it well I thought, considering the subject matter, but he betrayed no emotion while he contemplated our next move.
His face looked as stern, as it always had, but there was a different spark of light in his eyes that I hadn’t noticed yesterday. It was as if the impatience had dissipated and a look of understanding took its place.
“We’ll have to go to my parents’ place instead. I’m going to need some time to figure out how to get rid of this problem. I know they won’t be able to follow us there,” he replied.
“How can you be sure?” I inquired.
He said with a smile and a sidelong glance, “You’ll see soon enough. It seems that I misjudged you more than I was aware, Jordan.”
“What does that mean?”
He smiled again, “You’re more gifted than I thought, and you’re able to use more of your gifts each day. The next few days will be very interesting indeed.”
“How do you know?” I asked almost impatiently as my mind began racing.
It seemed that the whole world was involved in a conspiracy against me. Everyone knew more information about me than I did. If I had not been so worried about capture, I would have created more of a stink and demanded the explanation I was looking for. We walked into the cave and entered a dense black hole. I placed my hands ahead of my face so I wouldn’t run into anything. Derrick had ushered me ahead of him on the path of darkness, and suddenly something behind me started to glow. I turned to see what he was holding.
“What is that?”
He held out his hand and showed me the six-inch glowing stick.
“Is it one of those glow sticks?” I asked surprised. This man seemed equipped for everything, but he had little more clothing on than I had, and no backpack.
He nodded instead of answering, and I noticed he was smiling as he was focusing on the cave wall beside him. He seemed to be moving around what looked like rock buttons - twisting and spinning them. I leaned closer for a better look to see what had his attention so completely. I saw nothing but rock and stone.
“What are you doing that for?” I asked.
“There is a door in this cave that will take us directly to my parent’s house. I need you to stand closer to me, because when the door opens it can close rather quickly,” he replied.
I scoffed at that, he was probably trying to take advantage of my gullibility. A door in the middle of a cave? Did he think I was born yesterday? Nevertheless, I moved closer to him. I could feel the intense muscle structure of his body as he held me tightly against him. The smell of him alone could send a woman into labored breathing. Fighting against the arousal, I placed my hands firmly on his chest and tried to pry myself away slightly.
“I need some breathing room,” I gasped.
“Just a minute!”
There was an intense flash of light and I felt him hold me tighter by the waist. He was only close for an instant before the force of the gravity pulled us apart. I suddenly felt as if I were spinning wildly alone, as if on an amusement park ride. The sensation lasted for only a few seconds before I came to an abrupt halt and landed on the ground, sprawled out on my back. I felt completely disoriented and thought I would throw up. After a few minutes, my stomach settled and I could feel dewy grass between my fingers and the air was noticeably cooler.
The cave we had entered was nowhere in sight, and fog had suddenly appeared was too thick to see any farther than a few feet. I was immediately on my feet looking for Derrick, but I could not see him.
“What the hell?” I said aloud. I did not understand how we went from the cave to the grass, without my being aware.
"Derrick, where are you?"
"I’m right in front of you"
“Where did the fog come from?” I questioned trying to understand what had happened.
"Jordan, just follow my voice," he said.
He started speaking in a foreign language, which just added to my confusion.
“What are you doing? Why are you talking like that?”
He stopped chanting for a moment, “I’m lifting the fog.”
He went back to speaking in a different language.
“What language are you using?”
“It is Atlantean,” he replied before continuing with his chant.
I gave a snort. The man was delusional, but it was the funniest thing I had ever recalled hearing. Atlantean wasn’t a language it was a myth. Who was he kidding? Before I had finished laughing, the fog had cleared. I was shocked and wanted to say it was just the sun clearing off the fog, but I knew that it couldn’t happen that fast naturally. I laughed again, trying to release the tension that was building inside, for I was thoroughly confused. This whole experience made the hair on my neck stand up. Maybe I was still dreaming. I walked over and I looked Derrick directly in the eye before he could walk away.
"Where the hell are we? And how did we get here?” I demanded.
The Explanation
He stood and faced me, seeming to struggle with some internal conflict for a few moments before he spoke. "This is going to be a long story; maybe we should find a place to sit down."
He walked over to a fallen log, sat down and motioned for me to sit beside him. My legs felt weak at that moment and from the look in his eyes I knew he was about to tell me something big. I was not sure that I wanted to hear it just yet. As I sat down, he seemed to be holding his breath. I took care to choose a spot farther away from where he had directed me to sit. I needed to feel an essence of control in this situation.
"I have the ability to travel through time. I can open time portals in the time-space continuum that will allow us to enter into the past and present. My parents picked a more laid-back time to live in now, but they did live in our time until 2006. They never really liked being involved in the hustle and bustle of today’s life, so when my father retired, they moved here because it is more comfortable and relaxing for them. My father was a medical doctor and found it was too easy for him to get caught up in the whirlwind of the demands of his career. The real reason those men are after me, is they want to go back in time, but don’t have the ability to do it on their own.”
