Ascension Watchers

by Amy Proebstel

  “Who’s he walking with?” he asked, not realizing he was being insensitive.

  “I don’t know, but we’ll soon find out.” Juila hit the cargo door button harder than necessary as she tried to control her anger at how swiftly Behn had seemed to move on.

  Valentina popped Jon in the arm as they walked off the telepod together, glaring at him with disapproval.

  “Ow! What was that for?” Jon demanded, rubbing his arm.

  “Good grief, Jon, could you be any less sensitive, pointing out the fact Behn is walking with another girl with Juila sitting right there?” she whispered angrily while leaning close to him so Juila would not overhear.

  “Oh.”

  Valentina saw Jon’s look of embarrassment and decided to let the matter drop. Soon enough, they would be having a much harder conversation with their brother and she wanted to focus on that instead. She quickened her pace to close the distance between her and her brother, calling out to him as soon as she thought he would be able to hear her.

  Behn suddenly looked behind him, the smile dying on his face as he realized Juila had accompanied Valentina and Jon. He stopped and turned, still holding onto Fraya’s hand as if he needed the support. “What are you doing here?”

  Juila took the last few steps separating them and said, “I hoped we could talk privately.” She looked pointedly at Fraya, hoping the girl would take the hint and leave.

  “Anything you have to say can be said in front of Fraya,” Behn declared obstinately, even as he pulled her closer.

  “Fine,” Juila capitulated immediately, letting Behn feel as though he were the one calling the shots on this. She gestured to the grassy bank and said, “Maybe we could all sit over there and be more comfortable at least.”

  “Is this a social call now?” Behn asked snidely.

  “Don’t be nasty, Behn,” Valentina admonished her brother, narrowing her eyes disapprovingly at him.

  Behn knew that look and decided they would leave sooner if he just let them say their piece. “Whatever.” He led the way and picked where he wanted to sit, pulling Fraya down beside him.

  Juila noticed the girl seemed rather pleased by this new turn of events. She looked away from the smug expression over to Behn’s angry one. “Look, I know things didn’t turn out how we expected them to…”

  Behn snorted rudely, “That’s an understatement.”

  “Anyway,” Juila continued, attempting to ignore his commentary. “It’s obvious you’ve found someone who you can talk to,” she nodded toward Fraya, “and I was hoping you might be willing to put aside our differences and come home. We all miss you at school, and it’s getting awkward for Zoey and Oliver to keep making up excuses for where you’ve gone. If you don’t come home soon, you’ll be forced to repeat eleventh grade and then you’ll be behind your brother and sister. I’m sure you don’t want that, do you?”

  Behn laughed harshly and said, “You really think I’m worried about school on Earth? Come on, what good will learning US History be for me here in Roanoke?”

  Valentina finally reached the end of her patience. “Behn, don’t be an ass! You don’t know what your future holds and you’re just being a stupid and stubborn bastard!”

  Behn’s stunned expression at her outburst promptly shifted to a hard, bitter amusement. He chuckled without humor and declared, “You don’t know how right you are, sister dear.”

  “What are you talking about?” Jon asked, not liking how this conversation had turned so ugly that they were calling one another names.

  “Val’s right, I’m a bastard. The bastard of a whore and a despicable man. Val, remember how you wanted to know who our father was? Well, Mom finally told me the truth, and she didn’t hold back anything this time.”

  “How dare you call our mother a whore!” The adrenaline from Valentina’s anger drove her to stand and yell down at her brother.

  “I only spoke the cold, hard truth!”

  Valentina swept down and struck Behn as hard as she could across the face, hurting her hand with the force of it. “You take that back this instant!”

  “Do you want to know the truth, or do you just want to beat me up to make yourself feel better?”

  “You’d better start talking, Behn.” Jon looked up at his sister, not trusting her temper to prevent her from further bodily damage.

  “Vinia is not my mother,” Behn declared. He looked over to Juila and added bitterly, “Isn’t that great news? We didn’t commit an incestuous act after all.”

