Phoebe Wren and the Vortex of Light

by Julie K. Timlin

  She turned towards Demetrius; this was his first journey on an aeroplane and it was certainly not the straightforward, safe experience either of them had hoped for. Demetrius’s eyes were squeezed shut in fright and his lips moved furiously in unspoken prayer. Phoebe prised the fingers of his right hand off the arm rest of his seat and held tightly to his hand, although she could not be certain whether this was to reassure him or herself. Demetrius opened his eyes and looked at Phoebe. To her surprise she found not fear but faith shining from his brown eyes, and the calm trust that her friend seemed to possess slowly flowed over and around her as though it were being transferred from his fingers into hers. Phoebe found herself physically relaxing – her jaw unclenched, her shoulders dropped from where they had been caught up just below her ears, and she breathed out a long breath as if to expel all fear and panic.

  “All is well, Bird,” smiled Demetrius. “All will be well. Believe it.”

  Despite the obvious contradictions around her, somehow Phoebe did not doubt Demetrius’s words, and she gripped his hand tighter as they observed the battle outside with a sense of surrealism. Cosain and his troop were locked in mortal combat with Schnither and his fiends and neither side showed any signs of surrendering. All the while, Araco Airlines flight 454 continued to fall from the skies. Phoebe was aware of the confusion and noise surrounding her yet she felt as if she was caught in a moment all her own, where everyone and everything else was moving in slow motion.

  “Passengers! Assume brace position!”

  The pilot’s voice boomed suddenly over the tannoy, snapping Phoebe from her reverie. Time resumed its regular pace, and all around passengers were crying and yelling, holding tightly to loved ones and preparing as best they could for what now seemed to be the inevitable. Phoebe glanced out of the small window beside her and gasped as she saw the green earth below hurtling up to meet the plane at a fantastic speed. There was no sign of the Heavenly Host or the dark enemy hordes, and Phoebe craned her neck to peer out of the top of the rounded window. There, far above the doomed aircraft, Phoebe could see the ethereal glow of the angelic warriors swooping and soaring while the dark pulsating mass of the enemy surged and heaved like a putrid black lung. She could not comprehend why Cosain would allow his warriors to be so consumed by their battle with the Enemy that he would allow the aeroplane to just fall from the sky, yet it appeared that that was exactly what was about to transpire.

  Suddenly, Demetrius yelled her name. “Phoebe! Look! Quickly, we need to go!”

  Phoebe ran her eyes along the aisle of the plane towards the cockpit, and there, just in front of the locked door that separated the pilots from the passengers, was a glowing golden circle of light which was swirling and growing before her eyes.

  “Demetrius!” Phoebe cried. “It’s the vortex of light! Come on, we’ve got to get into it – now!”

  The teenagers unclipped their seatbelts and all but fell from their seats. Demetrius caught hold of Phoebe’s hand and together they stumbled forward along the tilted aisle of the stricken plane. Ordinarily under such circumstances, cabin crew would have ordered them back to their seats without hesitation, but now no-one seemed to even notice as the pair half ran, half fell towards the radiating portal. Somewhere in her subconscious, Phoebe was aware that she and Demetrius were the only two who could see this ever expanding vortex of light, and that old familiar sense of déjà vu swept over her. Phoebe hesitated, only momentarily, but it was enough for Demetrius to tug sharply on her hand and urge her, “Come on Phoebe! We’re almost there!” Phoebe looked back at their empty seats, and at her parents who were oblivious to her departure and were huddled together, holding hands. At the last moment, Jack looked across to where his daughter had been sitting, and when he saw her seat was empty he searched frantically until he saw Phoebe and Demetrius standing at the forward section of the aeroplane. His eyes locked with Phoebe’s, only briefly, but it was enough to make her want to forget about the portal and the redemption it promised and run back to her Daddy’s arms.

  “I can’t, Dem,” Phoebe whispered. “I can’t leave them again…”

  “You won’t have to Phoebe. Trust me. Trust me.” Demetrius looked her square in the face, inviting her to believe that he had faith for what she did not. Phoebe nodded at her friend, and together they stepped into the vortex of light and were instantly swallowed up in its warmth and golden glow.

