The Astral Ordinance Book I

by Meltem Y. K

CHAPTER 6

  “Over here, Jayna.”

  Ethan had been waiting for Jayna to shift just outside her bedroom.

  “Hi,” Jayna said and was immediately standing next to him. Ethan smiled, appreciating Jayna’s quick learning skills; she was already popping from here to there instead of walking. He appreciated her sleep attire even more. Jayna was hot in her Victoria’s Secret shorts and tank top, but she was upset about something.

  “Hey, is something wrong?” Ethan asked.

  Jayna shrugged. True, she was feeling sad, confused and had a million questions for Ethan. Earlier, she couldn’t wait to leave her grandparents place, come home and just shut herself in her room. She needed to digest all the stuff she had heard and learned today.

  Ethan tuned into her thoughts and shook his head, “You shouldn’t have.”

  Jayna gave him a guilty look, but said nothing.

  “Jayna, you shouldn’t have shifted into the Astral plane and taken off like that.”

  Ethan couldn’t keep his eyes away from Jayna’s baby blue boxer shorts and tank top. She was spectacular in it. He gave his head a mental shake and brought his attention back to the topic at hand.

  “I didn’t do it intentionally,” Jayna said. “I sort of thought about it and immediately found myself out of my body, and then I wanted to test out my Astral travelling skills. I had fun popping here and there, checking things out, next thing you know I saw things that I am not sure I can handle. It ruined my day.”

  “I agree. We should have a talk before we do anything else. We are needed in the Toxic Plane to do some clean up, but it’s dangerous to go there when you aren’t focused. Right now you shouldn’t be doing anything that would jeopardize your safety.”

  Ethan saw the pendant around Jayna’s neck and felt the power that was emanating from it.

  “I see you have a new piece of jewelry.”

  “Oh, I had a visitor, a beautiful woman covered in jewels; she was wearing robes of gold, very celestial looking. I found her at the foot of my bed looking at me when I woke up from a nap this afternoon. She said she came to welcome me and gave me the necklace, and also wished me good luck. She said I would always have protection. I couldn’t decide if she was a queen or an angel; she had a very powerful and reassuring way about her. I should have been scared out of my wits waking up and finding a stranger in my room, but I just knew that she was all good.”

  “I am impressed, Jayna. You had a visit from the Divine Mother. You’re right; she is as close as you would get to royalty in the Astral world. She is a highly evolved being. You were blessed by her visit. I am certain the Masters are fast tracking you.”

  Jayna felt the chain pulse with energy around her neck. Her fingers ran over it.

  “I feel a current. Is this normal?” She looked at Ethan for an explanation.

  Ethan nodded. “I’d say so. The Divine Mother honored you with one of her articles. Look, I have this from her.” Ethan pointed at the small silver cylinder around his neck.

  “The cylinder is a sheath that holds a scroll of protective symbols and versus written by the Divine Mother herself. She gave it to me when I started entering the Toxic Plane. The Masters gave me a wrist brace for protection and a light charged dagger for extinguishing demons. They are my tools of the trade. You have the symbols marked on your hands, from your ‘bicycle accident’, same sort of idea. ”

  Ethan offered his hand to Jayna. “How about you follow me to a safe place where we won’t be surprised by anything nasty?”

  Jayna held out her hand. Ethan took her hand in his and they went up above the city where they could have a bird’s eye view. “This is the safe place,” Jayna asked.

  “No, this is where we will look for one. Look over there,” he pointed with his finger to a glowing light. There were a few others, but this one was much brighter than the rest.

  “There must be a temple of some sort there. That’s Astral light generated by a congregation. The energy is pure; no dark beings can go near it.” Ethan pointed to their clasped hands. “Hang on to my hand; we’ll be there instantly.”

  Jayna nodded. “Yeah, I know the routine.”

  In the next instant they were in the grounds of a Yogic temple. The building was a peculiar structure when viewed with Astral vision. It was a dome inside a pyramid. Inside people were in deep meditation. Their energies were charging the ether around them with positive vibrations. Their auras were glowing so brightly they looked like beings of light.

  “I had no idea there was such a place around here,” Jayna confessed. “This is practically my back yard. I thought you had to go to India to find a place like this.”

  Ethan smiled making Jayna’s heart lurch. “No, people meditate all over the world, even in your backyard.”

  The energies emanating from the meditators were already working on Jayna; she sighed and stretched her arms.

  “Now, ask all your questions. I know you have a million of them,” Ethan said.

  Jayna was quiet for a moment, didn’t know where to start. She chewed her lip for a few seconds then braced herself, not sure how she would react to the answers she desperately wanted.

  “First, tell me, will my life ever be the same again?”

  Ethan’s answer was to the point, “No.”

  Great, that’s what I was afraid of.

  “What do you know about spells?” Jayna asked as she turned to face Ethan straight on.

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Was that Olivia woman just feeding her ego or can she really hurt my father? I heard her thoughts and they were very carnal, very dirty, and very vicious. She wants my father and doesn’t care that she will break up a family in the process.” Jayna shook her head. “I can’t believe there are such wicked people around. She is a horny she-devil. She is a slut.”

  Seeing that Jayna wasn’t going to wait for an answer to her question, Ethan let her talk to unload some of her grief.

