by J. A. James
He took a breath in. It looked like he wanted to say a lot; but he was holding back. Halva waited for him to speak, and thought she saw a momentary flash of hesitation cross his face.
"Have you ever witnessed a miracle, Halva?" Griesen asked.
She let out a breath, not believing the words that were coming out of his mouth right now. "Well - I mean, I guess... like something that happens from pure coincidence, right? And what does that have to do with anything?! Especially right now?!”
“Just bear with me,” he challenged her. She was surprised at the sudden forcefulness in his tone. “Hasn’t it ever happened for you?”
She considered. "Well, yes. I mean... I think there are times when things have just fallen into place. I guess. That's as close to a miracle as I've known.”
And then, it hit her. Hadn't that happened in a crazy way on her trip? The odds of running into the principal who took her to the fortune teller to help her decipher the crazy visions that she was getting from the rock from her mother's friend?
Griesen looked at her. "Sometimes we don't see moments for what they really are. Because we're not in a movie where there's a crescendo of music and a beginning and an end. When the moments tie together - seamlessly - you're experiencing a miracle, Halva. Sometimes humans just forget what a miracle life is."
A miracle. A coincidence. Halva shook her head, trying not to show her exasperation. "So what’s the point of this conversation? Why are you telling me about miracles?”
Griesen gave her a crooked smile. "Your Spirit chose this time and place to come down to Gaia. You may not realize it yet, but you came down here to learn something. And do something. You can help expedite the miracles in your life, Halva.”
Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake. They nearly lost their balance as the shaking continued for a few seconds.
Halva was gripping the bench for dear life, looking around wildly. "What was that? You can have earthquakes here too?”
Griesen was standing, frowning off into the distance. “Not a quake, just them searching for you,” he murmured. He pulled something out from his pocket, holding it in front of her.
Her eyes widened as she saw it. "That's like the stone my Mother gave me," she whispered.
He nodded, placing it into her open palm. "This is the stone. I managed to grab it off Ithes before he left the room.”
“That’s the bad guy? Ithes?”
He nodded. “He wanted both this and you. Your mother and you are special. Because you know how to access it."
“Access it? You mean… in the visions that I had!” she exclaimed. So she hadn’t been going crazy. At last, one piece of the puzzle was becoming clearer. “The rock… is it some kind of conduit?”
He nodded. “Yes. It is a powerful conduit for retaining memories and transmission of messages. Your mother likely communicated to you.”
Unbelievable. Finally, at least this was making some odd sense. “This… this is so strange. But I felt like she was talking directly to me… I saw where she went when she was young. It was like I was right there.”
“The power of a Joshua stone is partially its ability to communicate messages,” Griesen said. “The other part, which you’ve just begun tapping into, has to do with its ability to magnify an energy source.”
Another vibration, this time, more forceful than before shuddered through the bench. A small crack of thunder seemingly came from far off in the distance, and the strangeness of the echo reached their ears and shook the ground underneath their feet.
Halva gasped. "What are we going to do? They’ll find us soon!" she said, trying to keep calm despite her rising panic. She remembered Ithes’ slimy hands and the dead look in his eyes when she had been face to face with him. He wouldn’t show any mercy if she was caught, she knew that much.
Griesen shook his head. “We’re relatively safe in here – but they’re still searching through time and space for us,” he said. “We should go, though. We’ll be safer somewhere else.”
"I need you to think of a memory, with you and your Mother," he said quickly.
She stared at him. “Really?”
"Yes, Halva! It needs to be a good memory. A happy one. Really feel it. Remember the time, the place, and the smells. Okay?” he said, as another vibration shook the stars around them. She felt a tension in his voice that wasn’t there before. Was he as scared as she was?
He closed her hand around the stone. Trust me, Halva, he said through telepathy. Take yourself there.
Ok. Fine. She relented. What choice do I have anyways? She closed her eyes, and it wasn't hard to remember. Simply because there weren't many to remember.
CHAPTER 6
When Halva opened her eyes, she found herself staring at her Mother in the kitchen, and a younger version of herself at nine.
Her mother was baking soda cookies. It was a simple recipe, but made her mouth water in instant recognition. Her eyes widened as her Mother cracked the door of the oven open. That smell. It was just…everything.
