by Ching, G. P.
"This must be difficult for you to accept," Gideon said.
"Hell yeah. I can't get my parent's permission to go to prom. How the hell am I going to go to Peru?"
Gideon placed the red stone into her palm. "I think the Healer thought of that and sent you the means to reach her from where you are."
Malini ran her fingers over the smooth stone in her hand.
"You have three days. Dr. Silva has built an illusion that will conceal any odd behavior as long as you are in this hospital. But you are scheduled to be released Friday morning. When that happens, you must be fully in your mind. Do you understand what I am saying to you?"
"Not really."
"You will." Gideon backed toward the window, into the light that streamed through the blinds. "I'm going to go now, Malini. Don't waste any more time. Use the stone. Find out who you are. We'll be here when you return."
"But—"
The light pierced through Gideon's flesh like a hundred laser beams, spreading and expanding until he dissolved completely. She was left alone in the room, the red stone pressing a cold circle into her palm.
Chapter 15
Horsemen
Jacob woke in a hospital bed with one single thought: he had to save Malini.
"Malini," he rasped. His sandpaper tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.
"She's not here. But don't worry. She's safe. She's with Gideon in the next room."
Jacob turned his head toward the voice and saw Mara leaning against the wall next to the window. She was watching the bag that hung on the pole next to his bed with a sort of disturbed curiosity. Jacob made the mistake of following her line of sight to a half full bag of blood that dripped into his IV. He leaned back into his pillow, feeling a little queasy.
"It's the second one. You lost a lot I guess. Dr. Silva says you're going to feel sapped for the next couple of days. Our power comes from our blood and yours is…um…diluted."
"Where is Dr. Silva?"
"She's with Lillian."
The memory of his mom tied up and unconscious on the steel table swept through him. "Is she okay?" he asked.
"Yes, but she was drugged. Dr. Silva worked up a potion she's been slipping her to counteract the Watcher's poison. They're saying she needs to stay until her blood is completely clean. Dr. Silva says maybe a week."
"And the Watcher? Did you catch the Watcher that came out of Katrina? My God is she even still alive?"
"No," Mara said, then waved her hand when Jacob's face paled. "Don't freak, okay. Katrina's alive –barely. I meant, no, we didn't catch the Watcher. It's still out there somewhere. I'd like to believe Malini scared it back to Nod for good but Dr. Silva says now that it knows what Malini is, it'll be back with reinforcements."
"Now that it knows what Malini is? What is she?"
"Didn't you see, Jacob? You were there. I heard she fried that Watcher when she touched it."
"So, she's a Horseman. She can produce fire."
"No, Jacob, she's a Healer! She burnt the Watcher because what she's made of is so pure she can't touch one without the evil sizzling under her fingertips. She can't even touch Dr. Silva! Gideon said she's been the first one in over one hundred years. If she survives, she'll be a new hope for us all."
Jacob didn't like the sound of that. He pushed himself up in bed and tried to swing his legs over the side. "I need to see her," he insisted.
"Not gonna happen, hosehead. She's working out the kinks with Gideon. No one can see her for three days. She's got to go on some vision quest to fully manifest her powers. I know you're worried but there's nothing we can do."
Jacob leaned back and twirled the corner of his blanket around his finger.
"And since you don't seem to remember yesterday all that well, I should also tell you that your blood opened up some sort of door at the Laudner's shop."
"What?"
"When your blood dripped onto the floor, it filled the grooves of the carving in the marble and that triggered some sort of trap door. Dr. Silva had a hell of a time hiding it from the police. Don't worry, no one looked down there. Your blood, your door, they said. Plus, we didn't have enough time or yeah, I probably would have checked it out."
Jacob's jaw wouldn't remain closed. "My blood opened up a secret door in my uncle's flower shop?"
"Yep."
"When can I get out of here and check it out?'
Mara paced the length of the room, her arms folded across her chest. "I don't know but I have a hunch the blood has to finish first."
They both eyed the chamber below the bag, the drip-drip painfully slow through the tiny tube. Jacob sighed. He'd just have to wait. But with the Watcher out there somewhere, how much time did he have? How much time did any of them have?
Chapter 16
The In Between
Malini sat up in bed and dangled the red stone from its leather strap. Light reflected off the facets, drawing her eye toward the center, toward the place where the red was so dark it was almost black. It was hypnotic how the stone turned, reflecting her image then absorbing it into its depths. Red, everything was red, and her mind slipped away into that weightless space between sleep and awake. The black center seemed to swallow the red, engulfing her until she was surrounded by nothingness.
The void didn't last long. From the bottom up, a room of multi-colored fabric shingled itself around her. Reams of material draped from vertical spools shoulder-width apart as far as she could see. To her left and right, the rows continued into shadow, but ahead of her the path was illuminated from beyond. She walked toward the light.
Eventually, she heard a swoosh-swoosh, like someone was sweeping the floor in long strokes. Malini turned left at the next ream, following the sound up the row. The fabric was spaced further apart in this section, opening to a cleared area with a dirt floor and stucco walls. A woman sat at a loom. Tall and dark, her sleek black hair fell almost to the floor. It was the shuttle she heard, sweeping between the threads, back and forth by the woman's hand. Malini didn't have a loom stashed away in her room or anything, but even she could tell the weaving was exceptionally fast, machine-like. A fine, silky cloth shimmered to life where the thread came together.
