A sudden surge of energy seemed to be released from the amulet. It was like I just got hit with lightning. My chest was both hot and freezing at the same time. It should have been painful, but my body was beyond pain. It was just an intense jolt.
I reached up to feel what had happened. I needed to check my skin and move or remove the necklace from my neck as quickly as possible. As I lifted my hand to it, I realized it was melding into me.
The amulet was sinking into my skin. I couldn’t grasp it; I couldn’t remove it. I threw both hands up and fingered at it. It was no use; it was gone. Only the empty chain remained. I looked down and saw the symbol embossed at the center of my chest. In that instant, the room faded back to darkness.
Oh boy! This would be hard to explain if and when Ziona or Anton noticed. How would I be able to hide this mark upon my chest? Why would something like this happen? What did he do to me? The questions kept piling up and the list of answers wasn’t nearly long enough.
I tried to will myself to the bed, but I just slumped down out of complete exhaustion and curled my aching, broken body into a ball. I think I closed my eyes, but it was possible I learned to sleep with my eyes open.
I WOKE FROM a dreamless slumber to the smell of greasy fried food. The aroma turned my stomach against me. My hunger was enough to conquer the pain that sprouted in every joint. I forced myself to where the smell came from. I felt around on the ground and found a half-crumpled bag.
I tore into it faster than a child ripping into gifts on Christmas morning. I found a container of fried chicken pieces and immediately started to shovel the salty chunks into my mouth before I cared to see what else was in the bag. It didn’t matter how they tasted; I was famished. I found a can of something and cracked it open, pounding it down so fast the carbonated assault fought back with a large belch.
There was also a bag of vegetable sticks that I started to munch on. I was eating so fast the food felt like bricks being shoved into an infant’s sock. I stopped before I made myself sick. My ribs couldn’t handle the pressure of this food coming back out. I horded the remaining food into the corner of the bed, hoping to finish the rest of it as soon as my shrunken stomach would allow.
I wanted to go back to sleep but was cautious not to lie back down just yet. That food needed to stay put. I rested my head against the hard wall and shut my eyes. What I wouldn’t have done for some sort of pain reliever or one of Gram’s magic teas.
A bag of ice might have been nice. I was cautious about complaining about the food, even if it was only to myself. It was long overdue. Even though my hunger pains were subsiding, the rest of my aches grew worse. The thought of what I looked like was so hard to imagine. I wanted to reach around and touch my back, but the sheer thought of it sent shivers up my spine. I was so grossed out and felt icky all over.
At least the bleeding stopped. I had to count my blessings somewhere. It was a repulsive reality that monster’s tongue cauterized the very wounds he inflicted on me. I was sure it was an early lesson on how he could easily cut me open and close up the wounds over and over again at his will or whim. He could dish out an endless supply of suffering.
Instead of reaching around to examine the extent of my back injuries, I decided to reach up for my chest. Just between my breasts my skin felt like a puffy tattoo. The shape was the same pentacle design of the amulet. I was freaked out that a piece of metal melted into my skin. Would I ever get it out? And if so, how?
I needed to know why this happened. What would happen to me as a result? I wondered if Ziona ever noticed I was wearing it in the first place. It was beneath my shirt most of the time. Now that my shirt was torn, she would most likely be able to see the branding. Fumbling in the dark, I did my best to tie the torn pieces of shirt together. If she asked me where it went, I could tell her that her buddy Levi took it. I can’t imagine there was much trust among those evil people. Were they even people? Anton sure didn’t look like a “person.”
I needed to get out of my broken body. I hoped the pain of my vast injuries didn’t carry over into my astral existence. I thought it was time to get as comfy as I could manage, or at least in a position that wouldn’t cause any added discomfort. I decided to go to Patience and Axel’s house first. Hopefully, they would be home. At least if they were there, they had access to a lot of secret documents. I wasn’t sure if Phaela lived there or if I’d been lucky with her visits. Hopefully she was there too. I would need her to help me communicate.
