by E J Pay
“Dom. We have to figure this out,” I say. “Maybe we can ask your grandpa about the man in the purple robe. Maybe we could follow him and get you to touch his skin and make him forget and, and…”
Dom’s eyes light up. “Grandpa always keeps a record of his business,” he says. “Maybe he was pretending to be here on business. If that’s right, we can get into the record room and see who he is. Then, then yeah, we can sneak to his place or hide somewhere he wouldn’t be able to see us. Then…”
Someone sneezes. Dom and I freeze where we are and turn our heads up. The hayloft. We sit silently, waiting for more sounds from whoever is there. Is it someone we can sway? How much have they heard? The questions lay quietly between us as we hold our breath and wait.
We don’t have to wait long for another stifled sneeze and a sniff from above.
“Who’s up there?” Dom calls out to our spy. Silence. In a louder voice, Dom yells, “I said, ‘who is up there?’ Come out now! You’d better come out or I’ll get Grandpa. He won’t put up with servants spying.”
Theodis jumps out of a pile of hay and makes a running start for the edge of the loft. Before we realize what he is doing, he jumps on top of Dom, tackling him to the ground. I fly backward as Theodis slams into Dom. Theodis is at least four years older than Dom and nearly double his size. If it were a simple matter of hand-to-hand combat, there’s no way Dom would stand a chance. But Dom can touch Theodis’ skin. He can make him see anything, do anything, think anything.
I jump toward the pair, swinging my arms wildly at Theodis’ back. I pull at his hair and scratch at his exposed neck. “Dom!” I yell, “Dom! You’ve got to control him!”
Dom’s arms are flailing wildly, trying to reach for Theodis’ face.
“Oh no, you don’t,” Theodis says with a mocking tone. “You don’t get to touch me. I know what you’ll do.”
Dom reaches for Theodis’ arm and gets ahold of his wrist. Theodis is momentarily weakened as he becomes susceptible to whatever Dom is making him feel. I have a good grip on Theodis’ hair and I’m not about to let go. He releases his grip on Dom and stands. Dom stands with him, holding tightly to his wrist. I let go of his hair, knowing that Dom can control him now.
We are walking to the gate when Dom slips on a puddle in the animal pen. In less than a second, he is flat on the ground, his hand no longer holding Theodis’ wrist. I turn to Dom, helping him from the ground. Theodis shakes his head and spins to face us.
“Oh no, you don’t, you spoiled freak!” Theodis shouts at Dom as he tries to get up and grab him again. Theodis grabs a hemp sack from the fence. In an instant, he has it wrapped around Dom and is lifting him off the ground.
I jump onto Theodis’ back and he drops Dom again. He turns and I slip to the ground. He gives me a swift kick in the side. “Take that, you little brat. Nobody wants you. You aren’t worth anything next to your brother here. Or is he even your brother? I heard you talking.” He is kicking me with each sentence and I do all I can to move out of the way. He grabs at my hair and tosses me to the side, tearing Pearl’s hamsa talisman from around my neck. He tosses it to the ground and picks up the sack, walking to Dom again.
Dom is lying on the ground, trying to get up. As Theodis reaches toward him with the sack, Dom lifts his hand to keep him away. But Theodis uses the sack to grab hold of Dom’s outstretched arm, grabbing him by the wrist. He twists and yanks as hard as he can and Dom screams out in pain. As Theodis reaches for Dom again, all I can see is red. This boy will NOT harm Dom!!!!!
I let out a scream unlike anything I have ever heard from the mouth of a ten-year-old girl. It is loud and low and rumbling. It sounds like a lion calling out in the Sahara. I feel complete and total rage coursing through my body. I envision Theodis crumpling to the ground by Dom, holding his own head and screaming in pain. I let out another yell and imagine the scene again – Theodis falling in pain.
As I finish my second yell, I am totally weak. I look to Dom who is near me. His eyes are fearful, his skin pale from the shock of his broken arm. But he looks at me as though I have done something horrible.
I look to where I last saw Theodis standing over Dom. He is a heap on the ground, his hands clasping the sides of his ears. Blood is leaking out from between his fingers and small rivulets of bloody tears are coming from his eyes. Pearl’s hamsa talisman lays on the ground by his hands.
