The Laws of Paxia

21. What are we waiting for?

 Chapter Twenty-One

What are we waiting for?

  My Dad and I are walking through the night while our bodies are still sleeping at home. It feels nice to not be all by myself in this strange world of soul walking. Dad told me a bit about it and it sounds like I have loads to learn about being a Paxian.

  I still feel emotionally unstable after Carolyn’s visit. She reminded me of all the years we spent together and everything we went through. I was so blind and clueless all those years; it makes me mad just thinking about it! I need to spend as much time as possible with her before we find the key. I don’t know if I ever will be able to go back once I return to Paxia.

  I don’t want to blame Dad for keeping this from us, but I can’t help it. He lied to me whole my life. I was restlessly trying to find the missing piece in my life by trying out sports just to find that my body ached for Tarih. We might never have found the truth if I wasn’t grabbed into Paxia.

  Maybe walking is the wrong word to call it. We are floating quickly through the air and I wonder where he is taking me.

  “Dad?” I ask hesitantly and he turns his head around to give me a smile. “Will Keith be able to become like us?”

  He chuckles a lightly. “Of course, his Paxian mode is not activated yet.”

  “Where are we going?” I ask him instead of continuing on the same topic. We are passing through a new built residential area.

  “They started working on this whole district ten years ago,” Dad says thoughtfully. “It never occurred to me that they would destroy the place where I put the key. I didn’t really care what happened to it either. I never thought I needed to use it again.”

  The whole idea to throw it away sounds stupid to me. Why not keep it? It’s not like he had to use it. I keep these thoughts to myself as he takes me down to the frozen lake. The beach is covered in white sand and I realize that I’ve been here with my friends a lot of times.

  “It used to be trees and rocks all over this area. I hid the key in a crevice and stuffed it with more rocks.” He waves his hand across the beach and I try to picture what it used to look like. “They made a big effort by removing it all and making an artificial beach. The houses here are quite expensive and the neighbourhood is more attractive with a place to go swimming.”

  “The key could be anywhere then!” I exclaim frustrated at the thought of it hidden in a huge pile of rubble somewhere.

  Dad shakes his head and gives me a small smile that wakes up my hope a little bit.

  “I have a pretty good idea where it is,” he says. “I just haven’t been able to locate it. Someone found the rock and noticed the uniqueness of it and took it into the city. It will be a lot easier now since we have Tarih to guide us.”

  I’m not sure why he wanted to show me where he hid the key. Maybe he needs to explain why he can’t find it. Taking me here seems to be too much, but it looks like he feels a lot better by doing it.

  Who has the key now and at what price will we be able to get it back?

  I give him an evil smirk and gesture with my hand in the direction the city is. “What are we waiting for? Let’s find out where it is being held. It’s not like anyone can stop us with our advantage of walking through walls.”

  I won’t let any humans stop me from making what’s right. All the cruel months in Paxia taught me to not let anyone stand in my way. I almost starved to death and it makes me angry to think how good we have it here. No one should suffer through the extreme conditions the Island in Paxia offered us.