Levels of Ascension BoxSet

by Amy Proebstel

  Diane had too many ideas rushing through her brain to ask any coherent questions so she merely nodded consent.

  Amanda started the car and navigated her way back to the main highway. She followed the signs directing her to Charlotte. Because they were on a long stretch of road, Amanda knew her mother would start in with the questions again. Normally she would expect such a grilling from her father because of his inquisitive nature, but her mother needed reassurance that Amanda was going to be okay in this strange, new journey.

  “So who exactly is Jehoban?” Diane asked in the silence.

  “He is the one we call God. He lives on an island He calls Acaim. We call the same island Jamaica.”

  “And you believe this to be true?” Diane could not help but feel it was sacrilegious to speak of God so flippantly.

  “I do, Mom. I’ve met with Him personally,” Amanda said as she glanced away from the road to assure her mom of the truth of her statement.

  “So what does He look like?”

  Amanda chuckled as she recalled having this same conversation with Riccan a few weeks before. “He is indescribable. When you are with Him, you know it is He. As soon as you are away from Him, you forget every detail you promised yourself you’d remember.”

  “Okay, that’s odd,” Diane had to admit. “So who is Lucinden then? I read where you mentioned him a couple of times in your journal, but I was never clear who he really was.”

  “He is the devil. He used to be one of Jehoban’s angels, but he decided he could do things better with the people if he told them what they should do for him. Needless to say, Jehoban wanted His people to retain their free will, so He banished Lucinden and all of the other angels who believed as Lucinden did from Acaim. They usually stay to themselves and only come out every once in a while to stir up trouble and strife.”

  “From the sound of the new prophecy, Lucinden will make a play for power. Are you sure you want to get yourself involved in something which takes the devil head on? I don’t think this is such a good idea, Amanda. Why don’t you leave this up to the people of Tuala?” Diane shivered to think of her daughter pitting herself directly against the devil. She could not see any outcome where her daughter would win against such a powerful source of evil.

  “In case you hadn’t noticed, Mom, my daughters and my husband are the people of Tuala. This directly affects their futures, and by extension, my own as well. I can’t leave this to chance, not when Jehoban told me I was the key. I have to try, Mom. Surely you can understand.” Amanda gripped the steering wheel harder to try to contain her rising anger at her mother’s reluctance to see she had no choice in this matter.

  “Tell me more about Barla, then. You wrote about her being my long-lost sister. Do you think it’s true as well, or just a fabrication of your dream?” Diane wished with all her might for her sister, Barbara, to still be living even though she had been presumed drowned back when she was a teenager.

  “I asked Jehoban about my relationship to Barla. He confirmed she is actually my Aunt Barbara. Can you think of why she would have changed her name?” Amanda had always wondered.

  Diane smiled at a childhood memory and nodded as she replied, “When I was really little, I used to call her Barla because it was easier to say than Barbara. The nickname stuck, but only within our house. At school and everywhere else she went by Barbara. I can only imagine she was homesick when she said her name was Barla.”

  “She misses her family on Earth. If it weren’t for the problem with the gates between the worlds erasing the memory of any person from Earth when they travel in either direction, Barla would have made the attempt to come and visit. She could not risk forgetting her family and happiness she has found on Tuala by attempting to navigate through the Ascension Gate.”

  “Why don’t you lose your memory when you and Riccan teleport in and out of Tuala, then?”

  Amanda reached up and pulled the diamond pendant out from under the collar of her shirt. As she held it in her hand, she said, “This is why. The people of Tuala each receive a birth crystal which allows them to retain their memory during travel.”

  “Why doesn’t Barla get one then?” Diane was struggling to understand the complexities of Tualan life.

  “I think she’s scared of being found out for being an old soul. The people of Tuala have been trained to be scared of Earth’s people. They are scared enough to turn them in to the Elders. Many of those people are never heard from again. Barla could not risk her family for the sake of the chance of getting a crystal.” Amanda felt another stab of guilt for having received her own crystal when Barla deserved one as well. She still had to find out from Jehoban how she had happened to get her own birth crystal.

  “Do you think you can intervene on her behalf? I mean, if you are on speaking terms with Jehoban, can’t you just ask Him to send her a crystal of her own?” Diane asked. She realized she was still struggling with the idea of her sister being alive. For so long, she had been thought of as dead, it would be wonderful for her to be able to come home and visit with their mother and brother.

  “It couldn’t hurt to ask,” Amanda said as she considered her mother’s request. It seemed such a simple idea. She wondered why it had not occurred to her before.

  “What happened…,” Diane began to ask when Amanda’s phone began to ring in her purse in the back seat.

  “Can you get my phone, Mom?” Amanda asked.

  Diane reached into the back of the car and pulled Amanda’s purse into her lap. She opened the purse and saw Amanda’s phone just under the crystal skull. Without thinking, she went to move the skull out of the way. As soon as her fingers came in contact with the stone, she felt an odd tingling sensation. She jerked her hand away and cried out in fear.

  “What happened, Mom?”

  “That thing did something to me!” Diane could feel the adrenaline coursing through her body. Her hands began to shake even as the phone continued to ring.

