Amy stood, looking vacant. She didn’t have a clue where to start. She looked up at the shelves in search of an answer but was lost for words.
‘You can trust me,’ Rose whispered suspiciously.
Amy gathered she had nothing to lose. ‘What do you know about evil souls?’ Amy tried not to look as strange as she thought she must have sounded.
Rose raised her eyebrows. ‘What do you know?’
‘I know of evil souls called…’ Amy paused, wondering if, because of the rules, she was about to cause some kind of trouble for Rose, and, as if it would make a difference, whispered, ‘Dogods.’
Rose looked at the ceiling as if someone was watching, then whispered, ‘Where did you pick up such a word? You curious wasp. Are you a member of the Order?’ Her expression was a mixture of desperation, intrigue and awe.
Amy was stunned. She clearly held a world of information. Amy stepped closer to Rose and looked into her eyes, searching for any hint of a sparkle. ‘I’m the…’ Amy gulped. ‘…Protector.’
‘Flegh!’ Rose squeaked. ‘I’ve already been told off this week.’
‘What do you mean?’ Amy asked.
Rose hopped from foot to foot, flapping her arms with restraint. ‘No. Can’t tell you things.’
Amy studied the woman. ‘How do I stop a Dogod?’
‘You must invoke the light.’ Rose clutched her mouth.
‘I don’t want any involvement with Guardians. You must have something in here about how to get rid of Dogods!’
Rose stopped jumping and looked at Amy like she’d lost her mind. ‘One doesn’t simply get rid of a Dogod. He will come for you and when he does, you best be ready!’
‘There must be another way,’ Amy said, her eyes darting around the room.
Rose turned abruptly, taking a startled look at Tom and then back to Amy. ‘This is…him…isn’t it?’ Her eyes glazed with intrigue. ‘You’re Amy Croft, aren’t you?’ Rose asked like Amy was famous. ‘I didn’t think I’d be meeting you for another seven years.’
Amy felt the room close in on her. ‘Oh?’
‘You agreed to be his mother,’ Rose said. ‘I can see it now,’ she said, grabbing Amy’s shoulders and peering into her eyes. ‘Your underlying power. You need to speak to Adaizi!’ She turned and began to walk away but then, as if she couldn’t help herself, turned back. ‘It’s interesting that you came to this shop, though.’
‘I can’t speak to Adaizi because I want a way out!’ Amy’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I just want him to be safe!’
Rose’s expression changed to one of pity. ‘The only way you can be sure of that is to prepare yourself and him for the mission.’
‘I won’t prepare him for anything!’
‘If Tom is to have any chance, you must accept the way it has to be. The Dogod knows his mission from the moment he jumps into an embryo. He knows exactly what he is capable of and, while he wallows in frustration, waiting to unleash his full hatred, he can use powers even before he turns seven, unlike Tom.’
‘Tom has used powers already,’ Amy said before thinking.
‘Not possible! Tom won’t gain his own until he’s seven. Tom’s only using what he’s gained from you. Whatever Tom can do at this moment, you can be sure you’re ten times as powerful.’
‘I haven’t got any power!’
‘Wow,’ Rose said, looking at Amy as though she was insane, ‘you really do need to speak to Adaizi!’
Amy’s eyes widened as she grew impatient. ‘I’m not doing that!’
Rose grimaced in frustration and then, looking from left to right, stepped closer to Amy. ‘If you’re not going to embrace your own, or invoke the Guardians’ light, then you’ll need to make yourself a talisman.’
‘First of all, the way you say invoke makes it sound painful. It’s not happening! And what?’
‘Shush!’ Rose peered at the ceiling. ‘Firstly it’s not painful, it’s actually a great honour and can feel wonderful if you just allow…’
‘Please spare me,’ Amy interrupted. ‘The talisman?’
Rose let out a disgruntled huff. ‘It is said that gifted souls such as yourself can make talismans. You know, an amulet to protect you and help you fight with the power of light. You just need to believe in your own power to create one.’
‘I can’t believe in something I haven’t got!’
