UNSPOKEN: Undone Realms Book 3

Ch. 5: The Prodigal Mother

 (3 days after Nolan's crossing)

Nolan sits on the porch of a Vitalist-maintained cabin tucked away on the side of a mountain.  Steam rises from his coffee cup, held in both hands to keep the chill away.

"It's freezing out here."  His mother plops down next to him, tucking a frayed quilt around his legs before wrapping the other half around herself.  Nolan wills away the uneasiness this closeness seems to bring to both of them.

"You could have brought us someplace warm.  Aren't there any versions of Earth ahead of the global warming curve?"

Vira chuckles.  "I didn't say I minded the cold.  Besides, I thought it would be easier for you if I brought you somewhere not that different from what you're used to."

"So you brought me here, to my father's home realm."

According to his mother, there are more parallel worlds—realms as she calls them—than can be counted.  Her father is from one of those realities that supposedly has the most knowledge of the Fold and the myriad worlds it leads to.  And his father?  Crazy, vindictive, brilliant Josef Reyes was born in the reality Nolan is currently sipping coffee in.

"About Josef—I know you want to know why he, well... why he was the way he was." His mother shivers as she stares out towards the forest, still shrouded in the mist of early morning. "People from one realm don't generally fare well when they spend too much time in another.   I did manage to help Josef... for a while, at least.  I knew, of course, where he'd come from before he'd even gotten up the courage to tell me himself.  He didn't want to return here, to his home realm.  Not ever.  Called it a 'totalitarian backwater,' which was a pretty accurate description.  Still is, unfortunately."

She pauses and he nods for her to continue.

"I didn't mean to be away from you for so long, you know."  Nolan holds his breath like he used to back at the hotel.  Here it is.  The explanation he's been waiting for.   "It's just that journeying restrictions were impossible to bypass.  And I was working on... correcting things.  Things that needed fixing for the good of all the realms.  You have to understand, when I left, Josef was taking his meds.  He was on an upswing, I swear!  I thought it would be better for you to stay with him.  At the time, we were anticipating terrorist attacks on the Vital realm.  You could have been in danger had you been with me.  And my work was important—really important.  It was my job, Nolan, but it wasn't what I wanted to be doing.  I wanted to be with you and your brother."

Nolan tries to imagine his father "on an upswing" but simply can't do it.  It isn't her mention of Josef, though, that sets him off.

"My brother."  Nolan places his empty mug on the porch's railing and tucks his hands under the quilt.  "Marcus is dead, you know.  He might still be alive if you'd stayed."

Vira flinches.  "I do know, and no. No he would not be alive.  The timeline is set.  There is no "if" involved.  I left and Marcus died.  If I could undo that, I would."

Nolan rests his head on the back of the porch swing and pushes off the floor with his boot.  He has spent the past few days in wonderment, beginning with the moment his mother first traces the air, opening the Fold like it's some kind of b-flick sci-fi slipstream.  Now he realizes his father had tried something similar, drawing imaginary patterns and jotting down formulas with the fervor of someone who believes he's just found the cure for cancer.  Unlike what happened then, which was nothing, when Vira does it, Nolan's entire world changes.  Literally.

After traversing an interdimensional portal with her, it becomes a lot easier for Nolan to accept the outlandish things flowing from his mother's mouth.  But he's not sure if he's ready to accept that Vira had her sons' best interests at heart when she left.  If Marcus hadn't died, maybe it would be easier.  Maybe everything would be easier.

"You know, you still haven't told me what you claimed you would straight away.  And I kind of want to know.  Why are there two of me?  Why—how are there two Nolans?"

"I did say I'd tell you, didn't I?"  Vira picks up a large thermos and unscrews the lid, then gestures to Nolan's mug.  She fills both their cups and they sit there silently for a moment.

"You're special, Nolan.  I know that sounds trite, but it's true.  The Vitalists know of no one alive currently with parentage from more than two realms.  Except for you.  You have vitality from two realms on my side and from a third on your father's.  This has given you special abilities.  Abilities we really couldn't have predicted as you are, well, the first."

Nolan's mind swirls.  "This is why I was able to see Clara, isn't it?"

Vira nods. "That's what we believe.  You have such a unique frequency signature, Nolan. This made it easy for me to track your interactions with Clara's reality from the one I was working in, which we were allowed to do even with the Ban in place.  My team and I were utterly fascinated with your ability to weave in and out of her realm for so long.  No one—no one has been able to perforate the barriers of realms without calling open the Fold first.  Of course, Clara's reality is unique itself and the barrier between it and your home realm is much narrower than between any other realities.  But still... it was quite exhilarating to see what you'd accomplished."

Nolan can't decide if he likes hearing that his mom has been tracking him all this time.  In one sense, he feels less abandoned—she had been monitoring him even though she couldn't be with him.  At the same time...  "You were spying on me?  That's like, a total invasion of my privacy."

"I lost one son, Nolan."  She stares down at her coffee, her jaw set.  "I was determined not to lose another.  Besides, it's not like I was actually watching you and your girlfriend... you know."

"Vira!"

"Look, just take the compliment, for crying out loud.  You were able to divide yourself through sheer will.  You exist in two separate realms simultaneously.  Do you know how extraordinary that is?

Something shatters as it hits the floor inside the cabin.  Nolan jumps in his seat, coffee sloshing onto the quilt.  

His mother flies to the door.  "Stay here." 

She pulls out a small golden device he figures must be some sort of high-tech Vitalist weapon.  Pointing it inside, she kicks open the door.  After a second, she lowers it and with a sigh of relief, enters the house.  "I'll be right back."

Unwilling to sit there idly, Nolan gets up and peers in through the doorway.  Someone else is indeed inside.  Another woman speaks in a low voice with his mother, but he can't make out any distinct features in the darkness.

He steps over the threshold just as his mother throws on the light switch.  The newly arrived woman looks to be in her fifties, with thick silver locks flowing over her shoulders.  She looks up at him as she sweeps the remnants of a broken dish into a corner.

"Is this him, Vira?  What a handsome boy!  Well, I expected him to be, of course."

A smile beams across his mother's face. 

"Come here, Nolan." She waves him over.  "I'd like you to meet a dear friend of mine.  Nolan, this is Marcella."

A/N:  I'm going to say what's on all of your minds... YAY Marcella, woo-hoo!!!  Yes, there's no way I'd let UNHEEDED's fan favorite take an absence from this book.

What did you think of Vira's excuse for leaving her sons?  Was she justified?  Just what do you think she was doing during the Ban that was so important (and how does Marcella factor in to all of this)?

Keeping with my "fellow contestant dedicatees), today the honor goes to @Willblathe, another Wattpadian I met during the Freeze-dried Fiction contest.  Will's writing is super smart.  I mean that, I truly mean that.  I'm completely obsessed with his current project, YOU ARE AFRAID OF J. DURHAM.  This story plays out like a true crime investigation of a murderous cult active in the seventies and eighties.  It is brilliant.  If you are in to occult/mystery/horror/crime fiction all rolled into one, run, don't walk to Will's profile and begin your descent into the madly addicting world he's built.

Today's media is courtesy of USDA Forest Service Alas..., Flickr Creative Commons.