My grandparents’ cabin is on the edge of Jamestown, tucked away between two little hills and a mass of trees. The driveway is long and straight with at least two mini-bridges spanning ravines with creeks cutting through them. The knitted pouch against my chest itches but what’s taking my attention is my charm wrapped tight in my palm. It’s warm in my hand. Sometimes it warms me so much, it makes me stop and stare at it. Quietly. Soundlessly.

“I do not remember our grandparents,” I say. “Like at all. Barely even a whisp of a memory.”

He parks the car outside a two-story faded blue house. The paint is peeling and the yellowed shutters dangle from their hinges.

Levon flicks my arm. “Dummy, you aren’t supposed to.”

“What?”

“What?” he says.

He drags my bags out of the trunk. “Levon,” I say, “what the hell does that mean? Why am I not supposed to remember them?”

He grunts. “What did you pack in this bag?” He carries my luggage over his shoulder and I shut the trunk. “Grab your Talisman. You’ll need him.”

“Hey,” I say, “what is with all this stuff you keep saying? It’s creepy and weird. Wait.” I push him and he stumbles. “Are you on the drugs? The alcohols? The things?”

He laughs. “No, we can’t do that stuff. Another thing mom forgot-”

“Actually,” I say, finger in the air. “She did say no drugs and no alcohol so, she told me something.”

The step to the porch creaks and the railings might crack in half if there’s even a breeze. He unlocks the front door and says, “The g-rents are on vacation for awhile-”

“They’re like ninety.”

“Meh,” he says, marching up the shag-carpet steps. “So do you know rule number one because I swear if mom didn’t even tell you that then I’m going to freak out.”

“Uhm,” I say, “don’t go out at night.”

He throws my bags on a quilted twin-sized bed. One of my bags bounces against the wall the bed is backed against.

“Wow, Levon,” I say, “good thing nothing is breakable inside of it.”

The walls of this tiny bedroom are pastel sunflower and out the window is a beautiful view, if a beautiful view consists of an overwhelmingly huge expanse of forest.

“Oh, thank God she told you that one. Alright,” he says. “All this stuff you’re asking about, you’ll learn about it tomorrow, okay? Just,” he says, “sit tight until then. I gotta go and I’ll be back in the morning. Food is in the house. Keep the doors locked and the air conditioning on. Remember that rule because it’s important.” He looks out the window, a dark red line on his neck from where his necklace lays. “And sis, I’ll be back in the morning and prep you for training coming up this week”

“Prep for what training?”

“Damnit, that too?” he says. He grabs the charm on his necklace and closes his eyes. I swear, he hums but I can barely make out the tune. His eyes flutter and he hides a smile by wiping the hair off his forehead. “Sis, sit the hell down, because I need to tell you a few things that mom forgot to tell you before she left.”

“Left? What are you talking about?” I mutter, “She did leave the airport, if that’s what you mean.”

Levon sighs heavily and slowly, hands on his hips. “Alright. First thing’s first. Do you know about Leavers and Protectors?

Silence. Mom says something about them in every prayer and she definitely said something about Leavers and Protectors at the airport after platinum-blonde, super nice girl, Jessica walked past.

He rolls his eyes. “Dude. Okay. There are three types of lifes a soul can live.” He counts on his fingers. “Human, Leaver, and Protector. You and me? We’re Leavers. Which means we are the ones who leave the protection of this place called the Otherworld-”

“Otherworld?”

He waves his hand. “Tomorrow. You’ll learn more tomorrow just for right now, pay attention to my words. Humans and Leavers live in the place called the Lifeworld also known as the real world. The only difference between you and let’s say, your creepy stalkery boyfriend, Adam, is their souls are tasked to learn lessons and stuff like that whereas ours, are tasked to something else.”

“He’s my ex.”

Levon stares. “That’s what you care about in all that? You know,” he says, “moving on. Anyways, Leavers are unlocked when they turn dun, dun, dun, eighteen. Leavers are tasked to do this thing that’s really complicated to explain and you’ll learn more tomorrow but they always, always, always are paired with a Protector and the soul of that Protector is always, always your soulmate or twin flame or whatever cool word there is for it.”

I pull my phone out to call mom. Levon is losing it and she needs to know but he knocks my phone out of my hand.

“You’ll meet your Protector on your first day of training later this week.”

“Okay, okay,” I say, pretending to stroke the goatee I don’t have. “Tell me more.”

He slaps my hand. Ouch.

I ask, “Do humans have a soulmate?”

“Good question, don’t care.” Levon runs his hand over his long locks. “But something interesting to know is we’ve lived one of these three lives a handful of times with our soulmates and that’s really cool so when you meet your Protector, you’ll instantly recognize them.”

“What if I don’t?”

He shrugs. “Literally, never happens.”

“Okay,” I say. “I’m a Leaver. I’ll meet my soulmate, who’s my Protector, sometime tomorrow while you prep me to train for something mysterious you won’t tell me about?”

“Yes. And just a quick FYI because mom definitely didn’t give me a heads up and obviously she didn’t let you know either but the training is intense. Like so freaking intense because our Protectors aren’t activated until we’re in severe distress or something terrible is about to happen. So training is scary but know you’ll be just fine. Questions?” he says, another head whip to move hair off his forehead.

All I can think about is that mom didn’t tell me anything at all. I knew Levon was the favorite. Just kidding, it’s probably me but still, how could she not tell me anything at all because as hard as it is to believe, maybe I would believe Levon more right now if mom took the time to tell me earlier. A weird elaborate joke it would be, for them to tell this ridiculous tall tale that’s also way too intricate to have made up on the spot, but with mom, anything is possible. Then again, Levon’s never been one to be so fantastical. But still, mom. And the last thought consumes any other thought I could possibly have in this moment.

“Why didn’t mom tell me anything? You said she told you.”

“She told me the basics and so did dad but,” he says, “you know how you question everyone all the friggin’ time?”

I nod because yes, it sounds somewhat familiar.

“And maybe more importantly, they said you can’t know until you move here to The Host. They said they were afraid you’d talk about it to someone you weren’t supposed to.”

“Who would even believe me if I did?”

He moves over to the doorway and touches his charm again with a smirk on his lips. He says, “Something about no Human or Leaver or Protector can know about you or your other half. No friggin’ clue why and honestly, I don’t care.”

Typical Levon. So strange and so peculiar now but still great at low-blow insults.

“I got to go. We’ll talk in the morning.” He walks back in the room and kisses the top of my head. But then his brotherly instinct overtakes the endearing one and he pushes me but I combat it with a swat of my pillow. “You’ll like all this, you really will. Just try to believe in it. That’s what helped me. Just trying it for a few days and then suddenly, snap, I believed in it all.”

Then he turns and jogs away. Like mom sprinting from the terminal. The front door slams shut.

Guess I’m alone in this place. I call mom. No answer. Voicemail, done. My phone is heavy in my hand, mom’s phone number glaring back at me. What do you do when you’ve moved to see family but they’re not even here?

Oh my, oh my.