Door in the Floor

By Lisa Frankel

Ali couldn’t have known that the door, that had been in her floor her whole life, was not just to keep monsters from getting out…but to keep her from getting in. She will soon discover another realm that she is destined to be a part of. Full of power struggles and greed, Ali will become the target, a key to the top. Desiring something unattainable and discovering who she really is, she gets caught up in an epic battle. Just when she thinks her world has calmed down, she receives a letter from an impossible source. On a mission to find the author of the letter and answers about its contents, Ali finds her world thrown upside down once again. Will she find the answers she is seeking and deserves? Or will she continue to be swallowed whole by the demons of her past and present?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781312019690

Book preview

Door in the Floor

Door in the Floor

By Lisa Frankel

Door in the Floor

Third Edition

Copyright © 2008 Lisa Frankel

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-312-01969-0

Cover Design: Michael Charlow

For Diane Firpo, my 1st grade teacher and mentor, who inspired me to write.

For Tamir, my loving husband, who listened to me clickety-clack all day long.

For all my former students.  I wasn’t lying.  I wrote a book.

Contents

Part I-Discovery

Prologue

Monsters

Door in the Floor

The Twins

The Compound

One of a Kind

Magic

Unexpected

The Doorknob

A Visitor

Drowning in Sorrow

Melted Ice

We’ve Got Problems

Making Amends

Monsters

Fingers Through My Brain

The Trade

Ascent Towards the Sky

Truces and Promises

Epilogue-The Letter

Prologue

I couldn’t have known what was going to happen when I opened that door.  I also couldn’t have known that I was destined to find it.

Monsters

I was drowning.  That was the only way for me to describe it.  When I realized he wasn’t coming back, my world filled with water.  No one was coming back.  Voices around me became muffled.  I couldn’t see clearly.  Breathing was a chore and my lungs seemed to want to give up.  I tried to pull myself out of it many times, but I felt like the water was slowly pulling me under, like a wave swallowing me whole.  And just when I thought the water was receding, it began to fill up again. 

It had been four weeks since my dad disappeared.  Disappeared.  What a stupid word for it.  It was the only word I could let myself imagine.  Homicide, what the police were looking into at this point, was too much to swallow.  Abandonment was unfeasible.  He was all I had left in this world.  Only we survived that day.  I’m not sure how he got himself back together emotionally after Mom and Ronnie died.  I guess he had to for my sake.  I was only 5 when it happened.

I try not to think about it, but sometimes it just catches me by surprise and envelops me.  Whenever someone uncorks a bottle of wine, or I walk by a bar, I can’t help the few flashes of memory I have from that awful night.  Bright head beams, the screeching of tires, the crash, spinning, screaming, slow motion, then blackness.  My eyes would open in and out of consciousness to see Ronnie, my older brother, lying limp next to me.  Glass shattered everywhere, sparkling in the rain.  His face.  I can’t.  Imagining it is too much for me.  My mom’s auburn hair sprawled across the back of her seat.  I just wanted to stroke her hair one last time, but my seatbelt and the searing pain kept me back.  My dad was moaning and I was sobbing.  The man in the blood red pickup truck, Manny Derulio, had been drunk and ran a stop sign.  It’s strange how a few seconds can change your life forever.  His blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit.  Incredibly, he was up for parole in a week.  He killed 2 people and was up for parole, just after 12 years.  Where was the justice in that?  I’ll never understand this system.

Knowing that we were the only two left, there’s no way that he could have just left me in the middle of the night.  Especially not with Manny’s parole hearing coming up.  I couldn’t even believe when the detective suggested such an idiotic scenario.  So that left homicide.

I found myself sleeping a lot lately, but it was never restful.  I would wake up from terrible nightmares every night.  My boyfriend, Justin, left me at the end of week 3, which should have been devastating, but at that point I was too numb.  I’m not sure if I even processed it when it happened.  I was just trapped in time.

The monsters of my past kept me from moving forward.

