by KT Webb
“Nora, have you been able to sense her?” Kerr asked his wife.
Nora shook her head sadly. “It’s like a radio station that comes in and out. As soon as I think I feel her, there’s nothing there. I don’t know what that means, it’s just . . . ”
Nora stopped talking and sat up straight like she was listening to something. She slumped down again and shrugged. “It’s like she’s blocking me or something.”
“If Tahlia is blocking you, she’s doing it for good reason,” Romulus told them.
“But I can only imagine what they may be doing to her,” Hadley whispered as Thatcher pulled her close.
“They can’t kill her, right?” Thatcher asked with a guilty look at Romulus.
“She won’t die,” Keira told them simply.
It was unnerving for Keira to speak in such a way. He wasn’t sure what happened to her in Eternity, but it had clearly affected her. He was about to ask Whitley for some guidance when she offered it on her own.
“It was Lida. She kissed Keira’s forehead and shared some special knowledge with her. She told us they hadn’t expected this to happen for a long time. She said that they have to . . . ” Whitley broke off with a nervous glance at Nora and Kerr.
“They have to what, Whit?” Hadley asked her, reaching over to take Nora’s hand.
“They have to prepare the next vessel,” Whitley finished.
Dorian knew then that their conjectures had been correct. Keira was indeed to be the next vessel for the spirit of hope. “So they’re going to try to get the spirit to leave Tahlia?”
Whitley nodded. “If it leaves her, it will go to the new vessel.”
“So Keira will be their next target?” Nora asked in fear.
“They don’t know about me, mommy,” Keira said, hugging her mother’s leg.
This was a new development. If the Maladies didn’t know a new vessel had already been chosen, they planned to release the spirit of hope and watch it fade away. Without a new vessel, hope would die. Once again, the Creator had proven that he would plan ahead to protect the world.
“If we have any hope of defeating them, we need to figure out what we’re going to do with them. We don’t have a special golden sphere to stuff them into, so we need to figure something else out,” Thatcher said.
Dorian nodded in agreement. “I think we need to send them back to the underworld.”
Everyone seemed to understand that it was time for them to separate once again. Nora bade farewell to her husband and daughter, and Hadley and Thatcher said their goodbyes to those who would stay behind and search for Tahlia. Dorian pulled each of them into a tight hug just before they disappeared from the sitting room.
Chapter Twenty-Seven:
Tahlia
Tahlia woke to find herself in a completely different place. Had she been rescued? Had they moved her just to mess with her head? She looked around to see she was lying on the ground in a field. The sky overhead was clear and blue with pure white clouds dotted all over. Tahlia rolled over and realized the pain was gone.
She wondered briefly if they had managed to kill her somehow. Tahlia looked down at her clothes to see herself wearing a long, simple maxi dress. She stood slowly and looked around, wondering what she would find.
“Hello, Tahlia,” a voice said behind her.
She turned at the sound to find herself face to face with Charis. The Old Immortal had been her best friend for centuries. Tahlia smiled and rushed into her friend’s waiting embrace.
“Where am I?” she asked as she pulled away.
“You’re unconscious in the real world, but we were able to pull you into Eternity for now,” Charis told her.
“Us? Where are the others?” she asked, glancing around hopefully.
“It’s just me right now,” Charis said, taking Tahlia’s hand in hers.
“Why am I here? They didn’t kill me, did they?” Tahlia asked desperately.
There was too much riding on her survival for them to have succeeded so quickly.
“No. They’ve been doing their best, but you are not going to die at their hands,” Charis told her gently. “I do need to prepare you though. It’s time for you to learn where you came from.”
Tahlia perked up at her words. Unlike the story the Maladies were telling her during the hours of torture, this was a tale she longed to hear.
“Come with me, Tahlia,” Charis said as she led her across the field.
They were heading toward a shack sitting on its own in the middle of nowhere. As they neared, Tahlia heard muffled cries coming from within.
“This isn’t going to be easy for you, but it is necessary for you to know who you were and why you became the first vessel,” Charis said quietly. “You are going to see visions of your past. You’re going to see everything.”
Tahlia nodded and followed Charis around the shack. She didn’t pause when Charis walked straight through the door. When she arrived in the small room, the first thing she saw was a woman in labor. The woman stood on two bricks with her legs spread to shoulder width. She pushed and struggled as she leaned against the wall for leverage. She was all alone.
Tahlia looked at her face and felt sorry for the pain the woman was enduring. There was no husband to be seen; no one to make sure she was alright.
“Who is she?” Tahlia asked Charis.
“She is your mother,” she replied.
Tahlia looked at the woman again and saw the shape of her face and sweaty blond hair. Her mother. She didn’t remember her; she didn’t remember anything. Tahlia tried not to let her frustration interrupt this moment.
Her mother screamed in agony and pushed until her face turned beet red. The ragged breaths filled the space and left her with little strength for the final push. Tahlia watched in wonder as her mother leaned forward and pushed once more, then she reached down to catch the small baby with one hand, using the other to hold herself steady.
