by Gruder, Liz
As Jordyn shook his fist at the sky, Kaila grew frightened.
“I understand you have doubts, Kaila,” Jordyn said. “I’m going to do something radical to prove my love to you. Do you trust me?”
Kaila felt his love pouring from his heart, the same as when she had poured her heart light out to protect Melissa and Pia. She nodded.
Jordyn took her hand, raised it, and pressed it to his lips. “Thank you. I see now. Forgive me. Trust is essential. Without it, there will always be war.”
Then he was gone.
Kaila wanted to sit in the rocker all day, awash in bliss. She could erect a mind-screen on her family so she might luxuriate in this bliss all day. She sat up straight with the realization that to put a mind-screen on them had been as selfish a manipulation as the hive projecting mind-screens for their ulterior motives. She shuddered, remembering what it felt like to be controlled.
Kaila rose, and as she donned the plastic head wrap and wig in her bathroom, preparing to teleport herself below with her book bag on her back so it appeared she was returning home from school, she realized that the biggest problem in the universe was the issue of control.
Anytime one sought control, they sought power. Power insisted on subjugation. Subjugation caused rebellion. And rebellion spawned war.
Kaila would have to tell her mother and Nan everything soon, for her and Jordyn’s rebellion could spark war. She would never capitulate. Never. She would revolt. And further, it was tantamount that all beings in the universe realize freedom too. She paused, lost in that thought. What if every being in the universe was free?
Kaila rocked in her chair on the balcony. It was dark and still, the air cool. The pond dimly reflected the low light of the moon.
Her phone lit, mechanically intoning: “You-have-another-sucky-text-message.”
Pia. “Can me & M come over?”
Jordyn said he would come over. But with him time was irrelevant. Did he mean tonight, tomorrow, or next month?
Yet, her friends needed her.
She texted: “Will leave door unlocked.” She imagined them riding their bicycles on the dark country road to get to her house.
With the rocker gently creaking, she inhaled the scent of dead leaves and pine. The wind had picked up. Free of the confining plastic, the wind, like cool unseen fingers, riffled through her hair. She rose to go downstairs to unlock the door and put on some lights.
She opened the kitchen door. The horses whinnied in the barn. Walking outside, she gazed up at the twinkling stars. Kaila was humbled, knowing she was but one soul, but also aware that ultimately, all souls were connected.
She resolved not to be afraid and to fight with her will, her spirit, whatever breath she possessed for the man she loved. Because consequences were coming.
The horses brayed in the barn. The wind sighed through the trees. Darkness surrounded.
You have free will, Priscilla had said. Dark and light were always around. And the dark and light were inside her too. But she had a choice, every day, every hour, every moment.
She waited for Jordyn.
She realized, she did not have to wait. She did not need him to rescue her. As a starseed, she possessed equal power. And she had equal stake in this.
She looked deep into the night sky. Come to me, she summoned. Now.
Chapter 15
Jordyn stood in front of her in the field. He was flanked by Antonia and Toby.
Jordyn hugged Kaila. “I missed you, love,” he said kissing her.
Kaila peered over his shoulder at Antonia and Toby. “What are you two doing here?”
Then, strangely, Antonia and Toby put their arms around her.
“We like to feel too,” they said.
“Stop,” Kaila said extricating herself from the three pairs of arms.
“We mean it,” Toby said, his moon face grinning. “No, not we. Me. I. I want to live. I want to love. I want to feel. I want to eat. To taste. To ride.”
Kaila backed away from the bald and ecstatic starseed.
“No fear!” cried Toby. “I know you can feel me, Kaila. Yes, feel!” The corners of his lips turned up in a twisted smile. Kaila’s heart turned over, knowing how he was trying to liberate expression.
“I realized we were a lie. I saw your Paw Paw,” Toby said.
“What!”
“Kaila,” Jordyn said. “We saw it. We were monitoring you. Please understand. We never knew, never understood.” He gripped her shoulders. “There is no harm here. You must trust that.”
“We tread strange territory,” Antonia said, glancing over her shoulder.
