I reach for her hand. Before I touch it, Xander catches it in his. “I don’t know if that is a good idea.”
I don’t look at him. I keep my eyes on Corinna’s jerking hand. “Sam is trying to tell us something through Corinna. I have to.”
Xander warns, “Jesca, don’t!”
Before he can grab hold of my other hand, I take hold of hers and close my eyes.
Chapter 13
Sam
I stand unmovable, watching them. The kid, Nate, was choking and Ezra was talking to him trying to calm him. They kept looking off away from each other and talking. Were they communicating with someone else? Could it be Anna? Or maybe they are able to reach back home.
I do a brief inventory in my head, like I am searching a house for a trespasser; he has been silent within me for the past few minutes. It feels like he has left my mind, but I am not one hundred percent sure. This may be the only chance to do something. My only option is to try and reach Corinna. I had to tell her to warn Jesca. I wasn’t strong enough to keep him from getting into my head for Anna’s sake. I can try and do right by her daughter and her legacy. I have to tell her what has happened while I still am able. Please let her hear me.
Corinna, please hear me.
* * *
I came to consciousness feeling the pound of my head; it must have taken a big blow. My eyes fluttered open landing directly on the sunlight through the tree above me. I closed my eyes and tried to shield my eyes with my arm, but I couldn’t lift it. It was weighted down by something heavy. I turn to see what was preventing my movement. Perched like a vulture over its prey is a man I have never seen before squatting next to me with his hands pressing against my arm. I try and pull it free, but my arm does not budge under his strength.
The man says, “Hello, Sam,” in a voice that he should not possess.
I must have been in shock because I can’t speak. I had just heard Michael Sanderson’s voice come from a man I had never seen before today.
The man suddenly chuckled, the sound absorbed by the surroundings. “You look like you have seen a ghost, Sam.”
I can’t wrap my head around the voice that just came from this stranger’s mouth. I am stunned; it is Michael’s voice. The man saw the loss of his joke on me and his wide toothed smile fell into a grimace.
My voice sounded like sandpaper when I spoke, “Why are you in that body?”
Michael crossed his arms over his chest. “The form I have taken is for your sake actually. You have entered a realm in a universe where physical attributes of a being are not needed like they are on earth.”
I studied him for a moment too long and his face shifted rapidly into an unnatural angle then transformed into the image of Michael. I whispered, “What the hell?”
Michael lowered his head, and then looked up at me through hooded eyes. “Yes, this place has been called that among other names. Let’s just stick with the black hole within the Andromeda galaxy for now. They were once us you know. Then they became tainted, lost souls. This is where they go, Sam. So, they are not so alien after all, just a different form of us.”
I’m sure I appeared shocked, so Michael continued to explain. “When the abductees were transplanted with the Sondian Copulas started showing signs of distress from an external force and we located it to Andromeda, the pieces started coming together nicely. The Copula was the conduit drawing them to us. When I asked you to assist with the traversing, you with your God complex…”
I cut him off, “My reasons for wanting to assist you are not what you think. I had my own motivation.”
Michael replies, “Actually, I know your reasons very well, Sam.”
I didn’t understand.
He continued, “It was so easy to get into your head, Sam. Just a little bit at a time, influencing, probing, encouraging your rage.”
My stomach began to churn and I felt vomitous. No!
His chuckle was low and heavy, “I was in your head when you fell in love with Anna. I was in your head when you saw her with Ezra. I was there when you planned to confront her. I was there when your hatred for Kahn was building, growing stronger and stronger. I was in your head the night before you planned to take her. I was in your head when you ended her life. I was there when you fled. And, I have been there every time you have thought of ways to get to her, to make things right. And, that is why you are here, Sam. I made you believe this place was where you could find her. It is the right universe. Just the wrong world, Sam, the wrong realm.”
He continued, “You want to ask her for forgiveness for taking her from her husband and her daughter. Forgiveness for coveting her, because she would never be yours. She always belonged to another, to Kahn. And nothing you could have done would have changed that.”