IT DIDN’T TAKE me long to find my way there. It was amazing how in an instant I was where I wanted to be. The rustic kitchen had really grown on me. I loved the way the pots and pans were hanging from the ceiling. If I weren’t in astral form, I’d have bumped my head repeatedly on them. Those people were so short and cute.
I did take note to use some of the techniques that Graven taught me, first and foremost making sure my body was covered. I wasn’t really interested in exposing myself to anyone else. Although, I hadn’t come across any other travelers yet, I would prefer to keep it casual if I did bump into anyone. I was practicing my entry to be discrete and tried to blend back into my surroundings.
Maybe I should have asked him about communicating with people that could see me or if there was a way to contact someone like Patience who could travel but in her physical state couldn’t see others’ projections. I was thoughtful to not make a scene in case there was anyone else there that could hear or see into this plane of existence. No one was making tea this time, so I couldn’t necessarily expect anyone to be sauntering into the kitchen.
Come to think about it, I hadn’t left that room when I visited their place the past two times. I wondered what the rest of their home looked like. They must have had so many great antiques. I could only imagine the stories Axel could tell me. He might bore me to sleep, but that would be a welcome change from the desolate life I was experiencing.
I tried to travel past the threshold of the doorway into the hall to take a look around, but as soon as I got to the entryway, it felt like I hit a brick wall coursing with electricity. I got zapped back into the kitchen. It was a strange sensation, not very comfortable, but I wasn’t sure if anything could really hurt me when I wasn’t in my physical body. What the heck was going on? I hoped I wasn’t a vampire. I couldn’t help chuckling to myself at the thought.
Moments later, Phaela strolled into the kitchen. “I thought I heard something. Kasha, we’ve been waiting for you.”
“Yeah, um, where’s Patience?” Before she could consider answering me, I added, “And what is up with the invisible electric wall?”
With a smile on her face, she replied, “Oh, that? We decided to spell the entryways into the house. We were worried about anyone coming here to look for you or information.”
I raised an eyebrow at her response. Something seemed off. “So, how come I could come into the kitchen?” I looked around and noticed that the kitchen actually looked much cleaner than it had the last time I was there. Most of the books that were all over the table and floor were no longer sprawled about.
“We had to make sure you could get in to find us.” She took note of me looking around the room. “We moved a lot of our documents and books to safer locations.”
“So where’s Patience?” And for that matter where’s Axel? I haven’t seen him since The Flea.
“Kasha, my goodness, what has happened to you?” Concern flashed in her eyes when she finally made eye contact with me.
I must not have done a great job hiding what Anton did to me. I hoped in that form it wouldn’t show or that I was able to adjust my projection enough. I raised my hand to face. I was just so happy it didn’t hurt at that moment.
“I… well—”
“Who did that to you? Ziona? Are you okay?” She came closer to me, raising a hand as if she could soothe away the damage on my face that wasn’t really there.
“No, it wasn’t her. She did come back. When I still had nothing to tell her, she invited in someone e
lse to help persuade me to talk to them.” I looked down at the floor. “It was so awful. He wasn’t human. His face… it… it changed. His eyes weren’t human. They were almost reptilian, and his hands had talons.” I think I started crying, but with no tears, it was hard to say.
“Oh, sweetheart, I am so sorry. Sister! Get in here!” She hollered for Patience. “What else can you tell me? Do you know your attacker’s name?”
I didn’t wait for Patience to join us. “His hands burned my skin when he held on to me. His breath smelled of a smoldering fire and his saliva scorched my skin. His name is Anton Leviath. He was a black man, but his skin buckled and puffed into scaly sections and his nose flattened out. The more angry or aroused he got, something triggered smoke to billow from his nostrils. He wanted to eat me, I think.”
