Return to Eden

by G. P. Ching

  "I can’t stop what’s going to happen today, Stephanie, but I can stop your suffering." A thermos appeared in her hand. She screwed off the lid and poured a steaming cup in front of the girl’s reddened eyes. "This is a tea I’ve made. If you drink it, everything will become much easier for you. You won’t feel any pain."

  Stephanie gave a short nod, although tears continued their silent journey down her cheeks. "Will you tell my mother that I love her?" the girl choked out.

  Abigail didn't respond, but raised the cup to Stephanie's lips. The girl drank every last drop. Immediately, Stephanie’s eyes glossed over, her tears dried, and her breathing calmed. Abigail made the thermos disappear and replaced the gag. She lowered the veil.

  With the sobs abated, the only sounds were of the torches and saws that constructed the altar.

  Chapter 28

  Mara

  "Thank you for saving me," Mara said, following closely behind Aldric. The words sounded pathetically trite to her ears.

  He looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "If I hadn’t, this whole experience would’ve been a waste of time. I’m not here for my health." His deep voice rumbled with frustration. "This field is made to feel menacing, to terrify you, but if you run, you will bleed, and if you bleed the hounds will come."

  "Got it. I’m sorry I fell for that."

  "Lucifer is ruthless. Be on guard, always." He glanced in her direction as if he could tack the advice to her mind with his stare.

  "Why did you open yourself up to the challenge?" Mara asked.

  Aldric chopped a path through the stalks with his sickle. Stalk after stalk whooshed to the ground but he didn't answer her question. Mara cleared her throat. Maybe he hadn't heard her? Would it be rude to ask again?

  "Your question has more than one answer." His voice startled her. Finally. "I have been Time for over 2,000 years. You might say a change was in order." He chuckled. "But that would not explain why I chose you. It’s true I’d heard of your love affair with Death and if I were a sentimental old fool that might be reason enough. I am not. Love is fleeting. Immortality is not." He stopped swinging his blade and met Mara’s eyes with a serious stare. "You cannot quit being Time because you break up with your boyfriend."

  Mara nodded. "Of course not." She hadn't given the challenge enough thought. Had she pondered immortality for more than five minutes before she agreed to this? Probably not. Did she make the decision based on her feelings for Henry? Probably. She mentally slapped her forehead.

  "I chose you because I thought you were uniquely qualified for the job."

  "Do you mean because my gift was to stop time?"

  "Yes, but also because you used your gift responsibly. Even when your life became difficult and lonely, you didn’t abuse the power. Did you know that your power came from me?"

  "Not until recently. Henry told me."

  "Each immortal is allowed to give one Soulkeeper a gift. All Soulkeepers have power; it’s in their genetics. But not every Soulkeeper has a gift from an immortal. Without my gift, your power would have been different, weaker. When you were born, I was having lunch with Fate and she pointed you out to me in her weaving. Your parents were a waste of skin and bones, even then. She mentioned that a little girl like you, raised in a home like yours would be unspoiled, the perfect canvas for a gift from an immortal. I’d waited a long time to give my gift. You seemed like a worthy candidate.

  "I came to Earth while you were still in the hospital. I held you, next to your crib. And I gave you my gift. I’ve watched you these many years. You’ve used it well." His smile gleamed beautifully white against his dark skin.

  Mara lifted an eyebrow. "That’s what Henry meant about it not being the right time for him to move on. He’s given his gift to Malini—her hand—which makes her his natural successor. But Malini won’t die until another Healer comes to power. That’s why he couldn’t know when. It would be difficult for him to find another."

  Aldric tipped his head. "And choosing another is a great risk to all of us. If the wrong person becomes an immortal, think of how it would affect the balance? Time, Death, and Fate are forever linked to each other, and have been friends of God from the beginning. If any one of us should be replaced by someone sympathetic to Lucifer..." He shook his head. "You must survive this challenge, Mara." He returned to hacking the stalks in their path.

  They walked for hours, their eyes sweeping the dirt around the stems for any sign of the scroll. Rubbing her sore neck, Mara tipped her head backward to stretch her aching muscles. The sight of the darkening sky made her stomach twist.

