Levels of Ascension BoxSet

by Amy Proebstel

  Somehow his mother always knew when to expect him so he was not surprised to see her leave the house to wave at him from the balcony overlooking the landing field. He waved back and lengthened his stride to go up and greet her.

  After exchanging hugs, she pulled away from him and said, “This is unexpected. What brings you here today?”

  “I have a mystery for you,” he answered with a grin as he saw her smile in anticipation.

  “Goody! What is it?” She clapped her hands together in childish glee.

  As they walked back through the house to her office Riccan explained the situation. He pulled the piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her.

  She spent a bit of time looking over the entire list before nodding her agreement at his assessment of the situation. “It is strange. I’ll ask your father if he knows anything about this guy. Can you leave this with me? I’d like to see what I can come up with as well.”

  “Sure, keep it. I can always write up another one if I needed to.” He did not want to tell her he was done thinking about it since she was going to worry it like a dog with a bone anyway. It was just her nature to keep at it until she found a solution to her liking. “I can’t stay long. Amanda’s expecting me pretty soon.” Speaking about his wife reminded him of another question. “What happened with Chelesa when you showed her Amanda’s journal?”

  “She found a discrepancy in the account.”

  “Really? That’s odd since everything else has been so accurate. What do you make of it?”

  “I don’t know yet. It’s just one more thing for me to figure out!” She smiled at her son affectionately.

  “You love it, and you know it!” Riccan teased.

  “Go on home, honey. I’ll stay on this mystery so you won’t have to worry about it.” She tapped the paper to emphasize her point.

  “I know. It’s just the type of thing you love, which is why I came over!”

  “Oh, get out of here, you rascal.”

  Riccan smiled wider as he stood up from the chair. “I love you, Mom. Thanks for doing this.”

  “My pleasure!” She came around the desk and gave him a hug. She kept her arm around him while they walked back to the patio. “I’m really looking forward to having the grandchildren come over later this mesan. What kinds of things do they like doing?”

  Riccan thought about it for a moment before answering, “I think you won’t have to worry about it, Mom. The girls just want to spend time getting to know you. I think you three will find plenty to keep you busy, if only exchanging stories.”

  “I guess you’re right,” she admitted. In a way, having planned activities would be less unnerving than worrying whether or not they were having a good time.

  Riccan could see her dubious expression and chuckled, “Honestly, Mom, they’ll be fine! They’re not little children with short attention spans. They can entertain themselves quite nicely. Let them know they can use your telepod to visit friends if you’re so worried about it.” Riccan chuckled again at his mother’s discomfiture.

  “Fine,” she agreed. “Get home to your family then.” She pushed at him playfully.

  He kissed her cheek before turning to walk down the stairs to the landing field. He felt lighthearted since he had given over the task to his mother. Now he could devote his attention to helping his wife find the remaining samaras.

  Watching her son walk confidently back to his telepod, she felt an overwhelming pride in the man he had become. Her only regret in life was not having more children so he could have had siblings to grow up with.

  Riccan waved one final time from the cockpit of the telepod before he left for home. Thoughts of Amanda waiting for him made him forget all of his other worries. Knowing she anticipated spending time with him as much as he did with her was a great blessing.

  He parked the telepod in the garage and entered the house. He could hear his children and wife talking in the living room. It was such a different experience coming home to a house full of women when he’d been a bachelor for so long. Never in a million years would have anticipated his life could change so drastically in such a short period of time.

  “Hello, family!” he announced as soon as he could physically see everyone.

  “Dad!” Jena cried as she jumped up and ran over to give him a big hug.

  Riccan’s heart almost burst with pleasure at her spontaneous display of affection. It would not have mattered to him, yet he was really thankful that these girls truly were his biological children. He still felt like pinching himself to make sure he was not dreaming.

  “Come sit down, Dad,” Jena said as she tugged his hand to lead him the rest of the way to the couch.

  “What’s going on? Good news, I’m guessing.” He kissed Amanda before settling down right next to her. Draping his arm across her shoulders, he prepared himself to hear the news.

  “Sofia’s doing great! She’s going to be coming back to school on Monday,” Jena announced.

  “That’s wonderful!” Riccan enthused. He had expected nothing less with his girls’ healing capabilities.

  “Valentina and Behn have agreed to meet with Vinia,” Juila said.

  “How did that happen?” Amanda asked. With the way Valentina had reacted to the news, she never thought she would come around, especially so fast. She started thinking about making arrangements to go back to Barla’s house to tell Vinia.

  “Val, cornered me in the bathroom the other day and confronted me about healing Sofia. For some reason, she’s under the impression that we’re all freaks for being able to help people. Anyway, I turned the conversation around to her mother and what she was going to do about it. She finally said they want to hear her out and see what happens from there.”

  “I noticed you never said anything about including Jon in this reunion,” Riccan stated.

  “They plan on leaving him out of it until they are certain she actually is their mother,” Juila said with a slightly disgusted tone.

  “Why?” Jena asked.

