Star Crossed In Time - Chapter 184

Old man Ling leads us to a small shop with clothes of all kinds. A young woman comes over with a bright smile and says “How can I help you?” Old man Ling says “Give me your best dress in white for the lady and something nice for her escort.”

The woman quickly nods and disappears as I turn and look at Old man Ling with a frown. He gives me a toothy grin as he says “The stories always talk about you in white.” I nod my head slightly but still feel uneasy. I don’t like how all these people seem to know me and what I like…

An hour later, Ted and I walk out looking like new people. I tell the old man that I’ll pay him back but he refuses and says “Just ease the deity’s anger and bring back the rain.” I nod in thanks and leave the small town with Ted.

In order to make it to the Demonic Realm, it should only take about two days on foot. I was suddenly extremely grateful for the white dress. I was finally covered right and it was light and airy. The sun beats down without mercy and everything is so dry and hot.

It almost felt like walking in a desert! Ted looks around and whistles low making me smile. I look over to him and say “You look much better now that you’ve gotten some food in you. That and you don’t look like you have a dead animal on your face.” I chuckle as Ted laughs out loud.

He throws his arm around my shoulders as he says “You know, that’s the first time I’ve laughed in ten years. It’s good to have you back Nova.” My smile quickly vanishes as guilt eats away at me. I look up to him and say “It’s good to be back old man.” I nudge him lightly in the ribs making him laugh again.

His eyes sparkle with joy as he says “I’ve always thought of you as a good friend and like a little sister but now it really feels that way. You don’t look like you’ve aged a day!” I giggle and say “Yeah yeah, I’ll acknowledge you as my older brother old man.”

Ted laughs again as he leans his head back, looking up at the sun and taking a deep breath. “You know, I thought I’d never see the sun again. I thought I was going to die down there.” He says while still looking up at the sky.

I watch him and say “I’m sorry, Ted. Because of me, you..” He quickly cuts me off and says “Nope! Not because of you. That bastard is a sick freak and when I get my hands on him… I’ll kill him for all the things he’s done.”

I sigh and look down at the dry dirt path before saying “He’s dangerous Ted. You should just stay away from him. If what you said earlier is true, he’s been here for ten years. That’s plenty of time to get settled and become stronger. Let’s hope something happened and he was killed, otherwise… we’ll have another monster on the lose.”

Ted looks down and watches me closely before slowly nodding his head and saying “I understand. What you say is true… it’s best to avoid that freak for now. But, when I become stronger… I have a score to settle with that prick. For what he’s done to me and my little sister.”

I snort and say “Are you being serious? Why do you keep calling me your little sister!” Ted comes to a stop, making me stop as well. He turns me to look at him as he says “I’m being serious. I love you, Nova, not in a romantic way but like in a family. The day I thought you died… I realized that I should have taken better care of you. Am I not good enough to be your big brother?”

I stare at him in shock before quickly shaking my head no as I say “No, it’s not like that at all. I just didn’t think you were serious… I would love to have you as an older brother.” Ted’s smile nearly blinds me as he pulls me into a large hug.

“Then it’s settled. We’re now brother and sister, okay? We’re family.” Ted says ruffling my hair. I swat his hand away with a chuckle and say “Got it, family.” I straighten my hair and keep walking but after a few hours, I find myself looking for shade.

Ted seems worst than me at the moment. He was sweating buckets and his face even looked sunburnt! I look around the bare land and all the dead trees with mixed emotions. I really don’t understand what’s happened.

As it gets closer to night time, we find a spot to get comfortable and both agree not to start a fire. One, it was too freaking hot and two, with everything being so dry, we’d probably catch everything on fire, including ourselves!

“Once we get to the Demonic Realm, that guy Bai Lei will be able to help us right?” Ted says laying down, looking up at the stars. I walk over and lay down next to him as I say “I hope so… Things have changed so much since the last time I was here… it’s hard to say anymore.”

Ted remains quiet for a while before saying “Well, we still have each other. If nothing else, we can make a small home for ourselves and live off the land.” I snort and say “What land? Everything is dead.” Ted chuckles and says “The townspeople built a statue of you and they got wells. Just think, we have the real thing!”

This time I laugh as I reach over and hit him saying “What, are you planning to stick me in the ground and do a rain dance?” Ted laughs and says “It’s worth a shot!” We both laugh and cut up until we grow tired. Before we know it, we’ve both fallen asleep under the dark clear sky.

“Little star…” I slowly open my eyes and turn to find the woman with bloody tears staring down at me. I jump up and pat my chest before saying “You scare me every time… wait, why are you here?” She looks at me with that same sad face as she says “You have to stop him… you must.”

I frown with confusion and quickly say “You’re mistaken, I stopped him. I killed him.” The woman slowly shakes her head and points behind me. I stiffen and instantly feel my heartbeat kick up. I don’t want to look… I really don’t want to look!

When she continues to just stand there, pointing behind me, I slowly close my eyes and turn. When I slowly open my eyes, what I see has me in shock. Frozen silence fills the air as fire reflects in my now golden green eyes.

People are screaming in pain and terror as everything burns. Dark black creatures are attacking the people from behind and ripping them apart like they’re rag dolls. Suddenly a tall figure with a large tribal looking mask, covered in strange markings and feathers, stands in the middle of it all.

Slowly, the figure turns to look at me, making me shiver. It turns its head in a creepy manner and lifts a boney hand, pointing at me. When I feel something warm, I look down and see my hands covered in blood! I suck in and look back up to find the damn thing right before me!

It was leaned over and staring at me in a creepy ass way! I suck in and hold my breath as its inky black eyes look me over, tilting its head to the side. What was up with the creepy-ass mask!!?! “Who… are… you?” It asks in a raspy voice making me shiver.

I grit my teeth and say “The one coming for you…” It blinks in surprise and suddenly everything is gone.

I frown when I feel my face burning and when I open my eyes, I instantly regret it. It burns!! I turn to the side and hide my face as I groan. Ted’s snoring can still be heard so after a few minutes, I sit up and look around with a blank face. What. The. Hell. Was. That!? I sigh when I realize that I didn’t kill the right ‘man’.

I’m still tired… I want to sleep more but I’m already sweating and I’m pretty sure I have a sunburn on my face! I’m so thirsty… I look over and nudge Ted. He snorts and wakes up saying “What? What is it?” I yawn and say “It’s time to go. I’m thirsty and it’s only going to get hotter so we better start moving now.”

Ted groans and slowly gets up. He cracks his neck and back while saying “I’m getting old…” I chuckle and say “You’re thirty-six, not sixty. Let’s go old man.” Ted yawns as we start back on the road. It was surprising but we never ran into anyone while traveling.

After three hours or so, we finally make it to the next town. I look around the busy streets and begin looking for water but only after a few minutes, the people in the town all stop to stare and point. I walk over to a middle-aged woman and ask “Excuse me, where can I find water?”

The woman gapes at me before asking “Are you the fallen star? Have you come back?” I debate on what to say. Should I lie? I look around the surrounding people then think back to our situation. Maybe they’ll be more apt to help us if I told them the truth…

I slowly nod my head and say “I just came back, I’m currently traveling and looking for water.” The woman begins to tear up as she reaches out for my hands. I let her grab me as she says “Please ease the deity’s anger. We will treat you well from now on.”

I frown at her as I say “I.. uh, will talk to him but I really don’t need anything but water.” She quickly nods her head and leads us to what looks like a long line. She pulls me past the line and walks straight up to the front.