“Well, for starters, how the heck do I get this thing off of me?” Dorian asked, pointing to the mark of Hermoni. “Go to a quiet place, one where you won’t be disturbed. Take the message you have and follow the instructions. They will help you remove it. That is all I can say about that,” she replied. “What is all of this about? Really, what am I? What is going on here? Are we really not alone? Is this some kind of alien takeover of our planet or something?” “Like War of the Worlds?” Yuki chimed in. Mahin looked surprised at them. “You really have no idea what is going on? Have you not read the prophecies concerning the end times? It is not surprising there is so much darkness in this world when even the chosen are blind,” Mahin said with disdain in her voice. “Esme, you mentioned her name. How do you know it? What do you know of my mother?” “She told me that you were the son of Esme. I said it incorrectly before. I don’t think I am permitted to say anything else,” Mahin replied. There was a pain in his heart and the hair on his body stood up as a chill came over him. He had a lost feeling, as if he was in some sort of nightmare, the kind you have when you take an exam and have no idea what you’re being asked or how to answer any questions. “Mahin, please, I need some answers, what is going on?”
“There is a unseen war going on. Can you not tell by what is happening all over the world? Remember the message I gave you. I waited many years to give it to you. I must leave now. May God be with you.” She turned and gave Yuki a slight smile and made her way back to her van and got inside. Dorian looked over at Yuki, who looked back at him in silence. The van started up and drove away, leaving him with more questions than answers. The two made their way back to his car without saying anything. They sat for a moment in silence, then Dorian started the car. Yuki put her hand on Dorian's. “We will figure this out together,” she said with a worried smile. Dorian didn’t say much aside from the growls that came from his stomach. Yuki laughed, and he quickly put his hand over the cantankerous organ. “Well, that’s embarrassing. We should be at my house soon, barring any other surprises. I’m looking forward to dinner,” he said with a less somber look than he had earlier. They parked in the driveway, then brought the groceries inside the kitchen. After checking the house for aliens and unpacking the bags, he showed her the sparse utensils and cooking pots he had that were worth using. “You haven’t taken your coat off, are you cold?” Dorian asked. “You’re not? I see no reason to have a refrigerator running when you could just leave everything sitting out. I doubt anything would spoil.”
“Ok, ok, I’ll turn up the heat so we don’t slide on the ice forming on the ground,” he replied, laughing out loud. Yuki began chopping up the vegetables and after several moments the sounds of frying were coming from the kitchen, along with the delicious aroma of her cooking. “I’ll get a fire going. You need any help in there?” he asked, placing four logs in the fireplace. “I’m fine. What are you doing?” “I figured we could eat near the fireplace, so I’m just getting it set up for us.” As soon as he said that she began fantasizing instead of paying attention to the task at hand. “Is something burning?” he asked. “Ah, er, no, everything is fine,” she said as she doused the blackened onion and celery with water. She quickly chopped some more and started frying again, reminding herself to be more focused. “Do you like wine?” he asked. “That sounds wonderful,” she said, doing her best not to get distracted again. He had finished setting up the wine glasses and place settings by the time Yuki brought the plates into the living room. “I got this wine as a gift from an old professor I studied under when I won the Nobel. I never opened it, because I didn’t have anyone to share it with. Now’s the perfect time; I just hope it hasn’t gone bad,” he said, wiping dust from the bottle. He poured a pair of glasses and they set about their meal. “Cheers,” they said in unison while clanging their glasses together. “The food looks amazing, Yuki. Thank you, for everything. I’m not sure how I would be able to cope without you in all this,” he said. She smiled and glanced into his eyes, then looked away. They finished eating and sat on the couch together to discuss the day’s events.
