by Dale Mayer
“Those are really incredible diagrams,” Chana said, walking closer, her gaze locked on the blueprint Lacey had done of one house. “I knew you were an artist, but I had no idea you were this good.”
“I hadn’t realized I had such a love for architecture,” Lacey said with the laugh. “But this seemed so clear and so detailed to me that I had to get it down.”
An odd silence came from her cousin. Lacey looked up to see Chana staring at the image, a frown forming between her brows. “Something about it bothers you?” Lacey asked curiously.
Chana hesitated, then shook her head. “No …”
“That didn’t sound very convincing,” Lacey said. “What’s wrong with it?”
“This corner’s off. Something’s not quite right here.”
Lacey stood beside Chana, studying the upper right-hand corner of the image. “What’s off about it?”
“I don’t know,” Chana said with a shrug. “You’re the artist, not me. It feels like there’s supposed to be something more here.”
“I’ll take a look at it.” Lacey sat back down again, shifting the diagram so she could look at it from different angles and then held it back, propped up against the kitchen chair beside her so she could see it from a distance.
Chana went to the refrigerator and pulled out yogurt and granola. “It’ll be another hot day in paradise,” she said. “Amazing how blasé we get living over here.”
“It certainly doesn’t appear to be the same weather we had in North America,” Lacey said, her voice distracted as she studied the corner Chana had been talking about.
Lacey could see what Chana meant. The lines, instead of being crisp and clear, kind of disappeared into a vagueness at that point. Where the rest of the edges appeared to be very distinct and coming to a final point, that corner didn’t. She reached for her pencil and held it above the sketch pad, wondering what to do about it. But nothing inside her said to fill it in; nothing said to add something or to take away something.
After a moment of staring at it, she shrugged and put the pencil down again.
“Don’t want to finish it?”
“I’ll do it later,” Lacey said. “I’m too tired right now.”
“You kept me awake with all your tossing and turning,” Chana said. “I couldn’t figure out why you weren’t sleeping.”
Lacey looked at her and smiled. “Maybe it was something I ate.” She could hardly tell her about the conversation with Hunter and Sebastian.
“Too much drinking with the boss,” Chana said lightly. She walked over with her bowl of breakfast and sat down beside Lacey.
“Do you think it bothers people?” Lacey asked, her voice sharper than she intended.
“Doesn’t matter if it does or not,” Chana said. “If something’s going on between you, then something’s going on between you.”
“There isn’t,” Lacey said emphatically. “At least not yet.”
That started a surprised look from Chana; then she broke out laughing. When she finally caught her breath again, she said, “Dear Lacey, I did miss you.”
Happy to see the two had settled back into a more normal relationship, Lacey studied the food Chana ate, then said, “That looks really good.”
Chana motioned to the cabinet and fridge. “Go get some. Whatever you need. You know that.”
Lacey stood and walked over to make herself a bowl similar to Chana’s. “What time does the rest of the team get up? Isn’t it later than normal today?”
“Several of them were off drinking last night,” Chana said comfortably. “They might be planning a late start.”
“They’re hungover then?”
“And there might have been some interesting pairings going on last night.”
Lacey stopped in the act of putting the food back in the fridge, wondering what her cousin meant, then realized she was talking about some of them hooking up. She put the food away and joined her cousin at the table. “Does that work well on a dig site like this?”
“No,” Chana said. “Look at me and Tom.”
“You still want to go out with Tom?”
Chana shrugged, but the look on her face turned sad.
“Does he have somebody else?” Lacey asked.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“So … try again?”
“No, not doing that,” Chana said. “We have to have a long talk first.”
“So have the long talk, clear the air and decide what you both want,” Lacey said. “I know it’s not easy, but if it’s what you want …”
“I’m not sure what I want,” Chana said, her tone bitter. “You always seem to know exactly what you want. Whereas I feel like I’m out there sampling everything in life, not finding anything that’s particularly right for me.”
“I hardly think that’s true,” Lacey said gently. She swallowed a spoonful of yogurt and granola and smiled. “This is really tasty.”
Chana chuckled, stood, grabbed her bowl and walked to the kitchen sink. “I think it is true.”
She was obviously referring to their previous subject of conversation.
“I get that you didn’t make this choice to visit Pompeii fast or easy, but you stepped up for it when an opportunity arose. In my case I don’t have any real purpose. Yes, I’m here doing what I really love to do, but, beyond that—and there has to be a beyond that—I’m not sure what else to do with my life.”
“Are you talking about relationships?”
“I’m talking everything,” Chana said in a bout of frustration. She spun around to stare at Lacey, leaning against the sink, a fresh cup of coffee in her hand. “I want a family sometime in the next three to five years.” She was restless and paced the kitchen. “I’m already twenty-nine.”
Lacey felt a jolt as she thought about that. Because she was only six months younger.
“Consider that,” Chana said. “Do you really want to be older than thirty-five and having kids? And I know lots of people are out there doing it, but I’m not sure I’ll have the energy or the inclination at that point.”
