Chapter 3
The last candle you could dig up in the apartment became alive with fire as you touched the lit match to the wick. You stepped back to admire your handiwork and to make sure everything was perfect. About a half dozen or so candles of different sizes sat on the coffee table with plates under them to collect the melting wax. If they should burn out there was a small army of flashlights that sat at the ready on the table. As you made the final check, you couldn’t help but noticed the way Twilight looked in the candle light. It was as if she has a strange glow around her, giving just enough radiance to show her gorgeous body while dim enough to make her full appearance a mystery.
“There, that should do it,” you said sitting back down next to Twilight. “I checked the breaker box, but everything looks intact. Not sure what’s going on. At least we have enough light to see each other. You can see me fine, right Twilight?”
It was then that you noticed her silence that seemed louder than the rain that pelted the window outside and the booming thunder. You realized that ever since you set about getting some temporary light back to the living room your guest was oddly quiet. Looking over at her, you could see she was facing forward and hunched over slightly, staring at the candles.
“Uh, Twilight? Are you ok?” you said waving a hand across her face.
“Huh?” she said with a startled tone before looking over at you. “Oh, yes, I’m fine. Err… what did you ask me?”
“Um, never mind. What’s going on with you? You’ve been quiet ever since the power went out.”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” she said trying to dismiss her feelings, but the worry on her face said otherwise.
“Twilight, I know we only met an hour or so ago, but if you need to tell me something please do. I want to help you, but I can’t if you’re being silent about whatever is going on.”
She still said nothing to you, although it appeared that she was looking to speak the truth if nothing more than to clear her mind of the thoughts bottled up inside. Still there was something holding her back.
“If you’re afraid of me telling a secret, don’t worry. I want to help you, not hurt you.”
The girl wrestled with your words for a moment, planning what to do or say next. For a moment she looked at the stairs leading down and back to the outside world as if planning to leave. Then she looked at you as if trying to study you face for any hint of truth or lies. Finally she let out a sigh and said, “You’re right, I haven’t been honest. The truth is I can’t get back to my home, at least not for a long time. I don’t live here but far away.”
“Well, why not find a cab or a train to get back? Surely it’s not that far away. Is it that you don’t have money?”
“No, I have money. It’s just; I can’t get back there using a plane, train, or anything like that!”
You looked at her with a bewildered expression, not sure why she couldn’t return to where she wanted to be. May be there was something else beyond physically getting back there. You had to be careful though at what you would say next.
“Is there someone then that isn’t letting you get back, like someone is trying to find you or hurt you?”
“What? No, of course not! I want to get back home, and no one is stopping me except…” she said as her voice trailed off, and once again she returned to her silence as she plotted what to say next. Finally she let out another sigh before saying, “Do you believe in magic?”
“I do, I mean I’ve been studying books on it but never really seen done much with it.”
You thought about that moment when you touched Twilight and how you felt the power between the two of you before the power inexplicably cut out. Was this magic that you felt? Now was not the time to delve further into the question as you needed to help Twilight first.
“You do?” she said as her purple eyes lit up with a new sense of interest. “How long have you practiced? Have you done any spells? Any magical phenomena here?”
The barrage of questioning left you stunned, unable to answer a single one. Clearly she was deeply interested in magic, which was comforting. You hadn’t met many who had an interest in magic like you did, as most people either thought talk of magic was either the stuff of fantasy or worse evil.
“Err.. too many questions, huh?” Twilight said with an embarrassed laugh. “Sorry, let me get back to what I was trying to say. Alright, next question: Do you believe in other worlds?”
“You mean parallel realities, or life on other planets?”
“Yeah, I guess. Like you could enter world like this, just not entirely like here.”
“I guess so, I mean we can’t be the only ones out there right?”
“Yeah, right.”
“So, what does this talk of magic and other worlds have to do with you?”
She gave a deep breath before saying. “Ok, now the big part, and promise not to freak out about this.”
“Ok,” you said bracing yourself in the chair, not sure what she would say next.
“I’m…. “ she said before thinking and then saying. “The reason that I can’t get home is that I don’t know how I got here in the first place. When I said I’m not from here, I meant that I’m not from this world but another one just like this. You understand, what I mean, right?”
“I… um… I think you’re a nice person Twilight, but maybe you need some help that I can’t give you.”
“Wh…what do you mean?” she said.
“There should be a doctor in this city that will happy to talk with you.”
“No, stop, I’m telling the truth!” she said more desperate than before. “How can I make you believe in me?”
“I… I don’t know how,” you said with a shrug, “but it was nice meeting you, and it looks like the storm has passed now. In any case it is getting kind of late, so…”
“Wait!” she said understand that you were going to show her out of the apartment. “Err… let me try something with my magic.”
She focused on a book on your coffee table, staring at in with a strange intensity. Soon the girl began to grit her teeth as she stared more intently at her target.
“Um… Twilight? What are you doing?”
“Ugh! Come on magic!” she said ignoring your words as she closed her eyes as if trying to concentrate more, “Work already!”
Before you could say anything, Twilight let out a frustrated shout as she stood up. Suddenly the book in question floated in the air. You stared at it for a moment before the book suddenly rocketed towards you! You only had a split second to duck as the book sailed past your head before crash landing in the darkness of your bedroom. For a moment you remained in your crouched position with your hands over your head like a scared turtle. After realizing you were still alive and unharmed, you stood up as your mind tried to comprehend what you saw. This was magic, not stuff from movies or simple stage sleight of hand but real magic. This girl who claimed to be from another world just performed real magic! Before you could say anything to her, you watched as Twilight began to sway as if her balance was off. You quickly rushed to her side just as she suddenly collapsed, catching her just in time in your arms.
“Twilight!”