Between ascension, p.11
Between Ascension, page 11
part #9 of Levels of Ascension Series
“How did it go, Grandpa?” Juila asked as they came close enough, even as she stepped closer to give him a warm hug of welcome. She moved to the side so Jena could also greet him.
“It was an interesting case, to be sure. Let’s go inside, and I can tell you all about it with Nena there as well. From the impression I got, I think this situation involves all of us somehow.”
Their grandfather’s statement was sufficiently cryptic enough to pique their interest and keep them from asking questions until they were inside the privacy of Daven’s study. Nena had been found in her own office and summoned on their way past.
“Please shut the door, Nena,” Daven asked politely as his wife entered his office last.
More than a little puzzled by his request, she complied and immediately took a seat next to him as the girls had already occupied the chairs across the desk from him. “What’s going on Daven?”
Daven spent the next few minutes sharing the story of the illness in the town and how he had come to realize the means for the spread of the sickness. “I’m afraid the man who came to town to sell bread and who happened to leave town just as I got there may have been sent by Lucinden. There was a strange darkness to the infected cells, the like of which I’ve never encountered before. Girls, do you know anything from your healing classes about this?”
The girls looked at one another for only an instant before Jena answered, “No, nothing. How strange.”
“Strange indeed, and scary as well!” Nena agreed wholeheartedly. She did not like the implications of this new threat to the people of Tuala. She knew Lucinden was willing to go to any extreme, but she never guessed he would go so far. Nena shivered in fear of what was to come next.
“We’re on to him now. I’ll be sure to let the other Elders know what I’ve discovered. Lucinden won’t be able to use this tactic again and be very successful. Forewarned is forearmed.”
“That’s true, but what will he do next? What will we have to discover next?” Nena asked.
“We’ll have to trust Jehoban will give us insight and protect us; it’s really all we can do right now.” Daven leaned forward and gently patted his wife’s knee, glad for the ability to have her near.
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Figuring out how to get transportation to New York City proved more complicated than Petre had first imagined. Eventually, he had been able to use enough elemy to create the proper documentation he had seen the other passengers using to be granted access to the bus. Apparently, since they were crossing over into another country, he needed something called a passport.
After befriending another passenger while sitting on the bench in the terminal, Petre was able to inspect one of the infamous documents in enough detail to create one for himself. He was disgusted with how easy it was to fool the officials at the ticket booth even as he congratulated himself for succeeding.
He had been riding on the large, noisy, smelly bus for over twenty-four hours and he was weary of the tedious travel methods of Earth. If he were back home, he could have been in Manzanit in a matter of seconds instead of days. Of course, if he were back home, he would probably be drunk in a bar somewhere. Instead, he was on an important mission for Lucinden, and he did not plan on disappointing him again.
The plan seemed simple enough; he had to meet with a man named Stephen Gascon. How that was to come about was up to his own ingenuity. It seemed pretty straightforward enough to Petre’s mind, and he planned on getting home before the end of the week. That part of the plan was still a little sketchy since he was uncertain how he would be getting back to Tuala unless he were to travel all the way back to Winnipeg. He shook his head in denial of that option as taking too long. He would figure out another way, something more expeditious.
One good thing about the long trip to New York, Petre did not have to try to figure out sleeping accommodations since he merely slept in his seat. When he did finally reach his destination, he was going to have to find this unknown man. Really, how hard could it be?
Surely the people of the town would be able to direct him to Stephen Gascon. Every town he had ever encountered was well able at least to be civil enough to direct him to the right house, not that they were always civil to Petre because of his reputation. At least he would not have to worry about his reputation preceding him on Earth.
His travels thus far had not disabused him of this notion. He began looking forward to completing his mission and returning triumphantly to Lucinden. He was certain there would be a great reward for him in the end. With this pleasant thought in mind, Petre rested his head against the cold window, closed his eyes, and fell fast asleep.
Chapter Fifteen
SHEMALLA HAD BEEN feeling anxious all day. She had no idea what was causing her to feel any different, but she knew something was going to happen. On more than one occasion, she had thanked her ability to perceive a situation before it occurred.
Without coming to any conclusion on the matter, she went to bed where she slept restlessly. The morning started the same as it always did with the sunlight pouring through the window. She tried to shake the unrest, and finally had to give up trying. Like any other time, she would have to wait and see what events unfolded and act accordingly.
She ate a light breakfast, took her usual walk through the neighborhood, read the paper, and then finally began getting ready for work. The museum was notoriously slow this time of year, and she sighed at the prospect of another long, boring day. With her dinner simmering in the crockpot, Shemalla left her house and slowly drove to work on the other end of town. She had traveled the route so often, she no longer paid much attention to her surroundings.
Before she knew it, she was turning into the staff lot and parking her car in the furthest spot from the employee entrance. She liked to be able to stretch her legs a little before and after every shift, it invigorated her and helped make her more cheerful. It was still another half hour before the museum opened and Shemalla went to the front to make sure all of the brochures were stocked.
