Pursing his lips, Charlie considered the notion. “Everyone thought Karma gave me my extra gifts because I was her favorite. You’re sayin’ I’m not special after all?”
“No, I guess you could still be special,” his father laughed, “I’m sayin’ you’re not unique. We don’ cross the plane because we assume that we can’t. But what if we could if we wanted to?”
“Ok, then you come over here; that’s easier.”
“Easier, but not logical,” John retorted, “When we show up looking for Father, Tabs is gonna think she’s lost her mind. It’d be better if we all hid out of sight.”
“Yeah,” Alice agreed. “Help us hide in the other plane.”
“Jesus,” Charlie muttered, recalling how long it had taken him to learn to cross. “We don’ have days t’ spend on me teachin’ you –”
“We don’ need days,” John cut him off. “They aren’t gonna move over here, you’re gonna push, or pull them; however you wanna look at it.”
“Ohhhh,” the light came on and Charlie grinned deviously. “You must think I’m pretty bad ass at this magic crap. Ok, I’ll try.” Taking each one by a hand, he nodded at Steven and Alice. “Don’t fight me,” he commanded. “Jus’ relax an’ focus on me.”
Doing as he instructed, the couple joined their unclaimed appendages while staring at Charlie’s face. Breathing deeply, he exhaled through a thin line between his lips, in a slow hiss. Repeating the process, he could feel the energy building inside him, and he made the shift, taking the couple with him.
Looking around, Steven grumbled, “We’re still here.”
“Yeah,” Alice agreed; “It didn’t work.”
“Sure it did,” Charlie chortled, pointing at his father who stood behind them.
Turning slowly, Alice squealed when her eyes met those of the older Phillips; “Oh, my God!” She reached out, tapping a headstone a few times before her hand passed through it. “How do I control it?”
“You learn,” Charlie observed. “Objects go between planes pretty easily; people, you will pass through an’ you won’ have a choice. They are in the living plane, an’ you can’t change that.”
“You just did,” Steven countered smugly.
“Yeah, I did,” Charlie’s mind turned, glimmers of understanding taking root. “I don’ think Destiny brought me back t’ life after all. After your suicides, I don’ think you guys made it back either.”
“What do you mean?” Alice asked in a bewildered tone. “Are you saying we’re still dead?”
“No, I don’t think dead is the right word,” he explained, watching his father’s expression as he spoke. “What if, once you’ve been rifted, you can’t really go back t’ bein’ on their side of the divide as one of them. To get you over there, one of the other Angels jus’ shoves you over, like I did here. That’s why your magic still works in the non-magical plane!”
“Very good, Charlie,” a deep voice boomed, and Keeper appeared beside him. “I knew eventually you would riddle it out.”
“Well, look who’s here,” Charlie sneered, looking the old man up and down as he removed his hood. Staring at his tanned face, he noticed the pointedness of his ears. “So that’s why you guys all wear hoods; to hide who you are.”
“Not as much as you would think,” Keeper chuckled, despite the young man’s obvious attitude. “Please, son; we only have a few minutes to speak. Let’s not waste them in a sparring match.”
Glancing at his companions, expecting them to have questions of their own, he gasped, “What’d you do t’ them? Freeze them so we can be alone again?”
“They’re fine,” Keeper replied, turning and walking between a few of the tombstones. “They’re in a brief time out. No need of their hearing what we share here.”
“An’ what are we gonna share here?” Charlie taunted.
“Feisty as ever, I’ll give you that,” Keeper adjusted his robe. “Time is short, Charlie. You know of Karma’s plans; you know of my plans. It is time for the boy to become a man.” He turned, observing Charlie’s confused expression. “You must choose, my son. I have hidden much from you, but all has been revealed. There is no ‘Angel’s World’ to go back to. All that survived came here with us.”
“I see,” Charlie agreed.
“Indeed, you do see. I have removed the last of our children from the humans. All that remain are those who are impure. Those who have knowledge of how and why we were here. I will take the ones in my care to a new world, some distance from here, and we will begin again. The rest will remain here.”
