“Yeah, that’s right,” Mel answered turning to glare at her. “You got a problem with that?”
“No, I guess not,” Kirstin replied as she took a step back. “Just curious what you meant.”
“Aren’t you worried someone will find us here?” Tabitha asked as Mel opened the front door and stepped aside to let the two girls enter first.
“Yeah, if we stayed here too long,” Mel replied, “But tomorrow we’ll start scoping out other places. There is a ton of vacation homes in these mountains that are empty most of the year. We’ll have our pick.”
He pulled a flashlight out of his jacket pocket that he’d found in the van and shined it around, pausing for a moment on a dark stained area on the floor before moving on.
“Yep, we won’t stay here long,” he said with bitterness that cut through the night air. “But tonight we’ll celebrate being back together.”
He placed the bag of groceries on the floor and pulled out a bottle of champagne. “We’ve got cheese, some summer sausage and plenty to drink. Kirstin, how about going back to the car and bringing in the blankets. It’s party time.”
“I’m amazed you were able to buy all that champagne without the clerk even asking for an I.D.,” Kirstin said as she peered into the bag at the other bottles.
“I told you before, I can be very persuasive when I want to be,” Mel replied. “It’s one of my gifts.”
As Kirstin turned around to retrieve the other supplies, Mel walked over to Tabitha and encircled her with his arms. “You and I are going to start a new life together, and that’s just for starters.”
Tabitha hugged him back, placing her head on his shoulder and smiling up at him. “Now I like that plan.”
For the next three days, Alp and Misha spent just about every waking minute together. Alp found the eight-year-old girl easy to like, which quickly grew into love. Misha proved to be smart, precocious and witty, despite having several bouts of migraine headaches that would almost knock her out. Between the headaches, Misha, Andrea, and Alp hung out together, taking long walks around the upper-middle class neighborhood. They often ended up at the local playground where they’d spend an hour or more on the swings, slides and Misha’s favorite, the jungle gym.
All of this took place under the watchful eyes of either Chunk or one of his brothers who took turns accompanying the children. The Robinson's neighborhood was known to be one of the safest communities in the Washington D.C. area. But there were forces in the world that made even the safest locations questionable for a member of the Kindred.
It was on one such trip to the playground where it all came to a head. On this occasion, Damba had joined the three girls at Alp’s insistence. Misha and Andrea had not only accepted the young black man, but it looked like to Alp they both had a bit of a crush on him. The four of them had already spent time seeing who could swing the highest with the three older ones relaxing just a bit to let the younger Misha win. They’d then moved on to the jungle gym, a veritable mountain in the middle of the playground built from a large array of multi-colored pipes that came to a peak in its center, a good ten to twelve feet above the ground.
The four of them all hung from various parts of the gym, laughing as they each tried to outdo the other. Misha sat atop the peak of the jungle gym, proclaiming to be the king of the jungle when the spell struck her. Alp glanced up at her new friend when she noticed the light tingling of Misha’s giggling had suddenly stopped. She was close enough to see the young girl’s eyes glaze over, followed a second or two later with shaking that began at her extremities then traveled to her midsection until her whole body shook uncontrollably.
“Hold on, Misha!” Alp shouted as she fought to right herself from hanging by her legs. Before she could reach her, Misha toppled from her perch, falling to the cedar-shaving covered ground below, the dull thump of her body against the ground reverberating throughout the playground.
“Misha!” Chunk’s booming voice echoed through the playground as he rushed over from the picnic table where he’d been sitting. He and Alp reached Misha where she lay in the center of the jungle gym like a rag doll that had been discarded by its owner as the other children stared on in shock.
Misha continued to shake uncontrollably, her eyes unfocused with her pupils back in her head. Chunk stripped the belt from his waist and forced a portion of it between his daughter’s lips in an effort to keep her from chewing on her tongue.
The two of them worked to keep Misha from harming herself any further as the other children and parents gathered around them, shocked into silence.
