Levels of Ascension BoxSet

by Amy Proebstel

“I think Vinia used the samara to send the children to Earth. What she didn’t know was that she had no way of controlling the time element. I believe – if these are the same kids – that they were sent back in time. Vinia, were you able to access their birth crystals?”

  “No. I was so scared when I lost the connection, but I had to believe the wise-woman would not have had me remove the children from danger only to kill them. I didn’t know what to think of it.”

  Riccan nodded as though confirming some thought in his mind. “Everything does seem to add up, don’t you think, Amanda?”

  “It does!”

  “Can you take me to them?” Vinia asked excitedly.

  “I’m sure you can understand this is a very difficult situation. I’d like to talk to the kids first and see what they want to do.”

  Vinia scowled in anger and then a moment later she realized Amanda was looking out for the best interest of the children. She had no choice but to agree. Just the idea of getting to see her children again renewed her hope.

  Chapter Nine

  JUILA AND SOFIA walked out of their third period American Government class together. They sauntered down the hall slowly. Each had another class before lunch, but they were feeling particularly uninspired to pay attention.

  Sofia asked, “Do you have plans for Christmas break?”

  “When is it?”

  Sofia looked at her strangely before she humored her with a reply, “It’s in two weeks, silly. I know you’re from South Africa, but I’m pretty sure they celebrate Christmas at the same time as the rest of the world!”

  Juila blushed at being called out so blatantly. She knew they had a break coming up, yet she had not known it was called Christmas break. “Yeah, Jena and I are going to spend some time with our grandparents.”

  “Bummer! Are you going to be gone the whole two weeks?”

  “Probably. This will be the first time we’ve really gotten to spend any time with them in our whole lives. We’re really excited about it.”

  Sofia again wondered why the grandparents had not made any effort to go see them in Africa. It was not like it was in another world. She wished she could know what their lives had been like before they had come to Florida. She was certain it would be a fascinating story. They had reached Sofia’s classroom and the said their goodbyes until lunchtime.

  Juila kept walking down the hall until she got to her history class. Even as she sat down at her desk she was thinking about her conversation with Sofia. She had done something she had told Jena they were not supposed to do; she read Sofia’s mind. Her thoughts had been filled with questions about their history. Not for the first time, she wished she could tell Sofia the truth about their origins. It would be so much easier for their friendship if they could be honest with her like they were with Behn and Valentina.

  You sure are gania away right now, Juila. What’s going on? Jena asked through their mind link.

  Not much. I just screwed up with Sofia over the upcoming break. Did you know it was called Christmas break?

  I’d heard some of the other kids saying it, but I didn’t know exactly what it was. I’m glad you found out though.

  I do think it’ll be fun to visit with Mom’s parents and get to know them better.

  I heard we were going to spend half of the time with Dad’s parents as well. That’ll be fun to spend more time at the Pantano Residence. Maybe Elder Daven will teach me more about his Ascension Gate.

  Juila rolled her eyes at her sister’s fascination with becoming an Elder. No matter how many times she told her that girls did not become Elders, Jena insisted it was time for a change in the status quo. The History teacher began her lecture at the same time Jena’s typing class started. Even though they could divide their attention and continue their conversation, they elected to focus on their classes and resume their discussion when they got home from school.

  With the final classes of the day completed, Jena and Juila met at their locker. The hall was crowded and loud with excited students talking about the upcoming break and their plans for the time off. These people really get into this holiday, don’t they? Jena thought to Juila.

  Juila nodded and grinned back at her sister as she pulled her jacket from the hook inside the locker. She slipped her schoolbooks onto the shelf and jostled for space in which to put on her jacket. Jena helped hold the opposite sleeve.

  Jena filled her backpack with the books needed to complete her homework assignments. She noticed Juila was not similarly encumbered with her bag and asked, “Aren’t you going to bring your books home?”

  “I finished my assignments during class. I wanted to have some extra time to go over the next couple of lessons with Behn this afternoon.”

