Book 2 of the Eternal series

Chapter 4

One day, Riah was out in the yard, and as she looked out across the land, she saw that there was a coffee shop at the end of town. She had never tried to leave the house after she had come home from the hospital, and she wondered if the others would try to stop her if she tried. Cleverly, Riah came up with a plan just in case they did try to stop her from leaving.

Riah decided that she would try and leave the next day. If they asked her where she was going, she would tell them that she was going for a walk. There was something strange going on around there, and she would find out what it was.

Also, she hoped that there was a chance that she might find the girl that was in the visions. Maybe she knew her, and she would help her figure everything out. Happily, she went about her day as she secretly waited for the next day to come.

Riah putted around in the garden for a while. Any fruit or vegetable she could think of would grow for her, and she enjoyed her afternoon feast.

“Destiny?”

She heard Jake call their daughter, and she got up from the ground. Curiously, she walked around to the front of the house, and she saw Jake standing on the front porch.

“Destiny!” he called again, and then Riah saw the little girl run up the driveway.

“Come on, little one. It is time for our afternoon seating,” he said as Destiny reached him.

Riah looked at him oddly.

“Afternoon seating?” she asked, and Jake looked at her as he scooped Destiny up in his arms.

“It’s when we go listen to the man on the countertops. You just can’t hear him yet,” said Destiny, as she looked at her mother with dead eyes.

That is so creepy. Riah thought as she swallowed hard and shivered.

“This isn’t real. You must find the others, and you four must find your way back home,” whispered a voice in the back of her mind, and she thought for a moment.

Who is that voice? Are the others that the voice is talking about the ones in the visions? How was she supposed to find the faceless two?

Frustrated, she gritted her teeth, and then she walked back over to the garden. Riah sat on her knees, and she began playing with the dirt. She ran her hands over it, dug into it, and watched it slide through her fingers. A small flower sprouted from the pile of dirt that she was playing with at that moment, and as the flower opened, a small fairy looked up at her.

The fairy was yellow with light-colored wings, and she looked frightened.

“Hi,” greeted Riah softly, and the fairy nervously looked around.

“I’m not supposed to be here, but I have a message from the moon god,” she said, and Riah looked at her, confused.

“Moon-god?”

Without another word, the fairy blew a cloud of fairy dust in her face, and then she and the flower disappeared down into the earth. Irritated, Riah coughed, and then she looked down at the pile of dirt.

What did she do to me? She wondered as she wiped off her face and waved the last of the fairy cloud away.

For a moment, she closed her eyes, and another vision came into her mind. This one was of her and the red-haired girl from her other image, dancing at a party. They were happy.

“Riah, you are my best friend,” said the girl, and Riah could feel that this was a real memory.

“Riah? Are you alright?”

At that moment, her eyes flew open, and she looked up. Surprisingly, Brian was standing next to the garden, and he was looking at her with his dead eyes.

“Yes. Everything is fine,” she said as she got to her feet.

“Lunch is ready,” he said, and she smiled politely.

“I’m not hungry,” she said quickly, and he looked at her oddly.

“I’m surprised,” he said, and she looked at him in question.

“About what?”

“That you aren’t hungry. You have not sat down and eaten with us in the last couple of days. Are you sure that you are alright?”

Heavily, Riah sighed, and then she looked up at her brother thoughtfully.

“Maybe after I go for a walk, I will be hungry,” she said, as she raised an eyebrow at him, and he only nodded.

“Well, when you do go for a walk, I expect you to be at the dinner table afterward,” he said, frankly, and then he walked away.

Confused, Riah stared after him. She was surprised that he didn’t ask where or when she was going, and that confused her. Her family wasn’t as talkative as she remembered, and when she tried to hold a conversation with them, they would end it quickly and just walk away.

Even though she had a house full of loved ones, she couldn’t help but feel very lonely. She wished that she had one person she could talk to about the strange things happening and help her make sense of it all. Maybe the girl in her visions was one of the ones she had to find.

Riah deeply sighed as she looked down at her garden and then at the small town. She couldn’t remember ever living in a place like this. The memories of her home that she once knew were about a cottage deep in the woods, not this.

This house and yard were strange to her, and so were the people living inside. They looked like her family, but something about them rubbed her the wrong way, and she needed to find out why. Heavily, she sighed, and then she walked into the house.

Like every day, Chloe, Brian, Jake, Micheal, and Destiny sat around the countertops, watching the static channel. Suddenly, Destiny looked at Riah with her dead eyes and smiled.

“She’s coming,” she said, and then she ran out of the house.

Curiously, Riah followed her, and she stopped on the front porch. She watched as the little girl ran down the driveway, and then she stopped at the end. Closely, Riah watched as the little girl patiently waited for something as she looked down the street.

What is she up to? Riah wondered.

Frustrated, Riah sighed, and then she went back into the house. She watched the little girl for a few minutes, but she didn’t see anything. Annoyed, she looked at her husband, son, brother, and sister-in-law. They all seemed to be stuck in a trance as they watched the static channel.

What’s wrong with them? She wondered as she walked back out to her garden.

Riah played in the dirt for a while, and then she noticed that it was starting to get dark outside. Displaced, she got to her feet and walked back into the house. She found that her family hadn’t moved from watching the countertops, and she sighed as she went upstairs.

At that moment, she realized that she had no choice but to leave the house and try to find the answers to her questions.

Slowly, Riah opened her eyes, and she found herself alone in the empty bed as she did every morning.

“I just wish this all made sense,” she breathed, and then she pulled herself out of bed.

Quickly, she got dressed and headed down the stairs. Like every morning, Jake was standing at the stove, cooking bacon and eggs.

“Good morning, darling,” he said from the stove.

He spoke in the same tone and effort as he did every time he talked to her. He turned towards her when she didn’t say anything and looked at her.

“Are you alright?”

Riah only nodded as her stomach turned at the smell of the bacon and eggs. Jake gestured to the dining room table as he took two plates and set them down.

“So, are you going to tend to your garden today?” he asked, and she looked at him oddly.

That was the same question he had asked her every morning, but she still couldn’t get over how odd it was. Riah shook her head, and he looked at her in question.

“No, actually, I am going to go for a walk. I need to get some air,” she said, and she watched his reaction closely.

Surprisingly, Jake only nodded.

“Just don’t be gone too long. Your vegetables aren’t going to grow themselves,” he said, and she only nodded.

“Alright, then. I will see you later,” she said, and then she made her way to the door.

“Aren’t you going to eat anything before you go?” he asked, and she stopped in her tracks as she thought for a moment.

“No, I’m not hungry,” she lied.

“Okay. See you later,” he said, and Riah nodded as she walked out of the front door.

The neighborhood was peaceful and beautiful to walk through with the pretty houses and their matching, perfectly mowed lawns. Perfectly cut all the same way, and even the mower lines matched up with the neighboring yards. Confused, she looked back at her own property, and surprisingly, it was cut the exact same way.

That is so strange. She thought as she continued to walk down the road.

At that moment, she came to the four-way stop, where on one corner was the grocery store, and on the other side was a gas station. Curiously, she looked down the main road and saw the coffee shop. Happily, she made her way to the small dive in hopes that she would find at least one normal person she could talk with.

Riah sighed as she walked up to the door, grabbed the handle, opened it, and walked inside.