“Look, why don’t you just take this opportunity to sit back, as one would say, and enjoy the ride. The scenery here is to die for. We can talk more about this later.”
A slight chill ran along my spine at his word choice. I decided not to play into it in case he was trying to scare me. I kept my focus on Graven rather than the Cherokee. I loved red rock country, but if I stared out at the boulders in the horizon, I feared I might find myself at the top of one.
I always felt most at home here in the four corners. The landscape never disappointed. We moved around a lot over the years. There are wonders that most Americans, let alone the rest of the world, don’t even realize exist in that part of the country. With no overstuffed characters walking around compounds of large steel amusements, most people didn’t flock to the region for their holiday.
Time seemed to pass quickly and we turned off onto a dirt, or should I say rock, road. I would have driven right past it. It blended in well with the natural surroundings and curved past a large rock structure. We traveled just out of sight of the road and continued up in altitude to a plateau. We approached a modest-looking house. There was a barn in close proximity that certainly housed a number of paddocks. I could see the horses in the distance. They had a vast amount of space to explore.
We pulled up to the front of his house. The front porch was large enough to host a small cocktail party. There were antique-looking rockers off to one side. Adjacent to either side of the porch stood two large stone statues that looked like gargoyles. They weren’t quite as gruesome looking as the ones you see perched on the tops of castles or plopped down in someone’s backyard next to a garden gnome.
The double doors were agape. I was surprised that he left his home wide open. I could see into the house before we had a chance to exit the truck. The view from the front door extended straight through the giant glass windows and doors that lined the rear of the house.
Graven grabbed his phone and shut off the engine. He didn’t bother taking out the keys. He didn’t say a word, just got out and started to walk into the house. I was beside him in an instant.
The interior of his home was sparsely furnished. A few couches that were built with what looked like reclaimed wood filed up the living space. They had some Native American woven blankets thrown over the corners. A huge stone fireplace shared the back wall with the rear patio. Open to the rest of the large open living area was the kitchen. The island that separated the room was covered in what looked like hand-painted tiles. All the kitchen appliances were top of the line stainless steel, restaurant quality for sure. The refrigerator had glass doors and was more organized than a supermarket shelf. He grabbed a water from a chiller drawer under the island.
Graven tipped the bottle in my direction. “I would offer you one, but…”
“Exactly.” I laughed
He paused his motion. “There’s something about your eyes. It’s interesting the way the color blends in with the rest of your astral appearance.” I could feel his eyes searching my soul. “But behind them, I can feel there’s something. Something I need to know. It feels like there’s something I need to offer you. It’s so hard to put into words.”
I wouldn’t let on, but I knew exactly what he meant. I was experiencing the same feelings about him. We just stood there for a minute and stared at each other. He was a book I needed to read.
“What do I look like? I can’t very well go look in the mirror, can I?”
After he swigged down half the bottle of water in one gulp, he laughed. “No, you can definitely not see yourself in a mirror. So I guess you don’t really know about how to alter or adjust the image you’re projecting. Given there aren’t a lot who can travel in the astral plane, there are even less who can change what they look like to others. Some travelers can present themselves as anything or anybody to those that can see them or those they meet in their journeys.
“I’ve never seen anyone who looks like you. Your hair is silver and your skin, if you will, is a bluish-gray. Your eyes are, well, besides mesmerizing, almost crystal clear. You shimmer with radiance, like a diamond in the light. Your attributes are… Maybe I can tell you what I think about that when we get to know each other a wee bit better.” He smirked a little.
I fought off the embarrassment and threw my shoulders back a bit. I didn’t want to give off any more signs of possible vulnerability. He knew a lot, a lot more than I did. I might have walked myself into a trap and not even realized it.
“You seem to know an awful lot about this. Do you journey in this way, or just by rugged Cherokee?”
“I assure you, I have many forms of transportation. Some I enjoy more than others. But, yes, I can project. It‘s how I’m able to keep tabs on my assets while I’m not present. My preferred means of travel, though, is my horses. But that is strictly for pleasure.” The words rolled off his tongue slow and I could hear a faint moan under his speech.
“So do you alter your image?” I couldn’t see why he would want to mess with near perfection.
“Let us speak about me another time. I do hope we’ll have another time for you to get to know me better. Now would be a good time to start telling me what’s going on with you.”
“I’m not so sure if I should tell you, but at this point I don’t have much to lose. I actually don’t have that much to tell because there’s so much I don’t know or understand. Maybe a few days ago, I was going about my business grabbing a cup of coffee and the next thing I knew I woke up imprisoned in a dark room. I don’t know how long I’ve been locked away. Not knowing how much time has passed is very frustrating. It’s hard to tell without any signs of daylight.” I continued to explain the basics of my situation.
“I’m being held captive by your friend Ziona. It felt like days before anyone came to see me. She only just recently graced me with a visit. She’s claiming I’m something other than what I know myself to be. She said my grandmother would have told me about having powers or something. I would think that she’s totally crazy except all of the sudden I was able to leave my body like this.”