“Help her,” Chunk begged Alp, looking at her with pleading eyes.
Alp glanced around her at the growing crowd of concerned parents and children. No, this is not the place nor the time, she thought. Besides, do I even know her enough to be able to reach in and correct whatever it was that’s wrong with her? As a wave of doubt passed over her, she struggled to take a breath like a drowning victim slipping under the water for the last time. She stared down at the unconscious Misha. It had been foolish of her to believe she could actually help the girl, no matter how much she cared for her. She shook her head.
“No,” she said avoiding looking at Chunk. “I can’t…I can’t.” She looked out at the crowd. “Someone call an ambulance.” Several people nodded as they pulled out their cellphones and began to dial 911.
Then Alp felt the firm grip of Damba’s hand on her shoulder. “You…it’s you,” he said softly but with firm conviction. “I’ve watched you with Misha for the past three days. You love her.” He waved his other arm around. “We all love her. This is the time, this is the place, and you are the one.”
Alp could feel the wave of love and compassion traveling from Damba to her, washing away the worry and doubt, settling her mind and heart. He’s right, she thought. If anyone can help it’s me. She loved this young pixie of a girl with her witty charm and courageous outlook on life.
Alp placed one hand on Misha’s forehead and the other on her chest. She closed her eyes and began to breathe slowly and deeply, visualizing herself traveling into the young girl’s head, first through the thin layer of skin, then through the thicker layer of bone that made up the skull. Finding no sign of a fracture, she traveled on through the next layers that included the cerebrospinal fluid that helped to cushion the brain. As she entered the cortex of the brain, she felt the early signs of swelling from where Misha had hit the ground. She paused there for a moment, quieting the tissue, imagining it returning to its original condition. But reversing the effects of a concussion was relatively easy, Alp realized, when compared to what it would take to find and remove a malignant tumor that the doctors and specialist had pronounced as incurable.
She heard Damba’s words repeating: This is the time, this is the place, and you are the one. This is the time, this is the place, and you are the one. She took a couple more deep breaths and began to make her way into the deeper recesses of Misha’s brain while at the same time tapping into the young girls heart center where she found a wellspring of loving life energy. If she could combine her love for this girl with Misha’s own love of life, it could prove to be a powerful instrument of healing for countering the dark energy of the malignancy. She would use this loving energy like a laser to dissolve the cancerous cells that threatened Misha’s life. And if that proved to be insufficient, she’d tap into the love of the people around her, especially the energy of Chunk, Andrea and Damba. This tumor didn’t stand a chance against such a wealth of power.
She went to work, traveling through the cortex of the brain and into the deep midsections, finding normal, healthy tissue until she reached the deepest layers where she found the dark, diseased tissue that had been causing Misha’s headache and pain. Deftly, like a well trained surgeon wielding a scalpel, Alp welded her scalpel of loving energy to slowly and methodically dissolve the damaged tissue.
When it was over, she made a pass through the rest of Misha’s body to dissolved the few spot
s where the cancer had begun to grow. She made a final check to be sure no remnants of the cancerous cells remained, then she slowly exited, physically exhausted but with a renewed sense of her own healing powers. She vowed to never doubt her abilities again for she now knew its source — the unlimited resource of Universal Love.
Aftermath
Mel popped the cork on the third bottle of champagne and refilled Tabitha’s and Kirstin’s glasses, ignoring his almost filled glass except to raise it for another toast. He’d started a fire in the fireplace and had laid out a couple blankets in front of it, then lit all the candles he could find and placed them around the room. Quite a romantic setting, he thought. Perfect for his plans for the evening.
“Here’s to our freedom and a new future together.” Mel pretended to drink from his glass while watching the two girls take deep gulps from theirs.
“And to our reuniting with our sisters,” Kirstin said, tipping her glass for a second toast.