  "Hey, Aldric," she said.

  "Yes?"

  "Do the silks on these corn stalks seem lighter to you?"

  He stopped chopping and looked up. Most of the silks they’d passed had been dark brown. These were bright white.

  "Yes. They are different."

  "I have an idea. Lift me up."

  Aldric’s face twisted. Certainly, he was just as tired and sore as she was.

  "Just for a minute. I think it’s a clue."

  He lowered himself to one knee and she climbed onto his shoulders. With a grunt and enough effort to make him tremble, he rose to his full height. Once her head emerged above the tassels, she saw exactly what she was looking for. Excited, she pushed off his shoulders and landed on the ground behind him.

  "It’s a bull’s-eye!" she squealed. "The tassels are colored deliberately. We are in the second light ring from the center. If we start moving northwest we’ll hit it. The scroll’s got to be there!"

  Aldric’s mouth dropped open. "You brilliant, brilliant girl."

  "This way." Mara pointed toward the center, then moved out of the way so that Aldric could swing his sickle. Soon, they exited the light colored ring and entered the dark.

  "One more light section, one more dark, and then we’ll be in the middle," Mara said. It was obvious but it made her feel better saying it out loud. They were close. So very close.

  It was a good thing, too, because her sandals bit into her blistered feet. Every step was excruciating. Mara noticed that Aldric’s hands were similarly raw and blistered. Each swing of the sickle filled his face with pain.

  "I could go in front for a while," she said. "My sword won’t be as effective but we could switch weapons. My arms are in much better shape than my feet."

  A mixture of reluctance and relief played across Aldric’s features. He sighed but nodded in acceptance of the idea. He traded his sickle for her sword. With renewed zeal, she attacked the stalks in front of her.

  Aldric's voice came over her shoulder. "I know you chose this because of Henry but you need to know that, at first, becoming what I am may be completely engrossing. It may take practice before you can see Henry and not disrupt your responsibilities."

  Mara swung harder at the stalks in front of her. "Like what? I get that there are places like Nod and hell where you slow time in order to give everyone else an advantage. But doesn’t the rest of it just happen? What’s so hard about what you do?"

  Behind her, Aldric's feet shuffled to a halt and his deep laugh rumbled. "How big is the universe, Mara?"

  Annoyed, she shrugged. "Infinite, I guess."

  "As Time, you control the rotation of every planet in the universe. Picture eternity as a giant grandfather clock. You will be the center cog, the piece that makes the others move."

  "How is that possible? No one could control all of that."

  "It is only possible when you become Time itself," Aldric said.

  "Phhhft." Mara narrowed her eyes and focused her frustration on the stalks in front of her.

  "Don’t ‘phhhft’ me. This is what you signed up for."

  "It sounds made up. I’m still wondering if I’m going to wake up in my bedroom."

  "Very soon, you will know for sure. Look." Aldric pointed at the tassels. "We’ve entered the last dark ring."

  A hellhound ripped through the corn. Mara swiped with the sickle, slicing its shoulder.
One of its claws ripped across her chest before it rolled to the floor. Aldric decapitated it with the short sword. Mara’s blood dripped to the packed dirt. The corn around them came alive, rustling ominously from all directions.

  Aldric eyed the blood that oozed from her wound, discoloring what remained of her gray dress. "Run, Mara! Run! Kill anything in your path!"

  "But—"

  "I’m right behind you. RUN!"

  With a burst of speed that came from some panicked recess of her soul, Mara launched forward, weaving between the stalks. Every step sent pain rippling through her destroyed feet, and the open wound at her chest. The leaves sliced her skin into ribbons. The rustle of her body knocking into the stalks made an eerie din.

  A hound leapt at her from the left. She swung the sickle, slicing through its neck. Ducking, she avoided another from straight ahead. She could see the bull's-eye. Almost there.

  Aldric’s scream brought her up short of her goal. She turned back, a soul-shattering wail crossing her lips. A hellhound had ripped open Aldric's abdomen. His sword was stuck in a second and a third was approaching his bloodied face.