  “When we were at the neighbors getting our cups read, Ayshen saw nothing but trouble and dark clouds. She told me a little bit about spells and dark forces and how people can seriously get hurt. I don’t know what to do. All I know is that I can’t just sit back and let that woman break apart our family. My parents are decent people. They never hurt anyone. They’ve been together since they were teenagers. My father would never look at that viper; but she was saying something about a love spell. I heard her thoughts clearly. And the worst part is that he is oblivious, has no idea that woman has designs on him.”

  Jayna couldn’t hold her tears back any longer, they ran down her cheeks.

  “Whatever she’s done, it’s already started working. I saw some bandage like things around his aura. No one else I saw today had those things wrapped around them, only my father.”

  Jayna leaned on a boulder in the garden. To her surprise, the big rock absorbed some of her pain. She looked at Ethan and asked a silent question, This rock is a sponge that mops up hurt and anger?

  Ethan nodded.

  Jayna closed her eyes and said a silent thank you to the rock. To her surprise, she heard the rock respond. You are welcome.

  “Jayna, I understand your frustration, but this isn’t the first time a woman cast a spell on a married man, nor will it be the last. We will find a way to break it. Do you mind if I trace your steps,” Ethan asked.

  “Trace my steps? How?”

  “There is a way, but I won’t do it without your permission.” Ethan waited for an answer.

  “Sure, go ahead. Do what you have to do so you can help me.”

  Ethan walked over to the pond and knelt down. He closed his eyes and mumbled something under his breath and blew on the pond. The water shimmered and then turned into a screen showing Jayna rise from her physical body and wonder around, first in her neighborhood then getting braver and going farther. Ethan did something with his hand and the images on the water fast forwarded to the scene at her father’s office. At that point, Ethan slowed the imag
es to regular speed and watched what took place. He said a few more words and blew once again. This time the scene became more colorful.

  “What are you doing,” Jayna asked. “Not enough color for your liking?”

  “I want to see Olivia’s aura more clearly, so I can see through to her true nature,” Ethan explained.

  “And what do you see?”

  “She is messed up. See how her colors are so much different than your father’s. See how her heart is black where it should be pink. This woman is pure evil. She cares for no one, but for her own sick pleasure. Look at her root chakra. It’s the strongest one in her entire body. None of her upper chakras are working properly. They’ve all shut down because all she cares about is her animalistic needs.”

  Ethan stopped for a moment to see if Jayna followed what he was explaining.

  Tears continued to run down Jayna’s face.

  “I am sorry, Jayna. I am telling you the truth; there is no lying or softening the truth in our line of work. We are committed to being entirely truthful to each other. That is part of our code. We must be as pure as the light that charges us.”

  “What do we do now?”

  “Let me finish reviewing this afternoon’s events,” Ethan said.

  In the next scene Jayna was standing next to Pavlina who was talking to her boyfriend on the phone, declaring her love.

  Ethan waved his hand over Pavlina’s form to make it larger and again the colors became brighter.

  “Did you know that Pavlina is pregnant,” Ethan asked.

  Jayna was incredulous.

  Nooo! She screamed mentally. Ethan winced. He was delivering another blow to Jayna’s already broken heart.

  “See over here, how there is a light within her? That’s her baby growing inside her.”

  Jayna shook her head. “I can’t believe she was so irresponsible. I even asked her if she was being careful.”

  Jayna couldn’t believe how things were getting worse.

  “You are vibrating at a higher frequency now; you are tuned into subtle energies. You might make an off the cuff comment and later find out that what you said came true. Your friend is probably not aware of her situation yet; that’s a very new baby in there.”

  Ethan went back to the earlier scene in the office and tagged Olivia.

  “I want to see what else she was up to after you left her office.”

  “Do you mean you can actually track people this way?”

  Ethan nodded, fast forwarded the scene and they watched Olivia go through her day, and then she was out of the office in her car driving somewhere. She made a couple of stops before arriving home, picked up a few things. Her husband was already home when she arrived.

  Ethan froze the picture on the pond and pointed, “Look at her husband’s aura,” he said. “See these bands wrapped around him? Those are bonds she’s put on him. This man is under her spell. He is more like her slave than her husband. His freewill has been completely taken away from him. Her every wish is his command. Whatever Olivia wants, he does, no questions asked.”

  Jayna was crushed once again. She started sobbing.

  “Ethan, my father has similar bonds around him. He is doomed.”

  Ethan shook his head. “No, the bonds around your father are much newer. This poor man has been under her spell a long time, his bonds are a lot older and harder to break then the ones around your father.”

  He gently wiped the tears from her face. His touch was very comforting to Jayna.

  “Let’s see what else was going on in that house,” Ethan said.

  They both turned their attention to the scene playing out in Olivia’s house. There were no children or pets around. Their house was very tastefully decorated, but it was impersonal. The house was not a home, it was a showpiece. It was located in an upper class neighborhood. Perhaps her husband was a professional, Jayna guessed, and between the two of them they could afford this lavish place.

  Olivia took the drink her husband offered her, “I will be in my office for a while,” she said and headed downstairs. “You may go.”