She took a few moments to catch her breath after her labor, before looking at the babe in her hand. She stepped down from the bricks and gingerly pulled a knife from the counter to cut the cord that hung from inside her. Once the cord was severed, she set the baby on the table.
Tahlia looked at Charis in concern. The baby still hadn’t cried. It looked still. She watched her mother as she finished cleaning herself up and packed some cloth below her dress to slow the bleeding. Her mother turned to look at the baby and a small moment of indecision crossed her face. She turned her back on the child and began cleaning the mess from the floor.
“What is she doing?” Tahlia asked. “Why isn’t she concerned about the baby?”
“Wait,” Charis instructed.
The child stirred. The baby who was Tahlia cried. She sucked in air and let out a shrill scream, her body shaking from the sudden realization that her surroundings had changed.
Tahlia looked between the baby and mother, waiting as Charis had instructed. Her mother leaned against a counter with hunched shoulders, her back to the baby. Tahlia’s heart broke thinking about how lonely and terrible her first moments in this world had been. She didn’t understand why her mother refused to comfort the baby lying on the table.
Her mother turned around to face the child she’d birthed a few moments ago. Tahlia saw the look of fear and torment on the woman’s face. She held her hands over her ears as tears fell down her face. As she put her hands down she looked at the child and her resolve melted.
Tahlia watched as her mother carefully picked the baby up from the table and looked at her. The fear and torment was quickly replaced by awe and love. She went to the cot in the corner and held her daughter close, nursing her as she lay on the small bed.
“Your mother did not want a child,” Charis told her softly. “She had been raped at fifteen. She was alone in the world, with no family, no money, and no hope. But then she let herself love you and her life changed.”
Tahlia watched as time seemed to speed around them. The baby grew to a toddler, then to a
girl, and finally to a young woman before everything slowed down again. Her mother had aged gracefully and stood brushing her daughter’s hair in the small shack.
Tahlia felt the warmth and love in the small home. She smiled at the way her mother looked at her; it was so much like the way she looked at her own daughters. Time sped past them again, leaving Tahlia and Charis alone in the decrepit home.
“It can’t have simply been the change I brought about in my mother that led the spirit of hope to choose me as the vessel,” Tahlia said slowly. “What happens next?”
“Your mother contracted a deadly illness and died when you were barely a woman,” Charis said softly. “You had no one, and you had no money. You were in much the same predicament as your mother.”
The scene around them melted away and Tahlia found herself standing in a crowded marketplace. She looked around, trying to determine what she should be looking at when she was startled by another voice.
“Tahlia,” a deep rumbling voice said behind her.
She turned to find Lucien standing behind her. She stepped into his warm embrace. “My dear brother, it’s been so long.”
“That it has. Are you ready to learn more?” Lucien asked kindly.
“Ready as I’ll ever be, I’m sure,” she told him with a wry smile.
He pointed to a doorway covered by a ragged curtain. They closed the space between them and it quickly, and were soon inside the dark structure. Tahlia looked around at the room they stood in. There were beds separated by curtains; some of the curtains were drawn, and she heard muffled sounds come from behind them. She exchanged a look with Lucien that she hoped told him she didn’t want to know why they were there.
A man burst into the room from another door, dragging a young girl behind him, her blonde hair flying wildly as she fought him. He threw her into the room and struck her to the ground. Tahlia watched in horror as the man kicked her in the stomach. Her younger self cried and held onto her swollen midsection. She was pregnant. Tahlia looked to Lucien to find him nodding gravely at her and indicating that she should continue to observe.
The young girl begged him to stop as he beat her mercilessly. When he was done, she lay in a pool of blood on the floor. An older woman came and took her to another room where loud screams of agony erupted from the young girl.
“I was with child,” Tahlia said in shock.
“You had hidden it from your master as long as you could. When he discovered your secret, you were no good to him unless you were unburdened. He put an end to your pregnancy in those moments,” Lucien said sadly.
“Was I a prostitute?” Tahlia asked against the lump in her throat.
“More like a consort or concubine. You belonged to this man and his brother. You and two other young women,” Lucien said as he gestured to the closed off area behind them.
“Why did he kill his own child? If I was only for him and his brother, why would he do that?” Tahlia asked, devastated by what she’d witnessed.
“Wives were for childbearing, consorts were for pleasure. He did not need or want another child. He wanted sex,” Lucien replied.
Tahlia couldn’t believe the direction her life had taken. She changed her mother’s life, but ended up in an existence filled with abuse and torment. She had a child cruelly stolen from her and hadn’t even remembered.
Time sped again. Tahlia witnessed her master use and abuse her over the years. She saw her masters beat her and allow her to be nursed back to health so they could find pleasure in her again. She was about to ask Lucien why she had to see all this when he placed a hand on her arm and gestured toward the battered young woman who had been Tahlia in another life.
She watched with interest as the young Tahlia ground something with a mortar and pestle before mixing it into two drinks. She was standing in the room alone with no clothing on. She was waiting for someone. When both masters arrived, she smiled at them. She handed each a drink and stood before them as they drank and leered at her nudity. Tahlia felt her stomach turn at the way they watched her.
