A Cursed All Hallows' Eve

  Ahti continued on, “Luca probably told you the religious institutions built their worship places at the junctures where the energy grid intersects and creates portals to the earth. Once evil happens in these places, like what happened in this untold story of the witch hunts, the portals become blocked, affecting the energy flow of the entire astral plane. Centuries of negativity have clogged these places, much like the arteries of the heart become clogged causing a human heart attack. Comparatively, it is best to get to the sources of the first negativity to clear it, much like the invasive open heart surgery. Does that help it to all make sense? Do you understand why you have been called here together?” She nodded her head when Luca did, not knowing what else to do.

  “Good, set it all right. Use whatever means necessary to clear this area as best you can. While you remain here with Kamillia, Luca, you are fully human and are free to interact with Kamillia as you both wish. I cannot stress this enough, it is your biggest challenge. Live in the now, or you both will fail. The pain of the past will bring about negativity, as will the fearful thoughts of your future. Follow your intuition and any signs given you as to where to go. You will know what you have to do once you get there. Luca will help you, Kamillia. Peace be with you both, and live in unconditional love. It is all the universe understands because it was built with it.

  “I am sorry, but I must go.” Ahti stood abruptly. “I am needed elsewhere.”

  With that, he bowed towards them, and then turned and walked toward the door. Only, he vanished before ever reaching it. With the disappearance of his body went his peace, and she found herself devastated by her own pain. Kamillia literally coiled onto the bed, never having experienced such torturous sentiments before, even when she’d lost her grandmother. This was different. The pain of centuries mixed with the agony and confusion of today, which incorporated worries of her uncertain future. At that moment, she understood completely what Ahti had said about living in the now, or they would fail.

  Her tears flowed without sobs as she was compressed under the weight of all she knew. She had no choice now but to believe both Luca and Ahti. She did not even notice when Luca fell over her. He held her on the bed, saying nothing. However, the realization of his tears proved her crushing blow. She literally lost consciousness.

  ***

  He sat up and pulled her into his arms when her breathing slowed. Even realizing her unconscious state, he didn’t call for help after all she had been through. He didn’t want to overreact causing her any more grief. He could sense her carnal well being, even as it flooded with the courser, more base affections. Her overwrought spirit had become overwhelmed it into a state of abeyance.

  What he couldn’t get past, as he tried to find some positive power within himself to help her, was he was allowed to love this alluring creature he now held. He had been in love with her for centuries—with her sublime will, her elegant beauty, and her unrelenting compassion in both lives. He had always thought the small part of him which ached, the part of him he had been fighting for centuries in order to keep the positive energy flowing, was just his loss of his past. In a way, he had had no idea how close to the mark he had been.

  Looking at her, fighting to help her, he knew Ahti’s words were brutally true. They were going to have to let go of the past and of the uncertainty of their future if they were going to be able to help at all. He still had no memories from his past life, and he knew he never would as they had been erased from him when made a Watcher.

  However, the residue of the love he had for her then he still carried in his soul, something so powerful no one, nothing could erase it. Despite this lack of memories, he suffered her pain as his own still, and he had to help them both, along with the rest of the world.

  He was the Watcher. So, he had to find a way to live in the present with her and to help her do the same. He grew profoundly thankful the memories had been erased after hearing such a story. Although he had felt it through her this afternoon and he had envisioned it to some extent as Ahti told it, he could never falter by going into his memories. He would never have to fight the horrifically specific, visual details of such a diabolical and heinous event as she would. It would surely help him in the job he had been called to do; and, in turn, he would make sure it would help her, too.

  His biggest problem was going to be to not think about the future and what could never be for them. In the end, succeed or fail, he’d have to walk away from her. There were couples together at The River. They, too, had no memories of their lives together on Earth, but their souls recognized each other in any form exactly as Ahti had said of them. Be that as it may, this meant for her to be with him there, she would have to die; and for him to be with her here, she would have to be in trouble. Neither option was okay with him.

  Even Ahti had no control over what would happen to them now. It was purely a Divine choice, and no one ever found out the exact why of it all. She could have more lives to live. Immediately, his mind went to thoughts of her in another life with another man, and it turned his stomach.

  He knew he had to find a way to let this all go, and quickly. Started to rouse and he could feel tiny tremors rippling through her body. He watched as she stirred in his arms.

  “Kamillia,” he spoke softly. “Come back to me. Are you okay?”

  She opened her eyes and looked at him as if she were seeing a ghost. “Luca?”

  It had unmistakably been a question.

  “Yes, Kamillia, it is Luca. You are al right. With me here, in the present. Safely here in the twenty-first century.”

  “I saw us again, as Alessandrina and Luca. You were wearing the necklace I had made for you. You told me, or he told her, that he was going to find a way for them to be together. It seemed so sweet then, and she cried when he kissed her. Yet, with my eyes open now, it seems so tragic. It has taken hundreds of years for us to find our way back to each other, to be together.”

  “We are going to have to get past all of this, and live in the present like Ahti said. At least, here, we are together again.”

  Not wanting to waste another moment of it, he pulled her up and kissed her with as much passion as he could let go of without hurting her.