“Karma has no intention of lettin’ you do that,” Charlie informed him curtly.
“Yes, and therein lies your choice. Karma would destroy all that we have worked for. Her anger runs deep; her bitterness blinding her to the truth.”
“Ah, more truth,” the younger man chuckled. “Look, why don’ you jus’ get t’ the point?”
“The point is, I want you to help us escape.”
“What about the planes?” Charlie changed the subject. “Should I help Karma remove the divide?”
“Yes; no. Either way, it is of no consequence. The only thing that matters is that we get away. If we do not, all our efforts will have been in vain.”
“What about the humans?” Charlie demanded loudly. “You guys have been messin’ with them since you got here. Do you really think they deserve t’ be Karma’s slaves for eternity?”
“They have always been our slaves,” Keeper’s eyes sparkled. “Since we arrived, they have fulfilled our needs. I dare say they would not have survived without us.”
“Pfft,” Charlie hissed. “Ok, so I’ll make you a deal. We need the planes re-united. But, Karma says we need two more Forgotten Angels t’ make that happen. I figure you know who they are. So, you send ‘em t’ Purgatory, an’ once that’s done… I’ll make sure you guys get away.”
Keeper grinned broadly at the young man. “Charlie, you never cease to amaze me!”
“Yeah, well, do we have a deal?” Charlie repeated a little more gruffly. “Cause if we don’…” he dropped his eyes to the sack on Keeper’s sash for a brief instant, then looked him dead in the eye, “I can promise, I will do every thing in my power to stop you.”
“Yes,” Keepers features shifted to grave, “we have an agreement. But don’t get cocky, Charlie. Karma will not readily accept this turn of events, and crossing me will get you no better.”
“Yeah, I’m not stupid,” Charlie wafted a hand at him nonchalantly. “Release my friends and go; I’ll be looking for those two missing group members to be delivered as quick as you can manage it.”
“Indeed,” Keeper replied in his gravelly voice, dropping his hood into place as he vanished.
Shattered Existence
As soon as Keeper disappeared, the trio of statues were released, and didn’t seem to know they had been suspended at all. That’s a neat trick, Charlie observed to himself. I need to find out how it works.
Aloud, he instructed, “Everyone hang on, an’ I’ll take us t’ the house, first. Hopefully, we’ll only need one jump an’ we’ll have him.”
Transporting his comrades, Charlie froze as soon as they materialized. True, they had landed in his childhood home, and John’s previous residence, but that is not what disturbed him.
“Do you guys hear that?” he asked in almost a whisper.
“Yeah, it sounds like she’s crying,” Alice observed.
Moving through the house and up the stairs, Charlie found Tabs on the floor of the nursery. Her face in her hands, her shoulders shook as she bellowed. “Jesus,” Charlie muttered, stepping into the room. “What happened?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Father clipped, taking the young man by surprise.
“Father,” he gasped, looking over his shoulder to see that the oldest of the Light Angel’s occupied the corner on the same wall as the door, and that his companions had remained in the hall in light of the bellowing. “No, it isn’t obvious. What happened to her?�
�� his voice grew gruff and he clenched his fists in anger at her pain.
“Her child; the baby she named Ashley Marie,” Father stammered, a tear rolling down his wrinkled cheek, “was an Angel.”
“An Angel?” Charlie repeated doubtfully. “How is that possible?”
Father shrugged, “You’re the boy wonder, you tell me.”
Searching his thoughts, Charlie realized there could only be one explanation. “Tabs is an Angel, too. She’s here on a crossing.”
“Females do not cross,” Father informed him curtly.
“Shit,” Charlie muttered. “You’re telling me that piece of crap she married… is one of us?”
“He doesn’t remember; his mind has been blocked, and he has lived as any other human would,” Father raised his chin as he spoke. “But yes, Brett’s child has been taken by Keeper and placed in his prison, with the others.”
“An’ what about Brett?”