Yuki looked over to the piano in the corner. Getting up, she walked over and sat down on the bench in front of the piano and started playing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’. “Do you know any good songs?” she asked. “I just learned this one recently, you might like it.” He sat down next to her and began to play Liszt's B minor Sonata, with exaggerated movements, hamming it up further with an occasional maniacal gesture that made her burst into laughter. Dorian’s piano playing skills were quite remarkable, the result of his extraordinary reflexes in addition to the superior training he had received from his mother. He played several more until it started getting late. “I am speechless, that was incredible. Why didn’t you become a professional pianist?” “Piano wasn’t my destiny. I had too many questions that needed answering and I sacrificed a lot to try and find those answers.” He got up from the bench and sat on the worn, tufted brown leather couch near the fireplace. Yuki joined him. “Um, that message you read to me, what are you going to do with it? Do you think it’s a good idea to do what the old woman said?” “At this point, I can’t make heads or tails of anything. The message Mahin gave was obviously coded with my musical upbringing in mind, so whoever came up with it knew of my adoptive mother and her background. 'Three notes make the chord; three instruments are required to play. The music is read with the aid of the stand. The mighty ones shall be your reward.' Nope, I haven’t got a clue,” he said. “Well, at least the mystery surrounding the white van was solved. I should have told Mahin she cost you a ticket from the police,” Dorian said with a laugh. “What do you think she meant when the old lady said we were in a war? She mentioned something about a prophecy. Also, that mark on the back of your head, she said it was Amaros or Hermoni, one of those. I will see if there is something on the internet about it,” she said. She walked over to her pile of luggage to search for her tablet. “Good idea, let me know if you find anything useful.” He gathered the dishes and brought them to the kitchen while she searched. “Wait a minute. I remember the name Hermoni when I was at home in Japan. That’s the name of the company that took over our company. Didn’t you say that they offered you a position there?” she asked. “Yeah, that’s the company, but I somehow doubt this is their way of getting back at me by turning them down. I can't imagine how they could be involved in all of this nonsense. Let’s see how deep the rabbit hole goes on this. Keep looking and let me know what you find.”
She began pouring over multiple pages, following numerous links to different websites: Biblical, mystical, alien, conspiracy, Free Masonry; the list didn’t seem to end. Some time later Dorian joined her on the couch. He quietly sipped from his wineglass and stared into the dying fire. After placing a fresh log on the fire he began to stoke it with a poker, releasing a concentrated aroma of hickory into the living room. “Well, what have you found out so far?” She was still searching, switching between multiple pages at a rapid pace. The silhouette from the backlight of her tablet met with the flickering of the fireplace on her face. “According to the legend, ‘Hermoni’ was one of twenty leaders of a group of two hundred fallen Angels or Grigori. That’s the word Mahin used wasn’t it?” she asked, looking over at him. “Yes, I believe she did use that word. Was there anything else?” “So from what I discovered on the religious side of things Hermoni left Heaven and came to Earth with his brothers after making a pact to have relations with human women. It says that he also taught men the 'resolving of enchantments', or how to 'raise spells'. I suppose this would mean magic of some sort, or perhaps science so advanced it would almost seem like magic. I also read that he had some teaching in the making of hallucinogenic and psychedelic drugs. It goes on to say that he was bound and imprisoned with the other leaders of the rebellion.
“Now, as for Hermoni the company, it was founded back in 1948 as an archeological excavation firm with permission granted by the Egyptian government to excavate around the historical si
tes. They also had underwater salvage companies under them that assisted with preserving and maintaining antiquities. It seems their transition into healthcare was accidental--they opened a tomb of an ancient physician and discovered medical journals that contained very precise methods for obtaining an extremely rare herb thought to be able to heal all ailments. The flower was said to have grown in a valley which they believed to be located in northeast Egypt. There is no explanation beyond that as to why they stayed in healthcare or if they ever discovered this rare flower, or why they have been investing in genetic research over the past twenty years. Also, there were some pages with rumors about who the financial backers of the company originally were; from the descendants of John Dee, to the Illuminati, or the Freemasons or the remnants of the Nazi Party. I’m not sure why so many people think the company is up to no good, given the fact that they mostly purchase other companies that make products to help with disease and illness.” “Since Dantanian is involved with them,” he replied, “I’m willing to bet they’re not entirely innocent. In fact, I think there’s definitely something to whet the appetites of the conspiracists out there. Knowing that they started out digging things up in Egypt, who knows what they found, or what they were looking for. Certainly there’s a plethora of wild theories and such when it comes to ancient Egypt. What can you find out about Dantanian? What’s his background?” “I did some research before I met with him in New York,” Yuki said. “There isn’t much to say. It seems he had a very private upbringing and where he currently lives is unknown to the press. Here is a section from an article written about him: 'His name first surfaced about twenty years ago when he single-handedly brought a major investment bank to its knees by purchasing billions worth of credit default swaps against banks heavily leverage in real estate. At that time the global economy contracted and the real estate bubble burst, allowing him to reap an enormous windfall. It has never been published how Dantanian obtained the financing for the swaps, nor who may have assisted him. From that point onward, he has remained in the public eye as a financial backer of multiple biotech, excavation and salvage firms.'” Dorian checked his watch again. “It’s getting late, we should get some sleep. Do you want the spare bedroom or the couch?” he asked.
