by Dale Mayer
She stopped at the edge of the next pool and looked down. This one, shaped like a kidney bean, was smaller and more brilliant than the others. She remembered seeing it before, too. She wandered closer.
“Careful.”
“I’m fine. I know this one.”
“Let’s go as far as we can to make sure there isn’t anything we are missing down here.”
She nodded and turned to continue down the path. The air had thickened with the humidity and her lightweight shirt was clinging to her back and shoulders. The water looked incredibly inviting.
She resisted the urge to dive in fully dressed and carried on to the next pool and the next. Each one wound deeper into the mountain. With the men’s breathing sounding heavier behind her, she kept walking. She was almost lightheaded. Definitely happy, but heading toward dangerously delirious. As soon as she recognized it, she wove several layers of energy around her body, distancing herself from the pools’ effects. She spun around to glance at the men. Instead of a glorious happiness, they looked fatigued, as if every step was too much, the weight of their bodies too heavy to carry any farther.
Genesis had never been down here with anyone other than Granny. It never occurred to her that the men would have a different reaction than she was having. And her reaction was normal for her experience.
“Matt. Is this how you felt when you came down here before?”
He looked at her, slight confusion in his eyes, appearing to take time to consider what she was saying, then frowned. “I don’t remember. I don’t think it was this far or this hard to breathe.”
“It’s not supposed to be. At least, I don’t think so,” she said. She stopped in place and watched as the men approached. It was sheer guts that were keeping them on their feet. She’d never seen anything like it.
“I’ll go down alone. You two need to stop here, or even better yet, start back up. It’s too much for you.”
They both opened their mouths to protest, but she shook her head. “No. Assess rationally what’s going on. For some reason, the pools are affecting you very differently than they are me.” Most likely a result of her affinity for water.
“It doesn’t matter. We are coming.”
Connor stubbornly jutted out his jaw. Matt was no different; he’d already started to walk again, even though it appeared to be painful for him. She wondered why for a moment and suddenly remembered that she’d isolated her aura from the pools’ effects, so maybe she could do the same for them. Quickly, she wove a protective blanket and wrapped it around both men in a single cocoon. They both stopped struggling to breathe, and then they stood straighter, as if throwing great weights off their shoulders.
Connor looked at her. “What did you do?”
She smiled sheepishly and explained. “Sorry I didn’t think of it sooner.”
“Thanks for thinking of it now,” Matt said. “I feel much better.”
“I wish I knew why you look like you could dance and sing and I still feel like lying down and having a nap.” Connor said.
“It might be because of my energy vibrations, and it could be due to Granny. And,” she shrugged, “as Tori has an affinity for the forest, I have an affinity to water. Whereas in your case, the pools are making it more and more difficult for you to go any deeper.”
Matt asked quietly, “And Celeste, what does she have an affinity for?”
“Animals.” Genesis answered shortly. Granny had collected animals of all kinds. Lost, hurt, ailing animals in both spirit and physical form.
“You think the pools have a protective energy going on to stop intruders?” Connor asked.
Genesis nodded. “That is a good way to look at it.”
“Or to protect the visitors,” Connor suggested. “They are healing pools. Not murdering pools, after all.”
Genesis smiled. “True. They are protective. Of themselves and others.” She turned. “I’m going to keep going down.”
And she continued to walk. The air felt good to her. Heavy and humid, but her skin loved it. Her lungs couldn’t get enough of it. She wanted to skip down the path as her body and soul reveled in the experience.
She came to the next pool to find the water vibrating at a darker, deeper color level. The vibration was slower – not sluggish, but heavy with meaning. It was fascinating. After a quick glance behind her to make sure the men were still fine, she turned and carried on. She would have loved to get to the last pool, but who knew how many there still were to go? And if there was any problem here at the lower levels, it should have shown by now. But she couldn’t bear leaving without knowing for sure. She picked up her pace. She’d make a quick trip down and back. At least as far as she could go.
The next several pools had a different blue color. She’d never seen so many different variations on the color as she was seeing with the pools. They were stunning. If she were a painter, she’d love a chance to try and recreate them.
As she walked to the next pool, she skirted the edges and gave it a quick glance, enough to see that it was fine. She did the same with the next one. Her breathing was starting to get rough. Heavy. As if the air was warning her. That’s far enough. Go back.
She didn’t dare.
She had to find out for sure. Focusing on her breathing, she kept to a steady pace downward. Behind her, she heard Connor call out. “Genesis?”
“I’m fine. I just want to check out these next ones.”
“Be careful,” said Matt.
She waved a hand but didn’t turn around. The pools and pathways curved around in a circle, so the men could keep an eye on her from where they were standing. She could see them, but she couldn’t risk looking at them. She didn’t want to lose her focus. The high humidity down here was making the steps slippery. And with each level down, it was getting worse.
She’d lost count of how many pools she’d passed. As she looked over the edge of the next one, she noticed something disturbing down below. Strange waves were forming. Water that should have been calm as glass was undulating unnaturally.
