by B R Coelho
I begin reading the book again. Trying to figure out the past of Mayan mythology. It tells of the god-king of the Mayans named Kukulcan or more famously Quetzacoatl, I can’t even begin to pronounce that if I tried. It says that he was the creator of the Mayan kingdom. He was a giant feathered snake with colors that matched the rainbow. From deep-crimson red to bright-sick green.
He is the creator of the world and mankind. He was the one who offered science, agriculture and the crafts to the ancient Mayan people. He showed them how to construct the Mayan calendar, how to build their pyramids. Absolutely no mention of the mind goddess at all. I pulled out the third eye from my backpack. It didn’t make sense. Why is there little to no mention of this? I’m definitely not imagining all of this. Who was telling the truth? The book? Or the goddess?
At that moment I receive a text. I check my notifications. Its Lauren. Finally, someone responded. She tells me that we’ve all been suspended from school. All because of me. I’m dumbstruck. They didn’t do anything. They don’t deserve to suffer my punishment too. Lauren sends a final text to me:
“Thanks for everything, you psychic freak, I knew being your friend would get me in trouble.”
Still nothing from Cathy or Brie. I’m sure they feel the same way. It’s not so bad. I’ve been in worse situations before. But still they didn’t deserve to get punished for what I did. It then dawns on me how powerful a pull Octavia has in the small town.
I’m pretty sure I didn’t even hurt her that badly. Just tossed her six feet in the air. Wasn’t that big of a deal. In any case, Josh Norman and Octavia Summers deserve what happened to them. Treating people like that is never right in my book. Now I have to figure out how I’m going to explain the suspension to my parents.
Arlington Hospital. The gleaming brand-new sign says on the large building. It looks like it’d been renovated recently. Jeanine waves goodbye as she drives off. I smile and wave at her. I never told her about the suspension. She’s a nice enough neighbor, but she didn’t have to hear about everything going wrong in my life. It was now or never. Mom had taken time off work to watch over Nana while Dad was at work. So, I knew that I had to break the bad news to her first.
I walk up to the reception desk. The lady at the desk, has a permanent scowl on it. Like she was forced to work there or something.
“Yes?”, she asks.
“I’m here to visit Mrs. Gonzalez”, I say, smiling brightly, trying to hide my disdain.
“When did she come in?”, she prods, chewing on her gum with that awful gob-smacking chewing noise.
“Last night.”, I say. God! If only I could slap her. I stare at her cup of coffee on the table. It rose slowly. She didn’t notice. She was busy turning pages on the large file on her desk.
“Ah! Yes, Mrs. Gonzalez she’s in ward 2 room 235. Just straight down the hall, take the elevator to the second floor, and take a right and then a left and you should be there. Any questions?”, She offers me a fake smile. It’s so plastic. Ugh! Like a grinning alligator. I’d read her mind and needless to say I wasn’t too happy with what she thought of me:
“…now get out of my sight you little peep-squeak…”
“Thanks!”, I lie with a forced smile. I give the coffee cup a push. It sails across the table in slow motion. And before she notices anything, the hot liquid drops all over her lap.
“AHHH!!”, she screams, jumping up and grabbing paper towels, as the cup shatters on the floor.
I walk away smiling glibly. At least I had a small victory for the day. I followed the receptionist’s instructions, and I was at Nana’s room. The door was partially open. I knocked on it. Mom opens the door.
“Selena!”, she hugs me. I really needed that.
“How is she?”
“She’s doing fine now, doctors still don’t know what’s wrong with her.”, Mom says. Her eyes are red. She looks like she’s been crying all day. I honestly don’t want to tell her about my suspension letter yet. So, I’ll wait until Dad gets here from work.
“How was school honey? You look tired today.”, She asks me running her hand through my hair. She had that Mother’s intuition.
“It went great Mom.”, I lie trying my best to give her an assuring smile.
I walk over to look at Nana. She looks like she’s fast asleep. She isn’t in any pain as far as I can tell. Please don’t die Nana, not now. I’ve got so many questions to ask. I think to myself.
