“Great, now he knows where our locker is! Now I’ll probably be plagued with having to see him as well.”
“I wish you’d give him another chance, Juila. Do it for me!”
Juila goggled at her sister even asking such a thing of her. She shook her head in disgust and marched out the front door. She would rather wait outside than have to hear anymore drivel about how wonderful Willian has become. “Anyone can be nice for a few minutes!” she mumbled as she sat down on the front step while she waited for Behn to arrive.
She was angry with Jena for being so cowardly and indecisive. She felt there had been a perfect opportunity for her sister to speak with Willian’s parents at the meeting earlier, yet Jena had remained silent as if her silence would mend the anons of abuse she had endured. Abuse they had both endured since Willian’s poor behavior usually spilled over to include Juila.
Her mood shifted slightly when she saw Behn pull around the circular driveway and stop right in front of her. He was smiling as though eager to see her. She smiled back, forgiving him only slightly for encouraging Jena to give Willian a chance. She swiftly got into the car and buckled herself in.
“What are you planning on saying to Val?” Behn asked before they even got back onto the main road.
“I don’t know yet, but she has got to stop hiding at home.”
“Hiding, huh? I guess it does seem a bit like that, now that you mention it!” he chuckled at the choice of words since he knew Valentina prided herself on acting brave. She had been the one to keep them all together when they first arrived on Earth and cheered them up until they had been adopted by the Wilsons. “Do you want me to stay with you when you talk to her?”
“No!” Juila answered more sharply than she intended and immediately regretted it when she saw the hurt look on Behn’s face. “I just think she needs some girl talk and not her brother right now.”
“If you say so,” he answered. He navigated a few more streets before turning into his own driveway. He got out of the car and went around to open Juila’s door for her. “She’s in her room, Behn said as they walked into the house together. Behn stayed in the living room while Juila continued down the hall to Valentina’s room.
Juila knocked softly on the door and entered when she heard Valentina acknowledge her. She entered the room and was appalled to see how terrible Valentina looked. It was apparent that a shower had not happened in days, and her skin had a strange color to it. “Are you alright?” she asked as she strode across the room and sat down on the bed.
Valentina rolled her eyes and answered, “How can I be alright after what happened to me?”
“So you really don’t have a migraine? You just want to stay in your room, where it’s safe, forever?”
“It sounds pretty reasonable to me.”
“I know this is the last thing you want to hear right now, Val, but just listen,” Juila said as she jumped up and planted herself in front of her friend. Valentina looked up at her with a patronizing look from where she had curled up on her bed. “You have high expectations for yourself and for other people around you. What are you willing to give up for those expectations? If Behn or Jon didn’t do or say something you thought they should, would you become angry?”
“Probably,” she replied uncertainly, not knowing where Juila was going with this line of questioning.
“So what you’re saying is your happiness is worth less than your expectations of other people. Why are you willing to sell your happiness for so little? You deserve to be happy every day, but it’s a choice. You can choose to keep your high standards for yourself, and for the people around you, and be miserable or you can choose happiness. It’s your decision.”
“Go on; I’m listening,” Valentina prompted.
“This applies to all areas of your life. I know what happened to you with Grobin has hurt you deeply, and I’m not trying to minimize any of it, because it was terrible. There was nothing you could have done or said which would have kept Grobin from using you as he did.
“The monologue you have playing in your head keeps telling you that you should have defended yourself against him. You hate yourself for being weak, or any manner of other things for which you aren’t responsible. Grobin took more than your virginity, Val, he took your self-confidence away. The problem is that you gave that to him, just as he took your body.
“Do you hear what I’m saying to you?”
“That’s not what I’m doing, Juila. I’m processing everything that has happened in the only way I know how. I’m dealing with it my way!” Valentina stood up and began pacing the room with her arms crossed over her chest. Her heart began to race as she realized she was not handling the situation at all; she was only reliving it and trying to find out where she went wrong.
“How’s that working for you, Val? You’re not dealing with anything! You’ve shut all of us out of your life; you don’t speak to anyone anymore. We’re concerned about you. Please let us help.”
“I haven’t meant to; it’s just I’m afraid!”
“Afraid of what?”
“I’m afraid I’m pregnant!”
Juila stared at her friend’s face, searching for the right thing to say. “You aren’t pregnant.”
“You don’t know that, and I won’t know for at least another week, maybe two. I’m too young to be a mother, and I don’t want to have that disgusting man’s child.” Tears began to pool in her eyes as she finally voiced her greatest fear.
Juila went to her friend and folded her arms around her. “I wish you would have told me this days ago; I could have saved you so much worry. Rasa checked you out the day we got back, and she confirmed you were free from any STD’s and she also made sure you would be unable to conceive. It would be impossible for you to be pregnant.”
“What do you mean? How could Rasa do that?”
“She sealed off your womb so it wouldn’t be able to receive an egg even if one did get fertilized. You’ll have your normal period in a few days, and you will see I’m right.”