Door in the Floor

I had been lost in a sea of nightmares.  I was dreaming of tsunamis washing over me, an occurring dream I had, when a noise jolted me.  I sat up, sweating.  I could feel my ears burning red even though I was shivering with cold.  What was that noise?  Ben? I called out.  My shaky voice echoed across the room.  There was no answer.  I must have dreamt it.  But then why was I so anxious?  I plopped my head back down and was about to drift off again when the noise returned.  It was a loud banging.  Loud, but muffled.  Was someone really at the door at this hour?  No, it couldn’t be.  Ben would have gotten it.  He was sleeping 10 feet away from it.  He was a deep sleeper, but not that deep.  Plus, it wasn’t coming from the direction of the door downstairs.  I clutched my covers and tried to slow my breathing.  My heart felt like it was about to jump out of my chest.  Then the noise came again, only this time, the bed shook a little.  What was that?  Not an earthquake.  Definitely not.  But what?

I slid my feet over the side of the bed and let my feet touch the cold hardwood.  It creaked below, which sent another jolt up my spine.  I was such a wimp.  This time when the knocking came, I felt it beneath my feet.  It was coming from the floor.  No, that’s crazy.  I crept out of my room and peeked over the stair railing.  Ben was fast asleep, snoring loudly.  Ben had been my best friend since we were three.  We had done everything together from riding our first bikes, jumping from the tallest tree into the lake, breaking bones, getting the chicken pox, and everything else you could imagine.  We were close till about 2 years ago.  I had kind of abandoned him when I got together with Justin.  I didn’t mean to leave him behind, but that’s just what happens sometimes.  Since Justin left me a few days ago, Ben started staying over downstairs.  I begged him not to.  I told him I was fine.  I’m glad he didn’t believe my obvious lies.  Every night he would sneak in and sleep on the couch.  Every morning he would sneak out before I woke up.  I was grateful for the comfort and the space.

I crept back into my room, feeling the now, barely audible banging below my feet.  I’m not sure why, but I found myself sitting on the floorboards.  Then I got a sudden flash of memory, or dream.  I wasn’t sure which.  I thought of my dad and me sitting on the floor.  I could hear his words so clearly in my head.  No Ali, I’m not saying there aren’t any monsters in your room, they just aren’t in your closet.  This made me feel a little bit better.  Well then where are they? I asked, wiping the tears away from my eyes.  Well, they’re under the floor, right here.  He pointed to the very floorboards that we were sitting on.  I shivered. The vision was so real.  To ease my worries, he’d found an old doorknob in the backyard shed.  He hammered it into the floor.  When I protested that the monsters would get in, he turned the lock.  And that was it.  That was the end of the monsters, or so I thought.

That doorknob had sat in my floor since I was a kid.  I felt the knocking under me again.  I ran my palm over the splintered floor.  Just last night I had stubbed my toe in it for the umpteenth time.  I don’t know why I never took it out, considering I broke my toe from slamming into it so many times.  After I got the confirmation letter of the parole hearing, I lost it.  I yanked the doorknob out of the floor and threw it through my window.  It wasn’t going to protect me from my monsters, just like my dad wasn’t here to protect me from Manny.  I felt the knocking under my floor again.

I suddenly felt claustrophobic.  I needed some air.  I walked to the window and pried it open, staring out at the moonless sky.  I sucked in the crisp, night air.  I looked out at the dreary lake and watched the cool mist rise from it.  Everything looked normal around me, so why was I hallucinating the knocking?  I looked down at the field beneath my window.  Suddenly, the doorknob caught my eye.  I don’t know how I saw it in the darkness.  And all of a sudden, I needed it.  I needed it to feel whole again, to feel secure.  I had been so numb that it was strange to feel this sudden urgency within me.  Something was drawing me to it.  Like a magnetic field.  I felt compelled to get it all of a sudden.  I couldn’t help myself.  I threw on a jacket, some jeans, and slipped on some sneakers.  I tiptoed out the front door, trying carefully not to make too much noise.  I didn’t want to wake Ben and have to explain why I was going out in the middle of the night to retrieve a doorknob.  When I got out the door, I ran to the side of the house.  I had forgotten a flashlight, but I didn’t seem to need it.  I found it easily under some dew covered, rosebushes.  I snatched it up.  It was smooth and cold beneath my fingers.  I closed my hand over it, almost tearing over, and shoved it in my jacket pocket.  I crept in as slowly and quietly as I had crept out.  I really didn’t want Ben to wake up, but more, I really just wanted to get up to my room quickly.  I wasn’t sure why.  What was I going to do with it? 

