Book 2 of the Eternal series

Chapter 16

It had been a couple of days since Ray took his own life, and Ashta and Riah couldn’t figure out why he would have wanted to take his own life. Roman was dead, and the dreams he was having were just dreams. It was hard for the girls to wrap their heads around, and they tried not to think about it.

One day, Ashta and Riah were out in the garden, feasting on their garden meal, and heavily, Riah sighed as she looked at Ashta.

“What if Ray was right?” she asked, and Ashta looked at her in question.

“I mean, what if Roman and Ray are back home?” she asked as she squinted in the sun, and Ashta looked at her with care.

“Well, I wish that were true, but they both died and took their last breath. There is no coming back from that,” she said.

Riah nodded sadly.

“I know. I want them alive just as much as you do, but people cannot come back from the dead,” she added, and Riah gave her an odd look.

“Excuse me, did you forget what kind of world we live in? I mean, crazier things have happened,” said Riah, and Ashta thought for a moment.

“Well, I am sure dying is really not the answer,” she said, and Riah looked at her.

“Okay, explain why their bodies disappeared then,” stated Riah matter-of-factly, and Ashta shrugged her shoulders.

“Maybe that is what happens when you die in this world.”

Riah gave her a knowing look, and then she saw Yinlin walk out of the house and towards them.

“What does this weirdo want?” Riah snickered, and Ashta rolled her eyes as she blew out a frustrated breath.

“Ashta, why aren’t you getting ready, and who is this?” Yinlin asked as he approached them.

Ashta looked up at him, confused.

“Ready for what? This is my friend who has been staying with us,” said Ashta, annoyed, and Riah quietly snickered.

“Lashanna’s boyfriend passed away, and the funeral is today. Honestly, Ashta, you need to make time for some of your other friends,” he said, and Ashta and Riah exchanged looks.

“Funeral?” Riah asked.

Yinlin looked at her with his dead eyes.

“Yes. It’s a ceremony where we say goodbyes to our loved ones while they lay in a casket, and then we bury them,” the older man explained, and then he walked away.

Quickly, Ashta and Riah looked at each other, and Ashta swallowed hard.

“They bury their dead. That should tell you right there. We don’t belong in this world. That has to be our way home,” said Riah.

“How can we be so sure?” Ashta asked, and Riah gave her a knowing look.

“Well, look at it this way. Either way, we will join them wherever they are,” Riah said as she got to her feet and held out her hand.

Ashta took her hand, and Riah pulled her to her feet.

“Also, either way, we will finally be free of this strange place,” she added.

Nervously, Ashta nodded, and Riah looked at her with care.

“Come on. We will do it together.”

Ashta nodded, and then they walked back into the house. They walked up the stairs to the bedroom and closed the door. Riah had grabbed two knives from the kitchen, and she held one out in each hand to Ashta.

Ashta took one of the knives with a shaky hand, and Riah held her knife to her throat. Ashta did the same, and then she and Riah grabbed each other’s free hands. Nervously, Ashta looked at her, and Riah nodded.

“On three,” she said, and Ashta nodded.

“One.”

Ashta and Riah firmly gripped their knives.

“Two.”

Forcefully, they pressed the sharp blades against their throats and locked eyes with one another.

“Three,” said Ashta, and they both swiped the blades across their throats.

“What is this place?” asked Ray as he looked around the sanctuary room.

He was amazed at how much the statues looked exactly like him, Roman, Riah, and Ashta. Roman looked at his cousin as he smiled, and then he straightened.

“Go stand in front of your statue and place your hands on the pillar in front of it,” said Roman as he pointed, and Ray looked at him nervously.

“Are you sure?” he asked, and Roman nodded.

“Don’t worry. It is all going to make sense after you touch that pillar.”

Ray nodded as he straightened, and then he walked over to his statue. He looked at Roman as he blew out a breath, and then he placed his hands on the pillar. Suddenly, Ray was forced to look at the ceiling as he felt a power surge of energy flow through his body, and then his back began to burn.

Roman winced when Ray screamed out in pain. He knew that pain very well, and he hoped that he never had to feel it again. He watched as the room lit up with a greenish glow. At that moment, Ray looked at his cousin with glowing green eyes, and then his hammer appeared in his hands.

Angrily, Ray roared, and then he slammed the hammer onto the room floor. The room flashed brightly, and then the glowing green light faded and disappeared. The hammer disappeared, and Ray flexed his hands. Roman chuckled as he looked at Ray, and Ray smiled at him as he blew out a breath.

“Welcome back,” said Roman.

Ray smiled and nodded.

“Oh, it is good to be back. I remember everything now,” he said, and Roman nodded.

“I feel amazing!” Ray added as he walked over to his cousin, and Roman laughed.

The two cousins embraced happily for a moment, and then they pulled away from each other. Ray looked at Roman thoughtfully, and Roman raised an eyebrow at him.

“What are we going to do about Ashta and Riah?”

Roman looked at him for a moment, and then he shook his head sadly.

“I don’t know. That was the only way out of that place, and now their statues are gone,” he said, as his voice cracked, and Ray gave him a hopeful look.

