Ancient Illusions

by Joanne Pence

  “A place that doesn’t exist on this plane,” Michael murmured. "It could be like the area around the pillars in Idaho."

  "You and Rachel were at those pillars together," Jianjun said. "That’s got to be the connection.”

  "And it would explain why Ceinwen wasn't affected by any of it."

  “Are you sure you can trust Ceinwen?" Jianjun asked. "I also researched her. She is what she said—an investigative reporter on paranormal phenomena, living in Oxford. But that's the problem—she's a reporter."

  “I want to trust her, but I'm not sure,” Michael said. “As you know, I’ve been fooled before.”

  Jianjun nodded, then dropped his gaze. “Haven’t we all?” he murmured.

  Michael knew what he was referring to. “Have you heard from Kira?”

  “Not a word.”

  “I guess that’s for the best.”

  Jianjun’s mouth wrinkled. “Yeah. That’s what I keep telling myself.”

  Chapter 39

  The next morning, Michael tapped on the SUV’s window. Ceinwen opened her eyes to sunshine. She groggily sat up and opened the door to see Michael looking fresh and well-rested, while she felt like something that should be put out with the trash. He handed her a cup of coffee.

  “That smells heavenly,” she said. She took a sip, then climbed out of the SUV and stretched. The back bench was soft but short, and sleeping on it wasn’t the most comfortable thing although, as she looked at the ground where the men had slept, it could have been worse.

  Jake and the deputies were eating, while Jianjun was sitting up in his sleeping bag, staring into space as if he wasn’t sure where he was. His uncombed, thick, black hair stuck straight up.

  But everyone soon pulled themselves together and were on their way once more.

  This time, Michael took the lead. He drove over fire roads heading south as long as the Jeep could handle the terrain. Once on foot, everyone helped carry supplies and digging equipment as they hiked into the mountains. The two deputies hadn’t been told exactly what was happening, but knew it could be quite dangerous.

  Last year, Michael and Jianjun had marked the route as best they could, including taking photos of what they hoped would be natural signposts. Nevertheless, more than once they had to backtrack.

  The second time that happened, Michael said to Ceinwen, “You’re probably sorrier than ever that you’re here.”

  “Not at all. This will work out. I trust you.”

  Her trust both warmed and bothered him. He had failed too many people he cared about. And, he had to admit, the more time he spent with her, the more he was learning to care.

  Two hours passed before he called to Jake and the deputies, “We’re near.” Then, turning to Ceinwen, he pointed out a tall mountain up ahead. “Do you see a few reddish brown rocks up on that mountain? They’re that color because they have rare earth elements in them. But those near the surface aren’t worth mining—there are too few of the valuable elements.”

  She looked upward and blanched. “Do we have to climb all the way up there?”

  “Only about half-way.”

  “There is a God!”

  They went up single-file, Michael, then Jake, Ceinwen, Jianjun, Deputy Pete Grayson, and last, Deputy Len Rosenfeld.

  After a while, Michael motioned Jake and Jianjun to go ahead and waited for Ceinwen.

  “Doing okay?” he asked. She said she was fine, but he stayed with her.

  “I have a basic question,” she said after a while. “One I’m surprised no one has asked.”

  “Which is?”

  “If, as all of you say, we’re dealing with all-powerful demons, what’s to stop them from grabbing the pearl from you as soon as you free it from the rare earth?”

  “Easy. They can’t attack whoever controls the pearl.”

  “Why not?”

  “Damned if I know. But it saved me before.”

  She gawked at him. “So that’s well and good for you, but what about me, Jianjun, and the others? What are we supposed to do while you’re all safe and sound?”

  “They’ll have to go through me to get to you, and I won’t let them. Demons are powerful but not omnipotent. They are subject to limits which is what tempts so many to engage with them. You do it at your own peril. They are deceivers. Jianjun has dealt with them before. He knows what we’re up against.”

  Michael slowed. He shaded his eyes, studying the terrain. "I think we’re getting close to the pearl.”

  “Yes?” Ceinwen asked.