She was so much younger. The red and white checked apron she wore with her curled hair. Everything was exactly as she’d remembered. Oh, mom. She suddenly felt a lump in her throat.
"Oh," she murmured softly, as she suddenly noticed Griesen standing beside her. She felt the rock warm in her hand. "This is incredible," she said. "Can they ... Hear us?"
Griesen shook his head. "No. You're in a memory of yours. I wanted you to pick a good one, and you did."
They both watched the young Halva squeal as she pulled on her mother's apron and asked sweetly for a cookie. The memory was vivid; which was good. They would be secure here at least for awhile longer. The time they would need together.
He looked at Halva beside him, and saw that her eyes had filled with tears. How dearly she loved her mother, he knew. It was hard to lose somebody...especially since she had never made peace with her.
"You're going to have to forgive yourself," he told her.
"What?" She asked him stiffly.
“I realize this is a sensitive subject for you. But this is part of the work we have to do while we’re here. You're going to have to forgive yourself if you want to get out of here. That’s the next step."
Halva jerked away from him slightly, her mouth hanging open. "What?!" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She would have to go right into remembering her mother? Forgive herself?
"There's nothing to talk about." She said it abruptly, and turned to watch her younger self and her mother.
"Well. We do have some time here."
He walked to the kitchen table and pulled out a chair. She stood, watching him.
"So... Exactly how long are we here for?"
He shrugged. "As long as we need to be."
She watched him, her eyes narrowed. "I don't believe you. Those men were chasing us. I can't believe that they've stopped."
She opened her palm, looking at the Joshua Stone. "This thing... is it traceable?"
"It depends," Griesen responded. "It depends more on where we go. Right now, we're hidden in a memory of yours, so it's a relatively safe space. Only you and I are familiar with your memories and have access to them. It takes a certain person to access the stone. As for humans, as you can guess... Very rarely can they. That’s what makes you unique.”
"My mother... Could she access the memories? Or travel here where we are?"
"Her capabilities were likely more limited than yours. But she could if you’ve witnessed some of her past visions. But certainly, she wanted you to have the stone, in the eventuality that something would happen to her."
"Of course," Halva whispered. And now there were aliens that wanted to take it away from her. She closed her eyes and felt a tiredness wash over her.
"I need to rest.” She felt exhausted.
Griesen nodded as he unloaded gadgets from his zippered pockets onto the kitchen table.
She watched him. He seemed focused. Undeterred. Well, at least that made one of
them, at least, she thought.
"You - you'll be here, when I get up, right?" Halva said, a little uncertainly.
"I'll be here.” He looked up at her. "We're visiting one of your favorite memories. It's one of the safest places you can be - when you wake up, we’ll discuss what we’ll do next. Ok?"
Halva had never allowed anybody to plan anything for her in her life, but somehow she felt comforted in his words. She was glad that for once, somebody knew more about what the hell was going on than she did. Even if he was an alien.
"Okay," she said woozily, as she felt a tired ache overtake her body. "I'll be in - well, I'll be in my room."
With that, she walked away from the kitchen towards her bedroom. As she moved, the rest of the home materialized in front of her, from the carpeted hallway to the stairs and finally - her room. She hadn't been inside for over ten years. The blue and white quilted bedding was exactly as she'd remembered it. She was shocked at how much she'd remembered from a life she had left behind so long ago. She fell asleep as soon as she wrapped herself in the familiar smell of lavender-scented sheets.
Halva woke, many hours later, her body aching. It was a cool night; she looked over at the window which had been left slightly ajar, the latticed curtain drifting with the slight gust of wind which had entered the room. She sat up on the bed, drawing her duvet close to her, remembering where she was, and the strangeness of it all.
She heard small noises coming from the kitchen. Were they coming from her mother? Or the strange man-alien who had rescued her? She wasn't sure what to make of Griesen, only that he seemed genuinely interested in protecting her.
She felt slightly sore from sleeping. She was amazed she had slept at all.
She padded back into the kitchen, and saw her mother, now cooking dinner, and her younger self, sitting on the floor with a colouring book, surrounded by a few plush stuffed animals. But then she yelped - seeing not Griesen, the man in the black uniform she had said goodnight to - but someone else in his place - his hands and face radiated a scaly rainbow of pearlescent colour, as he gazed into a ball that emitted some sort of map.