"Hello Malini and welcome. It's about time you came to visit me." She was Indian like Malini and wore a traditional sari of blue and green fabric that shifted as if it were a living organism every time she moved.
"Where is this place?" Malini asked.
"In between."
She didn't think that was a very good answer but moved on to her next question anyway. "How do you know my name?"
"You are a smart girl. You tell me."
"Jacob and Gideon said the stone came from the medicine woman. Are you her?"
The young woman laughed. "The medicine woman is two-hundred-fifty-eight years old." She turned her face directly toward Malini, her hands never stopping their work. Malini inhaled sharply at her beauty: long graceful lines, perfect skin, plump lips and her eyes, they danced as if lit from within. "I am much older," she said.
Wait, her eyes were lit from within! Malini saw the glowing silhouettes of people going about their daily living, pinpoints of light bustling about the world within her. Malini drew back, placing her hand over her pounding heart. She looked around the shop, at the miles of shimmering fabric.
"I know who you are," she said.
"Of course you do."
"You are Fate."
"That is one of my names, yes. You may call me Fatima."
"Is that why I am here, then? Are you going to tell me my future?"
"No. Not even I can tell you your future. For you, I am only a guide and a warning."
"But Gideon said the medicine woman would train me. He said this was an initiation."
"This is an initiation but not the kind Gideon thinks. Gideon has never been here. He doesn't know. Every Healer's experience is different."
"Then why am I here?"
"For you to become what you were born to be, you must fac
e and overcome your greatest fears. You must release what you desire most, and you must choose your course based on your wish to serve, knowing you may do so alone."
"And what if I can't do those things?"
"You are the third Healer born and called. The first two failed the test."
"What happened to the other two?"
"One is dead. The other is in an insane asylum in Israel. Would you like to see?" She leaned in, spreading the lids of her right eye with her fingers.
"Um…no thanks. I think I get it."
"Oh, I'm not sure you do or possibly could. But then, that is the way it always is at the start. Do you choose to try, Malini, or would you prefer to return to your life as you once were?"
Malini thought about the question. While it was true she often wished her life would be normal again, she knew if she returned it wouldn't change the truth, only her ability to do anything about it. Whether becoming a Healer would be a blessing or a curse, she wasn't sure, but it was better than wondering what could have been, what she might have meant to the world if she would have succeeded. "I'll do it. I want to try, Fatima."
"Very well. To begin, you walk out through the veranda and take the path into the forest."
"Alone? You said you would give me guidance."
"You are wearing it."
Malini looked down at herself and realized her clothing had been transformed into a green sari, made of the same strange material as Fatima wore. It shimmered, lit from within like Fatima's eyes. The red stone was around her neck rather than dangling from her hand as it had been. It glowed like a Christmas bulb.
"I give you this as a gift, so that you remember you must go back to move forward."
Malini waited for Fatima to explain.
"I'm afraid I must get back to my weaving and it is time for you to move along. You have three days. The stone around your neck holds your life force. It will gradually lose its glow as you proceed."
Malini waited patiently for more information. When none came she spread her hands in disbelief. "That's it? That's all the help you are going to give me?"
"That, and a warning."
"Yes?" Malini stared expectantly at Fatima.
"What you are about to experience is both truth and illusion, the in-between world and the magic of the stone. Make no mistake. If you die on this journey, you die in real life and nothing can bring you back. Follow the path. Face the three challenges and return here before the stone turns black. Or don't, in which case I will say my goodbyes now. Goodbye, Malini."
And then her attention turned to her loom. Malini stood in stunned silence until it was clear that she was wasting precious time. The swooshing sound of the shuttle flying between the strands ushered Malini out onto the veranda and into her future.
Chapter 17
Down Under
Jacob sat up on the side of the bed and gulped down another glass of water. Then he started working at the tape around his IV.
"You can't do that," the nurse said, pressing his shoulders toward the mattress. "The doctor says you need to stay under observation until tomorrow."
"I'm fine. Listen, I'm feeling much better. I need to go."
The nurse shook her head and blocked him with her body.
Mara placed her hand on the nurse's shoulder. "Listen Nurse Ratched, isn't there some kind of form he can sign about leaving against medical advice or something."
"My name is Judy, thank you very much. If Jacob was an adult, yes, but as a minor he can't leave without the consent of his guardian."
"Then you better skedaddle and call his guardian. I think that would be a better plan than physically assaulting him in his bed."
"What?"
"That's what I saw. You were pushing him down against his will. Isn't that against the rules, Judy?"
Judy's face turned red and a scowl twisted her mouth. "I'll call your uncle," she said flatly and walked out of the room with more than a little stomp to her step.
"How did you know to say that?" Jacob asked.
"I'm a nursing aide, remember? The first thing they teach you is you can't touch anyone without their consent or the consent of the person responsible for them. She shouldn't have been shoving you like that and she knows it. She wouldn't have tried that with an adult."