‘Dear, oh dear,’ Rose said. ‘There is much power inside you. You are stronger than any Guardian on Earth. Granted, your powers are a mystery so far, but I’ve never seen anything so vibrant inside a gifted soul before. Nor this extraordinary.’ Rose’s eyes narrowed as she scrutinised every inch of Amy. ‘Your power looks…violet.’
‘Violet?’
‘Yes.’ Rose grabbed Amy’s hand and rubbed her palm in contemplation. ‘That’s the only way I can describe it. There’s something inside you that’s apart from your Protective Power, which is unique to you, just like the other eleven gifted souls have a unique power to them. Something else entirely. Violet normally indicates a powerful love. Maybe when you love enough, it could ignite another special power inside your soul. Yes, that’s it! When you love, it will make you strong.’
At that point the wind chimes jingled and they both turned to see an old lady entering the shop.
‘Morning,’ Rose said, leaving Amy by the counter as she glided to greet her. As Rose struck up a conversation with the with the old lady, smiling politely as she asked what she was looking for, Amy felt like throwing the woman out of the door, or telling her to at least hurry up.
To find the item the old lady was looking for and for her to be served took all of three minutes, but it felt like a lifetime. Before Rose closed the door, she replaced the ‘Back Soon’ sign on the outside then locked it.
‘Tom is a gifted soul. I’ve seen his power! Maybe he could make me a talisman,’ Amy suggested, bursting inside.
Rose nodded her head. ‘Yes,’ Rose said, staring at Tom wondrously. ‘He most certainly is a gifted soul, one of a kind, and hopefully the answer to our prayers. But he’s not one of the original twelve pearl white gifted souls who were born already Awake, like you.’
‘Awake?’ Amy asked.
‘You were born knowledgeable without experience. You already had a full understanding of the meaning of life. Basically you are a wise, fully rounded soul without having to be tested and therefore may use the powers of Omnipion to your best capabilities immediately.’
‘So Tom’s not Awake then? He needs to be tested?’
‘Well, no, not exactly. He did come from the core Awake in the sense that he doesn’t need to be tested, but he was golden. You normally have to pass the Test in under fifty lives to achieve the Guardians’ colour. Being Awake like you meant he didn’t have to take the Test—and that has never happened since you very first twelve—but he’s not pearl white. He’s still just a Guardian, which means he can’t use the powers immediately, he can only make the Talisman when he’s seven. That’s when Guardians get their powers. Even then, it will only protect you from evil if he was around to actually force his love into it. Unless you believed in your own power, of course.’
‘I don’t,’ Amy said, also watching Tom, who was staring at Rose intently as if trying to figure her out. Amy could see his mind working. She didn’t know what he was thinking, but he was definitely thinking something. ‘What’s the Test?’
‘The Test,’ Rose said, rolling her heavy eyes, ‘is what every single soul ever created normally has to take in order to gain a permanent place in the beautiful, inner fields of Omnipion. When new souls are born, it’s explained to them that they must live out many different lives in order to awaken their true selves, then they enter a pod inside an enclosed structure called the Chamber on the outer crust of Omnipion and watch a part of their soul live out those lives, hoping with each one that they gain the points they need to become Awake and ascend.’
‘What do you mean points?’
‘To simplify, if you’
re good you gain points and move up a level, and if you’re bad you lose points and move down. You will inflate or deflate as you watch yourself and your actions. The aim is to reach level one, the exit, and ascend fully Awake. Every soul starts in the middle and can either make their way up or down, depending on their actions.’
‘So my actions are being scored now?’ Amy said, looking confused.
‘No. You’re not having the Test. You’ve entered the Chamber of your own choice to help with the mission. You’ve never had to be tested!’
‘Why not?’
‘Because, like I’ve said, your soul was born fully Awake, learned, and powerful, and full of love, just like the other eleven. You all had the powers and capability to put many laws into action. It has always been understood that there needed to be twelve gifted souls: one for each inner field of Omnipion. Twelve special souls who needed to put the complexities of its many aspects in running order. You’ve been there since the beginning of time until now, and the reason you’re here now is because you are so powerful. All you need to do is open your mind. Believe. Know you have power and it will come!’