Yuki set down her tablet, sprawled across the deep couch, and proceeded to wrap herself up with blankets like a tamale. “I suppose that answers that,” he said. He went to the closet and grabbed a spare set of pillows and threw them her way. “We need to be out of the house by six a.m., so set your alarm. The bathroom is down the hall to your left. I’ll be upstairs if you need me. Here’s one of my phones, it has a paging function. Press this here and we can talk,” he said, demonstrating its use. He handed her the phone she looked at him and smiled like she was home and happy. He held her gaze and smiled back at her. “Ok, get some sleep,” he ordered. “Yes sir,” she replied while mock saluting him. He leaned over and kissed her on her forehead and turned out the light, then made his way upstairs to his bedroom.
Eight
The following morning Dorian awoke to the sound of Yuki’s alarm on her tablet. Unsurprisingly, it was rabbit themed, complete with dancing and singing bunnies on the screen. They quickly dressed, grabbed their baggage and left to catch their flights. The security screeners at the airport had issues with the object embedded in his head. After he came up with a convincing story from something he'd read about implantable devices for Parkinson's disease they let him pass through without incident. It was going to be a long day traveling so Yuki decided to use the time to try and find out more about the characters involved and solve some of the mystery.
“Take a look at this,” she said, showing her computer to Dorian. It was a picture of the same image found on the object that was attached to his skull. “It’s the sigil for Hermoni, one of the fallen, no mistake.” “Who were these watchers?” he asked. “I told you before, they were these Angels who came here and did some pretty bad things. They had children with humans that supposedly became giants. There is also mention of these beings called the Nephilim, although it's not exactly clear who they were; some documents say they were the Watchers themselves, some state they were their progeny.” “Ok, so far we have a billionaire mystery man who wants my blood; a pair of angel/watcher/alien types who put something on the back of my head with a sigil of this Hermoni guy who is another of their kind, possibly imprisoned somewhere; an old Caribbean lady who pops up to give me this cryptic message saying something about me being important to her cause, whatever that is, and some vague Biblical references. Oh, and let’s not forget the bizarre email message I got from the mystery group with a bunch of hocus-pocus nonsense intermixed. What’s next? Obi Wan is going to materialize and tell me that I need to find Yoda?”
“Relax,” she said. “Remember Occam’s razor. Right now we can assume for the sake of argument that these beings are real. We know that Mahin lady wasn’t hostile and obviously had an important message she had been holding onto for a long time. We also have the unknown helper from Hawaii who destroyed the sample and prevented that Dantanian man from getting it. Clearly, your blood has some significance to this 'war' that Miss Mahin was speaking of. It may be somewhat safe to assume the ones who sent the email are not partners with Dantanian, but it could be a trick. I think we should concentrate on looking at what we can understand about your genetic makeup.”
“I’ve been going over the data and let me tell you it’s going to take some time. When we get to the cabin we’ll split up the work to try and sort it all out,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck where the object was embedded. They landed in Amsterdam and took their connecting flight to Bergen. It was almost midnight before they got their rental car. It took some time for Dorian to adjust to driving on the Norwegian roads, especially in the dark, but he managed to acclimate fairly quickly. “It’s been about ten years since I’ve come home and it’s still awesome. I miss the mountains, the water. Every time I come back I want to stay. Colorado was the closest thing I had to this, growing up, but there is no comparison; Norway is far more beautiful,” he said, taking a deep breath, as if he was trying to absorb the essence of the land and become one with it. Yuki was silent at this point and feigned attention, but in actuality she was starting to go in and out of sleep. He pulled off the side of the road to get out and admire the silhouette of the aurora borealis reflecting off the waters in the fjords down below. Looking back to the car he noticed Yuki fast asleep so he enjoyed the quiet moment by himself. No doubt his mother was up at this hour, waiting with bated breath for him to arrive so he didn't tarry too long. Her house wasn't far from the airport, located in the settlement of Starefossen, overlooking Bergen to the west, way up on the mountainside. Even though they spoke fairly regularly on the phone and several times through videoconferencing, he was very excited to see his mother for the first time in almost six years. Pulling up in the drive he felt ashamed for waiting so long to come home, especially considering he didn’t just come here to see his mother; his primary reason for visiting was to find a quiet place where he could conduct some research and hopefully not be noticed or bothered by Angels, demons, leprechauns and the like. A light was on in the living room and he could see his mother peering through the curtains to see if it was her son who was outside the house. Dorian gently shook Yuki awake and proceeded to pull out some of their luggage and bring it to the threshold. The front door opened and his mother stood at the threshold, beaming as she saw her son in the flesh. “Hvordan har du det, my darling?” she said in a quiet tone so as not to disturb the neighbors, “Mom, it’s so good to see you,” he said embracing her barely five-foot slender frame with a long hug. His mother was seventy four years old and looked to be about sixty, with long, golden and silvery hair pulled up on top of her head and wearing a thick, navy-blue sweater and grey stretch pants.
