by TJ Hines
“So, does that mean I can meet my dad sometime?” Taura asked Iris as Gem just stared at her. She could hear the hope in her voice.
“Maybe one day but probably not until the war begins. The Archangels don’t visit Earth except to create Nephilim because…well…there are usually side effects from them doing so from what we have been told.”
“What kind of side effects? Wait. Scratch that. I don’t want to know. It’s time to go, guys,” Gemini said standing once again. When Jesse and Taura remained seated, she threw her hands up in the air and then looked at each of them before turning her attention completely on Jesse. Taura was, after all, a child, eleven at that, and she didn’t know any better, Gem reasoned. But Jesse, how could he possibly believe this.
“How can you believe what they are saying? Angels are not real. None of it is. This is obviously some kind of cult. And these people are insane,” she said before walking towards the Elders. She didn’t know how it happened, but one second Liam was next to the window and the next he was standing in front of the Elders, a sword bathed in white fire in his hands. Gemini immediately took three huge steps back. She held her hands up so as not to appear a threat.
“Calm down man. I wasn’t going to hurt anyone.” She took another step back and ran right into Jesse and Taura, who had finally stood up. Jesse stepped around Gemini, putting himself between Liam and the girls.
“Let’s all take a breath here. She didn’t mean to get so close. No harm. No foul.”
After a few minutes, Liam finally let go of his sword handle and it just disappeared. Into thin air. It shouldn’t have shocked Gem so much seeing how she had watched her sister bring an animal back from the dead and watched Jesse lift an entire car off his granddad but seeing that sword disappear was the final tipping point for Gemini. She started to feel a little light-headed and woozy and the next thing she knew she was falling to the floor.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
When Gem woke up, she was surrounded by three women in long white shimmering robes. The women were all identical except for the haircuts. One had long brown straight hair, one had medium length loosely curled brown hair and the third had short brown hair. They all had those beautiful blue eyes that she was beginning to see so often these days.
When she tore her eyes from the women, she searched the room. She couldn’t see Jesse or Taura anywhere. Her heart rate immediately sped up and she sat up so quickly that she had to place her hands on the bed to steady herself. She looked around again, hoping that she had just missed them somehow. And once again she didn’t see Taura or Jesse. She did, however, notice that she was in a large room with curtains separating spaces like in a hospital. The walls were a light shade of blue, in other circumstances, Gem would say it was a very soothing room. But, right now, she just wanted to find her family.
"Where is my family?"
"They are in the hallway, waiting on you," the woman closest to her said. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine. Where am I?" Gem asked her heart still racing with the knowledge that she was separated from her sister and that anything could be happening to her.
"You are in the medical ward. You passed out and were brought here for observation," the woman said.
"Who are you? And when can I see my family?" Gem asked drawing the blanket up around her. She felt so alone suddenly. She normally was a very independent person but all she wanted at the moment was Taura and Jesse. She felt the beginnings of a panic attack when the woman in the middle laid her hand on Taura's leg. An immediate warming sensation wrapped around Gemini's body and she soon began to feel better. The woman had the same kind of gifts as her sister and Jesse, Gem thought.
"To answer your first question, we are the Sisters. And as for the second, soon. We just wanted to check you over once more to make sure there are no underlying causes to your fainting. Humans are more susceptible to diseases than Nephilim, so we just want to be thorough."
Before Gem could say anything, the Sisters surrounded her and placed their hands upon her head, arms, and legs. Again, the warming sensation coursed through her body feeling her with energy and, what Gem could only describe as, joy. The Sisters took their hands away and looked at each other before turning their attention to Gemini.
"Everything checks out fine, but you do seem to be under a lot of stress. And as I am sure you know; stress is not good for humans. It can lead to many health problems down the road if it remains elevated."
"I'll see what I can do about lowering it once I know my family is safe."
“I’ll go let them know you are awake and taking visitors.”
“Thank you.”
Gemini barely had time to brace herself for the massive hug she received from her sister. Jesse was right behind her. He gave her a look that said he was happy to see she was okay. Gemini had to pry Taura’s delicate little body off her so that she could maneuver in the bed enough to make room for her sister who evidently was not going to be letting go of her anytime soon.
“Taura. I am okay. You can stop holding on to me so hard. I’m not going anywhere.”
“You scared me, Gemi. I thought you died. Please don’t ever do that again,” Taura said giving Gem another big hug before letting her go.
“You scared me too. Glad to see you are doing better,” Jesse said walking around the bed to sit on the other side of Gem.
“Sorry guys. I guess I got a little overwhelmed.”
Gem was so happy to see her family that she forgot all about the Sisters until one of them cleared her throat.
