by Tara Ellis
In the middle is an extremely old picture of a small, weathered man. Under the image are the words ‘Chief Seattle’. In large print across the top is ‘How Can You Buy or Sell the Earth?’ I remember this speech. We read about it in History last year. It was Chief Seattle’s response to Washington back in 1854, regarding the purchase of millions of acres in the Pacific Northwest. How odd that it would be here, of all places. My eyes are drawn to a quote partway down the page:
“…This we know: All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself…”
Standing in the middle of all this chaos, I look again at the colorful door. Am I ready to step into another world, in order to fight for this one? I’m only one strand, but maybe we can convince the Nephilim that as a whole, our web is worth saving.
With renewed strength, I head towards the vortex and whatever might be on the other side.
THIRTY FOUR
Pushing through the door, it isn’t at all what I expected. Rather than another room or true entrance to somewhere, I find myself standing on a pathway in what could best be described as a forest. The tall wooden fence spreading out from either side of the gift shop does a good job of hiding this backyard area.
Chris comes to stand next to me on the trail and gives me a questioning look. “A little strange, don’t you think?” he says, pointing at a lone door that has been set up as an entry to another trail branching off of this one.
“Nah, makes perfect sense.” Nate says sarcastically from behind us. “Don’t you see that it’s the doorway to inner peace? There’s a love sign above a mirror on the other side. I can understand now why your mom wanted to pass on this.”
“I think it’s cute,” Missy states, moving past all of us to explore on her own. “So what if they exaggerated some things. At least it’s all positive and not depressing or negative. Oh look! A crooked house.”
Kyle hurries to catch up with her, and I notice that when he takes her hand, she doesn’t pull away. “Come here, you guys,” he calls back to us. “There really is a totally crooked house.”
Around the first bend, there is a small wooden structure resembling a cabin perched on a steep hill. It is, in fact crooked, built to follow the slant of the hillside. Reading a small plaque next to it, it claims that while the builders exaggerated the effect, that the vortex in this spot alters gravity so that when you step inside the building the laws of physics change.
Unsure of where exactly we’re supposed to go, I figure we may as well start with this. The building obviously wasn’t built until long after the Nephilim were here, but perhaps there is something under it.
As soon as I step through the door, I regret it. Everything is slanted, including me. It feels like a wall of energy is pushing against me, holding me up. I’m not sure how much of it is because the angle of the building is making me lean sideways versus a true distortion, but the result is a serious case of vertigo. I begin to feel sick in less than a minute and I have to find the exit while the others stay behind to experiment.
Once outside, I stumble over to a nearby bench and sit down. There is yet another sign next to this explaining how the vortex encompassing the building can make you ill, but will wear off. Baxter jumps up and leans into me, apparently unimpressed with it all. I’m encouraged though that there really might be some credibility to all of this, and that we’re in the right place. But it’s not the shack.
My four friends all file out of the crooked house, laughing and seemingly unfazed by the odd energy I felt. Missy comes to sit on the other side of me, noticing how green I am.
“Are you okay?” She asks, putting a hand to my forehead.
“I’ll be fine. It just made me feel weird. That’s not where we need to go though. Let’s keep searching, okay? I think we need to be watching for any rocks that are like the one Zane showed us.”
My nausea already subsiding, I lead the way down the path past the hillside and we end up at a grove of trees. There is a clearing in the middle of them and I step into it, automatically looking up. All the trees surrounding me are growing in a twisting, clock-wise fashion. The result is what appears to be a vortex made of branches leading up to the sky. I sense a shift in pressure here too, and quickly step back out before I get sick again.
After a brief investigation doesn’t reveal any pink stones, we keep going. Fifteen minutes later, we have encountered several more spots that, according to the plaques, are smaller vortexes. But nothing else. In spite of some entertaining anomalies, such as the person standing in the vortex looking shorter than they do outside of it, we don’t discover anything that leads us to think that the Nephilim were once here.
Feeling discouraged, I approach the last exhibit: a meditation circle. Standing at the podium leading up to it, I read the instructions that explain you are supposed to walk the circular trail, meditating as you go. It supposedly follows the flow of energy, spiraling towards the center where there is the greatest concentration.
“Why not?” I mumble as we approach the coiled stone trail set into the ground. As I go to step onto it, Missy gasps from behind me.
“Alex!” she exclaims, and I glance up. In the center of the vortex, at the end of the meditation trail is a large spectacular pink quartz.
“We found it!” I yell to the guys who are still back playing with the height anomaly. Nate is totally enthralled with how he appears as tall as Kyle, and it’s driving him crazy that he can’t explain it.
Rushing forward, I crouch down to get a better look at the rock. Touching it, I feel that same blanket of force as the other spots and it’s warm under my hands rather than the cold you would expect.
“Is this it?” Kyle asks hopefully. He and Nate are standing near the outer circle.
“This might be part of it, but it can’t be the right place,” Nate answers for me. “I mean, think about it. This rock was obviously placed here by the owners of this show. I’m sure they must have uncovered it nearby, but it’s probably just a marker, like Nator said in your … vision. We need to figure out where the next one is.”