Yuki extended her hand. “Hello, Mrs. Lystad, I’m Yuki.”
“What’s this hand stuff? Come here,” his mother replied, extending both her arms
and embracing Yuki. Yuki smiled and patted his mother on the back, looking slightly uncomfortable. “Call me Iduna, my students call me Mrs. Lystad,” his mother said. The aroma of freshly baked pastries hit them through the vestibule, along with the scent of air freshener.
“Come in, come in. How was your flight? Are you hungry? I have plenty to eat, here,” she said as she quickly made her way back to the kitchen counter, producing a plate of cakes. “Have a hjortbakkel. Would you like?” she asked, gesturing over to Yuki.
“We’re fine, mamma. We need to get some sleep; it’s been a long day. Do you have the guest room prepared? What am I thinking, of course you have everything ready,” he said, knowing his mother. He put his arm around her and she wrapped hers around his waist. “I’ve missed you so much. I’m so happy to have you home,” she said as tears fell from her eyes. “Mom, shhhh, don’t cry,” he said, hugging and rubbing her back. Dorian looked over to Yuki with a ‘Sorry about that’ look on his face. Yuki looked like she was going to burst into tears herself. “Ok, let’s cheer up,” he said, then kissed his mother on the forehead. “I’m going to get the rest of the bags. Mom, can you show Yuki to the guest bedroom?” Iduna finished wiping her tears and grabbed one of Yuki’s bags. “Right this way, my dear,” his mother said, gesturing to the hallway on the left. Dorian returned with two more bags and closed the door behind him. There was slight murmur coming from the hallway followed by the sound of the guest room door closing. Iduna came through the hallway with a happy look on her face. “She’s beautiful, and very polite. Oh, you look tired. Here, I have your room ready; we can talk in the morning. There is an extra blanket on the bed and fresh towels in the closet where we always keep them,” she said quietly. He took a suitcase with him and made his way to his old room that he used when he visited. The familiar smell, along with the sight of some of his belongings that his mother refused to give away, brought back memories. Right now he was too tired to reminisce about the past. “Good night, I’ll see you in the morning, love you,” he said, slowly closing the door. “Good night, my dear,” she replied in a chirpy tone. That night he had a terrible nightmare about alien-looking beings who were contorted and vicious, furiously pounding on some type of barrier. They were in a cavernous dwelling, screaming demands to be released. One of them looked at Dorian and pointed. “You, you’re the one who did this! We are going to tear you to pieces!” He awoke in a sweat, just as the monsters were upon him. A murmured conversation was taking place in the background coming from the kitchen. The sounds and smells of cooking permeated the air. His head was in a fog, as if he’d been drugged. The object on his neck felt very painful to the touch and was ice cold. He rubbed his face and looked around the bedroom. The few hours of daylight Norway received during winter peeked through the curtains, inviting him to take in the view. Obliging the window’s request, he opened the curtains enough to see the sun shining off of the white snow that garnished the rooftops. The view of the city below was as spectacular as he remembered it. After taking in the scenery for a bit he formulated a plan for the day, deciding it would be rude for him to just take off for the cabin without spending some time with his mother. The weekend would be hers and on Monday he and Yuki would depart. After putting on some clothes, he made his way into the kitchen where Yuki and his mother were enjoying a cup of tea along with their breakfast.
The Return of the Watchers (Armageddon Rising Book 1) Page 9
