Vaalbara; Visions & Shadows

by Michelle Horst

  “How could everything disappear overnight? Surely the security systems were in place?” The man at my feet covered his face with his hands, as he shook his head. “The sculpture of Laocoön?” He looked up, hope flickering in his eyes.

  “No, Antonio, nothing was spared. The stone tablets and inscriptions…they are all gone. Whoever it was cleared all fifty four salas, without setting off the alarms.”

  “I cannot believe it. It is an abomination!” Antonio grabbed at his chest, breathing faster, little drops of perspiration forming on his brow.

  My hand went through him as I tried to comfort him. I could feel the waves of panic hit me and a cramp streaked through my chest.

  “Antonio!”

  ~*~

  “Alchera, please come out of it!” Carter was panic-stricken, kneeling beside me on the floor.

  I waited for the pain to subside before attempting to speak.

  “It’s just the after-effects from my vision.” He was so happy I was back that, without thinking, he grabbed me and hugged me to him.

  “Oh, Awo! My heart stopped beating.” He held me at arm’s length. “Are you well now?”

  “Yes, I’m fine.” I nodded. “Just a vision, is all.

  Raighne came in at that moment; his face draining of all color.

  “Take your hands off her.” Raighne growled, shoving Carter away from me.

  “It’s okay; I had a vision. Carter was worried, he wasn’t hurting me.” Raighne didn’t relax. If anything, he tensed up even more. I could feel the tension build between the two men. “Raighne, really, it’s okay.”

  “He still has no right to touch you!” Raighne took my hand, dragging me down the hall towards the bedroom.

  “There are your fresh clothes and toiletries. I will be right outside the door.” I gathered my stuff and closed the door, not wanting to argue now.

  While I showered, I took the time to think. There was something bothering me. I was sure Raighne and Carter just had a moment back there. You know, one of those moments where men size each other up? Could it have been Raighne telling Carter to back off? Had Raighne staked his claim back there?

  “What happened in the kitchen?” The words were out of my mouth, as I opened the door.

  “I was about to ask you the same question.” Raighne replied.

  I felt intimidated with him standing so close to me, yet our bodies yearned to touch.

  “Answer me! What happened back there? What happened between you and Carter?” I wasn’t going to let go of this.

  “I had to let him understand he cannot touch you; he cannot come near you. You are not his to…you are not his.” Raighne’s hands cradled my face. “Are we forgetting who we are talking about here? This is the man who took you from me in the desert. Carter took you from me once, and I will not allow it again!” Raighne’s body shook all over.

  “You say this to me now and I hear your words. Still, yesterday, you left me to face Carter alone. Where were you? If he wanted me so much he could’ve taken me then.”

  “I was with Carter. I wanted to be with you but I returned with them to Vaalbara when they took Aurian and Adeth’s bodies back home. I did not want to let him out of my sight. I wanted to keep him away from you, though he slipped me for ten minutes. He used a story of needing the bathroom. I now know that I should have known better.” He took a step away from me, wiping his brow in frustration.

  This morning he’d proven once and for all that he had feelings for me. It had to be true. How else could he kiss me - touch me with the intimacy he had - only to turn around and sound like my guardian again? Was it so easy for him to just think of me as his ‘charge’ again?

  “Right, you were protecting me. Silly of me to think otherwise.”

  ~*~

  After everyone had a turn to freshen up we re-grouped outside. We were twelve people, the group growing larger in number every day.

  “Why can’t we send them to Vaalbara? I don’t understand why all ten have to go together.” I looked to Raighne for an answer.

  “Elora said it was written so but, if I had to guess, I would say it is because they have to get to know each other through the worst of times. After all, they are the future of mankind.” He smiled at Jason, who was standing beside Sarah.

  “Don’t forget, we are helpful in more than one way.” Jason smiled. “The car, plane, and this house to mention just a few. We’re not just tagging along for the entertainment it offers.” Sarah laughed.

  “Our next stop is Italy,” I said. “The only problem is I don’t know where in Italy. Who knows anything about art galleries?”

