Melody was regarding me either thoughtfully or warily—it was hard to tell which—and her eyes said she was thinking even as her mouth responded. “Secrets, however long they are kept, usually still manage to be brought to light. The best you can hope for is that you’ll be in control of when a secret gets out, not if it does.”
I could see her obsidian eyes snap back into focus in the here and now.
“I trust the Council as far as I can throw them. If and when they find out about Cassandra’s ability, expect them to find an excuse to either ‘protect her’ or proclaim her a hazard and lock her away to ‘protect us’ and then use her abilities at their discretion.”
Silver growled, “Let them try.”
Determined, I turned to Maggie and said, “I won’t be held against my will again. If the Council has become as corrupt as you say then why are you even still here, living in this compound, following their dang rules? Gerome should leave and take everyone with any sense with him.”
Melody spoke on my aunt’s behalf. “I already told you I’m staying for the children that are still learning our ways, and yes, I could take them with me if they chose to go. The other piece of the puzzle is money; it does make the world go around you know. Cora Harris has control of the lion’s share for all of the families here. If every Weaver who wants to jump ship starts asking for their part then what do you think they would do? Do you think Harris would just hand it over?”
“There are ways, Melody. Siphon off what funds you can and make your own investments. It would take time, but it’s possible, especially if everyone who wants to leave pools their resources. It isn’t impossible, just difficult. All I know is things aren’t going to get better here, only worse.”
“You’re both borrowing trouble because none of what you've postulated has occurred,” Maggie interjected. “Gerome has plans in motion, and we wouldn’t be destitute if we left, but what about all the Weavers that can’t or won’t leave? Not all of the Council is corrupt, just parts. There are still good Council members just like Gerome all over the world. This whole network was formed as a protection against the Warp Faction, not as a means to control all Weavers. I know why your uncle is trying to save the Council, Cassandra. I just don’t know that he can do it. The task is akin to steering an iceberg or herding cats.”
Melody objected with broad movements of her long arms. “And what about the Warp Faction? If they get wind of any dissension in our ranks, then it will be like blood in the water in a sea full of sharks. How do we protect ourselves from the Council and the Warps?”
“I kill the Soul Eater,” I responded with stone-faced conviction.
Chapter Fourteen: Tangled Webs
Melody barked a short, derisive laugh. “There is no Soul Eater, Cassandra. That’s just a tale Weavers tell to scare their children.”
I rounded on the statuesque woman, jumping into a standing position and pointing a finger up at her face, at least as far as I could reach. “He is real, and I’ve met him. I was supposed to be another one of his puppets, and you better believe he’s worth a scary story. The Soul Eater isn’t a fairy tale, and I plan to kill him. If he’s dead the Warp Faction may fall apart, who knows…cut off a snake’s head and the body will thrash, but eventually, it dies. It’s worth a shot and more of a plan than you’re offering me right now.”
My aunt stood too and proclaimed, “Whoa, now! Nobody is killing anybody, fictional or real, right this second. I say we all calm down and get back to the moment.”
Maggie put a hand on each of our forearms right at the same time as Melody swung an arm down from rubbing the back of her neck. Her fingers bumped into my other arm accidently, and a familiar electric jolt flared briefly through my body. The effect wasn’t near as strong as it had been with Kara and James. The zing was still something you couldn’t shrug off as say…static electricity.
As if their heads had become attached by invisible strings, both women froze and looked at me in unison.
Maggie asked, “What was that?”
Silver thought, “I think I have some more theories about this energy surge particular Weavers can create. It’s not anything we can explain to them right now without accounting for me, and we’d rather skip that part.”
I sighed and rubbed my forearms to smooth out the goose bumps the sensation had created. “Would you ladies be willing to accept that it’s a phenomenon I’m still looking into? I believe certain combinations of Weavers, who physically touch can replicate the energy surge we just felt. That’s just an idea…not even a theory yet. The short answer is I don’t know.”
Melody was running her thumb across the pads of her fingers with the hand that had touched my arm; her eyes far away in thought.
Maggie rotated her shoulders making her breasts undulate like the hardened top on a pit of quicksand and dipped her chin as if she was looking over imaginary glasses. “You don’t do anything in half measures, do you, dear?”
I didn’t have an answer for that question either so I went with silence as a response.
Maggie and Melody ended up having a brief conversation with their eyes, and when the tall woman snapped out of her woolgathering, she said, “You’ve given me a lot to think about, Cassandra. I have to get back to the school, but I’ll be around. You can guar-an-tee it.”
The wind chose that moment to make another attempt at blowing the building down, and I got a shiver down my spine. Maggie had hesitated before she put her hand on her best friend’s shoulder, perhaps in anticipation of another shock, but nothing happened, and I could see both women visibly relax. “Let me walk you out.”
Maggie pointed at the couch imperiously. “You stay here.”
I reached behind me to grab Melody’s coat then passed it over. She studiously avoided any physical contact.
In a blasé tone, I said, “Don’t mind me…I’ll just stay here so you girls can chat about me in peace.”