“Opening time,” the manager yelled to the staff as he walked cheerfully to the front door and unlocked the top and bottom lock. He threw open the door and gave a hearty welcome to the couple who had been waiting outside.
Shemalla hurried to the back stock room to get another bundle of brochures. It was a good sign to have early visitors. Maybe today was going to go by rapidly after all. She turned on the basement light and began searching for the right box among the mess of crates and shelves.
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Amanda was already ready to go by the time her father knocked. She shrugged into her jacket even as she walked across the room. She grabbed the room service tray from the table and opened the door. “Let me leave this outside, and then I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. Where’s Mom?”
“She’s downstairs already. I wish she’d leave the concierge alone with her incessant questions. I’m sure we’ll get everything straightened out with Carrie and the kids first thing tomorrow, but she just won’t let it be.” Chris shook his head in resignation as he fell into step beside his daughter on their way to the lobby.
“I’m sure she just wants to feel useful. Since we don’t know anybody or anything about this town, she wants…I don’t know what she wants any more than you do, except maybe to have Carrie cleared of all charges and her kids returned to her. I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen, but you never know.”
“We might know someone from town if your dream about Shemalla is true. We’re soon to find out that mystery, and, I must say, it is rather exciting.” Chris smiled down at his daughter as he put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her close to him as they rode the elevator down to the main floor.
Ever the optimist, Amanda could not help but feel better about everything when her father spoke. She wished she could have more moments like this with her father, but life always seemed to get in the way. The elevator doors opened, and they saw Diane sitting dejectedly in one of the lobby chairs facing them.
“Are you okay, Mom?” Amanda rushed forward ready to do anything to make her mother less sad.
“Don’t mind me,” Diane said as she tried to paste a smile on her sad expression. “I can’t wait to see what comes of this trip to the museum. Are you both ready to head out?”
“Yep. Wait here, and I’ll bring the SUV around,” Chris announced as he bent down to kiss his wife’s cheek before hurrying out the door.
Diane stood up and walked silently beside Amanda to stand in front of the glass to see when Chris drove to the entrance as it was too cold to wait outside. As soon as they spotted him driving around the corner of the building, they exited the building and got into the 4-Runner.
Amanda, again, wondered if this were something her father had done on purpose since her dream had them using the same type of SUV. She watched out the window as they drove through the same streets she remembered even though she had never been to this city before. It was eerie having such knowledge in her mind even knowing she had no logical explanation for it.
Soon enough, they were parking in the parking lot with the giant alien mural on the side of the building across from them. Amanda’s sense of déjà vu increased as they walked around the building and under the giant overhang where the entrance to the museum was placed. As if she were reliving her dream, the main lobby of the museum was exactly as she recalled, including the statue of the alien greeting them.
Once her father paid their admission, they entered the museum and wandered through the different displays. They finally came to the replica of the spaceship which had crashed in Roswell so many years before, and Chris said, “This really does look like the telepods from Tuala.” Unlike Amanda’s dream, Chris had already seen and ridden in Riccan’s telepod, so he had a reference of his own to draw upon.
The difference in his comment was not lost on Amanda, and she surreptitiously looked around to see if she could locate any employees who might actually be Shemalla. The museum was unusually devoid of all workers at the moment, and Amanda wondered if this were normal. It did seem rather a stretch of the imagination for the mystery woman to show up as if on cue to her father’s statement as she had done in her dream. Amanda smiled at her own foolishness in putting too much stock in the sequence of events being the same.
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The ride over to Willian’s house was tense, excited, or curious depending on whose mind was probed. Jon sat in the back seat of the car with his arms crossed and a sulking expression on his face. Valentina could hardly believe she was going to spend the entire day with the man who made her forget everything she ever held sacred. Behn drove the car, all the while wondering what lessons Willian might try to teach them.
“I still don’t see why I needed to come along,” Jon protested for the third time in as many minutes.
“You didn’t have to,” Behn reminded him. “I just thought you’d like to continue with your crystal training while the girls are away. It’ll be fun to show them how much progress we’ve achieved in their absence.”
“I think it’ll be fun,” Valentina put in brightly.
“Of course, you would! I’m going to be watching carefully for any move he tries to make on you, Val. This time I won’t hold back.”
Valentina rolled her eyes even as she kept her head facing out the front of the car. His remark did not even warrant a response since she was going to be in full control of herself and on her best behavior. At least that was her plan, which was easy to decide when she was subjected to the tremendous power of Willian’s pull on her self-control.
Looking up in the rearview mirror and catching Jon’s black look, Behn spoke, “We’re going over there to learn, Jon. Please at least try to be polite. I can tell you by experience, whatever is happening between Willian and Valentina is not likely to go away. The sooner you get used to the idea of Willian being a part of our lives, the happier we’ll all be.”
