Gardens of Time

Chapter 7

I spent the rest of the day packing up. It was obvious that Dwade wasn't going to be in the seventh dimension, or any for that matter. If he's as smart as Jarno says he is, that means he already knew we would be waiting for him. I don't even know why I even volunteered to be on this case, this is a joke.

          I put the rest of my stuff in the suitcase and zipped it up, but was interrupted when I heard my room door open. At first I thought it was Lexine so I never turned around, but when I noticed that her entrance wasn't followed by nagging, I was confused.

          "What's wrong?" I asked her, but when I turned around it wasn't Lexine at all, but Eli's young daughter Hulda. I blinked in surprise at the fact that she would be here, in my room despite her father's wishes, and I immediately rushed to the door.

          There wasn't anyone behind her, or looking for her so I flashed her a quick forced smile. "Hi," she said softly, waving at me.

          "Heyyy," I said in fake enthusiasm. "What uh... what're you doing here?"

          "I wanted to talk to you before you left," she explained, sitting on my bed.

          "I don't really think that's a good idea." I said, trying to decide if I should kick her out now or later.

          "Where do you live?" She asked me.

          "A place that is far, far away from here."

          "Do you like it there?"

          "It's-" I was cut off by the entrance of another one of Eli's daughter's and then another. Oh, this is just great, I thought to myself.

          "Hulda!" Aseneth, the eldest one shouted. "I've been looking all over for you. What are you doing in here?" She finally looked from Hulda to me, and I gave them both a tight smile, trying not to look at Eden. I felt like if I looked at her again, something bad would happen, and I didn't know what it was. It's like I just had this feeling in my gut.

          "M-maybe you guys - I mean girls, should leave."

          "Are you kicking us out Mr. Gordon?" Aseneth says with a sly smile, and I shook my head with a smile.

          "No I am not, I am just saying that Eli-"

          "Don't worry about him," Aseneth waved me off, grabbing Hulda's hand. "He's just a helicopter parent. Nothing serious."

          "I don-" She cut me off again, laughing.

          "Are you eating dinner with us?" She asked me, and I shook my head.

          "No, I don't think so..."

          "Yeah you are!" She grinned, her dark brown skin suddenly glowing.

          "Yay!" Hulda imputed, running out of the room. I couldn't help but notice how Eden didn't say a single word the entire time, and that's when I finally decided to look at her.

          Her tiny face was fixed on the floor, probably the whole time we were talking, and I couldn't help but notice how she fiddled her bare feet with the floor. Her hands were cuffed firmly behind her back, and I knew then that she was probably a little less outspoken than her sister. Maybe she was the shy one, I thought, tilting my head to the side slightly.

          Even when Aseneth left my room, once again chasing after Hulda, I still looked at her, wondering how she could get so lost in her mind that she didn't notice a single thing around her. I guess she finally noticed me looking at her, and she slowly brought her face up from the floor, and met my gaze. At first I looked away, but then, as if I was compelled, I looked right back.

          As soon as we locked eyes, I'm not sure what happened. Maybe it was the bad thing that made me never look her way to begin with, or maybe it was love at first sight. But I don't believe in love at first sight, and I definitely don't believe that I can love a person I just met: but there's no other way to describe what was happening.

          What was happening was her. Her. In my head I saw her, in different places, different moments, with me. We were together and we were happy, and I thought it was like Jeremi was saying, that I was getting things all mixed up in my head. But it didn't really matter because in those moments I knew that I loved her, I could feel how much I loved her, and for some reason that made me love her now.

          I said that I don't believe in love at first sight, and I don't.

          "Eden, come on, what're you still doing in here?" Her sister asked, dragging her away. My eyes followed her as she left the room, and she looked back at me one last time over her shoulder, with a look of what seemed like confusion. Maybe I was looking at her funny when I disappeared into my head, or maybe me being so quiet confused her. I don't know. But to be honest, I was just as confused as her. 

          "You coming to dinner, Erik?" That wasn't her, that was Lexine, she finally came back, and I nodded courtly.

