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Zach wasn’t the only one noticing the change in surroundings. Kristen has also noted the ever-changing path. But, unlike Zach, she didn’t let it trouble her much. She was far too busy trying to keep everyone in the group from having a nervous breakdown. Bret’s listlessness had only gotten worse, much to the dismay of LeighAnne, and Kristen, for that matter. His brief awakening after A.J. broke down had faded soon after they had begun to backtrack. Jarred seemed determined to tell Kristen something, but she never had the time. Jordan seemed to be giving Mandee a bad example, for every five minutes she whined about how badly her feet ached. Finally, in expiration, Kris had simply told her to take off the high heels. It was like some vicious cycle, Bret was falling apart, so Leigh tried to help. Upon finding that she couldn’t, the older woman turned to Kristen. Meanwhile, Jarred was frantically trying to tell her something, at the exact moment when Mandee and Jordan had begun to complain again. Kristen was beginning to wonder who would go crazy first, herself, or the rest of this godforsaken group.
Amanda’s eyes rarely strayed far from this stranger who called himself A.J. He looked so much like a much older version of her own Zach. It puzzled her to no end. His attraction to her was quite obvious. More than once when old man would glance back to be sure that the group kept up, his eyes would meet Amanda’s briefly. The dark-haired woman could have sworn that she saw longing in those beautiful brown eyes of his. Impossible, they’d known each other for a measly few hours, how could he muster up an attraction in a few hours? Things just didn’t work like that, did they?
All of the sudden, and without warning, A.J. stopped dead in his tracks. Leaning heavily upon his staff, the old man bent down, brushing aside the thick covering of pine needles, and scooping up a handful of topsoil, and sniffing it. Jordan, too busy complaining to pay attention to the sudden change of pace, rammed right into A.J., forcing the old man to drop the dirt in order not to fall on his face. Jordan, just as shocked as J. was, fell directly on top of the older man.
“Watch where you’re going, boy!” McLean snapped. But Jordan was far too busy staring in shock at what he had done. For, unknown to Jordan, the blonde man had stumbled upon a trap door. As soon as Evans had hit the lever located only inches from the old man’s head, the face of a cliff to the far right of the group began to groan. Slowly at first, then faster and faster, a portion of the rock moved aside to reveal an opening. It was the same door that A.J. had been looking for, he just didn’t expect to open it quite this way.
A.J., shoving the younger man aside, stood up, brushed himself off, and began to walk towards the opening. He had gone several steps before he realized that he could only here the steps of his own feet, not the thunder that was the movement of ten other city slickers. He turned around with annoyance to see all of the group staring at the rock with complete disbelief.
“Well, are you coming or what? You want to know why you’re here, don’t you? Jeeze, it’s like ya’ll seen a ghost or something.” A.J. mumbled, glaring at the stunned group.
Sean and Zach switched glances uneasily. “What is that?” Zach questioned uneasily.
“That?” A.J. said, pointing to the opening. “That’s a doorway.” he replied slowly, as if speaking to a small child.
“Obviously, where does it lead?” Sean asked, taking over.
“Home. That door will lead you home.” said the guide in the same tone of voice.
Kristen watched as several faces perked up with a skeptic eye. No way could it be that easy, she thought. “Who’s home?”
A.J. turned towards the woman. “Why, sorry to disappoint you, Mrs. Willaford, but through that doorway is my home, Nick’s home, and the Drag Queen’s home.”
“You’ve mentioned her before, the Drag Queen. Who is she? What is she? And what part does she play in this?” Amanda spoke up.
The old man sighed in annoyance and began.