“Gabe, is that you?” she asks, walking to the entryway.
A tall, white-blond man walks inside. His presence rolls off him in a strange, regal wave, and I stand up for the same reason I sat down.
“Yeah, I just got the impression I needed to...” he begins, entering the sanctuary.
Behind Gabe, a tall, curly-haired blond woman walks through the door cradling a motorcycle helmet.
3
Morgan
“Oh, c’mon. You have got to be kidding me,” Thea says, setting the helmet down on the entry table. She props a hand on her hip and looks back toward the door as though she’s seriously considering bolting for it.
“Thea?” Mike says, his voice thick with surprise. He stands up and makes his way to the entry as well.
Thea sighs heavily, clearly struggling to restrain an eye-roll.
I crook my index finger over my mouth to keep from cracking a smile.
“I thought I was through with you nutjobs,” she mutters, her shoulders sagging in defeat.
“Why are you here?” Braham asks, surprise written clear across his face.
I can already sense he’ll be the first to blossom—to embrace all that’s going on— but he’s still on overwhelm from losing touch with his wife.
“That dude was persistent,” Thea says, jabbing a thumb at Gabe. “And I had no idea he’d be bringing me back to you guys. Had I known, I would have told him where to shove it.”
Gabe smiles serenely, the way only he can.
“Talk about a small world,” Mike says, bobbing his head up and down, and grinning broadly.
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Thea mutters.
Gabe reaches for my hand, pulling me aside. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”
“Be right back, guys,” I say, following Gabe’s lead to the sacristy of the worship hall.
The three of them nod but continue to squabble—hashing out their pecking order.
“So, three down, huh?” Gabe smiles as we reach the sacred space.
“Appears that way,” I mutter, turning to face the doorway so I can tell if anyone is coming.
I’d hate to freak them out by overhearing our candid conversations.
Gabe takes a step closer, his crystalline blue eyes piercing through me. My breath hitches, and I hold my ground, waiting.
Leaning forward, he places a gentle, beautiful kiss on my lips. It electrifies my soul and makes my pulse race, the way it always does.
After a moment, he sighs and takes a small step back. I waver there, my chin tipped upward and eyes closed.
“Hi,” he whispers, brushing the backs of his fingers against my cheek.
“Hi,” I return, allowing my lips to slide into a smile.
He chuckles, taking my hands in his as he leans back against the shelving along the wall.
“So, how has it gone so far?” he asks, watching me closely.
I take a deep breath and let out a sigh. “About as well as can be expected.”
“Disbelief, then,” he says.
“And then some. I haven’t even been able to bring myself to explain all that’s happening just yet. They’re all so—I don’t know—different,” I say, searching for the right word.
“Aren’t we all?” Gabe chuckles.
“Understatement,” I laugh, trying to keep my voice low. “But of all the others, they’re more so. Not just in how hard it was to find them, but in their acceptance of things. It’s like they’re more asleep than most. But shouldn’t they be the ones with more knowledge? I don’t know, more power?”
“Power isn’t always in understanding what’s right in front of them. Sometimes, power lends itself in quiet contemplations and actions left undone,” he whispers in his typical, potent fashion.
He smiles softly, the corners of his lips barely tipping upward. I raise a fingertip to trace their outline. I don’t know how long I’ll have with him—I wish it was forever—but I know I need to enjoy every small, minute detail while I still can. Once things really begin, who knows what the future will hold? Everything could change completely.
Something clatters loudly in the main part of the worship hall, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Oh boy, we better see what’s going on,” I mutter, dropping my hand and heading back the way we came.
“Did the gods strike me down? Hmmm… Nope, still here,” Thea says loudly, standing at in the front of the sanctuary. Some of the old artifacts and relics we’ve collected over various realities lay scattered across the floor.
“That’s not what I meant,” Braham says, his head cocked slightly to the side.
“What’s going on here?” I ask, walking to the front of the worship hall and standing between the two of them.
“Oh, nothing,” Thea smiles cheekily.
Braham turns to me, an arm outstretched in offering. “Thea here is under the delusion my opinion about what’s going on is somehow a detriment to things.”
“That’s not even remotely what I was getting at. Typical man doesn’t listen,” she says, popping herself up on the altar and dangling her legs like a kid in a chair that’s too big.
Gabe stands just behind me, his calming energy rolling off him in waves.
“Are we sure these two aren’t married?” Mike chuckles, taking a seat in one of the pews nearby.
I snicker to myself.
“All right, so fighting isn’t going to help anything. We need to all sit down and have a…” I turn, facing Gabe for a moment. He nods, urging me to continue. “We need to have an important talk.”
“Oh, goodie,” Thea sighs.
“Can we start with some introductions?” Braham says, eyeing Gabe.
“Of course. Where are my manners,” Gabe says, walking to Braham with his arm outstretched. “Gabe. And you are?”
Braham takes Gabe’s hand in his, a sudden light shimmering behind his eyes, another nudge in the right direction.
“Braham,” he offers.
“And you are?” Gabe asks, turning to face Mike.
“Mike, that’s me,” he says, waving at first, but then standing up to offer his hand as well.
