by Nathan Jay
"And your mom?"
"Although we communicate through Imawashii, her location is unknown."
"You said my family was waiting for me. Why?"
"Your family is waiting for you to free them."
"I don't understand. How am I supposed to free my family? You put them there. Why can't you do it?"
Nixi walked to the wall and touched it. All of Mateo's family members started smiling at once.
"The prophecy says that my mother and I will be freed by the one named Mateo. He will create a pact with us."
Mateo turned to the girl.
"You want me to free you and your mother in exchange for freeing my family."
"Yes."
"But that's a sin, isn't it? Blackmail. How can you possibly think I would be willing to help you?"
Nixi touched Mateo on his arm. He bristled at the coldness of her fingers.
"Do you want to see your family again? Do you want all of you to be together as one? To enjoy life for as long as you can?"
Mateo pulled his hand away.
"Why me?"
"The prophecy of the Imawashii."
"Let's say that I agree to do this. What do you want me to do?"
"Help us to please our father."
Mateo started laughing.
"Do you want me to go to church and pray?"
The little girl's face instantly became filled with veins, and she started growling.
"DO NOT INSULT US WITH YOUR CHILDISH HUMOR!"
Mateo jumped back.
"Okay, …okay. I'm sorry," Mateo said. There was a white flash of light, and the little girl's semi-normal appearance returned.
"This agreement between us is one that will last for 300 years."
Mateo looked incredulously at the girl.
"300 years?! I'll be dead in 50 years from old age. What kind of a twisted deal is that?"
"Does love have an expiration date?"
"No, but…"
"And what about the limits of life? Your mother attempted to sacrifice hers for you. Are you saying that she deserves less from you?"
Mateo bit his lip and looked away. The sadness he felt within made tears come to his eyes. Mateo would do anything for his family. He quickly wiped his tears away.
"Not even Jesus could live for 300 years. I'll die long before then."
"Not if you ingest this."
Nixi waved her hand, and a small ball appeared floating in mid-air. Mateo walked closer to view it.
"What is it?"
"This is the center of every life born of a mother and a father. It is what you would call a soul."
"You want me to be a vampire? I thought you weren't evil."
"We're not. My mother and I have calculated how to get in the good graces of God again. If we go through this earth collecting the souls of evil people, we're guessing that this will please our father. Our calculation is this: if we provide our father with 150,000 evil souls, 100 souls for every year of our combined total sentence, he will take mercy upon us and allow us to continue living."
"You expect me to kill 150,000 people?"
"No. You are not killing anyone. Through our Imawashii, you will have the power to do as we have done with your family. You will capture the souls and keep them in a special container until they are deposited here with us."
"150,000 people? That seems impossible."
The girl lowered her head.
"Yes. It seemed an enormous task to mother as well."
"So, how am I supposed to get them?"
The girl touched the wall, and the face of a man appeared.
"There is no such thing as a devil, but there are evil men in the world. Zagan is one of those men."
Mateo looked at the scruffy middle-aged man wearing a cowboy hat.
"There are others that have discovered the power of Imawashii and hope to use its powers to gain control over the world. This man works for that group. His goal is to capture as many souls as he can to create a weapon strong enough to kill God."
"What?! He wants to kill God?!"
"That's his goal."
"Wait. Why not take this information directly to God? Tell him. The disclosure of this information would surely result in God giving you your freedom."
"It would seem."
"Well? What are you waiting for?"
"Zagan has the power to see thoughts and prayers. He would surely discover our intentions before God received the message. That would result in the immediate torture and death of my mother and me."
We've used our Imawashii to make them think we are pursuing a goal equal to theirs. In thinking that we support their objective, the group has agreed to combine our capture of souls with theirs."
"A joint mission?"
"Not quite. As I said, our goal is freedom and to prevent God from assigning your brother to isolation. Their goal is to kill God."
"Where is this guy?"
"He's been out in the world for seven years now."
"You expect a kid to do the same amount of work that a grown man can do?"
"If you agree to help us, we will…alter your appearance. You will no longer be a child."
Mateo became afraid.
"I can't be a part of this."
Nixi smiled.
"You would allow the death of your family?"
"You're asking me to be a part of a plot to kill God!"
"No. We are not asking that of you. We're simply asking you to collect the evil souls and bring them to us to gain freedom. We are not a part of Zagan's plot."
"But you are! You will be giving him souls! Sharing!"
"Before Zagan can construct his weapon, we will have our freedom. At that time, we plan on revealing his plans to God. He will never finish his mission."
Mateo turned away.
"I don't want to do this."
At that moment, Mateo heard his mother's voice in his head.
"Mateo. Don't leave us here! Save us! Please!"
Mateo slumped against the wall in pain. How could he be a part of such an offensive scheme against God? How could Mateo abandon his family? He felt hopelessly stuck between two impossibilities. After considering his situation, he spoke.
"Would I be human, or would I look like you?"
"You will be a man. Fully grown."
"And how am I supposed to capture these souls?"
"We will use the Imawashii to give you powers. You will use it to track souls through their desires, dreams, and sins."
"Powers? What kind of powers?"