“Does this mean I’ll never be able to have children now?”
“No, it only lasts until your next period. You’ll be back to normal in a few days.”
Valentina closed her eyes, the tears fell down her cheeks, and she sobbed with relief. She felt as though the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. It would have been better to talk about this long before and saved herself so much grief. She unfolded her arms and put them around Juila and cried the tears of release she needed so badly.
She finally felt able to look on the next minute, hour, and day with hope instead of dread. She began to think about returning to school since her worst fear would not be realized. Her life was not going to be determined by this one terrible event. Valentina decided in that moment she would create her own destiny and not let past events shape her future.
“Thank you for coming to me today, Juila. You are the best friend I could ask for.”
Juila simply smiled at her friend’s transformation. She still felt a level of guilt for having put Valentina in the way of danger in the first place. She was going to have to take her own advice and let it go. The past could not be changed, and the future was still to be determined. She only had the present to live in, and she was going to do her best with it.
The moment of mental release was over for both of them. They sat down on the bed and Juila could see the color returning to Valentina’s cheeks. The transformation was almost miraculous just from a single conversation. “I was wondering if you could talk with Gevena for me,” Juila began.
“Who is Gevena?”
“She came back with us from Viceroy Blair’s space ship. She was a girl who was taken from a town called Desio. Her father betrayed her and gave her away to a man he owed a gambling debt to,” Juila answered.
“That’s pretty harsh. What do you want me to talk to her about?” Valentina asked. She didn’t think she had anything in common with the strange girl who had come back with
them.
“I think she’s had a similar experience as you’ve had with Grobin. Maybe you two could help one another. Would you give it a try? She needs friends right now and someone who might be able to understand what she’s been through. It might help both of you,” Juila suggested with a shrug of her shoulders.
Valentina raised an eyebrow in consideration and replied, “I guess I could try. I don’t know what I’d say to her. Is she still at your house?”
“No, she went to live in Manzanit with Rasa at the Residence there. You don’t have to pressure her to talk, just be her friend. It might be easier than you think.”
“Sure, I’ll do my best.” She wished she had waited to agree. Finding out that Gevena was no longer on Earth would mean she’d have to travel in a telepod again and she did not much like the idea after what had happened the last time.
“Thanks, Val. I think this is important.”
“Don’t thank me yet; she may not even like me.” She laughed, and even she noticed it sounded a bit strange. “What’s this Behn was saying about our mom returning to our old home?”
“Yeah, that was a bit sudden. The refugees all agreed to let her lead them in exchange for Mom taking them back home. I have no idea how that’s working out, but one good thing did come of it all.”
“What’s that?”
“Your mom had a patil installed in her house. You, Behn, and Jon can use the patil at our house to send her messages to keep in touch when it’s not possible to travel there to see her.”
“About that…,” Valentina began and did not finish.
“About what?” Juila pushed.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back to the Roanoke Colony. That’s where Grobin lived, and I’m afraid it’ll make me remember what he did.”
“Honestly, Valentina, you’ll never forget what he did. Grobin is on his way to being a slave in Heliok, and he’ll never be able to hurt you again. Don’t let his actions keep you from enjoying your mother’s hospitality. It was so important to her that she had a home and a position in society which would make you proud. Don’t do anything to take that joy away from her. Too much has already been lost in your family to let it keep going.”
“I’ll have to think about it. Can we leave it at that for now?”
“As long as you promise to see it my way in the end!” Juila smiled mischievously at her friend.
Valentina laughed with a genuinely joyful sound which made Juila turn to her and hug her again. She was so glad Juila had decided to come over and talk to her. It had been a miserable four days wallowing in her room. She decided she would be going to school in the morning. It was time to begin living again.
Juila could feel the change in her friend’s posture. She pulled back and looked into Valentina’s face and was pleased with what she saw. “This is the girl I remember! Welcome back!” She grinned again, and they began talking about Valentina’s plans for the upcoming winter break.
Chapter Forty-Four
ALENA STILL FELT as if she were charged with energy after her encounter with the samara. It was impossible to describe how the connection had changed everything she thought she knew about elemy and how to use it. She looked over at Bryon and wondered if he had felt the same transformation when he had linked with his.
Now that she had her own samara, she felt slightly guilty for how she had reacted to Bryon’s being in the house. While she had been justified in being wary of its power, she had been wrong to think that Bryon should want to get it out of the house. If he even felt a fraction of the connection she had to her own, he would have felt the loss of the stone, and it was her fault.
“I’m sorry I reacted the way I did to your samara, Bryon. I had no idea they were so special.” She recalled all of the stories she had heard as a child about the mythical objects. The tales had a common theme of danger and mystery which should be avoided at all cost. She never realized they were going to be a part of her future.
“To tell you the truth, I didn’t either,” he admitted.
“Can you still feel it?”