  Chapter Nine

  When he pulled back to look down upon her, she grew determined to erase all traces of the agony from his eyes. She accepted him as he was by giving herself over to him completely. No more doubts were going to get in their way.

  Even if he was an immortal, a Watcher, he was something honorable rather than destructive. If she was just going crazy by accepting it all, she was going to choose to go with it anyway. He was better than anyone else she had ever experienced before.

  While she could not change the past or get around the uncertainty of their future, Ahti’s advice struck her.

  Without asking why, she would be in the present where he crushed her body against his. She would deal with the future when it came. In the meantime, she was determined to make a few memories. She tried to recall what it was her Mammie use to read to her from one of her favorite books.

  “Be with yourself just the way you are… Know you have enough… You know enough… You are enough.” She smiled at the words. Her Mammie would be thrilled to know they had not only stuck with her, but were going to serve her. “When you finally accept all that you are and all that you have in the precious present, you will be truly happy.”

  “Where did that come from?”

  “Mammie used to read it too me. She was always stopping as she read to share the wisdom she gained with Poppie and me. That particular book she reread a lot. I think it was simply called, The Precious Present. I guess it is what Ahti was telling us.”

  “Yes, I used to understand the concept perfectly, and couldn’t understand why everyone else didn’t choose to live the same way, too. Now, I get why it was so easy for me. My past had been erased, and my future was clearing The River. It was a simple existence mentally and spiritually to some degree, with only empathetic feel
ings to deal with and no fear of death.”

  “So that you could do your job the best you could, they took away all of your emotional baggage from the past and any worries as to the future. Your only aspirations were to fix the present.”

  “I guess so.”

  “There is nothing wrong with that. What you do is an amazingly honorable job. Instead of whatever peace there is to be found in death, you have worked through yours. But, do you wish you had never met me? I mean, I messed up the whole emotional part for you. When you go back…” She hated the fact her voice broke. Determined to be the strong woman he loved here in this moment with him for however long it lasted, she did not want to hurt him in the time they had left. “When you go back, you will have to forget, or at least overcome, your pain of losing me to have access to the positive energy your job requires.”

  “I cannot think of it now. It will be a problem for then. Can you live only for the way our two bodies fit together in whatever short period of time we have? Can you live with the pleasure I can give you in this moment?”

  “Yes, I can.” Or I will die trying.

  He lifted her chin with one hand, allowing the other the freedom to run down the inviting curve of her neck. His lips caressed her skin and made her blood throb through her veins under it. Her flesh thrilled under the burn of his hands. A sweltering urgency pumped through her to learn of all the glorious pleasures he had just alluded to. She tightly shut her eyes and pushed against him.

  “I didn’t think a man like you existed for me.”

  “I am not a man.” His voice had quickly taken on a forlorn, warning tone. However, she chose not to heed it.

  “You are a man in the present moment, the one you just told me to live in with you. I love you, here, now.”

  She decided to see what power she could yield over his physical longings, hoping they would push aside his biased conscience. Fisting the silky waves of his hair on the back his neck, she brought his lips to hers. With a persuasive thrust of her tongue, she found her way into his mouth. She let her hands fall to his shoulders, where she felt his every muscle to be tight. Loving the sturdiness of her valiant warrior, she showed it by lashing at his tongue with hers. She prayed it would be an inescapable diversion to rid him of any moral influences still lingering in his head. There was a time when she would have found his staunch morals to be as alluring as his muscles, but enough was enough. This moment was about nothing other than reuniting two old souls who had long ago been torn apart. This was about rectifying centuries of wrongful separation.

  Sneaking her fingers between them, she found the front of his trousers. A feral groan escaped him as he grabbed for her wrists.

  “You said you were going to live in the present with me,” she complained.

  “I am, but I also want to make it last. Therefore, I need to remain restrained or it will be over much too soon. So, my plan is to get you naked in the present first.”

  He pushed up on his knees beside her. His solid form lulled her body into a provocative curl of arms and legs. He yanked her shirt over her head, revealing her silky, white bra. When he clenched his teeth together and she felt a shudder seize his body, she looked down upon herself proudly to the two hardened nipples that hinted a blush of color through the material.

  “You could not possibly comprehend what you are doing to me.” With fluent actions, he divested her of the bottom half of her clothing, too. The rush of the moving fabrics over her flesh left her tingling. She followed his gaze to the shadow of curls at the apex of her thighs. A surge of longing moistened her core

  He stroked his fingers through the hair, letting the tight rings fall over her moist folds. Lowering his head, he placed a whisper of a kiss on her sex. As she was inundated by her senses, his tongue found her. It was gentle and persistent in its assault, persuading her to push herself against his mouth. A robust, haughty laugh of passion shook him as he met her advance by pushing his tongue into her quivering opening. She suddenly found herself upon a mercurial precipice. The throbbing inside her was overcome by a wave of trembles. A wash of heat made her tighten and then relax her inner walls, and she thrust against his mouth with each wave of her orgasm. When she opened her eyes again, she found him peering up at her. His eyes were all she could see above her mound. Lowering her back to the bed, his robust smile shined with the telltale signs of her need.

