She had to work out how to save those women. God knew how long they’d been trapped like that. And God knew what torture they were currently going through, or if she could even help at all. She just had to try.
“Five minutes, Marie.”
“Five minutes.”
She took one long last look at Alastor before she closed her eyes and focussed her mind, grounding herself and slowing her breathing. She dropped through grey layers until she reached a place where she no longer felt her body, surprised she’d been able to drop so deeply so fast. The in-between was more solid than it had ever been.
“Black Feather?” she concentrated on Black Feather’s energy. The darkness offered nothing back. Usually Black Feather appeared to her almost immediately. If not him, someone else would be waiting for her.
“Hello? Anyone?” Her voice sounded dull, as though the darkness sucked out everything.
Flashes of blue flickered in the blackness and an inexplicable feeling of terrified urgency filled her. Marie ran towards the light. A face appeared. A young woman. Her eyes snapped open. They latched to Marie, filled with confusion and horror. Her mouth dropped open in a silent scream. Black clouds descended on her face, radiating malevolence and pure evil, sucking away the light and covering her face until nothing remained. No trace of her at all.
Marie gulped in air, her mind reeling. There was no trace of the woman’s soul. Nothing of her essence. She had simply ceased to exist. The clouds had fed upon her and simply removed her from existence.
This wasn’t safe. She had to get out of here.
The temperature dropped to freezing, and her breath misted. Black tendrils ripped from nowhere, latching around her body. She struggled, but they grew tighter. More whipped from the blackness, winding around her legs, hips, stomach and chest. She whimpered as agonising cold bit into her skin.
“Black Feather! Help!” Her muffled voice sounded dead in her ears.
Black clouds descended around her. Her breath was rough, panting loudly in her ears. The clouds became thicker, deeper, the air more frigid until she lost sensation in her fingers, feet, face in the absolute chill.
“Black Feather! Alastor! Help!” She screamed and screamed until her throat became hoarse. She was too scared to lift herself out of the in-between.
Surely Alastor would get her out. But he couldn’t meditate. Didn’t know the technique, let alone how to pull her free from the clouds. Her heart pounded as the clouds pressed down on her and she was inhaling them and ice was in her mouth, and her throat, and her lungs throbbed as shards of ice sliced into her veins. Black dots crossed her vision.
Dark emotions surfaced. Despair. Misery. Self-loathing. Things better left forgotten emerged. That day. That day was happening right now, the same way it had happened all of those months ago. She was helpless but to endure the flood of memories rising as though they were really happening.
All around her, shadows merged and took shape and colour and she was thrust on a stage, surrounded by hundreds of people who had come to see her with the hope that she might make contact with their loved one. All hopeful. All nervous.
She knew this stage. She knew this day. The day she’d turned her back on so many. “No. No it can’t be!”
She tried to shut everything out, but events unfolded with ruthless certainty. Jack Newson stood up at the back of the crowd. She sobbed. The clouds poured into every cell in her body, feeding from her absolute horror, and she was helpless, powerless to prevent them from scouring her mind and her body.
And the day played out.
◆◆◆
“Marie? Marie!” He tapped her cheeks. Five minutes had come and gone. And then five more. First he’d tapped her shoulder, then shaken her until her head lolled forward. Her hair fell like a platinum silk cloud around her face. He brushed it away. Her skin was chilled to the touch. Too cold.
“Wake up! You promised you’d come back!”
Her eyes opened and his heart leapt, but they were unfocussed. A sick feeling grew in his stomach. She didn’t respond, her mind gone.
Oh gods, no. No. No. No.
Mind-enslaved!
She was mind-enslaved.
“No, Marie. Please. Come back to me.” Her skin was cold. Too cold. He wrapped his limbs around her, desperately rubbing her body on an attempt to warm her. Desperation and rage filled his being. His limbs shook with the force. He wasn’t going to lose her. Not when he’d just found her.
He had to do something. Think, dammit. Think! He forced the panic aside, only managing it through long-term practise. A sketchy plan formulated. He’d take her back to the village. The doctor would help stabilise her and then he would work out what he to do. Damn the human women. Damn the entity and damn it all.
Footfalls echoed in the corridor outside of their little hidden alcove. He peeked into the hallway to see a light and a group of Reptiles walking towards them. Their hisses and clacks became louder as they drew close. He carefully tucked them both into the alcove, pressing Marie’s body against his to make them as small as possible. They were trapped. His plan fell like ash. What the frek was he going to do now?
◆◆◆
As usual when she concentrated, the people who had passed crowded to whisper in her ear. Sometimes it was easier than others to pick out just one voice. She focussed until she picked up one over the others.
“Does anyone know an older woman with a name that starts with an E? Like Ellie. Elsie?” Marie scanned the audience, glancing over the blank and hopeful looks of people.
Times like this, she wished she had a message for all of them, but she knew that only the most urgent messages would come through. She trusted in the Universe to get those messages right.
If only she hadn’t been so naïve.
A hand rose at the back of the audience. A man stood. Straggly, dirty-blond hair covered his forehead. His jumper was stained, his jeans unwashed. He looked extremely unsure of himself, almost as though he didn’t want to be there. If ever a man needed a message from the other side of the veil, it was him.