“There has to be another way,” he said, and Roman sighed.

“Did you tell them what I told you?” he asked, and Ray nodded.

“I told them everything,” he said, and they both thought for a moment.

Suddenly, Ray looked at Roman with a concerned look on his face.

“You don’t think, since their statues are gone, if they die, they won’t come back, do you?” he asked, and Roman’s eyebrows rose.

“We have to get a message to them,” he said, and Ray looked at him in question.

“How do we do that?”

“Stand in front of Riah’s statue and put your hand on it. Let your guardian spirit guide you,” explained Roman as he walked over to Ashta’s statue.

They silently placed their hands on each statue and closed their eyes.

Ashta took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Everything was blurry, and then things slowly came into focus. She was in her bedroom, in her home in Erendel. Curiously, she looked around, and she didn’t see Riah anywhere. She was gone. Ashta sat up and looked around. Noticeably, nothing had changed besides the fact that Riah was gone.

Confused, Ashta got up from her bed, and then she walked over to the door. She opened the door, and then she suddenly gasped. Yinlin and Lashanna stood behind the door, staring at her with their dead eyes and eerie smiles.

“It’s not going to work. You and your friend are stuck here,” said Lashanna, and Ashta looked at her oddly.

“What?”

“Ashta, I don’t understand. I thought you would be happy now that you were back home,” said Yinlin, and he and Lashanna walked away.

Disoriented, Ashta shook her head as she closed the door and started breathing rapidly.

How did they know? She wondered, and then her mind went to Riah.

She had to find her. Ashta pulled on her sneakers, ran out of her bedroom, down the stairs, and out of the front door.

Slowly, Riah opened her eyes, and then she sucked in a breath as she sat up.

Did it work? She wondered as she looked around the room.

Immediately, she scowled as she noticed that she was in the bedroom of the strange house that she was brought to when she was released from the hospital.

Why didn’t it work? She wondered as she climbed out of bed and slipped her shoes on.

There was a soft knock at the door, and she walked over and answered it. Surprisingly, her dead-eyed husband and brother were staring at her, and they didn’t have smiles on their faces like they usually did.

“Hey,” she said, a little shocked.

“You know, you and your friend will never leave this place. Your only way out has been destroyed,” said Brian.

Jake looked at her in question.

“I thought you would be happy being back home with your family, but you would rather run around with another family,” said Jake, and then he and Brian abruptly walked away.

Exasperated, Riah sighed as she watched them walk off, thinking about Ashta.

Where was she? she wondered.

Quickly, Riah looked around, and when she saw the coast was clear, she ran out of the house.

Nervously, Ashta walked down the road, and she hugged herself. She didn’t know if Riah had made it out of that strange world or not, but she had to find out. The air felt cool on her skin, and she felt loneliness creep up on her. She missed Roman dearly, and the hope of reuniting with him had faded. Heavily, she sighed as she approached the four-way.

Curiously, she looked up at the sky, and she noticed large, puffy, gray clouds growing above the grocery store. Oddly, she began to feel at peace, and the feeling of loneliness faded away.

“Ashta.”

She heard a whisper in the breeze that surrounded her, and it sounded like it was Roman’s voice.

“You must find another way out. Ray has joined me, and now it is time for you and Riah to join us,” he whispered, and tears began to roll down her cheeks.

If he said that Riah and I needed to join him, that meant Riah was still in the strange world with me, she thought.

“But how?” she whispered into the breeze.

“You have to remember what it is you have forgotten,” he whispered, and then the breeze faded away.

Painfully, she felt her peace slip away, and she sharply inhaled.

“No, please wait,” she whispered, as her voice broke, but the breeze was gone.

Frustrated, Ashta walked over to a bench in front of the grocery store, and she sat down.

What was it that she had forgotten? She wondered.

Confused, Riah walked down the road, and she noticed that little colorful flowers would pop out of the ground as she walked by.

“Riah,” said a voice coming from the flowers, and then suddenly, she felt a sense of peace wash over her.

Curiously, she looked down at the little plants, and she watched as the petals magically shimmered in the light.

“Riah,” they whispered, and she noticed that the voice sounded like Ray’s voice.

“Ray?” she whispered in surprise.

“Yes, you can hear me.”

“Yes, I can hear you,” she said, as she smiled sadly.

“Listen, I don’t know how long I can stay like this, but don’t try and do what I did,” he said.

Riah huffed a little chuckle.

“We already tried, and we woke back up in this place,” she explained, and she heard him sigh.

“That way out is no longer available. You and Ashta must find your own way out of there,” he said quickly, and Riah sighed.

“But how?” she asked as she made a face.

“I’m not sure, but Roman and I are going to try everything that we can on our end,” he said.

Riah sucked in a sharp breath.

“You’re with Roman?”

“Yes, now, please hurry and come home to me,” he said as his voice faded.

“No, wait!” she exclaimed, but she was too late.

Surprised, she watched as the flowers disappeared one by one, and then the air was silent. Heavily, she sighed, and then she straightened. She knew what she had to do. She had to find Ashta, and fast.