Time - Chapter 8
I turned down the streets of Bronard using muscle memory, surprised that so little had changed in the decade I’d been away.
This is a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.
In the ashes of her past, she will rise up, and her death will save us all.
Lizzie ran from her past for ten years, zigzagging across the United States every few months, trying to outlast the prophesy that an oracle gave to her when she was just sixteen years old.
But nobody can run from their destiny forever.
After watching her friend brutally gunned down by a group of ruthless demons, she had no choice but to protect the woman’s child, and there was only one place where Lizzie knew the girl would be safe.
Bronard, Missouri.
Home.
She stayed away to protect her parents, but the girl needed mystical protection.
Her parents had taken in magical strays their whole lives, including Lizzie. If anyone could save the poor child’s life, it would be her mother and father.
But will returning to her home doom Lizzie even as she works to save the child she has vowed to defend?
I turned down the streets of Bronard using muscle memory, surprised that so little had changed in the decade I’d been away. The Johnsons were still selling corn on the side of the road, and a few farms down, you could get berries from the Clacksons. The road down the middle of town toward my parent’s farm was filled with food stands with all manner of fruit and veggies in them. As we passed the homemade signs, I took note of the children I’d grown up with, now adults with their own children in tow as they worked their family farms.
That was supposed to be my lot in life, to help Dad and Mom till the fields, to care for them in their old age, to carry on their legacy. There was no doubt I would come back to the farm after college and work it until I died. Some people might not have thought that appealing, but it was my dream—a dream shattered by the prophecy that loomed over my head.
“It smells funny,” Veronica said as we drove through.
“That’s good, good country air, Veronica,” I said.
“Smells like poop,” she observed.
“It sure does. I’ve missed it.”
“Weirdo.”
Papa’s truck was still in front of the white farmhouse. His tools, now rusted and in disrepair, hung on the shed on the right of the driveway. It was like stepping back in time to a past I never thought I’d return to.
“We’re here,” I said.
“Thank god,” Veronica said. “That was a long ride.”
I had tried to get her some coloring books and games to play, but Veronica wasn’t interested in any of that. She just wanted to get where we were going and focused on the road. When I unbuckled her seat belt, she hopped out of the car and latched onto my hand on our way to the door.
We hadn’t even reached the steps before the creaky screen swung open, and my father, Carl, shuffled out, hunched over a cane. His dark skin was cut with deep grooves. He wasn’t a young man when I was a child, but now he looked like the world had sucked the last of his life out of him. When he saw me, his face lit up, and the old Dad came through the thick wrinkles for a moment.
“L-Lizzie? My gods, is that you?”
I grinned. “Hi, Dad!”
He stood straight up then and scooted toward me as I made my way to him. We embraced in a long hug filled with tears and laughter.
“I never thought I would see you again, kiddo.”
“I never thought I’d see you again either, Dad.” I thought it would be awkward, after all this time, to see my father, but it felt like old times, like we hadn’t been estranged for a decade. I smelled his scent as I hugged him tightly and knew I was home. It was the thing I’d spent a decade running from, and it was the only thing I never knew I always wanted—to see my parents again. I lied to myself into believing I didn’t crave this moment, but there was no more lying now. The truth rushed at me in a torrent.
After a long while, Carl’s eyes moved from me to Veronica. “And who is your friend?”
I unlatched from his embrace and turned to her. “This is Veronica. She’s—I think—one of us, and she’s in a bad way. That’s why I came back.”
He nodded. “I thought maybe you just wanted to see your old man and your mother before she…I’m just glad to see you.” He hobbled over to Veronica and held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, little one.”
She shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, too, sir.”
“Carl,” he said. “You can call me Carl.”
“Nice to meet you, Carl.”
He smiled a weak smile. “How would you like some cocoa?”
“I’d like that very much, Carl.”
He placed his hand on her back. “Then how about we have some hot chocolate while Lizzie here goes to say hello to her mother.”
“Who’s Lizzie?”
“I am, Veronica,” I replied.
“Oh.” She looked at me, confused. “I thought your name was Jude.”
“I’ve had a lot of names, but my real name is Elizabeth—Lizzie.”
“I like Jude better.”
“Noted.” I touched Dad’s shoulder as they passed. “Where is she?”
“Our room. Upstairs.” He helped Veronica into the house. “I think you know the way.”
This is a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.