  For the first time in over a month, Juila felt an ounce of hope spark inside her.

  “You’d better start talking, Behn,” Valentina spoke through clenched teeth.

  “Our father is none other than Petre MacVeen, Master Deceptor extraordinaire, villain at large, swindler and cheat to everyone.” Behn felt the bitterness seep in deeper with every declaration of their father’s dubious standing in Tuala.

  “So you’re saying this Petre guy is our father, but Vinia isn’t our mother? I’m confused,” Jon stated, looking from his brother up to his sister, whose features were obscured by the harsh sunlight backlighting her where she remained standing.

  Behn took pity on his brother, knowing he had done nothing to warrant his aggressive behavior. He looked up at Valentina and spoke with a softer tone, “Sit, and I’ll tell you everything Vinia told me.”

  The next several minutes had the entire group listening in stunned silence as Behn shared all of the details he had learned weeks before.

  Valentina had crossed her arms over her chest as the meaning of his words sank into her heart until she felt frozen inside her worst nightmare. The buffeting winds behind her seemed disinclined to share her wish for calm and harmony. Brushing her hair back away from her face, she wished they had remained blissfully ignorant of everything having to do with Tuala. Gladly, she would exchange her awkward, peaceful life on Earth with her adoptive parents to this sordid tale of lies, deceit, and lost family structure.

  Behn finally finished speaking, wondering how long it would take before his audience would barrage him with questions and denials. The silence continued, causing Behn to stop feeling self-righteous about his revelations and really notice the faces surrounding him; the pity, disgust, and anger he had expected remained conspicuously absent. “Don’t any of you have anything to say?”

  Valentina recovered first and answered, “I don’t care about what you may think you know about our birth parents, I know you’re still my brother. If anything, this is the best news we could’ve had since you obviously love Juila. Now you can be together, everybody will be happy again, and you can come home with us.” She touched Behn’s arm as she thought her summary of events should bring him happiness.

  He ripped his arm out of her reach, not yet willing to be as forgiving as his sister. “There’s no way any of that can happen without telling everyone the truth. Do you realize how humiliating it is to know my mother is a prostitute?”

  “Are you really that dense?” Valentina challenged him. “Do you think because our father is a notorious criminal that it somehow changes who we’ve been raised to be? Do you think I’m an evil person because of this Petre guy? I don’t know him, and I don’t care to ever meet him. Obviously, Mom wanted us to be raised without him in our lives and we can thank her for loving us so much to keep us free from his influence.”

  “I think I’m going to barf,” Behn moaned, feigning the gagging motions. “What about you, Jon? You’ve been awfully quiet over there.”

  “I agree with Val that you should come home. I’m afraid the longer you remain here wallowing in your self-pity, the more influence you’ll allow your birth-parents to have on you.”

  “Meaning what exactly, Jon? Come on, don’t hold back to spare my feelings,” Behn retorted.

  “It’s not your feelings I’m worried about, rest assured.” He glanced meaningfully from Fraya to Juila, hoping this would be enough of a hint for Behn, even in his angered state of mind.

&
nbsp; Juila leaned forward, stretching out her hand to touch Behn’s arm, allowing their life-line link to flow freely, letting him know how she felt about all of it. “I wish you’d come back, Behn. I’ve missed you.”

  Fraya, who had remained quiet throughout the tough conversation, finally came alive with jealousy. “Get your hands off of him! He’s mine now, and you don’t get a say in this anymore!”

  Juila pulled back instantly at the sudden verbal attack, looking from the girl’s face to Behn’s, searching for any truth to her words. Realization struck as she saw him wince minutely at Fraya’s declaration. “So it’s like that, is it?”

  “It took you long enough to see it,” Fraya spat back, clinging to Behn’s arm while rubbing her chest suggestively against his side.

  Behn had the grace to look embarrassed. He carefully extracted his arm from her grasping hands and moved away from her. Not wanting to cause a scene, he spoke quietly to Fraya, “Thank you for being such a good friend while I went through so much. I really appreciated…”

  Fraya’s eyes narrowed as she took in what Behn said to her. “Such a good friend? Are you saying that’s all I am to you?”

