Celtics Rising: Birth of an Oracle

by Leo Charles Taylor

  The paramedic, intent on listening to her heart, nodded his understanding and agreement without verbally replying.

  "What the hell is wrong with her eyes?" the other one asked as he swept them with his light.

  James came in close and tried to see what the man was witnessing. He hadn’t been able to see her eyes clearly before in the dark, at least not in a way that his fracturing mind would allow anyone to call normal.

  "What do you mean?" he asked carefully. He could discern nothing but a slightly glowing violet color to her orbits

  "I would expect pinpoint and fixed pupils, but these appear..." he trailed off before continuing. "Hell, I don't know what I'm seeing."

  "Sweetie," said the first man, "can you hear me? I need to know if you have taken any drugs recently. Can you answer me, please? Have you taken any drugs?"

  "Yes," was the labored reply.

  "Okay, it's all right. I just need to know what it was. Can you tell me?"

  She began to squirm and convulse again. She was attempting to get away from everyone, but she was far too weak to make a real effort of it.

  "Ma'am, we’re not the police. We only care about your health. Now please tell us what you took."

  "Meth," was the slow reply as she stopped fighting and slumped down. "I traded a necklace for some meth."

  James became more distant from the scene. He didn't physically remove himself, but he mentally disconnected. The paramedic's comment about her eyes, coupled with the admittance of the necklace as purchase for drugs, was giving him pause for thought.

  "Alright, now can you tell me your name?"

  "Vera," was the quiet and weak reply.

  "Okay, Vera, we’re going to take good care of you. We’re going to get you to a hospital, okay, sweetie?"

  Vera didn't respond verbally but nodded her understanding while clutching for James. She grabbed his hand and wouldn't let go.

  "Let's get her to Harborview," said James. He knew from his work that it was the best trauma ward in the state and was only a mile away.

  "Agreed," replied one of the other men.

  The paramedics continued to attend to her, and it wasn’t long before they had her on their stretcher; each time they had need of her hand, she released it only long enough accommodate them before reaching for James again. The men quickly pulled the stretcher up and began to remove her from the scene. James followed along, his hand firmly grasped in hers. The men had wrapped her warmly with a blanked and strapped her down, but James could still see her clearly, as if those objects weren’t obstructing his view.

  The MRI analogy stuck with him as he watched her heart beat and her eyes blink. He couldn’t see the lids move, per se, because even when she shut her eyes their translucence extended beyond the skin. It was more akin to a slight disturbance or the flicker of a light bulb; he appeared to be the only one to notice, and the odd comment of the paramedic faded in his mind as he considered his own mental state.

  The group made their way to the street and to the parked ambulance at the curb; its lights were flashing steadily. The paramedics took care of their charge efficiently and made ready to load her. As they did, James felt a small tickle in his mind, and then an intrusion. His thoughts became fuzzy and his vision followed. He shook his head, took a deep breath and blinked his eyes rapidly. Much like a drunk man who might use all of his mental energy to focus on one thing, he concentrated on clarity of mind.

  His head snapped up and turned to his left, looking up the hill to the east. There were some onlookers but not many, and the only one that stood out from the crowd was a goddess; she was staring at him intently. Almost in a stupor, he returned the gaze and found that he could look nowhere else.

  Odd, he thought for a moment as he pondered the word goddess that had entered his mind.

  However, goddess was the only word that seemed to fit; she was beautiful, slim figured, but toned in her musculature while her red and brown hair hung behind her head, pinned in some fashion but not exactly a pony tail. For a moment, James had to wonder how she had done it. She also appeared regal, and as he stared, James felt an odd attraction to her even as he marveled at her appearance. For her part, she stared at him intently. James reciprocated, releasing the hand of the girl on the stretcher long enough to stand up straight so that he could command a better view.

  He attempted to probe the woman on the hill, much as he had done with the succubus and the girl that now lay at his side, but his mind was smacked back and he felt blood come to his nose. Cursing under his breath, he held his nostrils with one hand while he searched for something in his pockets to stop the flow of blood. He found a handkerchief and quickly put it to his face.

  James looked back up the hill, half expecting his goddess to be gone, but she remained. She stared at him intently, with unwavering concentration. James was curious but could only consider how odd it was to be watched by someone that didn't blink. For a moment, it was all he could think about. The woman turned her head from side to side, studying and judging him. However, in all that analysis she didn't blink, nor did her eyes leave him. He found it unnerving.

  James looked at her and an idea came to mind. It was slow to arrive and crazy in concept, but he figured that as long as he was going insane, why not attempt the ludicrous.

  Ignore me, he thought as he wiped his nose with the handkerchief.

  The goddess didn't blink, but her head and body suddenly snapped to near attention; it was only a slight movement as her posture had been nearly perfect. She looked about herself and her unblinking eyes became wider, which only added to the odd effect of her expression. James watched her look to her left, then her right. She returned her gaze to his direction and watched the paramedics as they loaded their patient. She focused her attention on them but did not appear to make sense of what she saw. Those unblinking eyes slowly became determined as they swept again to the left and then upwards to the heavens.

