Awakenings (Intertwined Souls Series Book 4)

by Mary D. Brooks

  “I’m not joking. This morning I woke up and I wasn’t even sure what day it was or what city I was in. I was sleeping in my own old bed in my old room. I could hear Isabella moving about in the corridor, and for a brief moment I thought I had dreamt the last twelve years.”

  “That would be very disconcerting.”

  “It wasn’t until I heard Zoe trying to speak Italian to Isabella that my mind registered where I was.”

  “I would be very worried for you if it didn't affect you like that.”

  Eva shook her head. “This trip was all about settling Zoe’s inheritance and coming home to Germany to pay my respects to my mother. That’s all it was going to be. Now look where I am. I’m waiting for my grandmother, who I now despise with such ferocity that I don’t think I can bear to look at her.”

  “Sometimes the hardest journeys are the ones where we find ourselves.”

  “Where did you find that quote?” Eva asked.

  “The wisdom of Johan Faber,” Johan replied with a chuckle. “Ah, Evy, no journey will be what we think it will be. It’s just the way it is.”

  “My grandmother knew I was being tortured in Aiden and did nothing to stop it.”

  “Your grandmother was aware of what was going on. From I know about Beatriz Muller, there is not a lot this woman doesn’t know about her family and what is being done. If she wanted it stopped, she could have done it.”

  “She didn’t make it stop.”

  “No, she chose not to. She knew what was going on and condoned it. She knew what was being done in that facility to you and others. You can bring this woman to justice, Eva. Don’t do it because you want vengeance for what was done to you. Do it because it is just. It’s justice for those that can’t do it. Now you do have evidence of her involvement in the systematic abuse and war crimes against Jews and yourself in Aiden because Wilbur has the evidence. Wilbur Muller loves you, and with this evidence, those who hurt you and all the others will be brought to justice.”

  Eva nodded. “Uncle Wilbur has always been the best of that rotten lot. Do you know what I’m going to do, Uncle Johan?”

  “What are you going to do, favorite niece?”

  “I’m going to call the War Crimes Unit in Australia.” Eva glanced at her watch and made a mental calculation on the time difference before she glanced back up at Johan. “I’ll get them to talk to the War Crimes Unit here. It’s twelve years too late, but justice will be done.”

  “That is a very good idea. I’m quite sure they would be eager to act on this evidence. Yes, twelve years later, but sometimes we have to wait for justice. It doesn't just happen when we want it to happen.”

  “What a whole load of…” Eva caught sight of Johan’s disapproving stare. “Rot,” she said with a slight grimace. “All those poor people who didn’t have my aunt Tessa, Tommy, or Irene to help them. They suffered so much at their hands. They have to pay.”

  “You are not the one to exact revenge for those people or for yourself. It is not your job. Do not let your judgment be clouded by the need for revenge,” Johan said.

  Eva sighed and shook her head. “I want justice to be done. I don’t care who does it, but I want justice.”

  “You will have it. Your stepfather was executed for his crimes, but you didn’t do the judging or the execution. You didn’t kill him. You could have but you didn’t. This is the same,” Johan reasoned as Eva looked away. He tapped her on the knee to get her attention. Eva turned back to him and brushed the tears from her eyes. “I know your pain, but you must let others do their job.”

  “I don’t have a choice,” Eva said, her voice breaking.

  “We all have a choice, darling; it’s just which way you decide to jump.”

  “Can I ask you another question?”

  “Ask as many as you like.”

  “Why didn't Grandmother Eva protect Tessa? She put her daughter through unimaginable hell.”

  “Your maternal grandmother was not a monster, nor did she want her children to suffer. She just didn't believe in that inheritance. There are those that believe and those that don’t believe. No matter how hard you try to get them to believe the truth, they don’t want to. Eva Mitsos was not a heartless woman. She truly believed Tessa had been touched by the Mitsos curse.”

  “If she didn’t believe, why did she name her daughters Theresa and Daphne Eva?”

  “Theresa is a family name and so is Eva, and it was her name as well. She didn't connect the names with the gifts. Not all believe. Just because we believe doesn't mean the rest of the world will.”