  She watched as he swiftly removed his clothing. Thanks to the light left on beside the bed, the taunt muscles of his shoulders, abdomen, and thighs rippled before her. She thought him just the picture a hero should be. When he reached down to brush his hands over her erect nipple, a shock of lightening seared through her. A primitive instinct made her lift her hand to the hardness that appeared to reach for her from its position cradled between his thighs. With a ferocious moan, he fell onto her with the gentleness of a lover, despite his solid mass.

  Feeling the weight of his need on the sensitive skin of her thigh, Kamillia arched up against him in response. The flutter in the pit of her stomach was volatile. Any lingering, whispered warnings had been finally shrouded by her desires. She no longer wished to be sensible, or even slightly realistic, if she could not be with this man.

  She was surprised by the gentle kiss he gave her at first, until he fisted his hands into her hair and sought entry into her mouth. Each sweep of his tongue met with hers, and she felt his body tremble. Feeling the muscles ripple where his abs pressed against hers, she opened her thighs in invitation. He settled between them with his shaft lying along her wet folds. Her moist flesh shivered in the prelude to joining, causing the muscles in her stomach to clench.

  It was not long before she couldn’t take just kissing him any longer, and she thrust upward. His erection touched the delicate skin that lead up inside of her. Her body relaxed in places, while it tensed in others. A bundle of nerves and need. He pulled away from her mouth, leaving her breathless and wanting.

  Yet, she didn’t have to wait long before her hero’s hardness entered her, filling her entrance. He used his arms to brace his upper body to hover above her, allowing himself to slide deeper into her slick, heated channel. She glanced down to see the point where their bodies mingled. Dragging her tired legs up over his sturdy muscles, she pulled him fully into her, the fullness making her breath hitch.

  He leaned over her, pulling her into his full embrace and letting his face rest beside hers, his mouth cradled at the side of her throat. His breath came in hot pants, moistening her neck. With each thrust, her inner walls clenched around him, begging him for more.

  “I love you, Kamillia.”

  She felt the tears burn her eyes. The flush of total relaxation, which comes from two lovers becoming one, heated her entire body. She felt the waves of her release as she shattered around the last of his movements.

  Chapter Ten

  “When we get to the church, you will probably begin having flashes again. Remember, even though I was there, too, I will not have any. I will feel your emotions and the energy of the place. You can tell me what you see, if you feel you can. What we have to do is release the negative energy there, primarily through forgiveness. We must essentially right a wrong; overcome the bad with what is good. I hope doing it together will be a huge help to us both.”

  Luca had been combing his fingers through the ends of her hair as he spoke.

  They were still cuddled up together in bed when the sun finally rose on this day. Halloween. While her grandfather had only texted he would be unable to make it to the church yesterday, of course unable to explain, Luca had grown as concerned about the man and what was going on with him, as he knew Kamillia to be. Still, he knew they had to go right away to begin their clearing. As much as he wanted to, he could not postpone the inevitable, knowing it was only a matter of time before he would be called away, succeed or fail, back to his post or reassigned to another job. He could not selfishly put it off when this city was in the state it was. More and more as the years passed did the spiritual real
ms have to lead the mortals, even if it was only to whisper reassurance.

  He immediately tried to release the feelings welling up in him when he thought of how little time they could have left. It choked him, making it impossible to even exist if he let himself think on it for even a second. He would get beyond it for her, and this world she had to live in. It was the only way he was going to make it through this job. It was the first time failure even seemed a possible option, and he couldn’t have that. Not this time, not with her, no matter what it cost him.

  “Luca, why do clearings have to be done at all of these individual places on the Earth? Why can’t someone like Ahti, with all of his powerful and evasive peace, just clear the planet?”

  “Because planetary clearing is overwhelming, even for immortals. You know the saying, it is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness?” He paused as she nodded, sliding her silky mass of curls on his chest. He hardened even more than he had already just waking up to find her in his arms. “It would be easier if everyone would just claim dominion over their own consciousness and align themselves again with the Source or the Divine or whatever they chose to call it. Today, even just waking people up from their complacency would be an immense help. Most go through their days as robots because they are overwhelmed with all life requires of them. I think they worry if they stop for just one brief second to appreciate something not only will all of their stress and fears drown them, but they will miss an opportunity to have just a little more.”

  “So, what do we single candles need to do today?” She played her fingers nervously through the hairs on his chest when she looked up at him. All he wanted to do was take her, but he was obligated to this clearing first.

  “We will first try what we call a Heaven and Earth Clearing. Once we get there and see what we are facing, each time a flash comes to you, whether it is a feeling or a vision, you are going to have to forgive and let it go. This is done by making yourself a conduit with your roots in the earth and your thoughts in alignment with the Heavens. The Divine is unconditional love regardless of any other thing. The more in touch you can get with the source of the energy, the more you will clear away the negative. It is hard to explain, but once we are there, I will be able to direct you through it. When I carried you from the church yesterday, it had blackened more than any portal I have ever seen. You are going to have to face it head on, and trust in me to get you through it.”