  “Yes, Fraya. You knew I’d be going back to Earth eventually.”

  “Well, you can’t go now.” She crossed her arms over her stomach defiantly. “You belong here with me!”

  “Fraya, I never…”

  “Never what, Behn? Never told me you loved me? Never had any trouble making love to me? What have you never?”

  “I never said I loved you, Fraya, you know that’s not true.”

  “Well, I sure felt it each time we made love. I don’t hear you denying that, and I’m glad because I’m pregnant, and it’s yours.”

  “What?” Behn leaned back as if seeing her for the first time. “No, Fraya, you’re just saying that to be mean and spiteful. You take it back!”

  “She’s telling the truth, Behn,” Juila spoke quietly.

  “Why would you say such a thing?” Valentina rounded on Juila.

  “Because I tapped into Fraya’s life-line and felt the life growing inside her. She’s definitely pregnant. The only part I’m unclear on is who the father is.” She cut her eyes over to Behn accusingly. “Did you sleep with her?”

  Behn remained stubbornly silent.

  Fraya pointed to Jon and exclaimed, “He saw us the first time we were together on the trail. Tell her, Jon. Tell her what you saw.”

  Seeing the stricken expression on Jon’s face, Juila stated flatly, “I see.” With her mind reeling with both Jon’s and Behn’s betrayals, she had to get away. Rising unsteadily to her feet with the sands shifting beneath her, she stumbled her way back to the waiting telepod.

  “See! I told you I was pregnant!” Fraya exclaimed triumphantly, loud enough even for Juila to hear as she beat a hasty retreat.

  “Get away from me!” Behn snarled, redirecting his prior fury to the girl he had trusted, feeling deceived all over again.

  “Don’t take it out on her, Behn. It takes two to make a baby,” Valentina admonished, still feeling motherly toward her brother as always.

  “Shut up, Val,” Behn said without any conviction. He stood and ran after Juila. Having caught up with her, he matched her stride, not knowing what to say and wishing Juila would talk to him, say anything rather than remain silently aloof.

  When she reached the telepod, making sure the craft shielded them from the view of the others, she whirled around and cried out, “How could you, Behn? Did I mean so little to you that you had to go and sleep with the first available girl?”

  “It wasn’t like that, Juila! Will you just listen to me?”

  Fire flashed through Juila’s narrowed eyes. She stood with hands on her hips, debating whether or not she wanted to hear anything he had to say. Realizing she was acting just as defiant as she had admonished Behn for being, she relented. “This better be good!”

  Behn almost sighed with relief. “I wasn’t thinking straight when Fraya and I had sex the first time. My mom had just told me the truth about my birth, and I couldn’t even stand myself. Fraya offered to listen, to keep me company, she took advantage of my altered state of mind. I swear, Juila, it was only sex, revenge sex actually. I couldn’t even tell you how we got started, my mind went blank and my body just acted on its own.”

  “Be careful, Behn, what you’re saying actually sounds a lot more like rape.”

  “Exactly, Juila! You’re not too far from the truth because Fraya’s obsessed with me!”

  Sighing in disbelief, Juila shook her head sadly and said, “That’s a new low, even for you, Behn.”

  “Are you saying I’m lying?”

  “It sure sounds like it!”

  “Fine, use your power to go into my head and see for yourself!” He grabbed her hand and brought it up to his temple, willing her to do as he demanded.

  She struggled to get her hand back, not wanting to see anything he might have done with that despicable girl. Whatever she saw would be forever imprinted on her brain, and she did not want to be burdened with it. “Let go of me, Behn! I won’t do it!”

  “Why? Because you’re afraid I’m telling the truth?”

  “No, because I don’t want to have to testify against you if Fraya decides to press rape charges against you.”

  “Let her! I didn’t do anything against her will.” He thrust his arm back in the direction of where they had left the others, and demanded, “Did Fraya looked frightened of me? Did she look like I was forcing her to be with me? No! She’s been stuck to my side like Velcro ever since my mom burdened me with her awful secret.”

