A Fistful of Honey

by Malena Crawford

  Bound in deep enchantment, Alena didn’t even try to comprehend her words.

  “I must leave you now, but know that all is well. I will return to you soon.”

  “Who are you?”

  The woman smiled. “I am Mary. Mary of Magdalene.”

  Then in a flash, the woman was gone and Alena woke, to red and blue lights flashing against the alley walls and paramedics running toward her.

  EIGHT

  Alena woke up in a hospital bed in Brooklyn. The room was a groggy swirl of sterile white walls and beeping machines.

  “Well good morning, Mrs. Ford,” the nurse chimed.

  “Where am I?” Alena tried to remember what happened.

  “You’re at Methodist ma’am. You’ve been here for two days. You were hit pretty hard on the head, blunt force trauma. But, you’re lucky—no legions, hemorrhaging, or brain damage. Looks like you’ll be walking away with a just a slight concussion.”

  Wide eyed, Alena touched the bandage on her head. A sharp pain sliced through the side of it above her ear. Another surge of pain pounded under her rib cage. She looked down. Needles were stuck in her arm and a clunky apparatus towered over her bed.

  “Here, take these. You’ll need them.” The nurse handed her a tiny paper cup with two white pills inside. “You’re going to be just fine. In fact, you may even be discharged tomorrow. Dr. Brent will be in shortly to discuss everything with you. And after him, there’s a police detective waiting to speak with you. Your husband was here, but he had to leave on business he said. Your friend will probably be taking you home,” the nurse finished. A sudden chill shot up Alena’s spine.

  “Husband? But my husband and I…” She tried to sit up, but the pain pulsing in her head urged her back down onto the bed.

  “Oh my God, Maya! My baby! Where’s my baby?”

  Gloria walked to the bed and stroked her hand.

  “Easy, honey. Easy. He took Maya with him, Alena.”

  “Gloria! How could you let him take her?” Alena wailed.

  “He’s her father, Alena. There was no way for me to stop him.”

  “No! Oh God!”

  “Calm down, Alena, please. Look around, honey. You’re in the hospital. You’ve been hurt. How on earth do you expect to care for Maya in this condition? You’re safe and Maya is safe. It’s better this way for now and it’s just until you get back on your feet. Everything will work out, you’ll see. Maya will be right back with you as soon as you get well.”

  “Gloria you don’t know Gabriel! This is just what he needs to—”

  “It is okay, everything will be right as rain, you’ll see. Let’s get you home so you can heal and when Maya comes back you’ll be strong again.” There was a knowing promise in Gloria’s voice as she gave Alena a reassuring nod. Alena bit back a cry and took a deep breath, remembering the woman in the alley and her words. Her panic melted into a peaceful acceptance.

  “Okay. You’re right. I’ll get myself together and Maya will be right back with me.”

  ***

  Once Alena was released from the hospital she took a taxi back to the apartment with Gloria. There was a package waiting for her when she returned. It was leaned up against her door.

  “What’s this?” she asked, “I didn’t order anything.”

  Gloria grinned and shrugged. “Hmm, well open it and see.” She helped Alena take the package inside where they unwrapped it carefully. It was the Black Madonna painting.

  “What! Oh Gloria, you shouldn’t have! I can’t take this away from you.”

  “Yes, you can. You must. I want you to have it. She’s yours now my dear. Enjoy her as much as I have.”

  Alena hugged Gloria tightly, grateful for whatever miracle had brought this wonderful woman into her life. “Thank you so much, Gloria. You don’t know what this… what you… have meant to me.”

  “Oh that’s what I’m here for, honey. It’s my pleasure. You’re like one of my own girls.” She smiled and gently squeezed Alena’s hand. “I’ll let you get settled in and then I’ll check on you in a bit, okay? Do you need anything?”

  “I’m all set, I’ll be just fine. See you in a bit then. Thanks again.” She smiled as Gloria turned to her apartment.

  Just minutes after the door closed the phone rang.

  “Hi Mom! Are you okay?” Maya chirped. Her voice was high and nervous.

  “I’m all better now, baby, just getting in the door. Oh my sweet, sweet baby, I miss you. How are you?”

