The Goddess Twins

by Yodassa Williams

  “Ah, thank you, Kiara. That made a lot more sense,” I say out loud.

  She blinks at me in surprise. “So wait, you were just inside my head and got the information you needed?”

  “Yes. You even did a demonstration for me,” I smile at her.

  “Wow, Cousin, I didn’t feel anything! You can hack into brains and download information! Amazing mental powers.” She smiles at me in wonder, and I blush. “Okay then, are you ready to try space travel? It’s the final frontier, baby.” Kiara rubs her hands together like she’s conjuring magic.

  Learning is one thing, but doing? I’m immediately overwhelmed with doubt. I want to scream, “No!” What if something goes wrong? Should I really be testing a dangerous new power at this moment? There’s only now, Arden, I think. Your family needs you to be fearless. I take a deep breath and smile at Kiara, pumping my shoulders up and down from my position on the floor cushion. “Let’s do this,” I say as confidently as I can.

  She grins, pulling the cushion, along with me, closer to her yoga mat. “Okay, we’ll sit and connect with our bodies and minds, then try to disconnect them. It will feel strange, but I’ll be with you and talk you through it. And once you phantom, I’ll be there. I can find you wherever you travel, so you won’t be alone.” Kiara smiles at me, and I forget why I was worried. Everything is going to be fine, she thinks into my mind, reaching out for my hands.

  I close my eyes with her and concentrate on the feeling of my beating heart.

  “Your mind and body are one. They are here and now,” Kiara says aloud, her soothing voice coming softly but powerfully into my ears. “But the mind is elastic and can stretch beyond the body. Your mind is strong, Arden. Your mind is searching for your mother. Allow your mind to stretch, to reach toward her.”

  I feel a block and don’t know how to remove it. If I am here and now, how can I get there, where Mom is being held?

  “Breathe, Arden. Your body is the first barrier, but your mind can move past it. Find your mother, Arden.”

  I breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth, and I picture my mom, thinking immediately of her face, sad and worried as she held mine closely. The image was from the last moments we had together, and my heart sinks at the memory. But as I begin to picture her, I realize that woman is not who I need to find. Mom is more complex than Rora or I could ever have guessed. She had a family and a son and lost them tragically, but she chose to rebuild and become a mother again on her own terms. I think of her losing her voice for years, then finding the strength to sing powerfully again. Her resilience and courage inspire me. I love her. I miss her. I need her back. Find your mother, Arden, I hear inside my mind, the voice a mixture of my own and Kiara’s.

  I start to feel a tingling sensation spread through my body. It’s like extremely aggressive tickling that makes me want to laugh and scream all at once, but instead I lean into the shocks, holding my breath and pushing my mind through and past my body, thinking of myself as the center of a banana, slipping slowly out of the peel. Find your mother, Arden. Find her, find her, find her, I tell myself. The tingle increases to a crescendo of constant shocks, and then I feel a final jolt, a punch that nearly knocks the wind out of me. I cry out as my mind stretches past my physical body.

  Suddenly, I’m numb and cold all over with an overwhelming sense of lightness. I open my eyes and see that I am translucent, floating above the city with Kiara. Hello, astral plane! I think, both scared and proud that I am now an ethereal spirit. I look down at the lights and buildings along the River Thames. To our left is the London Eye. I think of how Rora would make a silly joke about Humpty Dumpty if we rode it together.

  “Congrats, Cousin!” Kiara says. “I had no doubt you’d be able to become a phantom. Okay, stay focused on your mom. Think of her spirit—call out to it—until you can feel her mind pulsing back to you, when the mental connection opens up between you two and you can speak to her.”

  Find your mother, Arden, I think once again. I stretch my mind, concentrating on Mom, picturing her face, like a painting that shapeshifts in the light, smiling and mysterious and sad and joyful and secretive, all at once. Kiara and I hover over a row of buildings around the center of London, and I reach out, calling with all my heart, Mom, can you hear me? Please?

  “Arden? My love, how are you here like this? And why are you here? Are you okay?” a weakened version of Mom’s melodious voice echoes in my head.

