CHAPTER 27
It was a week before Christmas, and the village was bustling with people. There was the influx of tourists up to celebrate Christmas, along with all of the owners returning to their condos and timeshares. Lights were dangling everywhere. The snow was coming down so heavy it was hard for the heated pathways to stay clear. The village Christmas tree was especially touching this year. Every time my family and I passed it, I had to take a minute to stop and stare. Arie was making fun of me, for how many pictures of us by it I had taken so far.
We had all decided to go to Dublin Gate for a Guinness so we could map out the plans for the next day. We wanted to get some snowboarding in since we had been skiing so much since we arrived. Athen wanted to try out the half pipe. There was no way I was touching that. I was planning on only watching that part.
The Dublin Gate was fluttering with activity. The bar was completely full, and there was only one table in the corner that looked like it was meant for two people comfortably, but we made a beeline and squished on the bench to make it work. Who knew when the next table would open up. A wave of happiness rushed through me as I remembered the last time we were here. I was in heavenly bliss dancing with Athen that night. It all had seemed like such a dream. What transpired after that, I would never have guessed in a million years. I hugged onto Athen’s arm extra hard. I was pretty sure that he knew what I was thinking back to. He kissed my forehead, and the familiar electricity ran through my veins. I looked at my family unable to understand how I got so lucky.
“Do you think the movers finished moving the rest of Ana’s things to the house today?” Cyril asked, as he was flagging down the server.
“They said they would be able to,” Arie said, “We should go check tomorrow. You know I was kind of thinking that since we bought this place that maybe we should change our plans and stay up here for the rest of the holidays?”
“Wow, Arie! I think that would be a great idea. We could get situated and you could decorate yet again,” I laughed.
“Great! What do you guys think?” she asked Athen and Cyril.
“We are game for whatever you all want,” Cyril said, smooching Arie on her lips.
“This is awesome, plus we can have a second Christmas down south!” She almost squealed with delight.
“Oh brother. Really?” Athen asked, and he kissed me so gently on my lips I almost didn’t realize what was happening. Always a competition with these guys, I thought happily.
Arie broke free from Cyril to announce the one thing that took all of us by surprise.
“I kind of guessed you guys would be game for that so I sent out invitations for an Open House slash Christmas party. Won’t that be fun?”
I think we were all in shock being that we had barely left a conversation about the movers still moving our items into the home. Leave it to Arie to want to entertain, regardless of the moment.
“Do you think we can pull this off?” I asked Arie, puzzled that she would do this without consulting us first.
“Don’t mind her,” Athen said, giving me a little hug. “She’s got it all under control. Don’t you?”
“Of course! It isn’t going to be anything big. I wanted to invite some of Ana’s friends and some of our friends so we can all get introduced a bit.”
“Well, judging by the real estate agent, I have a feeling your guests are going to be a whole lot more interesting than mine will be. How did you know who to invite?” I asked suspiciously.
“Oh, Ana! That was the easiest part. I asked Karen to come up with the list,” she said beaming.
“Right, well that ought to be something.”
The server came over and got our drink orders. I found myself drifting off about this party. I wondered first of all, who Karen would possibly invite being that she was my one actual friend, the rest were acquaintances. But what was more intriguing was to find out who all would be there that Arie invited. I’m sure they weren’t all going to be other worldlies, but I could be wrong. I wondered if I would be able to recognize them all. I honestly didn’t think there were any others in Whistler so even the real estate agent took me by surprise. Obviously, I was wrong. I wasn’t feeling the usual angst over having a get together, which made me relieved. Usually my stomach became queasy at the thought of one, and I tried to think of any excuse to get out of it. Maybe those feelings would arrive a little closer to the event, or maybe my family and Athen made the difference. As I came back to reality, I heard Athen, Cyril, and Arie all rattling off names of people she sent the invites to, and so far, it sounded like Cyril and Athen were in agreement.
“With everything that has been going on back at the other house and here in Whistler, I think it’s good to get together with everyone and keep them filled in on the events. We all need to be watching out for each other, because I think we are the beginning.”
Hearing those words frightened me. I still couldn’t fully comprehend what was going on being that I had nothing in my memories yet to compare. I wasn’t sure why they could tell these attacks were representing a larger picture, but I’m sure I would figure that out soon enough. If my dreams didn’t tell me, I was sure my family would.
“You believe this is the beginning of something? I thought, at first, you guys assumed it was to distract us since I was so new again?” I responded in a statement that turned into a question.
“That is the typical turn of events, but there have been some things that don’t line up with that thought anymore. The fact that Azazel and Asmodeus are involved escalates the situation right off the bat. Also, the fact that the creatures keep coming is something that doesn’t usually occur either. There seems to be a legion or legions building up forces around here. It forces us to look at all alternatives, very bleak alternatives.”
“I reached out to some of the other families, and they had mentioned that they had noticed more of a presence of the demons in their immediate areas now. They consistently mentioned that nothing had happened. Rather they caught them lurking more and causing insignificant human contact. This is different than their normal patterns, and we have to find out why and make sure that we are all safe, but I think the larger our network, right now, the better. So we found out quite a bit this morning. The hikers weren’t exactly hikers. They were involved in some pretty horrific dealings on a human level. They had connections with a cult down in the states and had been walking a fine line for quite some time. The press left that out. They were all friends from high school, and a couple of them hit it big doing some dirty work for a large gang, and all the friends shared the wealth. I highly doubt they were just hiking up in the mountains.”
Cyril had a complete look of disgust. “I could keep going on, but let’s just say they were headed down that path for a long time, and they presented themselves to the underworld as best as one can. They were ready for the taking.”
“Yikes, that certainly isn’t what I was expecting to hear. That sounds gruesome. With everything I read in the papers, I thought they were just friends who were at the wrong place at the wrong time. What about the snowboarder?”
“Honestly, that one doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t fit the same circumstances as the other group, that’s for sure. I’m waiting to hear back from some of our friends on that one. They’re closer to it than we were. It is like he went off the map. Last I heard there were no leads, other than what you saw in your visions.”
“Huh, will it come up at the party? Will we be covering this after my friends leave, of course?”
“Oh, most definitely. We’ve got a lot to cover that evening. We’ll be trying to fit in as much as we can.”
“Do they all know about me? Everyone that is coming to the party, that is?”
“Geez, Ana! You think they didn’t notice Athen sulking ever since they met him up here? Yeah, they’re very up to speed on things. I’m sure they will be relieved to see Athen actually demonstrating communic
ation skills again,” Cyril piped up.
“Oh, come on. I wasn’t that bad,” Athen said, tossing his napkin at Cyril, which didn’t have much of an impact since we were all sitting so close together.
“Don’t be nervous,” Arie chided in, “Everyone is nice. They care about you. Anyone that goes through what you have been through kind of makes us all realize that it isn’t that far off of a reality. If anything they will put you on a pedestal.”
“Exactly what I have always wanted,” I responded, rolling my eyes.
CHAPTER 28
The Watchers Trilogy: Awakening Page 45