“He’s around, down at the shop, or the bar. He is much less distraught over this turn of events.”
Glancing down at the girl, Charlie sighed, “Oh, Tabs. I’m so sorry.” Looking up at the ancient face, he spoke in a lower tone, “Is it like this everywhere? Those who were close t’ the taken mourning their loss?”
“Of course it is!” Father hissed angrily. “Could Keeper have been any more cruel, stripping them away as he did? Leaving them with nothing to ease their suffering. No accident or illness to explain away their pain? When we rifted them before, we gave them closure, but THIS -” he stopped short, holding up his hands to indicate the weeping girl. “This is barbaric. So many are gone, it’s as if this world has a giant hole in it, put there by the greatest of our kind,” he mocked, spitting at the idea of it.
“Will you come with us to Purgatory, Father? Help us do… something about this?”
“What can we do?” the old man shrugged. “Keeper has won. Anyone who thinks otherwise is only kidding themselves.”
“Fine, give up if you like,” Charlie clenched his hands into fists, wishing he could comfort her somehow. “I’m not ready to give up.”
“Uh-huh,” Father grunted. “What are you going to do about it?”
“First, we’re gonna help Karma bust the divide between the planes,” he informed him with a sneer.
“And what good will that do?” came the doubtful retort.
“If I’m right, Brett and the others who crossed will remember who they really are,” Charlie’s voice dropped. “That’ll give at least some of these people that closure you were talkin’ about.”
“Yeah, and start an all-out war!” Father countered. “The humans aren’t going to like the fact that we were here!”
“Oh yeah?” Charlie shifted, cutting his glare over at him. “You guys shoulda thought about that before you started all o’ this mess.” Turning on his heel, he marched out of the room and announced, “Let’s go. Father isn’t gonna help, an’ we ain’t got time t’ beg.”
“Where do we go next?” Alice asked with wide eyes.
“Away from here,” Charlie bit, holding his rage in check. “We’ll regroup and try Gous next.”
Taking his party back to Purgatory, he discovered that Karma had set his wife and child up in the atrium. Only a week old, the room had been changed completely and filled with things the infant wouldn’t even notice for the better part of a year.
“What’s all this?” he demanded of his wife as she sat rocking Emily in an antique style rocking chair. Scowling at the amount of white that surrounded him, he yelled, “Karma! Where are you?”
“Too angry to use telepathy?” she chided, coming up the stairs from the basement.
“What the hell is going on,” he indicated the clothes, stuffed animals and other toys that covered every surface in the room.
“Relax,” she instructed, “We were simply… decorating.”
“Decorating,” he scoffed, “at a time like this? She isn’t staying here, Karma. We have a home on the island I created for us,” he insisted, shaking his head at Clarisse’s silence.
“Perhaps you’re right… about the timing. We’ll discuss your family later. Right now, I need to know why you’ve returned. Did you find one of our final two?”
“Not exactly,” he informed her, running his hand through his hair and noting that his three companions had all abandoned him in search of a meal. “We found Father; I was almost certain he would be one of them, but he refused. I’m thinking of trying Gous next.”
“Gous?” Clarisse squealed, “Surely you’re not going to bring him here!”
“We may not have a choice,” Charlie soothed, lifting his daughter from her arms. “Things are outta control, love; we gotta do something quick.” Placing the infant in her new, temporary crib, he patted her gently, then said more softly. “Tabitha’s daughter was taken; that’s how we found Father.”
Standing as if her seat were electrified, Clarisse gasped, “The baby? The one she and Brett had only a few months ago?”
“The same,” Charlie nodded gravely, observing her bleak expression. “We have to do something to give people a reason. Right now, they are making up their own, an’ it’s tearing the world apart!”
“Oh no,” Clarisse whined, her eyes wide. Opening her hand, she flicked through screens on her Seeker. “A few of my clients were taken as well. The little girl in Germany. I don’t understand; why would Keeper do this to them?” she cried, her lip quivering.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Karma seethed. “Keeper isn’t the wonderful man you -”
“That’s enough,” Charlie cut her off. “We need to keep a positive attitude if we’re gonna make it through this. Are you guys about ready?” he called to the others.