‘But I’m trapped inside this Chamber thing?’ Amy asked, as if she hadn’t got Rose’s main point.
‘Not trapped, but yes.’ Rose smiled dreamily. ‘You’ve been placed in at the top where souls who’ve passed normally come out, on level one, like all the Guardians and other souls who come back for specific jobs.’
‘Why would anyone go back inside The Chamber when the purpose was to get back to the inner fields?’
‘When souls pass, they can either enter the Gateway of Dreams, an illusory core that produces any great afterlife you could imagine, or work on one of the fields of Omnipion. Depending what colour they ascend shows which field they’d be most suited to but some, especially if golden, feel the need to come back and help people having their Tests.’
‘But Tom hasn’t come back, he was born Awake like me. This is his first time here too?’
‘Yes. And he’s brighter than any other Guardian ever thought possible. Obvious to all why he came out of the core.’
‘To counterbalance evil? I won’t allow it!’
‘That’s the only reason he’s here. He didn’t have to leave Omnipion. He’s Awake.’
Amy shook her head. ‘I don’t get why ordinary souls have to leave the inner fields if they were there in the first place?’
Rose rubbed Amy’s arm in comfort. ‘The purpose of life is to experience. A new soul could live in Omnipion, but Omnipion runs on pure thoughts and love and some of the new souls, if left to grow and learn in the regimented environment of Omnipion, wouldn’t discover if they naturally possess this manner. They must live in all different situations until they’ve experienced all that life could throw at them. We hope they will all pass, but some of them fail.’
‘Fail?’
‘Yes. Once you hit the bottom, level twelve, your soul drops into the Under-Dome and is burnt in the black fire. It is the only way to weed out the bad.’
‘That’s barbaric!’
‘It is a fair game. Everyone on Earth is on different levels inside the Chamber. Once you invoke the light, you can see what level people are on by what shade they are. Evil is the darkest shade.’
‘Can Tom see these shades?’
‘Yes. Tom will cry if he sees a dark shade, especially anyone on level twelve of the Chamber.’
Amy knew without a doubt why Tom cried in front of Ethan and, even though she didn’t know why she still needed validation of Luke’s dark influence at this point, she sighed with a strange feeling of relief at the final confirmation. ‘Like life really is a test. Like we’re playing in some computerised pod? The game of life?’ Amy almost laughed.
‘Yes,’ Rose said, as if the concept wasn’t at all ironic. ‘A soul has one thousand lives in total to pass in. If you haven’t passed by then, you never will, and once a soul is on level twelve of the Chamber, the realm of the damned, there’s no way back.’
‘So the Dogod is on this level,’ Amy said.
‘Yes. This is the Dogod’s last life; he shall be extinguished after he dies this last time—well, unless he gets his way, that is!’
‘What do you mean?’
Rose looked deep into Amy’s eyes. ‘If the Dogod gets the final power he needs, he will become omnipotent. If so, he has promised he will burn his way out of the enclosure he’s in on level twelve, then up through the rest of the levels, killing billions of testing souls in the Chamber, and out into the inner fields of Omnipion. Once he’s inside the inner fields, the Order will be ruined. If the Order is ruined, new souls will no longer be made and therefore, if there are no observers, the whole universe will cease to be. To save the Test and all life is the reason you came back.’
‘That’s a lot to take in!’ Amy said, stepping back, a striking pain in her head making her squint.
Rose began to panic. ‘Open a channel inside you so you can invoke the light! You can then visit the Divine Realm and speak to the Decision Maker! Once you see your higher self, you’ll remember your mission fully. There will be no need to explain anything!’
‘What are you on about—open a channel? And I don’t want to invoke anything!’
‘You’ve not even let them explain how you invoke the light yet? Look,’ Rose said, losing patience, ‘if you’re not careful, they’ll take Tom from you and protect him on their own.’
‘No they won’t!’
‘Not yet they won’t, but if he’s in danger because of you, especially once he’s age seven and you’re still not trained…’
‘I said they won’t!’
‘You need the light, and to function properly with your light you can’t have any built up resistance inside you or your mind will go into meltdown and, instead of having the power to fight, you will just Sleep for the rest of your days!’