          "Okay, yeah."

          Dinner was just about as uneventful as I imagined it would be. The only great thing about it was that I didn’t have to sit next to Eli, and that Hulda was actually the coolest ten-year-old I think I’ve ever known. She raced all of her sister’s just to sit next to me, which I found very flattering, even though I hate kids.

          I had found myself washing my face in the bathroom, resting on the sink for a few. Our “travel visa” was almost out, and we’d have to return to our own dimension soon, and I was dreading even agreeing to this case.

          Once I was out into the hall, I had a thought to tell Lexine that I would just go back tonight, but someone tapped me from behind. “Hey,” a quiet voice called, forcing me to turn around. It was only Eden, but I admit I was shocked to hear her speaking to me. 

          “Hey,” I answered courtly, trying to hide the expression on my face. I tried to turn to keep walking, because I was scared of what her father would think, but more than that I think I was just afraid of the feelings that I felt whenever she was near me.

          “I saw you,” she says softly, coming closer to me. “at the table, just staring at nothing, but staring at me.”

          I laughed nervously, scanning our surroundings. We were alone, unfortunately, and there was no one to save me from this girl. “Was I?” I asked her. “I’m sorry.”

          “You did it in the room too,” she said, and I blinked.

          “Sorry,” I said once again, lost for words.

          “Where do you go when you go quiet?” She asked, furrowing her thick brows together.

          “I-I-I don’t-“ I stuttered, the look in her deep brown eyes threatening to bring me to my knees.

          “Erik!” Lexine’s stern voice rang. “This is inappropriate!” She stomped, grabbing my shirt and pulling me away.

          “I was just looking for you!” I exclaimed. “I didn’t do nothing wrong!” I protested, letting her drag me into my room.

          “You know that you can’t be with those girls, Erik, Eli doesn’t like you.” I sighed in annoyance, sitting at the edge of my bed.

          “I wasn’t doing anything wrong. They talked to me,” I told her, matter-of-factly.

          “Did they?” She asked, crossing one arm over the other, clearly not amused.

          “Yeah, they did. They like me,” I smiled, earning a good eye roll from her.

          “I seriously doubt that. We’re leaving in the morning.” She stated.

          “Actually, I wanted to just leave tonight. I wanna go home. It’s so boring here.” She sighed, her silver hair flowing down her back gracefully.

          “Please, just one more night?” She pleaded, and I nodded my head in response.  

          After she left the room, I changed out of my clothes and into a simple T-shirt and some joggers. I didn’t bother to turn on the tv or play with my phone, deciding that I would just go to bed. Flipping off the lamp light, I lied down flat on the bed, suddenly feeling exhausted. Not a minute later, I could barely move a limb and I felt sleep taking over me.

**

          Feeling a hand covering my mouth suddenly, I opened my eyes quickly, my hands shooting to the arm on top of me. “Shh,” she said, putting her index finger to my lips. “I want to show you something.” Eden whispered into my ear, her face just inches from mine. “Promise you’ll be quiet?” She asked, and I nodded my head slowly.

          She moved her hand from my mouth, and I sat up on my elbows to look at her better. “What are you doing in here? Your father would not like this.”

          She rolled her brown eyes, bending down on her knees. “I don’t know why you’re always talking about him, he won’t hurt a fly. And besides,” She breathed, smiling at me. “He’s asleep.”

          “Yeahhhh,” I said sarcastically, “but his guards aren’t.” At that, she laughed, standing to her feet.

          “Erik, are you coming with me, or not?” She asked in a more demanding voice. Curious to see what would happen, I got up out of my bed and followed her out into the hall. She led me out of a back door of some sort, and we walked outside through the trees for about five minutes.

          “Eden,” I called out to her as she started to increase her speed. “Is it safe for you to be out here?” I asked genuinely concerned. I didn’t want anything to happen to her while she was out here with me, and then her father have me killed because of it. “Eden, we’re walking outside barefoot,” I pointed out to her.

