WILDly

by T Swanepoel

Chapter 19 - Enlightened

  “Sorry ‘bout this,” he sincerely apologised as he pulled up each leg of my pants to take a look at my injuries. He softly kissed the wounds one by one, starting with my left knee. My skin tingled all over; then he moved to my right knee, my right elbow and palms and the hairs in my neck stood up. Finally he kissed my mouth, softly, as he had done with all the wounds.

  His right elbow had been skinned too, but he downplayed it. I didn’t want to offend his male ego, so I left it there.

  I was still in disbelief about Alex. Every single touch was a reminder that I wasn’t imagining things; that he was really there, with me, kissing me. He pulled my head under his chin and held me to him as we sat on the hard ground next to the road. I loved him being so close to me.

  “It’s fine. You can run me over any time if you promise to kiss all the places better,” I whispered to him, still very shy.

  “Let me fix this,” he said, pushing me slightly away from him. He looked guilty as he noticed blood seeping through the skin on my knees again.

  The old truck was almost next to us and we both turned away from it. It crawled past us, but I didn’t mind, Alex was with me. He waited for it to pass before he got up and pulled me up as well.

  “Stick out your palms,” he ordered.

  “I still don’t know how to do this, you know? What if I have to heal you someday? Shouldn’t you teach me how to do this?” I asked as he stuck out his palms to face mine.

  He stopped what he was about to do and stared absent-mindedly in my direction for a moment or two before answering me.

  “It’s actually a very personal thing, transferring energy and sharing a link. They say it’s almost like se... uh.... never mind. You get a glimpse into the soul of the other person; it fills your mind. You need to be emotionally ...uh...prepared for it.”

  “It sounds interesting... would you let me try?”

  He ignored my question. “I believe it’s to protect the healer, knowing the person you heal. You weaken yourself healing another. Never do this if you don’t trust the other person completely, okay?”

  “Let me try,” I asked again. I was very curious to see what he’d meant. And to get a glimpse into Alex’s soul. After all, he’d healed me already, as if the weather didn’t reveal enough about my emotions!

  “Usually it only works if both parties envision it, although it is possible to force someone if they don’t resist. The most important rule is never to touch, and to be as quick as possible. Touching divides the power equally but also shares the links, like the jet engine and the scooter. And unless you’re of equal power, it can be fatal. So close your eyes and lock your hands - you’ll feel the magnetic field and know when it’s in position. You ready?”

  I smiled. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

  “Valerie, don’t let the feelings and emotions overwhelm you, just keep your focus on the flow of energy,” he warned as he lifted his hands up to face me.

  I nodded. It sounded simple.

  “Here goes,” I said, slightly uncomfortable. He made it all sound like a significant event.

  I lifted my hands up in his direction. A strong, pulling sensation drew my hands immediately into position, my palms facing Alex’s palms, about two centimetres apart.

  “That was easy,” I announced, relieved.

  “Now we have an energy link between us, and the Sun with the Earth through us. This is dangerous, Valerie, having an open link: a surge could kill us both. Always get it over and done with as soon as possible,” he warned seriously.

  “I’ll try to be quick,” I answered, staring into his eyes, eager and nervous for what was coming.

  “Close your eyes and envision the flow of energy from the centre of the Earth to you, through your hands, to me.”

  “How will I know when to stop, Alex?” I asked.

  “You probably won’t recognise it yet, it takes practice. It’s where your emotions change from the other person’s to your own. I will tell you, so listen carefully. You need to keep your focus, no matter what you feel, okay? Listen for my call,” he urged.

  I nodded again and then closed my eyes. I pictured Earth in my mind and the flow of energy from the centre through all the layers from liquid to solid, right up to the surface below my feet. I imagined it flowing into my feet from the surface and my legs and feet felt warm, blood rushing in the skin of those areas, feeling as if it was alight. I concentrated on the physical feeling, astounded by the sensation and effect that my thoughts had on real life. As it moved up through my body to my hands, my entire being felt alight.

  “Keep focus,” Alex urged again.

  This time I braced for the emotional jump, from mine to his. It wouldn’t be too difficult to recognise the difference, I thought.

  I imagined the warm energy in my hands jumping over the distance into Alex’s hands.

  My heart missed a beat, and I pulled in my breath as something opened up, like bursting the membrane of a soap bubble. His emotions came flowing in as the energy flowed out. My mood changed very slowly. The nerves disappeared and I briefly turned cheerful before getting slightly irritated. Somewhere deep below, something bothered me. It didn’t feel exactly right. Not long after, irritation grew into exasperation, and then into anger. I was overcome with rage, the worst that I’d ever felt, completely overpowered by it. But it grew on me, it became me, it overwhelmed me.

  “Valerie!” I heard Alex’s voice yelling at me. “Valerie!”

  I didn’t want to stop. I liked it, I wanted more. It was an addiction, this feeling.

