Where Spirits Dwell

The sheer amount of events became a blur in Jiordano’s memory. The next thing he knew he was being wheeled in a cart towards an unknown location, bound, hands manacled. Now he was a prisoner, shackled next to a strange girl. The colourful lights had disappeared from around her but the memory of them was still fresh in his mind. He could almost construct them with his brain, placing each distinct colour on her body. He stopped when he realized it was just an illusion, fooling only himself.

He stared at her for a long while, until she shifted beneath his gaze. He looked away realizing that his attention wasn’t exactly normal. A blush suffused his cheeks; he had never been so rude before, especially to a girl. In all honestly he hadn’t had much contact with other people his age, let alone women. He had been a simple boy with a simple life just going about it to please Mrs. Tanner in any way he could. Now he had been captured along with a rather pretty girl.

She’s pretty! he realized in shock and surprise. As a result the colour in his cheeks deepened to a distinct cherry red. Then he realized they knew absolutely nothing about each other and before he realized it, he had opened his mouth.

“What’s your name?” he asked, voice cracking from the stress of their shared situation and his parched throat.

“Estella, what is yours?” she responded quietly, as if unsure of her decision to speak.

Those few words communicated so much more than he had expected; he could hear the nervousness in her voice, the fear. The emotions echoed throughout him, the exact feelings he was experiencing. He realized that they were no different, here in this moment; they both were scared of the creatures outside leading them to an unknown place, and situation.

“I’m…” he paused to ponder the question, his name along with so much more about himself had changed over these past few days. He didn’t even know who he was anymore. He responded in the best way he could, despite the difficulty her question brought.

“I’m Jiordano,” he said, forcing a smile onto his face, trying to reduce the feelings their situation brought. He tried to find another topic, to distract both himself and the girl. Then inspiration struck.

“Who was the boy you were with earlier?” he asked, realizing as he spoke that she had in fact had a companion. The information just hadn’t seemed important at the time and in light of their recent events, he didn’t blame himself for forgetting.

“A friend from my village, we are traveling together,” she stopped for a moment, then added, “Are you okay?”

The question took him by surprise, he had been the one running the conversation, he hadn’t thought she would respond aside from the demands of courtesy. As the last word of her question reverberated throughout the air, Jiordano realized he wasn’t okay.

He wasn’t panicked, terrified, or filled with fear. In fact, an unnatural calm had taken hold of him, despite their imprisonment. Yet he felt… lonely. He recognized that the cause was from his separation from Skylar; despite only days of being together he realized they had bonded on many levels. She was becoming a part of him, and he her. The thought should scare him but he felt a sense of rightness from it, one that did not allow a desire to be normal to live within him.

“I’m,” he searched for the right word, “Managing.”

He took a few minutes to ponder his revelation some more. He decided that he might as well be honest with Estella; fate had yet to decide whether they would survive the day.

“Have you ever felt separated from someone? That you can’t bear to be without them for too long?” he laughed, realizing the ridiculousness of his question, “Never mind, just suffice to say that I’m… missing someone right now, it feels like a weight has settled on my soul.”

A look of incredulity spread over the girls face. She seemed surprised by his honesty, as surprised as he felt.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t relate to what you are saying. All I know is that you will be reunited to that person, this can’t, and won’t be the end,” she responded in a strong, almost confident voice.

Jiordano was touched by her kindness, and then he grinned. She probably thought he was some love struck fool, the truth, was far more shocking. He accepted what he was becoming, as much as he could, yet he realized that few others would be as understanding. His feelings had nothing to do with love; they went far deeper than that, it was an inexplicable, unexplainable bond that he was just beginning to flesh out and one he knew would take a lifetime to fully understand.

He felt the cart roll to a stop, “I hope your right,” he whispered to her as a door opened, light flooding the carts interior.

“Out. Both of you,” a harsh voice called from outside.

Jiordano got up slowly, he walked towards the door, determined to exit first, to walk into whatever danger lurked outside before Estella. He heard a steady drag of metal on the wooden floor, his chains mimicking his movements below him.

As he emerged outside he allowed his eyes to adjust to the torchlight. He had little time to focus, other than on the fact that it was night time.

A voice called in front of him, “The lady Evangeline wishes to see you.”

The name invoked a cold sweat to emit from his pores. It was involuntary, yet the name itself chilled him in a mysterious way. Soon he would meet the woman who had both saved, and condemned them.