by Dinia Steel
After hanging up from his conversation with Dean Warner, James dialed Josephine's number. “Hey Josephine, you're not going to believe the message I had waiting for me when I got home.”
~o0o~
Chapter 25
Terminus
After Josephine disconnected the call from James telling her he’d been offered the job of finishing the lecture series for Parapsychology 101, Leo watched as Josephine's eyes went wide and he knew she wasn’t seeing the here and now, but some distant future. When she came back to the now, he would write down in her journal what she'd just seen.
Josephine's current vision unfolded...
She, James, and Leo were walking into a hotel in Berlin, Germany.
A man, a stranger to approached and introduced himself as Stefan Rommon a member of the Die Zauberei’s Outer Circle, and the one they needed to contact in order to get to that Inner circle.
This man will be dangerous, but we have to come into contact with him in order to fulfill the plan to push back the Darkness.
“Josephine, are you back?” Leo asked quietly.
“Yes, Leo,” Her eyes clear and her head snapped up. “We need to get hold of James Franklin. We have to go to Germany. Berlin, to be precise and take care of unfinished business.”
James
“Josephine,” James whined. “I can't just leave. I have lectures that I need to give and course work of my own to finish my degree!”
“Don't argue with me James Franklin! We three agreed that when something like this comes up, we would go and take care of it!” Josephine practically yelled.
Sighing heavily, he replied, “Okay. So what did you see? Tell me slowly and in order please,” James relented, sitting down.
Josephine went quiet for a moment gathering her thoughts. Leo sat beside her, looking at the notebook he started for the purpose of recording the visions regarding everything she'd seen from the date Dr. Adams and the London twins tried to kill the three of them.
Josephine set about explaining it in as much detail as she could. What she'd seen in the past leading up to what was about to take place in the future.
Leo handed James the notebook.
James started to read….
Reggie’s Past…
“How much longer are you going to be in Germany, Reggie?” The older woman, whose name Reggie knew to be Sarah asked.
Trying to look uncomfortable Reggie answered, “The original reason for being here was for a conference which isn't for a couple more days. Why do you ask?” Reggie knew what the answer would be already. These people had no idea what Reggie was capable of or how well developed her mind reading skills were. If her plans were to work, they never would know. Being a mind reader was a fantastic tool for dealing with groups of people. Actually, it was fantastic for just about anything.
The older woman answered, “I'd like to begin with your instructions at once. Is there any way you can extend your visit here?”
“I'd like that, Sarah,” Reggie replies, “There is so much I want to know…I believe I might be able to arrange to stay longer. May I have your number so I might call and let you know?”
“I don't think that would be wise at this time. You can get messages to me through Stefan anytime.” Sarah leaned toward Reggie, lowering her voice, “Stefan would have you think he sits high on the council, but he's just a servant of the Inner Circle and doesn't know much compared to what you'll learn through my tutelage.” Sarah paused before continuing as if considering what she should say. “There are three Circles. This is the setup, much as the ancient Druidic Bards used when the Celts were at their height. Stefan is only initiated into the third circle, which would correspond with the wandering storytellers. The second circle consists of those initiated into the use of hand magic, like being able to start fires without flint and steel. The First or Inner Circle are those who can create magic through the use of the higher mental faculties. We adopted this system of initiation but do not teach exactly what the Druids did. We've taken things a bit further. So you see, we need to have jobs for those individuals who actually act as our servants.” Sarah smiled.
Reggie suspected it was her friendly smile, but Reggie knew this woman was far from a friendly person. She was just as single minded about what she wanted as Reggie was. Only Sarah didn't have the tools Reggie possessed. “Alright Sarah, if that is your desire. I shall call Stefan when I know for sure how much longer I can stay, so he can relay the message to you.”
“Very good Regina. I will tell Stefan in your presence what his instructions are so he'll know not to try and intercept any messages and try to use them to his own advantage. He's inclined to do that you know, and he'll be very jealous that I've taken your training upon myself.” Sarah rose and offered Reggie her hand.
Reggie extended her hand and felt pleased to see that Sarah covered it with both of her own.
“Again, I'm sorry you had to endure the initiation ceremony. Perhaps both of us together will be able to make subtle changes to cause it less emotionally and physically painful.” Sarah looked as if she really believed what she was saying.
Reggie knew however, there was no sincerity behind the apology. The ceremony was for intimidation and blackmail as pictures had been taken during the entire ordeal to keep each candidate in line in the future. Actually, it was a good tool to use. Before she was finished, Reggie would have her own pictures destroyed. She had no intention of giving anyone a way to blackmail or destroy her.
The next morning, Reggie called Stephan's number and gave him a message for Sarah. True to what she'd been told, and what she'd read in his mind, Stefan was less than gracious about it, until Reggie reminded him what Sarah had cautioned, “If you fail to fulfill this charge, in anyway, given thee, thee shall suffer dire consequences.”
He'd bristled then and was very angry that Reggie was getting special attention from the head of the Order, although he thought he’d hidden it well. “All right Reggie, I will tell Sara,.” he said out loud, but thought, ‘But not right away.’
