The Fifth World

Bo: The first night is the hardest. It reminds me of the day when Adam and Mum left to go to Australia... now here I am, again, alone in Manchester wishing to be somewhere else. Who would have thought, after all these years of rejecting in going to the Fifth World, that I would be wishing to go back.

I sit at my window, the sunlight fading... day fading... night will come soon. I have never wanted night so much in my entire life. Night time is usually when Cynric comes to see me. He will be here. I know he will. He may have said he wouldn't today when I said goodbye to him... but I know him. He won't just leave me. Too much has happened to let it all end like this. I saved the the City of Hargon, along with everybody else... and all we get is punishment for it. All I get is banishment entirely.

I continue to sit at my window and I watch the sun go down. Darkness sweeps Manchester... and I continue to sit at my window, in my armchair... in this dark, cold and lonely house. I am alone. Minutes go by, or maybe hours... and still, nothing. I drift off but somehow, manage to blink myself awake... minutes continue to go by and still absolutely nothing. I feel my heart begin to pound... I start to panic... the truth seeps into my brain...

He is not coming.

A tear rolls down my cheek and then another and another... I pull my knees into my chest and huddle up into a ball on my armchair. Here I am, home, alone... cold and vulnerable. Cynric is not coming and probably never will. I cry myself to sleep.

Days go by and there is still no word from the Fifth World. No letters, no appearances, no clues to say that maybe someone is thinking about me and wondering about me... nothing. As each long day goes... the days till Mum and Adam come home come closer. Just two more days now and the thought of having them home is taking my mind off... everything else.
I clean the house, although, it is very clean the way it is. Everything is just the way I left it, basically. During the day I try to catch up on some school work but it is a bit difficult trying to work out financial arithmetic when I know that somewhere out there, there could be a war between supernatural beings going on and I could not even know about it. It isn't fair.

One afternoon I am surprised by a knock at the door, believing that it is someone I care about and love... someone who I am dying to see, I pretty much run down the stairs and to the front door. I open it and feel myself instantly smile... that smile almost disappears when I recognise the face.

"Jonathan," I say to him, I am definitely beyond surprise.

He smiles at me and quickly wraps his arms around me, "Oh, Bo, I'm so glad you're back. You have no idea!"

He almost chokes the breath out of me when he hugs me... but something about me... or something about him makes me hug him back and it is not because I feel uncomfortable... but the way he holds me is so familiar and lovely that I realise I have missed him. I smile and let my arms wrap around him.

"Did you have a good time?" he asks when he lets go of me, he is so happy.

His expression changes though from excited to... confused. I almost freak out, thinking that somehow, somehow he has realised where I have been and what has happened. His hand reaches for my hair. I feel his fingers twirl my single long blonde streak. I still do not completely understand how the hell that happened. I can only guess, that it represents the many powers Colt had - the many unnatural powers - and how each and every one left him the second I killed him and somehow left me with a mark.

"Do you like it?" I ask him.

His eyes look down at me, they are soft and warm, "it's different but I like it."

I stare at him as he stares at me and I can feel him holding me there... and I know that I care about him so much... I realise this feeling, that while I am so deeply in love with Cynric, somehow, I am falling in love with Jonathan. I may have only ever kissed him a couple of times... but I have known him for years and deep inside I know that I was falling in love with him years ago, when he was my neighbour and my friend. As I stand here, I feel like the majority of my mind is just wanting to kiss him and hold him and love him... but the rest of me, the wild and Fifth World human part of me is longing for someone else.

I feel him staring at me and I know that he is thinking about kissing me too... how do I tell him or explain this? I love Cynric so much more than Jonathan but I can't ignore the feelings I have for him either. Cynric did not come last night and I fear that if I keep waiting, I could be waiting forever... but what if he comes and I do pursue something with Jonathan? What if everything goes wrong just because I could not bare having to lose both of them? A love triangle is the last thing I need right now, but hell, I think I'm already in one.

"Bo," Jonathan whispers my name, "are you okay?"

I look up at him and I see the beauty in his face. I think any girl would kill to be in my shoes right about now. I cannot deny about how tempted I am to kiss Jonathan, his smile, his eyes, his beauty entirely, inside and out.

"Fine," I lie.

It isn't something I like to do but lying to Jonathan is something I have to do - for his protection and for mine. I want to tell him, believe me I do, but I can't. I don't know what I would do if something happened to him as a result of... everything, of this world and the other.

I feel my fingers begin to comb through his hair. I imagine Cynric's hair and remember each time when I was able to do this to him... I sigh and shake the vision from my head. I lean my head on Jonathan's shoulder and sigh again. I breathe in his scent, it is a nice smell he has, I'm not sure if it is his cologne... or just him but I like it. I care about him so much but I cannot help the way my heart feels; I will wait for Cynric. I think.