by Jacob Spadt
Perhaps the hospital had allowed the government to experiment on me. Maybe they had some sort of crazy minion tucked away and they were taking me there to experiment? I ruled this out quickly because my growth happened after I awoke, and I imagined that they would have wanted to see their work in progress.
Wait.
Maybe that was what was happening now. Maybe they took me at night while I slept.
Again I ruled it out because Eryn was here when she was not at work, and we talked into the night several times a week and, in fact, did not sleep that often as a whole. She had become my lover, my confidant and my best friend since Jason was busy chasing down his own demon. I craved time with her. Being in her arms, even though they could not wrap themselves around me, seemed to be the only sanity. My vision-like dreams are amazing, but at the end of the day I just wanted to be with her. Nothing seemed to hold my attention as she did. Here I am, a monster, and one kiss from her tames the beast inside.
My thoughts turned to Jason for a moment. He came by once to talk, but all he did was speak of Bigfoot. There was suspicion he was getting closer and he started to think there was more their existence. We both saw the same specials, but he had the field experience. He was a ranger of sorts in his thinking. He shared stories of sitting and watching for days at a time and finding what could have been foot prints. Heavy rain had destroyed the real evidence, as they were not intact enough to tell by the photos he showed me.
He saw me after I came to live with Eryn. The look in his eyes and his demeanor told me that he was starting to lose it. He smelled of fear as his eyes tracked me from the ground all the way up to my forehead before stopping at my eyes. The fight or flight feeling building inside him was obvious to me even as I shook his hand. It took him hours to finally talk to me like before; as if I was Dietz again. Little did he know Dietz was dead now, only Tathlyn remained, and he was starting to fracture himself on the reality of what was real and what was fantasy?
As my thoughts drifted from that day, I found my memory had not only increased but also literally recorded everything like it was a movie. My mind could play it from any angle. Thoughts drifted to when I saved the woman. I could feel her in my arms and I jumped over a car. The image was as clear to me as when it happened. It was not a blur by any means.
Again, how was this possible?
Before Eryn had left for work, she left me a message that she had contacted a local Wiccan Coven. She did not necessarily believe in the old ways, let alone in any sort of magic, but after nearly being caught or pulled into the wall down in the morgue, and especially after what had happened to me, she found herself starting to believe in the possibility that there was more out there. She had never put much stock in the possibility of God, or if he participated in human life. I could not blame her lack of faith in a higher power before since she had never had any experiences of that nature.
My sudden growth, the appearance of tattoos on my skin, and the manifestation of this fighting machine mentality wrapped up in the body and soul of a big lover just blew her mind. She started to believe in something but was reaching out to a place with the wrong answers, in my opinion. With no answers that could even come close to explaining the complexities of my life, I accepted her searching. I did not think for a moment that a response back from someone in that world would come so soon. A woman named Diane had called Eryn back. She wanted to meet us right away.
What could we do, if anything, to find some answers? Science had failed. Medicine had failed, and the church, even though they claim they did not have a hand in it, tried to murder me. My options were limited at this point indulging Eryn’s research and meeting with this person made sense. I hoped it was not going to be a group; being on display again was not an option. The conversation, in hindsight, was a bit of a travesty. My lack of enthusiasm frustrated her. She felt I should be more involved in searching for help elsewhere. She had no idea yet that I was seeing the visions now and that they felt like memories somehow, maybe even from someone else.
I did not have the proof I needed to stake such a claim.
This thought kept spinning through my mind. My hands felt bare, empty now. Like something was missing or belonged there. Another series of images flashed and I could have sworn, for a second, the swords from my images felt like they were really in my hands. Cold steel with some type of material wrapped the pommels. I could feel the weight as if something added its mass to me.
I opened my eyes and held up my hands, gently squeezing them as if to make a fist, but I could not. Sitting there in disbelief, I wondered if this was part of the dream like state. I did not notice Eryn standing there watching me. However long she was there was unknown. She gasped, causing me to look. Her mouth was open and a look of surprise was on her face. My smile faded when I realized she was staring at me in disbelief and pointing at my hands. Not knowing what she was referring to, I must have looked very puzzled. My eyes returned forward when a reflection of light glinted from in front of me. I turned my head and slightly gasped.
In my hands were two swords.
The sun reflected off the surfaces in the house catching every aspect. Two weapons made of a radiant material caught the light beams in the room. The elegance of the long blades had to be at least four feet in length made from some material I could not recognize. They had curved singular edges, slightly oriental, but somewhat different in the width at the end where it came to a wicked point. This metal had hues to it that were pearl like...that caught the light differently as I turned them in my hands. There was writing on the cross section right above the grip. Even pulling the weapon closer, I could not identify it.
Movement off to my left made me look. Eryn approached and knelt down next to me, a look of curiosity and surprise still upon her face. Her hands shook as she reached forward and touched the metal with one finger and retracted it quickly, then slowly touched it again. She was transfixed. The question of why I was holding two swords in my hands had not yet left her lips. I knew only one thought to be present. They felt at home. Something within me was not even surprised to find them there for a few moments until it hit me that I was holding two swords.