Dom is frozen on the ground, in too much pain to move. In the silence, I can hear the yells and footsteps of the adults running from the house. Just as they reach us, I feel so light-headed that I have to lie back down again. I turn my head and see Pearl’s Mama reaching my side, kneeling to check on me. As she touches my head and I see her lips move in questions, I close my eyes and sleep.
∞ ∞ ∞
My eyes flash open and I awake from the nightmare. A ferocious, pounding headache pulses behind my eyes and I am in a cold sweat. I hate these kinds of dreams. They always leave me with a sense of something ominous coming toward me. I have so many ominous dreams. I wish they would stop.
I reach my hand out of my blanket and touch my sweaty brow. I wipe at the wetness with the edge of my covers, drying my entire face from the nightmare I have awoken from. I stretch the stiffness from my limbs and sit myself up in the bed. The room is still dark, but the tiniest hint of dawn is making its way through the edges of my window curtains. My stomach growls and I move out of my bed, across my room, and into the dark kitchen.
It is too early yet for Cook to be awake, so I rummage through the wooden bowls on the table, looking for the best fruit to eat. An uneaten piece of flatbread is sitting by the fruit bowl, and I take it along with some dried figs Cook keeps hidden in her secret drawer. I bring the food back into my room. I sit on my, Pearl’s, bed and watch the day begin its journey into the tiny space.
As I finish the bread, I hear stirring coming from the corner. Someone is in here. Have they been here all night? I sit silently on my bed, waiting to see who will walk from the dark corner and into the light.
Just as I start worrying that someone bad is in my room, Dom steps into the early light. His eyes are bleary and his hair is disheveled. I didn’t see him when I left my room. He must have been sleeping in my chair again. I smile, ready to make a joke about his wild hair, when I see the sling hanging over his shoulder, holding his bandaged arm.
The painful reality hits me with blunt force as I realize that I hadn’t been dreaming. Last night, two nights ago, whenever it was – it happened. It really happened. What happened?! What happened in the animal pen?
What did I do?
I feel the color draining from my face and the food I just ate turns flips in my stomach. My vision blurs when sleepy-eyed Dom snaps awake and hurries to the bed. He sits on the blankets next to me and puts his good hand on my shoulder.
“Evelyn,” he whispers. Why is he calling me that? Oh, yes. That’s me.
“Evelyn,” he whispers again, this time giving my shoulder a gentle shake.
I let out a small groan and lay back on my pillows. Things are spinning, but they are also clearing. I wasn’t dreaming. I wasn’t dreaming. Theodis. Dom.
“Dom!” I sit up, wanting to ask him what happened and if he is alright. Dom’s hand pushes gently on my shoulder, making me rest on the pillows again.
“Settle down, Evelyn,” Dom whispers, “We can’t be too loud or Cook will wake up.”
“What happened, Dom?” I ask. “How long have I been asleep?”
Dom pulls his feet up on the bed, facing me.
“Theodis was working for the purple-robed man who tried to take me, Evelyn. He heard us talking in the animal pen. He was going to take me to the purple robed man.” Dom’s eyes shine with the wetness of strained and fearful tears. “Theodis tried to hurt me, but you and I both fought him off. He threw you down and broke my arm. The rope for Pearl’s hamsa charm must have broken off somewhere in the fighting.” Dom sits up and pulls something from the small bag around his waist. He
lays it on the bed. It is the necklace I have worn since entering Pearl’s body. The thin jute that held it around my neck has snapped near the knot that held it all together. The blue-painted, wooden hand lay on top of the pile of jute, the eye in the center staring at me in harsh judgement.
“What happened, Dom?” I sit up and ask the questions that I fear most. “What did I do? What does this necklace have to do with anything?”
Dom looks up at me sadly, a single tear rolling from his cheek. He opens his mouth to speak and we hear Cook shuffle from her bed. She is waking up. Our conversation will have to wait. Dom picks up the necklace and hands it to me. I put it around my neck and head to the kitchen to begin my chores.
