“How did you do that?” She asked, astonished and panicked that he had noticed the color.
“You did it, not me. Like I said, this is your place. You’re what we call a Controller. The space is here for you at all times, and you can control certain elements within it.” He paused to point at the sky to emphasize before continuing. “As for your other questions, yes, I’m a spirit guide. No, we don’t have to be animals. Your little patch of land here may not be somewhere you recognize from your version of the real world, but it does exist. Right here. All around you. As for how you get here, and how you bring me along for the ride, those questions are a little more complex and should probably be answered another time.”
To test his theory, she thought of the putrid green color that cartoon characters always turned right before they got sick. Before the color had even fully replaced the blue she was feeling a little nauseous with it and changed it back.
“So, I’m dreaming then?”
He laughed again, “No. Not exactly. When you dream, it’s just your mind taking a little vacation and relaying messages that your subconscious has for you. This is a bit more complicated than that.”
“I see.” She didn’t though. She wasn’t really sure of what she was seeing at all but she didn’t want to look like a moron. “So, why do I keep coming here? And why is it only when I’m wearing that necklace? I’ve never been here before that I can remember. What makes now any different from the previous twenty-one years?”
His chiseled face grew serious at the line of questioning.
“Nothing has changed really. It’s always been there just waiting for you to find it. Under normal circumstances, they wait for you to do it on your own, but your circumstance is far from normal, Ardra.”
“Wait wait wait. Who are ‘they’ and what do you mean my ‘circumstance’?”
He exhaled an impatient sigh, “They have been called a lot of things. We’ll stick with Fate for right now, as it is the easiest and most well known name for them. And your circumstance is the reason you have started coming here. You have a lot to learn and a very short time to learn it in. Things are changing Ardra, and not for the better. Not only for you either. The things that are happening in your reality are changing things in ways that we can’t possibly begin to imagine. The Sisters, Fate, have taken a special interest in you and your well being. That’s where I come in. I have the unfortunate task of making sure you are ready to handle the shit show, pardon my French, that is about to fall into your lap.”
She put her hands up in front of her, halting his rant. “I have to stop you right there. You are telling me that the Fates are behind all of this? Like, the three hags that share the eyeball? Are you out of your mind?”
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth in the face of her incredulity.
“You can’t tell me you don’t believe in dimensions other than the one you live in. I mean, look where you’re standing. You also can’t deny that there are ways to get from one to the other. You have a fist full of my hair in your bottom drawer at home don’t you?” He reached up and pulled on a few of the short strands protruding from his scalp. “Is a little belief in Fate really that far of a stretch for you at this point?”
He continued without waiting for a response from her, “The reality of it is, you’re not the person you have spent your whole life thinking you are. You’re meant for bigger things and in some cruel twist of Fate, I was the one assigned to teach your stubborn ass how you’re going to accomplish those things.”
She thought back to the nagging feeling she had had since her birthday and the darkness that she kept locked in the box inside of her. If that was where he was going with this, he could forget it. She had seen what happened when that stuff was set loose and she didn’t plan on ever letting it happen again.
“You’re crazy!” She yelled, throwing her hands in the air and turning another one hundred and eighty degrees.
She walked back in the direction of the fountain as she continued her rant.
“I’m just a girl. Every day, run of the mill, Mormon girl. I go to school, I go to church, I have a few friends, and I have a dog. I’ll admit I’m a bit prettier than most people I know, but I’m pretty sure that doesn’t entitle me to this pedestal you seem to be trying to put me on. And even if it does, I don’t want to stand on it. That’s not who I am.”
She turned to make sure that he was following before continuing.
“Besides, even if I am who you say I am, for the sake of my immortal soul, I’d have to tell you to find a different girl. You’re sounding an awful lot like a Pagan to me, and I refuse to have any part in all that. My whole life I have been the one in control of my destiny. I have worked hard to achieve the things I have achieved and make sure that I’m doing my part to follow the plan that Heavenly Father has made for us. I lead a good life, I help those in need and I go to church. Someday, I’ll find a husband, get married and have a bunch of babies. That’s just the way my life is going to work out. It’s been that way since I was a little girl. So you can go back to your bosses and tell them that they need to find a new person for you to train because your version of things just doesn’t fit into my plan.”
“Ardra, I can’t do that. The wheels are set in motion and you’re along for the ride whether you like it or not.”
She turned on him as she reached the edge of the fountain and screamed, “Well I don’t like it! Not only is it totally bogus, but it’s against everything I believe in. I’m not going to toss the road map of my life, which I have worked hard to create, out the window so that I can be a minion for some phenomenal cosmic power. It’s not going to happen!”
As she commanded herself to return to her body, the gardens before her began to waver and fade. She was more than fed up with the load of crap he was trying to force down her throat and she was ready to get back to her body and take a drive to the Great Salt Lake and toss his hair, and the necklace, into the smelly, salty water.
Right before he faded away completely, she willed him into his animal form if only to prove that she could.
