He doesn't need to say it.
They're after us. 

"Eira, come on. Let's go." Luka grabs my hand, and we run through the forest, towards the portal, stumbling over rocks and tree roots. 

I hear the heavy footsteps of the Socialist scouts, and I know that it's only a matter of time before they reach us. 

"Luka, it's no use. They're going to catch us." 

He looks at me, his dark eyes full of anger and fear. "We have to try." 

But I trip, and before he can catch me I am on the ground. One of the Socialists raises his weapon. I hear a crack and I sink into blissful oblivion.
___________________________________________________________________ 

"Eira. Get it in gear! The horses are hungry!" 

Just a dream. It was just a dream. Like every night. It's a horrible dream, but I can deal.
It's the only time I can see Luka. 

Things have been busy with school and the farm (the teachers have been dumping homework on us and we just got a new horse) so I haven't had time to slip away to the forest that holds the portal.

So I stay in my own world, daydreaming and plotting escape. 

I throw on jeans, a t shirt, and a fleece jacket and race outside to the barn. 

But when I enter the horse stable, still half asleep, someone is already there, leaning against Sugar's stall door and stroking her mane.
'Someone' is the last person I expected to see here.

"Hello, Eira," he says quietly.

"Luka," I breathe.
 

2: Chapter Two

"Luka? What are you doing here?'' I ask after I get over the shock of seeing him. Here. In my world.

"You haven't come to the portal in ages. I was requested to find out what was up with you." He raises his eyebrows.

"Oh." I look down at the ground. Something inside me deflates." I was busy. Really busy. There was the farm, and school..." "Ah. I see." he leans back against the stall door and smiles a bit, the wind blowing his dark hair around his face. "I'll never understand your world."

"It's better not to, maybe."

He's lucky.There is no school in Unparelleled. Instead, everyone has an information chip implanted in their head at birth. I wish I had grown up not knowing what homework was. Not to mention final exams.

"Since you're here, you might as well help me out." I hand him Sugar's water bucket. "Go fill that at the spigot over there, then hang it on the hook in Sugar's stall. Try not to spill it."

He sighs. "As you wish."

I roll my eyes and concentrate on sorting the horse feed. As I work, my thoughts wander back to him. Sure, I'm glad to see him, but we're just friends. Nothing more than that.

So why do I care when I visit the portal and see him talking and laughing with other girls in the market place? And why do I focus on him so much- his long, dark hair, the way he smiles, even the fact that his shirt is just tight enough so I can see the faint line between his collarbone and his bicep?

I shake my head. No. I can't be thinking about him this way, especially since there's a war going on both here and beyond the portal.

Sugar whinnies and tosses her beautiful white mane. I can almost hear what she's thinking. Ooooh. Someone's got a boyfriend. Horses.

I gently set her feed bucket on the floor of her stall, then continue down the length of the barn. There's seven horses in all, and my dad refuses to hire a farm hand. So me, my dad, and the riding students are the ones who do all the work.

Prince, a handsome black stallion, pricks his ears and snorts. "Who's coming, boy?" I ask him, rubbing his neck. But it's not like he could tell me.

A prickle of unease shoots through me. I am not entirely safe here. But then no-one has ever been completely and utterly safe from harm.

"What is it?" Luka asks, and I jump, startled. He grins. "You're worse than the horses."

I roll my eyes. "Whatever. I think someone's coming."

His smile grows wider. "Like I couldn't take them."

The barn door creaks open, and my eyes go wide. What if it's a terrorist? What if it's my dad? What if it's...

"Hey. You never told me you had a boyfriend." One of my best friends, Aderyn Harper, stands in the doorway with her arms crossed.

Crud. I'd take a terrorist over having to 'explain the situation' to Aderyn any day.

3: Chapter Three

"Um..." I glance helplessly at Luka. How am I supposed to explain his presence to Aderyn? Granted, he's looking more normal than usual- his black hair is pulled up into a short ponytail and he's wearing some clothes from our world that I gave him a while ago. He could pass as Earth-born. I have nothing to worry about.

4: Chapter Four

I wake to blissful relief.

I'm on a bed in a small room painted black. I can't remember going through the portal, but judging from the absence of pain, I'm not on earth.

When I glance down at my foot, I realize that the puncture wound is gone, with only a tiny sliver of a scar in its place.

"Eira?" I look up. Aderyn enters the room, sitting on the bed next to me. "How're you doing? You had me worried there when you just passed out."

I look at my foot again. "Well, it doesn't hurt anymore."

"No duh. They fixed you up pretty good. Yes, I know where we are," she says as I open my mouth to explain, "Luka told me everything."

Everything? There are some pieces of the story that are better left unsaid.

"He was pretty amazing, by the way," she adds. "After you passed out, he carried you all the way here. "

"He did?" Something inside me goes all soft and fuzzy.

Aderyn nods. "Uh-huh. Told you he was your boyfriend."

My cheeks get warm, but I can't think of anything to say.

"Awwww. So it is true. I knew it!" she teases.

"Okay, so maybe I do like him. But it's not like he likes me back. And it really doesn't matter."

She smirks. "Can't say I blame you. He's cute. And strong. Oh, and he totally likes you back. I can see it in the way he looks at you." It's a good thing that Luka enters when he does, because I'm about to say something that I would regret later.

"Hello, Eira."

I smile. "Hi."

Aderyn raises her eyebrows. "Well, I'm leaving. You guys should have a bit of privacy."

I find myself daydreaming about my Swiss Army knife back home.

She swoops out the door, slamming it behind her.

"How is your foot?" he asks.

"Well, I'm fine. But Dad..." I feel the pain all over again.

"It's okay, Eira. I think he's still alive." He wraps his arms around me protectively, pressing me closer.

"You think?" I say flatly.

"Remember, when we left your house, the only explosion we heard was pretty far away. Your dad probably made it back to your house all right. But I bet he's really worried about you."

I roll my eyes. "He should be. It's thanks to his leaving crap all over the house that I stepped on the stupid nail."

He smiles. " Not much of a problem now," he says, looking at the crescent shaped scar on my foot.

"No, it isn't. By the way, thanks for...you know."

His smile grows wider. "You're welcome."

He releases me. "I'll wait for you downstairs."

My eyes follow him out the door.

Maybe Aderyn is right.