Page 11 of Hunted on Halloween

Every time she thought of touching one of the other doors, goosebumps ran up her arms and beads of dread played on her spine. When she thought of turning away from this door, a heaviness sat on her chest almost as if she were going to have a heart attack. Tia reached out, grabbed the doorknob, and turned before she could think too hard about it.

The hallway she left felt like nothing, neither good nor bad. It wasn’t hot or cold; it just was. She walked into a room that was beautiful. Warmth surrounded her. It made her want to stay a while.

“Hello.” her voice echoed around the large space.

“Is anyone here?” There wasn’t any response, making her think that maybe she picked the wrong room. She turned around to where the door was, only to find out that it was gone. There was nothing behind her except a wall. Forward was the only direction to go, so she started walking.

The floors were beautiful, warm peach marble. It wasn’t until her feet touched the floor that she realized she wasn’t wearing any shoes. The robe that she was wearing became an elegant dress.

This was something she would have worn to a beautiful ball, which, by the way, she had never been to. She was twenty-nine; it was time to step up her game. There were beautiful chandeliers overhead. The prisms were gorgeous, looking like diamonds in the reflected light. The light made them glow seductively. She walked straight ahead, not being able to turn to the right or the left. Although she could see the furniture that was surrounding her.

The furniture was thick and comfortable, but it also looked very expensive, as if it were something she would never see in her life or maybe even on earth. She stopped when she came to a pair of huge double doors. They were cream with gold inlaid on them. Beautiful.

Tia reached out because in for a penny, in for a pound. She placed her hands on the doorknobs and pulled, taking a step back. Instead of the doors coming towards her, they opened inward. One glimpse told her that she was in a throne room.

She’d never been in one before, but it was obvious. Tia was standing in what she could only call a bubble in outer space. She was still breathing and didn’t feel the coldness from the stars.

There were no walls, floor, or ceiling, which is why she called it a bubble. How else could she be standing here in the presence of these two people she had never met before? She forced herself to turn her eyes away from the beauty of space to look at the two beings in front of her because they weren’t people. The first had the most beautiful pinkish-black hair that she had ever seen.

It looked like it was all the way down to his or her waist. This must be the androgynous one. Their skin was so creamy looking at it made her want to lick it.

The other one was a broad, thick male, and it didn’t make any sense, but she knew that this had to be Tieran’s father. He was supposed to be on the other side of the veil unless she missed her guess.

“Where am I?” The question held more meaning now that she was standing on nothing.

“Welcome, Tia De La Rosa,” the androgynous one said to her.

“That’s not my last name.”

“Yes, dear, I know. I know who you are, what you are.”

I know more than you do, and I choose to call you de la Rosa because that is who you are.”

Do not argue with a pretty being when you are standing on nothing in the midst of space. Tia cautioned herself. “Your name is?”

“You may call me Mael. That’s the identity I want to assume today, and I know your people are really concerned about pronouns. You may call me they/them.” Tia wasn’t hung up on pronouns.

In fact, she thought it would be easier if the whole world went by the same pronoun. Hey, let’s all be shes. Hey, let’s all be hes. Or maybe let’s all be theys. It really didn’t matter to her, butshe would honor the wishes of this being. The throne Mael was sitting on was alive.

It was changing slowly, but she had watched things crawl from one part of the throne to another, and she didn’t think it was an animal or an insect. It was simply part of the living throne. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes before she turned to look at Tieran’s father.

“Do I know you?” she asked. He gave her a smile and a wink, reminding her so much of Tieran.

“I think you have other questions to ask, witchling.”

His voice gave her comfort, not the same kind that she got for Tieran, more like he was a father to her as well as him.

“I’ve already asked why I’m here and no one has answered that question yet. Why should I assume you will answer a different one?”

“I will caution you not to assume,” Mael said.

“How do you know what will or won’t be answered unless you ask the question?”

“Logic,” Tia grimaced. It’s too late at night for that. Soft music played, and she found herself swaying to it. The more she danced, questions invaded her mind until she finally stopped on one. She needed to know.

“What would you have me do?” she asked.

“Finally,” Mael said. “A question worth answering.

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