I closed my bedroom door and found myself on the floor again.  The knocking was definitely still there, but also more subdued and distant.  I brushed my palm across the smooth, mahogany floorboards.  So many memories flashed through my mind.  So many emotions flooded me.  I missed my dad terribly.  My eyes began to fill with tears and my ears burned.  My hands were icy and trembling. 

I wasn’t sure what compelled me, but I reached for my toolkit under the bed.  It was a pink box with tools that were plastered in pink as well.  I wrenched it open and grabbed the hammer.  I was going to the pound the doorknob into the floorboards.  But what was I going to tell Ben?  He was obviously going to wake up and run upstairs to my rescue.  What would I tell him?  Oh hey Ben.  What am I doing?  Oh you know, just the usual…hammering a doorknob into the floor.  Don’t you do that at your house every night?  No?  Well you should.  I was absolutely mad!  But I couldn’t stop myself.  Something just took over me.

I found the spot where my dad had hammered it in, many years ago.  I placed the doorknob in the exact spot and began banging it into the floor.  Crazy.  I was so crazy.  I got it in pretty easily…it had been there for years, I reminded myself.  I waited.  For what, I wasn’t all that sure.  Waited for Ben to wake up and come clambering upstairs.  Waited for something to happen.  What would happen though?  I stared at the copper doorknob in the floor.  It was locked.  That brought a small smile to my face.  Of course it was locked.  That’s how you keep the monsters out.  My dad said so.  Again, crazy.  So I was crazy, so what?  But there was that strange magnetic feeling coming from the doorknob again.  And, just like I had been compelled earlier, I placed my icy fingers on the lock and turned it. 

I waited a beat before I turned the knob, not sure what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t this.  It was like a real door was there.  I turned the knob and proceeded to lift up the floor.  It lifted so easily that it surprised me.  I looked at the open door in my floor and saw only darkness.  I knelt down, almost sticking my head through the floor and tried to look deeper into the abyss below.  At that moment, a strange feeling came over me.  There was a strong pressure…a pulling at my face.  It felt as though my face were being sucked down into a vacuum.  I gasped.  I tried to pull my face back, but the pull became stronger and stronger, almost as if something was pushing me down as well as pulling me in.  Then that vacuum spread to over my body, and before I knew it, I was being sucked down.  Sucked down through the floorboards of my room.  Sucked down into complete and utter darkness.

The Twins

The pull had been so strong, that I wasn’t sure the feeling could worsen any, but it did.  I felt a sudden drop beneath me.  The floor was gone and I was falling.  It was still as dark as a starless night and my perception was off. I felt completely disoriented.  I was being sucked down, yet I was falling so effortlessly as well.  I had a crazy feeling in the pit of my stomach, like when you drop from the peak of a roller coaster.  You want that flop in your stomach to stop, but it feels sort of good at the same time.  Then there was a bright flash of colors.  Red.  Orange.  Yellow.  Blue.  Flames seemed to dance around me.  And then I felt it.  The flames licked at me at first, but then spread all over my body.  I tried to scream in agony, but the burning in my throat was mimicking the burning on my body.  It all happened so fast.  Sucked, falling, burning, and then a splash of something unfamiliar, and then a sudden jolt.  I slammed to the ground with my back first, and then my head followed, smacking against the ground with tremendous force.  It knocked me out.

I started to come to, trying to concentrate on the voices around me.  I couldn’t open my eyes.  Oh shit!  What did I do? asked the first voice. 

Are you alright? asked the other. 

Of course she’s not alright.  I set her on fire.  How could she be alright?  I just hope she is alive.  I heard heavy footsteps rush towards me.  I wanted desperately to open my eyes and tell them I would be ok, whoever they were.

She hit her head pretty hard, said the second voice with a nervous edge. 

