The Five Dimensions Part 1: Shadow World

Chapter 41

Small clouds drifted by, occasionally a thick one passed over the sun and the room became dark. Hailey tried to turn on the light in a daze, but she found she needed to be more focused to achieve it. At first, she patted around the lamp to find a switch, only to realize there wasn't any. It was in that moment that she heard Alex's words again. She reached underneath the lamp shade and touched the smooth stone, which instantly lit up. She brushed her fingers over the rough, stony surface and found that by moving them in a certain way, she could make the stone brighter, and she could dim it by moving the opposite direction until it finally turned off.

She went back to staring at the clouds, but her mind was much clearer than before. She realized that sulking wouldn't do her any good. Just when she moved her eyes from a cloud that disappeared behind the window frame, there was a knock on the door.

"Hailey?" said the voice, it was calm and soft and a very pleasant sound to hear. It took her a few seconds to answer.

"Yes?" She turned at the same moment the door opened. It was Alex. Hailey was relieved and managed to smile at him. Alex was easy to talk to. Ash could be like that, but not when he had his mask up. And even then, Ash made Hailey nervous, and she didn't like to feel that way, that uncontrolled.

"Your luggage has arrived," Alex said, showing her the suitcase. "We need to get to dinner now, my mother does not like to wait."

"Ash said he would be the one to pick me up," Hailey said while getting up from the bed and going to Alex. He shrugged. She looked at the boy again, more closely than before. He wore a white blouse that was neatly flat ironed, and fancy dark blue trousers. Underneath them, however, he wore bright red sneakers that contrasted starkly against his other neat clothing. It reminded Hailey very strongly of the fact that they were the same age. It was right after this thought that she noticed something else about Alex that was possibly odd. His mother and brother both smelled of roses, but Alex didn't; he smelled of books. The crisp papery scent that only books could provide. As if Alex spent more time in a library than outside, which didn't surprise Hailey at all since he had that kind of look in his eyes that only someone who was happiest when consuming copious amounts of information could have. She thought that Alex would be a good person to come to with her questions.

"Ash asked if I could," Alex replied simply, not showing any sort of distress.

He led her out of the room and down the hallway. Suddenly Hailey remembered hearing footsteps earlier. It could've been Ash. She was thinking about what that meant when Alex's voice shook her out of her thoughts.

"Do you want to take the shortcut again or would you rather go down the big staircase?"

"I prefer having some light this time." And just as she said it, the lights became brighter. It was only a few steps until they reached the stairs. Hailey felt separated from the house before, isolated. That feeling wasn't completely gone, but she realized now that it was slightly exaggerated. Really, she was quite close to the heart of the building.

Alex looked at Hailey shortly before hopping down the first step. She got hold of the railing before following him. She felt tiny compared to the hugeness of the stairs and feared she would stumble if she didn't have anything to hold on to.

She looked around, taking it all in again. It was the same style as the rest of the house. Here the wall was decorated with paintings of people. Underneath the images were names and dates. Hailey assumed they were ancestors. It fascinated her enough to keep her occupied for as long as it took them to get down the second stairs.

While going down the third and last staircase she studied Alex. She got an odd feeling about him. Hailey wasn't attracted to him, not at all, but she felt a connection with him that she couldn't explain. She was surprised when she found she was on flat ground again.

Alex turned left and headed towards the West side of the house. Just when they did, a young man came through the front door, his arms were filled with logs. She looked at him for a moment and smiled. He returned the smile, but hastily turned his eyes down.

Hailey looked after the man curiously, but then turned back to Alex and followed him quietly. After passing some other doors they reached the dining room. Alex held one of the double doors open for Hailey to walk through.

The room wasn't as huge as the entry hall, but it was still big. Her living room would've fitted into it several times. Hailey's eyes looked around at the windows, the last light of the day filtering through them. Silk curtains hung on each side. Then she saw the long table covered with food. A total of twenty chairs stood around it and the candles on the table and on the walls lit the room.

Most people were already seated. Mrs. Ravensdale was at the head, the farthest from where Hailey was standing. On the woman's right were two empty seats. Next to that was a girl with strawberry blonde hair and a build similar to Mrs. Ravensdale. Next to her sat a man with brown hair like Ash, but his eyes were the same as the girl's sitting next to him, wide and dark green like the leaves of a tree in the shade. On the left side of Mrs. Ravensdale was another empty seat. Next to that seat were Leo, a young, light blonde-haired child, her eyes darting around the room, taking in every detail with wonder, and a woman with darker blonde hair who was occupied with straightening the little girl's dress.

Mrs. Ravensdale waved at Alex and Hailey. She smiled and told Hailey to sit at her right. Alex went to sit on the left and greeted his mother politely.

"Ashton is not here yet," Mrs. Ravensdale said with a tone of disappointment. "But we will not wait for him."

"Some introductions are in order," said the brown-haired man politely. It was Riddick Alborn, Hailey knew that, but she didn't dare to tell him she did.

"Only quickly because the food will be cold soon." Mrs. Ravensdale frowned; her eyes focused on the door. Mr. Alborn looked a little taken back because of his wife's severe tone but didn't point it out. Then she gave everyone a short glance and said all their names very hastily. "My husband, Riddick. Next to him is Aribelle. Opposite of him is Hazel and next to her is dear Luna. Now, we should―"

"I'm sorry I'm late," said Ash, pushing through the double doors. He walked into the room, scanned it shortly and took his seat next to Hailey. He gave her a brief look and turned to his mother, words forming on his lips.

"Say that sentence in proper Conturian. You are not around mortals anymore, so do not speak in their primitive tongue," interrupted Mrs. Ravensdale acutely. Ash sighed but didn't complain.

"I am sorry I am late." He turned away from his mother. It didn't sound much different to Hailey, only he didn't use contractions and the words she heard didn't match with the movements his mouths were making. Ash's mother looked pleased, so her translator must still be working. 

Mrs. Ravensdale told everyone to start their dinner.