No matter how badly I wanted to deny it, he was right. He spoke all of the thoughts and emotions that I lived with and experienced. He was in there and I didn’t even realize it. Was he there when I caused the accident that claimed Xander’s parents lives? Did he have control over me then? Did he put the evil tendencies in my head? If I would have known, would I have stopped before I killed her? Or, was it always in my hands to control and I just chose not to because of my hatred?”
Michael put his hands in his pockets. “It was always up to you. Free will. I wanted to see if you would do it on your own accord. And, you did. You killed her just as if it were my hands wielding the knife. With my taking control of your mind, you set up the accident that killed Xander’s parents with such precision, like you were created to do such things.”
I closed my eyes and pushed down the bile coming up into my throat. Michael continued, “I knew there was a chance of you not following orders.” He taps his head. “Remember, I had been in there for years. I thought you might break under the pressure of being a cold, blooded murderer and a serial abductor for our fellowship. You have done some terrible things in your life time, Samson Crest.”
He laughed softly then folded his hands back over his chest. “That is why I went to Japan. I made the excuse of taking care of Corinna while you traversed, so I could check up on you and make sure you followed through.”
I ground my teeth and shot back at him, “And, now you are here.”
Michael smiled, “Yes, body and soul, just as you. That little bitch, Jesca, tried to kill me and save Miriam and her child. She should have come back to finish me off.” He put his hand over his abdomen. “Her strike was true, but I was able to astral project to the vortex while you, Nate, Ezra, Xander, and Jesca were struggling. I slipped right in, undetected.” He opened his palms to the sky. “And, here I am.” He looked down at himself. “The souls here, they like our kind, Sam, villainous and wicked. When I arrived, they helped heal me and made me as good as new.”
“What did you have to offer in exchange?”
Michael moved closer to me. “This vessel. My body when I return to Earth. They will need it to adapt to our world.”
I was speechless as Michael continues to talk.
“Taking over a body, devouring it, possessing it, using it for a purpose, then eliminating it. It has been done for centuries, hidden, camouflaged among mainstream society as multiple mental disorders and even demonic possession.”
I snickered sarcastically, “So, you have been devoured, taken, one of their pawns now. How does it feel to be a pawn, Michael?”
Unexpectedly, my legs give out from under me and I fall to my knees. I tried to stand on my own and run, but I couldn’t move a single muscle.
Michael walked around to stand before me, and then squatted down by my side. “You misunderstand, Sam.” He tsked, “So naïve. That is what got you into this.” He leaned closer to me and yells, “They do not own me. I am one of them now! But I still own you!” He sat back on his heels and composed himself. “You are still my pawn. You had two tag-alongs, Ezra Kahn and Nathaniel Sera.” A sinister smirk formed on his face and his eyes shifted for a split second to a deep, dark, murky black. I blinked and they went back
to normal.
Without fully knowing, I could sense he wanted me to go after them, hunt them. “I won’t kill them. That…that…wo...won’t…” I couldn’t feel my mouth. The numbness began to crawl over my body from head to toe. My vision changed from a wide view of everything around me to tunnel vision. I still had my wits about me though; I hadn’t lost that yet. I heard Michael’s voice say, “Look at me,” but his mouth did not move. Oh hell, he is in my head again! No!
Feeling like a puppet on a string, my head lulled backward. I looked directly at Michael now. Before my eyes, his body slowly disintegrated like sand in the wind. There were no physical remains of him. I heard Michael’s voice within me now; in my head. “No, that wasn’t the plan. The plan was for you to take Kahn’s girl, end that strong-willed, bull-headed little guardian. You didn’t do that, did you?” He paused for a moment, and then continued. “You were the bait, but you failed. Now, those two are the bait. They have been in contact with her and she is coming here. Unfortunate for her, she won’t be able to protect them here, nor there after I’m done with her.”