They pulled up to the curb in front of Parker’s residence. Jon was the last to leave the vehicle, and he slammed his car door with more force than necessary as his final demonstration of his protest for the day’s activities. Both Behn and Valentina hurried up to the door to knock and did not even give Jon another look, expecting him to follow them like a good boy.
Jon’s expression changed to curiosity when he saw Mrs. Parker answer the door. She looked nothing like he expected and thought she was probably a very nice lady. He would be polite to this woman for having to put up with Willian in her house. As soon as he stepped into the house, he felt something strange on his leg and looked down. A cute, black Pomeranian was resting her front paws on him and sniffing for all she was worth. “Who’s this little cutie?” Jon asked as he leaned down to let the fluffy dog sniff his hand. He was both surprised and pleased when she started to lick his fingers.
“Oh, that’s Pesi. Pesi leave our guest alone! Come on; that’s a good girl.” Mrs. Parker leaned down and picked up the dog and cradled her in one arm as she moved into the living room to allow the guests to go down the hallway to Willian’s room.
“She wasn’t bothering me. I really like dogs,” Jon spoke to Mrs. Parker, but never took his eyes off of the dog’s big, brown eyes which seemed to be appraising him as a likely person to keep petting her. He smiled before he turned and reluctantly followed his siblings. Much to his pleasure, Mrs. Parker set Pesi on the floor, and the little dog scampered straight to him and stayed right beside him as he entered the bedroom.
Willian remained on his bed, wanting to keep as much distance as possible between him and Valentina so he could do his best to stay on track. “I’m so glad you took me up on my offer to teach you,” he spoke excitedly. “Do you want to do a quick run-through of what you’ve learned so far so I can see how you process the techniques? It’ll help me tailor your lessons to your own style.”
“Sure,” Behn replied easily as he plunked himself down on the bed beside Willian. He could see how their instructor was trying to keep himself as professional as possible to try to win Jon over to his side. He only hoped Jon would not feel slighted because he was further behind in his lessons and this exercise would prove him lacking to Willian.
Not one to hedge where his education was concerned, Behn did not hold back anything as he held out his hands and, pulling energy from his birth crystal, he created a sphere of light resting between his fingers. He moved the ball away from him several feet and then recalled it back into his pendant. Feeling energized by the exercise, he used more elemy than necessary to create a breeze throughout the room, ruffling the papers on Willian’s desk and setting Pesi to barking.
“Sorry,” he apologized as he allowed the breeze to end.
“No worries,” Willian replied with a smile. He gestured over to his nightstand and said, “Feel free to use my glass of water for the next couple of skills.”
“Thanks,” Behn replied and shifted his attention to the offered tool. With only a slight change in his expression, Behn used the elemy to boil the water and then slowly shifted the direction of the flow until the water stilled and then began to crystallize as if frozen. Once it was a solid block, he demonstrated the next skill by picking up the glass and moving it onto the bed in front of Willian.
“Nicely done,” Willian praised as he picked up the glass and instantly returned the water to a liquid state even as he moved it back to the table. He opened the drawer below and pulled out a small tea light. He handed it to Behn and asked, “Will this do, or do you need something larger?”
Letting the small candle rest in his palm, he answered, “This will do fine.” Without waiting for another beat, Behn called a flame to the wick. He allowed it to flicker for only a couple of seconds before he extinguished the light with only a thought. He smiled at his success and also a bit in wonder at what they were now able to accomplish. Never in his life had he imagined the necklaces he and his siblings wore were so important and vital to their future.
Willian handed him a piece of paper which had several paragraphs written on it. Behn glanced at it for a good ten seconds before he handed it back to a surprised Willian. Verbatim, he recited back everything he had seen. He smiled smugly as he saw the shocked look on his new teacher’s face at the speed at which he had accomplished the task.
Chapter Sixteen
“I’LL GO NEXT,” Valentina offered as she could see her brother was now just basking in the pleased expression on Willian’s face. She was eager to have him look at her in the same manner.
“Okay, go ahead,” Willian prompted. He was most curious to feel Valentina’s touch of power. He hoped it would not cause any problems because of their obvious attraction for one another. Just her presence in the room was causing his heart to beat faster and his palms to sweat. He was thankful she had opted to sit in the desk chair across the room from him, almost as if she felt the same tension between them and wanted to keep her distance.
Valentina performed the same tasks as her brother had demonstrated. Hers were achieved even more efficiently and easily as she felt how swiftly the elemy came to her call. She reveled in the feel of each lesson which seemed to caress her soul with the perfection of the process. All too soon, she was at the end of what she knew and sighed as she let the elemy sink back to the earth as she no longer called it to her need.
“Very elegant, Val. I can see there is quite a difference in how you and Behn process the steps. What about you, Jon? Do you want to go next, or do you just want to watch today?”
Wishing he would have gone before his sister, he felt trapped into performing for Willian. He did not like it, but he was glad he was offered an out. Like Behn had said the day before, maybe he could learn something useful from this smug bastard. “I’ll go,” Jon finally answered.
