It was warm and breezy, just nice for this auspicious day. Moreover, the event will be held outdoor, on the school field. At least it was not too hot to wait in the field, listening to the droning speeches from people they did not even know, Melissa thought.
They were already in their assigned seats, ready for the graduation ceremony. Despite the meaningful day, Melissa was not feeling it at all. Not after the sudden call from Lilian last night and the abrupt end to their conversation. She dared not tell anyone but Ryan.
Ryan who sat just next to Melissa looked at her as if he heard her thought.
“Can’t sleep last night? You have panda eyes, you know,” said Ryan in a very low voice while he was looking at the stage in front of them where the principal was giving their speech.
“Could you?” said Melissa back to Ryan. Ryan shook his head. Melissa sighed. They heard the news this morning that an unidentified man was found dead with hole through his heart at the alley in the heart of their small town. Melissa silently felt that the death had some connection with Lilian’s disappearance.
“I’m thinking of reporting Lilian’s call to the police today after this ends,” said Melissa.
“Are you sure?” asked Ryan.
“Yes. At least they might be able to locate the origin of the call and track her from there,” said Melissa. Ryan nodded.
“I’ll accompany you then,” he said briskly. It was Melissa turn to nod this time. She was glad that they were in this together. She was grimly relieved to her Lilian’s voice last night, to know that she was alive and well save for whatever that had happened to her.
When finally the Valedictorian’s speech ended with a prayer that Lilian would soon be found, they lined up to receive their scrolls. Melissa felt sudden emptiness because one of her best friends was not here.
Her name was called. She walked up to the stage, accepted the scroll and turned to the guests who were sitting and standing at the back row of the graduating seniors and waved the scroll to her family.
A young couple who was standing at the very back of the lines of guests caught her attention but she did not linger to look longer and got down the stage.
The applauses from the audience did not cease until the last student received her scroll.
Photograph taking and mortar board throwing followed through. Melissa and Ryan mingled with their friends who talked and laughed about their college and possible future. They had mentioned about Lilian, about how the fate had turned against her when she was a great student though she was not very close to anyone else except for Melissa and Ryan.
Then, Melissa saw them again.
A young couple was standing under the tree about a few metres from them, talking to each other. Both of them were wearing sunglasses. The man had dark brown hair with spiky and wavy hairstyle. He wore white stripe shirt with Khakis and dark brown covered shoes.
The man’s hand was wrapped around the lady’s waist who was wearing lime green satin dress and a white-green strap wedges for her feet to match the dress. She had a nice straw hat shadowing her face. Her wavy auburn hair shone in the sunlight. The way she smiled was oddly familiar.
Melissa turned to walk to the couple but suddenly someone touched her shoulder. She turned mechanically.
“Congratulations, little sister!” beamed Eric, Melissa’s brother who then embraced her. Then her parents took turn to embrace her too. They gave her a huge bouquet of roses and carnations to her.
“Smile, Melissa. It’s your happy day,” said his father, pinching her cheeks. Melissa forced a smile. Their parents knew very well why she acted miserable like that. She had not been in a good mood since the day Lilian disappeared. Melissa turned to the couple again but there was no one there.
Melissa’s parents and brother left her alone for a while to greet her other friends’ parents so she had the moment to herself. As she was staring at an empty space, someone literally bumped into her.
Her scroll and bouquet of flower fell to the ground. A few petals of the roses and carnations littered the ground. She turned.
“I’m really, really sorry,” said the lady in the green dress who was already crouching to pick up her scroll and bouquet of flowers. Before Melissa realised it, she lady had already stood up, handing the scroll and the bouquet to her.
“Thank you,” said Melissa. The lady smiled. Ryan appeared next to her.
“Congratulations on your graduation,” said the lady. “Both of you,” she added, looking from Melissa and lingered a bit when she met Ryan’s eyes before she turned away and went to a car parked at the school parking lot. The man who was with the lady earlier was already in the car.
“Who was that?” Ryan asked, his eyes followed the sight of the lady.
“I’m not sure,” was a better answer Melissa could think of rather than ‘I don’t know’ because she thought she knew her.
Ryan looked back at Melissa where he looked more interested in her bouquet of flowers. He reached into the bouquet took something out from the bulk of roses and carnations. It was a medium size card which people would not usually put into a flower bouquet.
“This is new,” said Melissa, puzzled as she took the card from Ryan’s hand. She opened it. Both Melissa and Ryan read the hasty handwriting in black on the graduation card which had a picture of a teddy bear wearing a mortar board on its cover.