The first voice shouted back, Hitting her head is the least of her problems.  I should have waited.  I reacted too quickly.  It’s just that she dropped out of the sky.  I thought she was a, well I don’t even know.  But you saw, it all happened so quickly.  God, I feel horrible.  Now he directed his voice at me.  I could feel his closeness.  Hey.  Can you hear me?  I tried to shake my head yes, but the muscles in my neck refused.  I made one final attempt to open my eyes and was surprised that they obeyed.  Everything looked blurry at this point.  I could only make out two figures bent over me.  She’s awake! exclaimed the first one.  He waved his hand in front of my eyes.  I felt dizzy and snapped my eyes shut, hoping that they would readjust.  I opened them again.  Still blurry, but I could definitely see more.  I couldn’t keep my eyes open without feeling nauseous.  So I just let myself breathe and tried to stop my head from spinning.

When I opened my eyes for the third time, the sights around me were overwhelming.  The two guys bent over me were gorgeous.  They were almost god-like.  One of them had dark brown, curly hair.  His face was chiseled and strong.  His eyes were a golden, honey color, almost bronze.  But his skin, his skin was flashing silver.  I blinked my eyes shut again.  I must not be seeing right yet.  I had hit my head pretty hard.  I saw flashing dots behind my eyelids.  I pried my eyes open again.  I studied the face of the other guy.  They almost looked like twins.  This one was not quite as good looking, but definitely still model-esque.  His hair was the same chocolate brown color, but it was spiked up with blonde highlights.  His face was broader, his eyes different shades of blue.  They were both shirtless.  If my jaw could drop, it would have.  Their bodies were amazing.  I had only ever seen muscles like that in magazines and on statues, but never on a real person.  I mean we had jocks at my school, but they couldn’t hold a candle to these guys.  I was embarrassed that I might be drooling at this point. 

She’s coming to, the god-like one exclaimed.  Are you ok? 

I managed to get some air out of my lungs and croaked, Owww.  I tried to sit up, but still couldn’t move.  I think he saw the strain in my neck and slowly lifted me into a sitting position.  I instantly felt dizzy and shut my eyes again, afraid I might throw up on this cute guy. 

Drew, you gotta do that slower.  She’s been through a lot.  I’m not even sure if we should move her.  All of a sudden I was aware of a tingling sensation over my body.  You know when you accidentally touch your hand to the stove?  Well this felt like I intentionally slept across a giant grill.  I hadn’t been aware of the feeling until now.  Tears rolled down my cheeks. 

The one called Drew wrinkled his forehead and looked to his friend.  Danny, she needs help.  We have to find a way to get her to Walt.  She’s hurt pretty badly.  He turned his attention to me again.  We’re going to help you, but I’m going to have to pick you up.  Is that ok?  I could have sworn his face flashed silver again.  I couldn’t move my neck all that well, but made an attempt to nod my head.  I’m Drew and this is Danny.  We’re going to take you to a healer.  What’s your name? he asked. 

Ali, I whispered back in a hoarse voice.  I yelped, as the tingling on my arms grew stronger.  I looked down and almost passed out at the sight.  There were red slashes all over my skin and raised blisters.  It reminded me of horrible burn victims I had seen on TV.  What happened? I cried out. 

Drew looked so apologetic.  I’m so sorry, Ali.  I sort of, well I sort of burned you.  It was an accident.  I mean, I meant to do it, but that’s because I didn’t know who you were.  You fell out of the sky and- he answered frantically. 

I fell out of the sky? I asked hysterically. 

Yeah, see we were wandering the forest, waiting for, well someone bad and you fell out of the sky.  I didn’t see who you were and I lit you on fire.  Right away I wanted to take it back, and Danny saw my mistake too, so he threw water at you.  And then, well you slammed into the ground really hard.  You look pretty bad, but you’ll be ok soon enough.  I promise, he pleaded. 

Oh man!  It wasn’t enough that I was in excruciating pain, but the cute guy said I looked bad?  I told myself that this was a ridiculous point to be thinking of, but I couldn’t help it.  I was kind of known for being boy crazy.  Then I focused my thoughts to where they should have been all along.  Thousands of questions flooded my mind.  Where was I?  How did I fall through the sky?  In fact, how did I get here? 