Once again, Gabe does what he does so well, offering a gentle nudge with his own presence. Mike’s eyes glow faintly with a golden light before fading back to their normal deep-brown.
“Thea,” she spits out quickly, not moving from her stoop. “So now that we’re all acquainted, anyone wanna explain what the fuck is going on?”
Taking a deep breath, I shoot a glance at Gabe. He and I both know what’s at stake here, but it’s hard to deliver the information without at least some backlash. Even now—even for me—seeing it all come to fruition has been borderline surreal.
And that’s saying a lot.
Thea’s left eyebrow twitches, and she strums her fingertips against the altar.
I take a deep breath, clearing my own energy as I send a silent prayer to the universe to help me say things the right way so they’ll all be receptive.
All eyes are on me, and I take in each of their anxious faces.
“I already know what Thea’s response will be, but Mike, Braham… do you have a spiritual affiliation?” I begin.
The two of them exchange their own quick glance, and Mike sits up straighter.
“I don’t really have an affiliation, at least not one I grew up with,” he says. “Guess I sorta lean toward Buddhism these days. The whole Greek gods thing makes me feel somewhat uneasy. It doesn’t quite fit in my brain.”
I understand why he feels that way—even if he doesn’t understand just yet.
“I was raised with family members pushing the gods and goddess, same as everyone else, I suppose,” Braham says, his dark eyes flitting around the sanctuary in front of him. “But I don’t know… Something in my core has always made me feel like they’re just stories. I feel like if there was a higher being, there would just be one. Not many, you know?”
“Interesting theory,” I say, trying to acknowledge the
instinct blossoming within him. He feels the divergence of realities, but he doesn’t understand how it’s affecting him.
“What are you getting at here?” Thea says, tipping forward.
“Each of you—you’re a part of something big. Cosmos big,” I whisper, trying to relay the importance through my words.
“Yeah, we’re the lucky Chosen Ones. Quick, someone hand me a stake, I have vampires to hunt,” Thea says, crossing her arms.
“I get this might be a lot to take in but consider the events of the day. Why did you three survive when no one else is here to tell about it? Why was I there? How did Gabe know to find Thea and bring her back to us after she left?” I ask, wanting them to start drawing their own conclusions.
Braham stands up, his broad shoulders pulled back as he towers over me. The intensity of his dark hair and dark eyes as he bends in sends a shiver down my spine. His power is rising quickly. It won’t be long before he sees this place for what it is.
For a moment, he doesn’t put anything into words. He simply watches me, trying to suss out his own information from my face.
“Are you trying to say we’re somehow a part of the apocalypse?” he finally asks, narrowing his eyes.
“Sort of, yes.” Sighing, I nod, knowing how it will lay with everyone.
As expected, Thea snorts. “Yeah? Then where are the shiny four horsemen? Aren’t they supposed to be running around town to get the party started?”
She chuckles.
Surprised, I pull up short. It was a reference I wasn’t expecting, not from Thea and not yet. It’s possible the different dimensions are bleeding through to her already.
Perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps she will be the first.
I lick my lower lip. “Look, I know how strange all of this might be, but we’re all—for good or bad—here to bring some semblance of justice to the fight we’re being faced with. The scales have been tipping, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but humanity is losing.”
“Good riddance,” Thea mutters.
“How can you say that?” Braham turns the intensity of his stare toward her.
“How can you not?” she retorts. “Humans are assholes. We’re hypocritical, ignorant, self-serving pricks. Kill the planet for money—a completely manmade made-up concept, by the way. Pro-life, but anti-child. Wars, genocide, eugenics, school gun violence… Do I really need to keep going?”
I take a seat at one the pews, taking in the clash of personalities as their energy rises. They may not realize it yet, but their passionate interaction will help them to gain clarity. It may even awaken their purpose.
“It doesn’t mean every human is that way. What a sweeping over-generalization,” Braham snorts. “What about all the good in the world? I see it every day when I help couples try to—”
“Point me toward all this happy then, and I’ll take it back,” Thea says, clamping her mouth shut and jutting her chin out.
“Guys, you can’t have one without the other,” Mike says, standing up. His energy is a calm, beautiful ocean as he flips his palms upward. “On one hand, to experience the bliss of beauty and love, you need to know darkness, pain, and sorrow. To know despair and evil, you have to experience the joys of good. They go hand in hand.”
I look over my shoulder and see a tiny grin as it cracks across Gabe’s face.
“Yeah, yeah. You need to know darkness in order to know light,” Thea says, pursing her lips. “Well, all I can say, Morgan is one-hundred percent right. Despair and evil are winning.”
“Let’s say we believe you. Where do we fit into all of this?” Braham asks, pragmatism eking into his words.
Gabe moves closer, his presence suddenly filling the room the way only his can. He doesn’t have to say a word, though I already know his message will hold more power behind it than my own. I’m only human, after all.
All three of them flit from expressions of consternation, to surprise, and then curiosity. Even the biggest skeptic, Thea.
“As much as it pains us all, it is not Morgan’s place to open your eyes to everything. Just as a baby must make his first steps on his own, so you must open your mind wider than the confines in which you hold it,” Gabe begins. “Our war is waging, and without you, the battle could be lost. Darkness is already prevailing, as Thea and Morgan so aptly pointed out. It is our job to figure out why we are all called together.”