“Yes. Can you?” He raised himself up onto his elbow and looked over at his wife lying beside him in their bed. She looked positively radiant and content. He felt an overwhelming sense of love for her which was almost painful.
“Absolutely, I almost feel electric,” she answered.
“I’m glad to hear you still feel it. I was afraid it might just be me.”
“Did you notice any difference between the first time you linked and this last time?” Alena’s analytical mind wanted to discover all of the nuances. She had noticed a vast difference between her first time when it had been broken and the second time when it had been made whole. She wanted to know if it were only because it was intact or if it became more intense with each linking.
Bryon spent a few moments trying to decide whether or not he had felt any difference. He knew how his wife’s mind worked, and she would appreciate a methodical answer. It had been quite a while since the first time he had touched his samara, so he really had to work at the comparison. “I guess it was easier to focus the second time. Maybe because I knew what to expect. I’m not really sure. I’ll pay more attention the next time.”
Alena smiled at his answer. “When do you think will be the next time? I want to be able to really delve into how it works, and find out all of its secrets. Aren’t you curious about yours as well?”
“Not as much as you are, but it’s always been like that with us. You always want to know more about everything. It’s what makes you a great wise-woman; you look at every detail to make sure your patients are able to get the best care.”
Alena nodded and asked again, “Do you want to go over to Elder Daven’s Residence to get more time with it?”
“It would probably be a good idea. Maybe it will give us some answers about the other samaras or even the reason they exist in the first place.”
“I’ve been doing some thinking on that already.”
“What did you come up with?”
“In the old language, samara means key. What do you think they would be a key for? Any ideas?”
“Hmm, I don’t know, but now that you’ve brought it to my attention, I’ll see what I can come up with. I think this might be one of those things we should share with the whole group.”
“I should also ask everyone to pay attention to the quality of their connection each time they link. If it gets stronger with every use, it might make sense to set up regular times to be linked with them. It might make the difference in the end, depending on the final outcome of their purpose.”
“Good point. I’ll put all of this out to the group tomorrow. I’m really glad we’re in this together, you know? When it was just me with the samara, I felt like you were being left out. This is a much better outcome already.” Bryon leaned forward and kissed his wife. It might have been his imagination, but he could swear he felt an electrical charge pass between their lips. He decided he would have to keep testing his theory by seeing what other aspects of their intimate life could be affected.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amanda listened to Neal’s message on the answering machine. She thought his voice sounded good and hoped the sessions with Dr. Medin were working well for him. She hit delete on the machine at the end of the message and walked through the kitchen to sit down in the living room.
The meeting had gone better than she had planned, especially since she had not known about the broken stone Juila had found. Thinking about how the samara had been returned to its original state of perfection made her consider what else the crystals were capable of achieving. She imagined their power was similar to the birth crystals, limited only by the imagination of the owner.
Even though she tried to ignore Neal’s repeated attempts to meet, her mind kept returning to what would be the right thing to do for him. Finally, she sighed and got up from the couch and returned to the phone. She picked up the receiver and dialed his phone number. He answered
after several rings.
“Hi, Neal, this is Amanda.”
“I’m so glad you called. Do you think you could come over here? I’ve got so many questions, and Dr. Medin said you and she were the only ones I was allowed to discuss this with.”
“Sure,” she answered. She had no idea Dr. Medin had restricted him so much and knew how he felt about not having anyone to talk with. “I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”
“Thanks, Amanda. I really need to talk. Okay, I’ll see you in a couple minutes. Bye.” He hung up the phone in his excitement.
Amanda smiled at his obvious exuberance and actually looked forward to discovering what he had unearthed from his inter-dimensionally cloaked memories. She rushed upstairs to let Riccan know about her plans. After a quick kiss, he slapped her playfully on the rear as she skipped out of range from his advances.
Just as she had promised, Amanda pulled into the Taivas driveway ten minutes after speaking with Neal on the phone. She did not even have to knock before Neal stood in the doorway and ushered her into the house. Amanda was pleased to see he looked well-rested and maybe even putting on some of the weight he had lost while being addicted to the resh.
They walked through the house and out to the back gardens. Neal led them to a private bench set off to the side of the main path. He waited for her to sit down before he joined her. Now that he had her attention, he could not decide what he wanted to say first.
Amanda began the conversation when the silence drew out to an uncomfortable length of time. “How is your mom? Where is she?”
“She’s doing better ever since I’ve been seeing Dr. Medin. She’s somewhere inside. I finally feel like she’s beginning to trust that I won’t wander away when she’s not hovering over me.”
Amanda chuckled as she envisioned Mrs. Taivas being an overprotective mother hen. “What do you think about Dr. Medin?”
“She’s amazing. I’m really glad you referred me to her; I think she’s really helping me.”
“Good. I don’t know if you knew, she was my doctor all the while I was in a coma.”
Ascension Vision- The Levels of Ascension Box Set Page 27