  Behind them, the beam of ethereal light snapped shut, leaving a stricken plane, terrified passengers and a mortal battle in the Heavenlies in its wake.

  CHAPTER 44

  SATURDAY 17th JULY

  IRELAND

  A wayward ray of weak summer sunshine broke through the pink striped curtains in Phoebe Wren’s bedroom and sparkled over the sleeping girl’s forehead. Phoebe slowly opened her eyes, blinked several times, then rubbed her eyes and sat up. What? Where was she? She looked around the room, still sleepy and very confused. Memories of Cosain and the angelic warriors wrangling with the evil hordes of hell began to creep into her head, and she furrowed her brow as she recalled Araco Airlines flight 454 tumbling and diving out of the sky. So, how had this happened? Was she dreaming? Was she dead? Or had the angels and demons and aeroplane crashes all been one big bad dream? Phoebe gradually became aware of the sound of several voices happily chattering not too far from her room, and it slowly began to dawn on her that she was… No! How could it be? She was home.

  Phoebe sprang clumsily out of bed in a flurry of disbelief and adrenaline, and slid her feet into the fluffy slippers, which were neatly placed at the end of her bed. She bundled on a robe then pulled the bedroom door open and hesitated, barely daring to breathe as she strained her ears in an effort to distinguish the muffled voices which were teasing her from downstairs. She was unsure even what day it was, and was afraid to believe what she desperately hoped for. She was sure she could hear her parents’ voices and – no, wait… Yes, that was definitely Demetrius! Phoebe bolted downstairs, hopping down the steps two at a time, and burst through the kitchen door like an excitable kid at Christmas. There, right before her eyes, were Jack and Eva, Demetrius, Uncle John and Aunty Kate, and her little cousins Abi, Jamie and Caitlin, who Phoebe had only ever spoken to via Skype.

  “Phoebe!”

  The children squealed with delighted and bounced towards Phoebe, grabbing hold of her and almost knocking her off her feet. She laughed out loud at their vivaciousness and scooped them up en masse, her arms stretched out wide to include them all.

  “Kids, one at a time!” Aunty Kate chided her excitable brood as she attempted to prise them off Phoebe so she could give her niece a massive cuddle too. “Phoebe,” she smiled. “It’s so great to see you! Oh my, how you’ve grown! Sorry – I keep forgetting you’re not a kid anymore!”

  Phoebe’s Uncle John got up and kissed her cheek. “Welcome home kiddo,” he smiled as he ruffled her hair.

  Phoebe was too stunned and overwhelmed to speak, and was glad of the hustle and bustle of the reunion which afforded her the time to gather her thoughts. She looked across at Demetrius, who winked at her and gave her the, ‘I’ll explain later’ look, then briefly placed his forefinger across his lips and shook his head in a ‘don’t put your foot in it’ warning. There were a million questions shooting around in Phoebe’s mind, bouncing off her brain, but for now she was content to know that she did not have the answers but apparently Demetrius could bring her up to speed later. Demetrius looked happy and entirely at home, and Phoebe was glad that it had not taken him long to settle in. She could not even begin to imagine what could possibly have happened in the interim since she and Demetrius had exited the flailing aeroplane. For now, all she knew for sure was that she was back home in Ireland, surrounded by the people she loved most – and whatever else may have happened, for now that was more than enough.

  Despite the numerous unknowns and the loose ends, Phoebe finally seemed content to accept that this was all real; she was back in her own home in Ireland with her
family, and she smiled and relaxed into the moment. She had to remind herself to ‘act normal’ and almost robotically said ‘good morning’ to her parents, giving them both a quick hug – she did not take this simple exchange for granted and offered up a silent prayer of thanks. She walked across the open plan living room to the kitchen, where Aunty Kate was boiling the kettle to make tea and pushing bread down into the toaster.

  “You hungry, Love?” she asked, still smiling at the niece she hadn’t seen in ten years.

  “Yes Aunty Kate, it’s been a long journey,” smiled Phoebe – if only Aunty Kate knew the half of it!

  “It sure has,” replied Kate. “And I can’t wait to hear all about it – every minute from the last ten years!” She laughed and added, “We may need more tea!”

  “Yeah,” Phoebe agreed politely. “Oh, and happy birthday Aunty Kate!” she added, somehow recalling the occasion in the midst of the madness.

