"strange" she thought as she retracted her footing back. She raised her hand slowly this time to test the seemingly formidable invisible barrier. It still hit and rebounded back to her side. She wasn't sure about a lot of things right now but she was sure that her only entrance towards a safe haven was barred from her and in her frustration, she clenched her fists, the simmering shard of glass eluding her mind, it ran a curved line through her palm causing her to wince in pain. She raised her hand to assess the severity of the cut but to her good fortune, it was just a flesh wound. Something else caught her attention . . . the swerling colors of the glass seemed to be dancing with the addition of her blood, forming intricate patterns which seemed to mesmerize her before anxiety started to bubble from the pit of her belly as she thought about getting infections from the God knows how many bacterias lay with the waste here.
She felt a shift in the wind, as if a veil had been removed from her line of site. She felt a compulsion, as if her feet had grown a mind of their own, she didn't make an effort to coach or rebuke them. She took three steps and felt her body phase through the invisible wall which left a tingling sensation in its wake. She shivered in anticipation as her fet seem to have a mind of their own, she took a few steps forward and halted to lift her eyes to the horizon. She saw what seemed to be a pentagram symbol that was too thick to be considered just a regular pentagram. Her curiosity piqued, she followed the rush of adrenaline and made way to get a closer look. The outer circle looked thick like a double ring and was shadowing something beneath the naked pentagram. Before she could take any more steps closer to the minature statue, a woman in a midnight black veil appeared as if out of thin air, blocking her way and her view.
"who are you? Do you know where I am?" she asked, leaping at the opportunity to have someone eluminate her on her surroundings. She tried to maintain a calm demeanor albeit the warning bells at the back of her head.
"neque enim huc veni tibi puer" she said in a language that sounded foreign to Dana, her voice as dark as her aura. She realised she isn't going to learn much from this woman but she tried anyway.
"My name is D-" she raised her hand to halt her from saying any more words and Dana felt it deep in her heart . . . was it annoyance or rejection? Whatever it was, it stung.
"Look, I don't understand a word you said. Do you speak English?" she decided to try again. The woman tilted her head in . . . is it exasperation? She couldn't tell with the black veil covering the woman's face completely.
"Dimidium omnium mortalium conturbabit mihi. Nunc denique ad hoc etiam habent!" the woman said in a flat tone, as if speaking loud will make Dana understand a single letter of a word she said. "Go! Go back now!" the woman exclaimed in a voice that was suddenly laced with urgency "Vamos!"
What the . . . Dana couldn't stick long enough to finish her phrase as she was thrown back in time to open her eyes to a farmiliar room. Her room. She sighed. The woman knew English perfectly well but decided to speak in an ancient language to what? help her grasp her surroundings? What a big ego. She noticed the two people in her room when she fully opened her eyes. Their expressions grim. Did she miss something? She wasn't quite sure.
"uhmm . . . What happened"? she moved her eyes around as if searching for something that she might be missing, seeing that the people of the house are all here. Is it the furniture?
"Err . . . that's pretty much the question we wanted to ask you" Nick answered for both of them and they shared a look.
"Oh-kay. What's with the weird silent conversation"? she asked when she noticed that they are expecting her to talk first.
"We walked in here and we found you tossing and turning before you started speaking a foul language that translates to 'half mortals vex me the most, now I have to deal with this too' according to Google. So we were sortta perplexed" Nick tried to tread around the issue.
"I said that"? Now she was sure dreams are a form of witchcraft because she's never said something that needed google to translate. She knew English as the only language she could speak fluently.
"Well yes, among other things that we couldn't get in time to translate. An ancient latin language . . . Where did you learn that?" Sally asked in rather morbid fascination which Nick caught on to. He glared at her and she scrunched her shoulders in defence.
"The dark woman . . . she's the one who said that. How does it come out of my mouth"? She made a face before she decided not to crack her trying to level for common sense in a situation where common sense are flying pigs and unicorns.
"Have you guys started packing for the Meadow? Daddy . . ." she started to have Nick's attention which he figured she wanted to make an uncanny request.
"Whatever it is Dana, please wait for your birthday"
They all cracked.
"Like really now dad? What if I wanted to tell you how much I can't live without you"? they laughed even harder at the odds.
"We all know the probability to that is 1: 1000000. Out with it darling" Nick teased
She pouted in mock concession and said "I know what I know. Okay so . . . you know with the luggage and everything. I was thinking, how about letting the two love birds ride together while the kids go alone" which ofcourse earned her an incredulous look from the two people sitting across her.
"Dana weetheart" Sally began to gain her attention. She faced her, pulling an innocent face as if what she just said was perfectly fine. "Are you alright my baby" Sally continued in sweet mockery.
"How many kids do we have in this house Princess" Nick couldn't hold back his pressed laughter anymore.
"You never know" she muttered which made the two adults roar in laughter. They decided to allow her to drive her own car and gave her time to pack as they had to leave in less than three hours. She also packed and made sure to have as many comfortable clothes as possible and a few hoodies for just incase. A few pyjamas and footwear. She was set to go. She decided on a quick shower and balked at the cold water that hit her square on her face. What the . . . she thought in bitterness before reality settled in. She messed with the cabbles earlier on and now she had to take a cold shower. A cold freaking shower! She couldn't believe her luck . . . or lack thereof.
When she was done, she lotioned herself, got dressed in a denim short, a dove grey crop top that did little to conceal her black classic sport bra. She decided on strapped sandals and plaited her hair to the side in a single braid. She grabbed her bags and sauntered downstairs, out the garage door to find her parents already waiting for her. She got into her respective car which was the Kompressor and they were out in a blur. She decided to unwind with Claire Wyndham's my love will never die on full blast. She smiled thinking what her parents are going to say the moment they reach their destination.
She thought of Sasha and the song couldn't say any less than what was in her heart. The drive was fortunately an uneventful one, making the elders say a short prayer, hoping for their short stay to be less eventful than anticipated