  “So what happens when you are gifted and you don't believe?” Eva asked.

  “You either go insane trying to figure out why you are hearing voices or seeing visions or can move objects with your mind or you kill yourself,” Johan gently explained. “Living with the gifts and not understanding or believing where they came from is just painful.”

  “Isn't it cruel for God to let this happen two thousand years after Theresa Eva initially received those gifts?”

  “It would appear to be cruel, but that's not God's plan. When you have a child, would you want to hurt that child? Of course you wouldn't. You would want to take on that child's pain to stop him or her from enduring that suffering. Why would our Father not be the same? No, I don't believe he is a cruel God. These gifts have helped many and they will continue to do so.”

  “What happened to Erika?”

  “By the end of her life, Erika was insane. It's not an easy thing to know you have a God given power. Erika's gifts were indeed great, but she didn't know what to do with them. No one taught her or showed her the way. None of the gifted was shown how to use them. Irene was the first to reach out to Tessa and teach her.”

  “How old was Erika when she was sent to the lunatic asylum?”

  “Twenty,” Johan said. “She kept going in, being released, going in and so on for years. She died when she was ninety. We took her out of that place when she was sixty and looked after her. She was a very lost soul.”

  “It's just not natural.”

  “What is natural? Is it natural for you to be so tall when Zoe is shorter? You have blue eyes, and others have brown or green or gray. What is normal?” Johan reasoned. “The gifts you have are not gifts from the devil, but gifts from God.”

  “I want to believe there is a purpose.”

  “There is a purpose. Just have faith.” Johan bowed his head and smiled. “You are indeed a beautiful soul, Eva Theresa Muller Hoffman Haralambos Lambros.” He laughed, took her hand, and kissed it. “Your mama would have been so proud of you. You are the woman she always wanted you to be. She was proud of you for being you.”

  “I wish I could talk to her and just tell her how much I love her.”

  “She knew how much you loved her. She knew and knows. You not only look like her, but you resemble her in ways that are the most important. You have a good heart and a gentle soul.” Johan hugged Eva and nodded. “Now why don't you go back to the house and pretty yourself up for your grandmother?”

  Eva gently laughed and got up from her stool. She stood for a moment, and then she leaned down and kissed Johan on the cheek.

  “Thank you,” she said and walked out of the garage. The sound of hammer on steel echoed out of the garage and followed Eva as she walked towards the house.

  Chapter Forty

  Eva sat on the wicker chair in her room, staring at the floor. She tried to meditate but her concentration was jumbled. After coming back from her chat with Johan, she just wasn’t able to focus. Her late night telephone call to David back in Sydney did produce results. Despite the late hour, David called the office in Berlin and arranged everything. Eva was impressed by the speed it was all organized.

  Zoe entered the bedroom and shut the door. She knelt in front of Eva and began to button her shirt.

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “I’m practicing for when we have our babies,” Zoe replied, making Eva smile. “I kno
w you’re scared.”

  “I’m not scared.”

  “You’re not?”

  “No.” Eva shook her head slowly. “I’m terrified.”

  “Of what? She’s a woman, and the last time I checked you were the one with the special powers.”

  “She’s my grandmother.”

  “Yes, she is, but so what?”

  “I loved her,” Eva quietly responded. “She was going to use me.”

  “That only proves that she isn’t worthy of your love or your respect.”

  “What do I say to her?”

  Zoe gazed at Eva for a moment. “You tell her what you have been practicing for the last ten years. You tell her how you feel.”

  “Isn’t that showing her my weakness?”

  “What is your weakness?”

  “That I loved her.”

  “When did loving someone become a weakness?”

  Eva stared at Zoe. “When it’s my grandmother.”

  “No. She’s human, and she has feelings buried under her evilness. I think she has feelings.”

  “I don't know what to do.”

  Zoe gazed at Eva as they touched foreheads. “You will know what do to when the time is right.”

  “I hope so,” Eva replied.

  They turned towards the door at a gentle knock.

  Moments later Tessa opened the door and waited. “Thought you might like to take a walk with me?” Tessa asked Eva.