  Carlo stepped forward. “Some of the biggest art collections are held there. The Vatican, alone, has fifty-four galleries filled with precious artifacts.”

  “The man in my vision did mention fifty-four ‘salas,’ could that be the same thing?” Carlo’s face lit up at the mention of the word. “Yes! Yes, it means galleries. What else did he say?”

  “All the art had been cleared out overnight, and all the rooms are empty.” I thought Carlo was going to faint. He staggered back against Lee.

  “It cannot be.”

  “Don’t worry, Carlo. All of it has been taken to Vaalbara,” Raighne cut in.

  “Is everyone ready to go?” Eamar seemed to have taken over leadership of the mission, as he called us to order.

  “Sarah needs to take her medicine.” Doug headed back inside the house, followed by Jason.

  “Everyone has ten minutes to get everything together, then we leave,” Eamar announced.

  I went over to Sky - anything to get away from Eamar, who appeared to be in a foul mood this morning.

  “How are you holding up, Sky?” She looked so small standing between Lee and Carlo.

  “I am doing well. Carlo has been very supportive since we have met.”

  “Oh, he has?” I wanted to get to know my Chosen Ones. Why did Awo explicitly want them?

  “Why you, Sky? Why were you chosen? You knew I was coming for you before I even knew.”

  She smiled sweetly. “We have a special bond, Alchera. Nature. I can also feel it live or die - even more importantly, I can bring it back to life. I have what people call a ‘green thumb.’ I am very close to the one you call Awo. He is all I know. I grew up alone - abandoned in the woods when I was seven. I survived by learning to listen to nature - what plants were poisonous, and which were not. It was a life every child should have, a fantasy really.” I stared at her. I suddenly felt very minute in her presence.

  “Everyone is here. Alchera…when you are ready?” Eamar’s stern voice called me back to rest of the group. I walked over to Raighne’s side, placing my hand in his outstretched one.

  “Can you ‘shimmer’ twelve of us at once?” Raighne asked.

  Carter nodded, never taking his eyes off Raighne. “It will tire me but I can do it.” He lifted his chin an inch, as if he was accepting a challenge. I glanced from one to the other. They were doing it again, sizing each other up. Carter walked around the outside of the circle, then stopped between Eamar and myself.

  He spoke, “Do not let go of the person next to you, no matter what. If you break the link, you will break my concentration.” He took hold of my hand. I wasn’t ready to touch Carter in any way, and I could feel Raighne stiffen on my other side.

  “I…” I tried to pry my hand loose from Carter’s grip but he wouldn’t let go.

  “I need to have an indication of where to go, Alchera. Italy is big. You will not feel a thing.” His face was slightly turned to mine, as he whispered the words to me. I nodded stiffly in response.

  I saw snow, the same television snow as before. But there was one thing different this time. Carter was warm to the touch.

  ~*~

  As soon as I felt the fresh air move around me I managed to force my eyes open. I didn’t have any time to look around me, though. Carter’s body went limp, and he folded into me, taking me to the ground with him. His breathing was labored, blood
came out of his nose and ears.

  “Eamar, help!” I raised Carter’s head onto my lap, wiping some of the blood away with the palm of my hand. Jason was immediately by us, lowering his pack to the ground. I hoped there was a first aid kit in there somewhere.

  “Let me look at him. Even if I’m just a vet I can take care of the basics.” Jason took Carter’s vitals. After a few minutes he sat back and gave me one of his famous Jason smiles. “He’s just exhausted. Carter’s body took a lot of strain during the…uh…what-cha-ma-call-it-thingy he did. He needs to take it slow.”

  “So what do we do now?” I looked up at the others, surprised that Raighne wasn’t amongst them.

  Lee stepped forward. “We wait until Carter comes to. We can’t walk into this Italian city with an unconscious man.” Carlo looked pretty green beside him. “Plus, my brother is still recovering. He seems to be suffering from motion sickness.”

