But even then, even after all I had done, my Father took pity on me and said, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over!” The Lord God’s voice bellowed out so all could hear him, near and far and even into the future. Then he put a mark on me so that no one who found me would kill me. So I went out from my Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. My brother was now lost to me. I would never see him again. My parents had turned their backs on me and I was alone. I had been the first to be born into this world and my brother had been the first to die. The irony was not lost on me, but the punishment far outweighed the crime. How was I to know that striking him with the rock would cause him to live no more? No one had ever died before then. No creature had ever died before then nor had any man.”
Marissa stared at Raaida with her mouth hanging open and asked her, “How can you come back as a woman when you were born first a man?”
“This I can not answer,” Raaida replied. “There are some answers even we may never know. I have been a man in all of my previous lives. This is the first time I have come back as a woman and I am as confused as you, but now you can see the urgency we must use in dealing with this matter. We must find Dalton and put an end to Death. Dalton can not do it without you.”
“Death?” Marissa asks.
“Yes, Death. The serpent. Consequentially, when God cursed the serpent, the Most High also stepped in. Even God has a Father you see. The Most High is the one who rules us all. He is the ruler of all of the universes, the whole cosmos. God rules us all religiously; but the Most High is the creator of God and is the creator of every thing. The Most High created God and allowed him the freedom to build the earth the way He deemed fit. God had plans for a Utopia and for creating what would be the perfect race, a race of people who never felt anger, or hate or strife, a world of people who knew only peace and love. When the serpent came to you that day and tempted you with the apple, The Most High heard God curse the serpent and came down to find out what had happened. The serpent had been allowed in the garden because it evened the playing field and gave the opportunity for failure. That’s the thing, we all have preordained paths in life and it’s up to us to make the right choices. We are all given that freedom in order to learn and grow. Sometimes we choose the wrong path and our lives are full of sorrow and grief, other times we choose the right path and our lives are full of pleasures and blessings. Which path is the right one? Obviously we do not know, but I think if we’d have chosen the right ones before this, we wouldn’t be here now in this predicament. It will be up to you Marissa, to choose the path we will all follow, for we are with you now and will stay with you until the end, right or wrong. We are family bonded by blood after all…”
“Is Death the one who has been plaguing me all of my life? The one who has tarnished my dreams and made them nightmares? The one who pulled me from the Jeep? And if he is, why is he tormenting me? Why was he there when my mother died, sitting on the sofa with her? Did he cause her death?”
“No, child.” the Gypsy woman replied. “He does have the power to cause a death, although he can use it only sparingly, but he must be present when anyone dies. He is like a common slave now, accompanying all of us to the waiting place where we all go until we make our way to our final home. That is why this is all so important Marissa. It’s imperative that we find Dalton and find out how to get everyone home! He has the answers we need to go on. That is why it’s crucial for you to communicate with him, the ring has a purpose!”
With her words my hands flew to my throat where the ring hung on the heavy chain. I could feel the warmth radiating from it like it had a life of its own. I was so relieved that it would help me communicate with Dalton and that it wasn’t just a dream as I had previously thought. I ran my finger around the diamond, hoping for just a glimpse of him, but this time, I was denied. We needed to rest and to figure out what our next move was going to be and I was ready. For the first time in my life, or lives as it may be, I was ready for whatever came next.
***
AS THE SUN set on another day, Dalton finally agreed to stop and go inside. Although he could no longer chop the trees, he was there in an instant should anyone need something. Poor Aguta probably felt slighted as he had pretty much taken over the task she had been assigned, but then again, perhaps she’d been relieved to finally be a child once again and not have to bother with the responsibilities the adults had to adhere to. He felt so weary yet so pleased with the day’s accomplishments. They had managed to chop about one third of the way into the middle of the forest. Many had already signed up to be back the next day and Dalton vowed to be there as well.
Seeking some solitude, Dalton made his way back to his room where he approached the side of his bed and fell to his knees offering up a prayer of thanks to God for the help he had been allowed to accept today. He begged to know what it was he needed to do, for God to please send a sign to show him if he were doing the right thing. He’d been praying for days now but God had been unusually quiet. He supposed it was up to him to figure things out and to hope that Marissa could find a way to come to him again. He rose to his feet, went in to brush his teeth with the toothbrush that had been in the waterproof bandage tin, grateful to have it even though the bristles were showing signs of some serious wear and there was no more toothpaste. That had been gone for months now. Swishing the water around in his mouth, he spit into the wash basin and glanced up at himself in the mirror, and there she was, standing behind him, silhouetted by the light coming in from the window. He turned quickly, not giving her time disappear on him, and once again tried to wrap his arms around her. He just wanted a second of her touch, just an instant of flesh on flesh. Oh how he missed her. Again, it was not to be. His arms crossed in on themselves as they hugged nothing but air. She watched him though and he could see the longing in her eyes, reflecting what she no doubt seen in his.