"You will be invincible to pain and death. You will possess the power to influence thought, bend sight, and influence through the dreamscape. You will have boundless strength and the ability to read minds. You will also have the power to communicate with animals and to travel through teleportation."
"Animals?"
"Your safety throughout this mission is almost as important as the mission itself. We cannot anger God by allowing your death. So, we are giving you the ability to communicate with animals. They will be your protectors."
There was a long pause before Mateo spoke again.
"And if I refuse to do this?"
"If you refuse to do this, we will do nothing but let time go as it should. Leonardo will face judgment. Your mother and father will be released – their deaths determined by their intake of sins. My mother and I will try to find another way."
There was another long pause before Mateo spoke again.
"Okay. I'll do it."
Nixi smiled. She walked up to Mateo and hugged him. When she finished, she put her cold fingertip on his forehead.
"Close your eyes. You don't want to see this."
Mateo closed his eyes. As soon as he did, there was a loud pop.
Nixi closed her eyes, and her face began to glow. Slowly, she began to grow taller. Mateo could hear the sound of the wind blowing through the cave.
"Hey. What's going on?"
"Just try to remain calm."
Nixi's arms beg
an to grow. Like long elastic, her arms stretched until they were touching the ground.
"Open your mouth."
Reluctantly, Mateo opened his mouth and kept his eyes closed.
"This will feel strange, but you won't feel any pain. Just keep your eyes closed, and you'll be okay. But if you open your eyes, you may be forever traumatized," the girl whispered.
Nixi lifted one of her long arms from the ground and made a fist.
"You will feel…pressure. Breathe out of your nose. Your mouth will be in use," Nixi said.
With force, she slammed her fist into Mateo's mouth. Teeth shot through his top lip, and blood began pouring out of his mouth.
But Mateo felt nothing.
"Breathe out of your nose. Breathe, breathe. Allow the process to run the course. Do not open your eyes."
Mateo could hear what sounded like gravel in his mouth, but he didn't object. As Nixi had told him, he only felt the pressure. No pain. He tried to focus on his breathing.
Nixi's movements inside of Mateo's mouth became more violent. As she shoved her fist in and out of his mouth, blood splashed all over the cave. Still, she continued.
Finally, there was a loud cracking sound.
"Okay. A little more. Relax. Just relax."
Nixi pushed her fist past Mateo's tonsils and down through his neck until her arm was buried deep inside Mateo's stomach. Nixi grimaced in pain as she shook her arm back and forth. There were more popping and cracking sounds. Soon, Nixi began yanking hard at something inside the boy's body while Mateo fought furiously to keep his eyes closed. He could hear his ribs popping and snapping as the girl pulled on his insides.
"Remain calm. Breathe. The temporary discomfort you feel is part of your transformation."
Just as the girl took her hand out of his throat, Mateo felt a powerful urge to vomit.
"It is okay to open your eyes now," instructed Nixi. Mateo opened his eyes and shot an enormous stream of vomit across the room. The vomit poured out of him with such force that it caused his eyes to bulge. The acid in his stomach burned his throat so bad that he wanted to scream – but he couldn't. The stream of vomit was never-ending. It wouldn't stop. Gallons upon gallons of the liquid kept shooting out of him with such force that he fell back against the wall.
Suddenly the vomit stopped. Grateful, Mateo lowered himself to the ground.
"What did you do to me?" he asked as vomit dripped down his shirt.
"This is only the beginning. Prepare yourself."
"For what? What more are you…"
At that moment, another massive stream of vomit burst from Mateo's mouth across the room. The strength of the liquid blasting from his mouth made him slide on the ground. It was just as forceful as the first vomit, and it numbed his tongue. Mateo tried to speak, but the amount of vomit thrusting from his insides would only allow him to breathe from his nose. After a few minutes, it stopped.
"I…I can't take much more. Please…" Mateo pleaded as he struggled to catch his breath.
Nixi smiled.
"It is happening. Do you feel it?"
Suddenly another burst of vomit shot out of Mateo's mouth. But this time, the vomit was thin, like water. Mateo could feel a difference in his body; his chest felt wider; his breathing sounded like wind blowing through a large drum; his whole body was warm like he had a fire lit in the center of his torso. The vomit suddenly stopped. Mateo wiped the liquid from his mouth and spit on the ground; his mouth had a disgusting taste like salty mud. He turned to Nixi and frowned.
"I feel…weird."
Nixi backed away from Mateo.
"It is happening," exclaimed a gleeful Nixi.
Suddenly, Mateo fell to the ground and started convulsing. His convulsions thrust him high into the air and slammed him back to the ground repeatedly.
"Make…it…stop," he begged.
Nixi pointed towards the hole above them and spoke.
"Come forth!" she yelled.
At that moment, thousands of fire ants poured in from the opening in the ground above them. There were so many of the insects that they blacked out the light from the sun. Nixi began jumping up and down excitedly.
"Come! You have tasted his flesh before. Feast and make the transformation complete!"
As he convulsed on the floor, Mateo saw the insects rushing towards him. But there was nothing he could do. As the ants approached, Mateo tried to prepare himself for the pain they would inflict. He remembered when the fire ants had bitten him as a baby; that painful feeling never left him and had terrified him for years. And now, here they were.
