Distant Lands

I give an incredulous laugh.

“What the hell are you guys saying? Wait, am I dead? Is this Heaven?” I ask, feeling my heart pick up the pace.

Ethan laughs like I just cracked one of the funniest jokes, and Ivan quickly gives him a threatening look that makes him stop laughing.

“Ethan, please leave the room,” Ivan says. Ethan gets up and leaves, stifling his laughter. I grab the pillow and hold it close to my chest.

“No. You are not dead. And this isn’t heaven,” he says.

“So, I’m like on a different planet?” I ask. He nods and gives me some time to process this.

I don’t believe what he is telling me. How stupid does he think I am? I refuse to believe this, but I have to pretend; if I want to get out of here.

“How did I get here?” I ask. He looks up at the ceiling as if he’s thinking of how to word it to me. He looks back at me.

“It’s a little hard to explain, but it’s what you humans call a portal, more like a wormhole,” he says.

“So, that shed I went into is like a gateway?” I ask.

“Yes, it is a gateway, but we call it a doorway. We can pinpoint any location and open a doorway. We prefer to open a door in hidden locations. But if we wanted to, we could open a door in the middle of a city. But we have laws that forbid us from doing so,” he says.

Hmm, interesting, very interesting. Okay, let’s see what other bullshit he tries to feed me.

“So any human that goes into that shed will be able to come here?”

“Yes,” he says, crossing his arms and sitting back in his chair.

“That day, I had gone to Earth on an assignment, and I had come back in a hurry. I was running late for a meeting with the council. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice that you were right behind me and had entered as well. Once I arrived here, I ran out without looking back,” he says.

“There was no door; how did I get out of that room?” I ask.

“My nephew Alan pulled you out. The door has technology that creates an illusion. It’s a safeguard to keep something or someone that shouldn’t belong trapped and out of our world. To get out, you need to apply force to get through the door,” Ivan says.

“But I did apply force; I pounded my fists on that wall,” I say.

“But you are not strong enough; maybe if you sprint towards it fast, you can probably get through,” he says.

“You’re saying that that little boy is stronger than me?” I ask.

“Yes, we are stronger than humans,” Ivan says.

“You’re not human?” I ask, feeling a little freaked out.

He sighs. “Well, we are a different species of human. Just like your species evolved, and merged with other species of humans, so did we. Our species just happen to be stronger. But unlike your world, in this world, there are still different types of species of humans alive. Your species is called Homo Sapiens. People like me are labeled Divus species,” he says. I nod my head.

“Wait, but how do we understand each other? Shouldn’t you speak a different language?” I ask.

“Technology. Since we are a planet that interacts with so many different worlds, we developed language tech. The tech enters our ears; it’s like a tiny computer. As soon as we hear a foreign language, it automatically recognizes the language, and our brain learns it. We can speak it right away as if we grew up speaking it.

‘This tech is a tiny tech bug that enters your ear; they attach and release electrical signals that travel to your brain. This technology floats around in the atmosphere with the doorways electricity, so anybody that crosses through gets one. But it’s so tiny.’

‘You don’t even feel it go into your ear. Also, we already know your language here in Azure because we enjoy watching movies and shows from Earth,” he says. I touch my ears and feel kind of freaked out, knowing there’s a tech bug in there.

All of this sounds fascinating, and I’m curious to know what his favorite movie is, but I need to keep this guy talking about this ‘Azure’ world. I need to figure out what kind of crazy I’m dealing with.

“You mentioned there are more than one species in this world?” I ask.

“Oh yes. The Lamia also inhabit this world. Like my species, they are strong, but they consume blood to sharpen their senses even more, and it gives them…sort of like, a good feeling, but they can survive without it,” he says.

“They are vampires!?” I ask, shocked. He suppresses a smile.

“Not Vampires, well, I guess they do have some similarities, and that’s what you call them in your world, but they are not how they are in your movies. Lamia’ vampires’ eat food, the sunlight doesn’t hurt them, and neither does garlic nor crosses. Some consume animal blood, and some choose not to consume blood at all,” he says.

