Where Is Araminta Green? (ONC 2024)

Chapter 19: I'm Here

The world consisted of fragrant roses, ringing chimes, and swirling symbols. Everything spun and twisted, making Jordan unable to distinguish up from down. He didn't know where he was or where he was going. But he knew Araminta's hand was in his, which was what mattered. Then, without warning, whatever world Jordan was in ceased spinning. Silence permeated the air and the smell of wet dirt reached his nostrils. A sense of familiarity instilled itself within his bones. He knew this world. He'd been here before.

"Jordan!" Derek's call cut through the night as Jordan opened his eyes, finding himself looking upon a starry sky. "Jordan?! Where are you?" The cries appeared desperate as if Derek had been trying to locate him for a while. This meant Jordan must have somehow left the cemetery behind for another plane of existence.

"I'm here!" Jordan called out, his voice faint at first. Scooting to a sitting position, he looked around to figure out where exactly he was. In front of him, the gravestone of the other Araminta towered. He was right where he had been before putting down the tarot card.

"Jordan!" The relief in Derek's voice was palpable as he came running down the path, Kiki in tow. At least Derek hadn't been completely alone in Jordan's absence. Throwing himself down on the gravel, he embraced Jordan closely. "I thought you had vanished just like Araminta. A cloud of purple fog came from the stone, and suddenly you weren't there anymore. I looked everywhere."

"I'm here," Jordan assured his—boyfriend? friend-with-kissing-benefits? partner-in-crime?--while Derek inspected his limbs to make sure he was all there. While his right arm was still broken, Jordan felt mostly intact, and Derek eventually gave him a seal of approval with a kiss on the cheek.

Jordan was there, safe and sound on the ground, but the hand that he'd held in his when ascending was no longer there. Had Araminta pulled out of his grip and flown back to the sky above?

"Where is she?" he asked, looking around in desperation. "Where is Araminta?" Everything he'd done couldn't be for naught. It just couldn't. Jordan wouldn't allow it. He'd go back to wherever he'd been to retrieve her again if he had to. "Araminta?!" he yelled, the sound echoing eerily between the gravestone."Are you here?"

"I don't kn—" Derek started.

"I'm here," came from behind the gravestone of the other Araminta.

Purple skirt. Pale cheeks. Dark lips. Black braids. Rising from beyond the grave, it couldn't be anyone else but Araminta Green. The luminescence from the moon hit her face, making her appear like a ghost. Stumbling in his hurry, Jordan got to his feet, needing to confirm that she was real. He bridged the distance between them in long strides, wrapping his arms around Araminta. She was tangible, she was warm, she was real. This was no wishful apparition or specter from another world. This was her.

Having confirmed her presence, Jordan let go, backing away slightly. Perhaps Araminta was not a hugger, and he'd just overstepped a line. "Sorry," he mumbled, looking down into the dirt. "I mean... you don't know me. But I have been looking for you." Once again feeling like his awkward pre-Derek self, he hesitantly reached out his left hand—since the right one was out of commission currently—toward his former classmate for a greeting. "I'm Jordan," he introduced himself.

"I know who you are," Araminta replied, a hint of a smile flying across her dark lips. "Of course, I do. You're my neighbor and classmate."

"I'm your friend," Jordan added, wanting to emphasize that he'd meant what he'd promised while they were in the other realm. "I mean, I should have been, back then. Before... everything. I was scared and for that I'm sorry. But I am your friend now if you want me to be."

Araminta nodded. "I'd love to have you as a friend, Jordan," she said, hugging her cardigan close in the chilly night. "And I'll be your friend as well." She took Jordan's outstretched hand, giving it a tight squeeze to seal their friendship.