Wayne Batson - The Door Within

Gwenne looked perplexed. “But, Sir Aidan-”

Aidan held up a hand and winked at Gwenne. Then, he placed his hand upon the final word of the final page of the scroll and left Alleble, never to return until his life’s end.

Aidan had once again passed beyond The Door Within, and as before, his senses were changing, transforming. He felt that peculiar movement from within, and walked again the gray road. There were voices and visions. There appeared an image of a dark army marching forth from a black castle. They carried torches that blazed violently in the wind. The torchlight became the candlelight of a large chandelier in a grand room of some kind. There in the room was a great assembly of Glimpses. Some had red eyes and some green. Before the image flickered away, it seemed to focus on a young Glimpse who was somehow familiar to Aidan. The young male Glimpse’s pale skin hid his exact identity, but he had to be someone… The vision faded, and a new one replaced it. There was a young girl on a lonely tower that reached high above the clouds. But soon this image dissolved into yet another, and another after that. Aidan could not follow them, they came so fast, but suddenly, they stopped, and everything went black.

The visions and voices had disappeared. Aidan felt his senses returning to normal, and his thoughts began to organize. It was then that he realized he knew the young Glimpse he had envisioned in the elegant room. That young Glimpse was a Glimpse of Robby… and his eyes had been… red!

A idan did not know if he had been asleep or unconscious, but he became aware that he was back in his bedroom in Colorado Springs. It must have been after sundown because it was almost totally dark. But after crawling blindly through moonrascal tunnels and feeling his way down through the blackness of Falon’s Stair, the dark in his room was nothing. He shook the disorientation from his head and stood.

But there was no illusion this time. He knew where he had been, and he knew it had not been a dream. Aidan had the new scroll from Alleble in his hands, and he had a large fresh scar on his right forearm.

Aidan gripped the scroll and strode out of his room. There was light from the stairs, so someone had to be up.

But Aidan froze at the top of the stairs.

How long have I been gone? Nearly two weeks?! he wondered. Gwenne had said that time was different, but how much different? And had Aelic been here?

Aidan knew his parents, and he knew they would have been frantic. They probably started a nationwide manhunt for me after I was missing for a couple of days!

He laughed nervously as he imagined his picture showing up on milk cartons all over the country. Aidan knew his parents and everyone else would no doubt demand to know where he had been and why he had been gone. This presented an unusual problem. Aidan would tell everyone the truth, but who would believe it?

King Ravelle now followed the King of Alleble, Aidan reasoned. So then, his father would come to believe someday. But what about Mom? And Grampin, Grampin would A tide of sadness rushed into Aidan’s heart as he remembered that Grampin was linked to Captain Valithor. And the Captain had died in the battle at Mithegard. How soon would everything take place? Aidan did not know.

Standing there wondering in the dark was doing Aidan no good, so he trotted down the stairs and looked around. There weren’t any policemen or FBI agents hustling around planning a rescue. In fact, there were no noises coming from anywhere in the house. Aidan walked into the kitchen and saw the digital clock on the microwave. It was ten o’clock-so perhaps they were all asleep.

Then, Aidan walked into the dining room, and there he found his mom. She was asleep at the table with her head resting on her arms.

“Mom,” Aidan whispered gently. No answer. “Mom? It’s me…”

Slowly, his mother’s head rose from her arms.

She brushed aside her long dark bangs, and Aidan saw her eyes. Puffy, swollen from crying, but opening wide with recognition.

“Aidan!” she cried, standing up abruptly and knocking her chair backward. She ran to her son and threw her arms around him. Her body shook, and Aidan could feel her warm tears on his neck. Then, suddenly, she released her embrace and held Aidan at arm’s length.

“Aidan, where have you been?!” she demanded, hands on her hips and her eyebrows pinching. “And what happened to your arm?”

“It’s a long story, Mom. I-”

“Do you have any idea what you’ve put us through?!”

“Mom, I’m sorry. Let me explain-”

“Explain?!” she echoed. “Son, you were supposed to be home over four hours ago! How can you be four hours late and not even call?!”

If Aidan had been in a plane, the orange oxygen masks would have dropped out of the little overhead compartments. There was definitely a loss of cabin pressure in his head!! Four hours?! But I’ve been gone for weeks… did time pass that much differently in Alleble?

“Four hours, son,” his mom continued, interrupting Aidan’s puzzled thoughts. “You should have at least called.” Her tone then softened. “Aidan, we can talk about your punishment later, but we need to talk about something else.”

Aidan knew what was coming.

His mother took a deep breath. “Aidan, I don’t know how to tell you this, so I’ll just say it. Your grandfather had a heart attack this afternoon. Dad found him when he got home from work…” Her voice began to crack. “He, he’s in intensive care now. Your father is with him at the hospital.”

“It’s okay, Mom,” Aidan said, gently putting his hand on her shoulder.

“No, Aidan it’s not okay,” she corrected. She wiped her eyes, smearing the mascara. “The doctors say it’s very serious.”

“I understand, Mom. But really, Grampin will be okay, ” Aidan persisted, and taking a deep breath himself, he charged ahead. “Grampin believes in Alleble. If he dies, he’ll be with the King… in the Sacred Realm Beyond the Sun.”

Mom shook her head and put her hand up. “Oh, Aidan, not that story again. I know that story might make you feel better, and I suppose that’s okay, but this is real life.”

“Mom, I’ve been there… to Alleble. It’s ALL real, every bit of it, and Grampin believes, so he’ll be just fine no matter what. You’ll see.”

Aidan’s mom tried to smile, but her cheeks showed tension and her lower lip trembled. She started to speak but hugged Aidan instead. She hugged him so tight he thought a rib would crack. Again, he felt the tears on his neck. Aidan hugged back and lightly scratched his mother’s back, wishing she could understand and believe. Then it wouldn’t hurt so much.

“Can we go up to the hospital to see Grampin?” Aidan asked as they parted.

“We’ll go see him in the morning, son,” she said quietly. “I think you need to get some sleep.”

Mrs. Thomas walked Aidan into his room and tucked him in. She kissed Aidan on his forehead like she used to do when he was little and then clicked off the overhead light.

“Good night, sweetheart,” she said tenderly, sliding easily off the bed and walking to the door. She stood there, half illumined by the golden hall light. Longer than usual she stayed, just staring at Aidan warmly. She turned to leave, but paused one moment more.

“Y’know, Aidan,” she began, an eyebrow raised, one corner of her mouth showing just a hint of a smile. “You seem different to me. I don’t know what it is exactly. Something about the way you reacted when I told you about Grampin-I don’t know. It’s probably nothing. I’m just so glad you’re home safe. Good night.”

“Night, Mom,” Aidan replied. Mom is right, Aidan thought. I am different.