  After a moment, she paused in her reverie of the skyline. It was if a thought were dawning on her, and her head came gently down and back to target. She stared at James' position for a moment, and he saw her blink just once, but it was all the sign he needed to know that she could see him again. She smiled wryly and then carefully nodded her head in acknowledgement of his presence.

  "Mr. Connor, will you be going with us? This little lady is demanding it."

  The goddess heard the question by the paramedics, and her smile turned from a wry one to one of happiness and victory. James turned to the men as they were about to close the doors. Not sure what to do but realizing that it was probably safer to be around other individuals, he nodded.

  "Yes, I believe I will. Thank you, gentlemen."

  He hopped inside, careful of his footing as the vehicle was parked on an incline, and took a seat next to the girl. The doors were then shut and the ambulance soon pulled away.

  Arinai watched from her vantage point, waiting patiently for the walk sign to change as her quarry drove away. When it did, she crossed the street at a gentle gait and enjoyed the pleasing emotion that she associated with following the simple pedestrian rules of mankind. She stopped on the spot where he had stood, and then moved over to where the ambulance had been. She closed her eyes and cast out her mind. It raced across the city and to the vehicle with its four occupants; they were nearing the hospital. Her mind then returned to her current spot and from there it raced across the park. The shadows had now retreated. They had left the area, departing the park at the same time as their human interest and her prey. To her, everything appeared to be peaceful.

  However, something was wrong, and Arinai could feel it rather than see it. It had been a long time since she had felt so at odds with the world. The summoning to this city was certainly unusual. It had been a desire such as one might feel for a walk or a particular food. However, her current trepidation bordered more on fear, and while she was pleased that she had seen the object of her search, she was quickly becoming anxious.

  "Oh,
Mr. Connor," she whispered into the night air. She was proud that she had a name to research but afraid of what that research would discover. "What is it that you have done tonight?" she finished carefully.

  The wind howled around her, but she was left standing alone with no answer.

  Chapter 4

  The following day, James entered Harborview Hospital and made his way to the admissions desk. A friendly face greeted him and he smiled in return.

  "James Connor," he said to her. "You have a young lady by the name of Vera that was admitted late last night. I rode in the ambulance with her to ensure her safe arrival. I would like to check on her status, if I may?"

  "Of course, are you family?"

  James shook his head, "Nothing like that, I just happened to be the one that found her. She was in distress, so I facilitated her medical attention."

  "Ah, a White Knight," the woman said with a smile. "Well, it’s not normal procedure, but I'll see what I can do." She looked through the records for a moment. "Here it is, Vera Linn Monroe. She's in recovery. But I would have to verify that it's okay to allow you up."

  "Of course," he replied, "I wouldn't want to upset the Ladies of the Gate."

  The receptionist smiled at the compliment, made a quick phone call, nodded her head, and then gave him the room number.

  "It appears that you're expected," she said, before giving him the room number.

  James pursed his lips. He may be expected but that bit of news was not.

  "I can give you a map," the nurse said as she began to hand him a piece of paper with line diagrams on it.

  "No need," he said. "I've done consulting work for the hospital and still have my ID badge."

  To prove his point, James produced a badge. It was one of many he had, securely locked away due to the high level of access that his badges could give him to the many businesses of the Seattle area.

  James thanked the woman for her assistance and headed off, deep in thought as he wound his way through the hospital. As he made his way through the maze of corridors, he began to think that he might be crazier than just being schizophrenic. He wasn’t certain why he was here—morbid curiosity, perhaps, or possibly a need to verify that his mind was actually buckling, fracturing into several pieces in the midst of society. Eventually, his mind returned to the girl—the one that was unexpectedly expecting him.

  When the ambulance had arrived at the hospital the previous night, there had been no other mention of trouble with the girl. As they drove, James could see the odd transformation, but the paramedics, outside of the odd comment about her eyes, had mentioned nothing else. To them, she was merely a young woman with a bad reaction to drugs.

  After they had rolled her stretcher into the hospital and the attending had given her a once over, she was carted off. James had thought about following, but Vera had fallen asleep by that time, and the lack of overt concern for the girl by the medical staff allowed him to relax. He had then taken a cab home and happily went back to bed.

  Throughout the day, he had pondered her situation and his memory of the previous night's events. He couldn’t determine which he found more curious, his memories of the night or his calm demeanor to the fact that he was going insane. Regardless, he decided that he would check in on the young lady.

  He found her room well enough. She shared it with three others, but she was the only one with visitors; there were several individuals that crowded around her. Vera was situated in the far bed, sitting upright and talking, while the other patients in the room were either ignoring her or had drawn their curtain for privacy. James was mildly pleased as he observed her; she appeared to be human in appearance.

  At first no one noticed him, and he took a moment to get a good look at his ward of just the night before. She was pleasant to look at and still sported her childish musculature, caught somewhere between a young lady and a woman. Her auburn hair was stringy and her complexion pale, but this was often the case of people in hospitals, especially those in her situation. Overall, he knew that she would continue to mature into a fine looking woman.