Chapter 7
Pearl’s mother has fussed over me all morning. She’s asked me nearly a dozen times if I am sure I want to be up. She insists that I should still be in my bed, that I’ve had too much of a shock, that I need to recover. When I ask what I need to recover from, she grows quiet, mumbling something about “unfortunate” and “how glad I am that you and Dom are well.” She pats my shoulder and kisses my forehead, a tear or two escaping her eyes. “If I had lost you, my only Pearl,” she sighs, holds me close, then allows me out for a walk outside, sure that the fresh air will do me good.
Cook is in a harsh mood as neither Dom nor I are fit to do anything useful in the house. With his broken arm and my recent dizziness and fainting, we have both been sent outside. It doesn’t take long before we reach our favorite tree. After half an hour of sitting and staring at the animal pen in the distance, I begin the conversation we started this morning.
“Dom,” I break the silence, “what happened? Please tell me.”
Dom shakes his head, at war within himself over what to say.
“It was my fault,” he says at last. “If I had told you earlier about what Pearl can do, what you can do, you would have been able to control your mind better.”
“What do you mean control my mind? What can I do, Dom?”
Dom looks at me for a moment, then he takes a deep breath and says, “There’s a reason why Pearl never uses her powers, Evelyn.”
I am jolted for a moment, forgetting that I am not Pearl. I am Evelyn. I am living in Pearl’s body, here to help her escape her future.
“Pearl is so much stronger than me,” Dom continues. “She can manipulate minds without touching people. She can see inside of minds and make people go completely crazy. The hamsa necklace was the only thing that was keeping you sane. Once Theodis pulled it off of you, your…Pearl’s power couldn’t be contained.” I reach up and feel the talisman, again tied around my neck.
Dom pauses then says, “You have to learn how to do these things, Evelyn. You have to learn how to protect yourself, in case I am not around.”
My heart races and I avert my eyes. I recall Pearl’s memory of Dom’s death. It’s a memory he hasn’t found yet. She has kept it hidden so far inside of me that he cannot find it. I cannot picture his body in death, I just know it happens. Death. Theodis. What happened to Theodis?
“Dom,” I ask, “what happened to Theodis? Is he okay? Dom, what happened to him? What did I do?”
Dom turns his head away and sighs. “Theodis isn’t here anymore, Evelyn. He just kept screaming and screaming, holding his head, blood coming from his ears and eyes.” I am sick to my stomach as Dom continues, “Grandpa called for the physician, but by the time he arrived, Theodis was quiet.”
I am still as a statue. Theodis’ silence was the sign of his death. I don’t know what could have been done for him with modern medicine, but there is no way that ancient doctors could have helped him in any way.
A moan escapes my lips as I hold back the nausea rising from my stomach. Dom puts his hand on my shoulder and I cry. I am filled with a power I have never felt before. I don’t understand it. It is deadly and I have used it.
I have killed someone.
∞ ∞ ∞
Dom stands behind me, holding my hair as I throw up in the grass beneath our tree. I think I am done. I sit up and Dom wipes my face with the bottom of his robes, my tears adding to the moisture on my face. I have killed someone.
“No one else knows about your powers, Pearl…Evelyn…Ugh! Can I just call you Pearl? I can’t keep doing this!” Dom’s face is red and his eyes are shining. He is holding back the wave of emotion he feels over being afraid and separated from his sister. He needs comfort. He needs to feel that she is with him. I nod, letting him know that calling me Pearl is okay. I know who I am.
Dom closes his eyes, sighing as his shoulders sink an inch. “To everyone there, it looked like Theodis was possessed by Achlys or something. It looked like he was poisoned. Servants screamed and ran, saying Theodis was cursed. They said Grandfather brought the wrath of the gods on him.”
I am dumbfounded by what Dom is saying. I forgot that I am living in a time where people believe in pagan gods and worship idols and find fear and suspicion everywhere they turn. A 21st century crowd would suspect terrorism or drugs. But not here. Here they are rooted in myth and legend. They aren’t far from the truth. But I’m not a god. I’m a displaced two-worlder.
