Piercing The Fold

by Kimball, Venessa

  Ezra says, “Sorry. I’m really glad we got out of Georgia when we did. Someone was onto you and your purpose. I can only imagine what could have happened.”

  I interrupt him. “Well, let’s not, all right. I’m here now. Let’s not dwell on what could have happened.” I sound awfully brave for someone who is so full of fear right now. I listen to my own words and refocus. “Like I was saying, I am face to face with this aura, and I begin to use some inner force or energy to defend myself and my mom and dad. It feels like I’m using every single muscle in my body. When I wake, I am drained physically. I feel like I have just run a marathon. My brain is exhausted, too. The drain only lasts for half an hour or so, sleep paralysis. Then I’m able to get out of bed.”

  Ezra says, “That is the Qi I was telling you about, your inner energy. The drain is not sleep paralysis. It is the exhaustion of your inner energy. You deplete your energy levels every time you use your Qi. We need to shorten your drain time, though. We don’t want you to get caught with your defenses down out in the field.

  “When I first started using my Qi, it took me and hour or more to replenish. It took time to learn how to control the amount of energy I expended. I needed to pace myself. We will work on that. Something you may not realize is that Qi also helps you to Astral Project, jump, from place to place like I just did. The distance you can jump is gained with practice. Obviously, the shorter the jump the less drain on your Qi. At first, your projection will be weak. You will need to practice to get more accurate with where you jump.”

  I have a question. “So you are saying I jumped in my dreams from my house to my parents’ house?”

  Ezra reads this spark in my mind and my growing confidence. “There! Hold on to that fuel. That fuel protected you and your family when you jumped in your last nightmare while we were in Georgia. Yeah, it sucked that you were violated. Believe me when I tell you that I got you and your parents out as soon as I knew things were getting too close for comfort.”

  I thought for a minute. So Ezra was really there, in my last jump.

  Ezra is aware of my thought. “It was only guidance, Jes. You did all of the work. You had the grit, the strength to jump to your home from your apartment and fight back. You were able to project and fight without much drain. Keep that fire in you, Jes. Don’t let that fire die.”

  * * *

  Part of the morning, Ezra models and I follow. I have full control over the Ushering. I use it tactfully to render the enemy submissive to my command. I practice on the chefs in the dining hall. It is quite humorous to have Miss Char, Patrick, and Fenton creating awesome confections and home-style comfort food upon my request. Fenton is making homemade macaroni and cheese. Miss Char is baking peach and raspberry cobblers, as well as yummy snicker-doodle cookies. Patrick is working on a beef stew and White Lightning Chicken Chili. The southern dishes would have given our chefs a heart attack if they were in their normal state of mind.

  Ezra and I are sitting at one of the tables.

  I take advantage of the moment. I have wanted to ask Ezra this question for a while. It is just not something you can blurt out in between training sessions. My contact with Ezra outside of the training realm since we got here was nonexistent. I want to know more about the man that knows so very much about me. The man who seems to know every detail about my life, the events in it, and the people involved in it.

  Ezra is snacking on homemade potato chips while he tells me about the afternoon training he has planned. I am having a protein shake and banana, training food in all its glory.

  I tread cautiously as I try to find out more about Ezra Kahn.

  “So how old were you when you were called to become a guardian?”

  Ezra pauses mid-crunch. He wipes his hands with a napkin while he thinks. He clears his throat. “I was about your age. Maybe a couple of years younger. I had just graduated high school and was set to attend MIT in the fall.”

  I am waiting for more, but nothing comes. “Well, where did you grow up?”

  With this question, he is sipping his Pepsi. It is torture watching him drink the dark, carbonated bubbly in the frosty tumbler.

  “I was raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts.” Ezra continues to eat his deep-fried snack as I pull at the stringy part of the banana peel.

  I try to keep the conversation alive. “Well, that is convenient being that you grew up and were attending college in the same city. I have never been to Massachusetts. What was your family like as a child?”