“Um, yeah,” Alice spoke up, then licked her fingers.
Staring at her, as if noticing the change for the first time, Karma said breathlessly, “How did you get into the magical plane?”
Frowning, Clarisse observed, “I don’t think that she is. She’s telepathic, so she can hear into this side.”
“No actually, Charlie pulled us over to this side,” Steven informed her. “He seems to think we all have multiple powers and the ability to cross once we know how.”
Karma’s stiff stature let Charlie know of her displeasure long before she had formed the words. “You insolent, untrustworthy -”
“Meh,” he interrupted her for the second time in as many minutes. “I haven’t broken my vow to you, Karma. I jus’ realized that there had t’ be a reason the Forgotten Angels could walk among the living an’ still use their powers. You guys didn’t return them to the living, you jus’ pushed them over an’ let them hang out on that side of the divide. That’s why Myra an’ Ray have been with you about fifty years, but aren’t gettin’ any older.”
Her brown eyes swimming with flecks of green, Karma swallowed, forcing her tone into a more civilized modulation. “You figured it out all on your own? Keeper didn’t help you?”
“Uh, no,” Charlie sighed. “But he did show up t’ congratulate me after I did. He still thinks I’m gonna change my mind an’ help him in the end,” he chuckled.
“That would be unwise,” Karma warned.
“Yeah, an’ I’ve got my own plans,” Charlie pointed an extended digit at her, “which leads us back t’ Gous. We’re gonna talk t’ him next.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Father stated in a full round voice. “I’ve changed my mind.”
Smiling, Karma greeted him warmly with a small hug and a kiss on both cheeks, and then advised, “I think we’ll hold off on Gous, at least for the time being. Let’s see if any of the others come across someone I’ve missed. For now, let me prepare an actual dinner, in honor of our newest member,” she added, leading the old man over to one of the tables and offering him a seat.
The Great Divide
Karma covered the table with an enormous spread, and Charlie watched her smile as she talked with Father and the others as they arrived from their search. Her features gr
ew drawn as group after group arrived empty-handed. When the last one came in, no trace of a grin remained.
“Well, we’ll try again tomorrow,” she announced when everyone had been fed. Clearing the table, she returned to business mode, “Father, you will have Phil’s old bunk. He’s been staying with Bethany for months now, so his bed is vacant.”
“That’s very kind of you,” Father replied, his smile not reaching his eyes.
His features hollow, the years wore more heavily on him than Charlie had ever seen. Scooting over next to him as some of the others retired and left the room, he felt the urge to reach out to him. “Hey,” he began anxiously. “Thanks for changing your mind.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” the old man rasped. “We still need one more, and I’m not sure where we’ll find it.”
“Don’t worry,” Charlie grinned back. “Once the rest of the Angels realize that Keeper’s abandoned them, one of them is bound t’ decide to help.”
“You think so,” Father grunted. “Well, it won’t be a Dark Angel, Gous or otherwise. They’re like a pig at slop right now, with the humans tearing each other apart out there. They don’t need any pushing, they’re doing it all on their own; it’s in their nature.”
“In their nature,” Charlie echoed quietly. Humans haven’t been left to their nature since the Angels arrived. “I doubt that,” he countered. “They’re lost right now, an’ searching for answers.”
Father’s eyes grew distant, and Charlie could tell he was thinking of his charges. “How many did you lose,” he asked, not really expecting a response.
“Enough.”
Charlie opened his mouth to respond, but a tall dark-headed woman in a flowing white robe appeared in the cluttered atrium, commanding his attention; “Destiny!”
Leaping to his feet, he crossed the few feet into the other room in an instant, and several others gathered around as well. All eager to discover her intent, they formed a ring, with their mistress in the center as she greeted her child.
The Keeper Set - Summer Spirit Novellas 7 - 9 Page 14