“Marissa,” he breathed, his feelings evident in his quiet voice.
“Dalton, I miss you so very much,” she whispered. “I have much to say so listen carefully. I don’t know if I will be able to come back again. So much has happened and I have learned many things. Have you been clearing the path to the middle of the forest?”
“I have,” he replied, “I worked from early this morning until I could work no more. When I stopped, everyone here took over and worked until sundown when we could no longer see. There is no electricity here and we must use what we have. It is such a primitive place, yet so beautiful. It reminds me of somewhere I can’t put my finger on.”
Marissa smiled and reached out for him as if she could touch him by sheer will alone.
“Dalton, tomorrow we leave for China. It’s where we need to go to meet with you. I am still with the Gypsy woman and her brother and they are watching out for me. I have so much to tell you that I don’t really know where to begin. Today was so terrifying. I was abducted by that shadow from my nightmares and taken to a place I didn’t know. The fog was so thick I could see nothing and he wanted me to tell him where you were. When I refused he flew into a rage and disappeared but I am worried he can come and take me whenever he pleases. Raaida and Yoska were powerless against him but they know who he is and what his purpose is and have vowed to protect me at all costs. I am making my way to you Dalton, slowly but surely. Hopefully we will be together once again in just a few short days. We are going to Heavens Gate in China, how ironic is that huh?” she tried to laugh but her face never made it past a grimace. “I am so afraid Dalton. I have been so lost without you this past year, and I never ever want to be without you again.” A tear shimmered in her eye and he reached out to touch her forgetting she was just a holograph and not a solid object at all.
“I feel like I have lost half of myself, my better half…” Dalton smiled back. “When we see each other once more, I want to be sure we will never be apart and that this will never happen again. I want you to marry me Marissa. I want you to be by my side for the rest of my da
ys and me by yours until death do us part. Before I left I bought you something that I wanted so badly to give to you on our camping trip.”
Turning, he went to the bureau drawer and withdrew the velvet box that still held her ring. Opening it, he turned back to show her but was disappointed to see she had faded away yet again. Sighing, he lowered the lid and slipped the box back into the drawer and closed it. One day he would have the chance not only to show it to her, but to slip it onto her finger and profess his undying love for her, face to face.
***
AS DALTON SAT thinking of Marissa and all she was to him, the vision of the ring he’d bought her swam in his mind and he turned back and once again removed it from the drawer. This time when he held it, he felt a vibration emanating from it and finally he knew. This was the item that meant the most to him besides Marissa, who wasn’t there. This! This connection to Marissa and home was the thing he had been searching for since his arrival that night when they’d been discussing the invention they’d all been contributing their most important item to. He knew it as sure as he stood there and shoving it in his pocket, he ran out to find Madoc to finally give him the last piece to the puzzle they had all been working on.
As he raced out the door and towards the forest where he knew all of the men were still busy chopping the trees, making progress towards the middle of the jungle, the elation he felt was apparent in his face. Amelia saw him and smiled, not knowing why but feeling that his joy was contagious.
“Madoc!” Dalton cried. “Madoc! I know what it is! I finally figured out what my most important object is!”
Everyone slowed and then stopped as he grew closer to them. Madoc stepped forward and grasped him by the shoulder and then patted him on the back as he doubled up, gasping to catch his breath.
“Aye, slow down there laddie! You’re going to hurt yourself running about with no shoes on your feet! There are splinters of wood everywhere Dalton… what has you so fired up with excitement that you have momentarily lost your mind?” Madoc chuckled as he said the last.
Digging in his pocket, Dalton produced the box that held the ring and slowly opened the lid. As he did, the sun caught the diamond and a virtual rainbow appeared and spread across the sky to the middle of the forest, stopping at a point that was still beyond their view. Amelia gasped and so did several other onlookers as they all pointed to the sky and at the rainbow.
“Surely it’s a sign!” she exclaimed.
Dalton looked on in amazement as this wasn’t quite what he’d expected to happen. He’d thought it would be the final piece to the invention that everyone else had contributed their most priceless item to. Instead it seemed to be a map pointing them in the direction they needed to go.
Madoc stood staring at the ring and asked Dalton if he might look at it a little closer.
“Of course,” Dalton replied, handing the box to Madoc.
As Madoc reached out to take it and removed it from the black velvet box to examine it more closely. He nodded to Dalton and said, “This is exactly the size of the slot that is left on the machine. Surely this is the last piece we are looking for!?”
Dalton shook his head and pointed out that for now, it seemed to be the piece they needed to direct them to where they needed to go. Both men were confused and not quite sure what it all meant.
“Perhaps we need it to direct us to the proper path now,” said Amelia, “but when it has finished that perhaps it will also be the piece that is needed for the invention…”
Blushing, both men agreed she could be right and were a little daunted that they hadn’t thought of that themselves.