When she found herself looking into Kaiser’s soft, golden face, her heart skipped a beat and the world faded away to darkness.
She opened her eyes and found herself looking into the same face she had just left. The same lolling tongue, same intense blue eyes, same golden coat and she had the same sinking feeling in her stomach.
She leaped off of her bed in the direction that would take her furthest from the dog. Unfortunately, it put him between herself and her bedroom door.
“You!” She shouted at him. She thrust a finger in his direction to make sure he knew that she was talking to him, “You! How could I have been so stupid? You’ve been here all this time! Watching me!”
Flashes of heated memories and heavy breathing ran through her head and made her stomach churn.
She suddenly felt very violated as what had been nothing more than a dog suddenly became that very sexy, very manly hunk of a man that had had her swooning just a few minutes ago.
There was even a tuft of unruly fur above his eye that she had chalked up to being a cowlick.
“How did I not see this?” She asked him as she slid her back down the wall she had bumped up against.
He poked his head around the foot of her bed and stared at her with his big blue sad doggy eyes.
“Oh no you don’t!” She puffed herself up to express how serious she was. “Out!”
She pointed her finger at the door and he slunk out into the hall like she had beaten him.
She jumped up and closed it behind him. “Unacceptable!” she shouted to the empty room. What was she going to do?
She took several deep breaths as she paced in order to get her pounding heart under control. There was no way that her dog was actually a man from another dimension. There was no way that she had actually been to that other dimension. And there was no way that she was going to succumb to whatever it was these so-called Fates had in mind for h
er. She and her Heavenly Father had been making a plan together for the past twenty one years and she had no intention of letting this psychotic episode derail that.
She closed her eyes and bowed her head in prayer. Her body relaxed and she opened her heart to His wisdom, letting Him know that she was in need of His guidance.
After several minutes of not feeling the sense of direction she was used to receiving during prayer, she started to get frustrated. She sent the prayer out into the universe again, this time with a little more urgency, and waited for a response.
Several minutes passed and still no response. She went into panic mode. Praying fervently and outright begging for guidance, tears and all.
After getting no response for the third time she grew angry. She rose to her feet and stomped her way across her room and threw the door open.
Kaiser was sitting on the other side of the threshold and staring up at her with what she could only define as puppy dog eyes, hoping he was forgiven.
His expression changed to one of fear as soon as she opened her mouth.
“What did they do to me?” She shouted at him. “Never in my whole life have I not received guidance and peace from praying! Never! All of a sudden all I’m getting out of it is a panic attack and a whole lot of anger!”
She loomed over him as if waiting for a response.
She let out a frustrated growl when, instead of answering her, he slumped to the ground with his tail between his legs and pressed his ears to the side of his head.
She slammed the door again and left him lying in the hall.
As she paced around her room trying to figure out what she was going to do next, her phone rang. She read the caller ID which read ‘Brother Williams‘ across the display. She took a deep breath so as not to sound panicked when she answered.
“Hello?” She answered.
“Ardra? Hi. It’s Brother Williams. Sorry to call so late. Did I wake you?”
“No Ben, I was up. What can I help you with?” She fought to keep the frustration out of her voice.
“Well, Bishop Stauffer asked me to call you and see if he could swing by for a few minutes. I’m not entirely sure what’s going on. He seemed pretty out of sorts when I talked to him.”
That piqued her interest. What could her bishop possibly have to say to her that couldn’t wait until morning?
“Sure Ben, tell him I’ll be waiting for him at the front door.”
“Okay. Ardra?”
He waited for her to respond.
“Yeah Ben?”
“Everything ok? It’s been a weird night and I feel pretty out of the loop.”
“Yeah. Everything is fine over here.” She lied.
“You sure? You sounded a bit like Bishop Stauffer had when he called.”
“It’s been a pretty quiet night here Ben. I’m fine. Just a little tired is all.”
“Okay.” He said after a pregnant pause, “I better call him back and let him know you’ll be waiting.”
The line went dead and she set her phone down on her desk. She pulled the necklace off and tossed it, and the hair that was still sitting next to the box on the floor, back in her bottom drawer. She slid it shut with her foot and opened the door to the still-cowering Kaiser.
“Outside. Now.” Was all she had to say to him.
She followed him down the stairs and clipped the leash to his collar before tying it to the leg of the patio table.
She involuntarily slammed the back door closed and took a deep breath when she realized how flustered she still was. She didn’t want the bishop to think she was losing her mind when he arrived.
She turned on the faucet in the kitchen, splashed some cold water on her face and tightened her pony tail.
The doorbell rang as she was patting her face dry with the towel.
She tossed the towel on the counter and said to the empty room, “That was fast.”
She opened the door to a very hassled looking Bishop Stauffer.
“Sorry to bother you so late, Ardra. May I come in?”
“Nobody else is here right now. My parents are out of town.”