Toby said, “We watched you, Kaila. I visited your horse, Perseus, who loves you. I thought, what an incredible animal and what a relationship you have with her. Then I watched your grandmother cry for your grandfather. And we marveled. The depth of the human heart, no matter if it hurts. I liked it! I saw Nan’s whole life with your Paw Paw, how much her inside was warm and glowing. How she came alive when she was near him.”
Toby thrust his arms in the pockets of his silver overalls. He turned his wide face up toward the moon. “And I want that. Why are we supposed to be these empty, rote creatures? Why give us a heart if we must deny?”
“Help us,” Antonia said, tugging Kaila’s sleeve.
“Please,” Toby implored, his eyes moist. “Help us.”
“We don’t want to live on the ships anymore,” Antonia said. “We want this.” She gestured toward the field, the house, the woods, the pond.
“I don’t know what to do,” Kaila said. “Who am I? Mother Theresa?’
“Who’s that?” Toby asked.
“Some random saint,” Kaila replied. “I’m not a saint. I’m,” she paused. What was she? A freaking hybrid starseed.
“Help us.” Toby gripped Kaila’s wrist. “We don’t want the old life anymore. We want to stay on Earth and live like you.”
Their heads turned as they spied lights up the driveway. Melissa and Pia on their bikes.
“It’s her,” Toby said reverently, looking at the light.
Antonia turned toward the light, with hope.
Toby ran to Melissa. Kaila ran after him. Melissa screamed when she saw them.
Melissa and Pia dropped their bikes.
“It’s okay,” Kaila called. Melissa and Pia backed up, holding up their palms.
“I like you, Melissa,” Toby said.
“Sure you do,” Melissa said, looking like she’d seen Vladamir the Impaler.
“You setting us up?” Pia called to Kaila.
“No,” Kaila said.
Jordyn approached Melissa and Pia. “We’re here to help you. And we will prove it to you.” He motioned to Antonia and Toby.
“They’re going to remove your implants. Now. And then you can’t be tracked. Ever. You’ll be safe. Free forever.” He paused, allowing this to sink in. “Do you want this?”
Melissa and Pia looked at Kaila. She nodded.
Toby approached Melissa while Antonia went to Pia.
“Don’t be afraid,” they said simultaneously. “We will help you. We vow to take away harm.”
Their eyes turned solid black. Melissa and Pia backed up in fright.
“Don’t be afraid! Don’t be afraid,” Toby urged.
Toby and Antonia concentrated their energy on Melissa and Pia. Energy buzzed about them as they extended their fingers to the girls’ faces. They drew something out from a nostril.
Antonia took Pia’s flashlight. Shone it on her palm. A miniscule chip was visible. It curled like a living worm and evaporated.
“How do you feel?” Antonia asked Pia.
Pia sniffed, considering. “Good … lighter.”
“Me too,” Melissa said. “Like a terrible spell has been lifted.”
“It has,” Toby confirmed. “You can’t be found, programmed or controlled now. You’re free.”
“Why are you doing this?” Pia asked.
“To show you,”
Antonia said, “that we are sorry for what has been done. And that we will do anything to protect and make up for the harm done to you.”
“But,” Kaila said. “Won’t they know that the implants are gone? Won’t they come after you now?”
“It is done,” Antonia said. “We can never go back.”
“Never,” Toby said. He toed the earth. “I like you, Melissa. Always have, since I first saw you. We’ve made a choice. And I choose you. I hope that proves to you, proves …” Toby coughed, clearly unused to this sort of expression.
Melissa gazed at him through her long side-swept bangs.
“Can I hold you?” Toby asked. Melissa opened her arms. They embraced under the night sky.
“I feel the best I’ve felt in years,” Pia said. “Thank you.” She gave Antonia a hug, resting her head on her shoulder.
“You feel warm,” Antonia murmured in wonder.
“I told you,” Jordyn said to Kaila. “That I would prove my love. Now your friends are free.”
“And we are free,” Toby said, holding Melissa. “I love the feel of your energy.”
“Can you do the same for everyone?” Kaila asked.
