Jimmy now stood up. “What do you mean?” He spun around so he could see him as he asked the question.
Sasha listened but she didn’t understand. “What are you talking about? He is Kalima. He is the black wolf.”
Robert shook his head. “No.” He looked down at the floor but his mind was still turning fast and hard inside him. It made it difficult to see the floor. “I was wrong. I made a mistake about everything.” He now shook his head again. “You are the true Kalima. It’s the only thing that makes any sense.”
Brandon felt confused more than he should be. Well, it was normal for him more than he would have admitted. “Would you two please tell me what in the fuck you are talking about?” He looked at Sasha and saw the same look in her eyes that he felt. He then looked back to Robert and from where he stood; he could see Jimmy at the same time.
Jimmy shrugged with a nod. “What mistake? What are you talking about?”
Robert turned towards the kitchen, but kept his head down and still saw nothing. “You are the black wolf the moonwalker, but you are also Kalima the wanderer. That’s the only answer for what you just remembered.”
“What?” Jimmy was slowly becoming confused himself. He hated the feeling. Inside he now remembered everything. He remembered his life as Collins. He remembered every detail of his own life. Everything was now there, and with it, he had a deep clarity of thought that he never had before. Now, after finally having everything back again, Robert was moving him back to him knowing nothing at all.
Robert fought the confusion overwhelming his thoughts, by trying to pull him back together again. “Wanderers only pass on their souls when they die. That happened when Kalima died after biting that Collins guy. When that happened, his soul went to the clearing and was reborn into you—Jimmy Walls. That means that you—Jimmy Walls—are Kalima reborn.” Robert spun back towards the living room. His eyes met Jimmy’s rather confusing looking stare, and seeing it, he felt for him. He felt for the pain that he must feeling about all of this. As for him, he never felt clearer as he did right then. He understood everything, now like never before.
Jimmy wished that he felt the same way. “I don’t understand. What are you trying to say?”
Robert sighed long and deep before he could begin. “You were in the car crash Jimmy. You saw that. That nightwalker broke your neck—we both saw that—but yet, here you are. Here you stand. You’re still alive.” He looked back down at the floor. “Only Kalima had the ability to heal from something like that. Only he could survive a silver strike like the one that you just did. You must be what he was. You have to be Kalima.”
It was Sasha’s turn to try to understand this. “But Collins died from a silver bullet. Jimmy told me that.”
Jimmy nodded with her. Inside he saw it happen again. He felt the cool and damp grass beneath his pawed feet as he ran across the lawn. He felt the sharp pain as he was shot in the back. It felt weird remembering it like this. It was so clear. It seemed like it just happened.
“That’s because Collins wasn’t Kalima. He never carried the abilities of him.” Robert looked at everyone in turn as he talked, and tried to put every thought together long enough to say it. “That meant that he was vulnerable to silver, something that Kalima never was. He wasn’t Kalima. What he had in him was just the black wolf that somehow carried the memories of the wolf itself, but not the memories of Kalima the Wanderer.”
Jimmy shook his head, trying hard to focus on everything so far. It was so hard to do, with every memory now flushing through his mind at once. Listening, trying to hear him, questions blasted his mind. “How come I can’t remember him at all then? How come I still can’t remember Kalima?”
Robert stared him down. “The blackness is all that was there. That blackness meant only one thing Jimmy. You were blocked. His memories are still dark within the mist.”
“Who would block me?” Jimmy now bowed his head. He saw himself, Collins, looking in the mirror. Now he could hear him state clearly in his mind, remember, remember, remember Kalima.
Robert shook his head. “I don’t know that.” He thought hard about what he saw. “It feels weird though. It feels like an odd block. It doesn’t feel natural.”
It was Brandon’s time to come in. With everything he heard he wanted to say something to understand this himself. “So let me get this straight. Jimmy is actually the true Kalima. He died after biting that Collins guy, moved into Jimmy when he was born, and then the black wolf passes into Collins. They then find each other again, years later, with everything now happening.” He looked to Sasha and then back to Robert and Jimmy again. “How is that fucking possible?”
Robert smiled and a slight chuckle followed it. “I never imagined that you would be the one to understand this first.” He shook his head for good measure.
Both Jimmy and Sasha turned to Brandon at the same time, then turned and looked at each other. How right he was for saying such a thing like that.
With the shock of it worn off, Jimmy turned back to Robert. “If that’s true then they killed my parents because of me. They tried to kill me.”
Robert shook his head. “They may have known that you were a wanderer but I don’t think they knew about who you really were.” He shrugged with his words. “If they did, then they have answers—answers that they’ve had for a long time now—to everything. They’ve always known.”
“How do you know that?” Jimmy remembered clearly his mother sitting in the passenger’s seat in front of him. He remembered her beautiful face as she turned towards him and it lit up his heart. It crushed it at the same time, knowing what happened after the turn.