“Selena?!”, Nana speaks through thought-speech. The realization makes me almost jump for joy, but I steady myself. No reason to alert Mom.
“Oh my god! Nana? Nana are you alright?”, I’m screaming in thought-speech.
“Selena, are you okay?”, Mom asks, looking at me with an arched eyebrow. I may have seemed strange to her, smiling at my comatose grandmother, but I didn’t care. My theory was right, I could speak to Nana through her coma.
“I’m alright Mom, I just have a feeling that Nana’s going to alright.”, I say.
“Selena, where am I, what is happening out there?”, Nana asks me.
“You don’t know? You’re in the hospital Nana. You’re in a coma. The doctors don’t know what’s wrong with you yet. What’s the last thing you remember?”, I ask, aching to get to the bottom of who put her in a coma and ruined our house.
“Oh god! I remember now. Someone was at the door. I went to answer it, and it was a woman. Then…I don’t know I think I blacked out or something. It’s all very fuzzy right now. Then I woke up just now. How long have I been out of it? A couple of hours?”, Nana says, her thought-voice has an edge of fear in it as she speaks about the strange woman.
“You’ve spent the whole of last night and today in hospital. How come you can’t wake up? You seem to be thinking okay. What’s wrong?”, I ask still puzzled at the whole spectacle.
“I feel as if I am trapped in a box and I can’t move. Something is keeping me from getting up. All around me is some dark magic. I think whoever did this to me, could be one of us. An indigo child.”
“An indigo child? Nana, do you remember anything about the woman? Color of her clothes? Anything?”, I ask, desperate for an answer. Maybe it might lead me to figure out a way to bring Nana back from this coma.
“I tried to read her mind, but…something happened. I can’t seem to remember. There was something about a school…”, Nana says.
“School? What kind of school? Trade school?”, I ask.
“No…no…for kids. Arlington High-school, it said on the banner, when I read her mind. She blocked me out. I remember now, she blocked me out of her head. She has the same powers as us.”, Nana is getting ecstatic now.
“Do you remember anything about her appearance? Her voice? Did she say anything to you?”.
“It was raining, couldn’t really hear anything. Yes! She wore glasses. She had dark hair.”
Glasses? Dark hair? And from a high school. Hmmm. That sounds almost like…No! It couldn’t be, but I had to be sure. I tried accessing Nana’s memories but they seemed distorted and jumbled. As if someone had tampered with them somehow. Nana couldn’t let me in to her mind in her coma state. The coma was like a prison for her. It was as if someone had shut down all her motor skills, except for her consciousness. Nana was like a completely paralyzed person who could hear and feel but couldn’t move, or react.
I kept prodding through her memories. Whoever did this was also able to block memories. This person was extremely dangerous. Then I see a face, it’s blurry, but unmistakeable. The jade earrings, the black hair. Oh no! The person that attacked Nana was Ms. Stanger.
Chapter Eight
It was her. There was no mistaking it. That image is now burned into my retina. I had seen her wear the same jade earrings to school multiple times.
“Selena, Dad’s here.”, Mom says. I snap out of my thoughts and return to reality. I run to hug him. He looks beat. Probably from all the stress of work and thinking about Nana, not to mention he spent the whole night awake. I don’t thin
k showing him my suspension letter right now would be the best idea.
“How is she?”, Dad asks nodding in Nana’s direction.
“She’s fine, that’s what the doctors say, but they still can’t figure out what’s wrong with her yet.”, Mom says, biting her lower lip in contemplation.
“Did you guys eat anything? I’m starving.”, Dad exhales, setting his heavy briefcase on the ground as he plants himself heavily on the bedside chair.
“Umm…no nothing yet.”, I say timidly. I look over at Nana. I can feel her struggling to get out of that mental cocoon. She’s trying her hardest but it won’t work.
“Don’t worry Nana I’ll figure out a way to help you.”
“I haven’t eaten since morning, why don’t we grab something on the way home. I don’t think I can cook today.”, Mom says looking over at Dad.
