Awakenings (Intertwined Souls Series Book 4)

by Mary D. Brooks

  “No, I don’t want to do that.” Eva stood and turned for the door. Zoe grabbed her arm and stopped her.

  “Evy, come back here,” Zoe said. “It’s important.”

  “No.” Eva walked to the door, put her hand on the doorknob, and rested her head on the door.

  Zoe went to Eva. “This is going to hurt. It always does, but you have to know. We can’t hide from this. I need to know.”

  Eva sighed. She returned to her chair and sat down heavily, head down but still holding Zoe’s hand.

  “When Muller was yelling and cursing on that muddy field, why did you look at Zoe?” Irene asked.

  Eva looked up and blinked. “Zoe looked at me.”

  Zoe turned her attention to Eva and shook her head. “No, I didn’t. I was looking at Muller, but when he passed me, I turned and found you staring at me.”

  Irene watched Eva’s face closely. “You don’t remember that?”

  “I don’t know,” Eva honestly replied. “I remember trying not to focus on anyone.”

  “I want you to think back. I want you to think back to that very moment in time when you chose to look at Zoe.”

  Eva closed her eyes as the visions came flooding back. She grimaced. She could smell the stench of blood all around her as if she was back there again. She had focused on the horizon, not wanting to see the faces of those that would be killed. She didn’t want to remember their faces. One girl stood out from everyone else. Zoe.

  “I remember being mesmerized by this young girl who wasn’t cowering as Muller was coming towards her. She wasn’t doing what everyone else was doing and trying to hide. Zoe almost dared Muller to come her way.”

  “I did what?”

  “You watched as Zoe met Muller’s gaze without fear.” Irene said.

  “Oh, I was afraid,” Zoe said. “I was terrified.”

  Eva’s eyes popped open and she stared at Zoe in amazement.

  “What?” Zoe asked.

  “I knew something was going to happen to you,” Eva whispered.

  “What?”

  “I knew.”

  “Like you knew that you had to get home instead of staying with your friends on Kristallnacht. You knew your mother was in trouble,” Irene said. “Like you knew that your grandfather was dying or that your friend Wilhelm didn’t survive the war.”

  Eva’s head fell forward. She felt her chest constrict as memories of Kristallnacht flooded back—that one night that changed everything for her. She did know. She knew there had been something wrong, begged off from going with her friends and ran home as fast as she could. She knew.

  “Like you knew that I would fall off my motorcycle. You kept warning me to be careful and you knew when I had fallen off my motorcycle even before Henry rang you,” Zoe quietly added. “Or you knew when someone was watching us at the park, or you know when I’m sick before I get sick.”

  “I…” Eva opened her mouth and froze. She nodded. “I do.”

  “Why did you look at Zoe, Eva?”

  Eva blinked. “I knew Zoe was going to die that day.”

  Zoe gasped.

  “You knew Zoe was going to die that day. At that very moment in time, you knew that Zoe was going to be shot dead. You looked at her to distract her from—”

  “From doing something so completely stupid that it would have gotten me killed,” Zoe exclaimed. “I remember what I was thinking as Muller was coming towards me. I was going to throw mud at him.”

  “But you didn’t. Why?”

  “My mother told me not to, and then I got distracted by the tall German woman in a black cloak, standing in the rain, looking at me. She stared at me that I didn’t move,” Zoe said in amazement. “Evy, you saved my life.”

  “I…” Eva looked to Irene and then to Zoe in shock and disbelief.

  “Zoe and her mother were destined to die that day,” Irene said quietly. She took out Tessa’s drawing and put it on the table.

  Zoe’s eyes welled up and tears tracked down her cheeks, but she didn’t turn away from the image.

  Eva looked down to see two bodies in the mud. She was in shock. She blinked back tears on seeing mud and blood caked on Zoe’s teenage face.

  “You changed Zoe’s destiny, Eva,” Irene said.

  “Dear God,” Zoe exclaimed and wiped her eyes.

  Eva got up and faced the wall. She rested her head on the paneling as she tried to process it all.

  Zoe went to her and put her arms around her. “You saved my life.”

  Eva turned and gazed down into Zoe’s eyes. “You saved mine.” Her voice broke as the tears ran down her cheeks. She cupped Zoe’s face and kissed her. They held each other for a long time.