I stared at him. I am sure that my eyes were as big as saucers. "You’re out of your mind if you think that I’m going to believe you. I’m not that gullible." The silence was uncomfortable as I stared at him. This was a first for me, being at a loss for words.
"I was hoping that you’d be mature about this,” he said. “I see, I was mistaken, Jordan. You’ll see the reality of what I’m saying in a few minutes." He walked over to a nearby stream and washed his hands and face.
I wondered if someone had slipped LSD into my coffee at work and I was on a nice trip. After catching my breath, I finally stood up, still muttering under my breath. “Time travel… what will he say next.”
I approached the stream and thought that it was a great idea to wash. After finishing, I stood up looking at Derrick. He was standing on a small hill overlooking the countryside. He seemed to be smiling as he looked. I walked over to him, but I could not help staring when I saw what he was looking at.
His grin stretched from ear to ear and he said with a touch of smugness, “Maybe next time you will believe me."
The Castle
I stared at a huge stone castle that was surrounded by an actual moat. I was dumbfounded and I rubbed my eyes, looked, and then rubbed them again. This was unbelievable; maybe I was having a dream or a vision and forgot to wake up. I was actually speechless. Finally, when the words came out, I was feeling an overwhelming sense of shock and disbelief. "Oh my God, is that a real castle?" I stared longer trying to remember if Derrick had slipped me something when I was not looking. I rubbed my eyes a few more times to be sure of what I was seeing.
“I told you. Doesn’t it take your breath away?”
“Honestly Derrick, I don’t know what to say!”
“I’ll have to remember this occasion since I’m sure this is quite rare,” he smiled. He kept looking at the castle as he s
poke again. "My family was from Scotland, and when I was five, they decided to move us across the ocean to North America. We lived in our time until my siblings and I moved away from home. At that point, my parents wanted a more laid-back life so they built a castle in this time. We have landed in the year 1789. Thanks to solar and wind energy my parents have many comforts in this time that we are familiar with in ours. They have built in plumbing and forced heating. My parents live in this time, but my three other brothers and one sister live in our time."
“If this is true, how come you didn’t affect the future with all the modern conveniences you’ve brought to the past? Isn’t that what they say in movies about time travel?”
“We’ve placed a cloaking spell on the house so that people who have a lower vibration can’t see it."
“What’s a lower vibration?”
“Lower vibration means people who do not live through their heart. They exist in the brain. They are people who love money, ego, power and the superficial parts of life.”
"Then why can I see it?" I asked sarcastically.
"You’re already of a higher vibration. Your heart is open or you wouldn’t have been sent on this journey."
I stared at him, and shook my head, trying to dispel the confusion. “How could I be in a dream and not know I was sleeping?” I muttered under my breath. Derrick walked toward the castle, and I ran to catch up with him.
Everything about this place was surreal. It was like the coolest dream I had ever had. The drawbridge was down so we could walk across the moat. A woman, in her late fifties, met us at the castle door. She had large blue eyes that sparkled as she spoke. She was dressed in the fashion of our time. She was very short, so I wondered where Derrick got his height, assuming that this was his mother. She had an immense loving smile on her face as she came over and hugged him.
"Mom, you look amazing," he said as he returned the hug.
"Oh Derrick, I’ve missed you. What are you doing here? I didn’t expect you for another three months. Your father will be happy to see you."
I was enjoying the family reunion when both of them looked my way.
"Mom, this is Jordan, Jordan this is my mother, Shirley.”
She gave me a warm, knowing smile and came over to hold my hand. I couldn’t read the look on her face, but the emotion I felt when she touched my hand was of pride and excitement.
"I’m thrilled that our Derrick has decided to allow someone special in his life. You must have great patience to have gotten past his cantankerous exterior."
I started to laugh, then spoke, "He does have the attitude of a wounded badger.” I looked more serious and continued, “We’re not a couple. I met him only a few days ago."
"Maybe you aren’t a couple right now, but there’s more to come." She spoke in a joyous tone. She looked over at Derrick, and I saw her wink, as he shook his head no and rolled his eyes.
"I’ll explain later,” he said to me as we followed his mother into the castle.
As we entered the castle, I asked smiling, “Are there any more big surprises for me today, cantankerous Derrick?" I laughed to myself, never having heard someone use such a big word for grumpy before. It totally applied to him.
"I’ve had about enough of you today, Jordan. I’ll show you to your room because I know that I could use the break, besides the silence will be greatly appreciated."
I laughed to myself, I was glad that I was finally able to pull the badger’s tail. Now he could see what this trip had been like for me.
We entered the great room. The view was exactly as I would have imagined a castle of the 1700s would look like inside… breathtaking. What lay before me was incredibly colorful, luxurious tapestries hanging on the walls of dark, grey stone. I was surprised that the rooms did not echo as we walked on the tile floors, considering all of the stone throughout the
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