by Lori Darnell
Chapter 22
Jill passed me on the stairs and made it to the room before me. She was waiting for me with her arms wide, and I ran into them. We would enjoy these moments as long as we could - these moments that made us feel like normal people, not the freaks we felt like. When we were alone, no secrets or plans were playing out in our minds. We knew what the other would need. Right now I needed to feel safe; I felt like my body was changing again – just like it did the last time I boarded a plane.
Jill looked up at me, instantly knowing my fears. She touched my cheek. "Jill, I'm scared. It happened when I was first taken. It feels like that again. Last time it tore my world apart and destroyed the people I loved. I don't know what it will take from me this time. There are too many things I don’t think I could live without." I rested my head against her soft neck and breathed in her scent, afraid that I was never going to get enough.
Jill’s voice shook as she spoke the words I was most afraid of. "I know, I see it every day. Marcus, you are changing, you have been for some time. Egypt may hold some answers for you, for us." She ran her hands through my hair, trying to comfort me. "Maybe this time will be different. Your visions are only a part of your changes. Marcus, you're so strong. Every day, it seems you're a little further from human. Like something is pulling you away from us all." I did not want this. I did not want to ever risk not being there for those I counted as my family. My arms began to tremble.
She pulled my face away from her so she could see my eyes. "I'm not scared – Marcus! I love you, a god couldn't take you from me. No matter where we are, what happens. Nothing will take you away from me. I would never let that happen." Her lips met mine, effectively silencing any argument I may have thought of. Just like the first time, and every time since, my body was alive under her touch. I glanced briefly at the bed and realized we were never going to make it that far. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I lifted her up against me as I leaned against the wall. The space between us was still too much. She understood as she quickly removed her own shirt and started on mine. I let her down on the floor only long enough to remove our obstacles. She launched herself back into my arms.
Holding her by they waist, I leaned back against the wall for balance as I engulfed myself within her body. She moaned as her long legs wrapped around my waist, "So strong, so beautiful - mine."
"You took my line." I whispered as we continued, matching rhythm. The sounds of James and Dean getting ready to go below stairs were loud and carried upstairs. Reality began slipping into our world again.
"I'm never letting you go!" she hissed, tightening her grip on my shoulders, which unhinged me completely. We climaxed and collapsed on the floor, heaving to catch our breath. Trying to compose ourselves as fast as possible, we dressed quickly, remembering we still had to pack.
"Jill, we have to hurry. I don't know how long we have been up here - you made me lose track of time." She gave me a wicked smile that set me on fire once more, but we had no more time.
I inhaled the fresh scent of my clothes, attempting to calm my nerves. We had everything packed up and we made the bed, since Jill still seemed to be feeling bad about breakfast. Jill and I sat in front of the window, waiting for James to call us down - we didn't know when we would have such a breathtaking view again. The cool breeze washed through the room, teasing our hair as we sat in comfortable in silence. There was too much to think about. I was in danger of exposing us all if I couldn't control my emotions. Everything felt new and more powerful, and entirely overwhelming.
"Marcus, are you guys ready to go? We have to leave," James called from the second landing. Jill and I grabbed our bags and ran down the stairs to meet him. "Well, at least I didn't have to yell at you to get dressed," James teased. I managed a small smile.
The drive to the airport took less time than I would have thought, but then, Dean was the one driving. We all noticed that speed was something he liked - a lot. Every time we hit a bump on the road, my head hit the ceiling.
"Dean, can you please watch the road!" I called after one such incident. By the sixth one on a row, my head was killing me. "You're going to give me a concussion." Dean just laughed in response, but he did seem to miss more of them.
He pulled the car onto the landing strip. All the airport lights were off. There was a huge plane vaguely visible in the darkness that had one large door at the back. We could have easily driven the car into it. I saw several large animals in the darkness being led into the back of the plane - only two people seemed to be loading the massive craft.
Dean hopped out of the car and ran to meet them. One of the two individuals ran toward Dean as well, and they embraced. Clearly these were close friends of Dean. I looked over at James and saw jealousy stamped on his face. For the sake of the person Dean was hugging, I hoped they weren't traveling with us. Dean ran back to the car with his companion, and they grabbed our bags and ran back to the massive plane, loading our gear. We followed close behind - they were clearly ready to go and must have been waiting on us.
The interior was enormous, at least two stories tall. There were several crates with black stamps on them. I didn't stop to look, but I could hear the sounds of animals. As we walked toward the front of the plane, we came upon two very large, very long-legged creatures. One of them brought its head down toward us. Jill jumped behind me. I reached up to touch it and it pushed its large nose into my hand. I could hear it's thoughts as I touched it. The animal raised its massive nostrils to my head, and I started back a few steps. Nothing had ever jolted through me like this. So animalistic. It's thoughts and feelings were guttural, primal. It made me shiver. Dean grinned.
"Well, apparently that one is yours, he appears to like you." The other beast, not so friendly as his counterpart, raised its snout and emphatically spit on James.