  “Here. Let me get the phone then,” Amanda said as she reached toward her bag even as she tried to keep watch on the road ahead. The car swerved slightly.

  Diane cried out, “Watch out for the truck, Amanda!”

  Amanda diverted her sole attention back to the road and brought the car into the center of the lane again. She took the purse from her mom’s lap and said, “You steer.”

  Diane gladly took over steering the wheel as Amanda rummaged in her bag. She did not want anything further to do with such a weird artifact.

  Amanda pulled the phone out of the bag. The phone stopped ringing even as she flipped it open to answer it. She saw from the caller id that she had missed a call from Riccan. Immediately she realized she had left the house in such a hurry she had forgotten to leave a note explaining where she had gone. She was certain Riccan would be upset with her lapse in judgement.

  She had not even considered the fact the children would be left home alone. Well, not exactly alone, they would have had Behn over for his daily crystal lesson. What if something had gone wrong during their lesson and one of the kids got hurt? She should have been home or made arrangements for someone to be there. This thought was irrational since there was nobody who would understand what her children could do with the elemental energy through their birth crystals. They would be called out for the aliens who they were.

  Amanda needed to call Riccan back. She did not want to be driving while talking on the phone. She searched for a place to pull over so she could make the call. She saw a sign for a rest area in two miles. It would have to do. She set the phone in her lap, dropped her purse on the floor by her feet, and resumed driving the car.

  “Who was it?” Diane asked.

  “Riccan,” Amanda answered with a sigh.

  “Is something wrong with you two?”

  “There will be when I call him back. I forgot to leave a note and I never even considered the kids being home alone.”

  Diane started to laugh.

  “What?” Amanda asked harshly.

/>   “You! Your children are sixteen, Amanda. I hardly think they’d burn the house down or do anything else foolish. They are the most responsible teenagers I’ve ever met,” Diane commented. Then she considered the rest of what Amanda said and agreed, “You should have left a note for your husband, though.”

  “I’m going to call him back as soon as we get to the rest area in the next couple of minutes,” Amanda said. She realized her mother was right about her girls. They were almost adults and they were very responsible. Their necklaces also kept them from true harm and she could always use those necklaces to look in on them if she were truly curious as to what they were doing.

  The next minute was driven in silence. Amanda considered what she would tell Riccan and tried to judge how upset he would be about her disappearance. She saw the exit up ahead and signaled to get into the far right lane. She slowed down and pulled to a stop in one of the parking spots furthest from the bathrooms. She put the car in park and turned off the engine.

  With a sigh of resignation, she flipped open her phone and pressed the speed dial number one and put the phone to her ear. She listened to it ring twice before her husband answered.

  “Amanda! Where are you?” Riccan asked without saying hello.

  “Mom and I are in North Carolina. We should be home around ten o’clock. I’m sorry I didn’t leave you a note. I got so excited to check out a lead that I called Mom and then we left immediately this morning.”

  “North Carolina? A lead on what?” Riccan was trying to figure out what Amanda had been up to. None of this was making much sense.

  “I found another samara, Riccan. I’ll explain it all when we get home. We’re flying American Airlines on the 8:15 flight out of Charleston. Can we talk more about this when I get home?” Amanda knew she was rambling, but she wanted Riccan to know she was safe.

  “Sure, honey. I’m just glad to hear everything is okay. I was worried when I asked the girls where you were and they told me you were gone when they got home. It just wasn’t like you so I got to worrying. I love you, Amanda. I can’t wait to hear what happened to you today. It sounds as though it was very eventful.”

  Amanda was both surprised and confused by Riccan’s easy approval of her disappearance. Maybe she had overestimated his concern. “Okay. We’re about an hour away from the Charleston Airport yet. We’ll probably eat dinner at the airport so we won’t have to worry about missing the flight. I’ll have to drop Mom off at her house before I can come home. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

  “Okay. Safe travels. I love you.”

  “I love you, too. Bye.”

  Seeing Amanda hang up the phone, Diane asked, “Was Riccan mad?”

  “Not really,” Amanda replied as she flipped the phone shut and returned it to her purse. She did not want to have her bag on the floor at her feet so she moved it into the back seat again. She started the car and navigated her way back onto the highway.

  Her mind was reviewing the conversation she had just had with Riccan. Was he angry and just hiding it well? Did he not really care where she had been, yet wanted to know when she was coming home? Now I’m just be ridiculous. She shook her head at all of her nonsensical thoughts and decided it would all be okay once she got home with the samara.

  They returned the car to the rental place at the airport and checked in for their flight. Just as Amanda had told Riccan, they ate dinner at the airport. They found a small deli-style shop and bought sandwiches and bottled waters.

  “What are you going to do now?” Diane asked Amanda before she took another bite of her chicken sandwich.

  “I’m going to give the samara to Riccan and see what he thinks about it. Afterward, we’ll have to play it by ear,” Amanda answered. She had an idea what would be coming next, but she did not think her mom would want to know about it. Her mom already tended to worry too much, and this next plan could potentially be dangerous. Amanda did not need to hear another lecture on keeping safe. She had no intention of getting hurt, she had far too much to live for because she had her daughters and her husband to care for.