  He nodded slowly. Methodically. “I can feel it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  "Jake. Jianjun. Stop!" He wrapped an arm around Ceinwen's waist and tugged her close.

  "What's going on?" Jake asked, his voice hushed, as if he feared the answer.

  "Up ahead." Michael pointed upward. "There, where the mountainside flattens out. See the dark shapes?"

  "I don't see a thing," Jake said. "Not a damn thing." Yet his hand hovered over his gun.

  The deputies also reached for their pistols.

  Michael had buried the pearl near the area where the dark shapes waited. A part of him wanted to turn back, but now that they'd come this far, they had to go on. No matter what.

  "I don't see anything either," Ceinwen said. "No dark shapes at all. Only the mountainside."

  “I wish you could all see through my eyes,” he murmured. “Believe me. They’re just ahead, about ten more steps. Jake, you and your deputies stay here, but be ready for anything. Ceinwen, Jianjun, stay close to me.”

  He gripped Ceinwen's hand, felt her trembling, yet she followed him up the mountain, as did Jianjun, step for step. For the sake of everyone who'd come on this journey with him, he remained calm. “Let’s hope my power as owner of the pearl still exists.”

  “Let’s hope?” Ceinwen sputtered.

  "Hope. Pray. Whatever works."

  Jianjun put a hand on Michael’s shoulder as the three of them moved forward, connected, almost as one. As they neared the darkness, the shapes floated to the side, opening a pathway.

  “It’s working,” Michael whispered. “They’re getting out of our way.”

  “I still can’t see anything," Ceinwen said. "Are you sure?”

  “Yes!” he insisted. He'd not only seen them, he'd felt their presence, thick and menacing.

  When they reached the flat area, the dark shapes had vanished, but Michael didn't let down his guard. He looked back and gave the okay for Jake and the deputies to join them. The deputies regarded Michael as if he were hallucinating, but Jake acted as if they should trust the guy. They were seriously spooked, but Jake was no bullshit artist, so they followed.

  “The pearl is right around here,” Michael said. He continued to hold Ceinwen’s hand as he and Jianjun walked around looking for the burial spot that matched the cell phone photos they'd taken the year before. “We're so close," Michael said. "I feel its presence. It’s weird. And powerful.”

  “This is it. Right here,” Jianjun said, pointing at the ground. "“I’m certain.”

  Michael looked at the photo on his phone, at the placement of rocks at Jianjun's feet, and nodded. He then faced Ceinwen, Jake and the deputies. “Now for the bad news. Jianjun and I buried it over six feet down.”

  Ceinwen groaned.

  “Give me that pickax,” Jake said. “Come on, fellas. Let’s get this taken care of.”

  Jake and the deputies made short work of digging through loose dirt and rock, clearing out a hole at least five feet deep, its width and length big enough to hold a coffin, or at least a couple of people brave enough to climb down into it to explore further. Michael jumped into the pit and in spite of his protests, Ceinwen followed, spade in hand. Michael’s eyes went from the spade to her. “You’re helping?”

  “Of course. Stay back while I while I wield this thing.” She stabbed the ground with the spade. The end went down about an inch.

  “Maybe we should let Jianjun do it,” Michael said
.

  “Who’s the archaeologist-to-be around here? Besides, this pit isn’t big enough for the three of us.”

  She and Michael dug through the dirt, being careful not to strike too hard or too deep. They had to go slowly and carefully. Damaging the metal box that contained the pearl could, perhaps, unleash the demons and doom them all.

  Ceinwen shifted away from Michael as she tried to dig deeper. She was sweating, but he noticed her shiver as if struck by a chill. Suddenly, she screamed as some unseen force lifted her high in the air.

  “Holy shit!” Deputy Grayson cried, unable to look away, as he fumbled at his side for his handgun.

  Michael reached for her, but before he could grab her she was tossed like a rag doll towards the mountain’s face. She managed to put her hands up to protect her head before she hit, and fell to the ground, stunned but conscious.