  Unsure whether to proceed, James stared for a moment and assessed the situation. He could see that Vera was fully conscious and recovering well. She was currently propped up by pillows, talking amiably with a well-dressed and seemingly affluent couple. By their age, he guessed they were her parents. The only medical staff near her was a nurse who checked a few instruments and then left, passing James with a quick nod as she did.

  In mid-sentence, Vera stopped talking, became contemplative, and then turned her head quickly to him. Violet glowing eyes stared at him, and James felt oddly vulnerable. The smile was gone from her lips, and the two of them regarded each other in a curious manner. He wondered why his mind had chosen her for such a hallucination; she appeared thoughtful for very different reasons. After a moment, the woman at Vera's side, who had looked back and forth from the man at the door and the girl in the bed, spoke up.

  "May we help you?" she asked.

  James shook his head. "I apologize," he stammered. He then waved his hand slightly in an off the cuff manner, "I have several things on my mind at the moment and didn't mean to stare. I'm James Connor. I found this young lady last night and called the paramedics. I wanted to check in on her and see if she was recovering."

  "Oh, you’re the one," the woman said as she smiled appreciatively. She approached and extended a hand. "I'm Teresa Monroe, Vera's mother. This is my husband, Thomas." The man she introduced didn't respond, he just nodded and looked grim.

  "I wanted to thank you for your assistance," Teresa said as she shook James' hand.

  James smiled, "Not at all, I was just glad to be of assistance."

  "Don't forget about me!" came a small and shrill voice; a child of about six or seven years old made her way to James' position.

  The woman smiled and held her bearing during the onslaught, "And this little jewel is our youngest daughter, Anna," Teresa said as the child pushed forward.

  James smiled and nodded.

  "Are you a real angel?" asked the girl in awe.

  James became wide-eyed at the question.

  "Leave him alone, Jelly Bean," Vera said to the girl. "He has enough to deal with and doesn’t need you harassing him."

  Vera's statement was said with a smile, and Anna scrunched up her nose and stuck out her tongue in mock anger, but that didn't last long. She smiled in return, and then headed to her sister.

  "You just wait till you get home," Anna said. "I'll make you do all your chores and mine too."

  "Yeah, good luck with that, Jelly Bean," was the reply.

  Anna and Vera continued to playfully squabble, and James watched for a minute. They appeared to share a true affinity for each other. Vera even took on an immature demeanor and played with her much younger sibling, matching the younger girl for maturity level.

  James was familiar with this type of interaction; the girls shared a love for each other that was born from siblings of disparate ages. The older one was far enough advanced from the other to avoid sibling rivalry. It was actually pleasant to watch them as they continued to tease each other.

  Through it all, no one seemed to notice anything odd about the patient. Now that the girl appeared to be mostly normal, James had to wonder just what his fractured mind saw in her. Blinking consciously, James could once again see Vera's translucent form. The sudden return of the vision didn't even startle him; he was beginning to reach a comfort level with his insanity.

  The hallucination was obviously still in force, and he watched as the tendrils moved about her body. They no longer appeared to have a life of their own. Instead, they were just another part of her body, merged into her essence and flowing as if they were blood. The two girls continued to chatter, and Mrs. Monroe turned her attention back to James, who had blinked again, returning his vision to normal.

  "You’ll have to forgive them. They can be a little odd at times. Their father has attempted to instill rudimentary civility,
but so far he has been unsuccessful."

  James smiled, "Not to worry, I'm just pleased that Vera is doing well. What did Anna mean when she asked if I was an angel?"

  "Oh, I'm sure she was equating you to a guardian angel," she said, but her eyes betrayed an underlying meaning, and she tilted her head slightly indicating that she would like a word alone. James looked to Vera and could see that she was still engrossed with her sister; she was tickling her viciously and Anna was squealing.

  James left the room and took a few steps down the hallway, Mrs. Monroe followed.

  "It was James O'Connor?"

  "No, it’s Connor."

  "Ah, please forgive me. I do want to thank you for your assistance. We’ve been told that Vera could have died if you hadn’t found her."

  Mr. Monroe entered the hall and quickly spotted the couple talking. He looked very displeased, putting a frown on his face as he joined them. He stood close to his wife, taking up a position that seemed to indicate a protective stance. He didn't want James too close to his wife. Mrs. Monroe didn't acknowledge her husband as she continued to speak.

  "Vera was very distraught, and her condition took hours to stabilize," she said. "In that time she told some very odd tales about the evening. I'm afraid that Anna heard about some of them. The doctors said she was hallucinating from the drugs. I just wanted you to know about that, but more importantly, I wanted you to know that Vera is a good girl. She is rarely in trouble and is just going through a phase. Please don’t judge her."

  James understood and nodded his head, "Not to worry, Mrs. Monroe. In my field, we see quite a bit. I have learned not to judge people."

  "Just what were you doing in the park last night?" asked Mr. Monroe with a suspicious tone. The tone didn't escape the attention of either Mrs. Monroe or James.

  James eyed the man quizzically before answering.

  "I was going for a walk. I couldn't sleep, and I find the solitude of the park to be relaxing. I live just a few blocks away."