‘Sleep?’
‘Sleep!’ The way Rose said it sent a shiver down Amy’s spine.
‘I will find another way. I want Tom left out of all this…’ Amy began, but as Rose shook her head she stopped.
‘If you don’t believe in yourself, Tom would have to be involved! And because he can’t make your amulet for seven years, he definitely will be in harm’s way! You need the light! Talk to Adaizi!’
‘Amulet?’ Amy’s mind suddenly clicked. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her hand went straight to the necklace round her neck that Tom had made. Even though he didn’t have his powers yet—maybe if it worked, she had the solution right now around her neck. Amy pulled out her necklace and held it out for Rose to see.
Rose, completely flabbergasted, took a deep breath. ‘Wow,’ she said, fascination taking over her sleepy expression. She took the gem into her palm. ‘This…excites me!’
As Amy sat on the bus, she considered her options. If what she had was the special talisman, she had a way of protecting herself and Tom for now. She still had seven whole years before the Dogod was really powerful, and by that time she knew, no matter how, she would find a way out for Tom.
In the meantime, no doubt Adaizi would be there to warn her if the Dogod was to come back. Not that she would ever do such a thing, but she could even shout Adaizi if necessary and she’d be there on demand, supposedly.
Amy stopped the bus at the stop facing the café and, after securing Tom in his pram and taking a deep breath, crossed the road. She stared through the window for a moment to muster courage and, after noticing Winston’s afro bobbing up and down behind the counter, entered.
‘I’ve just seen Rose,’ Amy said before Winston could greet her.
‘Aww, man,’ he cried, ‘she’s not made you worse, has she? She’s not supposed to give advice, you know! She makes everything sound worse than…’
‘She’s not made things worse!’ Amy reassured him. ‘I just want to know how this is supposed to work, you know, with me and Tom working here.’
His face lit with relief. ‘Any way you want, man!’
he said in a thankful tone, his smile none triumphant.
‘I still don’t want you interfering! I do things my way,’ she said, holding her amulet for support, hoping and praying it was the talisman Rose claimed she needed.
‘That’s fine, man,’ he said, his hands up. ‘Whatever you say!’
‘It’s the practical side of things. How can Tom be looked after properly in a play area? He’ll only be four months old when I come back. I’d need someone to keep an eye on him at all times. I mean, what’s he going to be in, a high chair or baby walker or something? And if the Dogod comes back in here and…’
‘Amy, we’ll work it out. I don’t think he’ll be back for a while now after what Tom did to him. He’ll need to feel confident before he has another go at him.’
‘But…’
‘And you don’t have to come back after four months. You can come back when he’s walking and talking, if that makes you feel better. You don’t even have to work at all, man. You’re part of the Order now. We could find you something else to do. There’s always a Guardian needing…’
‘No, I want to work here,’ she interrupted, thinking of Jack. ‘If that’s okay,’ she added in a less demanding tone. ‘I’m not a freeloader. Like you say, we’ll find a way.’
Winston’s teeth gleamed as he smiled. ‘Cool.’
‘I could prepare all the sandwich stuff in the mornings before the shop opens so it’s ready each day. I’ll clean the place each night after you close. I’ll even do a full scrub down on Sunday when it’s closed to make up my hours. I’ll take leaflets to every home in Manchester for the opening day and anything else I can do before I’m confident Tom will be okay in there.’ She nodded to the half-finished room behind him.
‘That’s fine, man.’ He smiled. Amy peered into his friendly, nervous eyes and, for the first time, gave him a half smile back.
Upon entering her maisonette, Amy felt strange; something was different. She turned to her left to see a smashed ornament lay in pieces at the foot of the front room door. As she gingerly hung her jacket up she realised all Luke’s coats and shoes had gone. She climbed the stairs with Tom in her arms and entered her room. The wardrobe door hung from one hinge, and empty drawers lay on their side on the floor. Amy’s things were thrown messily on her bed but Luke’s clothes, and the rest of his things, had gone.
The Guardian's Protector: The Chamber of Souls Page 7