Tabitha and Kirstin took another couple swallows, but Mel abstained. I guess this is as good a time as any to straighten things out, he thought.
“Well, Kirstin, just to be clear, I don’t foresee us reuniting with the rest of our sisters anytime soon.”
“No?” Kirstin asked as she tried unsuccessfully to suppress a hiccup. “Why not?”
“Well, for starters, we don’t have any idea where they are,” Mel replied.
“Can’t you or Tabitha connect with them psychically? You’re both really good at that; much better than me.”
Before Tabitha could answer, Mel answered for her. “Maybe we can, maybe we can’t, but that’s not the point. It’s going to take quite a bit of money once we do find them. I strongly suspect they’ve been taken a long way away and will be very closely guarded.” As he spoke, he noticed concern growing on both girls’ faces.
“Look, I’m not saying we won’t reunite with them. Sure we will, but it’ll take time. It won’t happen overnight.” It’ll happen when it fits in my greater plan, he thought, and not before.
“But that is all matters for another day,” he said as he refilled their glasses again. “Tonight is for celebrating our freedom.” He raised his glass again. “To freedom.”
The two girls downed about half of their glasses each while Mel simply sipped at his. As Tabitha and Mel made small talk, Kirstin yawned and settled in front of the roaring fire. It wasn't long before she was asleep; her knees drawn up to her body in a fetal position, her black mini-skirt and pale blue sleeveless blouse leaving much of her extremities exposed.
“My sister can’t hold her booze,” Tabitha said with a giggle as she reached over and placed one of the blankets over Kirstin.
“Let her sleep it off,” Mel answered as he stood up. “Come with me. I want to show you my favorite place around here. Bring a couple of those candles and the champagne,” he said as he reached down and picked up the second blanket, draping it over his arm. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his cellphone. Using it as a flashlight, he led Tabitha outdoors.
The night had turned brisk as it often did this time of the year in the West Virginia mountains. The air was crystal clear, and the stars were out in all their magnificence. Mel took Tabitha’s hand. Together they walked around to the back of the log cabin to the large oak tree where Alp and he had built a treehouse out of spare lumber “borrowed” from neighboring farms.
“This is awesome,” Tabitha said. Gazing up to the treehouse, she tripped over a root and fell against Mel.
“Easy there,” Mel laughed as he caught her and held her for a few seconds longer than was necessary. “Do you think you can climb up there without breaking your neck?”
“Just watch me,” Tabitha replied as she handed the bottle of champagne to Mel. She blew out the candles and placed them into the hip pocket of her jeans. She started climbing the ladder made from two-by-fours that had been nailed to the trunk of the large oak.
Mel turned off his cellphone light and placed it in his pocket. He wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and followed her, grasping the neck of the champagne bottle with a couple fingers of one hand and using the other fingers and his other hand for climbing.
Once through the door and into the tree house, he put the champagne down. He spread the blanket out, took the candles from Tabitha, and lit them. He then reached up to the roof of the treehouse. Funny, he thought. Last time he had been up here he could barely reach the roof. But over the months he’d grown enough that it was now easy to remove the piece of tin that served as a cover for the treehouse’s skylight.
Leaning the tin against the inside wall of the treehouse, he looked around. Everything was exactly as he remembered it although it felt smaller and more cramped. A flood of memories cascaded through his mind. The few happy memories he had of his early childhood years had mostly been here with Alp. He felt a momentary longing for his twin sister but quickly brushed it aside. He moved to pull the cigar box from its hiding place to check their stash of money then remembered Madame Sarrah had confiscated it.
“Which is why I burned her ass,” he muttered.
“What’s that?” Tabitha asked.
“Oh, nothing.” He laid on his back on the blanket and patted the space next to him. “Come join me,” he said. “The view is spectacular.”
Tabitha laid down beside him. Together they studied the night sky; deep in thought. After several minutes, Mel sat up to take a swig from the champagne before passing the bottle to Tabitha, who took a longer drink. As she did so, Mel noticed her shiver.