“That is part of our plan,” Jordyn said. “We are going to remove the implants from every human we can. Free them from their programming. Let them wake up and know freedom. As we are doing now. All beings in the universe should be allowed to live free.”
A buzzing, invading sound filled their ears. The hybrids jerked their heads, listening.
Viktor, Echidna, and Lucius appeared with Mrs. Bourg.
Melissa and Pia jumped.
Mrs. Bourg had pink rollers in her hair and white cold cream on her face. “Do I believe my ears,” Mrs. Bourg said, “that you are defecting? To this?” She waved her plump hand. Jordyn, Antonia, and Toby said nothing.
“This is unacceptable!” Mrs. Bourg cried. “You are foolish and young. This will not be permitted.”
“It’s done,” Jordyn said raising his fist. “We are free.”
“Heresy,” Viktor said. “You must be destroyed.”
“Traitors,” Echidna accused.
“Go back to the ship,” Jordyn said. “We’ve made a choice.”
“You have no choice,” Viktor said. His reptilian eyes rolled back. His body began to vibrate, his red hair shimmering like fire. “I summon the Master,” he intoned. “I summon the Creator.”
“No,” cried Mrs. Bourg. “Don’t do that!”
Too late.
The crescent moon rolled and turned, lowering in the sky. The stars flew through the skies, streaming in fast forward as a thousand shooting stars.
Fog shrouded the ground. It crept over their feet, rose up their thighs, belly, over their heads. Now they stood enveloped, blinded in the menacing gray fog. Inside that mist, the minions of darkness crept on their tails.
The earth rumbled. A million cries of anguish and pain emanated up from the earth below. The trembling earth teetered them off balance.
Then seeking, red eyes glittered in the fog. Its power was immense, immeasurable, originating in the negative polarity, the darkest reaches of those black holes of the universe. Though largely unseen, it could be felt inside the back of the mind, the bottom of the heart, the pit of the stomach. This was the place of nightmares. This was the creator of doubt, the pit of despair. The master of alienation and isolation. This was the controller, the ruler, the dark lord.
I see you, I see all of you, it said.
You have no power. You are mine. And mine alone.
The red eyes glowed in the mist. The air grew warm, heavy in humidity. The earth quaked below.
I will take you, destroy you if you do not submit.
The red eyes burned in the fog. They brightened like embers, then in one split second, invaded and entered each mind. It claimed each mind and imparted violent visions. They were stripped. They were whipped, the lash lacerating flesh. They were tied to stakes. The stakes were set ablaze. Fire blazed through them, heating and burning till their vision was but a bloody red scream. Their flesh and hair blazed and they screamed and screamed, feeling the fire burning down to their very souls.
Kaila felt Jordyn’s arms around her. Felt him quaking.
“It’s her fault,” Viktor growled, pointing at Mrs. Bourg. “She was responsible for us. As a mother she has failed.”
“No!” Mrs. Bourg shrieked. “That’s not true!”
A low, beast-like sound. Mrs. Bourg staggered as the ground below her split open. A deep red-hot canyon appeared. The screams of thousands echoed up out of the hole in the ground.
Mrs. Bourg screamed as she hurled down the canyon. Her cries echoed as she tumbled down unfathomable depths. The ground closed to dirt; her screams were heard no more.
Yet darkness and fog clung to them. Next to her ear, Kaila heard a deep growl. She shuddered, burying her face on Jordyn’s chest. Kaila felt the eyes probing every atom of her mind. She felt faint and insane. She swallowed.
She could not be afraid. They fed on fear.
Help us, she called in her mind. All divine, all great, all good. I call to You. Help us!
The mist shrouded everything. Kaila could no longer see, immersed in total darkness. She felt Jordyn’s arms, his heart hammering in his chest next to hers. She must not be afraid. She must summon her own power.
Kaila concentrated on her heart. Though she heard the growl in her ear, felt the red eyes’ invasion in every mind neuron, she thought: I call out to goodness, I call to all high. I summon my light.
