Immortals Of Byolla Bay

Waiting for the last class to end was pure torture. I know Mag is with her, but my eyes physically need to see her, my ears need to hear her voice, and my arms long to hold her. It’s enough to drive a man to drinking. The bell rang signaling the end of school and I rushed out the door, making sure I slowed down enough to make my speed humanly possible.

I arrived outside the trail just to see my sister and my whole world come walking out of the gym double doors. Kinsley’s brown hair was getting blown around by the autumn wind, enhancing her beautiful face. Her eyes landed on me and I could not help the foolish grin that broke out on my face. Oh Kinsley, what you do to me.

They reached me and Mag announced that they would be going to the next town over to do some shopping for Meshella’s upcoming birthday party this weekend, which Mag and I are invited to. “Sounds great. Have you told mother you would be taking her car yet?”

Mag’s face fell, “Damn, I forgot! I haven’t had a chance to renew my license yet! Rikki, can you drive us, please, please, please?” Mag pouted. I looked at Kinsley, “Do you mind if I intrude on your girls day out?” She gave me a heart stopping smile, “Of course not, as long as you don’t mind waiting on a couple of girls to take their time trying on dresses.” I couldn’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be, but unfortunately I couldn’t voice how much I craved her presence.

We walked along the beaten path that led to our road while I nonchalantly scanned the trees for any sign of that demonic malefactor. I cannot afford to be slack in my vigilance when it comes to Kinsley. Human eyes could not follow the speed in which Drakkar would attack and Kinsley has no idea the danger I have put her in just by saying hello to her.

While silently berating myself, I absent-mindedly tuned in and out of the excited chatter going on with the two girls. My sister loved shopping and finding new things to spend money on so all these attractions Kinsley was explaining to her was making Maggie jump with joy. Of course we had never been to this Zephyr’s Landing and I can already tell my sister is going to make me explore every nook and cranny this place has to offer, which is fine with me because it gives me more time with Kinsley.

We arrived outside my house without any problems and walked inside. My mother was sitting in the newly restored living room reading a magazine on home renovations. She looked up and her mouth dropped, along with the magazine, to the floor.

She quickly composed herself and stood up, “Well hello there. I didn’t know we were going to have company. Who is your beautiful friend?”

Kinsley’s cheeks blushed a tender looking light red and smiled shyly. “Mother this is Kinsley, our friend from school. She has been most helpful in showing us around and has been a huge help to Maggie and I today. Kinsley, this is my mother, Keri.”

Mother took Kinsley’s hands in hers, “It’s an absolute pleasure to meet you, Kinsley. Thank you for being so kind to my children.” Mother had a twinkling in her eye and I seen the pent up emotion behind them. She wanted nothing less than to hug her and welcome her to our family, but her humanity is such a delicate situation that my poor girl may go into shock or run out of the house screaming for the police.

“Is daddy and Gene back yet?” Mag asked. Mother shook her head, “No your father called and said they would be coming back a little later than they expected. Kinsley you must come back and visit again where you can meet my other son Gene and I’m sure my husband would love to meet the first friend they have made at school, especially one who went out of her way to be so nice to a couple of newcomers to your town.”

Kinsley sheepishly smiled, “It was no problem. I actually enjoyed showing them around. By the way I love what you have done to the house. The previous owners left it in such a wreck that I was sure this place would be demolished because no one would take the time to repair it, but you have done a wonderful job.”

She doesn’t know it yet, but she just found the surefire way into my mother’s heart, complementing her architectural style. When we realized that we weren’t going back to our home realm anytime soon, mother suggested we look for ways to pass the time here. That’s when she learned she had a knack for building and repairing. Over the centuries she has fine tuned her skill into an art and there is no house or establishment in disrepair that cannot be saved by her.

Like I guessed, mother beamed at the compliment, “Why thank you, dear. After I completely finish everything I’ll give you the full tour.” Mag piped in at this point, “So we have been invited to a birthday party this weekend and were hoping you would let Rikki drive us to the next town over to go shopping for something to wear.”

