Beauty and the Beast

For a few hours after sunrise, Andy was helping me pack a few items of clothing into a small bag. He had left to do the same when I had commented that I wanted to take a few food items. I cautiously walked down into the kitchen. Jake was sitting mindfully on a couch in the ball room, yes, a different room than the party room. I was fearful, if anything, of him.

I hurried with what I wanted to do and almost ran back up to my room. I found a smiling Andy with a larger bag than mine on top of my bed.

“Where exactly are we going?” I asked for the tenth time.

He smirked at my and flung the bag over his shoulder. “You’ll see.”

I groaned and placed the food carefully on top of everything in my bag while Andy left my room, and down that hall. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I was heading toward the front door when Andy stopped me. He shook his head and motioned me to follow him down a smaller hallway, parallel to the front entrance. Confused, I still followed, my bag over my shoulder.

“Shouldn’t we be going to the carriage?” I asked when he led me into a small blue room. There was one small desk in the middle, with a bowl of water sitting on top. A vile of purple liquid sat next to it.

“It’s easier to travel long distances this way.” He set his bag in the nearest corner and walked over to the desk. By this point I had finally noticed that Jinxx was standing at the back of the desk.

“Where is it we are going?” I asked yet again.

“Come here, Kenna.” Jinxx held out his hand.

“Keep your bag on your shoulder.” Andy said when I had reached to place it on the floor.

“What about yours?” I asked.

“It’s too heavy to bring with me, it has to make its own trip.” Andy walked over to me and took my hand gently. “Come on then.”

I walked with him toward the desk. Jinxx opened the bottle and looked to me. “You’re going to feel very dizzy, and whatever you do, do not let go of Andy or your bag.” I was now worried.

I back away, but Andy tightened his grip on my hand. “It’s okay, Kenna, you’ll be safe, I’ve got you.” The smile Andy gave made me feel less scared. I loosened myself and relaxed some.

Jinxx smiled to me. “Now normally I would have both of you think vividly about where you’re going. But sense Andy wants to keep it a secret you’ll both need to wear this for the whole time.” He handed both of us necklaces that were laced with thick leather. The medallion on the end was of a fern leaf. “If they come off of your necks you will be lost.”

“I don’t want to do this, Andy…” I tried hard to back away. I started choking, tears coming to my eyes.

Andy walked with me and brought me close to his chest. I let my tears lose and he just soothed me. “If you really don’t want to we don’t have to. Jinxx just liked to make things sound scarier than they actually are. There’s no danger where we’re going. Not even humans are there. Just you and me.” He kissed my forehead hard. When he pulled me away he gave no smile. “But, like I said if you really don’t want to go then we don’t have to.”

I wiped my tears with the back of my hand. “Nobody touches my stuff if I die.” I tried to give a smile indicating I was teasing.

Andy smiled and hugged me tight. “Come on guys I don’t have all day.” Jinxx said.

“You won’t die, Kenna. I’ll keep you safe.” Andy smiled, standing next to me in front of the desk. Jinxx took a deep breath.

“Where we talked about this morning?” Jinxx asked Andy.

Andy nodded and Jinxx poured the purple liquid into the water. It fizzed and then swirled on its own. I gripped Andy’s whole arm, I couldn’t seem to get close enough to him. Jinxx’s head was leaned back slightly, his eyes were closed, and his hands hovered over the bowl of swirling purple liquid. He mumbled a few words and everything started to get fuzzy, but Andy stayed in clear view. He looked to me and smile. He pulled me closer with his arm and reached his other hand over to keep a better hold of me. Soon everything looked like a blurry dream. Something I had known I had seen, but I just couldn’t get it all into focus. I felt my feet were still on the ground. I buried my face into Andy’s arm when the dizziness got to be too much.

I felt the necklace Jinxx had given me, burn on my chest. I shot back from it and Andy gripped me harder. “Don’t let go!” I heard him yell. But it was a distant yell, like he was 1,000 feet away.

I tried to endure the burn. When it got to be too bad I felt Andy let go. I screamed and struggled to try to find him. When I heard him chuckle I opened my eyes. I fell back on my butt from the sight. It looked like a huge lake that went on forever. Bright blue sky let white birds soar over head. The water was rising onto the ground and then returning to the rest of it. I let my hands touch the ground. It was very fine, warm, sand. I picked a little of it up and examined it in my hands. It fell silently back to where it had come from.

I had not realized Andy was laughing until I saw him almost doubling over he was laughing so hard. “Don’t laugh at me!” I laughed with him. I took my bag off of my shoulder and placed it next to me.

His laughter died and he sat next to me. Andy’s large bag appeared a few feet in front of us. Andy took a deep breath and looked out into the horizon. “They used to call this place a beach.” He said.

I looked to him, I have never heard that word before. “How come no one knows it’s here?” I asked.

He started to take his boots off. When his feet were bare, and his boots were by his bag, he dug his feet into the sand. He shrugged, “I guess nobody has the time to come here.” He finally looked to me, a small smile was on his lips.

“It’s so beautiful.” I said, my turn to look out into the view.

“Yeah,” for a moment both of us stayed silent, listening to the sound of the water and the birds overhead.

“So how do we get back?” I asked.

Andy shot his face around to look at me. “You shouldn’t be worrying about that for a few days.” He chuckled.

“A few days?” I was more shocked than curious.

“Mhmm.” Andy nodded looking back toward the horizon.

“I brought snacks, not breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a few days.” Food was always the most important.

“Jinxx is going to send food when those times roll around.” He bumped into my shoulder and chuckled. “Lighten up, but the end of today you’ll never want to leave.”

“You’re going to have to do better than just sitting here then.” I mocked, although I would stay forever for the view alone.

“Deal.” Andy smirked.

Notes