“How do both species get along?” I ask.

“In the past, we were at war with each other. But we learned to work together. It took centuries to realize that the survival of our world depended on both species working together. The Lamia has helped so much with technological development. My people contribute to the technology sector as well. Still, most of us study and dedicate ourselves to learning about the environment, and producing food, for the good of our world and others. Some people, like myself, do both,” he says.

I just stare at him, not knowing what else to ask. All of this information is too much. He doesn’t look like an alien; he just looks like a big, robust, good-looking human. He gets up.

“I know you find all this hard to believe, and I’m sure you have more questions, but we can continue our discussion later. Please join us for dinner in ten minutes. The dining room is up the hallway to the right,” he says. He gives me a friendly smile and walks out.

I get up and go over to the bathroom mirror. I comb my hair. I can’t explain some of the things that have happened. I don’t know if I should believe what these people tell me.

They are crazy, or I am because this cannot be real. All this time, we have thought we were alone in the universe. We search but never seem to find intelligent beings.

I need to keep my guard up, trust no one. I will keep playing along. When I get the chance, I will try to find a way to get back home. My family needs me.

I take a final look in the mirror. My face looks a bit pale with no makeup on, but it’s okay. I press on my eyelashes with my fingers to curl them a bit; there, that’s better.

I go to the door and open it.

“Oh, hello,” I greet the boy standing outside my door. He smiles at me.

“Hi, my name is Alan,” he says.

“Hi Alan, my name is Elizabeth; it’s very nice to meet you again,” I say; he laughs and reaches for my hand.

“Come have dinner with us.” He says and leads me down the hallway, and we turn right into a big dining room. The room is large, almost the whole roof is a skylight, and this room has large floor-to-ceiling windows. The dining table is long, being able to seat about twenty people.

To my surprise, a few people were already seated at the table. Ivan and Ethan were not here yet. They stand up when they see me.

“Oh, hello Elizabeth, my name is Rita, I’m Ivan’s sister,” The lady I had frightened earlier greets me.

“I’m so sorry about earlier; when I saw you, I didn’t know what to think, and I panicked,” she says, embarrassed.

“Don’t worry about it. I understand,” I say with a smile. Rita looks relieved and motions to a chair.

“Come, have a seat,” she pulls out the chair for me. Everyone else sits down, observing me. They remain silent but keep smiling at me, looking at me with fascination. Except for one of the girls, she gives me a serious glance, then looks away.

Rita leaves the room and goes into the kitchen. I look at the young adults, two guys, and three girls. One of the girls smiles and whispers to the other one then looks at me.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Elizabeth, my name is Isa, and this is my best friend, Nina. That is Adira,” She points to the serious girl. The serious girl crosses her arms, still looking away.

“My name is Avel,” one of the guys says.

“And I’m Gabriel,” the other guy greets me.

“It’s very nice to meet all of you,” I say.

Isa and Nina look like sisters; both have Ivory skin tones. They both have wavy blond hair and are lean and tall. They look so much alike.

Adira has a bit larger frame; she is lean but has some muscle and has beautiful caramel skin. Her straight hair is black and very long.

Both of the guys have a similar build as Ivan and Ethan. Both have short black hair. Avel has a darker tan than Gabriel. I look around the room, feeling a bit awkward at the stares and the silence in the room.

“So, what brings you to our world?” Gabriel asks. Avel laughs, and the two girls giggle.

“Um, It was sort of an accident,” I say, with a shy smile.

“What happened?” Isa asks.

“It’s a long story, but I accidentally entered the doorway,” I say

“How old are you, Elizabeth?” Nina asks.

“I’m twenty-one years old. How old are you guys?” I ask. They look at each other, smile, and shrug.

“I’m probably like twenty-five, around there. To be honest, I don’t know; we don’t keep count. We age extremely slowly, so we don’t care about our age,” Isa says. What? I wonder how long they could live, I open my mouth to ask them, but the other girl interrupts me.

“Isa, you are saying too much. We don’t want to frighten her,” Nina says. The little boy seems like he wants to ask me something, and I smile at him.