He turned to look at her in a slow, deliberate manner. As he did, his face morphed back into the one she was familiar with - his pointed ears and elongated face - it reminded her of a geode - turning back into the handsome human one she had been familiar with.
She stared at him, speechless.
"Now you’ve seen me. The real me."
Halva watched as the levitating sphere came down onto the table.
"I'm not afraid," Halva countered.
"Still trying to be strong,” he remarked. It’s a good trait. Usually.”
Somehow his statement didn’t bother her as it would have typically. She came next to him, drawing out a chair to sit. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. "How long was I asleep for?"
"Seven hours."
She nearly fell off her chair. "What?!"
He nodded. "You're surprised? You've been through a lot. It is only to be expected that your body would require a recharge.”
“You make me sound like a battery.”
She noticed he seemed to blanch at those words. “Sorry.”
“Is that all I am to you? Something disposable?” She wondered if he was going to get rid of her after this was all over.
“No. I’m not like them.” His reply was firm, instant.
“Well, somehow through all this craziness, I believe you.” Halva glanced around. He could have just left her behind at the airport to rot with the devil, she supposed. "Speaking of those men. I’m concerned.”
He looked at her, nodding.
"What is your plan?" She corrected herself. "Our plan?"
"Well," he said slowly. "It'll require a bit of focus on your part."
“Focus… I can do focus,” she said.
He looked directly at her, and for some reason, she felt his piercing stare go right through her.
"You can control a lot more than you realize," he said quietly. "You're just going to have to start doing it consciously."
She frowned. It was back to that thing again. There was no other way. She pulled out the chair beside him and sat, looking cautiously at him. "Look," she said then tiredly. "I can think happy thoughts some more. But I don't really understand what you're trying to get at... all I really want to do is go back to my life. Before this crazy week started, I was just looking forward to running my business and getting stuff off the ground with Edith. I don't understand why --"
"Because," he interrupted her harshly. "No. You cannot just want to go back to your life. It’s not that simple. If there is one thing you can’t wish for, it’s that. I hate to break it to you, but things won’t be the same if you decide that. Things have already changed too much.”
She stared at him, dumbfounded. "I don’t get it… What do you mean? How am I supposed to wake up from this… this nightmare?" she looked at him and then back at the vision of her young self and her mother. Her eyes began to well up.
"What's happened to me?" she asked as tears began to slide down her cheeks. "Why are these people after me? Why are you really here?" She struggled to keep her voice from shaking.
"Halva," he said softly. “Please. Just take my hand for a moment.”
Halva reached out and took his hand. Instantly, a powerful wave of energy flowed through her - a bright wash of white light. The same feeling she had gotten from the stone. She gasped, letting go of his hand, surprised at the sudden influx of emotion that had come over her.
"You let go," he said softly. "You should have kept yourself there."
She trembled at those words. "And what?" she whispered. Her emotions were mixed. The feelings that had rushed over her were more powerful than any of the drugs she had experimented with as a teenager.
He watched her. "You're afraid."
"Yes," she retorted at his words. "Yes I am. Any normal… normal human would be in this insane situation!”
“You’re also sad because you see your mother right now and you can’t do anything to change what happened between the two of you.”
She felt like he had just punched her in the gut. “Did you get your psychology degree up in Mars too? You leave my mother out of this,” she hissed. “I don’t know why you keep going back to them. Leave me alone!”
She snatched her hand back from the table, shouting. "If you think your...your voodoo magic is going to help me get out of here, you're insane!"
He said nothing as she pushed her chair back and glared at him. Without saying a word, she ran to the front of the house.
Griesen suddenly jumped up. "Wait, Halva -" he said, but to no avail.
She ran into the foyer, flinging open the door and stepped out the door to – an abyss. Funnily, she had expected the front yard to materialize, but it hadn’t. She screamed wildly as she flailed her hands. Griesen caught her from behind, catching her from behind before she fell out of the home. The sky enfolded the house in an unforgiving blackness around them. Not a single star shone.
They were atop a cliff, with nowhere to run to. No paths lead up to it, or away from the home.
Her scream reverberated only for a moment before Griesen clapped a hand to her mouth.