  “As long as you keep your focus on the actual lessons and nothing more,” Jena teased with a mischievous grin.

  Juila rolled her eyes and grinned back. She was impatiently waiting for her sister so they could go out to the parking lot. They were going to be catching a ride home from Behn and Valentina. Finally, Jena was ready to go and Juila shut the locker door with more force than necessary in her eagerness to get going.

  Instead of closing, the locker bounced back open and Jena caught it on the rebound and shut it carefully even as she felt her sister gathering elemy to close it. She looked over at her sister in alarm and whispered, “What are you doing?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I’m just feeling antsy. Are you ready? Let’s go.”

  Instead of arguing further, Jena decided to go along with her sister’s mood and turned to make a pathway through the crowd to go out to the parking lot. As they were walking, Jena began to pick up on Juila’s energy and could feel an air of tension. She began to have a premonition of something big about to happen. Together they walked through the double doors and out into the bright sunlight.

  “Hey, girls!” Sofia yelled from behind them just as the doors shut.

  As one, they turned and waited for their friend to catch up with them. They had hardly seen Sofia during the day which, in itself, was unusual.

  “What’s going on?” Jena asked with a smile as she noticed Sofia’s excitement.

  “Jon asked me to come over to his house today to study with him!”

  “Study?” Juila teased.

  Sofia blushed prettily and scuffed the toe of her shoe on the edge of the sidewalk. “Of course!”

  “Juila, stop teasing her,” Jena chided.

  “Have either of you seen him? I told him I’d give him a ride,” she said as she looked around through the crowd.

  Juila began to tell her they had not seen him when she spotted him across the parking lot heading toward Sofia’s car. She pointed and said, “There he is!”

  “Oh! Wish me luck,” Sofia said as she rushed away to catch up with him.

  The girls grinned at one another at her excitement and nobody noticed the car pulling through the parking lot until they heard the brakes squealing. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as they saw their friend bounce off of the newly dented hood of the car. “No!” Juila screamed as she grabbed Jena’s hand and began pulling her forward even as they watched Sofia’s body fly backward through the air.

  Together they gathered elemy to try to prevent Sofia from sustaining further injury. As they flung the energy across the distance, they knew their help would come too late. They watched in horror as Sofia’s body hit the ground with a sickening thud. Sofia’s head came down last and struck a parking curb where she remained motionless.

  “Sofia!” Juila yelled as she prayed for her friend to survive the horrific blow. Barely containing the desire to teleport, they raced across the asphalt with the same abandon as their friend had done. Everyone except them seemed frozen in time as they tried to process the shocking scene they had just witnessed.

  Juila reached Sofia first and knelt down to see if she were still alive. She almost cried in relief as she touched Sofia’s life-line and found a strong connection. Within moments, Juila felt Jena’s mental
touch join her in this desperate fight to save their friend. Juila heard Jena’s whispered petition for help from Jehoban. Instantaneously they gathered elemy, accessed their own wealth of power, and began healing the numerous life-threatening injuries.

  To the many observers, it appeared as though the twins were merely holding their injured friend. Nobody had any idea how near Sofia was to death. If the girls had not been present Sofia would have bled out before help arrived.

  Juila concentrated on following the life energy throughout Sofia’s body, fixing the broken bones as well as the tears in her arteries and muscles as she came upon them. Suddenly, Juila felt Sofia’s heart falter and then waited anxiously for the next beat which did not come. Frantically she used the elemy to send a surge of power throughout Sofia’s body, effectively restarting it. She promptly followed the artery leading to her heart and discovered another major tear and rushed to repair the damage before Sofia experienced another catastrophic failure.

  Just when Juila and Jena thought they were in the clear Sofia’s body began to violently convulse. They shifted their focus to Sofia’s head trauma and rapidly swelling brain. This is too much! Jena telepathically told Juila. We’re losing her! With a final surge of their energy, they put all of their trust in Jehoban’s power to restore their friend to health. Miraculously Sofia’s convulsions stopped and her labored breathing became calm. “Thank goodness!” Jena sobbed for only Juila to hear. “Jehoban answered our prayer.”