  “Mom! I’m fine! I’m here to save you. We know you’ve been kidnapped. Tell me where you are!” I push my mind into hers, following her voice in my head to get a vision from her mind. Slowly a picture forms: a wide, flat, white building. The sign on the glass siding reads “Museum of Cultural Art” with the address of the building. The image travels through the gallery, down a staircase hidden behind a wall, down a tunnel, and to a secret wing of the basement. I see blurs of men stationed here and there along the path till I see a locked room in the large kitchen where Mom is being held in a freezer.

  Oh no, they’re draining Mom’s powers! I realize, taking in her spirit flickering with exhaustion.

  “I’m so sorry I left without telling you both the truth. Is Aurora okay, too?” she asks, her words staccato from the cold.

  “Yeah, we’re fine,” I say, brushing past her actual question. “Mom, you’re literally tied up in a freezer! What have they done to you?”

  “Oh, goons these days have no manners. They’ve drained my power and energy over the past few days, and I’m not sure how much longer I can hold on. But listen, you and your sister need to get away from here. These men are dangerous and they’re trying to find you. I’m just bait here in the freezer—they want you to come for me. Please, save yourselves and go back home.”

  “You’re not just bait, you’re everything, and I’m not letting you go!” I think fiercely. Doesn’t she know it’s her safety I’m afraid for, not my own? Her voice is so thin, as if she’s barely holding consciousness. This terrifies me more than any threat from our grandfather’s goons. All I can think is, I need to get my mom out of there now.

  “Arden, you and Aurora need to go back home,” Mom says. “I would give anything to see you again, but you need to get as far away as possible. You can’t get in and out of this place without getting caught. They have me, but you can still be safe and live your lives.”

  “I am doing no such thing, Mom. I have come all this way to save you and that’s what’s happening.”

  “Arden, you really can’t …”

  “Mom, we both know you’re too weak to fight me on this, so accept that you are getting rescued. Now sit tight while I scan your brain for more intel.”

  “I see I have no choice. Can I at least mention how much I love my talented and brilliant girls?” Mom says, and I feel the pride in her thoughts. “Whatever happens to me tonight, please remember that.”

  “Mom, we’re going to rescue you. That’s what’s happening tonight.” I gently scan Mom’s brain for images of her kidnappers, but I feel her jerk away as soon as I see a tall, handsome black man with a familiar smile.

  “Someone’s coming, dear. I need to turn my energy to them, so they don’t know we’re in contact.”

  “Okay, Mom. We’re coming for you soon. Stay strong.”

  “I love you, brave one. Please stay with your sister and be safe.”

  Our connection fizzles. I look to Kiara, still floating beside me. “I found her! She’s weakened, but she knows we’re coming.”

  “Outstanding, Cousin! Now we need to reconnect these phantom selves with our bodies.”

  “Okay. How do we do that again?”

  “Focus on the physical sensations back in the room,” Kiara says, floating closer to me. “Connect your mind with what your body is experiencing there.”

  I close my eyes and begin to recall what my body felt before my mind escaped. The tingling starts, this time with more force than before. I remember the heat of the apartment, the rub of the corduroy pillow underneath
my legs, and the rise and fall of my chest as I sit breathing. I squeeze my eyes tight against the pain as I feel the sting of my mind being pulled back into my body. I hear Liberty’s voice saying, “… adult Girl Scout of Shame badges,” and I feel the muscles of my face respond in a smile.

  I open my eyes, and I am back in Kiara’s loft, my head limp on my chest, sitting Indian style on Kiara’s pillow. From the couch, Lilo and Lib look to me with concern.

  “You okay, Cuz?” Liberty asks.

  I smile to them and say, “It worked.” I stretch my neck as I give Liberty the address of the building I saw, and she searches the route there on her phone. “Let’s go save Mom,” I say, trying to stand, but I fall back down, light-headed.

  “Hold on there, tiger. It takes a lot of energy to do what you just did. You refuel, and let’s plan this all out,” Kiara says, rising gracefully to get some snacks from the kitchen.