  With that question, he takes a long drink. “Mom and Dad were very faithful Christians and raised me to know my faith and spiritual connection with God. They also raised me to know that science and metaphysics could be the tools that God had given to us to make sense of the things that would otherwise be nonsensical or impossible. Very similar to your parents when it came to upbringing.” Ezra got a long crease in the middle of his forehead. “But I was defiant with the life my parents were guiding me through. I was a bullheaded and a rebellious kid.

  “It took a slap in the face by the hand of God to make me realize it, since my parents had done everything in their power to turn things around with me. I was cocky, impulsive, and arrogant. I was always in trouble at school. In middle school I was labeled a troublemaker by teachers and classmates alike. I pretended that it didn’t bother me. I hung out with the other ‘bad kids’ and did some pretty unsavory things. No, I’m not telling you, Jes!” He smiles with that last comment.

  “My parents were guardians. At the time, I was not aware. It was kept from me. My mother was a professor at MIT in the geophysics department. My father a professor at MIT in the biology department. They were always traveling for work. I never knew where they would go. But they were always home when I got home.” Ezra seems to daydream for a moment.

  I interrupt, “Did they meet there? At MIT?” I continue to savor my French Vanilla flavored protein shake.

  Ezra says, “They met while attending as students.”

  “When did they become guardians?”

  “When they entered university is what Sebastian told me.” Ezra looks down.

  “Why was Sebastian the one to tell you?”

  Ezra snaps, “Mom and Dad were murdered when I was in seventh grade.”

  I lower my eyes to my banana skin and soften my voice. “I’m very sorry, Ezra.”

  “I was at school. As I was walking out of the building, there he was standing across the street: Sebastian. He was dressed in a suit, tie, and tan trench coat to ward off the cold. He had salt-and-pepper hair and was shorter than me. He took his round sunglasses off when he saw me and walked across the street toward me. That was the first time I met the man that was an instrument in catapulting my life into chaos. He informed me of my parents passing, that I was a target and needed to go with him quickly. I wasn’t about to go with someone I didn’t know, let alone someone who just told me my parents had died.

  “I took off running as hard as I could, but didn’t get far. Sebastian could jump. He blocked my every attempt at escape. It did not take many jumps to subdue me. I was in shock and more frightened than I had ever been in my life. I mean, I just saw a man disappear and reappear right in front of me. I fought and clawed and tried to scream. He grabbed my face and forced me to look at him. He stared at me, an odd stare, like he was burning a thought into my mind. I continued to fight him. Finally, he released me. He told me that I could already build walls. That was all he said.”

  On the edge of my seat, I ask, “What did that mean?”

  Ezra says, “It meant that he couldn’t Usher me. I was blocking his Compulsion. I could block him from reading me, too. All I remember after that was a cloth going over my face and the world slowing down until everything was dark. I remembered waking up in a very brightly lit, quiet room. I was lying on a couch, looking at the rotating ceiling fan, hoping that my parents’ death, this mysterious man, was all just a nightmare. I shot up off the couch with my heart racing, thinking that might jolt me from the n
ightmare. But it did not.”

  * * *

  “Hello, Ezra. I am Sebastian Onoch.” He is sitting in a chair in a dark corner of the room.

  “Where are my parents? Where am I?”

  “You are in a safe place. The facility. We started this safe place in this very room.” He pauses to look around the room and breathes in deeply. “You are here because your parents have been murdered.”

  I growl, “You are a liar.”

  Sebastian replies with genuine care. “No. I’m not, Ezra. This is real. God knows, this is real.”

  I begin to cry with anger first, then sadness and sorrow. All of the terrible things I had done, been doing, all come flooding over me. I had so much regret built up inside me. I start to bang on the walls. I throw the only lamp in the room. I drop to the floor and yell until my voice is hoarse and exhausted. And Sebastian lets me. He let me be and go through the motions of my grief. When I finally slow my sobs to sniffles and hiccups, I look up at him. He has tears welling up in his own eyes. He looks like he is breaking inside for me. I stare at him.