“Six years is still a long time to get your act together,” Lacey said. She took several more bites of yogurt, watching her cousin pace.
She wasn’t sure what this was all about, but it was interesting to watch. They’d talked about having families, getting married, producing kids when they were younger, but they hadn’t had this conversation in a while. For Lacey, there hadn’t been any conversation to have. She hadn’t had a male friend at all while nursing her mother and then dealing with her death. This was kind of like a new stage of life for her. But it did remind her that Chana had been ready for a while, and obviously she wasn’t happy with the current stage of her life.
“What brought this on?” Lacey asked curiously. “I haven’t heard you speak like this before.”
Chana gave an irritable shrug as she stared out the window.
Lacey studied her cousin’s face, seeing the frustration, maybe even anger. “Is this the reason you and Tom broke it off?”
“Partly,” Chana admitted. “He doesn’t want to have a family.”
“Aah,” Lacey murmured. She finished her yogurt but continued sitting there, watching her cousin. “And you always have,” she said. It had been Chana’s dream growing up. It would be hard for her to let that go.
Chana nodded. “I always have,” she said softly. “And it feels like I’m giving up something that’s very, very important if I stay with him.”
“Of course. Because he’s making you choose between having that lifelong dream and him. Does he have any reasons for not wanting a family?”
“He has his reasons,” Chana said. She walked toward Lacey and plopped down on an empty chair. “But they are reasons that don’t matter to me. He thinks it’s a terrible time in the world to raise children. He feels that we’d need more money for traveling and whatnot and that a child would cramp our lifestyle.”
“Both of which are valid reasons,” Lacey said, “but a col
d comfort when you really want a family. And what he’s talking about is all now stuff. Not down the road stuff. Short-term, not long-term focuses.”
“And I said that to him,” Chana said, “but I didn’t seem to convince him.”
There wasn’t a whole lot Lacey could say to that. She finished her breakfast and went to rinse the bowl and refill her cup with coffee. “What time are we going to the site today?”
“I figured, if we went in a little earlier, we could leave a little earlier too,” Chana said. “I’ve been really restless since I woke up. I want to get going now, if you want to go with me?”
“Absolutely I do,” Lacey said with a big grin. “Let me grab my water and camera gear.”
When she was ready, Chana was already at the door, waiting impatiently, most happy to leave now.
Lacey frowned. “I’ve never seen you this eager to get to work before.”
But Chana was already out the door, heading toward the stairs.
Still moving a little slower, Lacey followed behind and headed downstairs. By the time she reached the bottom, her cousin was already outside. She was surprised Chana wasn’t waiting for her. Her cousin was normally a very courteous and caring friend.
She looked outside to find her already at the crosswalk. “You are in a rush today,” Lacey called out, catching up with her.
At that, Chana slowed and waited. The two of them walked across the road.
“I’m not sure what the problem is,” she said to Chana as they headed toward the entrance. Yes, Chana had mentioned Tom not wanting children. But there was something else bothering Chana. Plus the air felt odd this morning with a stillness to it that Lacey didn’t recognize.
Or Lacey was letting the recent weird events color even her cousin’s behavior.
Lacey loved the Roman road that led to the Stabian Gate. The archway, just the whole look, was so unique.
When they finally reached it and made their way through the gate, she turned to look behind her, sure she would catch sight of somebody following them. But nobody was there.
“If you think we’re being followed,” Chana said, “I’ve been thinking that for days.”
Startled, Lacey stopped, then raced to catch up again. “What? You’re just now saying something about it?”
“What can I say? I’ve never seen anybody. I’d sound like a neurotic female if I make any comments about it. It’s not easy being one of only a couple women in a place like this. Women are very welcomed on dig sites all over the world, but it’s still a male-dominated career. And, if you sound nervous or superstitious or say anything other than something the guys would say, you get labeled as neurotic or paranoid or just touchy, and I don’t want that.”
“Understood,” Lacey murmured. She understood. It was also quite possible that it wasn’t that they were being followed only that they were much more sensitive to the weird energy going on now.
They finally made it to the dig site, and, as she watched, Chana made her way down to where she had been working, picking up tools out of her backpack, and quickly got to work. It was early and maybe that was a good thing.
Lacey put down her backpack and pulled out her camera gear, realizing the light was unique because of the hour of the morning. Unable to help herself, she took pictures of places she’d already shot many, many times, but the light was so different this time.
She wandered the site, taking pictures of Chana, taking pictures of the site, the trees, the way the light hit the rocks. The shadows were amplified in the morning. This morning light offered a very unique look she hadn’t seen before. She fast became lost in capturing the differences of today from the other days.
Only when she heard something behind her did she spin around to see what appeared to be a man walking toward her. She rubbed her fingers against her eyes to refocus. Only to realize nobody was there.
Straightening, she looked around, realizing just the two of them were at the site, and she’d wandered several hundred yards away from her cousin. “Hello? Is anyone here?”
