by KT Webb
Once they had coffee, cookies, and milk in front of them, they sat in silence as they munched and drank. Nora looked around the table at her friends and family; they would soon be facing much worse things than they ever had. She leaned her head against her husband. At least they would face it all together.
“So many dead,” Whitley cried into her arms folded onto the table.
“Whit, are you alright?” Hadley asked as she rubbed her sister’s back.
Nora saw Whitley’s shoulders shaking from across the table as she shook her head.
“I can hear them all. All of them. The sound is deafening.”
“What do you mean?” Thatcher asked.
“My head is killing me, and I can hear them all. That’s why I couldn’t sleep.”
Nora shared a look of concern with the others around her. This wasn’t something any of them had anticipated. Whitley continued to cry silently as she stared blankly at the wall. Hadley had one arm wrapped protectively around her sister while holding Thatcher’s hand with the other. Joe only looked at Whitley; Nora knew their friendship had formed quickly and firmly. He must be very worried.
“I was thinking about the prophecies,” Nora said, breaking the silence.
“Me too,” Hadley interjected.
“We have one down for sure, and I think we’ve started the second. So many people are dying, and the second prophecy does say that death will sweep through the world.”
“So now we just wait to see who lands where? I wish there was more we could do.” Kerr gripped his hair in his fists.
“When it is time for us to do more, we’ll know. Until then, we just have to wait.”
The whole group turned to find Dorian standing in the arch that lead from the kitchen to the foyer. He smiled kindly at them all before taking a seat with a cup of coffee.
“What are you all doing up this early?”
“Couldn’t sleep.”
“My head hurts.”
“Guilty conscious.”
Nora couldn’t help but grin as they each shared their reasons for being awake, whether they were well articulated or came out in a groan or mumble. Dorian nodded then suggested they all try to get some more sleep because they would have a lot of traveling to do in the coming weeks. Nora knew that meant she would be whisking the other Evolved and Romulus off to visit their allies and help those in need. She was prepared to do whatever was necessary, but in that moment she just wanted to be surrounded by the people she loved the most.
Chapter Fifteen:
Kerr
The next morning, Nora gathered them all together to talk about what to do next. She insisted that they reach out to the allies they had already made and do what they could to help people affected by the ice.
“We need to do what we can to help people. How can we expect them to believe in us if we don’t give them something to believe in?”
“You’re the boss, babe,” Kerr teased.
Nora huffed out a frustrated sigh. “I’m not joking, Kerr. We need to do this. There are people freezing to death out there.”
“I wasn’t joking. I mean it. You took charge when we found out there were more prophecies. We’re all counting on you to keep us in line and focused on the bigger picture.”
Nora softened slightly at his words, but she still looked stressed out. He knew she hadn’t asked for anyone to look to her for leadership, but she took on the role without a second thought. He was so proud of his wife and knew she was going to be the person to rally the army they would lead against Absalom when the time came.
“I think we need to start in the areas that normally have the warmest temperatures. They’re not prepared for cold like this. Then we’ll move on to the areas that we’ve allied with.”
“I think it would make more sense to start with our allies,” Thatcher interjected. “We don’t want to risk losing them.”
“If they’re truly on our side, they will understand and accept that we are reaching out to those in need first. We’ve already discovered that areas with higher numbers of people with strong beliefs or steadfast hope tend to be warmer. Our allies are mostly grouped together already and will therefore be warmer.”
Thatcher nodded his agreement. “Good point. What exactly do we plan to do when we travel to these places?”
“I can keep generators running indefinitely by sharing a little of my energy,” Hadley suggested.
“I can heal people who need it, and Thatcher can channel heat from the earth’s core into the buildings people are sheltering in,” Kerr finished.
In the end, they decided they would start travelling right away. They would take only the Evolved and Romulus. Dorian, Joe, Callie, and Whitley were better off staying behind. Just before they left on their first trip, Kerr visited Whitley in her room.
“How’s the head?”
“Hurts.”
“Can I try to help?”
Kerr expected her to refuse, but the pain had reached a point where she couldn’t bring herself to turn him down. He could practically feel the pain and nausea rolling off her. He put his hand on her forehead and waited for the green light to appear. It wrapped itself around her head and grew in intensity. She closed her eyes and mumbled her thanks.
Kerr watched as she quickly drifted off to sleep. He knew that while they were gone she would get some peaceful sleep, but she may need him to help ease the pain of her headache again later.
The first place they traveled to was in the Middle East. They went from city to city offering their assistance where they could. Most people didn’t know they had been there, and some insisted they were angels. They traveled to Africa and South America—healing, heating, and helping in any way they were able.
They returned home to check on Whitley before heading back out to visit their allies. Whitley was still sleeping; Joe had kept careful watch over her. Kerr touched her head and didn’t sense any additional pain coming from her, so he let her rest.
