Phantom Moon (Nora's part)

Untitled Part 7

When Ander goes a full fifteen seconds without talking, I know he's fallen asleep. So, I start shouting at Garet.

"Why the frick would you give him that much?!"

"That much what?"

"Mushrooms! What do you think?"

"Oh. That. Well, I didn't want just a little left over, so..."

"So, you gave him all of it?! Aren't you supposed to be a healer or something?!"

"Ish?"

"Ish."

"Yep. Ish."

"You have got to be freaking kidding me! I can't even believe you could be so stupid! What the frick?!"

"You said that already."

"Shut up."

"Make me."

"Gladly." I go to attack him, or something, but the car lurches forward, which makes me fall back in my seat. "When we stop, that is."

Sune looks back from the driver's seat. "So, who here knows how to get to the Tripple W?"

I raise my hand. I look at Iz, but she's staring out the window and acting like she didn't hear him.

"Just Nora? Ok, great. How do we get there?"

"Well, we're actually really close. Get out of the city and drive until you reach just plain desert. After that, drive for half hour straight south. I can direct you from there."

"Ok, but what direction do I go from here?"

"Well, south from the city, so however you get to the south side of the city."

"Wow. Ok. Great. Thanks tons."

"No problem. But you might want to hurry. The police are after us, and you're barely going the speed limit."

Actually, even that description was generous. He's driving like an old man or something.

"Oh. Right. I'll go faster."

Which he does, but not much. Garet groans.

"Ok, Sune, that's it. Move! I'm taking over!"

"What? While the car is still in motion?"

"Yes! Move!"

Garet pushes his brother, who ends up smashed against the door. He must have slammed his foot on top of his because I hear Sune yelp right when the car picks up speed.

"See, Sune? This is how you drive!"

"No, it's not! This is how you get us killed!"

Honestly, he should try driving with Janus.

With Garet now at the wheel, and with the police sirens actually clearing a way for us as well as them, we make good time out of the city. Sune manages to climb into the passenger seat, though he doesn't seem very happy about any of it. Ander sleeps through the whole thing.

We manage to lose the police, though I don't really know how, since Garet doesn't seem very worried about them. We race through the suburbs and into the desert. I calculate the time and speed of the car and, after only fifteen minutes (we're going twice as fast as I normally would), I shout for Garet to turn right.

"It hasn't been a half hour yet!"

"I know, but you're going fast! Just turn!"

"There's no road there!"

"I don't care! Turn before we miss it!"

"Miss what?! I don't see anything except a bunch of cacti!"

"Exactly! Turn!"

"But- fine! Whatever!"

The car doesn't slow much over the dirt, which I think is a terrible idea, but who am I to argue with Garet? I probably wouldn't do much better than him, so whatever. Who cares?

I give him a few more directions before abruptly telling him to stop. Before he can completely, though, I just open the door and jump out, taking a few steps to stop my momentum.

"Someone, grab Ander for me!"

Reese is the next to get out, and he's dragging Ander along, who is, somehow, still asleep.

"I've got him. However, this is the middle of the desert. Are we to just leave the car here?"

"Yes, obviously."

Then, I kick a cactus.

Yes, people, I actually kick a cactus. This cactus is no ordinary cactus, though. It's actually the trigger for the entrance, but the others don't know that, so they just look at me like I'm crazy. Until it starts moving, that is. It spirals into the ground leaving a staircase in its place.

"See, people? I'm not crazy. Let's go."

Then, I lead them down into the darkness of my past.

The staircase, for the most part, is completely dark. No one talks for once, so the only sounds are our footsteps and our breath. And Ander thunking along behind Reese. There's that, too. It only starts to lighten towards the bottom, though the light is coming from the hallway it leads into, not the staircase itself, so when I see two figures waiting for us, and I can't make anything out, I instinctively go into the defensive. When one of them speaks, though, I just want to run.

"It's about time, Aminora. You really shouldn't keep your grandparents waiting."

Instead of running, which, honestly, I'm really proud of, I just compose myself and push past them without even acknowledging them. Even though both they and Miguel make it really hard.

"These are your grandparents? I didn't know you had grandparents. Well, obviously you do, but I thought they were dead or something! Oh, wait, you mentioned them before, didn't you? Never mind! But shouldn't you say something to them? I mean, how long has it been since you've seen them? Well, if you're not going to, I will. Hello, Nora's grandparents! I'm Miguel! What's your favorite food? I'm not really sure what mine is. I think it might be tacos. Tacos are good. Do you like tacos? I bet you do. It would be weird if you didn't. I think everyone should like tacos."

Milly finally elbows him in the ribs. "Shut up, would you? Let someone else say something."

"Oh. I wasn't? I thought I was. Is that why no one else was talking? I thought it was just because I couldn't hear them. Or because Nora hates her grandparents or something. But that would be stupid because grandparents are great! Have you ever heard of a mean set of grandparents? I haven't."

"Shut up! There's a reason no one else is talking!"

"So, she does hate them? That's sad. But wait! You were talking just now! Doesn't that count?"

"No. It doesn't. Be quiet."

I've been so caught up in listening to that train wreck that I didn't notice where we're heading, but I do now. We're heading back to my home. Not the human one, obviously, but the apartment we stayed in whenever we came here. I almost yell at my grandparents, but then I remember I'm not talking to them, so I just act like I'm perfectly fine with it. Even though I'm not. I'm definitely not fine.