“Exactly what happened?” Tara looked between Charon and her mom hoping to get an answer that made sense.
“Welcome to the universe.” Dora said with a hiss as she looked at Charon.
“The universe respects strength. If you go into a place without a plan or the power to come out alive, it will eat you up and spit you out.”
“You sent us in there knowing that our chances of leaving alive were slim to none?” She looked at him hoping she was wrong, but knowing he knew.
“No, I sent you in there with a guarantee you would walk out.”
“You bastard.” She flew at him, not caring about her back or her lack of clothing. He wasn’t there when she got there.
Paul caught her before she could launch herself at Charon again. She kicked and called him names, but Paul held her tight.
“Either you’re strong or you’re weak. Either you’re respected or you’re dead. This is the world you now live in.”
“So you thought you would hurry our deaths along?” Paul looked him in the eye waiting for a response.
“No. You are now one of the most respected pair of others on the planet. They whisper how you survived the master assassin Dix. He did not let you live. You simply refused to die. I couldn’t teach you that ever. Your beating earned you street cred you could have never garnered on your own.”
Poof. Once again he simply disappeared, no shimmering out this time. He was one pissed being.
“What now?”
“You bathe, dress and come down to eat.” Dora walked out the door with a stiff back.
“What did we do to piss her off?”
“Why are you asking me? Dibs on the shower.” She said hurrying to it.
She looked at her back in the mirror. The skin had definitely healed, but there were major scars. Not the kind there should have been. She wouldn’t scare small children or anything. Still, she wouldn’t be winning a swimsuit contest or being asked to do any skin commercials. She had been out for three weeks and never realized it. This was so different from when she had been trying to die. Then she was aware of what was happening to her body. She knew who had been around. Not this time. She had simply been out.
How did surviving a beating, even a severe beating, give you street cred? Yeah she had felt like she could have died every minute of the beating, but they weren’t the only ones who had ever survived a flogging. It really didn’t matter in the end. She needed to make sure it never happened again. Pulling her thoughts in, she concentrated on getting clean.
They walked down stairs to the smell of breakfast.
“That smells good mom.”
“It’s done. Come and get it.”
They entered a door that hadn’t been there before to find a modern kitchen. “Mom?”
“Charon. Need I say more?”
“If he keeps this up I will have to buy this place.” The kitchen was amazing. There was a double oven and an island in the center of the room. It could have been the featured article in home and garden. “Seriously, he could make a mint with his talents.”
“Why don’t you tell him that the next time you see him?” She winked at her and then started putting the food on the table.
“What happened to the young girl who helped us?”
Tara looked up at Paul’s comment she had been wondering that also.
“She’s here.”
“Where?” Tara wanted another look at her, not sure that her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her.
“She’s hiding, but she’s here. Give her some time. She will come out on her own.”
Nodding ok, she caught Paul’s eyes. She would have to explain it to him later. Looking down at her plate she realized she was starving. All conversation halted as they attacked their food.
“So all we have left to do is save Amanda.” Paul said as he started clearing the table. Tara and Dora were staring at him, one with a look of amazement and the other with pride. “Then after that everything goes back to normal, right?”
“What’s your definition of normal?” Dora had gone over to stare out a window that shouldn’t be there, much like the rest of the kitchen.
“What’s happening out there?” Tara walked over to look out and then simply stared. “Really mom. I don’t see anything.”
“Well come with me and you will.”
They left the kitchen and moved into the living room area. She was really starting to like this big old warehouse. Of course when you have a demon wanna be who magically cleans the place and provides much needed furniture and rooms, who wouldn’t love it. The question was did she get to keep it after everything returned to normal.
Taking a seat, her mother turned on the television. The local news was on and the newscasters were laughing.
“Although we think that’s funny, the stories have spread far and wide the last three weeks.” Kelly was one of her favorite newscasters because she liked to tell the truth. “Roll the tape of the new interviews.”
A mother sat holding her small child who looked to be about seven. The child and the mother were obviously spooked.
“Mrs. Johnson can you describe to me what you and your child saw two days ago?” She didn’t know this reporter. He must be new. He was seated on the porch next to them and he was being very kind.
The woman nodded, yet she was still visibly shaken and looked like she didn’t really want to give the report. “Jenny was playing in the living room with her dolls. I had just gone to the kitchen to check on lunch when she cried out. Mom it’s going to hurt me.”
Looking down she clutched the child closer and kissed the top of her head. “I had a pan in my hand. I yelled to her Jenny no one is in there with you. Then a scream of pure terror and MAMA please. I dropped the pan and ran to the living room. I saw it. It looked like a demon with black wings and red eyes and it was coming towards her.”
The woman was visibly shaking now. “I didn’t know what to do. I jumped in front of her. It laughed. Not like you’re so funny, but a deep evil belly laugh. Then it said I will kill you first. Two for one.”
