Destiny's Gate

by Lee Bice-Matheson

  I smiled at grandpa and could not wait to see how Trixie was. It was weird that no one had mentioned her in the past few days. Perhaps they assumed she was in my room.

  Allan poked his head in the door; he looked ashen. I was shocked by his appearance and tried not to display it on my face. I welcomed him with a hug while grandpa’s back was turned.

  Grandpa spun around; he appeared distracted and out of sorts. I repeated his name again and again, until he snapped out of it and abruptly asked Allan, “Is Trixie okay? I just saw her lying in a pool of blood?” He seemed panicked. “Is Trixie...a...a...”

  “A what?” asked Allan. “A girl? Yes she is.”

  Allan dashed to catch grandpa as he fainted to the floor. Hanna scurried from the kitchen in search of a pillow and returned laying it under his head.

  When grandpa awoke, he did not remember what had just occured. I glared at Hanna to let her know to stay out of it. Allan and I led grandpa to his room, helping him gently upon his bed.

  “Would you mind, Paige, if you stay home with me, and maybe Allan, you could go with Hanna and Helen to help them carry their bags, please?”

  Grandpa looked so vulnerable and I did not like it. “Of course, I’ll stay home with you. I’d love to.” I grabbed his hand and held it for reassurance that everything would be okay.

  “Well, Mr. O’Brien, I`ll inform the ladies that they have a gentleman escorting them today.” And on that note, Allan hugged me and made his exit.

  Grandpa examined me sternly with a hint of disapproval, his left eyebrow raised. We sat in silence until Hanna and grandma came in to check on him and said their goodbyes.

  At the first sound of grandpa’s light snoring, I felt relieved that he entrusted me to be his caregiver for the day and left the room to make some tea.

  As I strutted towards the kitchen, grandpa cried out, “No, Paige, don’t go. We need to talk, I’m okay now. I wanted to tell you I saw a vision of Trixie as a young girl and it caught me off guard. It can’t be.”

  I snapped back into the room and did not know what to say. Thinking quick on my feet, I gave it my best shot and asked, “You know how we live between two worlds and we can see earthbound spirits or spirits from the Other Side, right? Well, apparently there are also shapeshifters.” I studied him intently and continued, “Let me put it another way, don’t you think it’s possible that some people can be shapeshifters, if we can see and communicate to spirits?”

  “Following your line of logic that they both involve transforming energy, well, yes then, I would tend to agree it’s possible...it’s so far out there for me, I really have to think about it. That would mean so many legends from my native land could actually be true.”

  I felt sad for grandpa. He had had an epiphany of some sort that he was not quite ready to have. I sat next to him on the bed and held onto his hand and smiled. “Whatever there is to handle, grandpa, we can do it together; besides Allan’s here to protect us, too.” It was too late. I had let the cat out of the bag...that I had known about both of them all along.

  Grandpa squeezed my hand. “These are troubled times, Paige, be careful who you trust.” In a gravelly tone, he declared:

  “Thy soul shall find itself alone,

  ‘Mid dark thoughts of the gray tomb-stone –

  Not one, of all the crowd, to pry-

  Into thine hour of secrecy...”

  Grandpa unexpectedly blacked out. My heart jumped into my throat. My skin prickled and I felt instantly ice cold. We were not alone. I ignored it because that was what I was guided to do — do not give energy to earthbound spirits unless they have proven they are friendly. The more you react from a sense of fear, the stronger they become, and there was no way I was going down that road again, as I did with Conall. Tucking grandpa in, I strode confidently from the room even when I passed through what felt like a wall of ice. I continued into the kitchen to brew some tea; a remedy for my fried nerves. As I looked at my reflection in the bay window, I detected a presence behind me. It was hard to ignore as I could sense it staring at the back of my head; it became difficult to breathe. I picked up the whistling tea kettle and poured the boiling water into the Brown Betty teapot, fixating on the day dad explained the beauty of its design. The timer was set for five minutes to steep the tea, and I determinedly paraded back to grandpa’s bedside. When the timer resounded from the kitchen, I ran to silence it before it disturbed grandpa. The kettle itself was now on the burner beside the one I had placed it on, and the Brown Betty was sitting on the counter, not the stove, where I had left it. Heart pounding, I had to think calming thoughts in order to keep my cool. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a man dressed in a long black cape and hood sitting at the kitchen nook. I was frightened out of my mind, despite my best efforts to keep calm and carry on, and dreaded to see who would turn around. Its head rotated slowly to the right and revealed a gruesome, scarred face with green eyes. A putrid smell filled the air and I heard the words, prepare for the worst. We are coming for you. An unseen force pushed me backwards, and I tripped over a stool on the floor, landing on my tailbone. Agonizing pain shot up my spine and I understood that this was nothing to be messing around with. I was upset that Allan and Hanna were gone, my two allies on the estate, and then remembered Peggy. I sat still and silently repeated her name until I saw her in my mind. I heard the words, don’t worry, child. Help is on the way. Watch for a spiritwalker. Remember, he’s your friend.