Is it true that you have theme parks with rides?” Alan asks.

“Yes, we do. Don’t you have that here?” I ask. He shakes his head, looking disappointed.

“No, we don’t have time for that; we are busy studying and working,” Nina says.

“Do you know that humans are sort of popular here? We see you like movie stars,” Gabriel says.

“Yes, mostly because of your movies, your music, and your diversity in culture,” Avel says.

Isa nods her head in agreement, “But there are some who don’t like you. They-”

Adira slams her hands on the table, making me jump. Adira looks at me with a serious face.

“Ivan said not to talk to the human too much,” she says.

They all quiet down when Rita enters with a tray of drinks and places it in the middle of the table.

“You guys better be getting along,” she says, looking at Adira. Adira looks away.

“Who is not getting along?” Ethan asks, coming into the room and sitting down. Ivan comes in after him and takes a seat at the head of the table.

“Adira is being rude to the human, I mean to Elizabeth,” Isa quickly says.

“Is that true, Elizabeth?” Ivan asks me.

“No, no, it’s fine,” I smile timidly.

“No, it’s not fine. Do guys hear me? Elizabeth is our guest; I expect all of you to treat her with respect. Am I understood?” he asks, looking at them.

“Yes,” They all say. I smile shyly.

Servers come out of the kitchen with round covered serving trays. There is one for each of us. A server places one in front of me, along with utensils and a napkin.

It smells so good; it smells like chicken. The servers uncover our plates. Each plate has a whole small roasted chicken. On the side, mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, Brussel sprouts, and a piece of bread with butter. It’s like a whole thanksgiving dinner.

“Ooo, wow,” Alan says, and everyone agrees.

“Why don’t we eat like this every day?” Avel asks. Rita shushes Avel, looking embarrassed.

“Why are we trying to impress the Human?” Adira asks quietly.

“Adira, don’t be rude. Elizabeth is our special guest. I hope you like what we prepared for you, Elizabeth; please enjoy,” Ivan says to me, smiling.

“Thank You, it looks delicious,” I say.

Adira’s words don’t offend me. I am starving, but this looks like a serving for two or three people. Everybody is unbothered by the amount of food before us, and they start eating.

I start to dig in as well. After a few bites, I feel embarrassed. Once in a while, they stare at me eating as if waiting for my reaction to the food.

“Mmm, It’s delicious,” I say. Everybody smiles. Satisfied with my reaction, and continue eating.

Isa and Nina both converse with each other, and so do the guys. Ivan and Ethan discuss something about work. The only quiet ones are Adira and me. But I don’t mind it; this is better than having all the attention on me.

I ate half of the chicken and most vegetables, and I was full. I tried to eat as much as I could. I didn’t want to disappoint them.

Mostly everyone has finished eating, and the silence in the room is starting to get awkward. I turn to look at the guys and girls.

“So, do all of you live here?” I ask. They nod their heads.

“Yes, we do. We also learn and work here,” Nina says.

“So this is like a school?” I ask.

“The Academy, which we call the Ranch, is not in session right now. That’s why there aren’t a lot of students here at the moment. Most of them have gone back home to the city,” Ivan says.

“We stay here because our parents are on other planets,” Nina says.

“What are they doing on other planets?” I ask.

“It depends what level of classification that planet. Planets that are barely forming with intelligent life are mostly left untouched, but sometimes we do explore them,” Ivan says.

Ethan nods, “It is an honor to be an ambassador serving on other planets. We advocate on behalf of vulnerable civilizations or planets. Other advanced civilizations want to destroy vulnerable people and take their resources for themselves. We prevent that from happening,” he says.

“That’s what your parents are? Ambassadors?” I ask the group, and they nod.

“That’s why the majority of us continue developing new technology and tools that will help us stop our enemies. Some of us will be ambassadors as well,” Gabriel says. Adira gets up and looks at me.

“Too bad your planet is dying. I don’t feel bad; it’s not like you don’t deserve it,” Adira says and leaves the room.