  “I’m fine, Mom. I miss you, too! Sooo much. Dad said you got a bump on your head. I was so scared, but he said you were okay, just resting.”

  Alena bit her lip to keep her from blurting out what she really wanted to say, which was Oh that’s funny because I haven’t even heard from your father. He didn’t have the decency to wait around long enough to make sure I was really okay.

  “Yes, baby, that’s right,” she said. “Mommy is all better and ready to see her Maya Bear!”

  “Oh Mom and guess what? Oh wait, Miss Brittany wants to talk to you.”

  “Brittany?” Alena said. She could hear Maya passing the phone.

  “Hello, Alena?”

  Her tone was cloyingly saccharine to the point of condescension.

  “Hi there. Well I just wanted to say that I hope you get well soon. It really is dangerous out there in those ghettos, I hear.”

  “You listen to me, Brittany. Don’t you ever, and I mean ever, interrupt my daughter when she’s speaking to me. You don’t matter. You’re just another one of my husband’s whores.”

  “Ex-husband,” Brittany hissed. “Well, I was trying to be nice but I guess not.”

  “Keep your grimy hands away from my child and put her back on the phone now!”

  “Mom?” Alena heard the pained confusion in Maya’s voice.

  “Yes, baby. Listen to me okay? No matter what happens, I am your mother and I love you… I’m coming to get you. You don’t have to listen to anyone but me.”

  “And Dad?”

  Alena sighed and rolled her eyes.

  “Yes. And your father. If that woman so much as lays a finger on you, you call me, okay?”

  “Yes, Mommy.”

  “Put your dad on the phone, baby. Listen to me, Maya. Things will get better soon. I love you so very much. Always remember that.”

  “I love you, too, Mommy. Hold on please.”

  “Yes, Alena,” Gabriel answered flatly.

  “What the hell was that? That’s how you’re playing it now? I’m barely out of the hospital and you put your cheap whore on the phone? I thought you would at least have some decency left. Keep that filthy bitch away from Maya. I want my daughter back immediately and I’m coming to get her.”

  “To bring her back to that crime-ridden rat hole you call an apartment? Not happening. My lawyer filed for an emergency custody hearing, I’m sure you’ll hear from the court soon. You want Maya? Prove that you can provide a better home than I can and stop being such an irresponsible mother.”

  “She’s all I have Gabriel! How can you do this to me after everything you’ve put me through already?”

  “Alena, look. I’m not heartless. I just want what’s best for Maya and clearly that’s not you right now. Don’t worry, you’ll get visitation.”

  “Fuck you, Gabe!” she yelled. The phone clicked as Gabriel hung up. Alena hurled it across the room and then dropped to her knees, cradling them to her chest. “Where are you, God?” she cried out to the ethers. “If you exist, then show yourself for once! If you’re real then do something! Do something God! Tell me what I’m supposed to do and I’ll do whatever you ask. Anything! Please. Don’t leave me alone in this horrible silence.”

  Several minutes later, Alena dried her tears and collected herself. Her head ached and she was exhausted. The next best thing she could think of was to go to Gloria’s, so she did. As Alena stood at Gloria’s door about to knock, Gloria opened it.

  “How did you know I was coming?”
<
br />   Gloria gave her a warm grin. “Well, it’s about time that you know.”

  “Time I know what?”

  “Come in, honey. Are you hungry?”

  “Famished. But I couldn’t eat a thing if I tried.” She looked at Gloria despondently. “Gloria, Gabe’s trying to take Maya away from me just like I told you,” she sniffled. “I don’t think I can take anymore. I really don’t.”

  Gloria squeezed her shoulder and motioned for her to take a seat on the crimson sofa. She went to the kitchenette and returned with a plate of cheese and crackers and placed it on the table. She then sat next to Alena on the sofa and paused briefly before speaking.

  “I was born with a veil, the doctors call it a caul. My people down south call it ‘the gift of vision.’ It means you can see things before they happen sometimes. My mother had the vision also, and her mama before her, my Grandma Olivia.”

  “Oh great, so you’re psychic,” Alena said flatly. “That’s wonderful. Then you’ll definitely be able to tell me what’s going on with my life right now.”