  What kind of a relationship was this? He was waiting on her like a servant; she had just dismissed him like he didn’t matter. How could a husband accept such treatment from his wife? It had to be the spell he was under. Jayna’s hatred of Olivia bubbled. This was a truly evil creature. Was she even human, Jayna wondered?

  Olivia used a key to unlock a door, a sign said KEEP OUT; no subtly there. Who was this sign for? Not for her husband, the guy was like a robot, he did her bidding without a question. Maybe the sign was to keep the cleaning lady out.

  I wonder what she’s got in there, Jayna thought.

  Once inside, Olivia immediately locked the door and went to an altar, lit up some black candles, took off all her clothes and sat on a black cloth on the floor.

  Oh my God, she really is into Black Magic.

  Jayna cringed. Ethan heard her thoughts and understood her feelings. Jayna was grateful for the silent communication. He knew when to respond to her thoughts and when to leave her alone. It was a welcome comfort in this madness.

  Olivia was chanting unintelligible words and swaying where she was sitting. Jayna wasn’t sure what was going on, but her gut was telling her this wasn’t going to be pleasant.

  Olivia took a little piece of paper and wrote something on it. Ethan did a few more moves of his hand to zoom on the paper. It was a photograph of Paul White. Jayna screamed in frustration. Ethan touched her shoulder for moral support.

  Olivia was no longer sitting down; she was jumping on Paul’s photograph and chanting. The room filled with smoke and a demon appeared.

  “She is calling demons from the underworld,” explained Ethan. Even he was appalled.

  “This woman has crossed the line,” he said. “She isn’t just dabbling with Black Magic; she is calling demons to the Earth plane to do her bidding. That is strictly forbidden. The penalty for this is huge. She will pay for this dearly.”

  Jayna could not believe what she saw next, Olivia was fornicating with the demon. She would be throwing up all over the place if she had any food in her stomach, but she heaved never the less.

  Olivia was in frenzy.

  Jayna was sick with disgust and embarrassed to witness such an act in Ethan’s presence. Ethan was holding his own, not making any comments or heaving like Jayna, but he was equally disgusted.

  Olivia collapsed in a heap; the demon and the smoke disappeared in that order.

  Ethan employed more of the mystical technique and the scene on the pond’s surface changed again. They watched Jayna and her family have dinner at her grandparents’. The bonds around Paul were stronger.

  “She reinforced the bonds. You can see how they are more solid. She is building layers to her spell.” Ethan explained.

  “What are we going to do about it?” Jayna asked her voice quivering.

  “We are going to break them,” Ethan said. “I want to check one more thing. Your friend who read the cups, could you project an image of her on the pond? I want to see this person.”

  Ethan did a symbol with his hand while Jayna thought of Ayshen. An image of the neighbor appeared on the mirror-like surface of the pond. She was in her kitchen looking into something. Ethan pulled up the image closer and started to laugh.

  “What’s so funny,” Jayna asked.

  “Your friend has been holding out on you, Jayna. Look, she is doing exactly what I am doing, but on a smaller scale. She knows how to see things in water. She is looking to understand the nature of the dark clouds she saw in your cup. Many people can read a coffee cup or tea leaves, but to do what she is doing takes serious skill,” Ethan explained.

  “Your friend is definitely skilled.” Ethan smiled, “I wonder what else she knows.”

  Jayna was shocked once again. She could not believe the things that were being revealed to her. In less than a day, the world as she knew it had ceased to exist. She was thrown into a bizarre reality where
people were casting spells, seeing things in water and she was running around in her Astral form.

  Wouldn’t you know it? The first person she had to save was her own father. How was that for initiation? She had no choice, but to swim. Sinking was not an option.

  To top it all off, her best friend was pregnant and quite possibly unaware of it.

  Jayna’s world was unraveling before her eyes.

  “Is Ayshen a witch?” Jayna asked Ethan, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

  “No, not in the sense you mean. Most people who practice the craft are good folks. Wicca is an ancient tradition that people embraced throughout the ages to invoke healing and become more attuned with nature. Being a witch is only a bad thing when unscrupulous ones try to take away peoples’ freewill, like that woman, Olivia. However, your friend is not a witch, good or bad. She doesn’t have any of the signs of Wicca. She is a mystic, that’s my best guess.”

  Jayna was impatient, she wanted to act, do something; anything to help free her father from the spells that were cast on him.

  “Where do we go from here,” she asked Ethan. “I can’t just sit around and do nothing.”

  “We go over some basic rules of the Toxic Plane to make sure you understand the dangers involved, then we go kick demon ass. Cleaning up in the Toxic Plane will help our next job, it will be easier to break the bonds on your father.”

  Jayna nodded, “Okay, what are these rules that I should know? Should I be taking notes?”

  “No, you will have perfect recall. These rules will become second nature to you as soon as I put a few symbols on your crown chakra.”

  “My what?”

  “Your crown chakra, that’s the energy center that connects you to the higher planes. Now, sit on this nice rock, allow it to absorb your anger and all other negativities you are carrying in your consciousness, like wanting to kill that woman. We do not kill anyone or anything. It’s against our code. Ahimsa is the way of non-violence. We destroy darkness with light. We do not hurt anyone no matter how much we hate them. We do our job and let Karma do the rest. I know you are brewing with hatred towards that woman, but we can’t enter the Toxic Plane and extinguish demons if you don’t let your anger dissolve. Allow the rock to absorb your anger. Let it help you.”