  Zoe took Eva’s hand and led her back to their seats.

  “You have that ability, Eva, but there is more,” Irene said.

  “Isn’t that enough?”

  “It’s God’s will. We all say ‘isn’t it enough’ but God has a plan. You went through the fires of hell in Aiden. It’s going to take time to heal, and once you do, those gifts will come to the surface. Maybe it’s because of what happened in Aiden that somehow those gifts were submerged. I don’t know, but they will surface.”

  “Do all the gifted have the ability to know when another gifted person is nearby?”

  “Like a homing beacon,” Eva joked and then poured herself another glass and drank it.

  “It’s a feeling that someone else has the same abilities or similar abilities.”

  “Like what?” Zoe asked. “Apart from Eva’s knowing when things will occur before they happen.”

  “I don’t know, but we will have to wait and see.”

  “Wow.” Eva scrubbed her face. “Did my mother know?”

  “I don’t know if your mother knew you had these gifts. I know she didn’t believe Theresa was possessed, but other than that, I don’t know.”

  “What happens next?”

  “You start to heal. You finally walk out of Aiden and learn to accept who you are. It will take time, but Stella tells me you have made great progress in the short time she has been helping you. Allow Stella and Theresa to help you and help Zoe.” Irene smiled. “You’re going to the cemetery to see your mother, is that right?”

  “Yes, we were going to go today, but I don’t think I can handle that now.”

  “No, I don’t expect you can, but knowing why is better than not knowing. It’s a lot to process and we will talk again, alright?” Irene tapped Eva on the knee. She got up and kissed Eva’s head, and then walked out of the room.

  Zoe picked up the drawing and gazed at it for a long moment before she looked at Eva. Eva was slouching in the chair and staring at Zoe. “Evy?”

  “Hmm.”

  “Thank you,” Zoe quietly said and dropped the drawing on the table. She got up and sat in Eva’s lap. “You changed our lives.”

  Eva gazed at Zoe for a long moment before she took her in her arms and held on.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  A gentle, warm breeze blew the fallen leaves across the courtyard as Tessa sat on the stone bench under a large weeping birch tree. She watched the leaves swirl around and settle before another breeze would carry them further across the ground.

  She glanced at the house, knowing that Irene was giving Eva the news. She knew what her niece would be feeling—a terror would envelope her heart and seep into her bones. It was the same way Tessa had felt when Irene told her. It was her destiny.

  The door from the villa opened and Irene walked out. She stood at the top of the steps for a long moment and crossed herself. She slowly made her way down the steps and followed the walkway to where Tessa was sitting.

  “You told her?” Tessa asked and shifted sideways to let Irene sit beside her.

  “I did.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She uttered the same words you did when I told you so many years ago. I believe the word ‘fuck’ was used.”

  Tessa looked grimly towards the house. “Th
ere isn’t a lot she can say to that news.”

  “Being told you are gifted is not something you expect, and from everything she has gone through, it would be the last thing she expected,” Irene said.

  “She didn’t realize she had the gifts, did she?”

  “No. She was not aware of it, and I don’t think she believes she does now. Let the shock of the news wear off and then she will deal with it.”

  “You couldn’t get a read from her?”

  “No, it was difficult even if she was distracted by the news. I can feel she is like us, but there’s something not quite right. I believe Aiden has something to do with it.”

  “Did you try to enhance her gifts?”

  “I did, but there’s little there to enhance. We know she’s gifted in languages, and she’s empathic, to some degree. There is also precognition, but that’s about it. It should not be the case. Her gifts are supposed to be stronger than ours.”

  “Maybe she only got a little bit of it?”

  Irene chuckled as she put her arm around Tessa. “Tessa, my darling that is like saying she was a little bit pregnant. You are either gifted or you are not.”

  “I find this odd.”

  Irene nodded. She took Tessa’s hand and held it. “Yes, it is very odd, but I’ve learnt to rely on God to show me the way. He will. It’s only a matter of time. It was her gift that made her look at Zoe in that field. She thought it was because Zoe was looking at her that she stared back. Are you going to tell Zoe about Athena’s Bluff?”