  “I don’t know. I guess they don’t want to have him start asking questions about their past,” Juila answered.

  “Well, it’s a start at least,” Amanda mused.

  “I guess it could get awkward if he asked where she’s been all of this time,” Jena reasoned.

  “It hasn’t been all that long for Vinia, remember? She said she sent the children away only a year ago. I’m afraid this reunion will be just as hard on her since she’s missed out on so much of their lives without even knowing how it happened. There’s going to have to be a lot of adjustments for everyone in this,” Amanda pointed out.

  “I don’t know, Amanda. How hard was it for you to find out our children were almost grown up?” Riccan asked.

  Amanda blinked in surprise at his question. She had never really considered how similar her situation with her children was to Vinia’s before. It seemed as though their lives were still running parallel even when she was not in a coma. “Too true. After the initial shock, it never seemed to matter. I did wish I could have been there for their growing up, but I’m thankful for whom they’ve become.”

  The girls beamed with pride at their mother’s declaration of love and pride. They never regretted the way they had been raised either. Living with Jehoban had been a blessing and they had always felt loved and cherished.

  “I saw my mom today,” Riccan announced in the lull of conversation.

  “Really? Is everything okay?” Amanda asked.

  “Yeah, I went to see her before coming home.”

  “What’s going on, Riccan?”

  “I can’t shake this feeling about Ela Nena. I took a list of names and events over to my mom to have her look into them and see if she can come up with anything.”

  Juila narrowed her eyes as she considered what her father had said. “What kind of a feeling, Dad?”

  “I’m not sure. I feel like I should know an important detail and yet it remains elusive.”

  “When did y
ou first get this feeling?” Juila persisted.

  Riccan thought about it for a moment before he shrugged in resignation. “I don’t really know. Each time I get called into her office, it seems like my feeling grows stronger. I kept thinking it was compounding because of the things she’s been saying to me. Now I’m not so sure anymore.”

  “Her office, huh?” Juila spoke softly as she tried to figure out some correlation.

  Jena’s eyes widened as she saw where Juila’s thoughts were going. Suddenly, the pieces of the puzzle clicked in her head and she snapped her fingers. “I have an idea!” she announced, surprising everyone. “Come with me!” She stood up and started walking down the hall.

  With confused expressions everyone followed her. She led them to the library and turned around to face them. They rarely spent any time in the room since the additional samaras were creating a large energy field which could be felt throughout the room.

  As soon as Riccan crossed the threshold he realized what had been bothering him. “You’re right, Jena! You are so right!” He went over and picked her up in a giant hug and twirled her around in excitement. He set her back down and continued to grin at her.

  “Will someone please clue me in?” Amanda demanded. She was not used to being completely left out and she did not like it one bit.

  “The girls must have been reading my mind while I was talking about my meetings with Ela Nena.” He tried to scowl at their bad manners, but his smile took over his expression. “Jena got the idea about my uneasy feeling and realized it was the same as the feeling we get when we’re around the samaras in here. She’s right, too! Ela Nena must have one of the samaras somewhere in her office because I can feel the energy of it when I go in there.”

  Amanda hoped Riccan’s explanation proved to be correct. She was starting to worry about the lack of progress in locating the remaining eight samaras. “How do you think Ela Nena got the crystal?”

  “I don’t know, but I mean to find out!” Riccan could hardly wait to get back to work the next day. It was strange to have the excitement back even when faced with the daunting task of confronting Ela Nena. He was convinced he was on the right track, however, since nothing else made as much sense.

  Juila was quiet during the discussion as she tried to figure out what was bothering her with Jena’s simple solution.

  “Why do you look so troubled, Juila?” Amanda asked.

  “There’s still something we’re missing,” she replied slowly.

  “What is it?” Riccan prompted.

  “I don’t know…Do you think it’s possible Ela Nena doesn’t know she has the samara?”

  “Why? What are you thinking?”

  Jena was, once again, one step ahead of Juila. “When we studied about the samaras we learned they have a lot of powers. One of those powers allows a person to be controlled through the samara. It might explain Ela Nena’s sudden change in her attitude toward you, Dad.”

  Riccan raised his eyebrows at this new twist in the story. He wondered what else the girls knew about the powers of the samaras. It seemed as though they only found out new information when situations prompted the need. Perhaps he should spend some more time in communion with his own samara to gain a better understanding of its power. He shuddered at the idea of losing himself in the thrall of the powerful link and dismissed the thought for the time being.

  “Who would be controlling her and why would Riccan be the target?” Amanda demanded.

  Riccan thought he might already have at least part of the answer, but he did not want to share his theory until after he heard back from his mother. She might discover something very different from what he was beginning to suspect. Instead of the truth, Riccan answered, “Two very good questions which we will have to get answered, Amanda!”

