I try to fight back by breathing slowly, closing my eyes periodically. The whispers subside briefly. Then they come back with intensity.
The whispers are coming from them, the people here.
I start having hot flashes and feel both nauseous and claustrophobic at the same time. Brightly lit spots start multiplying in my peripheral view and then move over my entire area of vision. Everything begins to spin.
I’m going to pass out.
I hear the cowbell from the front door ring. I turn toward the sound, but by this point, everything is dark. I can’t see anything.
I feel like I am blind. People are talking. The humming becomes louder. The vibration is so strong my skin is tingling with pins and needles. I hear Elisha to my right whisper. “Hey, Jes, you don’t look so good. You’re white as a ghost.”
I feel my body begin to shake.
Then nothing.
When I come to, I hear Elisha talking to someone.
“I don’t know. One minute she was fine. The next, she was walking toward me, white-faced and tipsy. I thought you said her transition would not be so haphazard? Her mind and body will melt down if she keeps going like this, Ezra!”
Ezra?
Someone is pulling me up. I feel warm arms and smell a leather jacket. A cold hand runs over my forehead. I blink my eyes slowly. Elisha is standing in front of me, shooing the crowd away. “Okay, everyone. She’s fine, just a low blood sugar attack. Crazy college students think they can live on one meal of ramen a day.” She laughs a little to try to make light of the situation. “Please keep shopping, and I will ring you up. Our friend Jesca is going to get some real food and rest.”
When I am able, I set myself upright and look at the one comforting me.
Ezra.
“Hi there, Jesca. Did anybody ever tell you that food is a necessity? Elisha says you haven’t eaten today. Tsk, tsk.”
Ezra helps me to my feet.
I look at him with frustrated eyes, but decide to play along. My voice doesn’t hide my anger, though.
“Well, I planned to grab something small after we closed.”
Elisha has her arms crossed over her chest like a protective mother hen.
“Closing time has come and gone for you, sweetheart. Your prof is going to get you some grub. Right, Mr. Kahn?”
“Yes, we’re going to get some food right now.”
The game that they are playing pisses me off. I grit my teeth. “Enough. I heard you while I was coming to. I know that you two know each other.”
Ezra and Elisha look at each other with guilty eyes. A man interrupts from the checkout counter.
“Excuse me, Miss.”
Elisha looks over her shoulder then back at me. She puts her arm on my shoulder. “Hey, text me when you get in, okay.”
She gives me a sorrowful look filled with apologies. I nod and look away. I don’t want to look at her right now. I might say something I will regret later.
Ezra leads me out of the bookstore. The crisp air hits me as soon as the door opens. It helps bring me out of the dizziness I am trying to overcome.
Ezra is on my heels. “That Elisha is a very good friend, Jes. I mean, she seems like she really is protective of you.”
I start to walk more briskly from Benson’s toward Margot’s Deli. “She has been my best friend since we were in kindergarten. She knows everything about me…obviously.”
I give Ezra a sharp look.
Ezra looks down at the concrete as we walk. He blows out his lower lip and messes his hair, making it more out of sorts than it already is.
I see I have ruffled his feathers and decide to push the issue. “What did I say? Oh, you didn’t think I was naïve to the fact that Elisha obviously knows more than she has let on about me. I mean she has been your personal spy, right?”
I growl out of ultimate frustration. “Ahh!”
Ezra steps in front of me to stop my brisk walking.
“Here, let’s get some food at Margot’s. The Rueben is good, but the Club is phenomenal.” Ezra takes hold of my shoulder and leads me into the deli.
Ezra orders for me. He makes sure that Sally packs them to go. I don’t argue. I know that he wants to talk to me about what just happened back at the store, so I let this domineering attribute be for now.
We are walking out of the deli ten minutes later.
“Where are we going?”
Ezra walks briskly, holding the brown sack with our food and drinks. I try to keep up with his long strides.
Why is he not answering me?