Marie smiled at him. “Does this name mean anything to you?”
He nodded. “My mother’s name was Elvie.”
That name fitted. Marie concentrated on that energy. It came through more forcefully than most, and with quite a bit of anger. That was a bit strange. Usually the energies that came through were filled with love, the messages uplifting and meant to ease loss and grief.
“Tell him he needs to make amends.” Those words came through very clear in her mind.
Marie repeated the words. “She said to make amends. Does that mean anything to you?”
The man’s eye hardened and a thin sneer appeared on his lips. It wasn’t the normal reaction she’d seen time and again. “Yeah. Sounds like something Mum would say.”
“He needs to make up for past mistakes. It’s the only way he’ll be forgiven. The only way,” the voice said.
Unease began to slither into her stomach, but Marie knew what she was doing. She’d been conversing with those who had passed since she was a child. Knew she had a talent and that people were lucky to get these types of messages.
She relayed the message. His jaw ticked and something flashed in his eyes when he eventually looked up at her. “What else does she say?”
Marie concentrated once again. “Elvie says you have the power to help people. To use your skills and help people on their way.”
“She said that, did she?”
Marie frowned as the unease grew. “She seemed quite adamant.”
“And how accurate is this…” he swirled his hand in front of him, “…thing you do? What you hear?”
Marie bristled. There was nothing worse than someone doubting her. She, who had dedicated her life to listening to those who had passed. She lived her life in service. She’d trained for years. Her skill was honed to a fine art. “Quite sure.”
“And she said I need to help people on their way. That it’s the only way I can be f
ree. She’s told me before,” the man said.
Marie frowned, “I didn’t quite say that…”
“That unless people come with me now, there will be no path for me. That I won’t see my Elvie again. That all will be lost.”
Marie glanced at her manager, sitting at the side of the stage. Veronica looked as confused as she felt.
Marie cleared her throat. “I’m glad that message means something to you. If you’d like a longer reading, please speak to my manager after this event.”
“She always knew what was good for me. Always. I never questioned her, and then she left me. I can’t go on. Not without her!” the man was becoming louder and more agitated.
Marie had no idea how to handle a reaction like this. Grief affected people in many ways. “If you need some space, I’ll ask someone to help you into a quiet room, if you’d like.”
“No more quiet rooms for me. I need my Elvie. She came here for me. Elvie! Wait for me. I’ll do whatever it takes!” Tears ran down his face. Anguish twisted his features as he reached behind him and into the waistband of his jeans.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The Reptiles filed into the chamber and the blue light grew brighter. A low-level hum began and a buzzing energy rippled through him. The pupils in Marie’s eyes were dilated so large, there was almost no colour. Her breath shuddered out of her mouth, yet she remained as still as stone. Whatever was happening affected her.
Crackling sounds came from within the chamber. Alastor eased out of their little hiding place, careful to keep Marie well-hidden, flattened himself against the wall of the corridor and peeked inside the chamber.
The cells containing the females were brighter, so bright he made out their faces. They were so still, most probably mind-enslaved themselves. One of the cells brightened and the front skin grew transparent. Light infused the female. She arched her back and her body twitched as though electricity was being conducted through her body. The light became so blinding that nothing could be seen within the cell before the light faded and the female slumped to her knees and then the ground. Unmoving. Dead.
The cell next to hers grew brighter. The female inside jerked, her back arched until the light suffused her body before it faded. The female fell forward in a pile of lifeless limbs.
The black cloud at the top of the chamber pulsed and throbbed and grew larger. The temperature dropped and the air surrounding him became dull, wrong. Was this how the entity sought to enter this world? Systematically killing helpless human females?
Alastor dashed back into their little hiding space and he gathered Marie into his arms as carefully as he could, sinking his face into her hair. The females inside were being used to power this entity. Not all human females had Marie’s power. She was an energy worker, a female who could see into the other dimensions. She was more powerful than the females inside the chamber. If the Reptiles knew she was here, there was no doubt she’d be used. She might even provide enough power for the entity to fully manifest.
Think, Alastor. Think. Doing nothing was not going to save her. There wasn’t time to get her it the village or back to the Starlight. She needed help and she needed it now. He hated the desperation that clawed his insides, made his limbs weak and his mouth dry.
There had to be an answer. There had to be something he could do… then he knew. He drew Marie more securely into his arms, rested his head back on the wall and closed his eyes.
◆◆◆
The man – Jack, a name she’d never forget – withdrew a gun. Aimed it directly at her. “I’m coming, Elvie!”
Marie’s legs locked as her mind refused to believe what she saw. ‘Wha...?”
Movement to her right and something smashed into her side. A bang, like a Christmas cracker sounded, and she was forced to the floor. A body covered her, limp and heavy. A wet warmth covered her chest.
There was a series of bangs. Screams. Sounds of chairs clashing to the floor. Yelling. Wordless cries. One final bang.