  The two deputies stared back and forth from her to Jake, Michael and Jianjun, all but frozen in place, and not daring to believe what they had just witnessed.

  Michael was climbing out of the hole when a whirling black cloud stuck Jianjun hard. It knocked him against Michael, and both fell back into the pit. A shriek of rage sounded around them.

  Jake and the deputies tried to run to Ceinwen, but a strong wind pushed them to the edge of the flat area, then shoved them down the mountains slope as if they were featherweights. The deputies shrieked in terror over the invisible menace as they slid, rolled, and tumbled down the hill.

  Jianjun was in a daze, but Michael couldn't do anything for him now. He had to get to Ceinwen.

  Pulling himself out of the hole, he saw a multitude of black shapes swirling over her. They were no longer indistinct shapes. They'd sprouted heads and hands and arms. They were grotesque. Menacing. And even more vile when one turned toward him, opening its cavernous mouth to howl, and flashing long fangs and a flicking black tongue. It then turned and swooped toward Ceinwen, blood and saliva dripping from its lips onto her face.

  “No!” Michael shouted, rushing at the evil being as it sank its teeth into her neck.

  He threw himself at the dark silhouette, but instead of knocking the demon from Ceinwen, he ran through it, as if it were mere air.

  Was there no stopping the thing?

  Again he tried to yank it away from Ceinwen, but it was like grabbing handfuls of smoke. All he could do was to cover her with his body, hold her tight, and do his best to shield her from the black, nightmarish apparitions.

  Ghouls spun in furious swirls around and around him and Ceinwen. For long minutes evil swarmed and howled, pulling at him, tugging, and clawing. But then, almost as if he had snapped his fingers to make it end, the apparitions vanished. Demonic chaos was replaced with empty silence.

  Michael looked down at Ceinwen. Her eyes were wide with fright. “Are you all right?”

  He began to lift himself off of her, but she grabbed his shirt, holding him close. “I saw them this time,” she whispered. “Black, like charcoal. I saw their glaring red eyes. It was horrible. I don’t understand, Michael. It’s not possible. But it was all too real—and not of this world.”

  “Shh, don’t talk. I’ve got you. You’re safe now.” He helped her sit up, and then checked her over as best he could to make sure no bones had been broken when she was tossed against the mountain.

  “There were so many of them,” she cried, shaking her head. She was bruised and there was a superficial wound on her neck, but she appeared to be otherwise unharmed. Still, he would watch her for signs of concussion or internal injuries.

  “They’re gone for now.”

  “My neck … it feels as if it’s on fire.” She lifted her hand toward her neck.

  “Don’t touch it,” he warned, seeing the torn skin and blood.

  But she had already placed her hand on the wound, and when she drew it away, her fingers were red. At the sight, she passed out cold.

  When Ceinwen awoke, she discovered Michael had tied one end of a rope around her waist, and the other end around his. They were back in the pit and she lay at his side as he dug through the earth.

  “What’s this?” She started to sit up.

  “Stay down,” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I don’t want you to scare me again. I’ve heard of people who faint at the sight of their own blood, but I’ve never seen it before. You went out like a light.”

  She felt woozy and decided that lying down was best for now. “Where are Jianjun and the others?”

  “Jake and the deputies are scouting around, completely freaked out, I’m afraid. And Jianjun is the one who came up with the rope idea. As we suspected, it seems any kind of connection with me—as owner of the pearl—stops these demons from doing serious harm. For whatever reason, you’re the one the demons fixated on. They pushed the others out of the way to get to you. It was scary … although not as scary as when you fainted.”

  “It’s not like I fainted on purpose.” She lightly fingered the bandages on her neck.

  “Thank goodness the blood stopped flowing.” He winked down at her. "We might have run out of bandages.”

  “How compassionate! How did I get down here?”

  “Jianjun helped me move you. You’re no featherweight.”

  “You really know how to make a girl feel great about herself, don’t you?” She sat up now but was too dizzy to try to stand.

  “Don’t move. I can handle this.” He continued to push the dirt away with his hands.