  Gloria nodded knowingly. “Yes, I can,” she said matter-of-factly.

  Alena rolled her eyes. “No offense, Gloria, but I should’ve told you, I’m not into all this voodoo hoodoo airy fairy stuff. I’m a Christian.”

  “Ha! What do you know about voodoo? And what, pray tell, do you think you know about Christianity?” Gloria asked, her tone turning serious.

  “I know enough not to tinker with psychics or third eyes or any of that kind of New Age mess. I’m going back to my apartment. I’ll sort out my disaster of a life myself.”

  Gloria raised her hand, halting her.

  “When she came to you, was she wearing this?” Gloria held up the deep purple stone necklace she wore.

  Stunned, Alena rocked back on her heels and fell back onto the sofa.

  “How did you know about what I saw that night?” Gloria was silent. Alena closed her eyes, her brow knitted in concentration. She thought back to the vision of the woman. The fine short hairs on the back of her neck bristled. “Yes! Yes, she was!” Fear gripped her. “What’s happening to me, Gloria, what does all of this mean?”

  Gloria unclasped her necklace. “Give me your hand,” she ordered.

  She placed the necklace into Alena’s palm and closed her fingers over it. “Hold it. What do you feel?”

  A powerful surge of energy raced through Alena’s hand and up the length of her arm. The stone was vibrating so powerfully that it slipped from her grasp. Alena dropped the necklace. “What is this? What the hell is going on, Gloria?”

  “This amulet marks a high priestess of the Tribe of Isis,” Gloria said, picking up the necklace.

  “A tribe of what? You told me your husband gave you that necklace!”

  “Forgive me. I had to know that it was truly you. To be wrong would put everything and everyone in peril.

  Gloria gazed at Alena intently.

  Alena, what I have to tell you may sound quite strange but I assure you it is very real. It is more real than anything you have ever experienced in this lifetime. You must listen closely and take heed to my words. Do you understand?”

  Alena nodded.

  “We, Alena, you and I, are Bridgers. We’re human bridges connecting the holy realm of spirit to this third dimensional planet Earth. This amulet is bestowed to an initiated Bridger from the ancient Tribe of Isis, the Greek’s renaming of our beloved mother Auset. Auset is her name in our original tongue. The amulet’s stone is a spirit crystal, a powerful generator of energy from that holy realm, cut from the Crystal of Isis itself. It will amplify the power of its wearer and can help protect her against psychic attack, as long as she remains pure of heart.”

  Gloria paused, leaned back in the sofa and closed her eyes before continuing. Alena sat with her clasped hands resting against her thighs, eyes round and wide as she took in Gloria’s words.

  “There are factions of us all over the world. Within each of us is the hologram of the Black Madonna, the Great Dark Mother, the original feminine aspect of God. We hold healing codes for all of humanity, codes the earth is in dire need of.”

  Gloria stretched opened Alena’s palm and traced her finger down the middle, over the dark brown crease in it.

  “Honey you have come from a legacy of Bridgers. It is your supreme destiny. All of your pain from this and from many lifetimes you have had before this one have helped you to awaken and steady your feet on this road, Alena.”

  Gloria watched Alena carefully, her eyes holding her shock-filled gaze.

  “You must understand that what you have come to do has been ordained by God hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago. You are at an apex of a spiritual unfolding that began at the dawn of time, through ancient Kemet, Egypt, the Dogon, and Yorubalands of Africa, and now across the waters to the Americas as the beautiful young woman I see before me. You have worked for many, many lifetimes for such a time as this. Alena, we are the mothers of freedom, the keepers of truth. We are the keys the world has been waiting for.”

  Alena sat in awed silence. Somehow from deep within she knew Gloria was speaking the truth.

  “But I must tell you that this sacred path does come with a heavy price. Alena, you are in grave danger,” Gloria said.

  “Danger?” Alena sat up.

  “Yes. Your daughter is protected, for now. It’s you they want the most.”

  Alena felt a flutter of panic strangle her breath. “And who are they?”

  “The Dark Ones. The Shetani. They’re here. I can smell them on your heels.”