  “Now that's a great idea,” Zoe replied and tapped Eva on the leg. “Go.”

  Eva kissed Zoe. She got up from her seat and walked out of the room.

  As the sun set, casting shadows into the living room through the open French doors, Eva sat outside reading after her walk with Tessa. When they came back, Zoe had noticed Eva was calmer than when she had left. Tessa’s influence with Eva was a welcome development as far as Zoe was concerned. Tessa had become a surrogate mother—something Zoe could not be for Eva. Zoe was her best friend, confidante, and wife.

  Zoe sat on the steps leading up to the bedrooms on the top floor. She had her sketchbook on her lap and was drawing Eva reading outside in the sun. Eva’s floppy hat shielded her from the sun, and her face was hidden in the shadows created by the hat. Zoe had Eva in a shaft of light surrounded by shadows with just the hint of physical forms around her.

  Stella came up next to Zoe and looked at the sketchpad. “Shadows. It’s different.”

  Zoe looked up from her pad. “This whole trip has been about shadows—shadows within shadows, secrets within secrets. The only thing for certain is Eva's light.”

  Stella nodded her approval and sat down on the step beside Zoe. “It has been an emotional trip for both of you.”

  “More for Eva than for me. I've had my moments, but for Eva, this has been something out of her nightmares and also her desires.”

  “Tessa needs this as much as Eva does,” Stella replied quietly. “She has been missing that link with her family more than she would admit, and now she has it. You don't mind?”

  Zoe stopped her drawing and turned to Stella, puzzled. “Why would I mind?”

  “Sometimes having family around can be burdensome.”

  Zoe shook her head. “We have family around us. We have our friends Earl, Elena and her husband Friedrich and now their little one, Henry, David and his wife Debbie. We used to have Father H before he left to go back to Greece. That's the family we created, but you and Tessa, Tommy, and Theo are our blood. Of course we don't mind.”

  “As long as you or Eva don't mind. We announced, without asking, that we would descend on you. In our exuberance we forgot to ask you.”

  Zoe gazed at Stella affectionately. “Like in your exuberance to prove Tessa's gifts were real?”

  “Yes, like that,” Stella admitted with a slight grimace. “I didn't think of Eva's feelings, but was worried about Tessa.”

  “Did you think that Eva wouldn't accept her?”

  Stella looked away for a moment and nodded. She gazed at Tessa, who had joined Eva. “Yes. Had that happened, I feared what it would have done to Tessa.”

  “I don’t think there is any need to fear that now. Tessa has a very calming influence on Eva. It's good.”

  “Something you don't know is that they have a connection. I don't quite understand how it works, but ever since Eva was born, Tessa has been able to connect with her even if Eva wasn’t aware of it.”

  “That's a weird thing.”

  “I don't know how this gift works and sometimes I think it's a curse,” Stella replied. “Tessa’s gift has caused her a great deal of pain.”

  “Is it only Eva? Does she know when Tommy is ill?”

  “Yes. She is connected to both of them in ways that should not be physically possible, but they are.”

  Zoe watched Eva. “Oh.”

  “Oh?”

  “When I fell off my motorcycle, Evy said that she could feel it, that she knew something was wrong. I just thought she was upset.”

  “Hm.” Stella nodded. “It's part of her gift.”

  “Wow. No wonder she knew…” Zoe stopped. “I wonder if she will feel our babies …”

  “From what Tessa has told me, she has the ability to do so, but Eva's gift may be different.”

  The doorbell rang, signaling the time had arrived for Eva's twelve-year open wound to finally be closed.

  Zoe glanced at Stella. “Where is Irene?”

  “Upstairs.”

  “Alright then, I'm getting the door,” Zoe said and walked away.

  She took a deep breath and quietly made her way to the front door. She opened it to find an older woman, her white hair up in a tight bun, dark blue eyes peeking out from round silver-collared wire-framed glasses. Her thin lips were set in a half smile that Zoe found extremely disconcerting. She wore a navy blue dress under a black-and-white coat. A gold broach peeked out from under the coat, giving the dress some color.