“I know. And under normal circumstances, I would have sent one of the sisters over. Unfortunately, we’re well outside of the realm of normal.”
“Well, that fits right in with the last couple weeks.”
She stepped out of the way and motioned him into the living room.
“Please, have a seat. Can I get you anything? A drink maybe?”
“No, no. I’m fine.” The distraught bishop responded.
He took off his jacket and draped it across his knees as he sat down on the couch and asked, “Would you sit with me please?” He patted the cushion next to him in an attempt to be welcoming.
There was an overwhelming sense of panic clawing its way through her stomach. She took a seat next to him and tried her best to stay calm as the man visibly arranged his thoughts.
“I’m afraid there’s no easy way to say this, Ardra. So I’m just going to have to come right out with it. I’m sorry there is no way to soften a blow like this, but another temple has been reduced to ash and your parents are missing.”
He wrung his hands together and searched her placid face for a reaction before continuing, “The last time they were seen, they were inside of the temple. I’m so sorry.”
She mustered every ounce of strength she had and used it to keep herself together until she saw him out and watched him disappear around the corner.
She went back inside, closed the door behind her and broke down.
The dark tentacles that erupted from inside of her whipped around the room in a frenzy, cutting a swath of destruction across the pretty surfaces of her mother’s perfectly designed living room.
Everything that got in her way was reduced to a pile of ash.
Exactly like my parents. She thought as she fell to her knees.
The Chaos around her raged on, leaving her powerless in its grip. She watched as piece by piece, the monster inside of her erased all traces of her mother’s delicate touch from the room.
When there was nothing left to be seen of her parents, she collapsed in a heap and everything went dark.
The darkness retreated back inside of her and left her incoherent and sobbing amidst the Chaos.
He sensed that Chaos was near. Very near.
He focused his senses on locating the source of the power he was picking up on. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as he turned to face the door. It was coming from inside the house.
He panicked at the thought of that vile creature being under the same roof as Ardra. He started barking furiously and tugging at the infernal leash that tethered him barely out of reach of the door. Each leap he took was futile and ended up with the collar he was wearing crushing his windpipe.
A change in tactic was in order. He turned around and started using his teeth to saw through the thick material of the leash. It was a slow process and every second that passed felt like an eternity. The strength of the chaotic energy grew by the second.
He gave up trying to chew through the leash and went back to barking and tugging against it.
The pressure the collar was putting on his throat suddenly released as the leash gave way. He propelled himself towards the door, throwing his entire weight into the closed portal. Barking and scratching furiously at the door didn’t get him far at all, so he forced himself to calm down a little bit and think like a human instead of an animal.
The handle!
It was one of those fancy ones instead of a round knob. He sent a silent thank you out into the Universe and jumped up on his hind legs.
As his front paws came down on the tile floor of the kitchen, he used every sense he had to try to get a grasp on what was going on. He didn’t see Chaos, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t there. It was a big house after all.
A few seconds later his brain kicked in and broke through the confusion. He no longer felt Chaos’ presence. A different kind of panic burro
wed into his stomach. What if he was too late?
He used his hyper-sensitive nose to sniff at the air, his olfactory nerves sifting through the scents and relaying their meanings to his brain. Her scent was coming from the living room.
He walked around the corner nervously, afraid to find her body lying lifeless in the middle of the floor. There was no way he could have prepared himself for what he found instead.
Sitting in the middle of the floor, head bent, shoulders heaving, was Ardra. The smells flowing off of her ran the gamut from anger to fear to sadness and back again. All around her was destruction. This was a sight he had been prepared for. Knowing what was in the works and all that was at stake, he had expected to see another scene or two exactly like it before the fight was over.
He had not, however, expected to see this scene with no signs of Chaos having been present and his charge sitting in the midst of the ash. Everything in the room had been destroyed. There were sections of sheet rock missing, having been reduced to ash as well. Piles of the thick sediment gathered in piles around the room, marking the places where all the pretty things had stood.
His real problem with the scene was the fact that Ardra was alive and Chaos was nowhere to be found. There was no way she had accidentally defeated him. It simply wasn’t possible. While she was incredibly strong, she had no idea what she was capable of or how to fight against him. He had a long way to go before he could be comfortable with her even being in the same state as that monster.
He slowly padded across the charcoal colored floor to her side. He lie down next to her and nudged her foot with his nose to let her know that he was there. She didn’t make a move to acknowledge him, so he didn’t push it. He wasn’t sent from the room, so he decided that she must be working towards forgiving him.
He let a single whine form in his throat and remained completely still while she continued to sob quietly to herself.
Eventually, her hand found that magical spot right between his ears and scratched softly.
After several minutes of absent scratching, she finally said, “I’m sorry for earlier Kaiser. I guess I can only handle so much weird coming at me before I snap. My whole world being rocked at its foundation was a little more than I was willing to deal with.” She took a deep, shaky breath at that point before going on. “However, it’s just you and me now, and I have a feeling you’re the only one with any answers for me.”
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