Seasons of Heaven

by Nico Augusto

  He continued into that room finding an office. It was decorated with Indian masks, statues and maps of the world. It reminded him of an adventurer. There was a strange language written all over it. It looked like hieroglyphs to James. It was actually Sumerian, an ancient Mesopotamian language, but James had no way of knowing that.

  The office held shelves all across the walls and the shelves held hundreds of books about religion and politics. Curiosity pushed James to open one of them. There was a lot of information in the book, but none that he found useful. He was looking for information about the place he was in. He did find a drawing of two towers and the place where two keys could be found. There was also a drawing of a small wooden door frame annotated, “Infinity Field.”

  There were a lot of documents about the human civilization and on the wall an impressive fresco told the story of the last twenty centuries of human history. It was full of information such as the two political factions of the Ancients. James moved over to the table and there he found sheets of paper that looked like they’d come out of a diary.

  He picked them up and started to read:

  My name is Reynald and this is the story of my people’s origins. We originated on Mars, and were forced off the planet to save ourselves as it was dying. Twenty thousand of us too refuge, coming to the earth in a huge vessel. Our planet, Mars eventually exploded and when it did, germs were released into the atmosphere. They found their way to the Earth and life here was contaminated with it. Through this contamination, numerous mutations will come about through the ages. In particular, some of the monkeys will be endowed with consciousness.

  James put that paper down and began reading the next one:

  The Martian civilization developed itself independently of humans, but its members went on to help the human race to build some of their most important buildings. Meant to be used for spiritual purposes, the Sphinx, the great pyramid of Giza, the buildings of the empire of the Mayas, and stone spheres of Costa Rica were all built. The Ancient People eventually divided into two clans: those who wished to continue helping the humans, and those who wanted to leave the Earth and leave the humans on their own. But, in spite of their great lifespan, the Ancients become less and less numerous. They decided not to mix anymore with humans and to forbid the mixed unions.

  James wasn’t sure to think about what he was reading, but he put that one down and read on:

  I, Reynald was born in 5000 B.C. I was born of a forbidden, mixed family. My father was an Ancient, my mother a terrestrial.

  Not long after my birth, a great deluge killed many members of the Ancient community. I grew up amongst humans and I was present at every important human event. I was there at the First Council of Nicaea, the birth of Christ, the marriage of Pocahontas….In 860; I met the archbishop Agobard of Lyon. Just after his birth, a great deluge kills many members of the Ancient community. Reynald will grow up among humans and he is present at every important human event. First Council of Nicaea, the birth of Christ, the marriage of Pocahontas...In 860 he meets the archbishop Agobard of Lyon. In the 12th century, I started the construction of the place of transition for humans. On the Rapa Nui Island, far from any other living beings, I transformed our ancient vessel into the place I had dreamed and designed.

  In 1840, I was profoundly shocked by the Indian Removal Act and that was when I decided to launch Heaven into orbit and leave the Earth. I decided that living in Heaven and being witness to the happiness of the humans that are allowed to go there, would be a more pleasant life. It was good…for a while. Unfortunately, the happiness of the humans cause jealousy amongst some of the Ancients and that was when the civilization began to decay.

  There was a group of Ancients who refused to live in harmony with the humans. These were banished from the clan and out of those banished a fantastical evil was born. A hybrid of humans, Ancient people, magic and pain. It’s imperative that they do not leave Heaven.

  Suddenly, James heard a noise behind him. It was a horrible noise, one that would send a shiver down the spine of the most hardened soul. James turned towards it, already shaking before he saw the revolting sight. Shock began to push its way in as he watched the creature with its dislocated joints crawling on four paws towards him. James couldn’t imagine a worse sight until it slowly stood up and revealed that even it could be more unsightly. James still didn’t have it all figured out, but most likely this “thing” was one of the Banished that Reynald talked about in his writings.

  “Come James, come, you belong to us!”

  “Do not come any closer unless you want to be more disfigured!”

  “Why fight? You are ours, ours …”

  A fight seemed necessary. James tried to repel the thing with a sage leaf. Luckily it revealed itself to be efficient. This entity did not appreciate the plant. James used his nanigata to cut more twig and he set them to burn in a circle around him.

  “There’s nothing you can do! Leave me alone!”

  The thing wouldn’t cross the circle of burning sage but it paced around the office, becoming angry and impatient, turning things over in an attempt to get at James. While the thing agonized about how to get through the burning leaves, James took action and jumped over the table. He was able to escape the room, but the thing followed closely behind. Running as fast as he could, he passed through corridors becoming quickly lost. His heart was racing, pounding against the walls of his chest. Before long James looked back and realized that more of the horrible things had joined in the chase.

  “My God, they are hundreds of them,” he thought. “I have to get out of here!” He ran down the stairs and into another long corridor. The chase seemed to go on forever until at last he noticed a sliver of daylight down at the far end.