  Chapter Two

  THE FLIGHT TO Miami was uneventful as well as the drive to Diane’s house. Amanda thanked her mom for going on the trip with her and promised to call her the next day. Amanda drove the twenty minutes to her house while she composed how she would tell her husband about her adventure. She hoped Riccan would understand.

  She drove into her garage and turned off the engine. With her purse in hand, she walked into the house and down the hallway toward the living room. She imagined Riccan would most likely be waiting for her on the comfortable leather couch. Her suspicion was correct.

  Riccan spotted his wife, stood up, and took the last couple of steps which separated them. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. He spoke softly, “I missed you.”

  “I missed you, too. I’m sorry about not leaving a note,” she began.

  “Enough, Amanda. I trust you to take care of yourself. I can hardly wait to hear about your adventure. Let’s sit down.” He took her hand and led her to the couch.

  Amanda looked around and asked, “Where are the girls?”

  “They are upstairs studying. I told them you’d be home late. I didn’t mention anything about the samara,” Riccan said as he winked at her. “To whom do you suppose this one will belong?”

  Amanda smiled at Riccan’s excitement. She opened her purse and held it out for him to take out the samara as she said, “Why don’t you tell me?”

  Riccan looked from the bag to Amanda’s face with a puzzled expression. “Do you already know?”

  “I have a suspicion. I don’t want to say anything until you confirm my idea. Go ahead and pick it up,” Amanda encouraged as she shook the bag slightly to get his attention back on the samara.

  Riccan could feel the energy pulsing from the stone even before Amanda had opened the bag. The sensation was unlike what he had experienced with the two other skulls kept in their secret room off of the library. With a slight amount of hesitation, Riccan reached into the bag with both hands and cradled the crystal.

  Amanda watched as her husband’s expression turned to one of wonder. She knew now she had been correct: this was Riccan’s samara. Several minutes went by as Riccan seemed to commune with his stone. His face underwent several changes as he watched the scenes unfold in his mind alone. Amanda had some idea of what he was seeing, but she knew it would be more clear and easier to understand for Riccan since this samara was keyed to him specifically.

  Finally, Riccan took a deep breath and slowly released the air through his mouth. His eyes looked up into Amanda’s and he said, “This one’s mine.”

  “I knew it!” Amanda clapped her hands together like a little child with her glee.

  “Where did you find it?” Riccan had to put the crystal down on the table to be able to concentrate on Amanda’s tale.

  “At Cannon Memorial Asylum in North Carolina. It was in room 426. It was the room from my dream, Riccan, behind the comic strips which were taped to the wall. I always thought the comics were an odd addition to the room. As it turns out, it was my clue for finding it.” Amanda smiled triumphantly at her husband.

  “What made you even think to look at the asylum?” Riccan was always surprised at how her mind worked, this was no different.

  “I used my intuition. Why would it have been part of my dream? It didn’t fit in anywhere so I thought I’d check into it. As it turns out, the asylum is being closed down. The only people remaining there now are a few support staff and some movers.”

  “It worked out well, didn’t it?” Riccan asked.

  “I’d say! You can’t know how nerve-wracking it was going back through all of the rooms I remembered from before. The basement was the worst! We went there first and got out of there as fast as we could. Luckily, I could feel the pull of the crystal as soon as I walked by the room. When I touched it, I saw a lot of visions of future events. What did you see?”

&nbs
p; “Probably the same as you. There was a lot of it which didn’t make sense. I’m sure it’ll become clear as we go along.” Riccan looked over at his own samara and suddenly realized he knew exactly how his daughter’s had felt when they had held the crystal which was meant for them personally. It was a feeling like no other, one of wholeness. He had not even realized he had been missing anything until the samara completed him.

  “I saw something else when I held your samara, Riccan,” Amanda spoke into the silence.

  “What was it?”

  “I saw myself going back to Tuala to rescue Nealand from Elder Vargen.”

  Riccan was not sure how he felt about this turn of events. He felt secure in his relationship with Amanda, but Nealand had been her fiancé. Would this undertaking bring the two of them back together again? “When do we go?”

  “We don’t go, Riccan. I only saw myself there. You stayed here with the girls,” Amanda answered softly. She hoped Riccan would understand and not try to make this harder than it was going to be already.

  “I see,” Riccan replied simply as he digested Amanda’s statement. He did not like the idea at all, but he could also not see any other way around it. He had his work to do, and the girls had settled in nicely at their school. “What did your mom say about this?”

  “I didn’t tell her. I knew she would only worry and think up reasons for me to stay home. As soon as I saw the vision, I knew it was the right thing to do. My parents suffered for seven years while I was in the coma. Imagine how much harder this has been for Nealand’s family. They don’t even have a body to mourn. He’s alive, Riccan, and I can bring him home and reunite him with his family.” Amanda searched Riccan’s face for understanding.

  “I understand what you’re telling me and I admire your willingness to risk everything to help him. Other than Nealand’s family having closure, what will this do for the completion of the prophecy?” Riccan hoped this question would keep Amanda from pursuing the dangerous expedition.