  Sebastian speaks in a shaken voice. “Ezra. I am so very sorry that this tragedy has happened to you. My sons went through the same pain when they were young. They lost their mother just like you, to a terrible and violent death.”

  He stands, walks over to me, and kneels. “Just now, watching you go through the emotions. I see now what I didn’t see my own sons go through years ago. When they needed me.”

  Sebastian watches over me as I continue to sob. When I am exhausted and have no more tears, I whisper, “I don’t have any other family. Where am I going to go? I have no one. I’m alone.”

  Sebastian places his hand on my shoulder. “Yes, you do, Ezra. You have us.”

  * * *

  Ezra wipes his hands on a napkin after eating another chip.

  “Sebastian told me that my parents became guardians when they entered college. They were majoring in the sciences, ideal for guardians. Sebastian sought them out with invitations to go on a scientific expedition during their junior year. Intrigued and adventurous, with nothing holding them back, they both accepted eagerly. Unknown to them, they were invited based on their academic prowess. And the scientific expedition turned out to be a quantum leap from Earth to Dobria.”

  “They traveled to Dobria?”

  “They were part of the first colony to Dobria. They were originally going to stay there and research, develop, and study the environment. They were the analysts that studied the space-time differential between Dobria and Earth. They helped construct the subterranean living quarters for the colony. They stayed for about two Dobrian years, eight Earth years. They were part of the initial colony dedicated to absorbing as much of the planet and its potential as possible. The planet had its own unique properties for life to flourish, life-forms unlike Earth’s. Unique organisms with duplicate organs and multifunctional appendages for defense and for protection.”

  “Why did they leave?”

  “Mom became pregnant with me. They talked with Sebastian. They were all unsure of how a pregnancy would withstand the altered properties of Dobria as the fetus developed. The gestation could vary because of the space-time factor. They were also concerned about the adaptations the fetus might experience with being in the Dobrian environment.

  “Mom and Dad had firsthand experience with both physical and metaphysical changes that they had adapted to while in Dobria. Sebastian and my parents agreed that they needed to return to Earth for my sake. Sebastian found my parents to be a perfect match to form a sleeper cell stationed in Massachusetts.”

  Ezra takes another gulp of Pepsi then speaks. “My parents agreed with this and returned to Earth.”

  “How did everything turn out? Did everything go normally with your development?”

  “Everything was in the right places physically. Some of the metaphysical properties carried over through my mother due to her adapting to Dobria.”

  An enormous explosion startles us from our conversation.

  Ezra looks up at me. “What the hell was that?”

  It wasn’t from the kitchen. I look out the window holes in the café entry doors behind us. Smoke is billowing down the hall from the direction of the pool and gym. Ezra jumps up, and I quickly follow. Just before we get to the doors to the cafeteria, Jake and Nick open the door. Nick has a look of shock on his soot-covered face. Jake is coughing from the smoke. The rest of the team files in behind them.

  Jake is smirking. “That’s what you get, show off! Damn it, Nick!”

  Nick’s look of embarrassment is priceless.

  Nick says, “Oh, c’mon. I was in complete control. I just wanted to give you deadbeats a little surprise.”

  Angela says, “Yeah, right, hot stuff.” She gives him a light pat on the shoulder.

  Nick rolls his eyes and straightens up. “Hot stuff, huh? I like that.” He struts past, the laughter echoing behind him at his expense.

  Nick quickly changes the subject. “Let’s eat, ladies and gents.”

  Nate looks at me. “It smells amazing in here.”

  “Thank you. I thought some southern comfort food was due.”

  Angela says, “Thanks, girly. Ushering?”

  “Yep.”

  The chefs have set up a buffet at the main table and places are set on a long table brought in by the maintenance staff.

  We watch as the food is wheeled out on carts: one, two, three carts worth.

  Chef Fenton announces, “Lunch is served.”

  All of us applaud as we get in line to indulge in the delicious spread of southern-style goodness.

  Chapter 26

  The afternoon is very physical with jumping while in combat. Ezra does not speak any further about his life or parents’ lives. I don’t push the topic. He opened up quite a bit today, and I don’t want him to clam up on me.