Maggie’s eyes narrowed. “I fail to see the need for sarcasm in this situation, young lady. All things considered, we’re handling your little reveal today rather well, and I’m still mad at you, so hush your face.”
Melody laughed out loud, throwing an arm around Maggie. “I forgot how much you hate surprises.”
My aunt turned her pique away from me to snap at her friend, “Let’s go.”
Melody let Maggie walk ahead to the office door and leaned down until her face was even with mine but distant enough not to feel like a confrontation. I had a feeling it was a typical posture for her when addressing her charges at the school.
Her eyes were an infinite space with no stars like an inky wishing well, or a rabbit hole to Wonderland and her skin was so smooth you could hardly see the pores. Old maid, my behind.
“You’ve given me a lot to think about and proof positive we’re living through some exciting times for our kind. Change isn’t always good, but it isn’t always bad either. For certain it can be life-altering, and it’s easier to handle when you aren’t alone. Remember what I said about secrets, and trust Maggie.”
As she straightened, I murmured, “I already do.”
I could feel Melody’s regard, but I couldn’t make myself look her in the eyes. One of her long-fingered hands patted my shoulder; then she was gone out the door with my aunt.
A gush of air I wasn’t aware I had held rushed past my lips and I collapsed in a boneless heap on the sofa. My coat fell over my head. I pulled the heavy cloth off in impatience and tossed it to the floor.
Silver remarked unhelpfully, “I don’t know what you're pissy about. That went well all things considered. They could have both run screaming, especially after the surprise zap. You better pick up that jacket off the floor, or Maggie’s going to have something else to rip you about.”
Rather than argue with my sister, I got up with poor grace to toss it across the left couch arm then began to pace off my excess energy. I asked waspishly, “What’s your new theory on the energy surge?”
I could feel Silver war
ming up for a long explanation.
“You had your dream you thought had to do with dimensions right before the girl in the grass, and I believe you’re right about what it was trying to tell you. If you look at the number of Weavers involved at each occurrence—two events now which are helpful for comparison—it took four. How many corners are there in a square? Four. If you add in the concept of dimensions and the fact that it requires physical contact to spark an event, then I visualize it this way.”
Silver thought images at me.
“The first is a square, the second is a cube, and the third is a tesseract. I believe when the right ‘corners’ match up, and our different dimensions combine, they form a tesseract that channels the energy from the Web across to the physical plane. At the start of our universe during the Big Bang, there may’ve been much more energy. Whatever energy comprises the Web could be spinning at a much faster rate than the energy in our physical world.”
My gut instinct was humming with excitement. Silver was really on to something. Before we could discuss it further, Maggie was back and shutting her door with a quiet click.
I was too excited to be angry about getting a dressing down from Maggie anymore so I decided I would beat her to the end and apologize to her in advance of my rear end chewing.
“You’re right to be mad. I’m sorry I had to spring everything on you today, and I wasn’t keeping secrets from you for entertainment. There wasn’t time or opportunity to tell you anything when I wanted to. Gerome needs to know all of this and more besides, but he’s tied up with the police because of the girl in the grass. Long story short, I can’t promise not to surprise you anymore, but I can try to tell you as much as I can when I know it.”
My aunt’s expression was surprised at my rapidly delivered apology, and she held up a hand to forestall any further conversation then reached in her front pocket and withdrew her phone.
“In all the excitement I forgot to call your uncle and tell him you made it safe to me, so hold that thought.”
Her fingers danced over the screen of the cell phone, and as it began to ring, she put it to her ear. I could hear Gerome’s deep voice faintly as he answered.
Maggie said curtly, “I forgot to call, sorry. Cass is here, and I need to know how soon you can break away? We need you. It’s not life or death, but it’s important.”
She listened as my uncle gave a brief answer and then bit out, “I realize how urgent it is that you handle the police, Gerome, I’m not stupid. Give me your best guess and quit being a jerk.”
Even as faint as the sound of my uncle’s voice was, I could hear the tone had changed.
Maggie snapped, “Fine.” She pulled the phone away from her ear to squint at the glowing screen and said, “He did not just hang up on me!”
Muttering something under breath that ended in ‘tard,' Maggie shoved her phone back into her front pocket.
“The local police are still searching the area trying to figure out which direction the girl came from, and even though the scent dogs followed a trail that led away from the compound before the front blew in, the FBI agent in charge is trying to get a warrant to search all of our buildings. The victim they took to the hospital was a runaway from New Mexico, and the FBI guy says it could be kidnapping given the circumstances. Gerome’s tied up for hours yet, but at least, Cora’s working with him instead of against him.”
I raised my eyebrows in question.
Maggie continued, “Cora Harris has a law degree, I don’t remember what flavor, but she’s holding off the Feds like a champ.”
Logically I suggested, “What does it matter if they look around in here? Maybe it would calm down the suspicion for a while if they didn’t find anything.”
Maggie shuffled her feet and acted a little guilty. “Um, well, not all of the firearms we have are entirely legal. There could even be a few other laws we bend, as far as not declaring exactly how many people live here or skirting legal custody rules for some of our found Weavers that are minors.” The expression on her face was sheepish.