  “And the demons are now leaving me alone because of this little rope?” She eyed the rope linking the two of them.

  “So it seems. It’s probably also that the rare earth elements around us have made them weaker than they would normally be. They were surprisingly easy to run off. I’m afraid the bite you received would have gone a lot deeper and probably been a lot worse if they hadn’t been weakened.”

  “When I saw their fangs, worse wasn’t on my mind. Fatal was.”

  He stopped digging and sat back on his haunches to look at her. She was trying hard to act brave, but he couldn’t miss how scared she was. His hand lightly caressed the side of her face. “Damn, but I shouldn’t have let you come out here. I knew it could be bad. I’m sorry, Ceinwen.”

  Their eyes met and what began as a gesture of comfort quickly grew to something more. Something neither of them needed right now.

  He drew his fingers from her face

  “It's all right,” she whispered, attempting a smile. “It wasn’t as if I wasn’t warned over and over again.”

  At her attempt at bravery, he wanted nothing so much as to kiss her, right there in front of Jianjun, the demons, and even the sheriff and his men. He didn’t care. His gaze never leaving hers and throwing caution to the wind, he shoved the spade into the ground to the left of where he’d been digging and heard the slight “ding” of metal against metal. He froze. It took a moment for the sound to register. “Did you hear that?”

  “Yes.”

  He pulled out the spade and dug his fingers into the ground. “I feel something! This could be it.”

  He lifted out the small metal box he’d buried the pearl in a year earlier. He opened it cautiously, and inside, wrapped in silk cloth, was a small bronze vessel with a lid and three legs. It was the size of an apricot and cast with a monster design with large round eyes, c-shaped horns and an s-shaped mouth.

  “It’s incredible!” Ceinwen gasped at both the intricacy and the obvious age of the bronze piece.

  Michael nodded at her, smiling at the treasure, then stood.

  “We found it!” he called to Jianjun. “Get the lead container.”

  “Will do.”

  Michael sank back down into the excavation, resting on his haunches. The vessel had a clever opening, and Ceinwen watched his every move as he twisted two of its three legs. Inside the container were the metallic ores known as rare earth elements. Michael carefully brushed aside some of the metals and Ceinwen managed to sneak a brief glimpse of a pinkish stone before he cov
ered it once more. “I knew it.” He sighed with relief. “It’s still here.”

  “May I see it?” Ceinwen asked.

  “No.” Michael shut the lid. “When you look at the pearl, it will look back at you. I don’t want the demons trapped inside it to know anything about you.”

  “Don’t you think they already do?”

  “Some do, but hopefully not these. They were once strong enough to bring down an entire Chinese dynasty. We don’t want to take them on.”

  “You really do believe in this pearl’s powers, don’t you?” she said.

  “After all this, how can you doubt it?”

  “It’s strange,” she murmured. “My eyes believe what I’m seeing, but my brain still says it doesn’t compute, like it’s insulted by this other reality.”

  “It is another reality,” Michael said. “An evil one. And we have to stop it.”

  A moment later, Jianjun handed Michael a rare earth-filled lead container. He put the bronze vessel in it and handed it back, then helped Ceinwen up and out of the hole.

  “I can’t help but think,” Michael said, after climbing out himself, “that when we get this pearl away from the rivers and these mountains, that the demons that are causing so many problems for this area will leave as well.”

  “Where would they go?” Ceinwen asked.

  “They may follow us all the way to Japan.” He turned to Jianjun. “Want to come along?”

  Jianjun grinned. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  Just then, a shot rang out. Deputy Sheriff Pete Grayson fell over, the top of his head torn open as blood and brain sprayed out.

  Chapter 40

  Rachel found herself once again in the small village with the handsome husband she loved. Joy filled her. Here, she felt happy, and accepted.

  The years passed slowly and joyfully for her and Taishi. Six healthy children were born to them. And much to the surprise of everyone who knew them, O-Yuki, as Rachel was known to the village, never aged. She stayed as youthful and beautiful as the day Nakamura Taishi married her.