She quickened her pace and suddenly felt as though she were walking in treacle. Her footsteps were becoming almost impossible to lift and land. She managed another dozen and realized she might not make it. But she had to. She stopped in place, shuddering. Sweat rippled down her spine and pooled between her breasts. She swayed in place.
“Genesis?” She heard the men’s voices as if from a long way away.
She stared at the dark at least a full level below her and couldn’t make herself take another step.
Then a small hand slipped into hers.
Remi.
She turned to smile down at him. He chattered at her anxiously for a bit and she squeezed his fingers. He climbed up her hip to sit on her shoulder. Within minutes, her anxiety eased, the heaviness lifting. Not gone entirely, but easing to manageable levels. “Remi, are you doing this?”
He rubbed his paw against her head, soothing, easing her.
She reached up, grateful for his presence. Grateful for his support. His love.
She took a deep breath and let it out. She took another one and felt much of her own anxiety unknotting inside.
She’d taken on the dark waves. Instead of being protected from them, she’d accepted them into her space. Somehow. She didn’t understand. The energy hadn’t affected Remi, either. She didn’t know why, but one important difference was that he was of this planet, and she, as a human being, was not. His system knew more than hers did, apparently.
She took a moment and wove more healing energy through her own. Protective energy.
Remi started to bounce on her shoulder, chattering in an agitated manner. “What’s the matter?” He bounced harder. Genesis frowned. “Something’s wrong, but what?”
Suddenly she knew. She stopped what she was doing. She was weaving the energy from this place into her own energy. She was giving the black energy access. To her body. To her. Because it was the same energy. Her body accessed the energy because it was of
the same blend. That it was dark and nasty looking didn’t change the fact that it was of the same vibration. She’d allowed it.
She swallowed the knot of fear that had appeared in her throat. “Remi? What do I do?” She reached up to pet him, and sparks flew off his fur. “Whoa!”
He reached out and grabbed her fingers. There was another spark, then it calmed. As if he’d grounded the sparks. He used energy instinctively like most animals on Glory. It seemed it was only people who made things difficult.
And if Remi could handle this energy easily enough, maybe she could, too. She absorbed some of her pet’s energy and spread it thinly around herself. Then she took a little more of his and did it over again.
Remi murmured gently in her ear, the sound soothing and comforting. She took that as a good sign and repeated her actions several times. Each layer made her feel fresher, stronger. Happier. That was when she knew she was fine again.
Keeping a hand on him, she walked down to the damaged pool. She could see more pools below, darker, more badly injured. This one was as far as the energy had moved up. She had to stop it from going higher yet again, but how? And after she’d figured that out, she had to find a way to heal it and the ones below. From this vantage point, she could only see two more pools. And both were dark to the point of being black. A match to the blackness from the one man – Bernie’s – energy.
Were they connected?
How could they not be?
She ventured slowly but surely down the steps, finally discovering the bottom pool – at least that she could see. She could hear the men calling out to her, but she didn’t bother waving. She stayed focused and, with a shudder, she finally reached the lowest of the pools – the source; the origin. And the massive swirling darkness that blanked out everything inside.
Except one thing.
*
Connor stared in horror as Genesis approached the blackness. From where they’d finally been forced to stop, he couldn’t see where the blackness ended. His heart slammed against his chest as waves of black slowly enveloped her. She disappeared without slowing down.
“Oh shit,” Matt said beside him.
“What is she doing?”
“I don’t know. And I don’t like it.”
Matt said, “I can see her approaching the core of the mist.” He paused. “Now she’s in the center of the darkness.”
“Jesus. Why?”
“She feels she has to. Because she’s the caretaker of the pools, the forest.”
“We’re hardly in the forest.”
“No, but I think she’d say that the forest problems originate here.” He sighed. “And I think she’s right.”
A horrific wash of fear slammed into Connor. He had no idea where it came from, but he knew what it meant. He’d just forgotten.
“She’s in trouble.” He gasped, his mind racing for a solution to get in and get her out. He couldn’t see any way. If he tried to go down there, he’d be lucky to make it ten feet.
“I can see that. Is your talent coming into play? And if we are that lucky, can you use it to get her out?”
Connor stared at Matt. “I have no idea.”
Except he did. But… He stared down the edge of the blackness. If she was in the core, it was as if she’d been completely absorbed by it.
Taken over.
Now he was starting to panic. “We have to help her.”
Matt had his phone out. “Damn. I knew there wouldn’t be any reception. We’re too far below the surface.”
Connor started down the path.
“Connor, wait! You can’t go down there.”
“No choice.” Connor struggled to take his sixth step and realized there was no way he could get to her. Not like this. Not alone.
A faint sound reached his ears. Somewhere, in the distance, he heard a dog bark. He turned to stare at Matt. “Did you hear that?”
Matt frowned. “Hear what?”
“A dog. That barking sound.”
