Swami introduced herself with a captivating smile. Amy took her hand and smiled awkwardly. Three more bows, a warp and a flash, and Amy was left with just Mark and Adaizi, who were still lit.
‘Do we look different?’ Mark asked.
‘You’re sort of lit up. There’s a white light around you.’
‘You can see our shade,’ Adaizi told her. ‘You will be able to see the black to white spectrum now. Most people you see will be some shade of grey. There are lighter and darker shades of grey depending what level of the Test they are on. You are to stay clear of the black shades,’ she added with a serious note.
‘Okay,’ Amy promised with a worried look.
‘You will have to be with one of us at all times until you invoke the light,’ Adaizi said. ‘Like we told you, a Dogod can see your open channel, just as a Guardian can. Until you invoke the light into this channel, they can infuse the dark. If by chance you end up in contact with one…’
‘Adaizi,’ Mark interrupted, stopping her from continuing.
‘Well,’ she said, glancing at Mark and then back to Amy, ‘we need to be with you so we could try to Light-Void you away. You need to visit Omnipion as soon as possible.’
‘Okay,’ Amy agreed, her heart beginning to turn over with fear.
‘The feeling you just felt is how we want you to feel when you are guided to Omnipion,’ Mark revealed.
‘Okay,’ Amy repeated, as if this was the only word she had in her vocabulary.
‘You have to try and feel that way yourself to enter,’ Adaizi instructed. ‘Your mind must be relaxed on its own.’
‘I have to feel like that on my own?’ she asked, looking at her like she was mad. ‘I thought you said I just have to be okay with going before I could go.’
‘It’s the same thing, really,’ Adaizi replied. ‘You just need to release all resistance, which will then enable you to feel something like that. Anything you’ve felt before, you can feel again, even if it’s not happening. That feeling runs inside you innately. It is your essence, your life source, your energy stream. You can meditate to feel it, but you need to let go of the fear of visiting yourself. If you fully trust in what we say, you will get there sooner.’
‘Okay,’ Amy said. ‘I’ll try,’ she added, so she could feel more literate.
‘You really need to understand the danger…’
‘Adaizi,’ Mark interrupted, ‘can we give her a chance to try first?’ Amy could tell he wanted her protected from something.
‘Okay,’ Adaizi agreed, with a smile. She gave Mark a bow and turned back to Amy, taking her chin with her forefinger. ‘I’m sure proud of you, beautiful.’ She gave Amy a gentle smile and Light-Voided away, leaving Amy alone in the field with Mark.
CHAPTER 19
THE TRYING
‘I’m proud of you too,’ Mark said.
Amy gazed up at Mark, his bright, magical shade illuminating each stone in the circle, and suddenly the place looked beautiful.
She wanted to apologise. She needed to explain that the reason she’d treated him so badly was because of how much she loved him. Tell him she hated herself for it. She wanted to tell him she knew, without a doubt, he loved her and would never intentionally hurt her. That his love, even if it didn’t match hers, meant something to her. She needed to convey to him that she loved him with every inch of her soul.
Though she wished to say so much, she had to say nothing at all. He was reading her. She could see the relief wash over him.
She smiled, took his hands and squeezed. ‘Come on,’ she whispered.
He smiled his most beautiful smile, squeezed her hands and, in a flash, they stood on the clover-covered hill.
‘Did you have a good night?’ Jack asked as they entered. He sat in the armchair that faced the main TV, his right arm hung over the back, his neck straining to face them. He’d tied pink feathers in some of his newly formed dreads that hung over the chair like a dirty mop. Amy stared at him with a look of awe, confusion and disbelief, and he grabbed one, a huge smile plastered across his face, and waved it at her.
Amy just continued to stare—she hadn’t even noticed his new pink additions. The only thing she saw was that he was sort of glowing too. Not like Mark and Adaizi, who almost stung her eyes with their brightness, but he had a pale grey hue surrounding his entire body.
‘Hello?’ he said with a click of his fingers. ‘Earth to Amy. Did you have a good night?’