  Run, he mouthed before the hound's teeth came down around his throat.

  Tears burned from her eyes, but she pushed on. As she broke through into the bull's-eye, she told herself that she must survive. With Aldric gone, who knew what would happen if she didn’t? His soul was in God’s hands. Now Mara had to make sure he hadn’t died in vain.

  Frantically, her eyes swept the ground for the scroll. There, among the browning stems, she saw its ancient parchment. She dove for it, ignoring the pain of the stalks she barreled through to get there. On her hands and knees, she dropped the sickle and unrolled the scroll.

  Corn rustled behind her. She rolled to her back. A hound leapt from the shadows. She kicked at it, its claws digging into her legs.

  "I claim the prize of eternity," she yelled. "I am the beginning and the end, the drifting sand and the source of wind. I am the stars and the turn of the moon. The bringer of dawn, power mine, I am sworn!"

  The ground shook, an earthquake that originated from within her. The hound backed away whimpering. A ray of light poured from the sky into her heart, filling her with a liquid fire that closed off her throat and crushed her from the inside out. Just when she thought she would die a second death, her insides adapted, growing, growing, growing, big enough to contain the energy from above.

  She stood, balancing on shaking legs, moving in time to the rumbling earth. The corn around her flattened to the ground. She faced God and Lucifer.

  "I win," she said to Lucifer, but her voice was a deep hollow echo.

  Her face lifted to the heavens. A star fell toward her, then right through her. As it passed, she noted the direction it spun, the speed, how planets revolved around it. Each of the planets had its own rotation, its own speed, its own time. She learned them one by one. The entire solar system, like music connected in perfect harmony, flowed through her new immortal body. More. More. More. The entire universe poured into her. She was the clockwork. She was the machine that powered it all. Tick, turn, tick. It all worked together.

  Spreading her arms, she opened herself up, and invited it all in.

  Chapter 29

  The Soulkeepers

  Malini paced along the road in front of the bison exhibit. Lillian, Jesse, the twins, and Jacob lined up, eyes fixed on her, waiting for instructions. Gideon, in his cat form, paced at their feet. Helpers Master Lee and Grace had continued their search for the last Soulkeeper and Ethan remained in Eden caring for Dane. They had strict orders of what to do if Malini and the others failed. They were to return to Eden and keep the Soulkeeper line alive until a new Healer rose to power. Malini prayed they’d never have to use that particular back up plan.

  With a deep breath, Malini addressed the group gathered on the side of the road. "Today, we face the greatest challenge of our lifetimes. The devil himself plans to rip a hole in this dimension and flood our world with his minions. Months ago, a Watcher described Lucifer’s plan as bringing on the next great flood, only this time humans would perish while Watchers survived. We think he plans to bring forth a Watcher army with the intention of destroying life as we know it. We cannot allow any Watchers to escape this property."

  Samantha reached for Bonnie's hand for comfort. Jesse adjusted his glasses, a fidgety ball of energy at Lillian's side.

  "There is a team of physicists here under Watcher influence. If possible, restrain or incapacitate the humans. They are not acting in their own will. We have reason to believe that Dr. Silva has joined Lucifer’s ranks. Do not exercise restraint when dealing with Dr. Silva. Kill anything with black blood. Do not hesitate."

  Lillian squirmed, gripping the handle of her knife in the sheath on her leg. She flashed a forlorn look at Gideon whose green cat’s eyes bore into Malini’s.

  "You both heard me correctly." Malini waited while her words sunk in. The Soulkeepers glanced at each other, some with greater understanding than others.

  "I’ve been studying the satellite view of the area and I see three potential entry points to the Tevatron. The loop is four miles long, but the CDF Control Room is here." Malini pointed with a stick at the drawing she’d made in the dirt based on the images from her phone.