  “Paige, are you there?” grandpa called from his room. I slowly arose, using the counter for support and hesitated before answering.

  “Yes...I’m here, grandpa. I’m making you some tea.” He seemed satisfied with my answer.

  Pouring the earl grey tea into china cups took my mind off the distressing details of what had just happened, temporarily. In the midst of the madness, it was pleasing to me to have something domestic to do. It hit me that I often take the little rituals in life for granted. I found the silver tray that Hanna used and loaded it up, with the teapot, two cups, saucers and scones I found in the bread box. In a trance-like state, I added the butter dish and carried the heavy tray into grandpa’s room. Crash! The tray and all its creature comforts fell to the floor, as I watched grandpa reciting what seemed to be a poem, while standing on top of his bed:

  “Be silent in that solitude

  Which is not loneliness — for then

  The spirits of the dead who stood

  In life before thee are again

  In death around thee-

  and their will

  Shall overshadow thee; be still.”

  He repeated the verse over and over again. I was at a loss and fell to my knees, picking up the mess, while silently asking for help from my spirit supporters. Startled by a noise, I looked up and held my breath as spiritwalker, my tanned faced friend, was leaning against an armoire, in the flesh. In slow motion, he helped grandpa down from his bed and tucked him under the covers. He then placed his hands on grandpa’s temples, uttered a few inaudible words and turned back around to smile at me. He asked me to leave the room while he examined the patient. I touched his arm as he brushed by; it was ice cold. I did not want to abandon grandpa until I heard telepathically, I’ve been sent to watch over your grandfather. Do not worry. I am here to protect him while he remains unconscious. Your job is to figure out who did this and why, Paige.

  Pacing in the hallway, I lost track of time, awaiting the okay to return to grandpa’s bedside. Spiritwalker said, you can come in now. I rushed into the room to speak to him, and was surprised when he declared, your grandfather is fine. I must leave now.

  Standing over grandpa as he slept in his bed, I was afraid he might not wake up, and then what would I do? Oh my, that was selfish. I loved him so much and did not want any harm to come to him.

  When grandpa at last, opened his eyes, he admitted, “I had the most disturbing dream. Funny...I do not want to remember an
y of it.”

  I readily agreed and said, “No you don’t, grandpa. Just...rest.” And back to sleep he went.

  Finally, Hanna, grandma and Allan returned home. I sighed relief and felt the burden of what had transpired dissipating because even when I felt alone, I was not; spiritwalker had come to our rescue.

  Hanna and grandma asked how everything went and I kept the events of the past few hours to myself. “No problems! Grandpa’s been sleeping peacefully.” They left the room, excitedly talking about their secret purchases and announced they were hiding their packages. I was thrilled to see Allan as he walked up to me and gave me a peck on the cheek.

  “I know something bad happened while we were away, but for the life of me, I could not get them to come home! What shoppers they are! I’m happy you look fine, Paige. I guess I was worrying about nothing.”

  I wanted to kiss and hug him but knew with everyone in the manor it was not the best timing.

  Allan grinned as if he knew what I was thinking and blew a kiss before he left, and said, “I’ve got to get back to Trixie. She’s on the mend.”