He didn’t seem surprised by my story thus far. He blew out a hefty breath and I think I heard him say “hmmm” to himself. He looked at me and polished off the other half of his water in one slug.
“I see, so you’ve never astral projected before? I can tell you’re new to it, but you move around like someone who’s had some training or has been practicing for quite some time. You just have some sloppy ways and look confused or unsure of yourself.”
I zipped over to the window and gazed out into the desert. Without turning back to him, I answered.
“I’ve only traveled maybe three or four times. This attempt was to try and follow Ziona out of the room where I’m held captive. My goal was to figure out where I am so maybe I can try to find a way out. My trip wasn’t as successful as I would have liked.”
“And here you are with me. Sometimes fate has a funny way of delivering us where we need to be.”
I turned to look at him, captivated by his eyes. They were screaming volumes of emotions at me that were hard to sort out. I was afraid maybe a little bit of pity was mixed in there.
“Why did you come with me? I would think that a better course of action would have been to follow Ziona.” He tossed the empty bottle into a steel recycling bin.
“Truer words may not have ever been spoken.” I looked down at my toes and thought about how my feet missed the real world. “I don’t know. I did consider it for a minute. There was something about the way I felt when our eyes first met. There was an unspoken connection.”
I was surprised I admitted it. I shuffled around a bit and then looked up at him. “After Ziona asked you what was going on and you didn’t expose me, I was hopeful. At that moment, I needed something to believe in. It’s crazy, since I know nothing more of you than your name, but I decided to believe in the hope you could help me.”
Graven looked stressed. He pushed back the hair on his head as if some of i
t was out of place—it wasn’t. He then rubbed his hands together and blew out a much bigger breath, as if releasing the stress.
“Ok, so Ziona is holding you captive. You don’t really know why, other than she thinks you have some kind of powers. Does she know you can journey from your body?”
“No. Umm. I keep telling her I don’t know what she’s talking about. Truthfully, I really don’t know. The little bits I do know I’ve pieced together while I was exploring my new ability.”
“What else has she said to you? Has she hurt you?” he demanded as his chest expanded and his muscles clenched.
“She and I had a bit of an altercation, but I’m okay. I fear on her next visit I will not be so lucky. She’s full of threats, but she’s also trying to entice me to think she can help me if I’m honest with her. She’s desperate to give whatever she thinks I have to offer to a him. I don’t know who he is. I can only assume you know.”
“He is one of the most dangerous dark leaders globally. He goes by the name The Taker, although he’s gone by many. Ziona is one of his high-level cronies. She’s very loyal to his cause, whatever it might be. She isn’t one to disappoint him.”
“Do you have any idea where I am? Can you help get me out?” I sputtered out so fast I wasn’t sure he made out each of my words.
“Whoa, slow down, Lyra. I have no idea where you are. I try to keep my distance from Ziona and the rest of the organization when I can. I do my job. I make money at my clubs and cater to some very unsavory characters when I must. I walk amongst the darkest of souls.”
Fear and hopelessness rose up against me. I again reached for my amulet that wasn’t there. Maybe I made the wrong choice to go there. All I now knew was the name of my worst enemy. I wasn’t any closer to finding my way out. Maybe it was time to make my way back.
My eyes must have said it all. I was about to hit the misty trails back to my body when he appeared before me faster than I remember seeing anyone ever move. He reached out and placed his hands on my arms. I don’t know how.
The realization of my false sense of safety just kicked into overdrive. I thought if I came here he couldn’t harm me, other than maybe tell Ziona I was at the meeting. Now he had hold of my astral body. What were the implications of this? I struggled to get away. My arms remained in the very place they were when he grabbed them. Panic was about the only thing I had left.
“Please! Do not go. I will not harm you. Do not resist me. I have the ability to force you to stay here, but I will not.” I looked at him nervously, and with that he relaxed his grip.
“I apologize for grabbing you. I couldn’t let you leave like that. I don’t know if I can or will be able to help you. At the very least I can still provide you with some of my knowledge so you can have safe journeys.”
I gently nodded.
“How long do you think you can stay? We have a lot to cover?” Graven asked.
“I wish I knew. She told me she’d be back in a few hours, along with some ugly threats. How can you grab hold of me if I’m not really here?”
“Why do think you aren’t here? Are you not having this conversation with me? You’re in my home. What makes you think this isn’t really where you are? I’ve been able to journey beyond the limits of my physical body since I was a young boy.”
“Can everyone in your family astral project?”
“No. Having special gifts was never a question in my house. Some of us possess the same gifts, while some of us have unique abilities. Our differences have often made it hard for some of us to relate. Do you have any siblings?”
“No, most of my life it was just me and Gram. I wished I had a sister when I was growing up. We moved around a lot so I never really made a lot of friends. I never had enough of an opportunity to get close to anyone.
“Gram was all I had. Now I’m alone.” The heaviness of my statement filled the room.
“I’m going to try not to be offended. Right now, at this moment in time, you have me. I’m standing before you as your friend. In this place, you’re not alone. Now let us go over a few details on how this works.”