Soon both men began to choke. They turned red and scratched at their throats. All the while, the younger Tahlia stood before them with a smile on her face. When both men stopped moving, she took the glasses and rinsed them in a bucket of water. Then she screamed.
The old woman who had taken her away after her beating arrived and began yelling at Tahlia. It was clear she would not get away with this. Time sped up to Tahlia standing before a crowd with stones in their hands, and tears fell down her cheeks as she waited for the first stone to be thrown.
Thankfully, Lucien did not make her watch her own execution. She closed her eyes and turned away, unable to bear the thought of what would come next. When she opened her eyes again, she was standing in the bright field once more.
“I murdered them,” Tahlia said.
“You were with child again,” Lucien told her.
“What?” Tahlia asked in shock.
“You had discovered your pregnancy, but had still not shown signs. Rather than let them take your child from you again, you killed them,” Lucien told her.
“So when I died . . . ” Tahlia did not want to finish the sentence.
“You were pregnant, yes,” Lucien said sadly. “As soon as the first stone was thrown, the Creator whisked you away. Your child was brought to Eternity in an instant. Neither of you suffered. Your memory was wiped and the Creator allowed the spirit of hope to fill you. You did what you did for your child. In the moment before the first stone hit you, you had done something you’d never done before.”
“What was that?” Tahlia asked.
“You prayed,” Lucien replied simply. “You asked for forgiveness from the only person who would give it. You begged him to spare your child a violent death. You had no thought of yourself, only the fate of your child.”
“Why did he listen after what I’d done?” Tahlia asked in anguish.
“Do you ignore the pleas of your daughters when they are in need? Even when they have done something to displease you?” Lucien asked her.
Tahlia closed her eyes; she didn’t know what to say. Her head was pounding and her heart was heavy. No wonder the Creator had not let her remember all these things. No wonder she was spared the truth about her existence before she became the spirit of hope.
“So what now?” Tahlia asked.
“Now, you must accept that you have protected others long enough. The end of an era is near and you have to let go. You will not die, and they do not know about Keira,” Lucien told her.
“But if I let go, the spirit of hope will leave me. Keira will be in danger. They will take the opportunity to kill me,” Tahlia insisted.
“They won’t have the opportunity to kill you. The Creator will not let it happen after everything you have sacrificed in your life. You were not perfect, but you did not let that stop you from fighting for what was right. No one should ever take your child from you without your consent,” Lucien told her.
“But that doesn’t justify . . . ” Tahlia began.
“No. It doesn’t. But the Creator saw past that. He saw into your heart and knew that you were the vessel he needed. You fought to survive from the very day you were born,” Lucien replied.
Tahlia nodded her head, waiting to hear more. She closed her eyes for a moment and all the pain came flooding back. She was tied to a chair again. She was back with the Maladies.
Chapter Twenty-Eight:
Nora
“According to this, the Great Hall of the Council of Immortals was in Greece. The Creator lived there too,” Hadley told them.
“Yeah, we already knew that from what the Old Immortals told us,” Nora replied.
“But I don’t think it was as simple as it being located in Greece. It had to be . . . inaccessible to mortals,” Hadley said.
“How so?” Thatcher asked with interest.
“Look at the similarities between how Dorian describes their home and how mortals described Mount Olympus,” H
adley told them.
Thatcher and Nora leaned over to read the passage in the book of Greek Mythology Hadley had placed next to Dorian’s notebook. Hadley had read the description of Mount Olympus before, but she hadn’t heard Dorian describe Eternity until that evening.
Of course the mythological home of the Greek gods existed in the sky, the grand buildings resting on clouds. In actuality it was a series of ornate buildings carved into the side of a mountain. They were only accessible through a series of tunnels that ran through the interior of the mountain. At the very top stood the Great Hall.
“We’re going to Mount Olympus?” Thatcher asked in disbelief.
“Sort of,” Hadley replied.
“Do you know where the mountain is? It would be too easy if it was Mount Olympus, wouldn’t it?” Nora asked.
“Sadly, it isn’t that simple. In fact, I don’t even know that they truly lived in any one place. Eternity covers the entire world. We know that it exists outside of time and space. I think it’s more like an empty place that could be anything you need it to be at any given moment,” Hadley told them.
“It makes sense that it existed outside of time. A lot of Dorian’s journals mention things happening at the same time that we know really happened hundreds of years apart,” Thatcher said as he studied one of the journals.
“Wait, do you have the History of the Old Immortals?” Nora asked.
Hadley handed her the book and waited for her to find what she was looking for. Thatcher took a seat next to Hadley and waited patiently.
“Here,” Nora exclaimed. “Lida had the ability to open doors to another plane. It’s been under our noses the entire time.”
Hadley nodded excitedly, but Thatcher seemed to be having trouble processing what Nora had indicated.
“Don’t you see? Whitley was trapped in a place that looked like our world, but wasn’t. Then Keira took Whitley there again at the park. Keira somehow saw into Eternity and opened the door,” Nora told them.