  My heart soared at his gesture and I was thrilled to hear Trixie was better.

  “It’s just a matter of days before your parents are here, Paige,” announced Hanna as she returned to the room. “We will have to get Allan to take you into town so you can do your shopping. Maybe tomorrow?” And then she winked at me.

  That night, as I lay in bed, I had a vision — I saw the young, tortured boy I had observed in the ice vault pointing at something behind me. I turned around and there was grandpa reciting the poem again with additional verse:

  “The night-tho’clear — shall frown –

  And the stars shall look not down,

  From their high thrones in the heaven,

  With light like Hope to mortals given –

  But their red orbs, without beam,

  To thy weariness shall seem

  As a burning and a fever

  Which would cling to thee forever.”

  I snapped out of the vision and sat up in bed. It was pitch- black in my room which was not a good sign. It was supposed to be a full moon tonight. I shook my head and closed my eyes. When I re-opened them, there were ten pairs of yellow eyes staring back at me. I awoke and recognized I had a dream within a dream and began to pray, asking for protection from the imminent evil that was encroaching upon the estate and me. I began to feel peaceful. I had that familiar feeling of a warm hug enveloping me, and knew someone was with me — a good spirit. Words were spoken, Paige, I am here to protect you, child. I have heard your prayers. You need not worry. Listen to spiritwalker. Live from a place of love within your heart and all will be overcome. No further words were needed. I smiled and thankfully fell into a peaceful slumber.

  The next morning, Hanna knocked loudly on my door, and burst into the room and said, “Wake up, sleepy head. I’ve brought you some biscuits and green tea. Hurry now. Allan will be here in an hour to pick you up and take you into town.” Her benevolent smile made me realize she had picked up on the romantic feelings Allan and I had for each other.

  Ignoring her, I grabbed a biscuit and jammed part of it in my mouth as I ran into the bathroom to turn on the shower. I hastily downed my tea before stepping in. While rinsing my hair, I heard the following: Cleanse your aura, Paige; do it now. Picture a vacuum cleaner running up and down your body, taking away any negative energy and washing them down the drain to mother earth. She will deal with them. Now close your aura and ask for protection. Only then will you feel at peace. I did as I was told. And sure enough, stepping out of the shower, I felt fantastic and physically stronger. Once again, I knew not to question the wisdom of the one speaking. Call it intuition.

  Allan’s voice echoed down the hallway; he sounded carefree and energized. I guessed Trixie must be with him; she was fully healed. I threw on my pink velour bathrobe gifted to me from mom last Christmas and ran to greet them. When I entered the foyer, Trixie bounded over, wagging her tail and jumped up with her paws on my shoulders. Allan said she was coming with us for the car ride and I smiled, knowing we were going to have a wonderful day together, just the three of us. I ran back to my room and dressed in my shopping attire of black skinny jeans, red turtle neck that almost matched my auburn hair and Louis Vuitton knock off bag. We said our goodbyes and ran to Dexter’s classic 1972, white with green trim, Chevrolet C10, longbed pickup with V8 engine. It made me laugh as I pictured the day Dexter checked the oil and informed me it was his baby, with the name Cheyenne painted on the side. He loved it so.

  It was another frosty day with a snowstorm in the forecast. Despite the radio broadcaster’s warning, Allan said, “Not to worry, ladies. With me at the wheel, we can get through any storm they throw at us.” He laughed but somehow I did not feel reassured.

  Trixie ignored her stepfather and said, “I am so happy to be here with the two of you. This is great. I almost forgot what it’s like to be in my human body. It’s so nice to see above three feet high. And I can pick things up like your purse, Paige. What’s in here anyways?”

  “Quick...give that back. You’re not supposed to nose around in other people’s things, Trixie, human form or not.” I was worried she would pull out my personal toiletries and that would be embarrassing in front of Allan.

  As we passed by Peggy’s house, I asked telepathically, can we stop by? Then I heard — not now, Paige, perhaps on the way home. I smiled, relieved to hear back from Peggy so quickly.