Studying it more closely, I realize that Nate has to be right. The pavers and cement platform under the quartz aren’t very old, and clearly not made by the Nephilim. I do my best to fight the discouragement welling up inside of me. What are we supposed to do now?
“The surface is a lot like the crystal skulls,” Chris says, squatting down next to me. “It’s way too smooth to be natural. Check out at all the angles cut into it.”
He’s right. The skulls had been a key, literally, to activating the pyramids and releasing the antivirus. The Nephilim had made those too, so it would make sense. This gives me an idea.
“Chris, you’re a genius!” I exclaim and try to pick up the rock. It won’t budge. It isn’t so big that I shouldn’t be able to move it, and so I examine the base. Sure enough, it’s been literally cemented to the platform. Of course the owners would have wanted to prevent its theft.
I’m trying to think of how to break it free, when Chris tells me to step back. He’s pried one of the stepping stones up from the ground and before I can protest, swings it around and slams it into the base of the rock. Chunks of stone and cement shoot out and I turn to prevent getting hit in the face.
He does it three more times, until the step in his hands breaks apart completely. The dust settling, I lean in close, afraid I’m going to find the rock in pieces, too. Instead, there isn’t a mark on it. It’s sitting a bit sideways, proof that Chris was successful in knocking it free.
Encouraged, I once again try to lift it. It’s no longer attached to the platform, but it’s much heavier than I thought it would be. Even though it’s not a whole lot bigger than a bowling ball, I struggle with it.
“Come here you guys,” I direct Kyle and Nate. “Here,” I say, handing it off to Chris. He almost drops it, and I keep forgetting that I’m a
s strong as he is now. “Help Chris carry it and follow me.”
They get on either side of Chris to support the quartz and trail behind me. Taking Missy’s arm, I lead us all out into an open area where the sunlight manages to work its way through the canopy of trees. Seeing me turn my face up into the golden rays, Chris catches on and I don’t need to tell him what to do.
Walking forward into the sunbeams, my three friends lift the crafted stone high over their heads until the light finds its mark. Although the same effect happened with the crystal skull, I am still unprepared for the dramatic results. An eruption of color floods the space around us, millions of points of prismatic light dancing in the air.
Kyle is so startled that he almost drops it, causing the light to fluctuate as he regains his hold. Turning in circles, Missy and I marvel at the magnificent display.
“This is incredible!” she cries as she reaches out and tries to catch the colors.
As I watch, searching for something significant to the patterns, I notice that the beams are waving and undulating, even though the guys are now holding the quartz steady. Going against all of the laws of physics, the light starts to bend and swirl, causing my math vision to kick in and overlay it with all sorts of angles and formulas of projection. I stagger slightly, thrown off balance by it all. Baxter barks excitedly, running in random circles, unsure of where he wants to go.
I realize that Chris is watching me closely, seeming to understand that more is happening to me than just the light. Rather than trying to ignore the annoying gift, this time I let it go. My vision continues to fill with lines linking the spiraling light that I now believe is somehow reflecting the energy of the vortex. It’s creating a tunnel effect, and I obediently follow it.
I don’t have to go far. As I step into the grove of twisting trees, I see that the center of it is the point of origin. All of the angles, lines and light flow to and out of it and I am drawn in. As soon as I step onto the exact axis, it all instantly disappears. Spinning around, I discover that the rest of the group is still gathered back at the other clearing, enjoying the light show that is isolated to their location.
Except for Chris. He is staring at me with a look of expectancy. “You didn’t see that?” I ask him, already knowing the answer.
“No. What was it?”
“It’s hard to explain,” I answer. “But I think you need to bring the stone over here.”
I’m afraid to move from this spot, so I wait for them to come to me. “Place it right here, where my feet are.” They follow my command and then we all step back. At first, nothing happens and I begin to feel a bit foolish.
But Baxter hears it first. Tilting his head to the side, he leans in close to the ground sniffing. Then he whines and looks up at me, confused. It takes another minute, but then I also hear it. A low hum, almost mechanical.
“What is it?” Nate asks when it gets loud enough for the rest of the group to distinguish, his eyes wide.
I’m about to tell him I have no idea, when the ground at our feet starts to vibrate. The sound intensifies as does the shaking until finally, the section under the quartz begins to lower. Alarmed, we all jump back, putting plenty of space between us and the rapidly forming gap.
A ten foot section nearly four feet wide slowly sinks, creating a sort of ramp leading down with the rose quartz at the bottom. Once the rumbling and shaking stops, I move to the edge and try to peer into the gloom. It appears to open up into a decent sized room.
With growing anticipation, I head down. “Are you sure you want to go down there?” Nate asks warily. Pausing, I gaze up at the rest of the group still standing along the edge.
“It’s what we came for,” I reply matter-of-factly. “Of course I’m going down. You guys go ahead and wait up here for me if you want to.”
After a moment of hesitation, Chris is the first to join me, and then the rest of our friends follow. Kyle produces a flashlight so that they can see what I’ve already found. A vast cavern at least thirty feet wide spreads out from the entrance, with smooth walls and a dirt floor. Torches spread out around the space suddenly bloom with bluish-white flames, causing Missy to scream in alarm.