  Ethan drew some symbols in Jayna’s crown and watched her reaction. Jayna sat up straighter and looked more balanced. Her aura was calmer, no longer shooting fire darts around her.

  “When we enter the Toxic Plane, we will first check for any demons. If we spot any, we hit it with all the Light we have until it’s extinguished. If none are there, then we do a blanket spray with Light to act as a buffer when demons do come out; that decreases their power greatly.”

  Jayna was absorbing every word Ethan was saying.

  “You must never let a demon get a hold of you. They are very toxic and can infect you. They can also suck up all your energy and leave you helpless. The way to extinguish a demon is to hit it with a weapon such as my dagger that is charged with Astral Light. You have some very powerful markings on your hands. If you hit the demon before he has a chance to harm you, and put enough force into it, the demon will extinguish. If you can’t extinguish it, you will at least weaken it. However, it might retreat and come back at you later; best to finish it.”

  “Got it.”

  “You and I go into the Toxic Plane and come out together. I don’t ever want you to wonder in there on your own. You did a lot of experimenting today and were lucky that nothing went wrong. You could have run into some lower energy forms in your wonderings. You aren’t nearly experienced enough to deal with all the stuff that’s out there.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Jayna looked at her palms. Her scars which had faded long ago were now shimmering.

  Ethan read Jayna’s thoughts and answered her unspoken question.

  “Yes, your accident was no ordinary accident; it was an opportunity for the Masters to put the marks on you. They were probably watching you from birth and waiting for a chance. I am sure you were chosen for this job since before your birth. That’s the way they usually do it. Souls are handpicked before they are born to a human body, but the Council did not think you were ready to join us until now.”

  Jayna looked up, this time more anxiously; another question had just popped into her head.

  “What about my brother? Is he chosen for this too? We have all these dreams together that seem so real. I think we’ve been doing the Astral thing unknowingly.”

  “He will be initiated when the time is right, I am sure of that.”

  Jayna nodded.

  “Any more questions?”

  “Yes, but not about what you said. May I ask other questions?”

  “Sure.”

  “How old are you?”

  Ethan liked the direction Jayna’s questions were going.

  “Eighteen.”

  Jayna nodded. “Where do you come from?”

  “I am from Earth just like you, from the same time zone; but I am not allowed to reveal my location to you. The Council does not want us to see each other in the Earth plane. I was told that very clearly. We must respect their wishes.”

  “How long have you been doing this?” Jayna continued her questioning.

  “My family tells me I shifted into the Astral plane when I was only three weeks old. I’ve done a lot of shifting since then.”

  “Show off.”

  Ethan shook his head. “Just answered your question.”

  “When did you get into demon fighting?”

  “I killed my first demon when I was eleven.”

  “Wow,” was all Jayna could say.

  This guy was just too honest and too modest. He killed his first demon at the age of eleven and thought that was just ‘normal’.

  “Okay, could you remind me why we are needed to do this work?”

  “We are needed to clean up the negative energies in the Toxic Plane before they seep onto Earth. The negativity from Earth manifest in the Toxic plane, but if we allow it to go back to Earth, then it’s magnified many times and disastrous things start to happen. It’s like a leaking bucket. We constantly have to clean up the negativity and replace it with Light. Our ultimate goal is to help elevate the Earth’s vibration to a higher frequency, thereby helping the planet to its next phase of evolution.”

  “That’s a tall order. Why are we the chosen ones?”

  “There are others, but only a few in each time zone. We were chosen, because we were already vibrating at higher levels before birth. We are the prototypes of the new generation of humans that will be born in the future; once the evolution has taken place.”

  “Who else do you know that is like us?”

  “Both of my parents, my sister and brother, but they are not demon fighters. I have a few cousins too. Lightworkers exist in clusters to support each other. It would be difficult to live all by yourself without a support system. Depending on each person’s skills, they are given appropriate projects to work on.”

  “Will you be teaching me how to see stuff in water?” Jayna asked.

  “Yes, but not until I am convinced you won’t try to take matters into your own hands. Your safety comes first, Jayna. Even though you are feeling much calmer now, I know that there will be a lot of temptation for you to interfere once you are back in your physical form. I will help you take care of your father, that’s a promise. We will find a way to break the spell and release him from the bonds.”

  “Am I ever going to be able to hide my thoughts from you?”

  He shrugged. “I guess you aren’t used to all this honesty. You don’t like it that I can hear your thoughts, but it goes both ways. You can hear mine. We are working towards making humanity a better species, and the world a better place. Honesty should be one of your priorities from now on, not hiding your thoughts from me,” Ethan explained.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like I don’t appreciate honesty. It’s a pretty valuable asset
in my family.” Jayna changed the subject. “Are we going to meet every night?”

  “We are going to meet every night as long as you are able to shift to the Astral plane. If you are not able to, then it probably means that something is wrong, in that case you can be sure that I will be there to help you even if you can’t see me.”

  Ethan looked crestfallen. “Are you already having second thoughts about all this?”