I stop in the middle of the sidewalk. “Uh, hello? Where are we going?”
Still walking, Ezra answers me. “We are going to campus. We can eat there and discuss what I should have told you sooner.”
I jog a bit to catch up. “Wait. What did you say?”
I feel the burning start in my throat and travel quickly to the pit of my stomach.
He stops, turns, and looks at me firmly. “We will discuss it when we get there.”
With that, he turns and keeps walking. I follow him closely now. My heart is pounding, wondering what he is going to tell me as soon as we get to his office on campus.
Chapter 9
Ezra’s office is substantial for a professor. It looks more along the lines of a dean’s office. We sit at Ezra’s desk opposite each other and eat in silence. I finish quickly, wanting to get on with what he has to say. I stand and clear my side of the desk as the cue to start the conversation. I dispose of my trash and browse the shelves in the office as Ezra eats. My interest settles on an ant farm.
I mumble sarcastically, “Friends of yours?”
I remember having one when I was eight or nine years old. I would sit for long episodes giving each of them names, personalities, and story lines. They each had a distinct job in the farm. Their purpose was dictated by survival. There were bad days with death or a trapped ant that needed saving. There were good days associated with the cooperation of the ants for the greater good, digging a new passageway to the unknown. I was always so excited for the ants when they cleared the new passage. I knew the big picture of this ant farm. However, I was still so proud of my ants’ victories in their small world.
“They are fascinating little creatures, aren’t they?” Ezra is standing a few feet from me. He walks back to his desk and clears his side. “They are creating their own world in there. Each has a purpose. Each has a significant part in the functionality and nature of their survival individually and cumulatively. Some make good choices and some make bad ones. The natural balance of good and bad reveals itself in everything at some point in time, doesn’t it?”
I look at Ezra, now standing next to me peering into the little world he has given to these ants.
Ezra turns and walks around the room. “You know, we are much like those ants.”
I respond with a hint of skepticism. “We are? How is that?”
Ezra turns and walks toward the wall of books on the other side of the room. “Remember our conversation the first time we ran into each other at Margot’s?”
I nod. “Yes. You were talking about wormholes and how they are not impossible and completely plausible with the right amount of negative mass, like a black hole’s event horizon.”
Ezra eyes me with pride of my recollection. “Well, these little ants are in a pursuit just as many of us are. They want to cut out a new tunnel to something different, better, or greater. Sometimes they tunnel and find they have gone nowhere. Sometimes they tunnel, get trapped, and must be saved. Even more, sometimes there is mutiny against the one that is trapped and injured trying to tunnel. The others either save it or kill and eat it to keep their expanding world unpolluted, no barriers or blockages.”
I let out a sound from within. “Ugh. That is disgusting.”
Ezra says, “Yeah, but haven’t we as humans done such abominating actions throughout history? Concentration camps. Elimination of the perceived weaker of the human race.”
I
nod and wave my hand. “Okay, point taken. The ant farm analogy is getting a little heavy, don’t you think?”
There is silence for a few moments. Tension instantly becomes thick in the air. Lightning striking at any moment.
I can’t wait any longer. I walk toward Ezra and stand in the middle of the room with my hands up. “Okay. So hit me with it. Let’s discuss.”
Ezra extends his hand for me to sit. “Have a seat.”
Ezra sits in his oversized side chair. I sit on the love seat and lean forward in anticipation.
Ezra holds his folded hands over his lips for a few moments. Then he slowly lays both of his hands on either arm of the chair. His gaze is steady on me.
“As a child you were adopted by the Sera family. You have a younger sister, biological to the Sera’s. Her name is Bethany. You were raised in the Christian faith. You were raised to respect the arts and sciences. Your best friend is Elisha Montgomery, who also works with you at Benson’s Book Store. Since you were young, you have been having a reoccurring nightmare. One that has become more frequent and vivid in the recent weeks. You are also experiencing unexplainable abilities and advantages…”
I put my hand up to stop him. “Whoa! What? You mean the warped visions and the high-frequency hearing I have are abilities? How do you know about me? My life? My family?”
