Stevie Wonder's There: A Fictional Narrative

Leela heard Meena slam the trunk of her Jeep closed. After she hopped in, Leela pulled out of the police station’s parking lot.

"What's in the bags?" Leela asked.

"Don't worry about it," Meena replied.

She didn't want to worry. Her sister had been distant since they returned from Annwyn. The tears had dried, leaving a curt, prickly demeanor. Leela struggled with that to say. Nothing seemed appropriate. I'm sorry for your loss certainly wasn't.

"Are you Ok," Leela tried to open a conversation. "I'm here for you."

"Thanks."

"We'll get through this."

"Whatever."

Silence stretched between them. Construction jammed the lane onto the highway. Cars honked and tried to cut in front of each other. The jazzy funk of Stevie Wonder’s

“I Wish” flowed from the speakers. Leela reached to turn up the volume on the radio, but pulled back. Greatest hits from the seventies and eighties must wait. She needed to draw Meena out.

"Remember last Halloween?" She poked Meena's arm. "We dressed like swans and tricked that guy in the raven outfit into buying us drinks. Remember?"

"No."

"Oh, come on."

"I remember Fiona laughing as the back of her golden egg costume fell off. Some dick at the bar is not top of mind."

"Of course, sorry." Leela said in a low voice. They were headed into a potential battle. It’s best not to have unnecessary friction, she thought.

A pickup truck in the next lane cut in front of her just as the light changed to yellow, forcing her to break hard. The seat belt dug into her shoulder as she was whipped forward. They missed their turn to get on the ramp.

Leela cursed the driver under her breathe. Speaking to Meena, she said, "Shouldn’t' have brought it up. I miss Fiona too. Your heart hurts, so does mine."

"There will never be anyone like her. I'm just..." Meena leaned the side of her head against the window. The sun lit half of her face.

"What?"

"Angry. Really infuriatingly angry."

"That's one of the five stages, right?" Leela made it onto the highway only to slow down as traffic came to a crawl.

"Yeah, between acceptance and wanting to destroy a bitch."

"I'm not sure about that last one."

Meena pulled at her hair. "Quinn's just going to get away with murder."

"You don't know that." As glad as Leela was that Meena opened up, the words worried her. How can a family remain united when the members could not agree?

"Khalil will make sure of it," Meena said.

"No, I meant we don't know if it was murder."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Hear me out."

"Pull over." Meena glared at her and placed her hand on the handle as if she was about to dive out of the moving car.

"You're a cop," Leela pleaded, "there is such a thing as mitigating circumstances and due process." Like with Ryker, Leela didn’t want her to spiral into bitterness and thoughts of payback. That led to hate, a loss of self and values. They needed to get over the loss to move on.

"Are you calling Fiona a liar? So she didn't see Quinn bash her skull in."

"I'm just saying, what if Yarah's correct? Maybe Quinn is possessed or under a spell. No plain human could do what she did." Leela turned on her indicator to merge into the lane to get off the highway. An elderly woman slowed to let her in.

Meena stewed for a few minutes before continuing. "So what if she's possessed? We know whatever magic VigorNourish created disappeared. From the video, the only living thing to walk out of that lab was Quinn. She betrayed us, stole magic and it caused her to attack Fiona and Niels. It may even be the same magic that killed all the Airmeds."

Meena smirked, happy with her argument. "Either way, Quinn's a murderer."

Leela exited from the highway and stopped at a red light. Evidence made Quinn look awful. She wanted the opposite for Yarah and Khalil’s sakes.

Especially for Khalil, as he looked worse every day. Primordial aging stopped between eighteen and thirty-five years old, then continued in spurts at the five hundredth year. He went from looking like a dapper bloke in his fifties to a pensioner in his seventies in a few weeks since Fiona's plant spell. Khalil had reassured everyone he would be fine, just needed a break from magic. Leela had her doubts.

With Quinn back in town, Khalil needed to perform more magic for her capture. Leela worried the situation would break their family and friendships apart.

"Maybe you're right or maybe not," Leela said. "Just consider there may be other factors."

"Oh, please." Meena grumbled.

There was no getting through to her for now.

Leela had heard enough of Meena’s attitude. It was time to be blunt with her sister. Tonight there could be no distractions. "Khalil's plan needs to be executed perfectly. No Rambo taking the law into my own hands bullshit. Fiona is dead. Doing something dumb won’t bring her back."

"I'll do my job."

"I mean it"

"Yeah, got it," Meena replied. "Captured the bitch, discreetly, with white gloves. No one is to know. I covered with Gagnon and everyone on the force. As I said, I did my job."

Leela turned into the residential neighborhood. They had six hours to prepare for Quinn's arrival.

"Elan has my backup keys and the car," Ryker said in what he hoped was a cheerful tone. "He has my phone too, so call it if you anything."

Yarah nodded and kissed him. Her lips were smooth and tasted of green apple lip balm.

Electronic Earth devices like cell phones, computers and watches did not work in Annwyn. The Primordial world was a fun place to visit for technophobes or a lonely black hole for Internet junkies. While he fell into the former category, Ryker would miss the ability to takes pictures with his smart phone. Wallis grew bigger every week. How would he keep track and share with family without

pictures?

Between packing and updating Elan on his case load, he managed a brief text to his sisters about a vacation in Annwyn for a few weeks.

Lies on top of more lies to colleagues and loved ones to hide the plan to capture Quinn, he thought.

Ryker watched as Yarah and Khalil said goodbye to Wallis. He worried about Khalil's health. Never had he seen Khalil so thin. Clothing hung off him as if they were bought two sizes too large.

Yarah told Wallis to be good for daddy. Khalil said not to break anything. Blonde curls bobbed to confirm obedience or most likely in imitation of the adults in front of him. The boy giggled, delighted at the attention.

Natalie stood to the side, gabbing on the phone with her brother.

Two large, burgundy suitcases lay next to the four cases Ryker brought. His head knew this wasn't goodbye. The hugs were a promise to see each other later. The kisses were a command to come home soon.

She's going to die? Quinn will kill her, just like Niels, while I'm stuck on another

plane.

Ryker felt a full blown panic attack on the horizon. He hadn't had one in years. Air could not be gulped down fast enough. I wasn't there for Niels. Now, she needs me and I won’t be there. An invisible noose squeezed his throat, pressure built in his chest. The cool lobby of the Igigi headquarters suddenly felt like a sauna. We'll never see each other again. He needed to get Yarah, Natalie and Wallis out of here, far way. Where's the exit? The ground wobbled.

A pair of familiar arms was around his waist.

"You have that look," Yarah said. She turned him around and hugged him.

He rested his cheek on her head. His thundering heart began to slow down. Her hair smelled of orange blossoms. Natalie came to them and joined the embrace. Ryker enveloped the women in his arms.

"Come with us," he said, "let Meena and Leela handle Quinn."

"I can't," Yarah said. Her voice muffled by his chest.

He knew she'd say that as he tightened his clasp.

They held each other, heartbeats synchronized, arms wrapped in an infinite knot. No one wanted to let go. Ryker felt the muscles in his neck relax, allowing him to breathe.

Khalil cleared his throat. "Time to go upstairs."