My expression must have changed because Eryn went into nurse mode. “It’s going to be okay Dietz, just put them down. No one is going to hurt you.” I must have been nodding my head or something in agreement. Her hand reached over and tried take one of them out of my hand when my grips suddenly loosened and she had one of the swords. Slight anxiety arose. My breathing increased and a word started form on my lips when I saw a flash of light and felt the sword back in my hand.
“Oh my God, how did you do that?” She was on all fours backwards like a crab, walking away from me. “How did you do that?” She actually raised her voice.
“Sweetie, I don’t know what you mean. This just happened.”
“Bullshit, you went out and bought swords today. Why? Where the hell did you get money to be able to afford those…and now you are doing magic tricks?”
“Eryn, I swear,” I began. She jumped to her feet and walked to over to my jacket and fished her hand in my pocket looking for the wallet she had bought me. I was just as surprised as she was when the sword jumped back to me. My mind was wrapping itself around this and her reaction together.
“I can barely afford the food bill having you here. I can’t have you spending that kind of money.”
I sat there shocked. I had no idea things were tight for her, or for us, since we were essentially a couple. She had bought me clothes to wear, and we got a new bed a few days ago. Realization hit home. All my clothes fit, and the bed was huge. Bigger than anything seen growing up in a store or on television, let alone any catalogue. I was about to say something when she sobbed. I let go of the swords and was on my feet, ducking over to where she stood, wrapping my arms around her. She trembled...shaking a few times before she relaxed and fell into my embrace. I knelt down.
Her beautiful eyes welled up with tears. Streaks of moistened cheek
glistened in the light as tears fell one by one to the floor or on her blouse. My hand went instinctively to her face, enveloping it as it may and she nuzzled her cheek and the whole side of her face into my huge hand. I felt emotion well up inside of me and before I knew it, the words came out.
“I love you, Eryn.” I felt energy course through my hands and towards my chest. It hit my head and my mind reeled. Her hands held both of mine on the side of her face. She smiled. The tears flowing freely now,
“I know you do, and I love you too.” My heart jumped and I soared over the planet for a second. “But where did you get the swords? How did you do that trick?” She pointed her right hand over to where I had let them go as she continued.
“We really can’t afford anything, especially toys. I just don’t...”
“I’ll get a job then doing anything to help.” She smiled and looked over to the weapons and a look of shock appeared. I turned my head to see what had caught her attention. There was no noise from their fall, even from falling on the carpet, not even a thump from my letting them go. We heard nothing. They were gone as fast as they had arrived. I moved to where they should be and stared at the ground...not sure what I was or was not looking at. I was suddenly saddened.
“Okay Dietz, where did you hide them?” she asked.
Burning.
The backs of my hands right were on fire as she said that. I winced. My flesh burned as a strange symbol outlined itself on my hands. The symbols were very small by comparison to my hand, but still large to a normal hand. The script looked very similar to the ones I already had. Burning flesh wafted up as my hands started to shake from the pain. Eryn was at my side with her first aid kit that she retrieved from the bathroom. When did she even leave the room?
My mind blurred from pain. This set of marks hurt...whereas the last ones did not. This was different, very different; it felt like something from within me surfaced. I felt energy move from inside. It flowed down to my hands and burst through my skin. There was no light or heat radiating off it but the pain was burning and my skin felt like it was melting. Eryn tried to look at my hands, but I kept pulling them back from her several times until the pain began to subside. She finally won the pulling contest to allow her to look. I felt her hands holding mine and to my surprise...she traced her fingers on the backside of my hand with some sort of pattern.
She had a curious look on her face and shook her head in disbelief. A troubling feeling, as if she was about to walk out the door away from me rolled off her. I did not know what to do. If she walked out, my heart would break into a million pieces and vanish. The feeling from her increased as if a monster came out of the woods. She could feel it getting closer, and I could feel her concern growing. Her eyes met mine.
“We need to talk,” her voice trembled.
“I know. I just don’t know where to begin.”
“Something here is happening that neither of us can fully understand. We need to get some help,” she said.
“From who? The Church? The ones that tried to kill me? How can we...” Her voice cut me off
“We have a meeting tonight with Diane. I think we should go. But not before you tell me how you did that trick with the swords.”
“Eryn, it’s not a trick. That is the first time the swords from my dreams materialized in my hands. Don’t you think I would have told you about something like this?” I paused as she looked at me and nodded her head. “I have shared everything with you, but I do need to tell you that something else is happening even more so than before.”
She got a look on her face that signified and “Oh God” moment. My head shook trying to reassure her that it was not as bad as what had just happened. She could handle probably about anything at this point, but I decided to tone it down for now.