  He found his way out onto a veranda that seemed to be carved into the rock. Through the opening, James could see the tower he activated and he noticed water dripping from the ceiling. Going closer to it he saw a rowing boat. It was old, but it didn’t look to be too out of shape to float. He jumped inside of it and found that it was moored to a small piece of wood on the shore. James tried without success to release the cord. His hands were shaking too hard and he couldn’t make them work. At last, he remembered the sword and taking it out, he cut the cord. The boat began moving away from the shore.

  James was rowing as quickly as he could, watching the entities come to a full stop at the edge of the water, as if they couldn’t touch it. They stood watching him and the evidence of their anger at him escaping hung heavily in the air. James continued to row and he rowed until the boat reached the current of the river and the boat was suddenly taken away. James had to row furiously now, trying to avoid the numerous, jagged rocks in the water. It was like a rafting trip across the rapids and James cursed and struggled, trying only to get out of this one alive.

  From a distance he could see the waterfall that fed into the stream and it had looked like a silent white stream cascading over the rocky outcrops. As he drew closer in the little boat the noise from the falls increased and became a deafening roar. Drawing closer still, he was suddenly directly in the plume of water vapor and in seconds he was soaking wet. His hair clung to the sides of his neck and around his face. James rowed mightily to get through the swirling white caps and once he made it out the other side, the river just stopped and the water became calm. James looked around and he could see that behind him the river was still flowing with the same force as it was previously. Once again confused by the strangeness of this place, he found himself facing a big city. He could see ancient houses and dense vegetation covering the major part of the buildings. The river was obviously used by the inhabitants of the city. The boat floated over and gently touched the shore and as it did, James got out of the boat and rested on the shore for a few moments. His body was wrecked with exhaustion.

  When he could at last, he got up and headed to the north of the lake. The voices that he’d been hearing told him that was where the village he was looking for should be. H
e heard a big noise above him and looked into the sky. There was an airplane and it was passing so close that James could read “Air dream Airlines" written on the side of it against a white background. He felt thrilled and started moving his arms and yelling,

  They continued on their path and as James watched them go, he began to notice something strange. The airliner was huge and noisy so James was sure it was really there and he wasn’t hallucinating; but as it flew over so low that James feared it would strike a tree, nothing moved. It was like somehow it was passing by without stirring any wind or affecting the environment in any way. It was something else for James to add to the things in this place that didn’t make sense. His head was full of them and the stress of that along with everything that had happened in the days past had begun to show on his face. His beard became longer now by the hour and his long, greasy hair hung limply across his shoulders. He didn’t know what would happen to him and the strain of it all and his recent suffering pushed him to wander the forest like a zombie…alone and confused...

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  “SELF-DEFENSE”

  NEW YORK CITY-STRIP CLUB

  As Shirley dressed, she looked around the club where she worked and the people that worked here with her. They had just finished their night and she was once again thinking about Yann. Her job was a stable and honest one…but she worried about what the authorities were going to think of her being a stripper and how that would affect her bid for Yann’s custody. She had to prove to them that she was capable of taking care of a young boy and whether or not that was fair, her choice of job would weigh in heavily. That was why she worked so hard at her studies. She was only doing what she had to do in order to make ends meet for now. Her end goal was to have a career…one that both she and Yann would be proud of in the years to come. Nothing was more important to her now than getting to a point where she would be able to get custody of and care for Yann. Yann was in bad shape. Shirley worried about how much longer he could take being at the orphanage. He’d already managed an escape, and being taken back only served to make him withdraw further into himself. She couldn’t help but wonder what kind of long-term effects this would all have on him. She was devoting every spare moment she had to the administrative issues related to gaining custody and Matt had been helping her as much as he could. Shirley was grateful that she at least had Ani. It gave her some comfort in the face of the tragedy that had happened to the family she loved so much. It was something that she knew would change her forever…

  She slipped on her black coat and turned up the faux fur collar. The temperatures outside were so cold lately that they’d even slowed down the usual rhythm of life in New York City. Typically, because of the somewhat shady neighborhood that she worked in she had security escort her to her car for safety reasons. Tonight, she was tired and just wanted to get home, so she headed out alone.

  Shirley made her way across to the parking area. The night was dark but the parking lot was illuminated by billboards and streetlights. As she looked for her car, she noticed a familiar silhouette standing at the end of the long row of cars. It was the silhouette of thing that had been in her nightmare…the night at the Northman’s house…the night they had died.

  “Go away! What do you want? Why are you following me?” Shirley yelled at it. She hurried to her car, stopping and searching inside of her bag for her keys.

  “Shit! Where are the fucking keys?” she said, beginning to feel panic rising in her chest.

  There were suddenly three men standing next to her on the right. They looked rough with torn jeans and black leather jackets. Shirley could see the gleam of a knife in one of their hands.

  “Come here, whore,”

  Another man, a large fat one said,

  “Don’t be shy…. We won’t hurt you!” he let out an ugly laugh and then said, “Come on, come closer.”

  “Surround her!” the black man in the group told them. “She’s alone.” he laughed too and his sound was just as ugly.