I looked around and again was overwhelmed, this time by the majestic colors that surrounded me.  We were in a forest, with indescribable colors.  Groves of gigantic redwood trees towered into the sky.  The bark was an earthy-clay red and the leaves fluttered slightly, creating spotted shadows that danced around my face.  The sun peaked through the blanket of trees and wrapped around my face.  I tried to soak it all in.  I had never seen anything so vivid and sharp.  There must have been 100 different shades of green, and the sky above, was bluer than any blue I could dream of.  That’s it, I must be dreaming.  Colors like this didn’t exist.  Where are we? I stammered. 

Drew shot Danny an aggravated look and Danny just shrugged his shoulders.  Listen, he replied.  We really need to get you to our healer before this gets any worse.  I’ll tell you along the way.  He bent down again, his face close to mine.  Again I saw a flash of silver.  I shivered unintentionally.  I was burnt to a crisp, but I felt so cold too.  You must be chilled from the water.  Or maybe it’s just shock.  I’m going to pick you up.  It’s probably going to hurt, but you have to trust me, ok?  Before I could answer, he scooped me up into his muscular arms.  I felt so tiny and fragile in them.  I pressed my face to his bare chest and closed my eyes.  This felt good.  It made me think of Justin and how he would cradle me in his strong arms.  But these arms, well they were more comforting in some odd way.  I didn’t even know this guy, but I felt at ease.  I could have stayed in his arms forever.  He was incredibly warm and this definitely took the edge off my chill.  I felt a strong shock in my shoulders and his chest flashed silver.  What was going on?  Who…what were these guys?  I probably should have been terrified, but I wasn’t.  I looked up into Drew’s inviting eyes.  They were so gentle and concerned.  I wasn’t worried, just incredibly confused. 

I started to doze off from the excruciating pain.  I tried to keep my eyes open, but I was overwhelmingly exhausted.  I heard Drew and Danny talking, but it was all jumbled up.  I could only hear bits and pieces and I wasn’t even sure who was talking.  How are we going to explain this to the others?  This isn’t a good idea…We need to…She’ll be curious and wreck everything…Trust me…I can’t…  And then the voices faded off into blackness.

The Compound

I woke up in a shockingly white room.  Ever since I awoke, the colors around me were so clear and crisp that it was hard to focus.  It was almost nauseating.  I wasn’t sure where I was.  I remembered everything that had happened, but none of it made sense.  I was suddenly aware of the burning on my arms again.  I looked down to find clean bandages wrapped all over.  Great, I looked like a mummy!  Drew and Danny would come back, looking all god-like, and I would be a mummy.  So much for first and second impressions.  I studied the bright room.  It looked like a hospital, but definitely more bare.  All there was in the room was the bed I was laying in, a white table with some spectacular roses, a white chair, and a door.  The copper knob on the door was the only thing that stood out to me, maybe because a doorknob got me into this mess in the first place.  I was annoyed that there wasn’t even a window in the room.  I felt trapped.  I was about to get up when I heard footsteps in the hall.  The door opened and there he was.

Drew strolled in with Danny and a much older gentleman.  The man looked kind and intelligent.  He reminded me of my grandpa.  Slim, tall as a redwood, and his face was covered with long, gray hair, including a scraggly beard.  I was drawn to his eyes.  They were so inviting, but definitely strange.  One was blue-gray, while the other was a dark shade of bronze and green.  The colors almost swirled around each other.  I must have gotten a concussion.  I managed to pull my stare away from him and focused on Drew.  He flashed silver again.  This time, I knew I wasn’t just seeing things, but the man coughing interrupted my thoughts.

This is Ali, Drew said, awkwardly.  Ali, this is Walt.  The man stepped closer and patted my shoulder.  He is going to take good care of you.  Walt smiled down at me and put me at ease.  I felt comforted by his gentle smile.

Hello Ali, he said softly.  Welcome to the Compound.  I hear you’ve had a terrible welcome, but we hope that your stay is relaxing from now on.  He sounded like a commercial for one of those rehab centers off in the wilderness. 

Hello, I managed to reply.  It’s a pleasure to meet you.  I looked at Danny and Drew.  Both seemed displeased with me for some reason.  Drew looked more embarrassed though than annoyed.  Where am I? I stammered. 