Mother’s smiled faded just a little, “Oh, are only you and Kinsley going to this party?” She asked as she gave me a knowing look. I knew what she was implying. “No all three of us have been invited.” Mag answered.

Mother’s smile returned and she visibly relaxed, “Well in that case, sure. Have fun and be careful. You know where the keys are.” I winked at mother as we walked single file into the garage where my mother’s SUV she bought last month was parked.

I opened the passenger side door for Kinsley and shut it after she was properly in her seat, then did the same for Maggie on the back driver side. After navigating through the tiny town we headed west to Zephyr’s Landing. Kinsley gave me the directions in between talking to Mag about what the mall here consisted of and what shops we should hit first.

After some time the highway widened into four lanes and Kinsley showed me the intersection to veer right on. The Mall of Zephyr’s Landing, as it’s officially stated on the sign, was indeed large. I’ve seen larger traveling the globe of course, but to Kinsley I understand why this place is gigantic to her, especially after seeing where she had grown up. After finding a place to park almost in the last row we made our way inside.

The first scent to pervade my nostrils was about 109 different types of perfumes, each louder than the next, and 10 women at the front of the offending store urging passersby to try a sample of the perfumes on sale today. Luckily for both my nose and myself, Kinsley lead us away from there and towards an elevator with a map next to it, sporting a red star telling us where we were. Kinsley was pointing at the shop we were heading to first on the map just as the elevator dinged and a crowd of people rushed out, none paying attention to the three of us waiting to get on.

Mag and I quickly stepped back to give them room, but Kinsley was still pointing at the map and right in their way. I dashed around the crowd and wrapped my arm around Kinsley’s midsection, pulling her close against me, just in time for the pushy mall shoppers to pass by without interference. Not that I was scared she would be trampled to death or anything along that line, but if any of those rude humans would have bumped into her or caused her any pain the consequences would have been quite severe for them. It’s best she doesn’t see that side of me.

The way to the elevator was cleared of people and that’s when I realized I had an electric current of wonderful pain zinging down my arm. I looked down to see I was still holding a blushing Kinsley against me. She looked perplexed, as if she was just given a riddle that was impossible to solve, all while staring down at my arm. I silently gasped as a thought crossed my mind: Does she feel the fire as well? Does she feel the burning flame that binds our souls together?

Mag cleared her throat, “So do we want to catch this elevator or wait for the next?” My head snapped up, “No we will take this one, I’m just making sure Kinsley is okay.” I lied.

Kinsley stepped away from me a little bit and I didn’t stop her, “Thank you for pulling me out of the way. I should have been paying attention.” She crossed her arms across her chest and that little blush crept across her cheeks again. I just want to kiss those spots every time I see them.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I’m just glad I could help. Now, are you girls ready to torture me with hours of trying on clothes, then asking me my opinion, only to shoot down my response and try on more?” That earned me their giggles and I knew the awkward moment had passed.

Riding up the elevator glass shaft, you could see the whole mall. It had an enormous water fountain with chrome finish along the bottom. Children were throwing pennies in it and smiling, making their wishes.

The elevator stopped in front of an extremely busy food court with about 20 different types of restaurants to choose from, along with a hot dog and pretzel stand. This variety of aromas was a softer assault on my senses than downstairs in the perfume parlor from hell. Kinsley led us behind the elevator to the first stop on our agenda. An expensive looking dress shop with a name I couldn’t pronounce right even if you paid me.

As soon as we walked in, a girl with a head set and a tablet asked our names and what we were looking for. Kinsley expertly replied to all the girl’s questions and within minutes we were being led to a dressing room, though that may not have been the right word for it. It was a room equipped with two dressing room stalls beside a platform that had a 3-way mirror at the end. There were four plush leather chairs in the center with an ice bucket and three bottles of water chilled and ready to enjoy.

“My stars, is this the VIP section of dress shopping?” Mag asked as she got up on the platform, twirling around. Kinsley chuckled, “Sort of. I come here with Meshella so much that her name and mine are considered top priorities and we are treated like royalty. I’m pretty sure it’s because her father’s credit card pays their salaries. That’s how much she comes here and drags me with her.”