  “Mom is really weak,” I tell Lilo and Lib, my heart racing at the thought of rescuing her. “I could hear and feel it. There’s a bunch of guys protecting the place, including Grandfather. They’ve been keeping her in a deep freezer for days.”

  Kiara returns to the room with a Gatorade and a bowl of trail mix.

  “Thanks,” I say, twisting the cap off the bottle. I chug, then I continue. “First, we need to get Aurora. Her powers will definitely come in handy for disabling Grandfather at the art museum.” I stuff a handful of trail mix in my mouth.

  The cousins exchange a look of pain.

  I swallow. “What?”

  “We called around while you were out. Fanny is still at Monsoon but your sister … isn’t there anymore.”

  “Okay, so where is Aurora?” I press, popping more trail mix in my mouth.

  “We don’t know,” Liberty says, her eyes downcast. “No one seems to know where your sister is right now.”

  “What?” I ask, spitting out an almond.

  “She, well, Fanny said on the phone, and I quote, ‘Your cousin hooked up with some rando and left to get it on like a total slapper,’” Lilo says with a frown.

  “End quote,” Liberty supplies in a whisper.

  “What?” I ask, a robot stuck on repeat.

  “She and some random dude …”

  “I know what you said, I just… are you serious?”

  “Yeah, it’s what Fanny said happened.”

  “No, I know you are serious. I just meant, like, I just can’t believe this! This is crap!” I pick up a nearby pillow and slam it to the ground, angry beyond coherency about Aurora’s newest move. It’s poetic, really, how effortlessly she infuriates every inch of me. I just figured out where Mom is, so of course Aurora has to go completely off the map. Before I fully spiral into rage, my brain grasps at one hope. Reaching out toward Kiara, I ask, “Could I go back to the astral plane and try finding Aurora?”

  She shakes her head sadly and crouches next to me on the floor. “I really wouldn’t recommend you space travel again so soon, my love. The body suffers in releasing the mind, and we were out for a while. I would recommend your mind stay put in your body for the next twelve hours, no more astral plane for you tonight. And intake some more fuel, you definitely need it.” She hands me an energy bar and pats my shoulder.

  I growl as I chew, hating that she is right. Though my mind feels sharp, my body is still shaking. I drop my head into my lap, not wanting anyone to see the myriad of emotions overtaking me. My twin could not have picked a worse time to go off the rails. I am so mad at her, I could defend a thesis on all the reasons I want to execute her.

  I mean, ugh! What am I supposed to do when my own flesh and blood insists on being so stubborn and selfish? How am I supposed to live with her being like this? “You can love her more than anyone,” Leo once said. I laugh darkly now, wondering if his advice still stands. How do I love someone who ghosts when she’s actually needed the most? Since our ballet days, I have always chased after her, calming whatever storm she’s created. I close my eyes and breathe, trying to bring my heart rate down. I can’t rescue or wait for her now. I have to do what needs to be done, for the both of us.

  Emerging from my thoughts, I say, “Okay. We go and get Mom now. We’re just going to have to leave Aurora. I don’t … I can’t … we have to proceed without her.”

  “It’s the only choice right now,” Liberty agrees. “We’ll be fine doing this without her. Just before you came back to us, Lilo and I were talking about how the four of us will make an awesome tag team together.” Liberty nods at her sister. “Listen, we’ll make a big distraction by summoning all the animals we can to the area. Lilo and I will sneak in and unlock all the doors and turn off any cameras. Then you and Kiara can come in to help us take down any bad guys or booby traps set in place by Grandfather, by any means necessary. All goddess powers set to disarm, sedate, attack—whatever we need to do.”

  Kiara smiles, adding, “I’ll travel from here and make multiples of me at the site. My black belt will serve us well when we’re ready to knock them out.”

  I nod. “And I’m able to implant feelings and memories into a person, so I should be able to do the reverse to remove evil intentions. That should help us fix whatever’s wrong with these guys that makes them follow our grandfather’s plans.”

  “And what do we do when we run into Grandfather Ezekiel?” Lilo says, making fists with her hands.

