Creature of Unknown Origin

65

met my siblings, and I wouldn’t have all the support I need now. Sometimes, in life, the things

we’re most afraid of or don’t realize we need are the things we should grasp at the most.”

“You think I should try going through?”

“God no!” She laughed, “I think y ou need to rip the band-aid off and let your family know

you’re alive and well. It’ll do you all a world of good, and maybe let you start a real life here,

soothe the piece of you that’s heartbroken and homesick. A multiverse might be real, but there’s

only one world, and it’s the one you live in. Make the most of it.”

Dr. Richards started toward the door, leaving me in a puzzled daze.

The creak of the porch’s decking snapped me out of my fog. “Dr. Richards?”.

“It’s Annette,” she said.

“Okay, Annette,” I corrected, “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you about the whole ‘I’m not going

through the portal’ thing.”

Annette shook her head. “You have nothing to apologize for, Ava. I wouldn’t have told me

a few months ago, either.” She opened the door and took a step inside. “You coming?”

“Yeah.”

Spencer leaped to his feet when Annette and I reentered the living room lab. I sent him a

small smile, assuring him that everything was all right. The concerned crease between his brows

barely softened, but the air around him loosened with relief.

Howie clapped his hands, “Ready?”

Delia playfully slapped his shoulder. “Would you calm down? It’s just a portal opener!”

“ Sorry, I’m excited to bend space and time to my will,” Howie glared, his good -natured

wrath turned solely on the bold woman beside him . “It’s not every day you get to open an

interdimensional portal with exact positional sequencing… you know if Ava’s Earth is a carbon

copy of our Earth like we think it is, with the only minor change being the existence of supernatural

creatures. If it is an exact copy of our Earth, then Ava’s letter should land wherever we want it to,

in this case your parent’s house according to our Earth’s GPS coordinates for the address you gave

us.”

Delia rolled her eyes, but in the end, she patted t he excited scientist’s shoulder and met my

eyes. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“Almost. I just need a pen.” I unfolded the letter in my hands, gliding toward Howie and

Delia. Both of them searched through the pile of papers and blueprints until a pen was found. As