Atypical (A Magnus Chase fan novel)

Alex Becomes One With the Wall

     The door slid open to show the sun low in the sky, almost ready to set in a while. The bloodred and marigold rays illuminated a familiar neighborhood. "Wait..."

     "This is Back Bay," Amara said. She stepped out of the elevator. "We're on Commonwealth Avenue. Seaport is over there." She started walking briskly towards the opposite direction of Boston Waterfront, and Alex and I rushed after her.

     "No wait, Amara wait!" Alex said. She turned around, genuinely confused.

     "What?"

     "You can't... you were probably going to see your family, right? Do you live around here?" I asked.

     "Um... yeah, I guess." She looked down uncomfortably. She seemed embarrassed telling us that she lived near such a rich area.

     "Look," Alex said, surprisingly gently. "Everyone thinks you're dead. I'm sure people have noticed your disappearance. You can't just show up at home like that and then leave, think of how odd it would be." I noticed how he didn't bring up parents. He had a pretty messed up childhood, and so did I, so it was pretty smart of him to tread lightly.

     Amara took a breath. "Well, actually, I kind of had that in mind. I don't think I actually would have gone to my mom. It's just, I need to do something else. No people involved." She looked up hopefully. "Please?"

     Alex and I exchanged looks. To be honest, I was kind of curious at what she wanted to do so badly that did not involve humans. I wondered if it had something to do with her pets. I also figured it was the best we could do for her, dying and all, and then figuring out she had me for a brother and a god for a father. Alex must have been thinking the same things, or he could just read me really well.

     He shrugged. "Sure."

     Amara took off, darting around the street corners. I don't think she was trying to get away from us though, she just seemed really excited. Even then, we had to hurry to keep up with her.

     On Boylston Street, she turned off the road to a little trail that I had never seen before.

     "Are you sure this is safe? Where are you going?" I asked.

     "Just wait, you'll see," she said, strolling through the brush confidently. Lush green trees stuffed the little trail, and I had to watch out for thick, gnarled tree roots underfoot. Scarlet and gold light filtered in the trees from the sunset, dappling the forest floor. That is, if we were even in a forest. I still didn't have the slightest idea where we were going. It wasn't a long walk, and soon I could see an opening in the trees just ahead. When there was just three feet between us and the gap, Amara stopped abruptly. I ran into Alex, who rolled his eyes and grabbed my shoulders to steady me so I wouldn't fall face first on the ground. Because that's exactly the kind of thing I would do.

     She studied us as if she was having second thoughts about our presence, like she was thinking, Why are they here again? She seemed like she was predicting our reactions to whatever was about to happen.

     "Just... just don't freak out, okay?" she said. "And don't scream."

     Again, Alex and I exchanged looks, and now I was having second thoughts. I was about to ask why we would scream, when Amara stepped forward and pushed aside a tree branch, revealing something that I wished I had not agreed to not yelling. My breath caught in my throat.

     Lions, lions lounged in a massive enclosure. I could not see the end of it. Thick forest vegetation melted into the back, but in front of us was a clearing of dirt, with less trees. A lioness stretched out on a manmade double porch-style structure, while another lapped up water from a little water hole, that had a creek running from it, which also disappeared into the back. The whole thing was wrapped around with the same kind of wire that you might find caging a basketball court, and then about six feet of a thick layer of glass surrounding the bottom of it.