The growl deepened. She felt hot breath on her ear. Kaila squeezed her eyes shut. Focused on her heart space. Summoned light to surround and protect.
I call out to goodness, I call to all high. I summon my light.
The growl at her ear roared. It bit her ear. Sharp, painful razor fangs.
Kaila yelped. Yet she would not be deterred. You have no power over me, she shouted telepathically. You must go.
Kaila turned her attention back to her heart energy.
I call out to goodness, I call to all high. I summon my light.
A glow about Kaila became visible. She projected her light cocoon outward, intending to surround her friends. Her aura brightened. With utmost concentration, she envisioned her core, this Source light projecting and protecting. She was surrounded by a golden illumination. It spread outward and encompassed her friends. The group stood as a burning torch, a beacon in the darkness.
The fog thinned in the brightness of Kaila’s candescence. The night sky became visible. The sliver moon expanded to round, white and glowing. Then another moon appeared and another. The skies opened up with saucers of light. One after another appeared, until the skies were filled with the luminosity of infinite moons.
Kaila looked up in awe. It was as if a magnanimous spotlight illuminated from her light on earth where they stood straight up to the skies, revealing the million ships. So many glowing, brilliant ships, the field grew bright as day.
With the light, the fog evaporated. The night air cleared.
Viktor tore Jordyn and Kaila apart. “Do you understand,” he said to Kaila in a low tone, “that we are now at war?”
Kaila glanced at his reptilian eyes, but then lifted her eyes to the countless lighted ships.
Viktor yanked Kaila’s arm. “Look at me!”
Kaila refused to look at Viktor. She kept her gaze up to the brilliant ships.
Viktor thrust his face one inch from hers. “Remember this: it is illusion.” He nodded to the lightships. “Everything is illusion, you fool.”
He shook his fist to the sky. “So let it be war!”
Viktor turned to Echidna and Lucius. “Are you hungry?”
“Always,” Echidna replied.
“Let’s go then and feast on the glands of mother Bourg.”
Viktor, Echidna, and Lucius peered at the ground with black eyes. The cavern opened. From the cavern emanated the sound of groans, whips snapping and clubs hitting fles
h and bone, and screams.
“Ahhh,” Viktor, Echidna and Lucius hissed as they flew down the hole. The canyon sealed up to dirt and tread grasses.
Melissa trembled, speechless in terror. Toby pressed his small lips to her ear. “We will protect you, dear one. No fear.”
From the white ships, thousands of beams of light flowed down from the skies. Those on the ground were mesmerized with the brilliant lights streaming to Earth.
From one of the lights, Priscilla Snowden assumed form as she touched ground. She wore a light blue sparkling jumpsuit that made her eyes glow like sapphires.
“We heard you,” she said to Kaila. “We will help you.”
More and more light poured down from the sky.
“We’ve been up there, waiting and watching,” Priscilla said.
Antonia, Toby, and Jordyn surrounded Priscilla.
“There are other dimensions higher than ours?” Jordyn asked.
“Several,” Priscilla said. “They hid that from you.”
“We understand,” Toby said, gazing up at the lightships.
“What can we do? How can we be freed?” Antonia asked.
“You started tonight by helping others—Melissa and Pia,” Priscilla said. “Look.” She pointed. Three illuminations, like spotlights, flowed from the ships beaming to the ground.
Three men in white robes stood before them. They had long light hair and beards with serene eyes.
They said to Kaila, “You have called on us. We will help you.”
“Who are you?” Kaila asked, humbled in their glowing light.
“We’re here to guide,” said one.
“We are you, your spirit reborn,” said another.
“I don’t understand.”
“Look.”
Another light streamed down from above.
From the light, a white-robed man appeared. He had a white beard and white hair beneath the hood of his robe. A comforting light emanated about him.
“Do you know me?” he asked smiling, as he approached Kaila.
Kaila felt drawn to him, as if she’d known him her whole life.
“If I called you ‘Goosy’ and told you you’re the apple of my eye, would you know me?”
Kaila flew to him. Hugged him. “I’ve missed you so,” she sobbed.