The next place they went was back to Cody, Wyoming to check in on Pastor Jeff. They found him in the high school gymnasium with a number of other people. He told them he’d been spreading the word about the coming battle and that he had found more success in swaying people to their cause since the ice had taken over. Kerr healed a few people with minor frostbite, while Thatcher and Hadley did what they could to restore heat and power.
Their long and exhausting day was finally over so they returned home. It was still crazy to Kerr to think about the number of places they had visited in one day. There would be more places to visit over the coming week, but they had made good progress.
When he got upstairs to check on Whitley, he heard her crying in her room. He knocked gently on the door to avoid causing additional pain and entered when she groaned out a welcome.
“Hey, Whit, how was your nap?”
“Too short.”
“You slept all day. Is your head hurting again?”
“Yes. Worse than before. There’s just so much noise,” Whitley cried as she gripped the sides of her head.
“Here, let me help again.”
Whitley gave him a pleading look as he placed a hand on her forehead again. The green light swirled around her head and she fell fast asleep once more. Kerr was more concerned than before because he could sense something deeper going on. He couldn’t pinpoint the cause of the pain and only managed to provide a temporary bandage by healing her.
The next few days passed in a similar fashion. They would go out to help what was left of the world population, and Kerr would return to try to heal Whitley so she could get some rest. It had slowly gotten to the point where he couldn’t provide her any relief whatsoever. He couldn’t even summon the healing light to help her. It was then that he started to fear the worst.
Chapter Sixteen
Whitley
In the week that passed since the cold set in, Whitley had taken to hiding in her room. Kerr tried his best to heal her, but it quit working. The Council of Immortals went fr
om silent to non-stop chatter. To make matters worse, she was still picking up the voices of the billion or so recently departed souls. It was too much for her to handle.
Her head was throbbing constantly. The headaches began as dull but persistent, and had quickly progressed to constant and unrelenting anguish. After she told the others about the voices in her head, Dorian of course went into research mode. Tahlia came and went as she could, with Nora’s help. Romulus, Kerr, Hadley, and Thatcher began visiting as many towns as possible in an effort to provide heat and electricity to the buildings. Joe and Callie became her caretakers as the headaches worsened.
That morning Whitley felt a liquid sensation in her nose, only to discover a significant amount of blood pouring from both nostrils. As she stuffed tissues in her nose to stem the bleeding, she felt a similar sensation on her ear. Whitley had hidden the bloody Q-tips in the trash. She didn’t know what to tell the others, but she knew bleeding from her ears was not a good sign.
She turned off the lights, closed the drapes, then crawled under her blankets. The cool darkness surrounded her like a cocoon. The death tolls had reached nearly half the world population and seemed to taper off. The survivors were doing their part to take care of each other and share what they could.
The death toll in their region wasn’t as high as other areas of the country; people in South Dakota were used to extremely cold temperatures. Despite the record lows, the number of fatalities remained relatively small.
Absalom and the Maladies had not begun to strike, but the Evolved assumed they were just as surprised at the state of things as they were when they first found out.
A light knock at the door alerted Whitley to an unwanted visitor. She didn’t think she could fake another conversation or pretend to focus on anything other than her pain. When she didn’t respond to the knock, the door opened quietly.
“Whitley, I came to check on you.” Joe’s voice was barely more than a whisper.
“I’m fine.”
“I brought you some herbal tea and a sandwich. I’d like to stay here with you while you eat.”
“I’m not dying, you know. I’ll be fine.”
Joe gently pulled the covers down to expose Whitley’s face. She did her best to look present, and even attempted a small smile; she knew she hadn’t fooled him.
“You might as well sit up and humor me. I made you a cheese sandwich, just the way you like it.”
“With Miracle Whip between the cheese slices?”
“You guessed it. And I took the crust off for you.”
Whitley smiled and reached for the sandwich. She devoured it in no time; the pain often nauseated her, so she rarely ate. The tea was soothing and just the perfect drinking temperature.
“Thank you, Joe.”
“Anything for you.”
She held his gaze for a moment before feeling the blush creep into her cheeks. She struggled to remember what his face looked like with the scars and marks of his former life. His face no longer bore any sign of what was there when he first walked into the book store.
“You need to rest. I’ll tuck you in.”
“Joe? Not to sound weird, but can you stay for a little while? At least until I fall asleep?”
Joe gave her a half smile and nodded. She patted the bed to let him know it was alright to join her. He sat on top of the blankets and leaned against the headboard. Whitley snuggled into the blankets again and rested her head on his shoulder. He slid down until she was lying comfortably on his chest and looped his arm around her back.
“Sleep, Whitley. I’ll be here as long as you need.”
Whitley closed her eyes and let the heaviness of his arm on her back comfort her enough to fall asleep.
She wasn’t in the white expanse. There were people all around her. It was chaotic. The sea of bodies hit her in waves as she struggled to make sense of where she was. A large mountain loomed before her, and the people throngs of people moved toward it.
“Whitley!”