“My dreams are increasing in intensity...to the point that I don’t think they are dreams. They feel like they are visions of what I am supposed to do. Think about it. The church is watching me like they are expecting something to happen,” I said.
“I know, Baby. I have felt that for a while, too, which is why I don’t trust them. They already sent one priest and if they knew you were creating images to fool others they might think you some sort of heretic….well more than that, they probably already think you are,” she said.
“Eryn, that really happened. I had them in my hand. Don’t you believe you saw and even took one?” I asked.
“I don’t know what I believe,” she said.
I started to respond, but she cut me off.
“I want someone who has more of an open mind to take a look at you. Whatever you are dreaming, your mind is making you think it’s real, and now it’s affecting me too.”
“Explain the tattoos.” I held up my hands. “You saw it happen. Explain why I grew so much and so fast.”
“Your body is trying to defend yourself to these spiritual attacks. I can believe that.”
“What about the wall.” I could tell by looking at her she was ready for that one. Neither of us could deductively reason that one out.
“Or the man that disappeared.” My words unsettled her, I could tell, for she looked away from me and shook her head. Her hand came out of mine and she walked over to the table.
“Look, Dietz,” she started and then sighed, “I want us to be able to enjoy life without bizarre things happening all the time.”
“I know, so do I. My life has changed so much and with my changing my name, I had hoped it would have started something new for me, not a continuation of this freak show.” I looked at her gently, “Can you call me Tathlyn though?”
“That’s so weird to me, but I promise I’ll try.”
“Well my dear, it is my true name,” I said.
“True?” she asked.
“Yes, I not only chose it, but it chose me.”
“Okay, I will try to remember, Tathlyn.” With that, she leaned up and game me a kiss. I felt the warm of her breath as she exhaled falling into the moment. The energy we shared danced upon my lips, and she tenderly kissed me…the passion grew. “I think you should take me in the bedroom,” she said.
“Yes, my lady,” the replay came without hesitation, and I picked her up without missing a lip lock. After all, I thought, it is only four and we had till seven to get ready. As I crawled on my knees with her in my hands, the thought of what happened to the blades crept in. My curiosity raced for a split second, and I forgot about all that as I set her down on the bed and smiled.
God, I love this woman.
XXXIII
The Coven
Traffic was heavy. The rain beat the road like an unforgiving army, pounding its enemy into oblivion. Visibility was almost nonexistent. I peered hard through the torrential sheets. There was no sign of the rain letting up. I would have thought that those that chose to live in this state, or were from here, heaven forbid, would know how to maintain a safe speed. The stupidity taxed my new Zen outlook severely. People drove way too fast for conditions and slammed on their brakes causing them to risk losing control.
French gestures flew from a number of vehicles. My dreamlike visions that put me into a bloodlust were nothing compared to the stress I witnessed on the face of the other drivers. This was life’s gift: over-crowding and lack of intelligence make for a bad experience on the roads of Washington’s urban sprawl.
Eryn drove. I had to crawl into her back seat and fold myself into a box like before. The suspension in the car protested. Things sounded a little more strained, which made me laugh.
The pheromone count must have still been enveloping the two of us because of being with her in the small confines of the vehicle. Her scent was so strong, bringing flashback of our intimacy all over again. I had my hand on her shoulder as she drove, gently massaging her. The time together before we left played deeply on my mind. Why did this meeting have to be now? Love making was so new to me; it was indescribable in my mind to drink in the scent of her very skin. It had a drunken effect on me making me feel giddy.
I understood what the phrase “drunk on love” meant. The uncontrolled passion for her was a caged animal. Many aspects of my life had changed forever.
I also did not dare think about those swords and tried with all the mental conditioning learned to keep them away from my thoughts. I was still mystified. Eryn saw it also. Something had to be real. Could be a ghost or spirit was messing with us. As unlikely as that was, because of how real it felt, it would certainly explain the Houdini effect.
We reached Redmond and turned up a hill that took us out into the woods. Light started to fade, and Eryn slowed down a bit as we started looking for the address. Mail boxes were poorly marked. Even with decreasing speed, we could not see the numbers very well with the down poor still in full swing. Diane’s directions said to look for a plain mail box that would be obvious. I had to laugh at the description, with its vagueness. Trying to find “fourteen eight seven four” did not make sense until it stared us in the face. Right on this plain white mail box, mounted sideways and back from the road, the numbers were spaced just as such, but meant “one four eight seven four.” The play on numbers felt overstated, but it was exactly as she said it would be.
A haunting driveway appeared. The darkness made it look like what a portal might look like, if they actually existed. Street lights down the road did not penetrate this darkness. The ominous warded off unwanted guests. There was a speaker box mounted next to the mail box as we pulled in. I heard Eryn gasp. The headlights on the car acted as though they were not even on as we pulled into the driveway.
“That’s odd. Are you seeing this?” she spoke almost at a whisper. I looked ahead as well but was not sure if she saw something more. The power window lowering broke the silence further as I responded to her.