Here nor there? He was pulling her away from Sebastian, Balthazar, and the other Onoch heirs. I realized then that he was planning an ambush on all of them, here and there on earth.
Michael says, “Just as I led you to end Anna Gershon, an heir to the Onoch legacy, I will lead you to end Jesca Gershon Kahn and everyone in her wake.”
* * *
As quickly as I plunged into Corinna’s mind, I am yanked out by Michael’s presence in mine. My body begins to move on its own accord. I look at the backs of Ezra and Nate about fifty yards in front of me. They are moving at a steady pace when they abruptly come to a halt. My body reacts on its own, crouching low to the ground. Michael, he is controlling me. Ezra begins to talk, but I can’t make out his words from this distance. He looks back at Nate with shock in his eyes; he has seen something. His movement leaves room for me to see what has brought them to a halt. A child, a little girl.
Chapter 14
Jesca
When I let go of Corinna’s hand, I stumble backward into the side table, knocking over the lamp and breaking the connection between her and I. I ignore the lamp crashing to the ground and grab hold of the table. The vertigo is so intense, I pinch my eyes closed. Closing my eyes actually make it worse and my legs begin to give way beneath me. I feel Xander holding me up now. Did he see everything like he did before when I brought Corinna back?
Xander is breathing hard. “Jesca! Hey, can you hear me? Look at me!”
I grab hold of his forearms to steady myself. The spinning subsides quickly and I open my eyes. I see Corinna behind Xander sitting on the bed, her breathing is labored, her eyes are dilated and filled with fear.
Xander gently tugs at my face to focus on him. “I saw…everything. We need to go now!”
He turns away from me and pulls Corinna from the bed, one arm around her waist. He looks at me. “I need you to take hold of her. We need to find Sebastian and the others. If Michael is attempting an ambush, we need to warn the others and come up with some kind of plan.”
Xander saw everything, which means he saw how Michael Sanderson has been using and manipulating Sam. I rush to the other side of Corinna and wrap my arm around her waist. Her head lulls onto my shoulder.
She whispers listlessly, “Jes. Please try and save him.”
I don’t answer her, but rather look to Xander to see if he heard her request. He did. He is shaking his head, struggling with the new truth about Sam being controlled for years by Michael Sanderson. “He was being used all this time, Xander. It wasn’t him.”
Xander looks down, tugs on Corinna, and growls angrily, “Not now, Jes!” Xander jerks the door open and we sprint down the hall with Corinna in tow. Her weight is nothing as we move rapidly, focused on finding Sebastian and the others. I get an image of a laboratory, all of them are working alongside each other, hovering over a work table as Caleb types into the nearby computer. I stop mid stride, “They are in a workroom of some kind. Computer, work table.”
Xander repositions Corinna under his arm to get a better grip and says, “It has to be the lab. This way!”
The lab had to have been on the other side of the facility with the number of hallways, twist, and turns we took. Without warning, Xander pulls Corinna and I to the left and we burst into the lab. Sebastian and Daniel are upon us immediately helping pull Corinna out of our arms. Sebastian yells, “Balthazar, go get Monica and the team!”
He looks at Xander and I. “What happened?”
Xander and I take turns relaying the events from the moment he found Corinna to the moment we entered the lab. I expect them to have a million questions, but they don’t. Sebastian, Caleb, and Daniel are silent.
I begin to tell them about my premonition, the mounds, when I hear familiar voices approaching; it is the team with Balthazar. Sebastian, Caleb, and Daniel leave Xander and I standing there and head back over to the work table. Caleb sits and pulls an object the size of a phone off of a cord attached to the computer; it must one of the devices. He speaks to Sebastian who is leaning over him looking at the screen. “I just need to configure the other devices with this code and then we will be ready.”
I chime in, “Ready. That means ready to go?”
Caleb looks up at me and nods. “Yes.”
Just then I hear Isabel crying. I turn to see her kneeling in front of the chair Corinna is sitting in, arms wrapped around her sister’s frail body.