“EW!” James exclaimed, taking three steps forward to escape the animal. I stifled a laugh, unlike both Jill and Dean, who were laughing so hard they were nearly sitting on the floor of the plane. James quickly took his shirt off with disgust, inspecting the damage. The back of his shirt was covered in white slime, oozing down and dripping to the floor. Dean gave an appreciative glance at James' display of partial nudity when he refused to put the filthy rag back on.
"What are they? I've never seen anything like them." I asked. The beast moved forward nuzzle into my hands again.
"They're camels. We don't know where we are going when we land, and if my guess is right, this temple isn't going to be in any of the main towns." Dean made a good point.
"Yes, I remember it was deep in the desert," I stated.
"Marcus, I really hope it becomes more clear once we get there. You'll see, it's mostly desert." James rolled his eyes at me and folded his arms across his bare chest.
"The camels will need to be fitted with riding equipment once we land, but I was fortunate enough to get them before we got there. They would have been much more expensive in Egypt." Dean spoke with pride - as well he should - we could all see his planning skills were unmatched.
I patted the camel's nose again, and we walked forward. Jill was still clinging to my back. "I don't know if we should be riding one of those, they are so huge." She reached around me, pleading.
"Well think of it this way, at least you don't have to ride alone. You will be sitting on my lap - just pretend you're riding me – I mean –" I sputtered, finally giving up and going silent. She turned at least four shades of red. That had come out differently than intended, but at least she wasn't looking so afraid.
Dean's friends waved as they jumped out the back of the plane. Dean closed the doors and walked toward the controls at the head of the plane.
"Dean, are you going to try to fly this thing?" I tried to hide the panic in my voice, but my voice broke, giving me away. Dean brushed it aside, affecting not to notice.
"Of course, that is how I got the plane and the passage for us to get there." He rolled his eyes at me, like that should have made perfect sense. "I have
been flying for years." There were so many things I just didn't know about this man. But now that Dean's friend had gone, James was in a much better mood.
"Dean told me it will take about five hours to get there, so you guys can either sleep on the benches here - or go play with the animals," James teased, seeing that Jill was still clutching my waist.
Jill looked at me in a panic. I gave her a reprieve. "We can stay here on the benches. Why don't we try to get some sleep? Apparently, we aren't getting much of that when we are supposed to," I said to Jill, smirking. James looked at us both, mouth open.
"Marcus, you are the devil." Jill punched me in the stomach. I exaggeratedly doubled over. James just rolled his eyes in exasperation and went to the front of the plane with Dean. Jill looked up at me.
"You know, we are pretty much alone now," she said, voice sultry and low.
"You have got to be kidding. James and Dean are right there, Jill! And I don't think the animal kingdom in the back wants the show." As I said the words, I was already regretting them. And as usual, Jill was ready for my hesitation.
"Well, it would be one way to pass the time." Jill nearly whispered, leaving me standing in front of the benches. She went up to the control room where James and Dean were. I heard Dean laugh. She walked out of the room and closed a curtain. By the time she reached up toward me, my blood was racing.
"There now we are alone, enough. Unless you would rather go play with the animals, instead of me." I growled low in my chest, and she smiled in satisfaction.
"You are quite the vixen." Reaching down for her, I exclaimed, "I could die trying to keep up with you. But I would die happy." We gave ourselves over to our passions, passing the time quite industriously.
Several hours into the flight, Jill was curled on the bench, lightly snoring. I sat staring at her for a while, then I and brought her jacket up under her chin, and feeling restless went to explore the plane. Sleep had escaped me. I wandered into the back of the plane where the camels were. The one who had nuzzled my hand walked a few steps forward. He dropped to his knees lowering his head. I brushed my hand through his bristly mane. He was quite pretty, white with just a hint of beige across the two large humps on his back.
"You know, you can stand. I'm not royalty, or anything," I mocked as I talked to the beast. To my amazement, he stood.
"Ok, that was odd." Could he really understand me, or was my imagination running wild? I decided to test it, while I was alone.
"Nod your head if you can understand me." His muzzle moved deliberately up and down. Now I knew I must be insane. I reached up and touched his head, trying to see if I could read him. I focused trying to see the images of his mind. At first I saw nothing, but then I realized I wasn't seeing nothing, I was seeing miles and miles of soft, beige sand. The sky was bright blue. I saw buildings in the distance. Another flash of vision and I saw into the building. There was a picture on the wall. Just like the one we saw in London, down in that hole. A god, so it seemed. He was handing something to someone across from him, but I couldn't see.
Breaking the connection, realization quickly dawned. This camel wasn't from Europe. He was going home. Most importantly, He knew where we had to go. There was a familiarization with this beast I couldn't place. I looked up at him, still through the vision haze, and asked, "you know where I want to go?" The camel nodded once. I smiled. "We are going to be great friends, you and I,” I said, patting him on the shoulder with approval.
"So, in the end, he leaves me on the cold bench, alone, for a camel," Jill stated melodramatically startling me with her presence. She was wearing her coat I had covered her with - and nothing else. For some reason, I blocked the camel's vision of her body with my own. She laughed at my response. "Are you jealous of what he sees?" She walked up to me and opened her jacket close to my body. I scooped her up in my arms and walked back to our makeshift bed on the bench.