  Sky hovered near Carlo with a water bottle, which made me think back to what Raighne had said about them forming bonds with one another. It seemed more like some were forming relationships.

  I looked down at Carter.

  “I must be dreaming,” he whispered.

  I frowned down at him. Had he lost it during the ‘shimmer’? “What on earth are you talking about?”

  “Never in my life have I thought I would ever wake up in your arms.” I was too stunned to respond.

  “Hey, look, the man of the hour is awake.” Jason’s voice saved me from having to speak to Carter. He helped Carter up, who in turn held out his hand to me.

  I hesitated for a split second and Carter noticed. He reached out a little further, forcing me to take his hand.

  “Thank you for offering your lap as a pillow.” I noticed he had a nice smile. The thought jolted me. I stalked off across the small, green park we were in, hoping to find some peace from my chaotic emotions.

  What was wrong with me? Carter still filled me with fear, didn’t he? Didn’t he? Yes, he did! He had to. I told myself this over and over. How could I just forget everything and be friends with him? It was at that moment I remembered the last time he was in the shack with me; I remembered the look of sadness just before he’d ‘shimmered’ away.

  “Alchera.” My heartbeat sped up immediately when I heard Carter call my name. I didn’t turn around, though. I stood there listening to his voice, trying to associate it with the one from the shack.

  “Are you all right? You seem distracted by something.” He sounded different, nothing like I remembered.

  “Why would I be all right, Carter? You confuse me, you… you want it to be so simple. I should be terrified of you. I should run screaming at the sight of you. Yet, here I stand, talking to you about what’s bothering me like we’re old friends.”

  I turned to face him. “I just remembered our last time together in the shack—”

  “Please, do not.” He took a step towards me.

  “Don’t what? Talk about it?”

  My eyes held his. “You taught me a lot. How not to scream was my first lesson and, thanks to you, I can tolerate high levels of pain. I hardly notice when I’m hurt now.” I looked at his right hand, the hand I knew so well.

  “I remembered our last time together in the shack. Right before you left I saw something. I want to know if I imagined it or if it was real.” I couldn’t believe how calmly I was talking to him. I had to be going insane. My hands weren’t even shaking. I took a deep breath, as the shadows crept back into my eyes.

  “I saw sadness.”

  “I already told you I was there witnessing everything. I could not control what I did, but I…Alchera, I tried so hard to fight my mot…Adeth. She was just too strong.” His eyes pleaded with mine.

  I looked around me, taking in my surroundings. The wind was constantly blowing now, never letting up. The sun rose sinisterly this morning. It looked like an eclipse. There was no brightness, only twilight. Twilight…right before the darkness comes.

  “I’m not ready to forgive and forget. My memories are different than yours.” I started walking back to the others. “It’s funny, you know.” I shrugged my shoulders before giving Carter a last glance. “Here you are, changing into this good person and asking for forgiveness, while I’m…I feel like I’m becoming this malicious thing. It’s like we’re swapping places.”

  “Alchera, no!” He came towards me.

  “No. The others are waiting. This talk… it has been enough for now.”

  ~*~

  Raighne’s head lifted slightly when we rejoined the group, but he didn’t look at me. He took Eamar and Carter to one side, where they spoke together for a few minutes before coming back to the rest of us.

  “The Vatican is an hour’s walk from here. I asked around for accommodation and came up with two places we can go to.” Raighne spoke to the group in general, not even glancing my way. “We will have to be careful going into the city - everyone seems to have gone mad with fear. We need to stay close together. We can go to the Vatican tomorrow morning. Antonio was there when Alchera saw him - let us hope he will be there still.”

  “We will leave in ten minutes.” Eamar’s instruction came short and sweet. I could see who Evin took after.

  Unfortunately, nothing good was in store for me when Raighne took me by the arm and dragged me to a spot where we could be alone. I could see a sidewalk in the distance where people were walking fast, some were even running to their unknown destinations.

  “What is going on between you and Carter?” His voice was livid; his blazing eyes glared into mine.

  “I…d-don’t…understand?” I croaked, flinching when he stepped right up to me and grabbed me by the shoulders.