  Smell!

  “The shadow people,” Alena whispered, recognition filling her thoughts. Finally someone understood. She could always smell spirits right before seeing them. It was a gift her mother told her to forget about and never speak of and so she’d shut it off completely. But in that moment she knew without a doubt, they had been haunting Alena her whole life.

  “Yes,” Gloria said gravely. “The Shetani are the origin of all evil in the Universe. In the beginning it was they who created the Fallen Ones, the dark angels. Their descendants, the Nephilim, birthed evil and chaos on the earth. Their mission now is the same as it was then and the same as it ever is, to destroy humanity and to destroy all members of the Tribe before we can fulfill the Divine Plan.

  “What Divine Plan?”

  “The Shetani despise human life and thrive on our hatred, envy, and our illusion of separation from one another. If they succeed in our destruction, they will have full reign of the earth and of human life force. It is they who are behind the cycle of mass violence in our human history, one that intensifies every forty-nine years. The tipping point has finally come and a great door is opening. If the Shetani are not stopped, a final wave of mass human violence will start the beginning of the Dark Age. It will be a treacherous plague humanity has not suffered since the Great Flood. If the Light prevails, the doors of the cosmos will be opened to a New Heaven and a New Earth. This is the Divine Plan. If the Shetani gain entry… hell will be loosed on earth.”

  Alena adjusted herself on the sofa with deepening unease, trying to imagine the end of the world. Gloria continued, the gravity of her words adding a sadness to her voice.

  “The Tribe of Isis is a living defense against the Shetani. The only way we will survive is for each priestess to claim her rightful place and fulfill her own divine mission. It is not an easy feat. Those vicious minions will try anything to suppress us. They force us into poverty, hurt us, and the worst—either hurt or work to infect our loved ones to do their will.”

  “Like my husband, Gabriel.”

  “Yes, it is quite possible that they are working through him. The Shetani took my Adeyini trying to scare me away from the Plan.” Gloria paused and there was silence until she spoke again.

  “Fear not Alena,” she said, her voice now holding only the traces of grief. “I’ve come to help you. This is my assignment at this time. You will save your life, your daughter’s life, and all
of humanity if you accept the call of the Great Mother and the Beings of Light and initiate into the Tribe. Time is dwindling. On the day of the Spring Equinox, the planets will be positioned into something called the Grand Cross of Initiation. This formation will mark the convergence point at which the doors to the new Eden will open once again, the Cosmic Door. It is this door that will change everything.”

  A knot of fear was forming in Alena’s throat as she wrung her hands together.

  “There are seven holy powers that are being sent by the Divine to redeem us and seal the doors to darkness. Yet because of the Law of Free Will, the Divine cannot interfere directly. They must be received and anchored into our world voluntarily by a human vessel, seven powers from the Great Dark Mother, and seven powers from the Great Dark Father. Humanity was freely gifted these powers long ago but in our disobedience, we abandoned them and they became lost to us. The reinstatement of these powers will give us mastery over this material world and all of its darkness.”

  Gloria turned to Alena and took her hand.

  “Alena, the Great Mother has chosen you to anchor her powers, the force of the Divine Feminine. During your initiation, each successful experience will reveal such a power, a key learning that will assist you and humanity in overcoming the Shetani. If you are diligent in your quest, they will be yours to receive. Among our Tribe is a great Oracle, the one to set the final order once we have all completed our missions. There is much for you to learn. For now, you rest and wait. The Beings of Light will surely let you know what the next step is. I know this is a lot to hear, but you do believe what I’ve told you, don’t you?”

  “I do.” Alena nodded numbly.

  “So, what do you say?”

  “I’m scared. Why me, Gloria? I’m a complete mess, probably the most unholy person I know. These Beings of Light, are you sure it’s me they want? And what if the Shetani try to hurt me, or Maya?”

  “As I said, do not be afraid. They are masters of illusion but their sorcery can only harm you if you are not pure of heart, it is your dark emotions that give them their power. Otherwise they are nothing. The danger is real but you are greater than even it is. You are purposed for this. Alena, the only question to answer is this: are you willing to follow your great destiny?”