“It’s okay,” I reassure her. “These were in the pyramid. I think it’s some sort of chemical reaction that’s caused when increased oxygen is introduced to the atmosphere. Kinda like motion sensor lights, but for underground, sealed rooms.
Kyle turns off the unnecessary flashlight and we all move further into the room. I’m drawn to the center, where another, larger quartz is situated. This one is a deeper pink, almost red. It’s also smooth but with a different shape, flatter on the sides like the one I saw Nator with.
Kneeling down in front of it, I know why it’s carved this way. Reaching out, I place my hands on two of the flat areas and close my eyes. Nothing happens. Groaning, I’m taken back to that horrible night in the pyramid when the same thing happened with the skull. Baxter whines at me and pads around in the space restlessly.
“I don’t know what’s wrong,” I say to Chris, placing my hands on another section of the rock, willing them to get warm. I turn and look to him for help. We have to succeed in contacting the Nephilim!
“Maybe you need another Nephume to activate it.”
Startled by the voice, I jump up, spinning back towards the entrance. Standing there, silhouetted by the light from above, is Seth.
THIRTY FIVE
Chris’s reaction is immediate and violent. He’s on him before the rest of us even have a chance to move. As I sprint towards the two of them rolling in the dirt, I yell to the other three standing frozen in surprise.
“Go check for the other Mudameere!” I yell over Baxter’s frantic barking, pointing towards the surface. Kyle and Nate swing the rifles from their backs, and I toss my own to Missy. I’m confident in her ability to shoot; we’ve been hunting together before. We swapped out our weapons back at the ranch for some nice ARs, but Missy didn’t feel comfortable on horseback with such a bulky firearm. I had hoped we weren’t going to need them.
I can’t believe they found us already. How’s it even possible? I pray that Zane’s men are able to hold them off at the ranch until the plane takes Mom and the others to safety. We should have never left them.
As they run cautiously up the ramp, I turn to Chris and Seth. To my surprise, Seth isn’t really putting up much of a fight. Chris has already gotten him into a headlock and is dragging the other teen to his feet. Watching this, I realize that something is off. Why would Seth come down here by himself, if the Mudameere were attacking us?
“Take it easy, man,” Seth growls, licking at the blood oozing from the corner of his mouth. Apparently Chris got at least one punch in. “I’m not here to fight you.”
“Shut up!” Chris barks, tightening his hold. Seth winces in pain as his shoulders are strained, but he doesn’t complain. I notice for the first time that he is quite a bit taller than Chris, at least three inches. They are about the same size however across the chest and arms, so it is a fairly even match. I’m personally aware of how strong Seth is, and it’s apparent to me that he has allowed himself to be subdued so quickly.
Nate, Kyle, and Missy reappear, rushing back in to help Chris and me. When they see that things are already under control, they relax and shoulder their rifles. “There’s no one out there that we can see,” Kyle reports.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Chris says through clenched teeth. “Did you check out front?”
“Yeah,” Nate answers. “Horses are fine and everything is quiet. Just a motorcycle there now, which I’m assuming is his,” he finishes, pointing at Seth.
“I’m here by myself,” the young Mudameere says slowly, as if we’ll have a hard time understanding him. Baxter sits near his feet, teeth bared.
“I told you to shut up! There isn’t anything you could say that any of us want to hear.” Chris starts walking him towards the ramp, but Missy stops him by stepping out into their path.
Even though Seth is a good nine inches taller than her 5’6, she purposefully squares off with him before slapping him hard across the face. “That’s for my dad!” she says, dangerously quiet.
A red handprint instantly begins welling up on his cheek, but he doesn’t seem to feel it. “I’m sorry about that,” he whispers. For some reason, I’m tempted to believe him.
Missy appears confused at first by his response, but then her face hardens and she stomps away. Kyle puts a protective arm around her, glaring at Seth. “Get him out of here,” he says to Chris.
“No. Wait,” I blurt out. Everyone turns to look at me, surprised. I’m acutely sensitive to all of the raw emotions exposed right now, my own included. But I have to put all of that aside. There are bigger things than our own personal involvement to consider. They’re missing the obvious contradiction.
“Why are you here, Seth?” I ask him simply, positioning myself so he can look at me without having to turn his head. Chris has him in such a tight hold, that any movement is impossible.
“It’s freakin’ obvious why he’s here!” Kyle yells, taking a step towards him. “He’s here to finish what he started, and stop us from getting to the Nephilim.”
“Maybe not,” Nate counters. Good. I was hoping my level-headed friend might support me in this. “If that were the case, wouldn’t you think there’d be an army of men descending on us right now?”
“I don’t really care what his reasons are,” Chris says quietly. The look he gives me is enough to cause me to turn away. This isn’t about betrayal, but doing what’s necessary to accomplish our goal.
“I’m here to help you,” Seth answers. “I know you won’t believe that. I’m having a hard time understanding it myself, but everything is upside down right now and I’m trying to get a handle on it. These dreams are driving me crazy and I thought you might be able to help me, Alex, since you are in them.”