“Yeah, the evenings can get pretty chilly this time of year here in the mountains. Slide over her and let me warm you up.” As she did as he asked, he placed his arm around her shoulders.
“My, your shoulders are tight,” he said. “Time to show off another one of my gifts.”
“Now, wait a minute,” Tabitha said, suddenly apprehensive. “I’ve heard from Alp about your fire starting abilities, and I’m pretty sure I saw it at work back there in Beaufort.”
“Relax,” Mel said with a chuckle. “Not that gift. I mean my back rubbing talent.”
As he spoke, he started to rub her shoulders gently.
“Oh,” Tabitha said giggling and a minute later added, “You’re right. You’re really good at this.”
“Thanks. I think you’ll learn that I have many such gifts,” Mel replied as he continued to rub her shoulders, slowly making his way down her back. As Tabitha relaxed and began to lean into him, he slowly bent down and kissed her lightly on the neck and then blew softly in her ear.
“I see what you mean,” Tabitha whispered, obviously enjoying the attention.
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Mel whispered back as he turned her towards him and kissed her on the lips while continuing to massage her shoulders.
Tabitha’s breathing came much more rapidly now, and it became clear to Mel that she was no longer cold; just the opposite. As it became apparent that Tabitha was just as interested in making out as he was, Mel confidence grew, and he became more forward. He moved his hands down to Tabitha’s chest to discover she wasn’t wearing a bra. It didn’t surprise him since her breasts were just beginning to form. Was she old enough for his plans, he wondered? At what age would his sisters become fertile and able to have children of their own? Only one way to find out.
He reached down to her jeans and unsnapped the fastener. As he slid his hand down into her panties, he felt her stiffen for a moment, and then gasp in surprise.
“It’s okay,” he whispered in her ear. “I’ll be gentle. Promise.”
By the time he broke that promise, it was too late for Tabitha to do anything about it. The seeds of a new species had been planted into fertile soil.
It had been two full days since the incident at the playground. Despite sleeping twelve or more hours each night and taking several naps, Alp still felt tired. It felt like she’d run a marathon carrying someone on her back. She turned over in bed and watched as the rays of s
unshine began to creep through her window. She had always enjoyed watching the sun rise. It made her feel hopeful to know that no matter how bad the previous day might have been, the sun promised a new day and a new beginning. That sense of hopefulness had fortified her many times while growing up under the iron rule of Madame Sarrah.
Alp continued to lie in bed, snoozing at times, and at other times reveling in that state of consciousness that existed between full wakefulness and sleep. Finally, the aroma of fresh brewed coffee and bacon along with a full bladder forced her out of bed. She heard Damba moving around in the next room. The Robinsons had graciously taken him in as well, and had placed him in what normally served as Lucinda’s sewing room. On more than one occasion, it had served as a second spare bedroom with a small daybed that had been covered by clothes in need of mending and other sewing projects that Lucinda had yet to tackle.
She was surprised to hear Damba talking with someone so early in the morning until she also heard a light tapping on her door followed with Lucinda’s soft voice.
“Are you awake, Alp?”
“Yes ma'am,” Alp replied.
“Good, your breakfast is ready. Come on down when you’re ready.”
Besides sleeping a disproportionate amount of time, Alp’s already healthy appetite had more than doubled, so she hurriedly dressed and started down, almost colliding with Damba on the way out of her bedroom.
“Whoa, there,” Damba said jumping back out of the way. “Someone must be hungry.”
“Yeah, so don’t get in my way,” Alp quipped back, but then slowed down so they could walk downstairs together.
As the two of them walked into the kitchen, Alp noticed dirty plates where Chunk and Andrea normally sat.
“We’ve an appointment with the doctors,” Lucinda said, answering Alp’s question before she could ask it. “If you don’t mind, I need to go upstairs and get ready as well.”
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