  From what I could hear, something was happening behind Alex. It made me even more anxious to keep the link open and the hatred flowing in. I pulled stronger and stronger, to draw energy from Earth and to keep the link open. Alex was clearly fighting it; I could sense that he wanted to break the link. In that moment, I knew I had it in me to kill someone and I was in a blue funk about it, so much so that I opened my eyes.

  The eyes that stared back weren’t baby blue in colour, but green.

  “Benjamin!” I exclaimed.

  The sight of Alex’s angry face next to Benjamin gave me the strength to break the link. I simply lowered my hands and the link was broken. It was easy to regain my focus, as he looked even more angry than when I’d run away from him. He was glowing, but with an intense blue shine.

  Benjamin was smiling back at me. “Hello, Valerie.”

  “What are you doing? Did you take over the link?” I asked, surprised to see him where Alex had been when I closed my eyes. He was uncomfortably close to me and I stepped back but lost my balance. Benjamin was instantly behind me to steady me and to support my weight.

  “Wow, that was exhausting!” I exclaimed, dizzy with the rapid jump in mood. The only residual feeling inside me was a slight level of irritation, but it could have been because Benjamin’s hands were still holding me. At least I was me again, and I was very relieved about that.

  “I’m interrupting,” he declared, self-satisfied.

  “I can see that, Benjamin. Why did you do that?” I asked.

  I couldn’t understand why Alex stood motionlessly and wordlessly, staring at me and Benjamin.

  Benjamin let go of me, suddenly and stepped over to take a stance next to Alex.

  “Alex probably didn’t tell you this: once you have healed someone, you are bound to that person in more than one way. For one, it amplifies any feelings that you had towards that person,” Benjamin explained looking a little uncertain. He fidgeted with his hands before continuing. “Yes, I have healed Alex more than once in my life and we are the best friends ever. But, Valerie, I cannot bury my feelings for you. And to be honest, I couldn’t allow Alex to have that strong an advantage over me before you knew how I felt as well.”

  We were good friends and I loved his company. Benjamin was like my older brother. And this would probably ruin things forever. Friendship didn’t exist between a man and a woman - that was clear as daylight to me.
>
  I was sad to do it, but I didn’t have the heart to hear him stutter through a declaration of love just to be turned down afterwards.

  “Oh, Benjamin....” I started, but he held up his hand.

  “You may or may not feel the same, but I have a proposal, so hear me out?” he begged.

  He took my silent stare as an affirmative.

  “I’m one of the nearest Reds, and like all the stars in the sky, I’ve been watching Earth. I’ll admit that I love Earth, I love the idea of you, the power you have. But apart from all that, I love you, Valerie. And somewhere, while being tasked to guard and protect you, I fell in love.”

  “Benjamin!” I reprimanded.

  “Right, I had to get it off my chest, it was probably the best shot that I’d ever had. My proposal might sound violent to you, but I believe it’s the best way to solve this in a fair way. Surely you are a fair person, aren’t you, Valerie?” he begged again.

  I nodded, realising he was manipulating me.

  “So promise me this one thing, Valerie? Promise me this one time, and keep it Valerie?” he demanded.

  I had no choice. Alex violently shook his head, but I had no choice. It was Benjamin, dear and caring Benjamin. It couldn’t be that bad, could it? My heart felt so sad for him, that I wanted to give his this one wish, if it would make him feel a little better.

  I nodded again.

  “We will fight for you. And you can heal us both, but whoever your heart tells you to, first.”

  “NO! No, no, no, no!” I yelled. “There is absolutely no way! Forget it, Benjamin,” I was really upset.

  Benjamin waited for me to calm down.

  “You promised?”

  “You tricked me!”

  “You promised!”

  “I’ve had enough. I’m going home,” I turned on the spot and started to walk away to the car. We weren’t in the eighteen-hundreds, for goodness’ sake! I couldn’t believe his silly proposal, fighting like four-year-olds over a toy. And worst of all, I was that toy!

  “Valerie, as the new Ruler of this Galaxy, I order you to come back!” he yelled at me furiously.

  I couldn’t believe my ears. I stopped in my tracks and turned back.

  “What?”

  “Yes, didn’t I tell you?” he asked, feigning surprise. “It must have slipped my mind,” he added, sarcastically. I shook my head.

  “And as the new Ruler of this Galaxy, I shall keep you to your promise. We shall fight for your hand and you will witness it,” he scowled.

  Tears welled up in my eyes.

  “Don’t ask this of me, Benjamin, I beg of you? Don’t,” I begged through the tears. “Please, please, I don’t want this?”

  His expression turned bitter and he whispered: “For once, you will keep your promise to me.”

  I shook my head and then bowed it down; I couldn’t face him any longer.

  “But I’ll give you this: you may choose to heal whoever you wish,” he said before turning away and walking back to the old truck that had passed us moments ago.

  ***