This time, all three exchanged looks at each other.  I could tell that they were all trying to hide something.  Then Walt turned to face me again.  Ali, you’ve been hurt pretty badly.  You’ll heal just fine, but I think you need to relax a bit and gain your strength back. 

This made me feel fragile and insignificant.  I was just asking a simple question.  What was going on here?  What were they trying to hide?  So I replied, I think I’m ok enough to listen don’t you think?  I eyed him suspiciously, but he seemed to ignore my annoyance. 

Like I said, I think you’d better rest.  He turned his attention to Danny and Drew again.  Danny, I want you to check back in, in an hour and monitor her burns. 

Danny flashed an evil look at Walt.  I think I have too much to get done today.  Drew should look in on her. I mean he was the one who did it. This time, they both flashed silver.  Drew looked humiliated this time.  I felt guilty that I was making him feel this way. 

Very well, Drew answered back.  Walt flashed me a smile, and they all trailed out.  There was nothing to do at this point.  No one was around to answer my questions, the room was bare, and I was in a lot of pain.  I felt like I had been sleeping for days, but I let myself drift off again.

When I woke up this time, it was because of pressure on my arms.  Ouch, I squeaked.  I opened my eyes to find Drew redressing my bandages. 

Oh!  Sorry.  I didn’t mean to hurt you, or wake you.  I’ll just be another minute.  He must have noticed that he was flashing silver again.  He quickly turned away and then recovered with a gentle smile. 

It’s ok, I stammered.  It’s actually nice to have some company.  I kind of feel like I’ve been caged up since I’ve been here.  He smiled again and his eyes looked apologetic.  Don’t take this the wrong way, but I feel like no one wants me to be here or talk to me.  I let my eyes drop to the bed. 

He took his hand away from the bandages and picked my chin up so that I was staring into his beautiful, bronze eyes.  He must have dragged his feet against some carpet because he shocked my chin.  His hand trembled slightly from the shock.  No one said that they didn’t want you here.  And well, as for talking, there are some things that you might not be ready to hear yet.  His touch made my heart flutter and my stomach flop.  He was so drop dead gorgeous and his hand was burning away at my chin.  I could feel my ears starting to burn too.  Are you ok?  Do you feel feverish? He suddenly asked, urgently as he brushed his hand against my head. 

This made my ears burn even more.  I pulled away, embarrassed by my blushing.  No, no.  I’m fine.  Your hands are just, so hot.  He flashed again and pulled away.  He redirected his attention back to my bandages.  I hoped I hadn’t scared him away from talking to me.  There was so much brewing on my mind that I wanted to ask, but I decided to take it slow so that he might stick around.  Suddenly he eyed the door as if he might leave, so I blurted out, Please don’t go.  I sounded like such a kid.  He looked like he wanted to dart, but I think he was so uncomfortable about what he had done, that he shrugged and took a seat on the white chair.  He pulled it close to the bed.  I tried to hide my smile.

He started to apologize again.  Ali, I’m really sorry about the burns. 

But I cut him off, How did you burn me anyways?  He looked away and flashed silver again.  I didn’t mean to fluster him.  I tried to redeem myself, but it just added up to more stupid blabbering.  I mean, you said I fell from the sky, which is hard enough to believe, and then you burned me.  But you weren’t even carrying any firearms or a lighter for that matter.  And you said that Danny threw water on me, but we weren’t anywhere near water, and you both weren’t carrying canteens.  Drew looked at me stunned.  Oh crap.  I should have kept my mouth shut.  I started to apologize, I’m sorry.  I don’t mean to ask so many questions.  It’s just that I’m so confused and all. 

This time he cut me off.  No, no.  It’s fine.  You’re just, so observant for someone who went through all that.  I think I owe you some sort of explanation for what is going on. 

I stared at him with wonder.  I waited for him to speak, but he didn’t.  Finally I just started laughing. 

What’s so funny? he asked all confused. 

Well, I started, "You said you were finally going to talk, and all you can do is stare at me, looking all confused.  But I think I’m the one who is confused."  He chuckled and flashed that gentle smile again. 