Patience came into the room and quickly put on a kettle of water. She looked to her sister for some sign of what was going on and started to fumble with a jar of dried herbs.
“Patience, you might want to project. Kasha is here. She isn’t well. I am still listening to her tell me of her condition.” She rested her hand upon her sister’s shoulder. Phaela stood about a quarter of a foot taller than Patience, but that didn’t say much.
“Gram came to me as well. She said he had the blood of a dragon or something like that.” I tried to regain my composure. I didn’t really want Patience to see me this upset. It was bad enough that she would see how bad the past few hours had been for me.
I was so focused on trying to calm down I didn’t realize that Patience had taken a seat at the table. When I turned, she was shimmering right beside me. She managed to put her arms around me. It wasn’t like a regular hug; it was more like having a warm blanket of love wrapped around me. I couldn’t really feel her in the physical sense, but her presence was intense.
I soaked in her gifts of love until she was ready to release me. Her color was now a bit faded from her usual glowing self. I felt a little bit better but guilty that I was to blame for draining her energy.
“I do not have the power to heal in the traditional way, but I gave you whatever of myself I could. It will help to ease your suffering just a bit. I hope it is enough to make a difference for you.” Her voice was soothing and weak.
“You don’t have to do anything like that for me, but thank you. I do feel better. It’s almost like having a cup of some really good chicken soup.” I put my hand up to her arm in gratitude.
“Something else happened too.” I bit my bottom lip and looked down at the ground. “The amulet… well, it’s gone.”
They both snapped their heads in my direction and said in unison, “Gone?”
“Not gone so much as changed.”
They looked at each other and then back to me. Bewilderment and concern plagued their faces.
“My gram, she said something to me about an eye for an eye. When Anton was on top of me, I had a chance to take a shot. I kept hearing Gram’s voice in my head. So I took a swing and scratched or poked him in the eye. It happened so fast I’m not really sure, but I did hurt him”
“You hurt him? If he is of the dragon it is almost impossible to kill let alone hurt him.” Phaela questioned me, her mouth still open in shock. “He is an immortal.”
“A drop of blood fell from his eye. I saw it. I watched it fall down onto my chest. I heard the drop make contact with the amulet, and it instantly started to feel different.”
So much happened in such a small amount of time it was hard to fill them in on all the details. I wasn’t really sure which details were important enough to include in my story. I didn’t know how much time I would have with them and I needed—no, at this point I expected some answers.
“Is this when he beat you like that?” Patience hesitantly asked.
“No. The opposite actually. He backed away and shifted to his human form. He was pissed and told me he would be back to enjoy me morsel by morsel.”
Patience signaled to her sister to take over at the stove. Phaela just turned off the water. I think she was focused on something other than tea at the moment.
“You said your Gram told you something about his eyes? What else did she say?” Phaela interjected.
“Something about my inner truth and my heart being linked to my true potential. Like I said before, she told me he is or has dragon’s blood. That it would take the blood of the dragon to release the dragon’s blood. She told me I couldn’t defeat him because of The Taker’s bridle and that his freedom is his weakness.
“Oh yeah, and then she told me to remember the blood and something about the eye for an eye. But nothing she said really made any sense. She’s always talked in strange riddles.”
I had a brief moment with Gram and she failed to give me any insight into my situation.
“Let me stop you there for a second. She said the blood of the dragon would release the dragon’s blood?” Patience asked.
I shook my head and she looked over to the table and then grunted. She turned back after probably realizing her books were not where they usually were.
“There is more than one kind of dragon’s blood. There is a dragon’s blood that comes from the Dracaena Draco tree. It has been used for medicinal healing and has also been used in writing spells or enchantments for centuries. Did Mage say anything else about the amulet?”
I looked up and around the room, trying to search my memory. “Yes, actually, she told me the amulet would help enhance my connections to the elements.”
“Mmhmm, and what did you say happened to the amulet exactly?” Phaela eagerly questioned.