The cameraman caught the woman’s face at that moment. She was not crazy. Thea could see that immediately. Her eyes reflected the knowledge of having met evil in a personal way. Her innocence would be gone forever.
“That’s when the angel appeared. Call her what you want and yes it was a woman. She had wings whiter than pure snow and she stopped the evil. She promised Jenny would be ok. She would watch over her.”
The cameraman did a quick pan of the surroundings. Out front stood a moving van. Sighing Thea shook her head. Moving wouldn’t help and she knew that from experience.
Snapping off the television, Paul looked at Dora. “Explain.”
“In every generation there is a shield and a doorway born. Look for them in times of great change. They usher in change and keep it from getting as bloody as it could be. As long as they are here, just living, things go more or less smoothly. The human race continues to thrive.”
Getting up she walked to Tara and sat back down. Taking her hands she squeezed. Feeling the stiffness, she ignored it, she simply held them tighter.
“Eventually on every planet, a gateway is born. Someone who has the power to not only travel off the planet, but to go anywhere in the universe. Of course with that gateway, a shield is born. The two act as one unit. The better they work together the safer the planet is.
Every planet waits for the gateway and shield without knowing it. Once they are born, the planet breathes a sigh of relief, only to give a cry of horror. These two are the start of change. If something were to happen to them prematurely, the planet would no longer be safe. Every alien that walks the world unseen would now be seen.
The boogey man a child sees under her bed, which should be a half glimpse that couldn’t hurt, changes. It would become a real specter of evil with the power to demolish her. This became a reality when the two of you almost died. The gateway was opened and the shield was thinned. The things that should
not be seen became visible.”
“Let’s say we believe this.” Paul was pacing back and forth in front of the couch. “Then it should stop because we are well, right?”
“Theoretically yes.”
“What does that mean?” Thea said pulling her hands away. “Mom we need straight answers.”
“It means that although no new reports are coming in, the time schedule seems to have been moved up.”
“Time schedule?” Paul had stopped pacing and instead tapped his foot.
“There is a time schedule that no one understands for when a world will be ready to interact with the rest of the galaxy. I am not even sure it’s a real time table. It may just be an educated guess from the thinkers. Either way, the news is that something has sped ours up and no one, not even you two, will be able to stop the revolution.”
“Revolution?” Thea looked at Paul.
“Call it whatever you want. Crises. The end of the world. Judgment day. It’s all the same. The world will be over ran with beings who are out to change our world and form a new world order. Either we stand and fight and survive or bye-bye human race. I have gotten a glimpse of some planets that have not survived. They no longer have sentient life on them.”
Now it was Thea’s turn to pace. “You are definitely not a fount of good news. So what do we do next?”
“Save Amanda and live to fight another day?” With those words Dora shrugged and left the room.
“She left out Armageddon.”
“How very nice of her.”
“What do we really do next?” She looked up at Paul needing some stability in her world.
“I don’t know. We can’t leave Amanda with Raimel even if the world is about to come to an end. I think the real question is what else has to happen to make this revolution come true.”
“Good question. If it was just us, then things would have gone back to normal. Well, as normal as life on this planet usually is.”
They sat down on the couch, instinctively leaning on each other.
“You’re hope. What goes with hope? What are we missing?”
“Well there is this. Faith, Hope and Charity. The greatest of these is Charity. Which we all know means love.” Thea sais quoting a bible verse she learned in her youth.
“Do you think that we should be looking for Faith and Charity?”
“No, if they are out there hopefully they will find us. Looking for them would be like looking for a needle in a haystack at this point. We should just find Amanda.”
Charon shimmered in the room. With a look of smug satisfaction on his face. It was enough to immediately make you want to flee. “Hi kiddies who’s up for a war?”
Chapter Eleven
It was worse than Charon had described. One of the academies had been taken over. Mostly by the Demos, by the looks of it, although there were other unidentified aliens around also. They seemed to be in one reality while everyone else was in a different reality. Which meant that the teachers and the children could not see them yet, but the students and several of the more sensitive teachers could feel them.
Everyone at the school was walking on egg shells. One wrong word and everyone was flying off the handle, including the school administrators.
“Tell me again what’s happening.”
“Tara, the Demos and their allies are drawn to this city because you and Paul are here. While you were down, they built up their energy enough to breach the thinning barrier. Now that you are well the barrier is repairing itself, so they are trying to breach it another way. They have roughly one day left to cross the barrier before their window of opportunity disappears, at least for a while.”
She decided to ignore the last part and concentrate on what was happening here.
“Can’t we open a portal and lure them through it?”
“No. You would weaken Paul’s shields and they would go for the students, not the open portal.”
“Right, portal out. Isn’t there some way I can repair the shield? If it’s linked to me maybe I could heal it.”
“You are. Think of it like blood. Your body makes it without even thinking about it. Without thinking about it you’re healing the shield. Your presence is providing a much needed boost to it. Other than that, there is nothing you can do.”