He took in a deep breath and began to explain.  I’m not quite sure where to begin, which is the problem.  I’m about to tell you some things that won’t make any sense.  I know the others don’t want me to, but I feel that I owe you, for burning you and all. 

My ears were burning at that.  Why don’t you start with where we are, I nudged. 

He smiled nervously.  Well right now we are in the Compound.  But I’m assuming that you mean where we are on the globe, as if that’s the appropriate term.  So…well… He looked deeply in my eyes, probably deciding how much to tell me.  I tried to return a smile with my eyes, and he continued in defeat.  We are in a place called the 2nd realm. 

The 2nd realm? I asked in puzzled voice.  I thought you were going to say the equator or something. 

He laughed deeply, brushing his curls to the side, but composed himself to speak again.  Yeah, well I said it wouldn’t make much sense.  See Ali, there are many different realms in our universe.  He stopped to shake his head as if he didn’t believe what he was saying.  Wow, this sounds so strange trying to explain this to a human.  Hmmm, bad choice of words.  We’re human too, but we don’t refer to ourselves that way.  He shook his head again.  I was making this beautiful man flustered.  What power I had, huh?  I laughed to myself.  So anyways, there are many different realms and we are on the second one.  You’ve just come from the 1st.  We don’t even call it a realm, because it is the highest of them all.  Except for the heavens of course.  There are realms below us as well.  He focused his eyes on my puzzled face.  Is this making any sense whatsoever?  I nodded my head even though I was completely lying. 

To tell you the truth, I was just happy that he was looking at me.  I gained the courage to ask another question.  Ok, that explains where we are…well sort of…but who are you, and what are you, if you’re not ‘human’, and why are you flashing silver? 

This brought on the brightest flash I had seen from him.  Oh, he breathed out, That’s a lot of tough questions.  He waited a few beats to continue.  I haven’t flashed this much in so long.  It’s kind of embarrassing really.  I don’t normally show my emotions so strongly.  He ruffled his curly hair.  I don’t normally share this much with anyone.  This is strange for me.  I’m not even sure if I should keep going.  His boyish fluster had turned serious in an instant.  He abruptly stood up and started for the door. 

I had so many questions though.  I knew he was feeling incredibly guilty, so I played off of that.  Please, I pleaded in my most pathetic voice.  Please stay.  I’m so lonely and in so much pain.  I could really use the company.  I gave him my best puppy dog eyes, not sure if it would work or not. 

He paused, and then walked hesitantly back to my bedside.  He was chewing the inside of his cheek.  I waited patiently, hoping that he would tell me more.  I think I should explain who we are first.  They call us Gemini.  Do you know what Gemini is a symbol for? he asked. 

I was vaguely familiar with horoscopes, so I answered, Twins, right?    

Yes, he answered.  We are twins of some sort.  I mean, in our kind, we are matched up with a kind of a twin.  It is either someone who balances our own abilities, or someone who matches them. 

Abilities? I pressed.  The more he talked, the more confused I became. 

Yeah, anyways so we all have a match in some way or another.  We have this magnetic pull to each other.  Walt says it’s all very Zen.  Peaceful in a way, that we balance each other out. 

I was so curious at this point.  I was also very aware that he hadn’t answered my question.  What sort of abilities do you mean? I pressed again. 

Drew bit his bottom lip.  I think I’d better go.  He got up towards the door so fast, that I didn’t even have a chance to protest this time. 

Great!  I was alone again, and more confused than ever.  So there I was, left in that bleak, white room.  For some place so bright, it was awfully lonely.  I was trying to piece everything together that he said.  We were in the second realm, in the land of twins, he flashed silver, and he has some sort of abilities.  No, none of this was strange at all.  Just your typical day right? 

After what felt like hours, I was getting dreary.  I would have gotten up, but I felt so weak.  In the back of my mind, I told myself that it was really because I was scared of what was outside my door.  I’m not sure what I thought was out there, but the unknown was enough to make me hesitate.  Maybe it was those monsters I had spent my whole life running from.  I was desperate for some company. 

Finally, I saw the doorknob turn slowly.  I was hoping it was Drew, but it wasn’t.  Danny came into the room with two women.  They looked about my age.  Hey Ali, he said