I feel so violated. I don’t really know Ezra Kahn, other than he was my professor one semester and has been making regular appearances in my life lately. This man could be a stalker, for all I know. He has been following me around town, expressing growing interest in me. I feel the urge to leave quickly. I know that Ezra feels my urge as well.
Ezra puts his hand on his forehead and lets out a half laugh and half cough. “Jes, I’m not stalking you. I am old enough to be your father, for God’s sake. Your parents and I…Well, let’s just say we are very old friends.” Ezra’s face and tone instantly become serious again.
I’m silent, feeling sabotaged all of a sudden. First, my parents are leaving. Then I discover Elisha’s espionage. Now Ezra knows my parents.
My voice quivers with anger. “Okay, you better start explaining your side of this story. I’m about five minutes from getting up and leaving! Enough on what you know about me! Who the hell are you, and how do you know my parents?” I feel my face getting hot and flushed.
Ezra starts, “I am Ezra Kahn, a guardian.”
I wait. I deserve more than that. “Guardian of what? From what? For who? Me?”
Ezra leans forward in his chair. “You took my introduction to physics class. You remember my lengthy unit on quantum physics and time. World to world travel?”
I sit back into the love seat and cross my arms, giving off the vibe that this better be good, because I have no idea where he is going with this.
Ezra continues, “Substantial theories of plausible wormholes, other worlds, space travel. See, Einstein and Rosen’s theory was the catalyst that inspired others to ‘tunnel’ further and pursue the possibilities of such theories.”
Ezra points to the ant farm. “Just as our little friends, there, have been those that have failed to create tunnels, wormholes, because they didn’t have the knowledge. But there was one who had the knowledge. He created a traverse wormhole that could sustain its opening long enough to allow humans to pass to other worlds and galaxies.”
Arms still crossed, I probe where he is going with this. “Why isn’t he sharing his creation, his knowledge?” I shake my head, trying to grasp for a clearer explanation. “What does this have to do with me?”
I get up, grab my bag, and turn to leave.
Ezra raises his voice in an effort to stop me. His sternness makes me turn to look at him. “It has everything to do with who you are, Jes. On this Earth there are those that have chosen pursuits without a care for humanity. And there are those with the purpose of guarding and protecting humanity from the careless. We are the guardians, your parents, me, and you.”
Chapter 10
Ezra has my attention. I drop my bag at the door and head back to the sofa.
The look on my face must have told Ezra that I am still completely lost in this fantastical story that he has thought up.
Ezra shows his irritation. “Do you believe in Heaven and Hell?”
“Yes. Of course I do.”
“What if I told you that I have a theory that Heaven and Hell are very real and could have been created during the metaphoric clap of God’s hands creating the ripple called ‘The Big Bang Theory’. That clap of His hands was enough mass to spawn multiple universes, galaxies, and worlds. Two of those spawned worlds could very well be Heaven and Hell.”
He pauses to let me think on that for a minute.
“What if I also told you that I believe that Jesus was the first traveler between this world and Heaven as he ascended after his crucifixion. My theory is His death created enough negative matter to open a wormhole, allowing His ascension to join His Father in this other world, Heaven.”
My chest feels heavy as I take in the fascinating visuals of possibilities coming from Ezra’s theories. Still, in the back of my mind, I am wondering where this is all going. What in the hell does world jumping, negative matter, and humanity’s salvation have to do with me?
Ezra leans forward in response to my thought. “I will tell you,” he says and continues, telling me the story of Sebastian.
* * *
In the early 1940’s, a physicist by the name of Sebastian Onoch became very interested in pursuing Einstein’s research, especially the traverse wormhole theory he developed with Rosen. The potential of creating traverse wormholes to other areas of space-time through the Casmir Effect of creating antigravity, electromagnetic waves, and negative energy was his fascination. His career as a physicist for the US government was very mundane and uneventful, filled with pencil-pushing and routine standards expected of him on a daily basis. He lived for his passion of physics outside of his day job.