“Sure, sure. I just wish the doctors could tell us what the hell is going on with Nana.”, Dad says in frustration.
“Did the police say anything yet?”, I ask, hoping for some more clues.
“No. Nothing. I just gave a statement and that was it. Haven’t called me back since.”, Dad says rubbing his tired eyes.
“Okay. Let’s get something to eat. We can come and see Nana tomorrow.”, Mom says, she looks really tired. She and Dad had spent the whole night here at the hospital.
We get home and the place just doesn’t feel right without Nana. I already miss our private conversations we used to have, while in different rooms. It was uncanny at first, but it was so convenient. I still haven’t told my parents about school suspending me. I’m still trying to figure out how to break this gently to them. Luckily tomorrow’s Saturday, so I have till Monday to do this. Suddenly, my phone buzzes. I check it. It’s Cathy.
Cathy just sent me a text. It says: “Meet me tomorrow in the mall. At 11. Don’t be late.”
I text her back, asking how she’s been. No answer. I guess she’s still scared or mad at me for what happened on Halloween. Brie still hasn’t responded. I wouldn’t be surprised if her parents grounded her for her suspension. No friends, no TV, no phone, no going out etc, etc. You know the usual. For the first time in my life, I had no idea what I was going to do about school. Breaking this news to my parents will be devastating to them. They believed in me, they were actually proud of me. But now this?
I was accustomed to practicing my telekinetic powers every night. Tonight, I don’t want to do it. Tonight, I just want to figure out why Ms. Stanger would attack Nana and trash our house. Was this revenge for what happened in the principal’s office? And what kind of powers did she have? I don’t think it was revenge. No. She was looking for something. But what? What could she have been searching for, unless…Oh crap! The eye? Could it be the third eye? I jump up from bed and rummage through my clothes for the necklace. Phew! It’s still there. I sigh with relief. If only I could contact Alo and ask her what to do next. Those are my last thoughts as I finally drift off to sleep.
As I fall asleep, I begin to dream. I dream of Nana. She’s imprisoned in some kind of dark hole. The hole is like quicksand and she’s slowly being sucked into it. Nana is crying out to me. But I can’t help. How do I help? What do I do? At that moment, I can feel a presence. The same presence I felt in my dream. It’s Uncle Gomez.
“Selena, thank the gods. I’ve been trying to reach you, but some dark force has been preventing me”, Uncle Gomez says.
“What is happening to Nana? Who did this? Can you help?”, I ask.
“This is the work of another powerful god. Yes, the god of death Xibalba”, Uncle Gomez says a sorrowful look on his face.
“A god of death?”
“Yes! He’s a plague, Selena. Xibalba is only concerned with one thing. Plunging all of life into darkness and chaos. It is his nature to bring everything under his dominion, and then twist it into madness.”, Uncle Gomez says, watching Nana being slowly swallowed by the dark quicksand. Nana looks up at us, does she recognize us? Is this real? Am I actually watching Nana from some dream reality?
“Someone has placed the curse of Xibalba on Mama.”
“Do you know who it is?”, I ask, hoping at least for confirmation that it was Ms. Stanger.
“No! There is something obscuring my vision. The powers of Xibalba are cloaking this individual. But for one thing I am certain. They are a member of your school. And they are influencing the school members there. Be wary of them Selena.”
“But why are they attacking us, aren’t we all…indigo children?”, I ask.
“Xibalba’s powers are similar to Alom, but he specializes in the powers of illusion, mind-control, and death. Xibalba relishes and becomes more powerful in the presence of death and destruction. War has always strengthened him. That is why he seeks the eye, Selena. Because he knows that without the eye, the chosen one cannot control their power, and hence cannot stop the coming war. He sensed the third eye had come onto the plane of the living.”
“So, he sent someone over to Nana to take it.”, I say, finally understanding.
“Yes, but he sent his servant to Nana. Now his servant knows that you have the eye Selena. And they will do anything to retrieve it. Be wary of everyone in the school. I sense a dark presence hovering over it and it grows stronger with each day.”