“I didn’t hear anything. Look, maybe you shouldn’t go any farther. It’s too dangerous.”
“I have to.” Connor stared down the path, wondering briefly if the energy here was making him hear things. As if his thoughts of the sound prompted it, he heard it again. And it almost sounded familiar. But he didn’t know many dogs. And he hadn’t owned one for decades.
Damn. He closed his eyes and reached out to Genesis with his mind. And his probe was intercepted by…Remi!
No. Way.
He instinctively stepped forward. And found he could. So he took several more steps and then more again. He could walk. Somehow. The lead weights pulling him into the earth had fallen off. Inside, he could hear multiple popping sounds, as if more of the energetic bonds inside of him were snapping. He straightened, feeling freer than he’d ever felt before.
And he bolted toward Genesis.
Chapter 16
Genesis reached into the water and retrieved the black stone at the bottom of the shallow pool. Surprise rippled through her at its coolness.
Was this what was causing the problem? Something so simple? She studied the rock. It didn’t feel any different. It didn’t look any different than a million others she’d seen on the surface.
But it was.
It was energized – charged with a specific type of energy vibration that had changed the charge on it to a negative one.
Deliberately? It would have to be. At least, she couldn’t imagine any instance in which the charge could have happened naturally. The trouble was, she had no idea why anyone would do that.
Or why they’d put it in the pool.
She heard footsteps coming up behind her. She started to turn, feeling as though she were moving through sludge. It was as if the stone was now affecting her, like it had the pools. Even as she pivoted away, she thought she noticed a change in the color of the water. The deep ugliness lightening to something more like a dark gray. Somehow, she knew, now that she’d removed the taint, the pool would heal itself. And within a very short time, too. That’s what the pools did…they healed.
She needed to get this stone out of here. Get it locked up somewhere safe.
She just didn’t know where that was. Matt would know.
“Genesis?”
Connor. She looked up through the soup surrounding her to see Connor running easily toward her.
She laughed. “Wow, look at you.”
Then his face changed as he caught sight of the rock in her hand.
“Jesus. Put that thing down.”
“Can’t. It’s what poisoned the pool. Look at the water. It’s already starting to heal.”
“But that rock could kill you.” His gaze went from her to the rock to her and back again. “I can see it. Oozing blackness. Can you wrap it up, cover in something to reduce its power?”
“Working on it.” And she was wrapping it up as fast as she could, but it was damn hard. Remi reached up and placed his hand on the rock. His voice rose as he chattered excitedly. She watched in amazement as the power of the stone calmed down. Leashed.
By her pet.
She stared in shock at Connor. “Remi stopped it.”
Connor’s gaze went from her to Remi and back again. “Wow.”
“You can see him now? About time.” She gave a weary laugh. “You have your abilities back.”
He gave her that same lazy smile that always made her heart race. “It seems like it. I’ll have to try some tests to see, but they’re mostly back, I think. At least down here.” He slipped an arm around her shoulder and tugged her close. “Now, do you think we can get back up to the surface?”
She beamed. “Absolutely.” Feeling overjoyed, she started back up to the surface. She took several steps and, without warning, collapsed to the ground.
*
By the time Connor reached the first of the blue pools, Matt was racing toward him. “Let me take her,” he said, holding out his arms.
Connor shook his head. “I’ve got her. Let’s j
ust get the hell out of here.”
They had a long climb to the top. It was a good thing Genesis was a small slip of a girl. Although, with his abilities surging though him, he barely felt her weight at all.
“What happened down there?”
“Look at what she’s holding in her hand.” Connor shifted her weight slightly so he could see her hand.
“Is that a stone?”
“Yes. It was in the pool and as soon as she removed it from the water, the pool started to heal. I don’t sense any energy coming off it now, but I did when I first arrived. Nasty energy.”
“Interesting. Did Genesis say anything before she collapsed?”
“Outside of saying it’s what poisoned the pools, not really. I did see her pet for the first time, though. She called him Remi.”
And sure enough, at the sound of his name, Remi showed up on Genesis’s belly, riding the easy way.
Matt laughed. “Yeah, Remi is a character.”
Connor shot him a disbelieving look. “You can see him?”
“Sure. Remi also communicates with Darbo.”
“Darbo?” Connor wondered how many other people had seen Remi but hadn’t mentioned it to him. When Matt didn’t answer, he turned his head slightly so he could see his face.
And came to a dead stop. Matt, big, tough director of the Paranormal Council, had a baby lemur sitting on his shoulder, one hand clutching Matt’s ear.
He damn near dropped Genesis. Shifting her more securely in his arms, he narrowed his eyes accusingly at Matt. “Darbo?”
Matt gave him an embarrassed grin but reached up to pet the tiny thing. “Darbo, meet Connor. Connor, meet Darbo.”
Chapter 17
Genesis woke to bright light and clean white sheets.
And Connor by her side. On top of the bedding. As if he’d been watching over her and finally collapsed himself.