Mag jumped off the platform, “Well remind me to hug Meshella when we see her tomorrow at school. So when do we begin?” As if on cue, a girl with a tablet and a measuring tape in her hands came hurrying in the door followed by a snobby looking sales associate who held her nose high in the air.

“Good evening ladies and gentleman. My name is Corinna and I’ll be assisting you with your dress shopping experience tonight. This is Aguabella, she is our seamstress. She will be taking your sizes and also if you found something you like, but it does not fit, she will take care of that for you. If you ladies will please step into the changing stalls.” I watched the girls disappear into their stalls and I let my head drop into the back of my chair, which felt exactly like a pillow. This was going to be a long night if I know my sister.

Exactly 3 hours and 43 minutes later, Maggie had finally found her dress. Kinsley found hers the first time she tried one on. She picked out a white cashmere sweater dress with a bold emerald belt around the waist. It accentuated her curves and my mouth dropped when she came out wearing it.

“I take it you like it?” She laughed. All I could do was nod.

My sister is who took up the rest of the time, like I knew she would. Luckily I have gained a ton of patience in my long life or else I would have either left her here or drug her out kicking and screaming. Maggie finally settled for a pink wrap around dress that ended mid thigh. I’m sure she will be hiding this from father because he will have a conniption if she comes downstairs in this on the night of the party.

The girls handed Corinna their cards and she went right away and rung them up. A few minutes later Corinna came back with two huge dress bags with the company name printed on them. “Here you go ladies, and Ms. Preden, a few hours ago Mr. Junisanwa called and said to put your purchase on his tab as an early birthday present. Happy early birthday by the way.”

Kinsley blushed, “My birthday is next month, but he won’t be back for at least 4 months because they have a big project he’s working on back in his hometown. That was very sweet of him, but he really didn’t have to.” Corinna smirked, “Well he’s our top priority and we aim to please, Ms. Preden. Is there anything else I can get you ladies?”

The girls shook their heads and Corinna walked out of the room. I mentally made a note to find out what day her birthday was on next month. I heard a gurgling sound coming from Kinsley’s stomach, “I’m sure after all this shopping you have watched Mag do you are starving. Would you like to go to the food court before we head home?”

Mag smacked me for my comment and Kinsley nodded her head eagerly. “I know you guys have got to be starving because you didn’t eat lunch. The food court has this really good taco stand and it’s quick so we can get out of here faster.”

I shook my head, “I don’t want anything, but whatever you girls want, it’s on me.” Mag quickly hit me fast enough to where Kinsley’s eyes couldn’t see. I stifled a yell and turned to look at her, “Hey Kinsley I left my phone in the changing stall. Why don’t you go ahead and get us a table, we’ll be there in less than 5 minutes, okay?”

Kinsley looked at us confused for a second, but nodded her head anyways and walked out of our VIP room door. I turned to glare at Mag, “What the hell did you hit me for?” Mag stood there looking at me like I was the stupidest person she had ever met.

“It’s called KUA, brother. KUA! Keeping up appearances! She just said she noticed we hadn’t eaten anything all day, which means we should be starving. Humans notice when other humans don’t eat. If we go out there and order nothing she will be worried, offended or uncomfortable, or all 3. Even though we really don’t want anything those food vendors have, we are going to go out there and act like it’s manna sent from the heavens above, understand?”

I smacked my forehead. How could I have been so forgetful? “Don’t worry. I know she’s the first human you have actually spent time around. Luckily you have me to guide you through this.”

Suddenly we heard a click as the door locked from the outside. “Damn! I bet Corinna thought we left.” Mag strolled over to the door, “Hello, Corinna? I left my phone in here and had to come back and get it, could you let us out please?” I was about to point out that it was a puny wooden door and we could easily snap the doorknob off, when we both froze as a sinister laugh echoed from the other side.

“My, my what do we have here? The former future king of his clan and a little lost princess? Well, it’s your lucky day children because you two are not who I am wanting to see. I need you two to stay put while I go and have a friendly chat with your human friend, what’s her name? Oh yes, Kinsley, or should we call her Eerikki’s bindende sjel?”