Braham scratches at his forehead. “And what, exactly, will three extra people accomplish against any coming darkness? It’s not like we have superpowers or anything.”
Thea laughs, her bobbed hair flopping up and down in agreement as she throws Braham an air high-five.
“Technically, we still need to locate two more of you, but you’re wrong about all that,” I say, taking a deep breath.
“And how am I wrong?” Braham asks, his lips pressing into a thin line.
“You each have the essence of extraordinary energy within you,” Gabe says, taking another step forward, preparing himself. “The gifts bestowed to you are your birthright. Each of you has a piece to the puzzle we’re trying to solve, and only you can help us figure out what that means. You need to remember your center before things can become clear.”
“Oh my god, now I know you’ve flipped your lid. Look, if this is some kind of a cult…” Thea snorts.
Without another word, Gabe closes his eyes, allowing the illusion of his human form to melt away like a waterfall rushing to meet the ocean. Light spills into the sanctuary—the blinding, all-consuming kind only an archangel can call upon. His energy of purity, rebirth, love, creative urge race at me, through me, and around the entire space with intense speed.
Shielding my eyes with my forearm, I wait for the inevitable sounds of confusion and awe. When nothing happens, I look up as Gabe pulls his energy together, forcing it back into its container of humanity.
Instead of awe or even horror, the three of them stand up, their own angelic energy pulsating and glowing around the edges of their human forms like a beacon of confirmation. However, every single one seems oblivious of it.
“Mmmmkay?” Thea says, making a face. “That was weird. Shouldn’t you have a big ’S’ on your chest as you step forward like that?”
Braham glances at the other two, his eyes revealing a slight hint of something more.
Standing up, I walk to him and take his hand, “You saw him—the real him—didn’t you?”
I look deeply into Braham’s dark eyes, searching their depths for the truth. Without my intention, his memories flood my mind, thanks to our physical contact. Rather than trusting what he saw, his mental programing has veered his mind away from the present and placed it back with his wife. His worry for her is clouding everything he sees and experiences. However, there is a seed there, a small token of light that has burrowed itself deep inside his subconscious. If he can simply let go of his human attachments, he’ll be unstoppable.
Pulling his hand back, he stares at me curiously.
“I’m not sure what I saw,” he mutters.
I turn to face Gabe. His chin drops toward his chest—a simple acknowledgment that acceptance will not come easily. Even our final five can be stubborn, it seems—or at least these three.
“Gabe do you think I should—?” I hold out my hands to signal a contact exchange.
He shakes his head. “No, they’re not ready.”
Nodding to myself, I take a deep breath. “Okay then—anyone else tired?”
“I am,” Mike says, raising a hand.
“Are you kidding? You drop a bomb like ‘you have extraordinary gifts bestowed’—blah, blah, blah—and then want us to drop it and get some rest? Where’s the proof, Morgan? And Gabe, I trusted you. You seemed like a super-nice guy, but now I think you’re as nuts as the others.” Thea walks away from the group and down the aisle of the sanctuary. “It’s been nice knowing all of you, but… yeah.”
She splays her arms outward, tipping her hands to the sky. I turn to Gabe to see if he plans
to stop her or let her go. His lips tip slightly upward as he blinks slowly.
Thea reaches for the door, pulling it back hard as the four of us begin to make our way down the aisle after her. As she flings it open, she stands frozen in the doorway, her back to us and her hand still resting on the door handle.
Outside this sacred space, the rest of reality has fallen away, and a sea of stars, galaxies, and nebulas blaze brightly. The illusion of the reality as we brought them here has been lifted, and the only way back now is up to them.
Wordlessly, Thea slams the door shut and stands there, shaking.
“What in the actual…” she begins, her back still to us.
“The fields of matter and form are very subjective,” Gabe says. “We can walk within the reality of humanity, but we must resonate correctly in order to do so. This space—it is a gateway to help us see reality in its myriad forms.”
I glance over my shoulder. Mike’s eyes haven’t left the doorway, and his mouth is agape.
“Are…are we in a TARDIS?” he finally whispers.
“Something like that,” I chuckle under my breath.
“I need a drink,” Braham says, walking back to the front of the sanctuary and taking a seat in the front pew. He props his elbows on his knees and butts his palms to cover his eyes.
Gabe walks the aisle, taking a seat beside him. Without words, he places a hand on Braham’s back, allowing the information already given to blossom within him.
The others have their roles, too, but I sense his decisions will affect fate itself. But he has to choose of his own free will.
And if he doesn’t…
It will be the end of this failed experiment of a universe as the gods abandon it and move on to the next one.
4
Thea
As I stand there staring at the shut door, I try to calm the uneven, awkward thumping in my chest.
How can this be happening?
Come on, Thea… Did someone slip something into my drink earlier today? Is this a fucked-up dream? That has to be it, right?
My hand clutches the handle, refusing to let go. If I do, if I turn around, there’ll be truth in this crazy place and there can’t be truth in it. So it means I’m hallucinating.
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