Distant Lands
The City

I hear a knock on my door.

“Come in,” I say. Ivan opens the door and comes in with a bag.

“Elizabeth. It’s almost time to go,” Ivan says.

Yesterday, Ivan and Damon worked out a plan to get me into Damon’s house undetected. Last night, I said goodbye to the girls and the house staff.

I had packed a few things and clothing that Isa and Nina had brought back for me from the city. I don’t know the plan. I only knew that we were going to leave in the morning.

“Here, put this on. We’ll wait for you outside,” Ivan says, leaving the bag at the foot of the bed.

I got up to look at the items Damon had brought for me. Did he bring me a motorcycle outfit? Black leather jacket and pants, leather gloves, black riding boots, and a long blond wig.

I put on the outfit. It molds to my body, fitting me kind of tight, but it fits me nicely, showing every curve. I slip on the boots and put on my backpack. The wig takes me a while to adjust on my head. Finally securing the wig, I put on the gloves and headed outside to meet Ivan and Damon.

I step outside and see Ivan and Damon gawk at me. I suddenly feel a bit self-conscious but enjoy these two handsome men looking at me.

“So, how do I look?” I ask, giving a spin.

Ivan clears his throat. Damon smiles. “Yes, it’s perfect, that will do,” Damon says.

“Um, maybe that outfit will make her stand out more?” Ivan asks.

“No, it’s perfect; you’re just missing one more thing,” he says, handing me a motorcycle helmet. I look at the motorcycle, and I’m completely astounded.

The front of the black motorcycle kind of looks like a jet ski, but the back of the bike has overlapping black metal fins sticking back. The black metal on the body of the bike looks different, too; they look like black fish scales, never seen anything like it.

“It doesn’t have wheels? How does that work?” I ask. Damon looks at me and laughs at me.

“Wheels? She said wheels. That is so primitive. If I tried to explain how this works, your little human brain would explode,” he says, laughing. I throw him a dirty look. I turn to Ivan to say goodbye.

“I wish I didn’t have to go. I’m going to miss you and the girls,” I say, hugging him.

“Everything is going to be okay, I promise,” Ivan says.

“Okay, time to go,” Damon says, putting on my helmet. Damon gets on the bike, and I get on behind him. He reaches behind and places my arms around himself.

“Hold on tight. Don’t let go,” Damon says.

He powers up the bike, making a humming sound; it starts levitating a foot or two off the ground. He nods at Ivan, and Ivan nods back.

We start moving forward slowly but then start moving faster and faster. I feel like I’m going to fly off this thing; I hold on to him tighter and place my head against his back. Since no wheels are touching the ground, the ride feels so strange, smooth, and silent.

We drove away from the Ranch. Once the dirt road ended, we drove onto a street. Tall trees are to the left and right of us, with forest on both sides. The road turns and winds, making sharp turns, going up and down small hills. I begin to see the city from a distance.

Once we reach the city, Damon slows down. I see rows and rows of concrete and glass skyscrapers. The scenery seems so familiar but so alien at the same time. I see many people walking on the sidewalk, some carrying shopping bags.

Groups of vampires and strong humans hang out together, socializing. Next to us, I see levitating cars pass by. I begin to wonder if what I’m seeing is real. This truly is a different world.

Some cars drive on their own, and others have people driving in them. Some people are driving with bored expressions on their faces, just like Earth. We pass by a girl driving; she seems happy, listening to music and singing along.

I laugh. Damon looks back at me, then looks forward again.

I look up at the sky.

“Wow,” I say, in complete amazement.

I see flying vehicles. I look as one passes, then another one comes behind it. It’s like a freeway in the sky. I also see small robots and drones carrying small packages in the sky, so many of them.

I am in awe, but I start to get motion sickness from watching many objects flying by. I close my eyes for a minute.

Damon stops to let people cross the street. I turn to look at a large container on the side of the road. It’s a cargo truck filled with boxes, and robots are unloading it. People do not mind them; they just keep going about their day.

I get tired of sitting in the same position and try lifting myself, adjusting on the seat.

“We’re almost there,” Damon says.

He takes a less busy road and starts to go faster. Now we are traveling away from the center of the city. There are buildings on my left and trees and bushes on my right on this road.

We travel on this road, and the trees on my right disappear, showing the open view of the ocean. I see the waves crashing on the rocks. The blue ocean looks beautiful, with the sunlight glistening on the water.

We make a left turn and go into a lot with a tall building. The outside looked fancy. It had a sign with black letters that said, The Den. The bike lowers down to the ground and Damon powers off the bike. I hold on to Damon, swing my leg back to get off the bike and stretch my tired legs. Damon gets off.

“Keep your helmet on,” he says.

He stands next to me and puts his arm around me, and we walk up to the front door. The doorman recognizes Damon and opens the door for us. Once inside, we walk to the elevator. The elevator takes us up to the top floor, and when the doors open, we step into Damon’s penthouse.

He takes off his helmet, “Welcome to my home,” he says. I remove my helmet, “Thank you, it’s a very nice place,” I say and walk towards the living room area that’s right in front of me.

“Would you like some water?” he asks. I nod. He walks over to the right where the kitchen is. I step forward and stand near the floor-to-ceiling windows. I look out and see the ocean, the waves coming and going. It almost feels like I’m back on Earth.

Damon stands next to me and hands me the glass of water.

“Thank you,” I say, grabbing the glass from him. I take a sip.

“This is why I chose this place; this view is so peaceful,” he says.

“This planet is so similar to my Earth. It is beautiful. I wish my family could see this. Maybe they are looking at the sea right now too, maybe...at the same time as I am. I wonder what they think happened to me? Will they keep searching for me? Or will they give up? I miss them so much,” I say with sadness in my voice. Damon looks at me with pity in his eyes.

I try to stop the black hole from forming in my heart. But I’m not able to contain my sadness. Tears start to pool in my eyes, my vision gets blurry, and tears begin to run down my face automatically.

Not holding back my tears, I let myself cry; I cry like a little girl, with my shoulders moving up and down, in rhythm with my breathing.

Damon now looks around nervously, not knowing what to say or do. I put the glass of water down on a side table, and I turn to Damon and hug him. He stands still at first, but then he puts his arms around me, comforting me.