Hands beneath her arms. The weight of the body lifted and someone slid her out. She pressed a hand to her chest and it came away covered in blood. Her breath rasped in and out as she clutched her chest, feeling for a wound. There was nothing. No pain. No bullet hole.
Her breath came in ragged gasps. Chaos as people clambered over fallen chairs, fallen people, scattering to all exits. Her feet slipped and slid beneath her. What was stopping her from standing? She looked down.
Red. Blood. Coating the floor.
And the woman who was so still at Marie’s feet.
◆◆◆
It wasn’t working. He was too aware of the Reptile’s clicking and hissing in the background. Too aware of the pulsing blue light that took life after life. Too aware of the thrumming energy vibrating through his chest.
His eyes kept snapping open to see Marie’s unseeing, unfocussed stare. How did she manage to do this so easily? The muscle ticked at his jaw when he clenched his teeth. He closed his eyes and tried again.
◆◆◆
Veronica? Veronica!
Marie struggled against hands that held her back.
“Leave her, Marie. It’s… too late. She’s gone.”
She couldn’t drag her eyes from the body at her feet. Her manager. Her best friend. She couldn’t be dead. She couldn’t be gone. This didn’t happen. It couldn’t happen. Her brain stuttered through every thought in an attempt to define what she saw.
Where was Black Feather? Why hadn’t he told her this might happen?
The hands urged her backwards. She didn’t even know who held her. All she saw was Veronica’s body. Her dead body.
She struggled to breathe through it. Black dots danced in her vision. The pain was endless. This couldn’t be happening. No! No, no, no, no, no.
Darkness glitched about her. Shapes merged and solidified, growing clear.
She stood on a stage in front of an expectant audience. There was no screaming. No terror. She glanced at her feet. No blood. Veronica smiled at her from the side of the stage. Marie peered over open faces, waiting to hear messages from their loved ones who had passed.
A voice whispered in her ear. One slightly louder and clearer than the rest, and she spoke, “Does anyone know an older woman with a name that starts with an E? Like Ellie. Elsie?”
A hand rose from the back of the audience. A man with straggly, dirty blond hair stood. “My mother’s name was Elvie.”
It was happening again? But how could it? Stop! Why didn’t it stop and why couldn’t she turn away? Her feet remained rooted in place, her mouth formed words she didn’t want to speak.
She knew what was coming. Her shredded heart tore into painful strips. An invisible hand reached into her stomach and grabbed at the strips. She doubled over as pain wracked her body. Tears streamed into her eyes, distorting the nightmare that continued to play out around her.
“Black Feather!”
◆◆◆
It wasn’t working. All he could concentrate on was the pulsing blue light that became brighter with each life it stole and the hissing and clacking of Reptiles making it all happen. All he was aware of was time running out and the too-still body in his arms and the human women who were being systematically murdered.
How did she do this? Think! A friend. This Black Feather. He’d been with Marie since she was a child. He was quite possibly the only thing that could help.
Alastor relaxed the muscle ticking at his jaw. He closed his eyes, let his mind still as much as he could, and called for help.
“Black Feather?”
He was met with nothing but blank darkness. He drew in a long, steadying breath and focussed on his body, feeling the weight on the ground, his blood pumping, the air filling his lungs.
Maybe it was because he had no connection to Black Feather. There was a name that he was connected to. One of the Hexonian gods. The revered lady he thought Marie had lied to him about. And now, knowing Marie that much more, he knew she would never lie about something lik
e that. He bowed his head. “Lady Lyria. Black Feather. We… I… need your help.”
He didn’t ask for help from anyone. Wasn’t used to it, but he’d grovel in the ground if they would come to help Marie. He’d do anything for her.
Anger tinted his desperation. “You will come, and you will help Marie. I can’t… don’t want to… live without her. Do you hear me? Come here and help her. She needs you… I need you.”
He laid himself bare, saying words he’d never admitted to anyone—not even himself. But it didn’t hurt as much as he thought it might. He just felt… wrung out. Raw. Admitting his deepest wish had cut him to his most emotionally naked state. But if that’s what it took, he’d stay like this. Gladly.
A glimmer of light prickled in the darkness and grew brighter with each passing breath. “Lady Lyria?” he whispered, barely believing that he was actually seeing what he did.
The light formed into two figures. One was a man. Tall with a powerful chest, thick torso and muscular legs. He wore tan animal skin with tasselled fringes on the lower half of his body, while his muscular chest was bare. His long, dark hair was held back from his regal face and three large, shining, black feathers dangled against his shoulder.
The other… Lady Lyria. He knew her likeness like the back of his hand. Her face was in temples. He’d prayed to her often enough in the depths of his despair. The goddess of compassion. The Lady who led souls to their afterlife. The Lady he’d long ago given up thinking was real.
She fixed Alastor with a look filled with compassion. “Alastor. You called us.”
“Lady Lyria? Black Feather?” Lyria smiled. His skin warmed as though infused with sunlight, while Black Feather pierced him with a laser look filled with ancient knowledge.
“It is us. What do you call us for, Alastor?” Black Feather asked.
Alastor: Sci-Fi Alien Romance (A Hexonian Alien Romance Book 3) Page 14
