from a school trip to famous mansion that it means it's as old as
fuck. Violet goes into one of the rooms and stops in front of a
full length mirror. It looks out of place among the gray garbage.
Brand new mahogany wood frames a pristine mirror.

“
Why would
someone leave such a beautiful piece?” I say.

"This is the
entrance." She put her hand through the mirror. The three us stare
at how Violet's hand disappears. "Come on." She walks right into it
and she's gone.

"Dude, did she
just—"

"Well,
it
is
the entrance." Dash pushes his
glasses up.

"Thanks for
enlightening me on that," I say sarcastically. "This is getting
weirder and weirder." I approach the so-called
entrance
. "What the hell am I doing?" I was partying one
minute then following a hot chick walking through mirrors. Maybe
I'm still dreaming.

I
step through first. My sneaker hits
earth. It’s dark. But I can tell I'm outside, but in the country
side. The chirping frogs and noisy insects remind me of the
vacations in the country my family use to take before work became
priority. I hadn't heard nature like this since I was little. It’s
too dark to tell my surroundings completely, but the night's starry
sky is bright, something I hadn't seen in a long time. I can make
out trees that surround the place.

Dash comes
through, bumping me away from what looks like a gate.

***

Dash

"Sorry." I adjust
myself from clashing into him, but I don't think Alex heard me.
He's too busy staring ahead of him. I can see why.

There's
something unusual within the dark
landscape. At first I thought I saw fireflies, but I pushes his
glasses up, and see lines that remind me of glow-in-the-dark
markers I had when I was younger. The lines move as if someone is
drawing them; leaving tiny lit streaks in the air. The stars are
brilliant without the use of a telescope. I recognize the triangle
constellation immediately, but the season is wrong. It's late
spring and the sky is showing Lyra, Cygnus and Altair which are
most discernible in the summer.

"Dash, are you
okay?" Violet asks. I hadn't noticed I was breathing hard. All I
can do is nod; it's a bit overwhelming by the traces of the
hyper-intelligence enveloping my senses.

Violet
steps
away pulling me by my
backpack to make way for Gabriel.

***

Gabriel

Stepping
through
, I smell the air and
instantly feel at ease. I flop back my hood and drop my backpack.
I'm a rock settling at the bottom of the ocean from a seemingly
endless sinking journey. It’s so serene, I stand for a while taking
in the fresh air and strange darkness. I realize the rest of them
are walking toward a cabin at the other end of the field. Its light
glows like a lantern in the distance.

Wal
king through the
grass, there's luminescence among the blades, but it isn't from the
moon or the stars. It’s coming from the grass and plants. A halo
like coloring surrounds each leaf and each blossom. It reminds me
of how radiation is illustrated in comics. Searching the horizon, a
forest of trees surrounds the dreamy place. It’s beautiful even in
the darkness of night. I'm comfortable here—where ever
here
is. Maybe stepping into the mirror was stepping
into a portal like in the sci-fi stories I've read.

"So what can
you do?"

Dash startles
me. I was so in awe of my surroundings, I didn't feel him enter my
personal space. I veer away as I follow Violet. I don't know how to
answer him. "I'm not sure." Violet had said we all have abilities
and as far as I'm concern, I have none. "It's more of a condition
then ability." I place my hood back on.

I can feel him
watching
me. I don't like it
because it feels like Alex's telepathy.

"What about
you
?" I ask, diverting the
conversation away from me.

"Not sure." Our
eyes meet and I feel heat on my side. Dash is too close again. I
lengthen the gap between us. I look down at my feet and notice the
flowers are all closed for the night. "I wonder why they
glow."

"What?" Dash
asks
.

"The plants and
the flowers—they glow.
"

"Which
ones?"

"All of them.
Can't you see it?"

"No, I don't."
Dash pushes
the hair out of
his eyes. "I guess you can’t see the glowing lines darting around
this place then."

"Glowing lines?"

"Interesting. Maybe
that's part of your ability."

I don't want to
talk about
myself.

"This place is
cool." Dash says. "So, you had a dream, too? You've seen
Red?"

"Yeah."

"You were in mine.
Was I in yours?"

I look
at Dash. This is weird. This total
stranger had a dream with me in it. "Alex was in it. He was just
buying a helmet."

"Buying a
helmet?" Dash walks a little closer. I instantly veer away. If we
keep doing this walking dance, we'll end up in the woods. He's one
of those clingy people; the one who don't know the meaning of
personal space. Those are the worse kind of people.

"You were
leaving the antique shop when we brushed shoulders by accident."
Dash combs back his hair, for it to only move back over his face.
"It felt... different."

I
swallow
hard. How can that be?
There's no way he could know about me. I walk a little faster like
each step will get me farther away from what Dash had just
said.

***

Alex

Gabriel and
Dash catch up as t
hey pass a
lake which looks like glass. The reflection of the moon lights the
surface, giving it the illusion that the water is glowing. I
imagine the water is cool in contrast to the slight warmth of the
recycled light of the moon.

I'm
unable to understand Dash's mind now.
Like a mosaic of thoughts, it's too
cryptic to decipher.
Gabriel's is clearer and still much
too dark for my taste. Violet has too many holes to comprehend an
actual story. They weren't like this before the mirror. There's
more, too much more now. At least Violet isn't scientific or
horrifying. She's all I want to listen to anyway. She’s nervous
about talking to us; wondering what to say and how to say it. Every
so often, her thoughts would veer off into a memory that doesn't
make any sense. It always includes Red and some other guy—Grey.
It's too quick to see because she shoves it so far to the back of
her head. Whatever it is, it seems to make her very sad; the
corners of her mouth fall a little.

"So you live here." I confirm with her.

"Yep,
with Red..." She trails off like she
wanted to say
'and'
.

"
And Grey?" I fill in the
blank for her. I have to admit, I want to impress her with my
ability. She looks stunned, but doesn't deny nor confirm it. It’s a
touchy subject. Her mind springs back to thinking of Red. It seems
to be her main focus, but I can see this Grey person is much more
than someone that used to live here with her. They were close. She
wants to cover that up. I know what that feels like. I always hid
my connection to Cher. Cher isn’t anything to me, but for some
reason I can’t explain, my chest hurts to see her with
Pete.