          “We’re here, Erik,” she sighed, bringing me to a large green house made out of glass, built from cream colored bricks and concrete. For some reason, the grass was so much greener here, and soft. The house was surrounded by a garden of flowers and different plants, and I felt as if the sun was out, it would be the most beautiful place in the world. Instead the moon was out, and a bunch of bugs that blinked green every now and again. “Come inside,” she smiled, opening the door to the house.

          “Why are we here?” I asked her, letting her pull me inside. The inside of the garden seemed much larger than what the outside would make you believe, there was a pool of a decent size on the inside, perfect for swimming. Into the pool, there was cave like lagoon that you could swim into, and I thought for a moment how fun that would be. There were white lily’s surrounding the outskirt’s of the pool, and the floor was just the same as the outside, but on a small patch right before the pool, there was some grass. There were also three large steps on the right side of it, that I’m guessing they used to dive in.

          “Isn’t it beautiful?” She asked me, smiling up at me.

          She was gesturing to the garden, but I was looking down fondly at her. “Yes,” I smiled, my eyes scanning her face. “It is.” At that, she grinned, her perfect teeth shining in the moonlight.

          “I’m glad you like it,” she said. “It was my mother’s before she passed on. She said it was her favorite place. She even named me after it,” she explained, sitting down on the small patch of grass, dipping her toes in the pool.

          “You mean like, the garden of Eden?” I asked her, sitting down next to her.

          “Yes!” She beamed, looking over at me. “Exactly like that.” I looked away from her, watching how the moon shone through the glass, reflecting on the pool and us.

          “I guess I just… Don’t understand why you brought me out here,” I laughed nervously, rubbing the back of my neck.

          “Oh…” She trailed off, looking down at her lap. “I just wanted a favor of you, before you go.” I raised a questioning brow, looking over at her.

          “What favor is that?” I asked her, wondering what she could possibly want from me.

          I watched as she seemed to be blushing, shying away from my gaze. “Well… Queen told me what you did. The two of you.” Of course, I thought. They’re friends. “And well, I was just wondering if you would want to do that with me.” My mouth, dropped. I couldn’t believe she actually asked me that. It’s like, she wants me to die. Maybe that’s why I was seeing her everywhere, it was my brain telling me to STAY AWAY!

          “Okay!” I clapped, standing to my feet. “Field trip. Over. Because your father will kill me. And I know that, for a fact. Because he told me that, Eden. Sleeping with a maid, is one thing, and you are another.” I laughed, backing away from her.

          “Wait!” She protested, standing up as well. “Erik, please!” She begged, grabbing hold of my arms. “Erik, I am so lonely I feel like I am in quarantine,” she cried, her eyes sparkling from unshed tears. “I just want to be touched… I just want to feel like… I’m here.” She looked up at me, even though we were both standing and barefoot, I was still towering over her. She seemed to be begging me with her eyes, never once letting go of me.

          It’s not like I didn’t want to, like I didn’t think she was pretty or attractive in that way, it just didn’t feel right. I didn’t think that I should touch her in that way, like she was just way too good for me. “I don’t know, Eden,” I told her honestly. Even though I don’t pay attention to my conscience much, I feel like this isn’t something that I would want on it.

          “Please, it’s not like you don’t do it already, can’t you do it for a good cause?” She asked me, and I just stood there, unsure of what to do or say.

          I watched as she inched her face closer to mine, standing up on her toes so that she would be taller. I didn’t move away from her, and I didn’t fix myself to stop her either. I didn’t know why my mind was saying no, and a million things inside of me was saying yes. Her soft lips finally made their way to mine, and since she had already kissed me, I decided to make it easier for her, bending down to her height more.

          I moved my lips against hers, cupping her face in my hands, deepening our kiss. In that moment, it didn’t matter if it was wrong or not, all that mattered was this girl in front of me, who I didn’t know at all really, but she felt like the most familiar thing I’ve known. Her hands moved up my arms that she was still holding onto, and I took one of my hands and slid it down her curvy body. The smooth material of her dress complimented her body perfectly, and I used my hand to pull her into me more by her waist.

          And there I was.

          There we were.

          Here.