Dear Melissa and Ryan,
Congratulations on your graduation. I will be away but I can assure that that I am fine. Don’t worry about me and you don’t need to worry about telling anyone else. I just want you two to know. Though I’m going to miss my college day, I hope you guys will enjoy it. Thank you for all these years and we will meet again when time permits. I love you both.
Love,
Lily
The card slipped from Melissa’s hand. Her jaw dropped. Ryan looked equally perplexed. Both of them looked at the lady which had just got into the car. Everything else around them seemed to reduce to just echoes. They wanted to run to the lady in the green dress but their legs would not budge.
When the car finally drove off, Melissa and Ryan looked at each other, frustration was clear on their faces.
Ryan picked up the card from Lilian which Melissa had dropped. He gazed on the writing. Yes, this was Lilian’s writing. He knew it very well. Melissa would know it very well too. They used to do their homework together and exchange class notes.
Melissa bit her lips. Ryan put her hand around Melissa’s shoulder.
“She must have a reason,” he whispered.
****
“You OK?” Zephyr asked Lilian. Lilian just nodded as a thin sincere smile spread on her face.
“I feel relieved,” said Lilian, taking off her hat and letting the gust of wind came through her wide opened window caressed her blushing face.
“You used your power on them, right?” said Zephyr.
“I had to or else they would already chase after us,” she replied with a mild defensive tone.
“I understand,” said Zephyr simply. Lilian was mildly surprised by Zephyr’s respond because she was half- expecting him to tell her off.
“Thanks,” she said shortly. “Where are we heading now?”
“To the portal connecting Exhorea to the Resistant’s territory,” said Zephyr. “It’s near the beachside about an hour from here,”
Lilian nodded.
“You are not afraid?” asked Zephyr with a hint of concern in his voice though he tried very hard to hide it.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to be afraid of if I don’t face it first,” she replied half- frankly though fine creases already formed on her forehead, showing that she was also worried but Zephyr looked amused with her answer.
“I know that you are a strong girl,” he said quietly. Lilian fidgeted in her seat.
“I don’t have anything or anyone left here anymore,” sighed Lilian friendly. “If it is true that Pleidus is my hometown, I might as well return there. Besides, I still have doubts about all these ‘other dimension’ things.
So, I figured out that I have to see it myself first and keep myself alive as long as I can,”
“Is that a suicide speech?”
Lilian laughed lightly to herself, shaking her head as she mused her mindless action.
As they were nearing the destination, Zephyr became strangely quiet. He was squinting most of the time as if he was thinking hard. Lilian did not want to bother him.
The lush green trees scenery which they went passed by for the pass one hour suddenly changed into the scenery of the wide- stretched sandy beach. The beautiful sand was losing its gleam as the sun was setting n the horizon. The sea sparkled with the orange reflection of the sun, calmly spewing rolling waves laced with white bubbles to the beachside. The sound of the seagulls tickled her eardrums. She felt strangely at ease.
Zephyr took a right turn to the small unpaved sandy road heading to the beachside. He slowed down the car before coming to a halt. She could see the beach not far from there through the bushes and the skeleton- like trees in front of them. She could smell the salty breeze.
“How do you know where the portal is? Is it going to be like an archway?” asked Lilian curiously.
“No, it’s invisible. The portals are always around us, changing location from time to time. We track it using this device- Portal Tracker,” Zephyr showed Lilian a radar- like handheld device which fit in his hand nicely. There was a screen there with grid lines on it. Lilian could see a red dot blinking on the screen.
“The red dot indicates the location of the portal?” Lilian asked.
“Yes. This one is just a few yards from us,” he said, pointing to an empty space on the beachside. Then, he took out something from his pocket and wore it on Lilian’s wrist like a bracelet. Lilian stared at the bracelet. It was a combination of several types of sphere crystals.
She could identify amethyst, rose quartz, tiger’s eye, ruby, agate and aquamarine among others. He looked at Zephyr, totally confused. Was this a gift from him?
“It’s essential so you can go through the portal,” explained Zephyr as he too wore the same bracelet combination on his wrist. “The different vibrations from the crystals will equalize your body frequency to the portal’s frequency so you can walk pass through it,”
Lilian raised her eyebrow in amazement. Whatever was waiting on the other side of the portal, she would still feel lucky to be able to experience this, she thought, darkly interested.
“Stop making that amused face of yours like you are going to an amusement park on the other side of the portal,” said Zephyr bleakly. “You don’t have any idea how bad things can be there,”
“I know,” she replied guiltily, ashamed of herself. “I couldn’t help it,”
Suddenly, Zephyr edged nearer to Lilian, his face was just an inch from Lilian’s face. She was stunned.
-End of Chapter 10-
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