Elisha comes up behind me and pulls me into her. Her body is shaking and she is crying so hard, she is heaving.
Nick has his hands on her shoulders, trying to console her. I have never seen Nick look so serious. He has always found a way to bring humor to a situation. His intensity at this very moment is stifling and he is visibly effected; dark rimmed and bloodshot eyes, trembling lips. He is trying to hold it together.
I draw him into Elisha’s and my embrace. “Hey, It’s gonna be alright.” I don’t see his face, but I can hear the deep panting; he is trying not to break. My voice gives a little and quivers hearing him fight against falling apart. “You just keep everyone straight here, alright!” My voice weakens at the very end and I hold him tighter to Elisha and I.
I feel Xander’s hand rest on my back. “Jes, they are ready for us.”
I pull back slowly from them. Elisha immediately turns into Nick’s chest, searching for comfort. She chokes out, “I love you, Jes.”
I run my hand down the back of her head, lean in, kiss it and whisper, “I love you. I will be back soon.”
Looking at them, faces of worry and fear, I can’t hold back my own emotions and the tears fall. Hurriedly I turn away from them and walk over to Caleb, already attaching something to Sebastian. Balthazar and Daniel approach Xander and I, each with a device in their own hands. Balthazar begins fastening a device to Xander first. Xander asks, “How does it work?”
Balthazar holds up the device for Xander and I to see. The screen illuminates blue. I see a whole bunch of algorithms scrolling along the top and the bottom. Balthazar points to the top of the screen. “This is the calibration for the location of the black hole in the Andromeda galaxy.”
Then he points at the bottom of the screen. “This is the calibration for the location of Earth, within our own galaxy; your final destination.”
Curious about the wavy lines in the middle I ask, “And the wavy line there?”
Daniel tugs on the device fastened to my belt loop to make sure it is secure. “The wavy lines show that the device is pairing with your Copula.”
Xander asks, “How does it connect with the device?”
Caleb and Sebastian walk over to us. Caleb hands Xander and I each a set of cables attached to what looks like peel and stick electrodes.
Caleb, “These will attach to your skin on either side of the nape of your neck.”
Balthazar points to a small button on the top of the device. “When you press this button, the device wi
ll send a brief electric current directly to your Copula. The current will then pair with the Copula and create enough energy and force to open the wormhole here at location A and traverse you to location B.”
I look down at Daniel. He is still securing my device, but very quiet. Too quiet for my liking. Balthazar rises after securing Xander’s and speaks with determination to everyone in the room. “We need to evacuate and split up.”
Sebastian nods as he peels the backing of his electrodes off. He shows the backing to Xander and I, then shows us where to place it on his neck while he talks to Daniel. “You need to split up the team. Have them take different routes. Head back to the place we discussed. “He looks at Caleb. “Take Eve, Emelia, and Marcus. Baltazar, take the rest of the team. You know where to meet.”
Eve rushes to Caleb holding Emelia and Marcus in her arms. Balthazar pulls Marcus into his arms and holds him close, pinching his eyes closed. Tenderly he places a kiss on Marcus’s forehead, and then hands him to Siobhan carefully. It is rare occasion to see tears in Siobhan’s eyes, today is one of those occasions.
Eve is crying softly as Caleb holds her and Emelie close, stroking her hair and hushing her. Caleb looks up at Sebastian. “See you at home.”
Home? Where are they…? I feel my chest tighten and I look down at Daniel. I want to confirm where my heart knows they are going, but I don’t for fear that those not meant to hear our thoughts will discover it.
Daniel rises and looks down at me. I say in a low voice, “Home?”
Daniel doesn’t nod in agreement or shake his head in denial. He simply says, “Home.”
I close my eyes and the image of the Etowah mounds appear. I open my eyes and look at him. “I had a vision, Daniel.”
He puts his hands on my shoulders and squeezes gently. “I know.”
Ascending the Veil Page 12