  They became aware of the press of students around them as well as the sound of sirens in the distance. The crowd cheered when Sofia moaned and opened her eyes. Juila closed her eyes in relief and in prayer of thanks to Jehoban. “Hold still, Sofia,” Juila admonished when she felt Sofia trying to sit up.

  “I’m fine, Juila.”

  “We’ll let the professionals decide,” Jena reinforced Juila’s command. She looked up and saw Jon standing on the edge of the crowd. He had tears falling down his cheeks as he focused his attention solely on his girlfriend lying on the ground. Jena motioned to catch his attention and finally said, “Jon, come here and hold her hand until help arrives.”

  He seemed to come out of his stupor and asked, “Is she going to be okay?” He knelt down onto the ground and took Sofia’s hand from Jena’s grasp. He rubbed his thumb across her knuckles and continued to stare at her face.

  After what seemed an eternity, yet in actuality was only about five minutes, the crowd parted for a group of paramedics and a stretcher. The man in the lead knelt down and asked, “Did she lose consciousness?”

  “Yes,” Juila answered. “She was out for a couple of minutes. She hit her head on the curb.”

  The man stood back up and grabbed a plastic collar from the stretcher and positioned it around Sofia’s neck. Once the brace was secured, he asked, “Are you experiencing any trouble breathing?”

  “No.”

  “Good. We’re going to put you on a backboard to keep you immobilized until we can get a scan done to make sure your spine is okay.” He turned and gestured for his team to bring it down next to him. Together they rolled her onto her side, positioned the board beside her, and then rolled her back onto it. They fastened several straps over the top of her body and then lifted her up onto the stretcher.

  Juila looked down on the ground where Sofia had lain and saw the pool of blood where her head had impacted the curb. It was only now she realized she had healed Sofia completely which would most likely cause much confusion for the medical staff. Her clothing would also have fresh blood whereas her body would lack corresponding injuries. She looked over to her sister and saw the concern on her face as they shared the same thought.

  Behn rescued her from further considerations as he pushed through the crowd and found Juila unharmed. He rushed forward and put his arms around her. “Are you okay?”

  Juila remained silent and simply nodded her head as it was pressed against his shoulder.

  “Is Sofia going to be okay? I thought I felt the elemy being used,” he whispered for only Juila to hear.

  “I had to or she was going to die. Her heart stopped and I had to repair her arteries. Then she started to convulse as her brain swelled so I had to fix that as well. I think I might be in trouble, though.”

  “Why?” Behn looked down at her in confusion. As far as he was concerned, she had performed a heroic act; nothing worthy of trouble.

  “She doesn’t have any injuries, but there’s still the problem of all of the blood.”

  “Mmm, I see.” Behn tilted his head back and tried to think of a quick excuse to solve the problem. “Let’s follow the ambulance to the hospital. Maybe we can come up with a solution while we drive.” He removed his arms from around her body and grabbed her hand as he started to move away from the accident scene and toward his car. They were going to have to hurry if they wanted to keep up with the emergency vehicle while all of the other students were trying to leave the parking lot at the same time.

  Juila looked around surreptitiously and called out mentally, Jena! Get Jon and hurry to Behn’s car. We’re going to follow the ambulance to the hospital.

  Jena confirmed she would do as told and grabbed Jon’s hand and pulled him along behind her as she rushed toward her sister.

  Everybody remained in tense silence as they drove behind the ambulance. Each person’s thoughts were focused on different aspects of the events. Juila and Jena were reviewing everything they had done to save their friend. Behn concentrated on both driving and trying to solve the problem of Sofia’s injuries. Jon merely worried about Sofia’s health as he had no way of knowing she was no longer in danger.