‘Err…yes,’ she answered, suddenly realising this was how she’d see people from now. It was a little change, but still a lot to get used to. It wasn’t just that she could see his shade—she stood in amazement, too, of how her mind could automatically tell which level Jack was on inside the Chamber simply by looking. She couldn’t even comprehend Omnipion, and here she was using its powers.
‘Where’re your shoes?’ Jack asked, spotting her feet.
Amy looked down to see her thick, woolly socks muddy from the ground. ‘Err…’ She tried to think of a reason.
‘Oh yeah?’ Jack laughed.
‘What?’ Amy asked, blushing red, looking up at Mark to see if his white light had been tarnished.
‘Nothing like that, Jack!’ Mark laughed. ‘But we’re not telling you now, just to taunt you!’ Mark put his hand on Amy’s back and they walked off into the kitchen.
Amy felt mortified. ‘I’m sorry about—’
‘Amy,’ Mark interrupted, with a serious tone, ‘I’m human as well, you know! Believe it or not, I was brought up by people. I can have a laugh and I can give you a dig if you carry on looking at me like I’m an angel. I’d rather you went back to being mad at me!’ He playfully shoved his shoulder into hers, changing her shocked and appalled expression into a more relaxed one.
‘Okay, back to normal,’ she said. ‘I shall be ignoring you and treating you as badly as possible.’
‘Well maybe not that normal!’ he replied with a smile.
Amy felt grateful for his understanding. ‘I’m off to bed then. It’s been…an experience!’ she said, and his smile widened. Before she turned to walk away, he took her hand and she looked back at him with a confused expression.
‘Good night.’ He kissed her softly on the cheek.
‘Good…err…night,’ she said, her legs turning to jelly. Was this his attempt to end the fake evening properly for Jack’s sake or was he just glad they were friends again, she wondered?
As she stumbled up the stairs, she noted Jack smirking from ear to ear and, after scowling at him, she continued to her floor. She opened Tom’s door and what she saw brought her to tears.
The top of Tom’s head, sticking out from his covers, glowed like a lantern. As she crept towards him, David, who was curled up on top of the bed next to him, lifted his head. He wagged his tail once and then, as she took a closer look, she found David too had a shade of grey around him. Realising he must have a soul, Amy wondered just how little she knew of the universe.
She sat on the edge of the bed and placed her shaky hand on the side of her child’s glowing face and felt an overwhelming sense of love. It shocked her to see him for the beautiful Guardian he was, but it did not change the way she felt. In fact it made her more determined to protect him at all costs.
Stroking his wavy locks, she saw his shade of white stood out further from his body than Mark or Adaizi’s. In this moment, although he was without a care in the world, she felt utterly scared for him. Wiping her tears on her vest top, she climbed in and wrapped her loving, motherly arms around her precious child. She closed her eyes and forced herself to remember the feeling of serenity and calm she’d experienced at Stonehenge.
‘What are you doing?’ Tom asked when he woke the next morning.
‘Oh,’ she mumbled, coming round. She tried to look at him and not his shade. Even the daylight that flooded through the window couldn’t outshine his brilliant white. ‘I thought I’d have a cuddle.’
‘I mean what are you doing to your insides?’ He laughe
d, looking at her body.
‘My insides?’
‘Yes,’ he said, pointing down to her centre. ‘How are you doing that? I’ve never seen anything like it.’
‘What do you mean?’ she asked, sitting up in alarm and inspecting herself.
‘You’re normally all white, but your middle is missing. It’s like you have nothing there. It’s strange.’
Amy walked into Tom’s en suite, stood in front of the mirror and saw that her whole body, apart from her centre, was lit up with an extremely white shade, although slightly fainter than a Guardian’s.
Tom followed behind and David after him. ‘Can you see your light, Mum?’
‘Yes,’ she answered in amazement.
‘What have you done with that middle bit then?’
‘I don’t know!’
‘Oh.’
‘I’m getting a shower,’ she announced, kissing his forehead and leaving his room.
After her shower, she headed downstairs for breakfast. As she took a bite of her toast, she realised everyone was staring at her and felt paranoid. It was only when Harold spoke she realised what they wanted.