  “No, not at all; I am trying to get a sense of how my life will be. Until a day ago I thought my life was great. I knew that I was going to start university in September, get an education, do some travelling; hopefully meet someone nice and fall in love, get married, live happily ever after like my parents and grandparents.” Jayna posed for a moment.

  “But since last night, my world as I knew it no longer exists. There is an evil whore who cast a spell on my father; my best friend who wanted to be a doctor is pregnant; my parents have no idea about the seriousness of the dark clouds hanging over them; their teenage daughter is jumping out of her body into another dimension to fight demons. I just don’t know what to make of all this.”

  Jayna paused for a moment. “Am I losing my mind?”

  “Did you wake up with a bracelet on your wrist this morning?”

  “Yes, I did. Thank you for the reminder. That was a great idea by the way, a major sanity saver.”

  Ethan smiled and nodded.

  “So, do you go to school?”

  “Yes, I do. I’m in my second year of college. I live an ordinary life during the day; I work part-time; I go out with my friends; have dinner with my family most nights. I study hard to do well in school. That’s what I do during the day; at night, I am in this plane,” Ethan explained.

  “That sounds pretty normal,” Jayna said flashing him a million Watt smile, “I mean the day-time part; not all this other stuff. I feel a lot better about my impending double life already.”

  “Yeah, I’d say my life is as normal as any nineteen-year-old guy’s.”

  “Do you have a girlfriend?” Jayna bit her tongue as soon as the words slipped out.

  Ethan did not answer immediately. Feeling embarrassed, Jayna hurried with an explanation for her question.

  “The reason I am asking you such a personal question is because I want to know how I will fit a boyfriend into my life. Would I be able to explain all this stuff to him? I am sorry if I seem to be prying.”

  Ethan shook his head to dismiss her uneasiness.

  “No, don’t apologize. You have every right to ask me whatever you need to know. I don’t have a serious girlfriend. I go on dates, but I am not seeing anyone exclusively. I haven’t told anyone about my involvement with the Astral world. I don’t think most people would understand. They might think I am crazy,” Ethan explained.

  “So, what do people do when they get seriously involved with someone, just keep them in the dark for fear of being perceived as crazy?” Jayna pushed.

  “Do you have someone serious in your life, Jayna?” Ethan countered.

  “No.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “There isn’t one, I am just thinking of the future and my parents.”

  “I can only tell you about the people that I know. Both my parents are Lightworkers; we grew up in that environment so it’s totally normal for us.”

  “Are you the youngest in your family?”

  “Yep, my sister is the middle one, my brother is the eldest. They are both married and have kids of their own.”

  “So, you are an uncle. What do you have, nieces or nephews?”

  “I have two nieces from my brother, and a niece and a nephew from my sister. They are all very cute and already active in the Astral plane. When babies are born to Lightworkers they are already attuned to the higher vibrations. They go into the Astral plane when they fall asleep. Spend a lot of time playing in the Astral plane. There is a lot of amusement for them. For example, they love playing with the dolphins.”

  Ethan was a proud uncle; he enjoyed talking about the children in his family.

  “The children are taught the boundaries for their Astral escapades. They are strictly prohibited to enter the darker places. They can get hurt there. We put a lot of protection around them to keep the lower entities away.”

  “What did you mean they love playing with the dolphins? Where do they go for that?” Jayna loved dolphins, too.

  “They go to the ocean, find a school of dolphins and join in the play. Dolphins are very playful and in the Astral plane it’s very easy to communicate with them. So the children do it all the time. I loved playing with the dolphins when I was a kid, I still do,” Ethan explained.

  “Wow, I had no idea that you could do fun things in the Astral plane. So it’s not just fighting dark forces and demons. Could you take me where the dolphins are so I see all this fun stuff, too?” Jana asked.

  “Sure, we can go tonight if we have time. Remember, you have to be back by five,” Ethan reminded her of time restrictions.

  “Then let’s get going.” Jayna stood up, ready to go.

  Ethan handed her a small tube. “Here is your light beam. You use this to shoot light at demons. Don’t depend on your symbols; that would require touching and getting close to them is never a good idea.”

  Jayna took the weapon. “Thanks,” she said as she turned it in her hand. “How do you shoot it? I don’t see a trigger.”

  “You activate it with your mind.”

  “Right; I will it to shoot.”

  “Yep.”

  Ethan took her hand and they found themselves in the Toxic Plane. Things looked relatively calm compared to the bloodbath of the previous night. All the smoke had cleared up; there was no trace of the rivers of blood that were running on the ground. The air did not burn their throat tonight.

  Ethan continued to hold her hand as they walked around and used telepathy to silently speak to Jayna.

  We will communicate this way. We don’t want to let them know we are here. If you need to say something, just think it, I will hear you.

  Jayna nodded. Okay.

  I am checking the ether for any traces of toxicity. That would be a sure sign that there were demons in the vicinity, don’t let go of my hand, and be very alert.

  They walked around for a bit. The place was devoid of life and barren. Things did not shine and shimmer here like they did in the Astral plane. This place was eerie.

  Is it too quiet?

  Yes. I think there is a trap somewhere.

  They continued to patrol in silence.

  Do you feel the hair rising on the back of your neck? Jayna asked.