“At first I could feel it kind of vibrating, not like a cell phone, more like a tingling sensation. I just really felt it, you know? The worn-off etching on the back started to glow red. There was something written on it. I didn’t recognize the language. It felt heavy on my chest, like someone was pushing it against me. It released some kind of jolt or energy burst, causing my skin to feel hot and cold all at the same time. There wasn’t any actual pain involved, but when I went to take it off, I couldn’t. The amulet kind of merged with me. It sank into my skin and then it was gone.” I reached down and gestured to move my shirt out of the way to show them.
Although the actual amulet wasn’t with me in the astral form, I knew it was there now. I could feel it. It became a part of me. I looked down and could see the colors where the stones flared against my silvery-blue shell.
“It’s become part of me. When I run my fingers over it, it feels like a brand. I’m totally freaked out that this thing’s inside me. I don’t know how it happened. I’m so worried they’ll notice this happened. They might take it as a sign that I know more than I’ve led on. I cannot handle another visit from that Anton character. My body might not survive another attack.”
I turned to Patience, hoping the desperation wasn’t overtly shining in my eyes. But I needed to force upon her my struggle to grasp what was happening.
“Why would Gram, again, come to me and tell me almost nothing? Doesn’t she know what’s going on? Does she know what’s happening to me? Have you seen her or talked to her?”
I searched the faces of the women before me. I knew the answers to my own questions before I asked. Patience rubbed her lips together, avoiding providing me with an answer, so I turned to Phaela.
“We have not heard from her directly. We did speak to a medium that has contact with spirits from her plane. She isn’t supposed to be here; you know that. None of them are. They aren’t supposed to speak with us.” Phaela was the one who was allegedly friends with some mediums.
“There are many things we can never really understand. There are too many dimensions of time and space for our human or earthly minds to grasp. Everyone fears and desires the truth of all that is. It just isn’t possible, but there are those who try to cipher what they can. Even when it is forbidden.”
Patience’s voice took on a serious tone. I wished her color would return. I was worried about her frailty and didn’t want to be the caus
e of her decline in health. I had no clue how old she was.
“There might come a day that you’ll be able to speak freely with her. You might have the gift. If you are the one who can access all levels of existence, you will be considered both a threat and a treasure. You must be mindful of those that seek to disrupt the balance.” Her left eyebrow lowered as she tilted her head in my direction. It was a little bit of sadness mixed with worry.
“Based on the research and what you have told me about the amulet, I think I can tell more about what has happened and how.” I think maybe Patience wasn’t sure how I’d react if she stopped to take a breath.
I felt like my eyes were popping out of my head. “I have to stop you for a second. You’re throwing a lot of extreme scenarios my way. I’m having trouble processing everything you’re saying.”
“Sorry, sweetheart. I know it is a lot. But you know, unfortunately, we do not possess enough time together. Let me try to tell you what I can. I will try to help you understand, but you need to know about the amulet.”
I sighed in agreement.
“First of all, back to the dragon’s blood. There was most definitely an enchantment or multiple enchantments written on the back of the amulet in dragon’s blood, the one from the tree.
“If it was written based off of one of the legends or an oracle’s fortune, whoever wrote it knew the pendant would have to come in contact with the blood of a dragon, such as with this Anton Leviath. The mixture of the two forms of blood could have activated the purpose of the amulet.” Patience’s face remained calm. She had a way of talking that eased my anxiety and allowed me to focus on what she said.
“The goddess pentacle symbol itself represents the connection and the unity of the elements. This symbol has been worn by many females, both to add to their strength and also as a gentle reminder of the power we each have inside. Most people that can conjure the elements only have a true connection to one element. I guess that’s why the reminder of the importance of all elements can be necessary. On the flipside, the symbol has also been used to stifle one’s ability to connect with the elements.” Patience circled around to face me directly and reached out to take my hands in her own.
Taken (Breaking the Darkness) Page 11