  A few minutes later the ambulance turned into the hospital emergency room parking. Behn drove past the driveway until he reached the visitor’s section. He quickly found a parking space and turned off the engine. Jon immediately opened the door to get out when Behn spoke up, “Jon, hold up a minute. Juila do you have Sofia’s home number?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Call her mom and let her know what happened and where her daughter is right now.”

  “Behn, I’m going inside,” Jon insisted and continued swinging the door open and stepping out.

  “Let him go, Behn,” Jena spoke up suddenly as Behn started to call him back. “We need to talk about this situation and we can’t be around Jon anyway.”

  “Fine,” Behn agreed reluctantly. He watched as Juila searched through the saved numbers on her cell phone. He turned in his seat and asked Jena, “Have you figured out what you’ll say about Sofia’s lack of injuries?”

  “I was hoping you’d thought of something, actually.”

  “Mrs. Castillo? Hi, this is Juila Stel.”

  Behn and Jena went silent as they waited for Juila to finish her phone call.

  “I just thought you should know, Sofia was in an accident in the school parking lot.” Juila paused as Sofia’s mom asked her a question. “Yes, she’s okay. Just as a precaution, an ambulance brought her to the hospital and they’re probably wheeling her in right now. Yes, that’s the hospital. We were going to go in and check on her right now. Okay, we’ll see you in a couple minutes. Bye.” Juila hung up the phone and looked over at Behn. “What are we going to do?”

  “Like you said, we’re going to go in and check on her. Hopefully we can think of something while we’re waiting.” He opened his car door and stepped out. He walked around the car and took Juila’s hand into his own. The three of them walked slowly to the emergency entrance.

  The hospital waiting area was filled with anxious family members as well as people needing to be seen by a doctor. There was a sense of controlled chaos which Juila and Jena had never experienced before. In Tuala the sick people were generally either healed at their own homes or in the wise-woman’s house. The idea of people needing to congregate in such an unorganized fashion made the girls wonder how far behind the Earth people were with their medicinal practices.

  They found Jon already sitting off to the side of the noisi
est people in the room. There were several seats around him so they promptly filled the chairs. Behn asked, “Did you find anything out?”

  “They asked if I were family. When I told them I wasn’t they said they couldn’t discuss Sofia’s condition with me. I feel so useless!”

  “Don’t worry, Jon. Sofia will be fine,” Juila patted his knee to comfort him. She recoiled slightly when Jon looked up at her angrily.

  “You don’t know that, Juila. Didn’t you see the hood of the car which hit her? Obviously, Sofia is going to have massive injuries with how hard the car hit her. I saw all of the blood, too! She was covered in it!”

  “I’m sure it’s not as bad as all of that,” Juila continued and then decided silence was probably a better course of action when Jon continued to glare at her. She wished she could tell Jon the truth. She knew for a fact Sofia was going to be perfectly fine since she had already taken care of the injuries.

  Leave it be, Juila, Jena spoke into her mind. Maybe we should think about leaving since they won’t tell us anything anyway.

  I’d like to stay until her mom gets here. Once she sees Sofia and reports back to us that she’s fine, then Jon will come home with us. As it is now, I doubt he’d leave here without an update. Juila looked surreptitiously from Jon to Behn.

  The group waited in tense silence for over ten minutes, each ruminating on their own thoughts. Finally, Juila spotted Mrs. Castillo enter the same doors they had come through. She pointed and said to the group, “Sofia’s mom is here.”

  Jon jumped up and hurried over to where she was standing at the information counter. He hoped to be able to hear an update as they told Sofia’s mother. Obviously his plan worked since his shoulder visibly relaxed and he turned to smile back at his brother.

  Jena, Juila, and Behn were slower to approach the main reception desk. They stood slightly back from Mrs. Castillo until they were sure she had received the answers to all of her questions.

  Mrs. Castillo held her handbag in a death grip all the while she was talking to the receptionist. When she was finally told she could go back to see her daughter, then she relaxed slightly and noticed Jon standing next to her. “Jon, I didn’t see you. Were you with Sofia when the accident happened?”