  “Carter almost killed you! Have you forgotten that? Have you forgotten what he did to you? Do you need me to remind you of what he did?” Raighne was relentless now, beside himself with anger.

  “Why are you being like th-this.”

  He cut me off; his voice was harsh and raw. “First you held him in your arms when he collapsed, then you walk off with him. Alone, no less!”

  “I d-didn’t hold him in my arms, he f-fell on me. What was I supposed t-to do, d-drop him?” I was getting angry now. Simply because he was jealous, he decided to pick a fight with me. And he had no reason to be jealous because he was the one who constantly shut his feelings off around me.

  “Yes! Drop him! When he comes close to you, you move away!” He was shouting at me.

  “D-don’t raise your voice at me.” I shoved hard into Raighne’s chest, only to fall over backwards and land on my backside. I should know that moving a mountain was impossible.

  It hurt my pride as well as my butt.

  “Monsters like him do not change, Alchera! They do not have the right to change. You go off with him for this nice long talk, as if you are friends now. Is everything forgiven?” His voice was scathing as he stood over me, instead of helping me up.

  The jealousy wasn’t what got to me the most - it was what he’d said. If Carter can’t change - if he didn’t deserve to change - then was there any hope left for me?

  I was so beyond upset now, my stammer just up and disappeared. “Open your eyes; look at Carter. He is changing…just like I am! You just won’t admit it.” I got up, not noticing how quiet it was around us.

  I continued, “I know how he feels…having nothing. Being treated as a nobody. Only, his is on a much a larger scale and I cannot even grasp the beginning of his pain. He was tortured by the woman who was supposed to have loved him. I was simply left by mine. Don’t you remember those scars we saw on his body?” I took an unsteady breath. I couldn’t believe I was actually defending Carter but…maybe I was simply defending myself and what I was becoming. I had to have hope that someone could come back from that kind of darkness.

  “I’ve looked into his eyes, Raighne,” I whispered. “Those eyes do not belong to the man who tortured me.”

  “You are as much a fool as my father, then,” Raighne stated. “Are yo
u that stupid, Alchera?” His words cut into me, every word slicing deeper than the one before.

  “You think so low of me?” I waited for the anger to come so I could say something hurtful back. But it didn’t. The only emotion I had was the little seed of hope buried inside me to see Death up close and personal. I felt empty. I felt the shadows in me begin to stretch and grow.

  Raighne must have realized what he’d said in his moment of anger, because his face softened a bit. “I am sorry, Alchera. I was angry.”

  I just shook my head as I started to walk away. I didn’t want to talk to him anymore.

  “I was not thinking, Alchera. I am sorry.”

  I don’t know what it was that brought my attention back to my surroundings. There was a chilling silence all around me. Not a bird chirped, and the water I heard flowing earlier was gone. Every hair on my body rose as a thick electric current began to fill the air.

  Raighne spoke. “What? You can forgive the monster who ripped the flesh from your body, yet you cannot forgive me.

  I closed my eyes, and turned around. “The difference between you and that…monster is—” I opened my eyes; shadows now filled every corner of my sight. “You are in control of what you say. I do believe you actually think I’m too stupid to think for myself.” I walked a few steps and looked up at the sky. The heavens were churning, dirt-filled clouds swirled above my head.

  “My vision is going to come true.” I turned back to Raighne, running towards him to try and offer him some protection but I knew I wasn’t going to make it in time. “Cover your ears!”

  The explosion of sound was deafening. I’d forgotten to cover my own ears and could already feel the blood trickling out of them. The trees screeched; the ferns and other plants burned.

  I grabbed at my ears but blood seeped through my fingers while my heart was literally torn from my chest.

  I now knew why I couldn’t scream. I didn’t have time to think of it now, the park and everything around me was being torn apart and there was nothing I could do. I heard people screaming not too far away and knew that I shouldn’t look.

  Pieces of earth, massive chunks of land, just fell away. People fell into gaping holes, as the ground gave way beneath their feet.