  “Thanks Phoebe – it’s an extra special one this year!” Kate smiled as she handed Phoebe a plate and the bewildered teenager made her way back to the breakfast table.

  Phoebe poked at her breakfast in something of a daze. She was barely aware of what she was even eating, but knew simply that she would have to go through the motions in order to make everything appear normal. The adults had a lot of catching up to do, and chatted non-stop over their apparently endless cups of tea. After a short while, Phoebe finished her toast and excused herself and Demetrius from the table, explaining that she wanted to show Dem around the house and grounds, and reacquaint herself with the area in which she had spent the first five years of her life.

  “Wow,” laughed Demetrius when the teenagers were out of earshot. “Your family can talk!”

  “I know,” agreed Phoebe, smiling and shaking her head. “Let’s walk? I’ll just get changed then we can get out for a while. Wait for me here, I won’t be a minute.”

  Phoebe scurried upstairs, and pulled on jeans and a jumper before rushing back downstairs to meet Demetrius without even attempting to introduce a brush to her bed-head hair, which she had roughly pulled back in a messy bun.

  Phoebe and Demetrius pulled on their jackets, opened the two storey house’s quirky purple front door and stepped out into the lilting light of the bright July morning. They walked for a while in comfortable silence, with Demetrius drinking in the beauty of the rolling Irish countryside and Phoebe barely noticing it, lost entirely in her own thoughts. After a short distance, the teenagers stopped next to a gently gurgling stream and Phoebe sat down with a huge sigh on a fallen tree. Demetrius sat next to her.

  “I can hardly comprehend it all either, Bird,” he said gently, reading her thoughts. “But one thing I do know – it was the right decision for me to come here with you and your folks.”

  “Dem, how did this happen? I mean, all of it? Any of it? One minute we were on a plane and stepping into the vortex, and I was sure that my parents and the other passengers were doomed; the next minute, I wake up in my own bed in Ireland, with my family and you downstairs, all healthy and well! My head hurts from all the figuring out I’ve been doing!”

  Demetrius chuckled at how perplexed his friend looked. “I can’t give you all the answers right now Phoebs, but what I do know is that your parents have no recollection of our flight getting into any trouble, and so I can only assume that neither do any of the other passengers who were on the plane. There was no mention of frantic cabin crew or frightened passengers – not even a little turbulence! When I came downstairs this morning I felt as confused as you looked when you arrived in the kitchen, but I kept quiet and listened and was able to piece things together from the conversation around the breakfast table. Turns out, as far as your folks are concerned, you and I slept through the second half of the flight, which was plain sailing all the way – they even said the landing in Dublin airport was ‘textbook’!”

  Phoebe chuckled; a ‘textbook’ landing – that was exactly like something her father would say!

  Demetrius paused before going on. “There’s something else Bird. I saw Cosain this morning, very early, before anyone else was awake.”

  “What?” Phoebe sat bolt upright, eyes wide. “Where, Dem? Was he alone? Were the others with him?”

  “He was at your parents’ house,” Demetrius replied in a matter-of-fact manner. “He was alone, but said he would be back Bird, and that we have a lot to do, this is just the beginning. But for the time being, he was just checking in on us. He explained that once the portal opened up on the plane and we stepped into it, the entire time space, um, continuum thing was altered and everybody on the plane was brought through.”

  “So you mean…” Phoebe was still struggling to get her head around the implications of what she was hearing.

  “Yep,” smiled Demetrius. “All those folks we were travelling with are, right now, wherever it is that they were travelling to yesterday. Phoebe, we all got vortexed out of the plane and on to where we should all have ended up – the plane never crashed. But as far as any other passengers are concerned, the flight took off and landed according to plan.”

  “Whoa…” Phoebe tried but just couldn’t muster up a more considered response, and instead sat next to Demetrius rubbing her temples and breathing deeply through her nose. “Dem, what on earth must we be in for? What sort of a job has Cosain in mind for us?”

  “I’m not sure, Bird,” smiled Demetrius. “But I reckon it won’t be too long before we find out.” And he nodded in the direction of a small copse of trees, which was shining with a now familiar golden ethereal glow.