  Jena gave her father a sidelong stare and wondered what he was not sharing. She mentally shrugged her shoulder since, given enough time, she would figure it out anyway.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  SOFIA WAS SO relieved to finally be able to have Jon visit her while she was stuck at home on bed rest. Originally she was going to go back to school after the weekend, but her migraine headache that morning had canceled her plan. She was thoroughly bored enough to be excited for the homework Jon had brought over. Together they sat in the living room, Sofia stretched out on the couch, and Jon in the recliner right next to her. The only thing dampening her spirits was the idea of Jon seeing her after she had not been able to shower for two days.

  “You look really good, Sofia,” Jon said.

  Sofia looked at him suddenly suspicious because it seemed as though he had read her mind. “Thanks…I think...considering I know how terrible I really look.”

  “You look alive and that’s my favorite thing!” He smiled at his own wit.

  Sofia had to laugh out loud at his ridiculous statement which caused her to grab her side to keep the stitches from pulling too much. “Ouch! Don’t make me laugh, Jon.”

  He suddenly turned serious. “I’m sorry, Sofia, I didn’t know.”

  “I was only teasing. I’ve often heard that laughter is the best medicine so I should probably find a lot of reasons to laugh so I can start to feel better. My whole body feels like I got hit by a semi.”

  “The way the front of the car looked, you’re lucky to even be alive.”

  Suddenly she realized Jon had seen the accident scene. He was someone who might be able to tell her what really happened. She asked, “What really happened, Jon? What did you see?”

  “I didn’t see much since I was so far away. I heard the tires squeal on the pavement as the car tried to stop. I also heard the screams of the people who saw it happen. I ran as fast as I could to find out who had gotten hurt. When I saw you lying on the ground in a pool of blood, I was certain you were dead already. Your lips were blue and I swear I couldn’t see you breathing.”

  Sofia nodded to keep him talking.

  “Jena was kneeling down beside you and Juila was cradling your head. I assumed they were praying because their eyes were shut. Jena opened her eyes and told me to take your hand and tell you to hold on and that everything would be okay.” He looked away with a strange expression.

  “What else?”

  “Something weird happened. When I first held your hand your fingers were so limp and cold and it scared me. Right after I told you to hold on, I swear I felt a surge of warmth almost like an energy of some sort go through your fingers into mine.”

  “Then what happened to me?”

  “You started having convulsions and you were shaking all over. I held your hand tighter. How do your fingers feel?”

  Sofia laughed as she flexed and wiggled her fingers before she replied, “They feel better than the rest of me. Did the girls do or say anything while you were there?”

  Jon thought about it for a moment and shook his head. “I don’t think so. Why?”

  While Sofia had promised not to say anything about the secret project in their garage, it did not mean she was unable to talk about any other strange things which only seemed to happen around the girls.

  “Don’t get me wrong, I love those girls like they’re my sisters, it’s just strange things happen around them.” Sofia shrugged her shoulders gently, not knowing the best way to describe what she meant.

  “Give me some examples.”

  “Okay, when I’m driving with them in the car. I could swear the other cars are avoiding me. When they aren’t with me, I have so many close calls.”

  “Maybe you’re just more aware of safety when they are with you.” Jon smiled at Sofia’s reason. “What else?”

  “Doesn’t it ever seem like they talk to one another without speaking? I mean they often talk about stuff I’ve only ever spoken to the other one about. And before you say they shared when I wasn’t around, I’m telling you there wasn’t any time for sharing. Stop laughing, Jon, it happens all the time. Pay more attention to them and you’ll realize I’m speaking the truth.”

&n
bsp; “I’m sorry, Sofia, it’s just funny. Besides, they are identical twins. I’ve heard a lot of strange things happen when they’re identical like speaking the same thing at the same time…things like that all the time. Do you have any other examples?” Jon tried to keep a straight face because he could tell she was starting to get angry with him.

  “Not if you’re just going to make fun of me.”

  “I’m sorry. I think you’ve been left alone for too long. I promise I won’t laugh. What else do you have?”

  “Don’t you think it’s strange how much time Val spends over at their house? She didn’t even really like the girls much and now she spends every day with them. What’s that all about?”

  Jon had wondered the same thing himself. Valentina had said she was tutoring Jena because they were from South Africa and needed help with a lot of the studies. It had seemed logical at the time, yet now he wondered about it. The twins both seemed smarter than all of them so it would be strange for Jena to continue to need help.

  “I can agree it is strange for Val to suddenly like someone. I’ll talk to her about it again and let you know what she tells me. Anything else?”

  She gestured to her whole body and said, “Me! I think they did something to my injuries. Jon, I swear I felt my bones break when the car hit me. I also think something else broke when I hit the ground. How can you explain the fact I hardly have any injuries except a few cuts and scratches?”

  Jon raised his eyebrows and tipped his head at her argument. He had also wondered how she had escaped injury with the amount of damage he had seen on the car. “Okay, you may have something there. What could they do though? It’s not like they have magic fingers and could heal you.”

  “Maybe they can.”

  “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  “Very! You even said I was having convulsions and yet they found nothing wrong with my brain on the CT scan. I don’t have a single broken bone, either.”