“We don’t want to interrupt but we need to get you guys settled soon. I am Aspen, by the way, and this is Ava and Audrey,” the woman with the long brown hair said.
“Settled?” Jesse asked.
“Settled into your new homes, of course. And we also need to go over the rules and amenities of the community,” Audrey, the woman with the short brown hair said.
“Homes? Rules?” Gem asked. She didn’t even know if staying here was a good idea yet and here these ladies were trying to settle them into a home. And what kind of rules did this place have? She decided to hear the Sisters out before trying to convince Jesse and Taura that they needed to leave. She didn’t want them thinking that she had made her mind up before hearing these ladies out, but she had made up her mind the moment they got to this place. She wanted to have a more open mind and be more welcoming of others, but it was hard to when you experienced the kind of life she had growing up. Counting on others always led to disappointment. She taught Taura to only depend on herself and her, of course.
“Did you say homes? As in plural?” Jesse asked.
“Well, yes. You two are not married so…,” Audrey started before Jesse interrupted her.
“We are engaged, so we will only need one home. We don’t want to be separated.”
Gemini nearly broke her neck looking at Jesse so quickly. Did he just say that we are engaged? Gemini thought.
Jesse gave Gemini's hand a quick squeeze indicating for her to go along with it. Gemini squeezed Taura's hand hoping that she wouldn't say anything. Gem was a little taken aback by the whole thing but if it kept them all together then she could pretend to be engaged to Jesse. It wouldn’t be so hard. She thought about them getting married all the time. She absolutely 100% loved the guy, even if she hadn't said it yet.
"We're sorry. We didn't know," Aspen responded.
"That's ok. We are newly engaged so not everyone knew about it," Jesse said giving Gem's hand another squeeze.
"We understand. We understand you haven't really had a moment of peace in a while. Maybe now you will be able to let your guards down and enjoy life a little more. That's one of our main goals here at Magnolia Crest. After we talk about some things, we will show you around the grounds and take you to your apartment," Audrey announced.
"That sounds great," Jesse once again answered for them. Gemini didn't mind in the slightest because she wasn't sure what she actually wanted to say. She did know she had a limited
amount of time to come up with a strong argument for leaving because soon they would all be left alone and that's when she would have to argue her case. Unfortunately, the more time they spent exploring or learning about the community the more Taura and Jesse were gonna want to stay, Gem thought.
"First, the rules. We show respect to everyone. We keep the abilities of the people in this community secret above everything. We want this place to be a safe haven for all Nephilim. We will not stop you from leaving, but we will stop you from exposing this community. If you do decide you no longer want to live here, then we ask that you come to the Elders first. Also, we welcome the family members close to you to become part of our community as well, however, they must abide by the same rules. We all work or go to school here. We have jobs posted in the main hall for you to choose from and if for some reason that job is not right for you, you are more than welcome to find something else," Audrey stated.
"There will be a handbook about the community and the rules in your apartment for further reading," Ava said. "Now, if you want, we can show you all around."
Gemini wanted to tell her no thank you but her curiosity about the place got the better of her, plus she knew that Jesse and Taura wanted to see the place. Especially Taura who was nearly bouncing up and down at the idea of exploring the compound.
They walked into the hallway behind the Sisters and the first thing Gem noticed was a marble statue of an Angel praying. It was gorgeous with such intricate detailing around the wings. It was such detailed work that she thought she could make out each eyelash on the statue. They kept walking down a long hall with doors on either side as the Sisters explained that they were currently in the main building where the classrooms were located. The building also housed any underage Nephilim that did not have a family. So, an orphanage, Gem thought. The Elders offices were also located in the same building, one floor above the meeting room where they were introduced to the oldest of the community.
The Sisters explained to the group that the building also had a conference room, a library, and a movie theater. It really was like a convention center. When they finally made it outside, the sun was already low in the bright blue sky. Gem reasoned that she must have been passed out for a couple of hours. It hadn’t felt that long, she thought.
The triplets, from what Gem had deduced, led them to a building next to the main building. It had the words “Serenity” above it. Ava explained that this was the recreation building. There was a gym, an indoor pool, a bowling alley, and a basketball court. Gem couldn’t believe how big the place was. She wondered to herself how the community made its money to afford such lavish buildings and amenities. Gem was so cynical these days that part of her figured it had to be something illegal. She shook her head trying to clear it of the negativity and refocused on the tour. The Sisters explained to Taura that she was too young, by a year, to use the gym but everything else was open to her. They did mention to her that there was a massive playground outside and a gymnastics building near the apartments if she wanted to join in on that. Gem couldn’t help but smile at the happiness that exuded from her little sister.