There was no answer. But she was sure she’d seen something. She closed her eyes, trying to recapture that image in her mind, but it was gone. Disturbed, and yet, not having any discernible reason, she returned to work, always listening and aware somebody else might be around. Sebastian’s words were never far from her thoughts. Ghosts? Surely not. She shoved that thought deep down and returned to work.
She was relieved to hear several other team members finally arriving. She smiled when she saw them, giving them a big wave. They waved back, joining Chana down below.
More comfortable now that she wasn’t so alone, she continued to work on the deeper recesses of each section. She was drawn to the corner of her sketch that was still vague, wondering what was supposed to go there. Using her camera, she brought up the 3-D images she’d seen before. She sat in awe as she studied the lifelike images in front of her.
Both a fantasy-futuristic element and a historical element went into what she saw, as if the future and the past had blended into one, because she still saw the blue of a holographic structural image laid atop the broken stones. She carefully made her way to the vague corner.
As she approached the spot in question, she was stopped by an invisible wall. She reached out a hand but it was as if a force was stopping her. She froze, lowered the camera and looked around her. She was completely alone. It wasn’t even nine o’clock in the morning. The place was deserted, and she saw no sign of animal or bird life. It was eerie, and yet, inspiring. Even though she felt like she wasn’t supposed to go farther, she also felt compelled to.
There was an inner tug, as if somebody was pushing her forward, and another inner push, as if somebody was pushing her back.
Finally she called out, “Stop.”
Instantly the sense of a tug of war paused. She frowned and looked around. “I don’t know what you guys are doing. I don’t know who you are or what you want, but I’m not a pawn to be used in whatever game you’re playing.”
She took several deep breaths, centering herself, reminding herself where she was and why she was here. At the same time Hunter’s words and Sebastian’s comments flowed through her. She hadn’t seen either of the men yet this morning. Instinctively though, she could feel them here somewhere.
She took a step toward the corner, and a force pushed her backward. She stumbled back several steps, only to feel a hand on her shoulder. She spun around in terror.
Sebastian reached out to steady her. “Easy. Just take it easy. I’m a friend, not a foe.”
She slammed her hand against her chest. “I’m glad to hear that,” she gasped. “Because I’ve just had a crazy few minutes.”
“Explain,” he snapped.
She told him about the tugging and the pushing and her yelling out.
“And when you just now took another step, you felt it again?”
She nodded.
“Show me.”
She frowned up at him. “What if I don’t want to?” she asked peevishly. “It’s not very nice to be a pin cushion where people are moving you around at their whim.”
“I think the proper term would be pawn,” he said absentmindedly.
She waved a hand. “Semantics.”
He chuckled. “I want to see if there’s anything visible when you do get pushed back.”
She froze and looked at him. “Right, you see auras. Do you think you could see the aura of whoever is doing this?”
His lips kicked up at the corners of his mouth. “Maybe. But, in order for me to see anything, you have to do it again.”
She stared at him for a moment. “Might be better if you moved off to the left then, so you can see it from the side and not from behind.”
Obediently he took several steps to the left and then took a couple forward. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, opened them, turned and walked again toward the corner. Instantly she came up against that wall of energy, and, like a jab to her stomach, she stumbled back several fe
et from the force of the blow.
She stood, gasping. “Whatever it is does not want me over there.” As soon as her words fell silent, she felt a tremendous surge of energy on her back, shoving her forward. “Are you seeing this?” she cried out, resisting the force shoving her forward. She took several steps, unable to hold herself steady. Then the other force came and pushed against her from the front. She held out her arms and roared, “Stop.”
Both forces fell away. She stood trembling on the spot.
Sebastian wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “I did see something,” he said. He rubbed his hands up and down her back. “I’m not exactly sure what’s going on, but it’s amazing.”
She pushed back so she could stare up at him. “Amazing? That’s all you’ve got to say? It was terrifying. It’s like being caught in the middle of some strange wind turbine, where one is pushing me forward and one is pushing me back, and I’m getting flattened in the middle.”
“I see two energy forces. The energy forces are very strong,” he admitted. “I can see the outlines of the energy, but I can’t see a specific human shape. Just a swirling force on either side.”
“Outlines of the energy?” she questioned softly. “As in, you’re seeing, like, wind?”
He shook his head. “No, I see two vertical forms with arms almost, but they are more ghostly. So more than an aura but less than seeing two full persons.”
She took several breaths again and then sagged against him. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
He held her close. “You’re doing just fine.” He glanced around. “Why are you in this corner anyway?”
She gave a half snort. “Because, on the diagram I drew, this back corner was vague, undefined, and Chana asked me about it.”
“Did she?” he murmured.
“She didn’t have anything to do with it,” Lacey’s snapped, glaring up at him. “You leave her out of this craziness.”
His smile was warm and caring. “So defensive when it comes to family. You’re such a tiger, looking after those you love.”
She gave a clipped nod. “And don’t you forget it.”