  ‘Déjà vu,’ thought Phoebe. ‘Again…’

  CHAPTER 45

  Phoebe and Demetrius clambered to their feet as Cosain and his Heavenly brothers strode towards them. The sight of the imperial warriors, coupled with the wonderful sights and smells of home, made Phoebe’s heart leap and soar. Solas, Dilis, Trean, Neam, Croga and Lasair smiled their greetings at the teenagers, as Cosain introduced them to the five new faces that Phoebe had seen yesterday outside the aeroplane. Somehow, though, the angelic warriors all looked different today, and it occurred to Phoebe that their mighty wings were glaringly absent. She had never seen the angels without their wings, and she realised how… well, normal they looked. Had they not been so incredibly tall, they may even have been considered inconspicuous. The difference startled Phoebe somewhat, and she had to force herself to stop staring and focus on the introductions.

  “Phoebe, Demetrius – welcome home,” Cosain smiled down ay his young wards before beginning his formal introductions. “I’d like you to meet more of our comrades. This is Ernan.” An imposing warrior with cropped hair and swarthy skin nodded his head.

  “Maelis.” The next angel smiled and half bowed, his sharp green eyes earnest.

  “Keane.” Broad shouldered with curly hazel coloured hair, Keane struck Phoebe as fearsome yet intensely kind.

  “Lachlan.” Phoebe smiled broadly at the big Viking warrior of an angel, and it struck her that angels, like humans, came in all shapes and sizes.

  “And Cahir.” Cosain gestured towards the mighty angelic being, and as Phoebe’s gaze moved to his deep dark eyes and shaven head, she noticed a dull pink scar roughly two inches long that ran diagonally from just below his eye along his cheek. She blushed as he caught her staring at the blemish, but Cahir simply smiled kindly and said, “We are no strangers to battle, Phoebe.”

  “These brothers joined us from the Celestial City when we brought Lasair back to recuperate.” Cosain continued.

  “Recuperate? Lasair, are you alright?” Phoebe interjected, suddenly realising why she had not seen him yesterday, and anxious that he had been injured. Lasair smiled at her worried expression and reassured her that he was indeed back to full strength.

  “Their assistance proved invaluable to us, and we will be glad of their further help in the weeks ahead. I am sure that you are wondering what happened after you stepped into the vortex of light yesterday? In truth, it took us somewha
t by surprise too. Despite gaining the upper hand during the earlier stages of the flight, Schnither proved himself a wily adversary and set a decoy. We expected him to regroup and attack the plane again, so when we saw his little band of demons we went to deal with them, and discovered in the nick of time that we had been deceived. I know that you both saw something of the battle that ensued, and I do believe that as fierce as it was, we would have gained the upper hand eventually. The Atoner had other plans however, hence the portal. What I have never witnessed before is what happened after you were both transported out of the aeroplane. The portal scooped you up and closed, but reopened to transport the plane and the rest of the passengers to safety – an impressive play indeed! The Atoner’s plans are never obvious! We…” Cosain gestured towards the angelic warriors standing with him. “We were left with our foes, wrangling on through the sky. But the sudden and unexpected disappearance of the plane sent Schnither into a rage and I imagine that he realised there was very little point in wasting his time and effort battling with us when he had no idea where his target had gone.”

  A wry little smile played on the corners of Cosain’s lips for a few seconds, but was gone as quickly as it had appeared.

  “So,” Cosain concluded, “Schnither is furious that his deceitful plan was foiled – and you can be sure that he will not rest until he finds you and puts an end to the plans that the Atoner has for you.”

  “Speaking of plans…” Phoebe prompted Cosain for the information she had wondered about since this whole crazy adventure started.

  “You have heard us speak of the Celtic Justice Mission,” It was Solas who spoke, picking up on Phoebe’s not so subtle hint. “It is an organisation that your parents will soon establish, Phoebe. Through it, wrong doing and injustice will be tackled on a scale that none of you could comprehend right now. This organisation will provide the tools for those in authority to deal with inequality and will help to ensure hope and a brighter future for those who are being mistreated and abused. But it will be bigger than even that. The organisation will expose those in authority who are corrupt, who are pawns of the Enemy, spreading his malevolent malady – they will not have free rein for much longer! But they will not loosen their grip without a fight, which is where you – and we – come in.”