“Thank you, Stefan. Sarah told me to keep a log as to the times I called you so she would know how well you were fulfilling your assigned task.” Reggie knew the effect this would have, and grinned broadly as she heard him sputtering on the other end of the conversation.
“She—she told you to d-do that?”
“Yes she did, Stefan. I think she was afraid you'd be forgetful with all you have to do for your own business as well as the business for the Order,” Reggie replied with a sincere voice pitch. She hated having to appear to be interested in what Stefan had to do.
“Well, er—yes. I do have a great deal to do. I'll call her at once and get back to you as soon as I've heard back from her,” Stefan replied hastily.
“Thank you, Stefan. You've been such a great help to me.” She pressed the end button cutting off anything further he might have said.
Two hours later, Reggie got the call setting up the time and meeting place.
~o0o~
James finished reading and felt more than troubled about all of this.
Leo interrupted his anxious thoughts, “Then Josephine saw this vision just today…” Leo flipped the pages further, dated today.
James again, began reading….
Recent Vision:
It was with some glee that Stefan punched in the numbers he’d memorized.
“Hello Stefan,” Sarah's contralto answered.
“Mein Führer, I have some bad news to report,” He then reported what he knew about the failed attempt of Regina Adams selling them the ‘Exceptional Twins’.
“You might try to sound a little upset by this news, Stefan. It sets us back to square one in our future plans,” There was no hiding the disappointment that Sarah was feeling.
“Forgive me mein Führer, I did not like Dr. Adams. She was, hmm—unkind to me and I always experienced a splitting headache every time I spent any time around her,” The last little statement was a lie and he knew Sarah pro
bably already knew this. His dislike for Reggie Adams stemmed more from her meteoric rise and being granted to the Inner Circle while he'd been the one to introduce the ungrateful bitch to them to begin with and he was still held as little more than a mere servant.
Sarah was very disappointed. “Do you have any information as to why Dr. Adams is now residing within a mental hospital?”
Again with barely contained glee, Stefan reported only what Vivian reported to him, “Evidently, the experiment Dr. Adams and those twins she'd discovered exploded and rebounded back on them. The ten-fold aspect came into play with the rebound. Dr. Adams had a complete psychotic break down, and the twins had all their powers burned out of them.”
“Well, that is indeed bad news. You realize of course that the commission you received for bringing them to us will have to be returned.” Sarah smiled as she heard Stefan gasp. “Or, you'll just have to work it off.”
Stefan swore under his breath. “Ja mein Führer,” He sighed deeply, “Ich werde es davon arbeiten müssen.” ( “Yes, my Leader, I’ll have to work it off.” )
“Very good, Stefan. I guess you'd better get busy then and find us something, or someone else we can use to our advantage.” Sarah disconnected the call and stared out of the window behind her desk.
Dr. Adams, Reggie, had been as dear to Sarah, as anyone had been, even more than her own daughter, but by nature Sarah was calculating and took everything in stride. This was a huge set back, more of one than Sarah was willing to admit. She got up and walked over to the safe installed within the wall next to her desk. Opening it, she took out the files it held. Sitting down again at her desk, she opened her center desk drawer and withdrew a red felt tipped marker and put a red slash through Dr. Regina Adams, and the London twins’ nametags.
~o0o~
James looked up from the notebook to stare at Josephine and Leo. “So what does all this tell us?” he asked with an arched eyebrow.
“Well,” Josephine scoffed, “We know that this Stefan is a jealous little shit, and that we could use that to our advantage if we can find him.”
“And,” Leo chimed in, “We know that this Sarah really cared about Dr. Adams. We should be able to do something with that too, right?”
James looked very thoughtful. “I understand the names now that I heard them in Reggie's mind more than once, and that she was very quick to try and cover them up. I know Stefan's last name and how to contact him, even his number—oh, I just got an idea!” James all but crowed.
“What?” Both Josephine and Leo asked at once.
“If we can find Reggie's phone, we can use that to get hold of Stefan. The fact that we call him using her phone should really shake him up and give us some advantage.” James felt quite pleased with himself.
Once again, Josephine wore dreamy faraway look she got when she was seeing some future event. Her eyes became as huge as Leo had ever seen them.
“Josephine...” Leo breathed.
Josephine shook her head and began writing furiously. When she finished, she shared with James and Leo what she'd just written.
“Using Dr. Adams's phone will have one of two effects. Both hold Stefan's attention, one in a good way. Well, good for us and the other not so good for us. In the first, we reach our goal of crippling, but not quite bringing to an end the Die Zauberei…” She stopped and looked like she was going to break down.
Leo pulled her into his arms. He hugged her and held her until she was ready to continue. Even James had his hand on her narrow shoulder for comfort.
Josephine pulled away from them both, sniffled, and blotted her eyes. Squaring her shoulders, she began once more, “In the second, the three of us die and the Die Zauberei goes on as if nothing ever happened.”
“Oh Good. At least there's a choice,” James quipped as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Josephine, how will we know which choice we've made? That is…before we're dead.”
“Once we get to Germany and make contact, I'll be able to see a little of what's ahead.”