“They left you believing that you were dead.” Robert shrugged again. “If they did know you were Kalima then they wouldn’t have done that. They would have taken you with them. They wouldn’t have left you in the car.”
Jimmy bowed his head again, thinking. A thought soon came to him fast. “Brandon’s right. How is it possible that the wolf and Kalima would find each other again after nearly two hundred and fifty years or so? That seems like one hell of a coincidence if there ever was one.”
Robert shook his head. “More is obviously going on here than I ever thought of before.” He looked back to the floor. “Whatever they thought they knew, I think they now know the truth. I think Devish now knows about you too.”
This brought Jimmy’s head to a clearer sense of view. “If he knows then he knows that I’m still alive. What does he want with me?”
Robert looked back up. “He always wanted Kalima, or more importantly, what Kalima can give him. Something he could never get before, but still wants more than anything else.” Everything made sense and if he was right, then he would try again to get it.
“What is that?” Sasha now asked, beating Jimmy to the question.
Robert straightened himself completely upright. “Kalima survived the bite. He survived every attempt to kill him. He fought through silver. He fought through gold. He was the only walker that stood immune to everything that humans used to kill the others. As you know, or may not, a walker can absorb the gifts of a wanderer by being the one to kill them, but with Kalima, it’s impossible.”
“How is that?” Jimmy asked, but he already knew the answer. Deep inside, he always knew, but didn’t know how he did. He was getting rather good at accepting everything without knowing the real reasons behind, or so it seemed.
“Kalima survived the bite.” Robert looked at Jimmy’s eyes.
Jimmy nodded. “Kalima healed from the bite. That meant that Devish couldn’t kill him with it and that meant that he couldn’t take his gifts.”
Sasha nodded, looked at each of them in turn, and then finished with looking back at Robert. “What is Devish anyway? Why is he so strong and powerful?”
Robert turned back to the kitchen. “He is the last of the true blood walkers. He was born what he is.”
Brandon wanted to know more. “What are blood walkers anyway?”
Robert
turned back to the living room, but he kept his eyes down to the floor. “Blood walkers are very powerful creatures. They have the strength of the wolf. They have the cunning of a shade. They have the speed of the nightwalker. They can change into all of them.”
Brandon nodded. “So they can change into everything. Kind of like the old vampire stories said they could.”
Robert nodded, keeping his head down. “They are the things that made the others. They are what bit you.”
Sasha shrugged, trying to understand everything but felt like she wasn’t. Even though, she has heard some of this before. “They are what bit us?”
Robert looked up. “In their bat form the one they bite becomes the shade. In their wolf form the one they bite becomes the wolf. In their human form the one becomes the nightwalker. No one survives the bite in their natural form.”
Brandon’s eyes grew large. “What is their natural form?” Hearing all of this made his mind turn cold, colder than normal for him, and fear gripped his chest. He grew afraid with every word he heard.
“Their natural state is one of each. They are wolf, bat, and human in their natural state.”
Sasha also grew cold, and needed to hug herself with her own arms. “So what do we do now?” She hoped that she understood all of this, but still wasn’t sure if she did. She just knew that she would have to have faith in what they said. It was all that she had, so she had no other choice but to just go with it.
“We must speak with the elders. They will be coming to New York tomorrow night. We have to go there and meet with them.” Robert left the kitchen entrance, made his way to the back of the sofa, and stopped there. He set both of his hands to the back of it and leaned against it with all of his weight.
Jimmy listened, and as he did so, he thought back to the meeting that he had with Richard Ross. He could see him sitting across from him at the diner where they met to finalize their agreement. That was the last time that he, Collins, was ever free. Seeing this, he could now hear their conversation within the memories.
A conversation he now replayed in his mind.
“I’m so pleased that you agreed to help me, Mister Collins.” Ross began first, stirring the cup of coffee that he ordered in front of him as he spoke. “I do hope that you can give me what I need.” He smiled his perfect smile.
“I will help you as long as you help me.” He sat there on the chair, keeping completely still. He didn’t like coffee so he didn’t have any. “How long do you think this will take to find a cure?”
Ross finished stirring and placed the spoon to the left of the cup. “Not long. After seeing what you are, I’m sure that it will only take a few months. By then, we should have what we need. We should make progress rather fast, or at least, I do hope we will.” He took the cup and sipped from it slowly.
He could see the heat steam from the cup.
“Might I ask you a question Mister Collins?” He finished the sip and set the cup back down in front of him.
He nodded. “If we are going to work together I think it’s important that we trust each other.” He smiled.
Ross nodded, but kept his eyes on the cup as he asked the question. “How did you find me on this? I’ve been searching, researching this for years. How is it that you found me when you did?” Only after he finished asking it did he look up.
Their eyes met.
“A friend of mine told me about you. He was a good friend that has helped me for a long time now. He gave me your name. He told me how to find you.” As he answered a familiar face crossed his mind. He remembered who that friend was. Kenny? He swallowed hard after seeing him again. He also remembered everything about him as well. Kenny told me about Ross. He led me there after I told him about what happened in the park. He told me that I could redeem myself for killing the pregnant woman by helping mankind find a way to live without pain. It was Kenny. He did all of this. This made him think about something else. Did Ross know about everything now going on? He knew about the vampires. He knew enough to help them attack us. He might know more than he let on to us about.