  “Hello,” Zoe said, keeping her expression neutral. A younger man stood at the woman's shoulder dressed in a dark uniform. Zoe assumed him to be a driver. The woman motioned for him to leave. Zoe watched him go back down the driveway.

  “I'm here to see Eva Muller.”

  “Who may I ask is here to see her?” Zoe asked politely. She suppressed the urge to take the umbrella stand that was near the door and shove it into the older woman's chest.

  “Her grandmother.”

  “Mrs. Mitsos, so nice to see you, although I really thought you were dead,” Zoe exclaimed excitedly and stuck her hand out. The woman gave her hand a frosty stare instead. Zoe took back her hand and sighed.

  “I am not Mrs. Mitsos. I am Eva's paternal grandmother, Mrs. Beatriz Muller.”

  “Oh, silly me. Mrs. Muller.” Zoe kept her eyes lowered so Beatriz Muller wouldn't see the outright hatred in them.

  Beatriz brushed past Zoe and entered the house.

  “You can come in,” Zoe muttered as she mimicked holding a gun with her fingers and shooting Beatriz.

  “Can I take your coat?” Zoe asked as she came up Beatriz, who was now standing in the middle of the living room. She admitted that Beatriz was imposing—it wasn't her height but her bearing. She had a very intimidating personality, and Zoe felt somewhat uncomfortable in her presence. Her son Hans resembled his mother, which chilled Zoe.

  “Would it be too much to ask if you could let my granddaughter know I am here?”

  “Of course.”

  “What's your name?”

  Zoe looked back at Beatriz. “You Muller women have short memories,” Zoe muttered loud enough for Beatriz to hear. Zoe sighed. “My name is Zoe Lambros.”

  “Hmm. Did you not know who I was when you opened the door, Miss Lambros?”

  “Mrs. Lambros,” Zoe corrected her. “We were expecting Eva’s grandmother and I thought you were her. Obviously I was wrong,” Zoe reasoned as she took Beatriz’s coat. “I don't read minds.” She thought she saw uncertainty in Beatriz’s eyes.

  “I called to say
I will be visiting..”

  “You did? I must have been out of the house then.” Zoe concentrated on translating what she wanted to say from Greek to German. For some reason, she felt she had to prove herself to Beatriz. “I'm actually surprised it's taken you this long to come and meet her. She has been in the country for a week now.”

  Beatriz narrowed her eyes and scowled. She looked away. “Tell my granddaughter I am here.”

  “Yes, ma'am.” Zoe saluted. She threw the coat onto the sofa as she walked past it. She passed Stella and sneered.

  Stella shook her head as she picked up the coat and hung it up on the coat rack.

  “Hello.” Stella came into the living room and smiled warmly at Beatriz.

  “Who may you be?”

  “I am Dr. Stella Nikas-Lambros,” Stella said. “I see my niece has taken care of your coat. Please, sit down.”

  “Your niece? Well, she is one very rude young woman.”

  “I'm sure you must have misunderstood her—her German is not that great.”

  “Oh, I understood her perfectly,” Beatriz said. “Rude and impolite.”

  “What brings you here today?”

  “Is this your home?”

  “It's not. It belongs to Johan and Irene Faber, Eva's great aunt and uncle.”

  Beatriz stared at Stella for a long moment. “I am aware of the Fabers, but I thought they were in Munich. I wasn't aware Eva had any other relatives other than her family in Zehlendorf. I was wondering what she was doing in Dahlem.”

  Stella smiled. “It was so nice of Eva to contact you to let you know she was in town. Have you not seen each other for some time?”

  “Yes, very nice of her,” Beatriz said coldly. “It's been twelve years since I last saw her.”

  “That is a long time.”

  “Can you find out where Eva is for me? I would hope that rude woman didn't wander off and forget to tell her.”

  “She didn't forget to tell me,” Eva said as she entered the living room and stood a great deal away from Beatriz.

  Stella looked on silently. She smiled at Eva and walked past her, giving her a reassuring tap on the shoulder in passing. She joined Zoe, Tessa, Tommy, and Theo at the top of the stairs that was not visible from the living room so they could listen.