  We travelled to the shopping mall in the city of Sarnia, which was Latin for Guernsey (a British Channel Island). We walked around and I decided to get a latte from Second Cup — candy cane chai tea latte to be exact. It was delicious on such a cold day. We then agreed to split up so we could each do some shopping on our own.

  I strolled along the corridor and felt a sudden urge to go into Hilda’s, a women’s clothing store. There on display, was a beautiful bronze and silver sequined dress that I knew mom would love and half price for today only. I knew I had to buy it. While at the check-out counter, I spied some gorgeous silver earrings for grandma and a turquoise and silver bracelet for Hanna. For someone who normally does not like to shop, I was actually enjoying it.

  As I exited Hilda’s, I felt drawn to an emporium across the hallway that sold gifts from around the world. I entered and enjoyed the Buddhas on display, and the swords hung on the walls, and then felt strangely drawn to the back of the store. I found heart shaped healing stones made from gypsum and crystallized into a solid white form named Selenite. They were also used for protection from negative energy. I scored three of them and knew I was going to gift them to Peggy, Carole and myself. Now I had to buy for Trixie and Allan. When I lay the stones on the counter, I spied two charms from the Holy Land underneath the glass case. I asked the clerk about them and he reassured me they were from Bethlehem. I bought them so fast, I surprised even myself. And last on my list were dad and grandpa. I found a marble chess board for grandpa and a statue of healing hands for dad. Gift buying: check.

  I received a text from Allan stating, we must leave now, so I grabbed my bags and booted it to the agreed upon meeting spot in front of the mall’s fountain. Watching Trixie and Allan as they approached, I was shocked at the seriousness of their mood. Allan muttered something about heavy snow as we quickly made our way to the antiquated truck. I spied the sandbags in the back of the vehicle placed there to help weigh it down on the winter’s slippery roads and was grateful for Dexter’s preparedness.

  Clearly the plows had not done their job clearing the roads brimming with snow. We watched as dark clouds formed in the sky and knew we had a limited time frame to reach O’Brien Manor. Trixie turned up the volume on the radio and the song Dust in the Wind, by the band Kansas, played eerily. I felt a chill as I recalled every Final Destination movie I had ever seen that played that song — when someone was about to die. We remained silent until we r
eached the driveway to the manor, and saw a nasty blizzard beyond the stone gate. It seemed to be brewing over the estate and then broke apart, spreading up and down the road towards us. We slid into the driveway and spun around, landing just shy of the estate’s stone wall. Allan quickly shook it off and continued driving towards the manor door. He ordered us out of the truck so he could park it. Trixie and I jumped out but refused to go inside until he was safe. We watched in horror as the Chevy truck slid into one of the ancient trees out front, and bolted over to help him. Allan held up his hand as a warning and commanded us to go into the manor. Reluctantly, we retreated and scrambled through the front door.

  Hanna grabbed the two of us, clutching us close to her chest and exclaimed, “Something terrible has happened.” She broke away and continued, “Paige, your grandfather has fallen into some sort of coma again.” She studied me and I noticed tiny tears in the corners of her eyes. “Paige, this cannot be happening again. Only you can help us.” She stomped out of the foyer towards the direction of my grandparents’ bedrooms.

  I was enraged. The one day I leave the estate and this is what happened? In my absence, some dark energy had inflicted itself upon grandpa without me here to help protect him! How did I not see this coming? How could it possibly be happening with so many spirits watching out for us? Mackenzie broke through — Paige, we couldn’t stop it, nor could you. Wait for Allan to come and talk to you. He’s the key. Mackenzie’s voice faded away. I messaged to her, wait. There was no response.

  Grandma lay faithfully on the bed, facing grandpa, her head next to his shoulder. I did not want to disturb her and wondered if the doctor would be able to reach us in this treacherous weather. I was alarmed when I heard someone behind me. I circled around as spiritwalker entered the room, again. I was paralyzed, unable to speak. Spiritwalker guided me telepathically, say your protection prayers each and every day. A storm is here. You must be prepared. Now that your inner wolf is complete, you are ready. Not to fear, Paige, continue to live from a place of love and all evil will be conquered. Remember, from a place of love...and your grandfather will be healed. Spiritwalker faded into thin air.