  “About that, actually. So all this time, you knew it was okay for us to be together, but you decided to stay here with Fraya instead. I can see exactly where I stand in your heart, Behn. Your actions have spoken louder than any words you can spew at me.”

  “Just look at my memories, Juila. You’ll know exactly what I’ve been thinking and going through ever since that day.” He stepped closer to Juila, letting her feel his warmth as he shielded her from the onslaught of salty air gusting past them.

  Looking up into his eyes, trying to see any deception, she finally relented, “Let’s get out of this wind inside the telepod. I’ll make sure we’re not interrupted.” She turned and slapped her palm on the outside control reader, and wondered if she were making a huge mistake.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  VALENTINA APPRECIATED GEVENA’S added company during her next session with Elder Debbon. She hoped to be able to focus, given all of the bombshells her brother had dumped on her earlier that day. Her only happiness had been Behn’s decision to return home to Earth. Although she was unsure whether or not he had made the right choice considering Fraya’s pronouncement of her pregnancy.

  She set down her satchel and recalled the pages she had wanted help deciphering. More than once, she meant to get them out, but something always seemed to distract her until she eventually forgot altogether. Her mind actually began to engage in their lesson for the day as she watched Gevena practice aura detection on herself. She often wondered what colors would surround her.

  “I see gold flecks, almost as if they’re sparking off of her. There are also some greens that fade into a pretty brown color. Mostly, though, she’s all white. Is that right?” Gevena withdrew her elemy from around Valentina and turned to look at Debbon for his answer.

  “Yes, Gevena, you picked that up very fast. Have you already practiced that before?” he asked, genuinely impressed with her advancements since their last impromptu lesson.

  Gevena looked embarrassed by Debbon’s praise, although Valentina could not understand why. Ever since Willian had begun instructing her, she had become quite adept at learning the skills necessary for her age. In fact, she had caught up with the rest of her class and no longer needed to be held back with the younger students, which had made her much happier.

  “No,” Gevena quietly answered. “It just felt like something I used to have to do w
hen I was growing up.”

  “That sounds interesting. What would you use it for?” Debbon asked, leaning forward in his eagerness to see what this girl would surprise him with next.

  She looked over to him, almost scared-looking, wondering if she would get in trouble. “I hope this was okay for me to do. My father used to drink a lot and he’d get really violent, hitting anything that moved and some things which didn’t. From as far back as I remember, I used to hide in the shadows to keep from his sight. Then there were times where he’d come home during the day and already be drunk, there were no shadows for me to retreat to, so I used to make my own shadow for shelter.”

  Debbon had never heard such a thing before, and he desperately wanted to see how this was done. “Can you give us a demonstration?”

  “So, you’re not mad at me for misusing elemy?”

  “Definitely not! The elemy is for us to use for protection, healing, and everyday tasks. Why would I think this would be any different?”

  “I don’t know, probably because I also used to use it to steal food when my father would forget to bring any home for weeks at a time.”

  Debbon waved his hand dismissively, saying, “We can’t change the past, but we can learn from our mistakes. Are you sorry you did it?”

  “I felt bad for the people who had less because of me, but I’m not sorry I was able to eat.”

  “Maybe one day you can make amends to those people. Until then, please show us what you did and maybe explain how it works,” Debbon pressed. His time allotment for teaching was rapidly coming to an end, but he felt this was important somehow.

  “I’ll try,” she answered as she began to draw elemy around her, fashioning it like a cloak, yet different. “I imagine the darkness engulfing me, keeping me safe, letting it surround the space near me to disguise my shape until…I don’t really know.” The elemy draped around her completing her request, which she let settle around her for a moment longer before she let it dissipate back into the ground. “That’s about it.”

  Both Valentina and Debbon sat across from her, the same stunned expression on each face as they tried to figure out what they had just witnessed. Valentina chuckled and declared, “And you said you didn’t know how to use elemy! Ha! That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!”