Fred Noonan ventured forth and let them know they had found something he thought they should see. He’d been heading the men in the forest and chopping for most of the day and now he’d found what seemed to be a path leading deeper into the forest. Dalton and Amelia followed him to see what he was talking about and there it was. Gold bricks which lay in a complex pattern forming a path to something they couldn’t see yet in the forest. There was no longer a need to chop the trees, with Dalton’s presence they seemed to part now with a will of their own allowing for passage to the path. He looked at Fred and Madoc and Amelia and said,
“Well, there’s no time like the present! Shall we?” The four of them made their way along the path and finally seen the walls.
***
“WHAT IS IT?” Fred asked.
“It looks like a fortress…” Amelia whispered.
“What would a fortress be doing in the middle of the jungle? I have been here for so long I can’t imagine how I could have missed this. I thought we had explored every inch of the wooded areas.” Madoc noted, as confused as the rest of them.
“I think we should stick together and investigate,” said Dalton solemnly, and the rest nodded in agreement.
Together they formed a tightly knit group, each one standing close to the next, and onward they marched. As they drew nearer, the scent of gardenias and lilacs and roses permeated the air. It was when they drew closer and went around to the East gate that they finally realized just where they were. A flaming sword swished back and forth blocking the entrance so that no one could enter. Behind that there were several Cherubim standing silently on guard.
With their mouths hanging open, they each looked at the other, speechless, and not knowing what to do. They crept back the way they came, none willing to break the silence until they’d moved a fair distance away. It was Amelia who finally broke the spell.
“Tell me we did not just see what we just seen!”
Dalton solemnly looked at her and shook his head. “It is exactly what we think it is…” he started. “It’s the Lost Temple of the Jews but why in the world would it be guarded like it is the Garden of Eden?”
Dalton took a step forward and ushered the group back to the tree line. “We need to regroup and go back to the hut and talk about this.”
Together they silently walked back, each with a million thoughts now racing through their mind.
***
A LIGHT RAIN had started and as Marissa stared out the window of the train; her thoughts were never far from Dalton. She knew he was close. She could feel him. She let her forehead touch the window and felt the coolness of it against her skin. It felt good and relieved the stress of the headache she had started the day with.
They were hoping to make it half way to Tai’an today. She could barely keep the fear of seeing the creature out of her face no matter how hard she tried. Every minute, every second, the thought consumed her. She knew he had the power to take her regardless of where she was at the time. Nowhere was safe, at least until she was with Dalton. She knew that once they were reunited, nothing would stop them, nothing would come between them again.
Who’d have believed the journey they’d end up on together since they first laid eyes on each other in the supermarket that day? The steady rumble of the train’s wheels on the track made her sleepy despite sleeping peacefully through the night. After the day she’d had, it was no wonder she had been so exhausted. They had flown from New York to Istanbul where they’d then proceeded to board a train on the TAR, or Trans Asian Railway. This would take them to China where finally she would be reunited with Dalton. He was all she could think about now, and she could barely contain the excitement she felt at seeing him again. After the whole year of thinking he was dead, and then finding out he was alive still, it was more than she could have ever hoped for.
She let her fingers wander to the ring that hung close to her heart and slid her finger through the opening. As she did a vision came to her of a rainbow, a rainbow of such intense color it was like none she’d ever seen before. Well, not in this lifetime anyhow. She could see it arch across the sky, going from a clearing to the middle of a forest and she knew this was a sign. She leaned over to the next seat to tell Raaida and shrank back in horror as she seen the woman had turned to bone. She was a skeleton sitting beside her on the train, bits of rotting flesh still clinging
stubbornly to her skull. Across the aisle, Yoska has suffered the same fate, what was left of his arm falling over the book he had been engrossed in earlier. A scream came to Marissa’s lips but before she could force it out, she was gone once again into the fog. Knowing what fate awaited her there, she started to run. She ran as fast as she could, trying fruitlessly to find an escape from this place of her nightmares.
“Let me go!” she demanded.
Behind her a growl caused her to turn around and face the beast. Unlike before, he stood impossibly tall yet hunched in on himself as if in pain.
“What do you want from me beast? I have nothing to give you so send me back to my friends and leave me be!”
“You know what I want Eve. You know it’s always been the very thing you refuse to give me. Now tell me WHERE HE IS!”
As the creature bellowed, a fine mist flew from its mouth coating Marissa in the foaming spittle that seemed to be constantly dripping from its lips. The horrible scent that accompanied it made her gag. She bent over trying to control the waves of nausea that enveloped her and reached for the ring trying to stuff it beneath her sweater and out of sight of the beast. She barely had the strength to reach up and wipe the liquid from her face as she told it once again, she would never tell him where Dalton was. Never!
Lost Souls Page 13