Mateo let out a small whimper as the ants covered his body like a vast moving blanket. They crawled into his eyes, nose, and mouth. He could feel them moving through the skin on his arms and throughout his skull. As Mateo lay on the ground, he kept his eyes closed and tried to think of his family.
"I'm doing this for you, Leonardo. For you and mommy and daddy," he whispered over and over. As he laid on the ground, he noticed that there was no pain. There was only an icy cooling sensation, like jumping into a lake full of ice cubes on a hot summer day. His thoughts became clearer – more focused. He could feel things now. Mateo didn't know how, but he could feel the fear his family felt as they remained trapped in the stone wall.
As the ants continued to crawl through his body, Mateo began to see things in his mind. He saw the dreams of a nearby farmer plowing his field. He saw the man’s hopes for a bountiful harvest and that the land would continue to receive spring rains to water his fields. Mateo could see the man's prayers for his pregnant wife. The man prayed that his wife would have a pregnancy free of complications and that the baby would be born healthy. Mateo's heart was pounding in his chest as he saw these things. He marveled at the amount of power he now possessed.
Soon Mateo was able to see the same farmer's sins. He had been unfaithful to his wife on multiple occasions; Mateo could see the face of the woman the farmer had fornicated with – the much younger housekeeper who came to the house to help his wife during her difficult pregnancy.
Mateo began to feel the physical power of his transformation; a burst of energy coursed through his whole body that he had never felt before. His eyes began to tingle beneath his eyelids; his eyes felt strange and unusual, like the awakening from a deep slumber, like he possessed the ability to look through the sun without effort.
Soon, the ants spread out and disappeared into the darkness. A naked Mateo rose to his feet.
"The process is finished. How do you feel?" asked Nixi.
Nixi walked over to the glass stone and touched it, transforming the large stone into a mirrored surface. Mateo stared at the man in the mirror in astonishment. The man that was standing before him was someone strange, unrecognizable. The man was older. Much older. Unlike the boyish face his mother had once described as "cute," Mateo's new look was ruggedly handsome. He had green, glowing eyes that seemed almost mystical. The brown stubble that covered his rugged jawline had traces of gray hair sprinkled throughout his beard. Long, shiny chestnut brown hair fell on muscular shoulders that seemed broad enough to support the world. His body, toned from head to toe, muscles rippled throughout his chest and stomach like stones underneath his skin. His legs were firm and steady, like two tree trunks strong enough to withstand the floods of a mighty river.
"I feel strong. Powerful," said Mateo as he marveled at himself in the mirror.
Nixi smiled.
"That's good. Very good."
Mateo walked over to the wall where his family was held and touched the wall again. Suddenly his family appeared as they had when he'd first seen them – floating in the liquid. Mateo turned to Nixi.
"Can I speak to them now?" he asked.
"Yes," responded Nixi.
Mateo closed his eyes. Without speaking, he spoke to all three of them.
"How are you doing?" asked Mateo without moving his lips. His voice was airy and echoed like he was speaking through an empty aluminum can.
"
We're safe, Mateo," responded his mother.
"Did you see what happened?"
"Yes, son. It was horrible. Are you okay?" asked his father. Mateo didn't like the way his father's voice sounded. His father seemed afraid and not in control, far from the father he grew up with who had always been reliable and sure of himself.
"I'm okay, mommy. Daddy. Don't worry."
Mateo called out to his brother.
"Leonardo."
There was nothing but silence. Mateo longed for Leonardo's response. He missed his brother's playful banter and wanted to jump into the rock to wake his brother.
"I know what you've done. I don't care. You're my brother, and I won't abandon you. Okay?"
There was still silence. Leonardo opened his eyes and looked around in all directions. He seemed confused as if he heard a voice but didn't know the direction from which the sound was coming. Mateo turned to Nixi.
"Why isn't my brother able to communicate with me?" asked Mateo. Nixi walked over and deactivated the stones with her touch. Slowly, the rocks returned to their black color.
"He's beyond us. We saved him, but God blocked his ability to communicate during the transition we interrupted. Leonardo sees you, but he can't respond. But you shouldn't worry. God will restore his normal functions when he releases us. I assure you of that."
Mateo touched each of the rocks holding his family and turned to face Nixi.
"Let's get started."
Chapter 11: The Soul of Benjamin Pt. 1
As Ben and Norman turned to walk down Main Street, a woman emerged from the grocery store and passed in front of them. Norman immediately took notice of the voluptuous red-haired woman carrying a large grocery bag.
"Oh shit! Woooooo!" he hooped. Ben stayed back to admire the woman's assets from a distance while Norman overtly ogled the woman's body. Annoyed by his childish behavior, the woman ignored him and continued to walk to her car. She held her groceries in one hand and used her free hand to search for the keys in her purse. After finally locating her car keys, the woman awkwardly attempted to unlock the trunk of her car.
"Hey, baby!" Norman said as he rushed toward her car. Startled, the woman dropped the bag and her purse, scattering her groceries all over the street.