Flames and Starlight
TWELVE

Hannah rode the bus with Laura and Ruben to Peter’s apartment building. Luckily, there were no flying gargoyles but there were blue women sitting in the seats in front of them which were water nymphs and a vampire who drank a bottle of blood. Hannah tried not to stare at every unusual creature that was on there and told herself that this was the new normal now and she had to get used to it.

She told Laura and Ruben about replaceing her aunt and that her aunt was a Guardian on the ride there. She showed them the new phone Mary had given her and they exchanged numbers. The phones here weren’t any different than what was used in the human realm so that was a relief.

They arrived at Peter’s apartment building and Hannah thought back to almost four weeks ago when she arrived in the Eternal World. She couldn’t believe how different life was now. A month ago she never thought she’d ever even see the Eternal World or see her aunt again. Now she was a citizen in the Eternal World and was living with Mary. It was almost a dream come true. She couldn’t believe she’d also met Ruben, Laura, and Peter and that her visions might start to come to life.

She followed Ruben and Laura to Peter’s apartment and felt incredibly nervous about seeing Peter. They’d told her they’d already informed him about her visions of them and he wanted to see her but she felt anxiety flowing through her the closer they got to his apartment. She was unsure of what his reaction was going to be.

She’d thought about him a lot since he brought her to the shelter. She hadn’t had any new visions of him but wondered how their lives were going to intertwine now that they’d met. If there was one thing she learned about visions, is that they meant something important and if someone is featured often in a vision, then they will have a significant impact on her life.

Ruben knocked on the door and called in, “Yo Pete, it’s us.”

The door opened to a smiling Peter and he fist-bumped Ruben and Laura as they walked in. He beamed at Hannah as she walked in and she felt herself blush.

“Hi, Hannah, it’s good to see you again. How’ve you been?”

“Good. You?”

“Fine, except for falling out of the sky.”

She cursed. “Sorry, that was a dumb thing to ask. Of course, you’d -”

He laughed. “It’s okay. All things considered, I’m fine. I’m lucky I wasn’t hurt.”

“Where’s your parents?” Laura asked as she and Ruben sat down on the couch.

“At work.”

Ruben’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “They actually went to work? I thought they’d be hovering over you.”

Peter winced. “After I kind of yelled at them in the hospital, they’ve given me my space. I think I finally got through to them to let me breathe but I also think I hurt their feelings. We haven’t talked much lately.”

“You should talk to them,” Laura said, crossing her legs. “I know they were frustrating you but they meant well.”

“Yeah, I know.” Peter looked at Hannah. “You can sit down if you want.”

Hannah realized she was standing awkwardly and hastily sat down in the recliner next to her. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. “Sorry.”

Peter went into the kitchen and called out, “I’ll make wings.”

Ruben turned on the TV and flipped through the channels, putting an arm around Laura. Hannah watched TV with them as they waited for Peter to finish cooking. Ruben stopped on a musical on TV. A beautiful woman with long curly black hair who closely resembled Laura was featured on it. She was wearing a purple gown and slowly walked across a stage, singing beautifully, her eyes far away.

Hannah frowned as she peered at the TV. Wait a second. That was Laura!

“Laura!” Hannah nearly shouted. “Is that you?”

“Yep,” Laura said casually and Ruben grinned.

Hannah gaped as she watched the TV. “You’re an actress?!”

“Part-time. I like acting but I always wanted to be a nurse. I act a little bit here and there but other than this movie I haven’t done any major projects.”

Hannah shook her head as she continued watching Laura singing on TV. “That’s so cool.”

Laura shrugged. “It was alright. Not as glamorous as it seems.”

“Do you have a lot of fans?”

“Every now and then someone will come up and say hi but I’ve mostly left alone. Celebrities are known but most are left alone.”

Peter popped his head out. “The wings are ready.”

After dinner, Ruben and Laura had fallen asleep on the couch. The couch was propped back and they had their arms wrapped around each other. They looked adorable.

As they slept, Peter and Hannah stood on his balcony. They gazed out at the sky as the sun was slowly setting over the city, painting the sky a river of red, orange, pink, and violet. The city was starting to grow quieter as everyone settled down from a long day of work, school, and life in general.

“I’m glad you found your aunt,” Peter said to her. “It must’ve been great, seeing a family member.”

“It was.”

He was quiet for a moment. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, and if this is too personal you don’t have to answer, but how hard was it to leave your family? I know that had to be hard.”

Hannah thought it over. “I had a very complicated relationship with my family. I love them and I do hope I see them again one day, but I had to move away from them. I didn’t belong in the human realm and. . .it’s complicated. I do love them but at the same time, I needed to leave. I was too different from them.”

“How did they take it when you told them you were leaving?”

She bit her lip and looked down. “I didn’t. I wrote them notes and disappeared into the night. I did it because I knew they would try to stop me. I do wish we could’ve had a proper goodbye since I don’t know if I’ll ever see them again. I do have regrets about that.”

A wave of sadness washed over her as she thought about her never having those proper goodbyes with her family. She believed she made the right choice in leaving when she did but wished she’d been able to say goodbye to them. She wished things had been different with her relationship with her family, that it didn’t have to go down the way it did.

“Are you okay?” he asked her. She realized she was crying.

She quickly wiped her tears away. “Yeah. I just. . .I don’t know. Like I said, it’s just complicated. I - Ow!”

Something grabbed her hair and yanked her head back, causing her to stumble backward. Her hands flailed as she tried to grab whatever was pulling her hair.

“What the hell?!” Peter yelled and grabbed whatever had been pulling her hair. He caught whatever it was in her hair in a closed fist and seethed down at it. “I thought I told you to cut that crap out!”

“What is it?” Hannah demanded, rubbing her scalp.

He opened his hand slightly and she saw what looked like a little red Tinker Bell in his hand.

She couldn’t help but laugh despite her scalp burning. “Tinker Bell!”

Peter looked at her in confusion. “What’s that?”

Hannah laughed. “A fairy from a cartoon movie in the human realm. Wow, I can’t believe I’m actually seeing a fairy.”

“Actually it’s a pixie. We get these things all the time here. This one especially.” He picked the fairy up by her wings and she kicked her small feet at him, her fists flailing. “Don’t let me catch you here again. Buzz off.” He threw the pixie into the air and she flew away, leaving a trail of blue dust.

They watched the pixie fly off and laughed.

“Sorry about that,” he said. “That one always comes by and does stuff like that. I don’t know why.”

Hannah laughed. “It’s fine.”

A moment of silence passed Peter looked at her and asked, “Do you want to hang out tomorrow?”

Hannah beamed despite herself. “I’d love that.”