  “Leave me alone. Trust me; you don’t want to come any closer.”

  Shirley was trying to sound tough, but she was scared to death. She knows that a fight between her and three men was already a fight lost. She had to stall for time and hope that someone else showed up to help her.

  “What do you want, guys? My wallet? My car?” she tried.

  “We want your ass, pretty whore. Don’t pretend that you don’t understand.”

  “Be nice to her,” one of the other men said, “We don’t want to scare you, precious. We want to be nice to you...real nice. We'll make you feel real good.”

  “Come on, guys, you’ll regret this. I’m going to scream…”

  “Go ahead, no one’s going to hear you, or care if they do. This is a whore district; whores make a lot of noise! Hell, you can light the parking lot on fire and nobody would come by and piss on it.”

  “Hmm, that sounds like a plan. Let’s set this little pussy on fire!” another man said.

  Shirley was terrified. She’d been working here for two years and so far this was the first time she’d ever had this kind of problem. It seemed to her lately like the whole world had gone mad. Things had gone so well for so long and now it was like someone had pulled on a loose string and it was all coming apart. The wheels were spinning in her head, what was she going to do? She reached her hand down into her bag and pulled out a foldable metal bar. One of the security guards had given it to her a few months back when a drunk was giving her problems. She’d not had a chance to give it back to him.

  Shirley popped it open and said, “Do you still want to take your chances with me?”

  The man with the knife came quickly towards her with the knife pointed towards her neck. Shirley stepped to the side and pulling back her arm, she let go with a brutal strike across his face. The man stunned and in pain, stumbled into the car and passed out on the windshield. His face was rapidly swelling where the metal bar struck it.

  “Fucking whore…you killed him! Are you nuts?” the black man said.

  “Bitch!” the fat man was closer than Shirley realized. She felt his fist connect with her gut before she even realized he was there. She reacted quickly, catching him in the throat with the metal bar.

  Shirley had been practicing Ju-Jitsu in dojo for a long time. She hadn’t had any call to use it before, but tonight, these men were getting a double dose of what she’d learned. The third man wasn’t taking his chances any longer. He ran off. Shirley was left shaking; the fear and adrenaline still surged through her body. Her hands trembled and her stomach lurched. She had to bend forward and vomit onto the pavement. When she finished heaving, she felt dizzy and almost fell over as she stood back up straight. She didn’t have time to worry about all that right now. She needed to get out of there. She shoved the fat, unconscious man off the hood of her car and got inside. She got onto the highway and started driving towards the comfort and safety of home. Her head was still reeling and her stomach aching as her mind went back over the events of the night.

  HEAVEN--DAY

  Ani was all alone after the boat crashed. He made it to the surface of the water and swam to shore. He climbed up and right away began sniffing the ground urgently searching for Yann. The place he was in is huge and everything was wet. The normal smells have been stirred up and washed away. He was having a hard time finding any trace of his boy.

  After a long time of sniffing everything in sight, Ani finally found a trace of the smell of Yann on a wall. It was as if Yann had tried to hold onto it and save himself from the terrible monster that had taken him. Ani had a sense that he had been here before and knew where he was going. He looked around until he found the exit to the cave, stepping out onto a rocky promontory that was high off the ground. He was able to see across the expansive distance from where he stood. He could see the ruins of the trees and vegetation that the monster had left in its wake and he knew that it had passed that way.

  He climbed down the rocks and ran in the dir
ection of the forest. He stopped and looked around. He was looking for something. It was strange that he didn’t know what exactly…but he knew it was here, somewhere. He finally spotted a hole in the ground and he knew that was what he’d been looking for. He sniffed around it cautiously and then stuck his head inside to take a look. It was definitely an entrance of sorts and he was sure that it would lead him to where the monster had taken Yann. Ani wiggled down in the hole. It was dark inside, but Ani felt as if he knew where he was going. He’d been here before…maybe in a dream, or a vision? He wasn’t sure, but he knew this place. He walked along sure-footed, avoiding large clods of dirt and twisted, tangled roots. He knew exactly what path to take, where to turn where to stay straight, and he wasn’t the least bit afraid.

  Make it more like he already knew that place premonition or memories. All along the way Ani could smell traces of Yann’s hands. He knew somehow that his friend was still fighting as the thing dragged him down there. Although Ani felt like he knew where he was going, he still paid close attention to the smell so as not to lose him.

  At last he came to the end of the path. It opened into a huge room that had been fashioned in the center of a cave. It was an enormous one with a gigantic dome built around a metallic structure in the center of it. Hundreds of roots were visible from underneath from the trees and plants that grew overhead in the sunlight. The place was also filled with dark water and the light across its surface made it look almost unreal. It was the point in Heaven where all of the vegetation had its start.

  Ani caught sight of the creature near the back; it looked like it was sleeping. Its large, black form was like an undefined mass of stringy, vague dimensions. It had to measure at least fifty feet long and Ani standing in front of it was a picture comparable to David facing Goliath.