“We can’t open a portal. We can’t heal the barrier faster. Exactly what can we do Charon? I am tired of being behind the eight ball. I feel as if I either have to run or be hunted. Just once, I want to be in charge of my destiny.”
“That’s the thing about life, Tara sometimes you’re most in charge when you feel you’re the least in charge. Tonight after the students are gone, you have to get the Demos out of there. The question is how will you do it? Anything I plan, they will see coming. So it’s up to the two of you.”
They sat on the couch in silence. Charon had disappeared and they had materialized in the warehouse. They no longer even blinked when they showed up in a different place. It was a part of life.
“What do we do now?” Her voice was weary.
“We save a bunch of students and teachers.”
“Now were warriors?’
“Oh come on. Admit it. How many times did you pretend you were the Pink Power Ranger?”
She had to smile and then laugh. She had envisioned herself as the Pink Power Ranger more than once.
“Don’t forget Sabrina the teen age witch.”
“Well, now you get to be a combination of both of them. Kick ass ninja skills and powers that are cooler than a witches.”
She jumped up and did her power pose, then fell to the couch laughing. “Well after a speech like that I have got to help save the world.”
They watched the morning slip into the afternoon as they threw out plan after plan. ‘Maybe we can just take an army to the school and fight them there.’ Tara had been desperately searching for a solution. Anything was better than what they had. Simply put, they had nothing. Paul immediately shot holes into her flimsy plan. He was pacing back and forth as he tried to think of a plan. ‘We need to think like military commanders.’ He followed that up with ‘let’s lay a siege on them.’ Frustrated, Tara came back with ‘exactly how do we get to their dimension, without opening the barrier and teleporting?’
The afternoon was rapidly turning into night and still they had no plan. Paul had said ‘why does it matter? What can the four of us do anyway?’ That’s when Dora had come out of the kitchen pretending she hadn’t been listening. ‘Charon says if you got the plan he has the warriors.’ She quickly disappeared again. Paul had turned to look at Tara, but she stopped him. ‘If you say we should think like barbarians, I will club you over the head.’ That’s when they agreed to stop thinking like other people.
“Well what do we do now? We are almost out of time?” Paul was pacing the weight of what they faced was visible in his eyes.
“Why are you asking me?” Tara wanted to run. How long had it been since she decided to play an active role in the world?
“Because you’re the doorway. I am just the stupid shield.” Yep, Tara thought, as she watched him run his hands through his hair he was feeling over whelmed too.
“Yeah stupid medical school graduate, emergency room doctor and Trauma surgeon. Yep you’re the stupid one. Hmmm doctor. Could it be that easy?”
“What are you thinking?”
“Hear me out before you think I’m certifiable. As a doctor if somebody’s immune system was down what would you do?”
“Build it up.”
“How? And remember your talking to me not to your colleagues.”
He stopped to stare at her. “That depends on the physician. Proper diet and exercise would be recommended. Vitamins may be suggested. Of course, there are holistic doctors who may recommend other treatments.”
“Well what if they lacked something?”
“Depends, Tara. Blood work would be done. Maybe they were low on vitamins, then they would be advised to supplement their diet. If they had lost blo
od or found themselves with a blood disease that was lowering their immune system, they would be given a blood transfusion to…”
“Stop. Would giving more blood help someone to heal faster?”
“Simply put yes, but it depends on the situation.”
She walked over to him with a big smile on her face. Going up on her toes she whispered a plan in his ear. After she was done he looked at her like she really was certifiable. Paul laughed himself onto the couch, falling with no grace.
“Yes Tara, I think that will work.”
Night had finally come, bringing its promise of darkness with it. She walked down the stairs wondering if her choice of clothing was appropriate. Forget appropriate. She just wondered if he would like it. She had managed to find a black pair of pants that were loose, but still managed to show off her ample curves. She had a nice black tee over it with a pair of combat boots. She had even managed to open a few doors and get some kick ass weapons. She hoped, she was giving off the warrior/ninja vibe. Although the pink power ranger would be so disappointed in her.
She stopped at the bottom of the steps as she caught the look on Paul’s face. He looked like he was trying to speak, but couldn’t get a word out.
“Well what do you think?”
“Beautiful in a deadly kick ass way.”
She felt herself blush and loved it. “Thank you kind sir.” She executed a bow and then walked over to them.
“Appreciation time is over kiddies. What is our plan?”
“Step one – We find the weakest point in the shield. In order to do that we have to see it. Can you make that happen?”
Charon looked at Paul. “You can make that happen. You can see it and even make it visible so we can see it.”
‘How?”
“Come with me.” Charon led him out the door and they walked for a block.
“Close your eyes and visualize the field around you. Keep thinking about it until it becomes clear in your mind. Can you see it?” Taking Paul’s nodding head as a yes he continued. “Tell me the color.”
Hope (Other World Protection Agency Book 1) Page 8