  Ezra is all business this afternoon and for good and obvious reasons. We are one week out from leaving the facility.

  Ezra doesn’t hold back. I scramble to my feet after the first blow to my midsection. We dance around each other for a moment.

  I ask breathlessly, “Aren’t you going to give me any clues on how to jump during the day, or are you going to continue beating the crap out of me. Seems a little unfair.”

  I jab and miss, but follow with a leg sweep that takes him down to the floor.

  Ezra disappears from the ground and reappears standing behind me. Ezra is breathing evenly, not fazed the slightest physically.

  “It’s just like jumping in your dreams. Your Qi needs to be released. You have it, Jes. It is in there.” Ezra points to my head.

  He points to my heart. “And in there.”

  He puts his hands on his hips. “Remember this morning. Fuel the fire.”

  He slaps me across the face. My head snaps back at him.

  Oh no, he didn’t.

  I zone in on Ezra. I feel the vibration and hear the humming. Everything around Ezra becomes blurry. He is in sharp focus, though. I imagine myself behind Ezra. I feel vertigo and weightless suddenly. All the blurriness shifts into sharp view; I am looking at the back of Ezra’s form.

  I feel Ezra smile when he speaks. “Perfect.”

  This feels like the feeling I got at the bookstore before I found out everything.

  Ezra nods at my thought. “You didn’t know what it was then. Your body was trying to defend itself without your knowledge of it. Your body was trying to jump.”

  He turns quickly, poised for another round of attacks. For the next two hours, we battle throughout the facility. We spar in the trails, in the rec room, in the gym. Jumping is nauseating at first. The feeling of vertigo just before each jump is sending my stomach upside down. By 4 p.m. I am heaving.

  “Are you okay?” Ezra is out of breath and bends over with his hands on his knees.

  I smile a little at the thought of my making Ezra Kahn exhausted. “Yeah. Yeah. I’m just feeling a little light-headed. I think I need to throw
up.”

  Ezra disappears and is back with cold washcloths in seconds. He places one on the back of my neck and one on my face. “Keep this on your head and neck. Sit down.”

  I walk over to the bleachers on the far side of the gym.

  Ezra yells, “Nate? We need you in here!”

  He enters the gym just after Ezra yells.

  “I know. I was heading your way as soon as I heard her thoughts. I was deep in the trails so it took me a little longer.”

  I did not want to be vulnerable around Nate. Ezra shouldn’t have called him; he is overreacting. “I’ll be fine. Really, I can handle this.”

  “C’mon, Jes. Let him heal you. That is part of Nate’s purpose here. Let him help with the vertigo.”

  I try to stand up and walk away from them. I start to see flashing shards of light before my eyes as soon as I stand. I’m getting hot and clammy. Everything begins to race inside of me. I can feel the blood pumping through my veins. I can’t see anything all of a sudden.

  Nate hisses, “Ezra, she is crashing!”

  My body wants to lie down, while my mind wants to escape from here.

  “God, Jes. You’re burning up! Help her, Nate!”

  I feel them both pulling off my shirt. Someone grabs me and picks me up. I lean against the person carrying me.

  “It’s me, Nate. I’m getting you into the pool.”

  I think Ezra jumps in after us.

  I feel Nate’s hands, arms, and chest infusing me with warmth. Then, I feel cooling course through my body. I put my arm around his neck. Nate holds me tighter.

  He puts his mouth close to my ear. “Shh! Stay still. Just breathe. I’ve got you, Jes.”

  He sounds breathless.

  Ezra asks, “You got her? Is she responding?”

  I feel the soothing coolness calm my racing heart. My pulse is slowing, becoming regulated. I open my eyes and can see the rise and fall of Nate’s chest. I move my hand down from his shoulder to where his heart is. His heart is pounding so hard.

  Nate answers Ezra after a few moments. I think he is taking inventory of what is going on inside of my body. “Yes, she is.” He is still breathless.