Otherworld

Sleepless

The Lake Mother was gracious enough to let Derrik and I rest for a while under her watchful eye. That meant a few hours of much-needed sleep and a belly full of absolutely delicious sweetcorn porridge. I devoured every speck of what I’d been offered, and it warmed me from my core.

              We were given a bed made of soft, spongy moss. The earthy smell it gave off soothed me in a way I can hardly describe. It was almost like the scent was intoxicating and called to the most primal parts left in my DNA. It was lovely. I curled up into a ball underneath a blanket woven from what I assumed was sheep’s wool and leather. Off I drifted underneath a large low tree.

When I woke, It felt as though no time at all passed me by. From what I gathered so far, that was the way of the Otherworld. Spirits didn’t need to count the hours like us humans did. The sensation of it was quite unnerving. I was jittery, unable to keep myself still for too long. I didn’t really know what sort of rules applied here. Things like death and life… Did they follow the same patterns as the world I’d always known?

 Shaking the muddled thoughts away, I glanced down to my left, where Derrik still slept as peacefully as ever. It must be nice to feel so at ease. I let my brother sleep and got up to wander a little. Of course, I didn’t venture far. That would have been super stupid.

From my bed of forest flora, another of those mysterious pools sat. It was nestled between the roots of a much smaller silver willow and covered almost entirely with small purple water lilies. The air around this little haven was heavy with haze. I found myself utterly drawn to it.

I climbed cautiously over to a flat spot on one of the thick roots and lay down there. As the water called to me, I let my fingertips dip into it. Cool and crisp like a winter’s morning. I couldn’t help but think about how refreshing it felt.

Snap! The sound of a twig breaking stole my attention. Croix was standing just on the other side of the spring, beckoning me to follow him. It may have looked like him, but his mannerisms were all wrong. Not to mention, his eyes were as black as a starless night and not the usual muddied brown they should have been.

I snapped up to sit as I felt a wave of uncomfortableness fall over me like a veil. I shook my head at him, scooting back until I pressed up against the tree. I mouthed a “no” since I could not seem to get any sound to rise from my throat.

To my horror, this “Croix” stepped up onto the pond’s surface and started to glide across the top of the water slowly. His legs, covered in an odd swirl of grey mist, were not moving. The closer he came, the more my body screamed at me to run. But I couldn’t.

I trembled like a chihuahua at bathtime. All I could manage to do for myself was to cross my arms out protectively and pray that whatever was to come would end quickly.

“Gwenny!” I heard my brother scream from behind me. He rushed to my defense, armed with a large stick. Can you picture it? An eleven-year-old coming in swinging wildly, with a branch, like a little knight in shining armor. Usually, I would have poked fun at him about something like this, but I was more than thankful to have him beside me.

Croix was not far behind Derrik, hopping over various forest debris. He launched himself at the other Croix, pulling him down into the shallow water of the pool, emitting a battle cry. When they both resurfaced, Croix was grappling with a corpse-like creature. It had the appearance of a drowned man rather than a near-perfect copy of himself. “Go… Go back to the Lake Mother.” He demanded.

Derrik snagged my hand and tugged me to my feet, dragging me quickly behind him. Though he was twelve, he was almost as tall as I was. With my eyes still glued to the creature, I practically stumbled over myself as we headed towards the large willow.

The Lake Mother was nowhere to be found, but the heaviness I’d been feeling faded away. This place was undoubtedly safe. I collapsed, a hand over my heart. Within a half a second, tears started to pour out of me. I don’t think I have ever been so scared in my life. I cried so hard that I vomited. My retching made me sound like an angry, hungry dinosaur.

My brother rubbed my back. “Why’d you wander off like that?” He chided, sounding an awful lot like Mom.

At first, I just shook my head. I could feel another round of bile rise in my stomach, making me brace myself in waves of dizziness. When I stopped heaving, I manage to reply. “I didn’t even go that far. I thought I was still protected.” Even now, I knew I sounded stupid. “I thought you were asleep. How’d you know I was in trouble?”

“Because he’s more cautious than you are.” My brother didn’t even have a chance to answer me. Croix stormed up from the direction of the pool, very angry. “How stupid can you be, Gwen? What were you thinking? You could have died!” He snapped at me as he came forward and put my face in his palms, his eyes seething. But they softened soon after as Croix pulled me into him. “What are we gonna do with you?”

I frowned deeply, though I relaxed against the warmth of Croix’s body. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking. But… What was that thing? I mean, it looked so much like you at first.”

“That? That was a changeling. Why it was impersonating me, I have no idea. At least you had enough sense to know not to follow it.”

The rest of the time spent under the willow’s eaves was filled with the soft sounds of voices in a rhythmic song around me. I wasn’t sure what they were, but they reminded me of the ones I heard over the end of the winter. Every so often, I could see flashes of similar lights through the trees. So logically, this must have been where they came from. Maybe, it was the Lake Mother’s call.

                                                                        *

After the Lake Mother returned once more with information for our trip, we decided to head out. “The water tells me that you must go north and west, toward the mountains. Climb this to the gates above the falls. You cannot miss them. They are the tallest in all of the Otherworld and flow upward into the lake above rather than down. That is where they took your friends.”

Croix and I sat around a small heatless yellow fire, tucked in an alcove so we could talk without bothering Derrik. I idly poked the flames with a small stick even though I didn’t think it would burn. Croix was giving me a lecture. Though I pouted, I sat there like a champ and listened.

“You know, I shouldn’t have to tell you to be careful and wander off, but… Considering what happened, I think I must. There are very few places that are as safe for you and your brother as this place is. You can’t just go off on your own, alright? Only if it’s absolutely necessary should you ever leave without me.”

I huffed and dropped the stick, folding my arms across my chest. Irritation seeped into my features, and I wore it like war paint. “Oh, come on, Croix. I’m not that dumb.”

“Just promise me, Gwendolyn.”

“Uhg. Fine. Stop preaching. You’re starting to sound like my mother.”

“That’s sort of mean, don’t you think?” Derrik popped his head out from behind the trunk of a tree and smiled. “He’s not nearly as naggy.”

I could already feel the scowl forming as I stared daggers into my brother. When did he develop that habit of eavesdropping? Sneaky kid. “What are you doing, squirt? We were having a private conversation.”

“Eh. It’s not like your being loud enough for the whole forest can hear or anything like that.” He replied with the attitude befitting a tween. Derrik plopped down beside me and leaned forward, wiggling his fingers through the fire.