Immortalys

Chapter Twenty-Eight: New Years in Immortalys

Blainey, holding the full plate of cookies, rapped confidently on the front door of the stately three-storey home. The giant house, built so that it hugged the rocky cliffs behind it, was all decorated for New Years: there were strings of icicle lights along every eave of the roof, colorful bulbs on the bushes, and an interesting wreath on the door that shimmered in vibrant swirling patterns like it was made out of fiber optics rather than pine needles. Pure white snow glimmered everywhere in the sunlight: there was at least a foot of snow on the roof, the bushes, and the windowsills, and three feet everywhere else.

Just as Blainey leaned forward on the porch to study the unique wreath, the door opened and a little boy around the age of ten peered up at them. He had a round face, mousy brown hair, and inquisitive hazel eyes.

"Hi!" said Blainey. "Are your parents home?"

"Yeah," the boy said. He leaned back into the house. "MOM! There are people at the door!"

Soon enough, a middle-aged woman ran up to the threshold wearing a flowery dress and apron. Her strawberry-blonde hair was up in a bun, showing the rosiness of her cheeks which was comparable to her son's. "Hello!" she greeted the three friends.

"Hi!" Blainey repeated. "I'm Blainey Vega, and these are the two Withouts. We wanted to come meet you and bring you cookies."

"Oh, how sweet of you!" the woman invited them into the warm and beautiful house, where Blainey immediately noticed the smell of something delicious cooking. Candles decorated the mantle above the fireplace, instrumental music was playing somewhere in the living room, and the sound of little children giggling and screaming came from another room off of the kitchen.

The woman introduced herself as Amanda Meadow-Crag. Her son's name was Chip, and she had two daughters named Adelaide and Laura, whose ages were six and two, and who were the ones making all the noise in the next room. Her husband was Clyde Meadow-Crag, and he worked as a Capitol officer within the education department. Just as they were talking about him, he appeared around the corner with one daughter on his shoulders and the other latched around his foot.

"Hello there," he said to Blainey, Willow, and Friction, smiling but wincing as he dragged himself and the two giggling girls over to the visitors. "I'm sorry for my late arrival!"

Blainey laughed and waved enthusiastically to Adelaide and Laura. "No problem at all! Your kids are so cute!"

"Haha, thanks!" Clyde lifted the little girl off of his shoulders and set her gently on her own feet. "Alright, enough pulling Daddy's hair, Laura. Are you going to say hi to our visitors?"

The little girl's big brown eyes stared up at Blainey, but the only movement Laura made was to start sucking her finger.

Adelaide, on the other hand, barged past Chip and pulled herself over the edge of the counter, her eyes on the plate that Blainey had brought. "Can I have a cookie?"

"They look delicious, don't they?" said Amanda. "But you'll have to wait until after dinner."

"So, Mr. Meadow-Crag," said Blainey to Clyde, "Willow and Friction really wanted to meet you since they learned you had been a Without, too. How long has it been again since you came to Immortalys?"

"Nearly fifteen years," he replied. "Time really flies!" He laughed and looked at Willow and Friction. "I was a reporter for a Canadian news company before I came here."

"So how did you find Immortalys?" Willow asked.

"We became interested in the technology vacuum in this area and began to look into its effects, and one day as I was poking around up here I came across a strange magnetic field, and entered into a mysterious gate." He smiled as the Withouts nodded at him, knowing exactly how he must have felt. "Thanks to the kindness of the Immortalys officers, I was able to make a new life here. All the Canadians think I was lost in the tundra and froze to death." Clyde shrugged. "I missed it sorely at first, but then I began to love my new home. I met my beautiful wife, had three kids, and have been happy about the change ever since."