‘Well?’ Harold pressed, with a seedy grin, similar to Jack’s the previous evening. As she looked up at him, she was astonished. Never before, apart from always wearing his hat indoors, had Harold stood out like he did right now. He sat as ordinary looking as everyone, yet his shade was nearly as bright as Mark and Tom’s. Mark answered for her.
‘We don’t kiss and tell! Do we, Amy?’ Mark asked, making her swallow her toast in a big lump before she’d chewed it.
‘No,’ she answered through a cough.
‘That’s mean!’ Harold said, as if upset. She couldn’t get over how bright he was. Even now, as he scowled and sounded disappointed, he was bedazzling. Mark gave her a knowing smile.
‘Tart!’ Mad-Doris shouted. George’s shade darkened as he scowled at her. Amy looked at Mad-Doris and had to blink to see if her eyes had gone out of focus, for Mad-Doris was the only person at the table who had no hue to her at all. Looking at her was exactly like looking at her before. She looked ordinary—in the past sense of ‘ordinary’—which naturally meant she was completely strange!
Amy turned to Mark. ‘Why is she not…?’ She stopped herself as she realised everyone had turned to look at her, like her and Mark had become some kind of captivating soap opera. Amy waited until after breakfast, as the kids walked into the classroom for their lesson, to catch Mark in the hallway.
‘Mad-Doris has no shade! What’s the score?’ she said, jerking her thumb to the living room where Mad-Doris had scurried off to.
‘She’s a Squaddie,’ he answered, as if his explanation should have made sense.
‘Eh?’
‘In Omnipion, we have souls who work for a team called the Interference Squad. They can jump into their Squaddies at any time if they need to do something inside the Test. Mad-Doris has been used once in this lifetime when she was younger.’
‘Well, why aren’t they any shade? How will I know if she’s black or not?’
‘She’s not black. If you see someone with no shade at all, there’s no need to panic. Don’t forget, going back into the Chamber to work means you’ve already passed the Test. She’s white like you!’
‘So this team of souls who jump into people…do they take turns? Could Mad-Doris do the jumping into someone herself if she wanted to?’
‘Why? Are you thinking of changing profession once you’ve finished here?’
‘No. I’m freaked out by it!’ She shuddered. ‘Letting another soul jump into you and take over is a bit weird, isn’t it?’
‘It takes extraordinary love and bravery to do so. Squaddies trust Omnipion will use them for matters of the highest good. Once you’ve been a host, you can then choose which side you’re most suited to. Mad-Doris is always the host,’ he said with a smile.
‘Can the Dark Army see she has no shade? Is she vulnerable like me?’
‘Yes, they can see,’ Mark said. ‘Thankfully she’s also mad. They only like to take people who seem of sound mind because it’s easier to influence them. Like Luke.’
‘Luke?’ Amy said, feeling something she couldn’t describe for Luke—maybe a newfound respect for him or a connection she’d finally found between them: they both worked for Omnipion.
‘Yes. Luke was a Squaddie too—until he was taken, that is. That’s why we need to be with you at all times until we can fill your channel with light.’
‘So Luke was Interference Squad,’ she said. ‘Do you know if he was ever used?’
Mark paused before answering. ‘He was used to meet you, you know, so we could impregnate you with Tom at the right time…’
‘What?’ she screamed, her voice echoing through the hallway. ‘That’s just charming! How romantic!’
Mark stepped back in alarm. ‘You agreed…’
‘Oh nice…me again?’ she snapped, taking another dislike to her higher self. ‘What was Luke then? A sperm donor?’ she asked but didn’t wait for the answer. ‘No wonder I’m so messed up!’ she added.
Mark watched open-mouthed as she stomped all the way to her room.
She couldn’t believe what she’d heard. She wanted to rip something apart. Something substantial. She searched her room like a woman possessed until she found her hair brush and, although it wasn’t as satisfying as hitting something, she tore the tangled hair from it until she could see the bristles again.
Feeling the fury inside her increase, she needed more. More to rip. More ways to strip out all the hurt she had buried deep inside, and then it dawned on her what she needed.