  "Gideon, Jacob, and I will go there. It’s the most likely place for Lucifer to plan the sacrifice. We’ll launch an offensive and attempt to take the crew out before the ceremony takes place. If we fail and the tear occurs, there are two subterranean access points, here and here." She drew X’s over boxes on her drawing. "Those access points are the most likely places Watchers will attempt to exit if they get through. The twins will take the east, Lillian and Jesse, the west. Kill anything that gets through."

  Bonnie and Sam huddled together nervously. Bonnie gripped a medieval looking spiked club in her hands, a weapon they’d brought from Eden. It was blessed and would cause damage beyond the force the twins could wield. Just like Lillian's knives and the spiked chain Jesse brought, the material would burn a Watcher on contact. Malini hoped it would be enough to hold back the flood if she and Jacob weren’t able to turn the water off at the tap. "Any questions?" she asked, eyeing them one last time.

  Gideon leaped toward her, transforming into an angel in a grotesque twist of flesh. When he was done, Gideon stood toe to toe with Malini, his eyes challenging her. "I have a question," he said into her face.

  "Spill it," Malini said, fists going to her hips.

  "How do you know? How do you know that Abigail has turned herself over to Lucifer? How do you know this isn’t all the devil's elaborate trap?" He snapped the words at Malini, his voice rising with the tide of anger that reddened his face.

  Malini shook her head. "I know because it’s my job to know. When I became Healer I was given the ability to determine the greater good."

  "The greater good for humanity, not the greater good for us."

  Malini nodded and lowered her voice. "You know that’s how it works, Gideon. You taught me that."

  He brought one fist down into the other with such force it made Malini take a step back. "You are a sixteen-year-old girl who has been a Healer for less than a year. Maybe this time you are wrong. Maybe this time there has been a mistake." His eyes cast downward.

  Malini shook her head. "There's no mistake, Gideon."

  His upper body collapsed and he caught himself on his knees.

  Stepping forward, Malini placed her healing hand on his shoulder. "I can’t force you to trust me. I know this is hard for you but I also know that this time I’m right. The future is always changing based on our choices. I can’t see every possible scenario. But I do know that in this case, this plan will lead to the best outcome." She turned her face toward the others. "You have to trust in my abilities as a Healer. If you don’t, we’re as good as doomed. We might as well go in fighting blind."

  Gideon shrugged her hand off his shoulder.

  "I need to know if you are with us or
against us," she said to him.

  The angel ruffled his wings. The air around him sparked and crackled. "I’m with you," he said reluctantly. He spat the words and refused to meet Malini’s eyes.

  She steeled her resolve and rose to her full height, facing the Soulkeepers who watched Gideon nervously. "This is my guidance to you as your Healer, not my personal will. If we are to have any hope of defeating evil, we have to work together. That means you are in one-hundred percent or not in at all. You can’t do this halfway. Are you in?"

  One by one they nodded their heads.

  "It’s time. We go on foot. Spread out and don’t get caught." Malini turned and used the car to launch herself over the fence into the buffalo exhibit. Jacob followed. Gideon lagged behind but eventually moved in their direction.

  "Wow, Malini, great speech. ‘You're either with me or against me.’ Damn. I didn’t know you had it in you." Jacob smiled in her direction.

  "It’s not funny, Jacob. We’re going into battle. People could die. Did you see how they looked at me? They think I came up with this plan on a whim. They don’t respect me. They don’t trust me."

  Jacob shook his head. "That’s not true. It’s not about you, Malini. Everyone knows you’re brilliant. They’re scared. Gideon’s heart is broken and the twins and Jesse have almost no experience with this type of thing. I know it’s hard but you can’t take it personally."

  "That’s easy to say but I have a hard enough time trusting in my abilities. They’re right, Jacob. I’m only sixteen and I’m not sure that everything’s going to be okay. People might get hurt. People might die, and it might be my fault. But this is the only way I know how to lead. My gifts tell me this is the right thing to do."

  Jacob scanned the horizon, watching the bison eye them cautiously from their watering hole. "Don’t step in it," he said.

  "I don’t have a choice. I have to do what I have to do."

  He yanked her arm toward him, pulling her against his chest. She narrowly missed a steaming pile of dung. "I meant literally," he said.