Just then, James’ cell phone chimed, He reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out his phone, looked at the display and then answered. “Yes, Susan?” His eyebrows arched, “You did? Good. I'll be there in about an hour and go through the contacts and see if anything catches my attention. Just leave it on my desk, okay? Thanks Susan. See you in a bit.”
Josephine was talking to Leo when James disconnected the call. He was about to tell them both who he'd been talking to, but Josephine had already figured it out because she “saw” that Ms. Weir had found Reggie's phone in her private things.
“So,” Leo added, “I guess we'll make the call using Dr. Adams's phone then.”
~o0o~
Two weeks had passed since Josephine dropped the little H-Bomb on James and Leo about the possible outcomes of their coming in contact with the Die Zauberei.
Josephine had seen the three of them going to Germany and the hotel they would be staying in while there. In the meantime, they laid plans on what they were going to do, and with each planning session, the two future outcomes Josephine had foreseen resolved into one solid confrontation and all the ramifications of that. They knew, however, that ultimately they would have to give themselves over to the Light and channel that force, energy, to accomplish the physical destruction of the Die Zauberei.
In that two week period, James practiced his shielding and projection as well as channeling techniques. The stronger these became the more Josephine could see the outcome being one for the Light. However, the possibilities of their all surviving were still not one hundred percent.
James had taken to practicing deep meditation techniques daily. During one of his sessions, Josephine had the strangest vision and couldn't wait to tell Leo and James about it. She didn't know at the time that what she was seeing was James’ meditation.
Within the hour, Josephine and Leo were banging on James’ door.
It took him about 5 minutes to finally open the door. When he did, he looked glassy eyed as though he'd been asleep. “What is it? What’s up?” James sighed as he opened the door to allow the pair into his house.
“I had a vision of something strange going on with you James,” Josephine stated, she just stood there with her hands on her hips with Leo behind her. “What's going on?”
“I have been using meditation and some techniques I've been reading about to strengthen my aura as well, so I can be a better blocking agent for all of us when we're in the thick of things, but I fell asleep I guess. Why are you here?”
“James, were you dreaming by any chance?” Josephine calmly asked.
“Yes, I was. It's funny now that you've asked me about it. It's all coming back to me.” James pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to remember what was starting to quickly fade...
James found himself standing, or was he floating...he couldn't tell exactly. The surroundings were like a whitish gold tinged mist, swirling around his feet. Things started to revolve around James then, seemingly becoming more concrete, when a round arched door appeared before him. Without understanding why he did so, he reached up and knocked resoundingly on the door a measured seven times.
The door opened silently.
James could not see anything at first. He walked forward a couple of steps and was suddenly standing in a pool of diamond white brilliant light edged with golden light.
“Who are you and what do you seek?” The voice was seemingly disembodied.
“A Brother in Light, and I seek to know in order to serve,” James responded without knowing why or how he knew what to say.
“You may proceed in Light, Brother.”
James suddenly found himself standing in a room filled with books; books were everywhere. They were lying on tops of tables, sitting on book shelves, even stacked on the floor. “So, you have come back to us Brother.”
The voice that spoke to James was very quiet and filled with only what James could call power. “Yes, Elder Brother, I have come.”
> “What is it you seek?”
“I seek to be used as a vessel for the Light in routing out the darkness once again.”
“What of your companions, Brother of Light?”
“If they are worthy of being Light Bearers, they too would champion the Light.”
“Only they can know in their hearts if they are ready for such a task. We know full well what it is you propose to do, and the Council of Seven will send to you, what you are able to channel. Go with the blessings of the Council of Seven and the Light.”
After the dream, James found himself sitting at the kitchen table. He was sitting with his hands on his thighs, his back straight and his feet together. He knew with perfect clarity what he'd just witnessed. What he'd been told and what he, Josephine and Leo would have to do. He hadn’t been given any idea of what the outcome would be, only that they would receive as much of the Light as they were able to channel.
Quietly, James explained to Josephine and Leo what he'd seen and been told. They, the three of them could wield as much power as the Die Zauberei inner council if they did not falter in their resolve.
~o0o~
When they arrived in Berlin, James used Reggie's cell phone to call Stefan.
As they knew would happen, Stefan was shocked and disbelieving. “Reggie? I was told that you were unable to travel, or even talk for that matter. What are you doing here anyway?”
James got right down to business. “This is not Reggie. My name is James Franklin and I'm here with Josephine Wallace and Leo Jordan. We are requesting an audience with Sarah and the Inner Council.”
At first, Stefan postured and bristled. However, when James was able to tell Stefan exactly what he was thinking and even gave Stefan the full names of the Inner Council, Stefan agreed to call and make the appointment.
When they arrived to meet the Council, Stephan greeted them, “Well, Mr. Franklin, it's good to meet you, your abilities seem to be greater than Dr. Adams's. I wonder why we were not aware of your talents.” Turning to Josephine and Leo he said, “You Miss Wallace, and Mr. Jordan, we were also unaware of, but I do know now that all three of you have wondrous abilities and we'd love to have you join us.”