I glanced at the ceiling before chiding, “And you got on to me for not telling you things?”
“It’s mainly the principle of it. We can’t just let the government run us whenever they feel like it, Cassandra.”
“Oh, do tell.”
“If they do get a search warrant we’ll just sneak everyone and everything out the back way, then bring them back after the police and federal agents leave.”
“We have a back way?” Surprise filled my tone.
“There’s an emergency evacuation tunnel in the gym in case the compound ever gets hit by a surprise Warp attack. Everyone here knows about it from the drills we run, but it’s kept locked. Only certain people in security have the key.”
Mildly offended I said, “I didn’t know about it.”
Maggie pulled me to her side to give me a quick hug. “It wasn’t intentional that we continued to keep it from you, Cassandra. It’s not like we haven’t had a lot going on lately. We’d have gotten around to it. Speaking of things that have happened recently, are you going to fill me in on Kara?”
It was my turn to look a little sheepish. “I don’t know if I should start explaining until you and Gerome are together. I have some more things I haven’t ‘gotten around to’ yet.”
Maggie repositioned herself until her hands were on my shoulders and we were on a level. “You can tell me anything; dear, and I promise not to run from it. I think what you’ve shown me today was incredible, but I want to know more about how you do it. Not because I’m curious, but because I want to make sure what you’re doing to help others isn’t causing you irreparable harm. The episode you had this morning was scary, and I thought I might lose you for just a second.”
My feet became fascinating. Maggie let go with a final squeeze and crossed her arms over her breasts.
Silver inserted, “We can tell her about us right now if you want, but we’re just going to have to repeat the whole dang thing again tonight. It’s up to you, Sister. Better yet, release control of our body to me and I’ll tell her.”
I thought back at Silver. “Not funny at all. Would it be better to go into the Web and tell her that way?”
Silver hummed a little bit while she thought. “Nope, not a good idea since you’ll both be in the Web. Who’ll hear a patient if they come in? I know…I can pilot our body while you explain everything to Miss Nosy in the Web.”
I had forgotten to look down or keep my face straight while I spoke with Silver and Maggie was eyeing me, puzzled.
“What are you doing when you go away like that? I know it’s one of the things you’re hiding. It’s almost like you’re talking to somebody.”
I shrugged. “I am.”
Maggie clapped her hands together with a pop and exclaimed, “I knew it! Wait…it isn’t somebody you met in the Web from another galaxy like Gerome, is it? You know that can be dangerous!”
I held up a hand to stop her tirade before she could get started.
Silver piped in, “Geez, tell her before she has a cow!”
“It’s my sister, Maggie.”
“Since when do you have a sister? Gerome would know, Cassandra.”
“Not necessarily he wouldn’t. Have you ever heard of chimerism?”
Maggie rubbed her chin and looked thoughtful. “Okayyyy, so your extra parts in the Web are your sister? How would that even work? Do you have two different sets of DNA or are you identical?”
“The answers are: Yes. I don’t know, but it works. No clue about our DNA yet.”
Maggie was thinking a mile a minute. She hadn’t immediately assumed I was mentally unwell which I found encouraging.
All of a sudden she blurted, “This makes some sense now. Rebecca and Gerome had started to talk again behind the Council’s back. Now I know why. She was going to him for help with you or, at least, trying to work up to it. I can only imagine her confusion about what was happening with her child. In all my searches of my a
ncestral memories, I have never come across a case like yours.”
“So you don’t think Silver is my imaginary friend or that I suffer from PTSD or multiple personality disorder? I told James and Kara today. James seems to believe I'm…unwell.” I said the last part dryly.
Maggie got serious. “How many other people have you told, young lady?”
I laughed and held up three fingers. “Just three. Malcolm, Kara, and James. Kara was unavoidable; James walked in at the wrong time, and Malcolm was a test to see how a person might react…and an apology. Malcolm doesn’t know about Silver, just the healing, like Melody.”
“About Kara, did you restore the balance and pull her mind, soul, and body back into alignment?”
“It wasn’t me; it was Silver. I couldn’t explain that part if I wanted to. You would have to ask her. She also made some changes to Kara’s DNA.”
“This is going better than I thought possible. I wonder when she’s going to go all Doctor on you and ask to run a DNA test or blood work…”
Maggie looked askance at me.
“Is she talking to you right now?”
I was going to have to get better at hiding when I was listening to Silver. “Yes, she said you were taking this pretty well.”
“I’ve seen you in the Web, sweetie. I think chimerism is as good of an explanation as any. What did you mean earlier when you said you just found out this morning about all of this?”
How did people who lied all the time keep track? I was having a difficult enough time staying on top of the truth.
“When I was a prisoner of the Warp Faction, Silver took my memories of her away so they wouldn’t find out about us. I’ve always had an ‘inner voice’ I guess you’d call it, but I thought it was my way of coping with the loneliness of captivity, not a whole other person.”
Maggie’s eyes took on a look of concern. “She can do that? Steal your memories away, I mean.”
Chimera (The Weaver Series Book 1) Page 22