A friend? Maybe. There was sincerity in his eyes. I accepted his offer of friendship at least for that moment in time, as he called it, until Ziona and The Taker instructed him to do otherwise.
Graven didn’t waste any time. He went over a few key pointers on making sure I wasn’t exposing myself to any other possible viewers out there. He explained different ways to blend in with my surroundings. At least an hour had passed with me practicing some of the techniques.
He stopped mid-thought and gazed straight into me. “What is your real name?”
“What?” He caught me off guard with his bluntness and ability to see through my lie. “Lyra is my real name. Well, it’s my middle name. I was afraid to tell you my first name. I didn’t want you to go back to Ziona and tell her what I was doing. At this point, since you know where I am and didn’t tell her before, I guess it can’t hurt to tell you the truth. My given name is Kasha Lyra Alexander.”
“Kasha, that’s a pretty name, unique, kind of like you.” He whispered, “Thank you for telling me. I know our time is limited, but I think if you managed to sense Ziona and get into that meeting, you should be able to find your way back to me. You’re welcome in my home anytime. It is rare for anyone to come out here. I do have a hired hand or two, but they stay out with the horses. My home is protected. I’m the only one who would see you here.”
“Oh, thank you,” I said softly.
“But heed my advice to always be aware of what is going on around you. I might not be here in the house. I have a number of obligations. There are many dangerous people in my life, especially at my clubs.”
At that, the little bit of peace in thinking I had a safe place to communicate with someone who could maybe help me, more than just by reading a book and lecturing me, drifted away almost as fast as it appeared. I realized if I went to him and he wasn’t at this house, he could be in a position that could expose me. My nerves shot my hand back up to my chest.
“Why do you keep grabbing at your chest? That is the third time I’ve seen you do that.”
“I wear a necklace on my physical body. It has an amulet that my grandmother gave me. It helps relax my nerves when I think about her. She was always there for me. Always.”
I paused, thinking back to Ziona’s constant inquisition about my grandmother not telling me about who I really was or might be. I still found it so hard to fathom her lying to me all those years.
“Ziona, she claims that Gram knew what’s about to happen to me. Something about my transformation.” Sadness crept in around me. I knew it was almost time to get back. I also really needed to try to get back to talk to Patience and Phaela.
“Maybe your grandmother had her reasons for omitting some of the truths that you seek at this time. At least at this point you aren’t really lying to Ziona. She has been known to get the truth out of the most tight-lipped people.”
“What is her story anyway? What is she?” I probed.
“It might be better if you don’t know more details at this time. Your ignorance to what she is and what she seeks are probably keeping you alive.”
I shot him an evil eye. How—after I just explained to him that I was upset that my gram may have lied to me my whole life about who I was—could he keep more of the truth from me?
“Be angry at me if you please, but there will be a safer time for you to know more details. I will do what I can to protect you.”
“I’m sure!”
“You should go. I might be able to find you. It really depends on if there are any enchantments keeping unwanted guests out. I will keep my ears extra open to see if I hear anything about what they truly want from you. But I cannot go around asking any questions. If anyone were to suspect I was helping a prisoner or hiding one, for that matter, it wouldn’t be good news for either of us.”
“I agree.” I didn’t want to leave, but I knew I had to. “Thanks fo
r your help… and the invitation to your home.”
I MADE MY way out the door slowly. I enjoyed the landscape of Graven’s property. I wanted to be there. I wanted to know more about him. I wished I could share more about myself. I should have asked him to travel with me, maybe show me how he does it. Even if it was a short trip, it could have been fun.
I was concerned about getting back to my body before they noticed I was sitting in the same position for a few hours. The only problem was that I knew I needed more answers. Sitting and staring at four walls I couldn’t even see wasn’t going to get me anywhere. I needed to get back and talk to Patience. Maybe she had a way to help me contact Gram.
Gram must have had a lot of the answers. Clearly she knew I might not be an average human. I guess it was possible I wasn’t even human at all. How could I live this long and not know? Shouldn’t I have felt something at some point?
Before I even realized it, I was standing back in the kitchen where I last met with Patience and her sister Phaela. No one was there, but a kettle of water was about to shout out for someone to come in and greet me. I called out to Phaela. If Patience were there, unless she was in her astral form, she wouldn’t have heard me calling.
I wondered, if someone was astral projecting near me, would I be able to see them? Phaela could see me, but Patience could not. I never thought to ask Phaela if she could project. It was all so new to me. I wasn’t sure how much of this could be learned versus a natural ability. I hadn’t decided if this was going to be a gift or a curse. If my circumstances were different, I would think this was the most amazing thing that ever happened to me. There are so many places I would love to go and see.
The encounters with my new abilities were stressful and scary. Along with them, a crazy she-devil bitch and a dark crime lord of some sort were holding me captive. I was living a nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from.
It was hard to believe they were interested in me because I could astral project. It wasn’t like I was the only one who possessed the ability. They already had Graven on payroll. They at least knew for sure that he was able to see astral travelers.
Taken (Breaking the Darkness) Page 8