  Yes, and that’s not a good sign. Something is happening, we just can’t see it. Remember, you gotta hit them hard with the light beam to extinguish them.

  They walked only a few paces when suddenly the ground beneath them opened up with a deafening crack and they fell in. They were falling through space at a thousand feet per second. They hit the hard ground and pain shot through their bodies.

  Ouch, Jayna winced silently.

  Are you okay?

  Yeah.

  It was pitch-black, Ethan turned on his light beam. They were at the bottom of a canyon. The rock they landed on was red with black veins running through it.

  Focus all your attention on this rock and see it turning to a soft earth color. Our combined energies will stabilize this plane. There is a big ass demon somewhere playing with us. When we are able to stabilize the environment, the demon will become visible.

  Jayna took a deep breath and used all her focus to visualize a normal looking earth, not the black and red surface they were standing on. The air around them moved like swirls in a liquid; things were changing, their surroundings shifting and moving. They were back on the road they were walking on earlier. They had managed to stabilize the Toxic plane, but they were also drained; the process had cost them a lot in terms of energy. They were tired even before the battle had started.

  They h
eard a screeching sound coming from above. It was a three headed demon coming at them, his grotesque wings wide open.

  Oh, shit! Jayna thought.

  No, don’t think anything you don’t want to manifest, Ethan warned, a little late. It was raining shit from the sky.

  Jayna visualized a huge umbrella just in time to protect them before they were covered in it. She didn’t realize that whatever she said could manifest. If that was the case, maybe there was some hope of cleaning up this mess and getting rid of the three headed demon at the same time. She visualized a tornado and one appeared right in front of them. Jayna quickly imagined it changing direction and sucking up the debris. It was working. Next she turned it towards the demon. The demon was surprised by the attack. It flapped its huge wings and flew in a different direction, but the tornado caught up to it and sucked it into its vortex.

  It was almost comical, the tornado giving chase to the demon. The ether around them calmed down; Jayna looked at Ethan, What do we do now?

  We throw a lot of Astral light after the tornado and dissolve it with everything in it. Ethan used his light beam and aimed it at the tornado.

  Give me a hand, Jayna. Aim your weapon and shoot.

  Sure thing.

  The tornado quickly vanished.

  We are done here tonight, Ethan said. Remember we have to fly up to the next level to exit.

  As soon as he communicated the thought to Jayna, Ethan was up and floating, waiting for Jayna to take flight. Jayna took a deep breath, ran a few steps and jumped. She had seen plenty of geese take off in this manner. Birds always flew up and away where the geese had to run and take off like an airplane. Somehow she couldn’t see herself flying like small birds, but taking off like geese seemed more plausible to her logical mind. She could not do what she could not imagine, because that’s how things worked in the Astral plane.

  Ethan took her hand as soon as she was up in the air. They flew straight up for a few seconds until they were in a dense cloud, and then they were on a snow covered mountain top, surprisingly not shivering. It was a comfortable temperature; the air was fresh - a feast for their lungs.

  “This is a perfectly safe place to rest,” Ethan said. “I come here often when I want to rest; and you can’t find cleaner air anywhere else.”

  Jayna sat on the snow and ran her fingers through it. Amazingly it was real snow, cool but not freezing cold. She lied back and made snow angels in it, like the way she used to when she was little.

  Laughing at her, Ethan joined in the fun, making snow angels alongside her. It was a great way to release stress after the adrenalin rush of being in the Toxic plane.

  “You think fast,” Ethan said, “and outside of the box. I love the way you came up with that tornado to clean up the mess and suck up the demon.”

  “Thanks,” Jayna said modestly. “I don’t understand something, if it’s as easy as creating a tornado to suck up the demons, then why don’t you do it all the time?”

  “Because you don’t always have time to create tornados and it doesn’t always work. Sometimes there are many demons, like last night, and you have to physically fight them off, extinguish them one by one. That dimension is very volatile; things are never the same so what worked once won’t necessarily work again.”

  “Of course; things couldn’t be that easy.” Jayna was quiet for a moment. “If we are done with demon fighting for the night, could we do something about my father?” she asked.

  “Yes, I’ve been thinking about the best way to go about that. We should go check how your father is doing, and how much of the spell has taken. We need to assess his condition.”

  Jayna nodded, “Okay.”

  “However, I need you to remain calm while we are doing this. Whatever we discover can be fixed, so please do not try to do anything on your own. You act fast under pressure, I saw that tonight; but you have to know that sometimes your adversary is just as fast thinking and can turn the tables against you. You are very new at this, so please, trust me and follow my lead.”

  Jayna listened without interruption.

  “Until you get a lot more experience in Astral travel we have to hold hands while we are shifting between locations or we might end up in different places. So, are we ready to go?”

  “Yes.” Jayna took Ethan’s hand. “Let’s go.”

  Instantly they were in Jayna’s house, in her parents’ bedroom. Grace and Paul were sleeping. Grace slept peacefully, but Paul looked like a mummy. There were more bonds wrapped around him now than there were before; they were loose and hanging in places.

  “I don’t like what I am seeing, Ethan. What’s going on?” Jayna asked.

  “It looks like someone tried to break the spell. See how the bandages are loose like someone was pulling at them? But the attempt was not successful. I wonder who might have tried. Do you suppose your friend had a hand in this? That lady definitely knows more than she let on to you.”