Jacob's fingers worked faster against the tape. "Let's get out of here before she comes back."
"Here. Let me." In one motion, she ripped the tape out with the IV attached.
"Crap, Mara that hurt!"
"Sorry, here." She pressed a square of gauze the nurse had left on the windowsill onto the spot of blood that bubbled up and taped it into place.
"Better?"
"Yeah. Hand me my clothes."
Mara tossed him the bag that was hooked behind the door and politely excused herself into the tiny attached bathroom. Jacob pulled his clothes out of the bag and was pleasantly surprised they weren't covered in blood. Someone had replaced the ones he wore yesterday with a new set. When he was dressed, he knocked on the bathroom door and Mara came out.
"Thanks for the clothes. It would have been hard walking around town covered in dried blood."
"Don't thank me. Your Uncle John brought them after Dr. Silva suggested it."
"She can be very persuasive," he said, cracking a smile.
"I've noticed. Let's get out of here." She peeked out the door into the hall. "We've got an audience. We're going to have to do this the old reliable way."
"How's that?"
She held up her bell and reached for his hand.
To Jacob, one of the interesting things about Mara stopping time was the sound of the bell ringing. If he was holding her hand, he heard the tinkling chime, an innocent, soft sound that seemed utterly unimpressive. But the times when she had used her gift and he wasn't touching her, he didn't hear it at all. It made him wonder whether the bell stopped time or if the magic was in her intention to ring it. He thought about asking her if she knew how it worked but there was so much about his own powers that he didn't understand. He didn't want to put her on the spot.
They wove past patients and visitors frozen in various states of movement and then Mara led him into the parking lot.
"My truck!" Jacob said.
"Another thing to thank Dr. Silva for," Mara said.
They climbed into the cab and Mara rang the bell again. Time continued on. Ten minutes later they were parked and walking up the sidewalk to the Laudner's flower shop. A hand written sign on the door said, Closed, Due to Family Emergency.
"It's locked," Mara said. "Your Aunt and Uncle are at the hospital with Katrina."
"My turn to use old reliable," Jacob said. Unfortunately, his water flask hadn't been in the bag with his clothes. He jogged to the truck and pulled out the water bottle he always kept in his cup holder. Using his hand, he channeled the water into the keyhole, freezing it as it went and triggering the mechanism. With a turn of the ice key, the door opened. He and Mara slipped inside and Jacob locked the door behind them.
The corners of Mara's mouth pulled down as they entered. She reached into her jacket and thrust an orange flavored sucker that she found there into her cheek. "I can still feel it in here. Can you?"
Jacob could feel it. He couldn't smell it like Malini, but the air seemed thicker and all of the tiny hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stood on end. It was the kind of thing he might not have noticed before he was a Soulkeeper. "Yeah. I can tell."
"The door is in the work room. Come on."
"Wait. Can I ask you something?"
Mara nodded.
"What's with the suckers?"
"They help me focus and they're better than cigarettes."
Jacob couldn't argue with her logic. He followed her into the backroom but there was nothing to see. The room was as tidy as he'd ever seen it. Even more so, the usual dust that accumulated behind the row of plants on the counter had been cleaned up. He looked down at the carved emblem of a man riding a horse with a bouquet of flowers
in his hands. The grooves and surrounding floor shined with the effort of a recent scrubbing.
"There's nothing here," Jacob said.
"It's an illusion. Here, Dr. Silva gave me this. Rub it on your eyes." Mara pulled a small pot, the size of a lip balm from her pocket. She gouged out a portion and rubbed it on her eyes. He took it from her and rubbed some on his own.
At first everything seemed blurry, like he was looking through wax, but slowly the room came into focus, a very different room than he'd been in a moment ago. It looked like a scene out of a horror movie. There was blood everywhere. Most of it was dry but in some places it was so thick that it still had a wet gleam to it. There were scuff marks on the table where the straps had bound his mother, and tell-tale scratches where the metal buckles had scraped the stainless steel as she struggled. The dust was back behind the row of plants.
But, he also saw what they were there for. The emblem, grooves filled with his blood, was slightly sunken. Hinges were visible on one side, as was a half-inch gap on the other.
"Dr. Silva didn't go down there?"
"We didn't have time. The police were on their way."
"You have all the time in the world. You own time. Why didn't you go down?"
"I offered. I wanted to, but Dr. Silva said no. Your blood, your door, remember? She was afraid that if anyone besides you went down there, it might be a trap. Especially for her. Who knows what your great-great grandfather had in store for a Watcher who spilled your blood."
Jacob shook his head. "How would my grandfather even know what a Watcher was?"
Mara's brow furrowed and she lowered her chin incredulously. "Jacob your great-great-grandfather was a Soulkeeper."
"No, I get it from my mother's side."
"Do you even go to science class? It's a recessive gene. A chromosome from your mother and a chromosome from your father must combine to create a Soulkeeper. Your mother is a Soulkeeper, so that meant you would receive at least one Soulkeeper gene from her but the second one had to come from your father and he inherited it from his father who inherited it from his father who had it because your great-great-grandfather was a Soulkeeper."