Robert saw the look in his eyes. Seeing it he needed to know what he was thinking. “Jimmy, what is it?”
He blinked and allowed the memory to fade again. He looked at Robert. “Ross, Richard Ross? We have to go and see him.”
Robert shrugged. “Why? We have to see the elders. We have to get them to help us with Devish.” Everything else felt like a complete waste of time.
Jimmy expected this much. “I know what you’re thinking. You think I just want to find Rachel, and I do, but I also know that Ross might help us find out what Devish is up to. He might know what his plans are.” He was right of course. He did want to find Rachel but with all of Collins’ thoughts and memories now so clearly there, he knew that Ross must know something more about this too. It seemed so odd that he just happened to be studying what he was when he needed him the most. It made sense to find him. It made sense to find out what he knows.
Robert shook his head. “I don’t know Jimmy. Devish keeps his thoughts to himself and his plans close to those that are closest to him. I strongly doubt that he would confide in a human with what those plans are.” He crossed his arms over his chest. He didn’t like the idea and it showed.
“He worked with Devish to get Rachel. He has to know something and knowing the man as I do, I just know that they made a deal with him—a deal for an exchange of some kind. If I’m right, I have to know what he knows.” Jimmy wasn’t going to give in on this. It made sense with everything that he now knew. As far as he was concerned about it, they had to try. They had to do something.
Robert shrugged.
Sasha agreed with Jimmy. “He’s right Robert. We have the time to get to the city and I don’t know about everyone else here but I’m tired of playing defense all of the time. I want to strike back. I’m tired of running from these bastards all of the time.”
Jimmy heard her, turned to face her and smiled. Hearing her strength, he loved it. He loved her. He taught her so well.
She returned his smile.
Brandon listened to everything and nodded. “They’re right. We have to do something. We need to know what he might know.”
Feeling outnumbered was something that Robert already felt, being the only one there that wasn’t a walker, but now, he felt it more than ever. He didn’t agree with any of this, but being outnumbered as he was, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to convince them to change their minds. He was, in fact, completely alone in this.
Watching him closely, Jimmy went in for the clinch of the deal. “We need a lot more to give to these elders Robert. If we have a better idea of what Devish is up to then we can convince them better of it. It makes sense and you know it too.”
Robert nodded but only slightly. “Do you think he’s going to tell us anything, even if he does know something?”
Jimmy nodded with a surety that almost spooked him some. It seemed with having Collins there so clearly now gave him strength. Knowing more always did. “I have something that he wants.”
“And what is that?” Robert dropped his arms back to his sides.
“Me.” Jimmy took a deep and a heavy sigh.
Everyone there did the same thing. Silence then crossed over the room.
Brandon broke the silence by slapping his hands together and rubbing them almost like he was trying to heat them up. “Great.” He smiled. “How are we doing this?” He felt excited. He was ready for a fight.
Jimmy turned to him feeling the very same way. “The only way we can. We’re going at them head on.” He returned the smile.
12
Stopping for gas was necessary but at the same time it began to worry Joseph about everything. The most important thing to him was simple. He could feel it. They were running out of time. They had to get to the city. He had to help his friend. Now sitting there in the car, waiting for his grandson to pump the gas, he wished that he had told him the truth when he had the chance. He shouldn’t
have waited. He should have trusted him.
I’m coming Kalima. I’m sorry that I didn’t do this back there. I’m so sorry for starting this the way I did. I truly wish that I’d thought about it before. I should have told you about him and what was coming. He sat there listening for his grandson to get back in the car but it wasn’t happening fast enough. I’m coming as fast as I can. He only had hope. He had nothing else that he could do and that bothered him the most.
Thankfully he heard the car door open and felt Danny climb back inside the car. “Hurry. We’re running out of time. We have to get going.” He looked to his left.
“I had to get gas. I thought we were making pretty good time.” Danny placed both hands back on the wheel. He didn’t understand the reason for having to hurry, and not knowing that reason, was only adding to the frustration that he felt. Ever since the coma he’s acted so strange. He doesn’t even seem like himself anymore. He turned to his grandfather and huffed out with a long exhale of air with one giant blast.
“I know you don’t understand what’s happening here Danny. I know how much you’re struggling with all of this, and I thank you for it, but you have to trust me. You have to trust that I’m doing the right thing.” He heard the exhale easily. More importantly, he knew his thoughts. He was always good at reading one’s mind and now it was no different. If he could explain everything to him he would, but he knew that he would never believe him if he did. Knowing this, he knew that he didn’t have any other choice but to keep quiet. He had to keep him safe if he could.
A Werewolf's Saga Books 4, 5, & 6 (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 2) Page 28