  “I haven’t a clue if Ayshen tried to break the bonds. How can we find out?”

  “Only one way to do that: Let’s go see what she is doing. I don’t know where she lives, so take us there.”

  They were still holding hands; Jayna visualized Ayshen’s house and they were there instantly. There was a fog around the house, and a bad odor.

  Wait a minute, Ethan said telepathically, there is a demon here.

  Oh my God, I hope she isn’t hurt, Jayna exclaimed, worried about Ayshen’s safety.

  They walked into the fog and immediately knew there was danger. The air suffocating and there was a presence like somebody was breathing heavily. They went up to Ayshen’s bedroom; Jayna screamed when she saw Mehmet walking around in his Astral form.

  “Mehmet, what are you doing out of your body?”

  “Jayna, please, help me. We have to save Ayshen.”

  Ayshen was in bed, but there was a demon sitting on top of her, choking her. She was thrashing her arms trying to fight the demon, not very successfully.

  This is Olivia’s demon, Jayna said recognizing the grotesque creature.

  Ethan and Jayna jumped on the demon and attacked him with all their might. The demon let out a blood curdling roar, but did not extinguish; he gave them a fierce look and ran off disappearing into the dense fog. As soon as the demon left, the fog lifted. The house was shimmering once again, as it should.

  Ayshen was barely breathing.

  “We have to take her where she can be helped,” Ethan said.

  “And who are you young man?” Mehmet asked giving Ethan a curious look.

  “Sorry, Mehmet, there was no time for introductions when we got here. This is my friend, Ethan. Ethan, this is Mehmet, Ayshen’s husband.”

  Ethan held out his hand for a handshake. Mehmet shook it firmly.

  “What’s going on Jayna?” he asked. “What just happened here?”

  “Mehmet, I am so sorry I got Ayshen involved in my problems. Remember when she read our cups this afternoon? She saw lots of danger in them. I am pretty sure she tried to help us, and unknowingly got tangled up with that demon you saw. But I don’t understand why you are in your Astral form. Ayshen is still in her body.” Jayna looked at Ethan for help.

  “Sir, I am afraid things are a bit complicated. I am not sure there is an easy way to say this, but the demon that attacked your wife killed you first; that is the reason you are no longer in your body.”

  Jayna started to cry. “Oh my God, what have I done?”

  Mehmet felt his arms and body. “I don’t know what it feels like to be dead, but I feel no different than I did when I went to bed last night; except I see myself in bed and I am out here.”

  Jayna was sobbing. “Mehmet, I am really sorry. Everything is happening so fast, I don’t even know how to explain all this to you. Last night, I stumbled into a new reality, a place called the Toxic plane. I don’t know how I got there, but somehow I did. That’s where I met Ethan. He is an Astral warrior, a demon fighter and apparently I got the makings of on
e too. I was recruited to something called the Light Force, an Astral army to fight demons. Anyway, I am very new at this, just started my training, but Ethan knows a lot about this stuff. He’s been doing it all his life. Please, believe me; I meant no harm to come to you or Ayshen. Will you ever forgive me?”

  Mehmet listened carefully to every word Jayna was saying. He shook his head in amazement. “You know something, Jayna? Ayshen used to tell me about stuff like this and I never believed her. Funny how life has a way of teaching us important lessons; it took me losing my life to believe in the paranormal yet Ayshen has been telling me about it all these years. I just thought she had an over active imagination.” Mehmet shook his head in disbelief.

  “Sir, the demon almost choked the life out of your wife,” Ethan said, “It’s lucky we came when we did or she would have been killed, too. If she wakes up this way, she will be very sick and doctors won’t know how to help her. We should take her where she can be helped. We don’t have much time to waste.”

  “Young man, take her wherever you have to.”

  Jayna and Ethan each took one of Ayshen’s hands.

  “Sir, if you would like to come with us, hang on to Jayna’s other arm,” Ethan said.

  “Yes, of course, I want to come along.” Mehmet took Jayna’s free hand in his.

  They relocated to a Healing Hall in the Astral plane. Ayshen was still unconscious. Several healers immediately came to help them. They were evolved beings who shone deeply. They took Ayshen and laid her down in the middle of the Hall, on a rectangular shaped block of quartz crystal. When Jayna touched the crystal she felt a current flowing in it. It pulsed with the life energy.

  Several others came forward and they all joined hands. Together they directed healing energy to Ayshen. Her limp form grew stronger. Within seconds color returned to her face and she opened her eyes. She saw Jayna and Mehmet among the people that were standing around her. She smiled and tried to get up, but she was still weak. Jayna held her hand.

  “Rest, Ayshen, you are weak,” she said.

  “Where am I?” Ayshen asked. “Is this a dream?”

  “No, you are in the Astral plane. We all think it’s a dream the first time we shift into this dimension.”

  “What’s Mehmet doing here? He doesn’t believe these things.”

  “We’ll talk about that later. Can you tell us what happened?” Jayna asked.