The next building they entered was a cafeteria filled with the most wondrous smells Gemini had ever smelled before. And that was saying something because she had some pretty great food over the last year in Hope at the family’s diner. Gem’s stomach growled so loudly that Jesse smiled at her. She would absolutely be coming back to this place. Aspen told her that the cafeteria was open from sunup to sundown to the community, just in case, you didn’t feel like cooking at home. She also told them that there was a grocery store attached to the backside of the cafeteria for all their needs. Everything was free, of course, they just asked you to only take what you needed so that everyone had enough.
Gem had only known that kind of generosity once in her life and that was with Jesse’s family. She had to stay strong though and not let all the stuff outweigh her intuition to leave this place. She had to admit though that it was getting harder and harder to remain focused on the negatives of the place when there were so many positives.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
They finally made it to the 5-story apartment building, a beautiful contemporary structure with balconies and lovely flower boxes on every window. Gem wasn't used to apartments looking like this. The part of Chicago she was from saw more dilapidated buildings with paint shedding or bricks crumbling and iron bars on all the windows. The building she was currently looking at was out of a fairytale or a movie.
The lobby was clean and comfortable looking with couches and chairs to rest upon. Taura got extremely excited when the Sisters showed them the elevator. Gem was kind of excited too because their old apartment was on the fifth floor and there was no elevator. Climbing those stairs every day for a curvy girl was exhausting.
There were eight apartments on their floor with two stairwells on opposite ends of the hall. Gemini was still in fight or flight mode, always checking for exits and potential threats to her sister. Maybe one day she would be able to lead a normal life and not feel like she had to look over her shoulder constantly, but today was not that day.
The Sisters led them down the hall to the last one on the right, apartment 3G. The first thing Gem noticed when she walked through the door was the openness of the room. The kitchen was huge, not quite as big as Dani’s but still bigger than anything Gem had used. There was an actual dining room off the kitchen and a living room, that was already furnished. Gemini had never really thought too much about what kind of décor she would want in her house, but she was fairly certain this would have been it. It was a cross between industrial and beachy if that was a thing. The color scheme was so soothing with cool tones of blues, greens, and grays. It felt immediately like home and that scared Gemini because she wasn’t planning on staying at this place.
Taura’s eyes were as big as saucers as she explored the great room. Gem wanted to be able to give her little sister a home like this, but it couldn’t be here she reminded herself.
“It’s a two-bedroom with two baths. It has its own washer and dryer and a balcony off the master bedroom as well as the living room since it’s a corner unit. There are three other families on this floor,” Aspen said.
“Thank you for this,” Jesse said placing their bags on the light blue sofa. “We really appreciate it.”
“You are more than welcome. We will let you three get settled. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask us. Our offices are located next to the medical ward in the main building,” Ava responded.
“Oh, two more things. First, there are two cell phones that are untraceable located in your welcome basket in the master bedroom. Second, Taura is already registered for school so Monday morning join us in the meeting room, and we will introduce you to the headmistress,” Audrey stated before all three of the sisters walked towards the door.
As soon as they walked out, Jesse and Gemini went directly for the master bedroom to get the phones. They found the welcome basket sitting on the dresser. True to the Sisters' words, there were two cell phones in it, as well as a handbook, some bottles of water, and various fruits. Jesse and Gemini immediately started dialing their phones before they both looked at each other.
“Who are you calling?” Jesse asked at the same time Gemini did.
“Dani,” they both answered, again at the same time.
“How about I call Dani and you search for any news about us,” Jesse said sitting down on the bed. Gemini was fine with that seeing how Dani was Jesse’s sister. Plus, it would give her time to go through the handbook. She needed more reasons for why they shouldn’t stay at Magnolia Crest.
Ten minutes later and Gem hadn’t found anything about what happened in Hope or anything to help make her reason for leaving. Magnolia Crest was perfect, but Gem still couldn’t shake the feeling that they shouldn’t be there. She shoved it aside when Jesse walked into the living room where Gem had been doing her research.
“Did you get in touch with Dani?”
she asked Jesse, who had a bewildered look on his face.
“Yeah,” he said sitting down on the light blue sofa.
“Well…what did she say when you told her what happened to us?” Gem asked coming to sit next to him.
“That’s just it, she already knew. And she knows where we are. Apparently, granddad has been in contact with the Elders since I used my ability for the first time. After what happened, he reached out to them and told them where we would be.”
“Wow. I was not expecting that. Did she say anything else?”
“Yeah, she said that they were being watched by some government agency, I’m guessing the one that Olivia mentioned, Sudha. She said they would be with us soon and for us to stay put.”
“This is crazy. I was just about to talk you into leaving from here as soon as possible. And just like that, we are supposed to stay here and trust people we don’t know. With our lives. This is just too much.”