Sebastian lived here, in Georgia, with his wife, Dobria, and their two sons, Caleb and Balthazar. Caleb was the oldest son. He was very athletic, intelligent, a people pleaser, and kind hearted. Balthazar was also intelligent and precocious, but lacked the social intelligence and personality his brother had. Balthazar spent much of his time reading, researching, problem-solving, and studying. They were both very strong-willed children. And they shared one other common thread. They were both starved for Sebastian’s attention, acceptance, and love.
One day Sebastian received a call late in the afternoon. It was the boys’ school. The director said that Dobria did not make it in to pick up the boys and asked if he could come get them. Sebastian picked up the boys and headed home. The entire drive home, Sebastian was in a fog, wondering where Dobria could be. When they arrived home, there was still no sign of Dobria. The house looked undisturbed. Dishes from the morning breakfast were still in the sink. Sebastian paced the floor while the boys ate dinner.
After dark, a knock at the door stopped Sebastian’s pacing. The boys had already prepared for bed. Sebastian rushed to the door. The boys rushed to the stairs in hopes of getting a glimpse of their mother, bright eyed and smiling with open arms.
Two state troopers were standing where Dobria should have been.
“Mr. Onoch?”
Sebastian cleared his throat. “Yes. I’m Mr. Onoch.”
Sebastian knew something was wrong with the presence of the troopers at his front door.
The shorter trooper stepped forward and whispered, “Mr. Onoch, can you send your children to their rooms. We need to speak with you privately.”
Sebastian put his head down. “Of course.” He turned to his boys, who were peeking from the staircase. “Boys, please head up to your rooms. I will be up soon.”
Balthazar started, “Dad, why can’t we hear what has happened to Mom?”
Sebastian cut him short in a raised tone. “Balthazar, do not argue! Upstairs, please!” Sebastian stopped himself, realizing his tone. He resumed more
calmly. “I will come up and explain everything to you after I have talked with the troopers.”
Caleb held Balthazar’s hand, and they both retreated to Caleb’s room. Caleb and Balthazar sat on the bed, statuesque, waiting for their father.
Sebastian let the troopers into the living room, where they sat quickly.
Sebastian did not waste time. “Where is she? Where is my wife?”
The tall, lanky trooper responded, “Mr. Onoch, your wife was found not far from the lake this afternoon around 2 p.m. She was…”
Sebastian stopped them with his hand. “No! My wife does not go near the lake, let alone the woods, without me. You must have made a mistake. She probably has…” Tears began to well up in his eyes as his quivering voice was working hard to convince them and himself that Dobria was fine.
The short trooper interrupted, “Mr. Onoch, we know it is her. It appears she was taken into the woods and left to pass. Her identification was found not far from…the body. It looked like there had been a struggle at the abandoned car.”
The troopers sat in silence as Sebastian took it all in. The tall trooper added in a quieter, softer tone, “Identification is not necessary. We already have the positive ID.”
Sebastian cleared his throat and wiped his face abruptly, like he was wiping away the memory of what he just heard.
Stoically, Sebastian dismissed the troopers. “Thank you, officers. If you could please leave me with my children now.”
The troopers nodded and let themselves out. Sebastian stood at the foot of the stairs for a moment, looking up toward the bedroom door that held the only remaining union of himself and Dobria. He was contemplating how to tell his boys what has happened.
The month that followed was what would be expected of a family thrown into a tragic loss. Sebastian and the boys walked around the house in a fog, boxing items and labeling them for storage, goodwill, or Colorado. It was like their lives had been confined to a bowl; their lives had the momentum of Jell-O. Sebastian knew the moment he told the boys that nothing would ever be the same again. The life they had created here was centered on Dobria. They needed to move and create another life.
Piercing The Fold Page 5