  Ayshen spoke slowly, too tired from her ordeal. “I wanted to help. I looked in water to see about dark clouds in your coffee cups. I was shocked. There is bad spell on your father. I tried to break spell, but not lucky. Spell too strong and tricky. Spell was making me weak and dizzy. I was feeling sick. I wanted to rest and try again in the morning. I went to bed, sleep came fast. Then I wake up, there is big demon sitting on me, ugly hands around my neck. I try to scream, but not possible.”

  Ayshen looked at her husband. “I was worried about you.”

  “I am fine, Ayshen,” Mehmet said not wanting to scare his wife.

  “We should do something, say some prayers, put protection on us. Demon can come back.”

  “Don’t worry about the demon, Ayshen. I don’t think it can come to this place.”

  Ayshen was trying to make sense of her surrounding, the glowing figures standing around, giving them space but not entirely leaving them alone. Her eye kept going back to the young man next to Jayna. The boy was clean cut, good looking, but definitely not anyone she had seen before.

  “Honey, what happening,” Ayshen asked. “Who are these shiny people?”

  “Well, it’s like this: We are in the Astral world. It’ a different place, but real, not a dream. This is Ethan, he is my new friend, and these glowing people are Astral healers. Ethan brought us here to help you. That demon almost killed you Ayshen. And I am so sorry for getting you involved.”

  “No sorry, Jayna. I want to help. Demon not your fault.”

  “You were hurt because of an evil woman,” Jayna said trying to explain what happened.

  “What evil woman, honey? Demon not look like woman.”

  “The demon was conjured up from the underworld by an evil woman. She works in my father’s office. She is the rat.” Jayna was getting upset just talking about Olivia; Ayshen was trying to follow her story.

  “She has her eye on my father, Ayshen, you saw her in my mother’s cup. Remember the rat? Unfortunately, my father is oblivious to her intentions. She cast a binding spell on him,” Jayna said.

  “How you know all this, Jayna?” Ayshen was alarmed.

  “Oh, that’s a long story, Ayshen. I don’t think you will believe me.”

  “Try,” Ayshen said.

  “I don’t know where to start,” Jayna confessed. “Something happened last night: I found myself in a strange place with a lot of demons; apparently I made them disappear. So this Council of Ascended Masters recruited me to be an Astral Warrior. Ethan is also a Warrior, but he is experienced and knows….. a lot of things. His job is to teach me all this stuff. He taught me to leave my physical body and do Astral travelling at will. I was testing my new skills, when I happened to witness this woman hitting on my father. That was yesterday afternoon; then we went to my grandparents in the evening for supper, and came over to your place for coffee. You said all those things about dark clouds and whatnot and that really scared me. Everything you saw was true, but even you had trouble believing it.”

  Ayshen nodded, everything made sense now. She trained her eyes on Ethan and didn’t break eye contact forcing him to step forward.

  “Ma’am, I am Ethan, Jayna’s trainer in the Force. I am afraid everything Jayna told you is true. You have been very helpful to Jayna and her family, but at a cost to your own health and safety. You know about the dark forces that exist, but unfortunately you did not have enough protection against demons. You need more layers to keep the demons away,” Ethan explained respectfully.

  “It isn’t safe for you. The woman who sent the demon after you is very evil. She won’t think twice about hurting you. The Astral beings here will travel with us to take you home and put a strong shield around you and your home. You must promise not to try to break any demon spells by yourself again. It is too dangerous as you have discovered. You could have died.”

  Ayshen was flabbergasted. She looked at her surroundings with awe.

  “Thank you for saving me. I want to live long life and enjoy my grandchildren. My son and his wife are having twins. I want to see my grandbabies.”

  One of the Beings spoke for the first time, “You will live a long life, but you also have a job to do. You have to help Jayna any way you can. She needs you to be her confidant. Her family isn’t ready to know about her new life.”

  Ayshen nodded her consent. “Yes, I will help.”

  Her attack by a demon tonight confirmed her fears: demons existed and could hurt people.

  “You have nothing to fear from that demon. We give you our word, you will be protected.”

  Ayshen let out a big sigh of relief. “Thank you,” she said in her halted English, “I will pray for you every day, always. You are saints, yes?”

  The Astral beings smiled and bowed to Ayshen. Saints were as close as you could get to Astral Light Beings.

  “We shall escort you home and back into your physical body, Ma’am,” Ethan said.

  Everyone that was there joined hands and in the next instant they were in Ayshen’s bedroom. It looked like everyone knew exactly what to do. The Astral beings were drawing protective symbols on Ayshen’s house, their family car, furniture, even the water pipes in the house. They were putting defensive shields on everything.

  “We have done our job here,” said one of the Light beings.

  Their next stop was Jayna’s grandparents’ house. They put the same protection on them while the humans in their Astral form watched. Jayna was grateful for their service, but her father was still wrapped in Black Magic bonds. She looked at the Light beings and begged.

  ”What a
bout my father?”

  “Fear not, child, we will free your father.”

  They relocated to Jayna’s house. The beings placed themselves around Jayna’s parents. Grace was sleeping soundly. The Astral beings were experts in breaking demon protected spells, rigged or otherwise. Olivia’s black magic had no effect on them. Jayna, Ethan, Ayshen and her husband stood aside and watched as they went to work. They pulled off all the bonds from Paul’s Astral form and covered him with protection. No harm could come to him from Olivia. He was rendered immune to her black magic.