Palindrome

Something was wrong. Very wrong. The trees were bare, and the streets slippery with dead leaves. There was a chill to the air that didn’t belong in June, and the gras was brown, not the vibrant green it should have been. I wasn’t sure of the time, but it had to be very late. William didn’t speak, but I felt his whole body turn rigid as we drove through the night, not a light in the windows on the houses we passed. I was on the lookout for zombies, but there were none to be seen. There was nothing at all, no zombies, no animals and no humans. It was a town made into wasteland.

I saw it from far away, the walls standing were sticking up like a carcass from a big animal, left to die on its own. Only charcoaled remains were left after the Pevensy-mansion, the silence of the night deafening when William turned the engine off in front of what once had been his home. I got off the bike and removed my helmet, too stunned to speak.

“What the fuck…” William whispered loud. He ran to the ruin, determined to search the premises, but it was no use, the dark night made it almost impossible to see anything. I could feel the pungent smell of fire in my nostrils, but faint. The fire wasn’t recent. But how could that be? The house was ok when we left. William kicked a log lying in the grass, despair filling his eyes.

“What is going on here?”

I shook my head; I had no clue. My so-called powers were of no use now. He walked back to the bike with furious steps and tossed his head, signalling for me to climb on.

“Where are we going?” My voice was thin, filled with fear. “Where do you think they are?”

His eyes flashed purple before they disappeared behind the helmet, “A safe-house.”

The best guarded house in the town was – of course – mine. Surrounded by wards and spells, it should have been able to stop both the zombies and the Beasts who were out to get us. Samuel was one of the best witches I had ever met, he would have made the house bullet-proof. The street was dark, like all the others, and I spared a glance over to Mrs Jensen but tried not to think of her betrayal. The house seemed empty, but they had to be here. William pushed the bike around the driveway and hid it behind some bushes. I waited for him and took his hand when we climbed the stairs, my heart in a frenzy – fearing the worst. What if they weren’t here, then what? I reached for the handle, but someone appeared from my right like a genie. The person gave a small scream and jumped on William, clinging to his neck. I saw a glimmer of blond hair, identifying the guard as Belinda. She turned to me, tears streaming down her face and hugged me hard, hulking into my shoulder. I patted her back, staring at William with wide eyes, wondering what was happening, this wasn’t normal behaviour. The door swung open, and Samuel poked his head out, his words dying on his lips when he saw us. He clapped his mouth shut and grabbed my arm, yanking me inside without a word. William and Belinda followed; she was looking at her brother like he was back from the dead. Samuel didn’t stop until we reached the big kitchen, there he stopped, leaned on the counter and closed his eyes with a pained look before he looked up and mumbled something. I had no idea what was going on, and neither did William; he widened his eyes my way and shrugged slightly. Belinda wiped her eyes and blinked furiously.

“Where the FUCK have you been? Do you have ANY idea what we`ve been through? You fucking idiot, leaving us with zombies, they torched the house, killing half of our family. We`ve been living in darkness for months, and you just decide to FINALLY show up, like nothing has happened?” She pulled her hair, stomping her foot hard on the floor. “I should have just killed you when I saw you, suits you well for the pain you`ve caused us.”

Her loud rant had attracted more, and I ran to Natan when I saw him coming running down the stairs. He pushed me away, holding me at arm’s length.

“Hannah?”

I frowned confused, but nodded, nevertheless.

“Oh, thank Goddess. I thought you were dead.” Natan squeezed me hard and pressed his cheek against my hair. I held him tightly, happy he was over his earlier displease about me being in love with a Beast. Behind me I heard William talk.

“What the hell happened to our house? Where is Father?” Benjamin came slowly into the room as William was speaking, He looked thinner, and dead-tired. What had we missed?

“It burned down two weeks after the first attack, they were trying to kill the undead who was crawling in the basement, but it ended up killing five of us and torching the house at the same time.”

William looked at me with horror in his eyes, and I sat down abruptly on the nearest chair, my legs caving in. He hasted over to me, and sat in front of me, worry on his face. I gave him a tiny smile, which vanished when the words echoed in my head. William stood, one hand on my shoulder.

“What do you mean, burned down two weeks after the attack? That isn’t possible, we have only been gone a day and a half.”

The others all looked at each other, I couldn’t determine their expressions, but it made my heart stop.

Samuel was the one who talked, eventually.

“William, Hannah. I don’t know where you`ve been, but you`ve been gone over four months.”

The silence was deafening, I could hear my heart all too well. That was impossible, it was only one night. Wasn’t it? I tried to think back, but it was all blurry, the only thing standing out was the moments with William and Lilith. I had the grapes safe in a box, packed away in a small backpack, I had checked them before I got on the bike. It couldn’t have been four months, it just couldn’t.

“That`s impossible.” William`s words echoed my thoughts, he continued. “We haven’t been gone more than one night. Haven`t we?” His confused eyes were big and blue, staring lost at me. Why would they lie about that? We had seen the town, the trees were bare because it was fall, not summer. Samuel had a beard, Belinda hadn`t had a haircut in forever. Natan had gained some weight, Benjamin had lost weight. I saw all this when I just took a minute.

“I`m so sorry.” I had left them alone in this hell, while I was frolicking in the sun with William, for four months? Samuel clapped my shoulder, “Where have you been?”

I rubbed my hands in my face, the shock sinking in. “Eden, Avalon – whatever you could call it. I talked to Lilith, she showed me the trees.” I looked at them, “Where are Bridget? How about the rest of the town? Your Father?” An awkward silence followed, they seemed to debate who was to speak. Benjamin won, or lost. “The town… Many are dead. The ones who are alive are hiding. The Undead goes after sound, so if we keep it quiet and dark, they seem to just wander around aimlessly. Fire kills them, and dismembering. The last days have been weird.” I looked at him, disbelief in my eyes. He gave me a small smile, “Even weirder.” Samuel walked over to the window and looked out into the night. “Bridget left a week ago, she got a message of some sorts, something she needed to do. She wouldn’t say what.” He turned to me, hands in his pockets. “You got the fruit? The potion?” My eyes travelled unvoluntary to William, “Yes, I did.”

Benjamin walked over to William, “I`ve missed you, brother. Father is still alive, and so is Noah. Jafet is dead, he went up in flames. Same as three uncles and a niece. The others fled somewhere, leaving us in the shit.”

There was a small knock on the door, barely to be heard. Belinda opened it slowly and let the person in through the small gap in the door. The guest shook his hair, droplets of rain falling from the dark mane. It took me a second to recognise him, he wasn’t someone I had expected to see here.

“Oscar?” He whipped his head up, mouth open in shock, before he ran to me and slung his arms around me. William growled deep in his chest, and Oscar backed up, but kept his hands on my shoulders.

“Hannah, we were sure you were dead. Where have you been?” I ogled Samuel, not sure how much Oscar knew, but decided it didn’t matter. He had endured hell together with my family.

“I have been… another place. Another time.” I couldn’t describe it better, we had to have been out of this world if time had moved so differently. Oscar continued over to Benjamin and gave him a kiss on the cheek, and now it was my jaw that fell to the floor. “Wait, are you two…?” They both smiled happily, and my heart melted. Something good at last. Samuel clapped his hands, “Right, we can talk about all this later. I`m sorry to rush this on you guys, but we need a plan now that you are back with the potion. Samhain is in two days, whatever the Undead are planning, I`m sure it`s happening then. We need to be prepared.”

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