“What do they think he did to bring the gods’ wrath on him?” I ask, still clutching the hamsa medallion in my hand. I run my fingers over the palm of the hand, feeling the raised eye in the center. As I do, a memory flashes across my mind. It isn’t my memory. I can see myself, Pearl, screaming. She is facing the person whose mind I am channeling. She screams at such a high pitch, I can see hands raising to cover ears. The memory of pain sears through my brain. The memory won’t stop. It’s all screaming and pain until red seeps into the corners of my vision. It is wet and warm. The hands move down and they are covered in blood. The memory looks again at Pearl. Then everything goes black. My eyes open to the painful reality that I have just seen Theodis’ last memory.
“People will believe anything they want to believe,” Dom says. He hasn’t seen me waver. “Grandfather has a lot of power here and a lot of money. People are jealous of our family, Pearl. People like Cook.” I blink my eyes, trying to shake the vision I saw as I listen to Dom’s explanation.
“Cook is probably getting paid by someone to say the things she is saying. As for those who believe it, well, Cook’s family has been here nearly as long as Grandfather’s. Her opinion means something. She doesn’t want to see our family succeed. She wants us to fall and she will take as many followers with her as she can.”
I sigh and take Dom’s hand. “It will be okay, Dom. You’ll see,” I tell him. “This will blow over and things will return to how they were before.” Dom’s eyebrows remain furrowed and the corners of his mouth droop a little lower as he turns his gaze over the countryside, shaking his head. My confidence fades and my heart sinks into my stomach when I look at the fear in this young boy’s eyes. I lay my hand again on the ground and let a hot tear roll out of the corner of my eye. Guilt sweeps over me as I think of the part I have played in Dom’s fears. He knows Pearl better than I do. He knows the depth of her powers and capabilities. He knows why they are something to be feared. I know next to nothing. Dom clears his throat and brings his eyes to meet mine. His gaze is strong and steady and determined as he speaks.
“I think it’s time for you to learn how to use your powers, Pearl. If something happens again and you lose the hamsa, you need to know how to protect yourself. I don’t want you to make another mistake and have someone find out what you can do. There is no telling what they would do to you.” He stares at me, unblinking, willing my soul to commune with his, convinced that he can persuade me to believe him. But he doesn’t need to persuade me. I felt Pearl’s power completely out of control within me. The result was disastrous. I have to know how to control this power. I have to delve deeper into Pearl’s being to learn how to protect her, save Dom, and return to my own home and body and life.
I nod to my twin, to Pearl’s twin. “Yes, Dom,” I tell him. “I want to know. I want to learn.”
; But there isn’t much time for learning in the next few months. Cook left, but that was just the beginning of the servants’ exodus. We’ve lost two more housemaids and three field hands since Theodis’ death. Dom and I are given more responsibilities to keep things moving as they should until we can get more servants. More servants who haven’t heard about Theodis, who don’t know Cook, and who will be loyal to Grandfather.
Mama’s sister, Oronia, comes to visit for several weeks when she learns about what happened. I eavesdrop on their conversations so I can know how close the rumors are to the truth.
“It was horrible, Nia,” Pearl’s mama tells her sister when they think they are out of earshot. “The boy was covered in blood. Dom was screaming. Pearl’s eyes were rolling back into her head.”
“What happened to them, Helena?” Oronia asks. A momentary pause follows before Mama answers.
“I don’t know, Nia,” she says. “The servants blame father. They say he has cheated in his business and brought the wrath of the gods on our family. Father says Theodis was taking some kind of drug, that he shared it with the children, then went into hysterics.”
“But what do you think happened, Helena?” Oronia asks. “Do you think it has anything to do with Pontus?” I hold my breath when I hear his name. Pontus was Pearl’s father. What does Oronia know of his past?
“It isn’t polite to spy, Pearl.” I jump back when I hear the voice of Pearl’s cousin, Ananke. She is 18 years old and betrothed to a merchant in the south. She is here visiting with her mother, trying to help the family.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her. “I was just…”
Ananke smiles at me. She is tall and light-skinned with sloping shoulders and golden hair. Her eyes are the color of the ocean on a stormy day. She is an anomaly in this family. She puts her hand around my shoulder and leads me away from my hiding place.
“I know it’s hard to not listen, Pearl,” she says, “but no good will come of it. Let the adults take care of the situation. You and Dom just need to worry about getting well.” I know Ananke is well-intentioned, but I can’t help but worry about the situation. Our family is in a precarious position and it is my fault.