“Why don’t we just ask Alo to help us? Identify the person who did this, and end the curse.”, I ask, looking at Nana’s soul slowly being sucked into the ever-growing void.
“The gods have decreed that they cannot directly interfere with the affairs of mortals. They can only do so indirectly.”
“So, what you’re basically saying is we’re on our own, right?”
“Precisely.”
“Great, thanks for nothing.”
“Do not insult the goddess of the mind! To free Nana from Xibalba’s curse, you would need to find whoever conjured this spell and compel them to undo it.”
“I kind of figured that out. But, how will I go to school? I’m suspended.”
“Yes, there is a way. But remember this, Xibalba likes to corrupt from within. Put your trust in those who deserve it.”
“How will I know who to trust?”
“Time will tell, Selena. Time reveals all.”, Uncle Gomez says as the dream fades. His last words are still echoing in my mind as I wake up with a start.
My pendant is glowing now, illuminating the whole room in bright violet. Is the third eye capable of letting me speak to the dead in dreams? Darn it! I forgot to ask Uncle Gomez about the mythology stories in the library. I stuff the pendant in my drawer and within minutes drift off to sleep.
I’m standing by the arcade at the mall. I keep looking at my phone. She’s late. Maybe she won’t show. Maybe something happened to her. Did Xibalba’s agent get to Cathy? No it couldn’t be. It’s 11:10 now. It’s not like her to be this late. What could have gone wrong?
Just then I see a familiar face in the distance. Brie? Could that really be her? Lauren. Holy crap its Lauren. They’re walking side by side toward me. And just behind them I notice Cathy. It’s the crew. The whole gang is here. They keep looking around them suspiciously as if someone was following them. When they see me, their faces brighten.
“Selena!”, Brie shouts, as she rushes to hug me. That’s odd. Weren’t these guys afraid of me just a couple of days ago? Lauren seems cold and aloof toward me. Cathy is a little stand-offish too. We hug and greet each other.
“For the record this wasn’t my idea.”, Cathy says looking over at Brie.
“It was mine.”, Brie chuckles nervously. Lauren just looks at me and grunts.
“Let’s go somewhere quiet. The Dungeon.”, Brie says, almost too enthusiastically.
“Dungeon?”, I ask, I’m not really familiar with the places in the mall.
“It’s a sweet book store that sells comic books, costumes, table-top games and has a cool private restaurant where you can sit and talk with friends. Even play DnD.”, Brie blurts out all this information. She seems a little too ex
cited. I’m kind of weirded out by her behaviour.
“Where is it?”, I ask. Brie walks me over to the stair railing. We peak over the balcony, looking down 3 floors of the mall.
“All the way down there in the basement of the mall.”, Brie says pointing, pushing her glasses up her nose.
We head there, Brie talking excitedly the whole time. Lauren looks like she doesn’t want to be there. She keeps giving me the eye and slinking away from the group. I think Cathy feels the same way, she’s just being too polite to show them.
“Alright, here we are.”, Brie announces. The whole place does look like a dungeon. Halloween decorations are still up, which makes it even creepier. There are kids and teens running around the place, some in super-hero costumes. Suffice it to say, it is a total nerd fest. Which is right up my alley. Brie picks out a spot since it seems like she’s the only one who’s been down here. Lauren and Cathy just feel so out of place here, and a little grumpy.
“Sorry I couldn’t reply to your texts.”, Brie starts as soon as we’re seated.
“Mom and Dad grounded me, infact I’m still grounded, they only allowed me to come here because I told them it was an emergency.”, Brie says.
“Okay, you guys hear the good news?”, Brie asks sipping from a cup of strawberry-vanilla Frappuccino.
“Umm…good news? What good news? That we’ve all been suspended from school for fighting?”, Lauren asks rolling her eyes at Brie.
“No…no they’ve overturned the decision. Didn’t you guys get the call and email from school?”, Brie says slurping her Frappuccino noisily.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t looked at my e-mail in ages. Plus, the phone number that was registered at school for my parents was our old landline. That was why my parents were still in the dark about my suspension. They never replaced the phone number.