  “Leave him to me,” I say. “It sounds like he’s overdue for a hard wipe and reboot.” Maybe it’s the energy bars are kicking in, but I feel so buoyed up by my cousins’ confidence and the astral travel success that I’m ready to take on Grandfather Ezekiel this very second. As soon as I get him to look at me, I’m going to erase every thought, every memory he ever had. It’s the only way to guarantee he’ll never harm anyone again.

  Suddenly I get a vision of us executing our plan. I can see me busting into the museum with my posse, wiping Grandfather’s evil mind, getting to Mom, and saving her from this mortal danger. “We’re going to get Mom out of there,” I say quietly. But just as the words come out of my mouth, I realize I don’t completely believe them.

  Because at the very last moment, anxiety and self-doubt rear their ugly heads inside me—confidence-shredding, toxic twins seizing my heart. Aurora totally bailed on you … are you sure you can do this without her? I look at my cousins and remind myself that they believe in me, that they have my back. Yes, look how they are sacrificing so much for you, while also expecting so much from you, Arden. Are you sure you won’t mess up and disappoint everyone?

  “Yes, we got this, loves! Can you feel the success just hovering in the air, waiting on us to seize it?” Kiara asks, throwing her arms wide and closing her eyes.

  “I know! With Lilo and my army of fierce animals, the legion of kick-butt Kiaras, and Arden’s mental sorcery work, we’ll be unstoppable!” Liberty claps her hands, her eyes bright and hungry. “Think, in just a few hours, we’ll have Grandfather knocked out cold and your mother back safely. Oh, this is going to be good.” She flips her blue hair from side to side, “I love it.”

  “Yes, yes, yes! I’m so here for it!” Lilo shouts, rubbing her hand and shaking her shoulders gleefully. “‘Goddess Force: Bad Guy Rehab. The Taking Grandfather Down Edition,’” she continues, throwing her voice like a film announcer.

  Minutes later, Lilo, Lib, and I leave Kiara’s warm apartment. As we start out in the chilly night, my heart thumps loudly. I pray for a share of the courage that my cousins have, to kill my lingering doubt.

  THE NEW LONDON Museum is on a nearly two-block wide campus just south of the River Thames. It was previously known as the Mortimer Hospital, which was opened back in the early 1900s. Once renowned as London’s pioneer institution for genetic research and testing, the enormous four-storied brick and marble teaching hospital closed in 2000 due to a scandal involving financial corruption by the board. Staff and services were transferred to newer hospitals, and the building, which includes secret tunnels to a soundproof underground
wing, was auctioned off to a private real estate firm. The company renovated and rented it to a historical foundation, transforming the building into a museum showcasing antiques and history celebrating the multitude of cultures shaping London. The latest exhibit showcases antiques from Jamaica—because apparently the Fates love a good joke.

  It’s nearly two in the morning as we ride the bus to the heart of the city. We’ve got Kiara on one phone, and we’re researching the art museum with another. Using blueprints we find online, we iron out our strategy for accessing the tunnels underneath the museum.

  “I’m positive that Grandfather will have a whole bunch of armed mercenaries on his team, protecting him and whatever he’s doing to your mom,” Kiara says. “The aunts always said he traveled in a pack.”

  “Well, we’ll be ready for them,” Liberty says, her voice strong, determined. She zooms in on the map on her phone. “We’ll break through the bottleneck here to get in to where he is hiding your mom.”

  For a moment, I’m left breathless. I met these people a handful of hours ago, and they’re ready to walk into hell to rescue Mom with me. What did I do to deserve this generosity, this love? It’s what family does for family. The thought comes to me as I watch Lilo giggle into the phone at something Kiara says. They walk through whatever fire they need to for each other. Why can’t Aurora feel it—that she’s held by all this love, too? My heart aches that she’s not here, that she’s just trying to avoid facing that we’re goddesses, that she needs to put herself aside and be brave for Mom. Why can’t she realize she’s doing the exact same thing Mom did when she ran away so many years ago—tried to avoid the truth? It solved nothing then, and it helps nothing now.