"Jill, I know this is going to sound crazy but I can talk to that camel." She looked at me like I was crazy. Before she could try to confirm it, I continued. "I read him, like we do with dead bodies, trying to see his memories. Jill, he knows where we have to go - he has been there before." She was stunned into silence - her jeans dropped to the floor and her mouth gaped as she read what had transpired in my mind.
I tried to make light of the strangeness of my new discovery. I was afraid of what it may mean, this ability to link to live beings – not just humans, but animals as well. Was I becoming less human as Jill suggested? Was this the beginning of how I became distanced from them all? I did not want to contemplate the matter, and I laughed at Jill's continued expression of disbelief to distract myself. I nudged her in the arm to get her attention. She closed her mouth, looking from the camel to me and back again, but remained silent, picking up on my desire to change the subject.
"Let's get dressed and try to get some sleep, we’ll probably be landing soon,” I voiced.
When the plane touched down, the ground became shadowed in darkness. We led the camels off the plane, and Dean left a note. He had said that the plane was expected to be left that way. No one questioned him or said much of anything as we walked toward the small village nearby. Jill was trying to become familiar with the camel like I had, but she was having a hard time seeing the exact location, as though he was keeping it from her. She groaned in frustration.
"Jill, it's probably because you insulted him," I teased. I had already explained to Dean and James what had happened.
"Well, since he's such a good friend, why don't you convince him to help me?" She shot back, glaring, but there was quite a bit of playfulness in it. I just shook my head.
"Sorry, I tried." I pretended to ignore her snide remarks at the camel as we continued on our way.
Dean and James were deep in conversation. No one had ever thought to try to read an animal before. It opened up many new possibilities. I wasn't listening very closely though; I was too excited. This place felt so familiar. Not familiar in the sense that I had ever been here, but familiar as though I belonged here.
The village was coming alive. More and more people were walking about, and the market was setting up as we walked down the center street. We were the subject of many stares as we walked through the streets. To my utter dismay, most of them were directed at Jill. I stared back, trying to look as menacing as possible. James hadn't lied about this culture prizing beauty, especially pale beauty. If anything, he had underestimated the danger.
Dean walked toward a booth in the marketplace to buy our riding gear, while James wandered over to a rack with maps of the area. I watched the people all around us stop and stare. Their focus was unsettling.
Oddly, I felt a sense of panic in the air; at the same time, the camel nudged his nose against my shoulder. I took his silent warning and turned my focus inward. I closed my eyes and let the visions come, scanning for danger. More visions of what seemed to be the past came through, but these weren't my past. This was much further beyond my own life. The scene was familiar, like the one in front of us was, but there was something more – something distrurbing that I couldn't quite grasp. The feeling was strong, but the name of it alluded me, like it was right on the tip of my brain, if I could only remember it. Trying to find the cause of distress in the vision, the face of a haggard man flashed in front of me. He was panting with pleasure. It revolted me. The vision was still strong, holding all my attention, when I heard Jill scream.
"Marcus!" I heard Jill the gut wrenching sound came from behind me. I turned and I felt a large object strike the back of my head. It hurt like hell, but it didn't drop me to the ground as it was intended. Ignoring the danger at my back and forcing the visions aside, I approached the man holding Jill, the doomed man who was going to die for touching my wife.
He craned his neck upward to my eyes, then his eyes widened, continuing toward the heavens, and he dropped his knife. I grabbed Jill from him, pulling her roughly behind me; she moved with alacrity, wrapping her arms tightly around me. I could he
ar James running, calling my name. I didn't move. The man at my back had run away when I didn't fall, while the man in front of me dropped to his knees, bringing his arms forward defensively.
"Please forgive me, my lord! I didn't know, I didn't know she was yours!" the man pleaded, holding his head down to the sand.
"What are you talking about?" Angry, I pulled him up by the back of his shirt. I heard ripping sounds, but in my current mood it did nothing to stop me. The man lost his breath and began choking back sobs, fearful tears streaming down his face.
"I am sorry my lord, you have been gone so long. We didn't know. Please, kill me. Please." At the moment I vehemently wanted to give him what he asked for, but I wanted answers, and this man had them.
"Not yet, but you are coming with me." Grabbing him by the neck, I pushed him forward toward James. "We are going to get some answers, then I am going to grant his wish. Where can we go?" James, wisely remaining silent, turned on his heel and abruptly led us through the streets to a long alley that would serve for our interrogation.
Jill was shaking violently at my side. I hoped this was a reaction caused by the man in front of us, and not my murderous rage.
"My lord, where have you been?" The man began babbling uncontrollably. "We waited so long. Please, I didn't know," he stated once more, beginning to cry again, mostly muttering incoherently. "So long…So much pain…" he mumbled through stuttering breaths. I began to wonder whether Dean's vast supplies included duct tape.
"If you are so against pain, why would you abduct someone - what makes that justifiable?" I demanded through clenched teeth. James and Dean watched from a distance, clearly giving me a wide path. They knew this man's breaths were numbered, and weren't looking to number their own by getting in my way.