She ran out the front door, down the steps and up the hill. Just across the road from the archway entrance and facing the skate park was the building that Jack and Winston were working on. She ran across the road and entered the flat building through an open doorway, went straight up the dusty corridor and was greeted by Jack who had so much paint in his dreads, it looked like he’d bleached them.
‘Hello there?’ Jack said, waving at her with the paintbrush he held. ‘Come to help?’
‘When is this place gonna be opened?’ she barked.
‘Soon, we hope!’ He looked at her questionably.
‘Good. I’ll be your first student!’ she snapped.
‘Who are you and what have you done with Amy?’ Jack laughed. ‘I’ve been trying to get you to do martial arts for years. I’ve always told you you’d be good. Why now?’
‘I need somewhere to vent my anger.’
‘Your anger?’ he asked, with a sarcastic tone. ‘You went out on a date last night with the man you’ve had the hots for for the last four years, and you’re angry?’ His eyebrow raised suspiciously.
‘I’ve not had the hots…’
‘Whatever,’ he said, holding his hand up.
‘I’ll fight you now if you carry on.’ She playfully kicked him in the shin.
‘I see you remembered that move,’ he responded, lifting his leg to rub it.
‘Just hurry up and get it done!’
‘Tell them that,’ he said, pointing to the workmen inside the room behind him.
‘Hey, you guys,’ she called, popping her head through the door where three rough looking men in blue overalls were working. The man plastering the walls turned and gave her a toothless smile, his shade a deep grey.
‘Hello, darlin’, what can we do for ya?’
‘You can hurry up with this place!’
‘Ooh,’ put in another other man, who was painting the skirting boards. ‘Getting a woman to do your dirty work eh, Jack? I thought you were a trained boxer?’ As he spoke his shade of grey lightened which, as he held no expression, showed Amy he was joking.
‘Not while this one’s around,’ Jack called back, laughing.
‘Well, we’ll let her off,’ added the third young man, who wasn’t bad looking, ‘seeing as how she’s so gorgeous and all. Let me take you out to make up for their rudeness?’ His sha
de, lighter than that of the other two men, brightened as he winked at her and she felt the tiniest of flutters to her stomach.
Amy looked at him for a moment and wondered what it would be like to kiss him. She hadn’t kissed someone in such a long time. She wondered what was wrong with her. Why was she so fixated on one man who she obviously couldn’t have? Why couldn’t she just have some fun like any other young girl of her age? It wasn’t normal. She longed to be kissed and held, she longed to be loved, but only by Mark. She may have stared and thought about it for a moment but the unrequited pent-up love would have to be taken out via focus mitts and gloves, not on someone she didn’t love.
‘Suit yourself,’ he shouted as she turned away. ‘My loss though, babe.’
‘Just hurry up!’ she ordered, but allowed him a smile for the ego boost.
‘Wait,’ Jack called as she made to walk off. ‘Tell me what’s up?’
‘No. Can’t!’ she said flatly.
He grabbed her hand and made her look at him. His hand was slimy with paint. ‘You’re hiding something from me again,’ he said. ‘I don’t like it!’
Amy almost cried as she yanked her hand back. She stomped back across the road to the clover covered hill, back though the Garden of Need, up the steps into the home and slammed the door behind her then went straight to the kitchen for her vacuum.
She never thought she would appreciate cleaning but as she shoved the heavy vacuum back and forth over the carpets with much force. It was exactly what she needed. She set about cleaning the rest of the home in exactly the same angry way.
By the time she’d finished for the day, she felt flat and exhausted. She couldn’t understand why she’d agreed to this mission. Her higher self must know nothing about being human. She wondered how a supposed higher intelligence could come to such cold, unemotional agreements.
She knew, to her higher self, she would never be able to relate. The fact that she said she would train Tom and help him fight was bad enough, but there was no way she wanted to remember or resonate with someone who said she could be interfered with. She didn’t want to connect to her higher self. Or remember who she was. She knew her own mind here and now and she didn’t want that perspective changed.
The Guardian's Protector: The Chamber of Souls Page 22