She turned at the sound of her name to find herself face to face with the last person she expected to find. The Creator smiled widely at her and held out his arms to welcome her to his home. She looked over her shoulder again and found she was no longer surrounded by the souls making their way into Eternity. She was standing in the Great Hall. She remembered it from the vision she shared with Kerr.
“What am I doing here?”
“I thought it time we talked about your true purpose.”
“I thought I knew that. I’m just supposed to be the go-between for Eternity and the real world, right? Only lately there’s been some interference with the signal.”
The Creator laughed loudly. His laughter was full of joy and amusement.
“That’s one way to see it, I suppose. But that’s not really the full extent of my plan.”
“Alright, then please enlighten me.”
“You have a special connection with Eternity and the human world. Your soul has lived in both. That is why you have the ability to communicate with the Council. That is why you have been hearing the voices of the new souls that have joined us.”
“And that’s been a real joy.”
“I am sorry about that, Whitley. That’s why I’ve brought you here. Your brain couldn’t handle the pressure much longer. The headaches caused a bleed in your brain.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Am I dead again?”
“No, not yet. After you fell asleep on Joe, he couldn’t wake you. You’ve been here for a few days.”
Whitley didn’t know what to think. She started to feel lightheaded and sat down on one of the large stone chairs. She was in a coma? Her family had more important things to worry about than her, but she was sure they were all panicking about her current state.
“What can I do?” Whitley asked, although she was afraid of the answer.
“I can offer you two choices. The first choice is to remain here; you will die from the hemorrhaging in your brain.”
Whitley was not expecting to hear that after everything she had been through. The Creator had given her life after she died before. Now, because of something out of her control, she was staring down the barrel of death again.
“The other option is to return to your body . . . ”
Whitley cut him off. “That one.”
“But you will no longer have communication with Eternity.”
“Oh.”
Whitley wanted to live, but she also wanted to be useful. Her ability to speak to the Council of Immortals had helped them understand many things. If she couldn’t talk to them, she would be a liability to her family.
“I know what you’re thinking. But you’re wrong. You bring much more to the table than you think, and you forget that you aren’t the only powerless member of your family now. Dorian, Romulus, and Tahlia are all mortal and without abilities. Joe and Callie have been given the opportunity to live and help as humans. Really, at this point, more of you are powerless than blessed with abilities.”
Whitley thought about all he’d said. The Creator was right. And if she was being given the choice between dying now or living to at least try to help her family fight against Absalom, she knew what she had to do.
“If I choose to live, will you heal the bleed?”
“Yes. And you will not suffer any lasting effects as a result.”
“Send me back, please.”
The Creator smiled. “You are a brave and loyal person. Your family is lucky to have you.”
Her eyes fluttered open to see Joe sound asleep in a chair next to her bed. She grinned and felt a tear slide down her cheek. The pain was gone. She was home.
Chapter Seventeen:
Hadley
Hadley was ticked. Her sister had been one nosebleed from death and didn’t even think to tell her. She was relieved that her sister had chosen to live, but it didn’t make her any less upset by the situation.
“She didn’t want to upset us with everything we have going on. You can’t
really fault her for that,” Thatcher told her.
“You don’t understand, Thatcher. I already lost her once; for five freaking years!”
Thatcher had the sense to shut-up and let her finish her rant. She was angry, and nothing was going to stop her from yelling about it for a little while. With everything going on in their lives, she couldn’t handle losing Whitley again. She stormed out of their room and straight into Whitley’s. Her seething look was all Joe needed to tell him it was time to leave. He closed the door behind him.
“Hadley, I’m sorry.”
“No. Whitley, you don’t get to apologize for this. I am so tired of everyone in this family thinking they need to become a martyr when something isn’t going well.”
Whitley stared blankly at the wall as she waited for Hadley to continue her tirade. Hadley studied her twin’s face and her resolve softened slightly. She knew her anger was less about her sister’s decision to hide how serious her headaches had gotten and more about her selfish desire to keep her sister alive.
“You can’t do this to me, not now.”
“Oh, cuz there’s a good time for me to have a brain bleed and die?”
“That’s not—“
Hadley was cut off by a knock at the door. Tahlia and Eric burst in and tackled both girls in a bear hug. Hadley snuggled in to enjoy the warmth and safety of her parents’ arms. She could wait to tell Whitley the secret she’d been keeping for a few more minutes.
“I’m so glad you’re alright. Are you going for a record or something?” Tahlia teased.
“You see these gray hairs? This side is from you, and this side is from Hadley. Notice the imbalance?” Eric gestured to his hair that had taken on a definite silver hue.
“I’m okay. I honestly didn’t think it was as bad as it was. I thought I just had migraines until the bleeding started. Everyone had more important things to focus on with the world freezing over and all.”
Hadley shook her head. Stupid martyr syndrome. After a few more minutes of hugs and reassurances, their parents excused themselves to visit with Dorian before they had to leave again. Hadley closed the door again and sat on her sister’s bed.