  “Zoe did ask me if I was the one who said ‘no, don’t’ to her on Athena’s Bluff, thus distracting her from pulling the trigger. I’ve come to know Zoe quite well, and one thing I’ve realized is that she will continue to dig if she has questions, and she has a lot of questions.”

  “Eva doesn’t?”

  “Eva keeps things close to her chest. She doesn’t say much unless you ask her directly, and even then she may not answer you.” Tessa shook her head. “Zoe will be the one to ask me.”

  “You know this or…”

  “I’ve come to know Zoe.” Tessa smiled. “Experience with Zoe tells me that she will ask.”

  “Yes, I’m sure she will.”

  “I told Eva back in Larissa that they will have children.”

  “Did you tell them about their firstborn?”

  “No.”

  “Good, there is no point in doing that.

  “Aunty, um…I can’t help but wonder. Are our gifts more powerful now than in previous generations? Surely they can’t be more powerful because Eva Theresa was given these gifts directly from the Holy Ghost.”

  “Eva Theresa’s only gift was the gift of languages. For reasons God only knows, the gifts have been passed on when they should have died off. Your great great aunt Erika Theresa told me that she felt there was a purpose. She saw a vision of all the gifted in a field standing shoulder to shoulder. All of them in one place.”

  “What were they doing?”

  “Waiting. They were dressed in white and they were waiting. She didn’t know why or who they were waiting for.”

  “The Last Days that Jesus talked about?” Tessa asked. “Is that what she meant?”

  “Could be. I don’t know. Saint Peter did say ‘I will pour out my spirit upon every sort of flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy and your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams.’ I don’t know.”

  “It’s been quite a morning. Any more visits from our friends?” Tessa picked up a twig from the ground and twirled it around her fingers. She gazed at it for a moment and the twig snapped in two. She dropped the twigs to the ground.

  Irene looked at the twig and then at Tessa. “Show off,” she said with a smile. “Katarina is primed with a bat for anyone who breaks in again. She thought Eva was an intruder. Luckily for Eva, Katarina didn’t have her bat.”

  “Luckily for Katarina that Zoe wasn’t around or we would have a fatality on our hands. Poor Tommy almost got killed with a vase to the head.”

  Irene chuckled. “I love that boy. Well, it’s a good that Zoe’s aim was off. Now we have to prepare for our visitors.”

  “They are coming, right?”

  “Oh, yes.” Irene nodded. “Tonight.”

  “When is Uncle Johan coming home?”

  “He was at the hospice last night giving the Last Rites to a young man with cancer—he passed away this morning. I expect him to be home tonight.”

  “Did i say ‘fuck’ to a nun?” Eva turned to Zoe in disbelief. She was slumped in a chair. Her long legs were stretched out before her and she held the whisky glass in her hand.

  Zoe smiled and nodded. “You’re going to have a sore tummy if you keep drinking that whisky. You know what that does to you.”

  “I said ‘fuck’ to a nun, and not any old nun…my great aunt.”

  “You didn’t say fuck to any old nun—that’s different and a little icky,” Zoe joked, trying to get Eva to laugh.

  Eva turned to her looking shocked, then a smile creased her face and she laughed.

  Zoe fell back on the lounge chair, shaking her head. “Your mother would be so proud. I’ll tell her tomorrow you told her aunt to go and do naughty things.”

  “Oh, god.” Eva held her head in her hands. “I think facing my grandmother is going to be so easy compared to this.”

  “Are you going to tell your grandmother to get fucked?” Zoe said mischievously. “I would love to see that.”

  “Why not? I’m on a roll—great aunt, grandmother…”

  “So.” Zoe took Eva’s hands. “What are we going to do?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t give this gift back, can I? I don’t even know what it is.”

  “I don’t think so. What do we know?”

  “The women are inheriting this gift that was handed down by that silly woman who was in a room with the apostles.” Eva leaned forward, inches away from Zoe’s face. “We know that gift didn’t die with her as it should have.”

  “She was one of one hundred and twenty to get this gift, right? So what happened to the other one hundred and seven? We know what happened to the twelve apostles. Did those one hundred and seven give their gifts to their children like Theresa Eva? There must be others like you, your aunt, and great aunt.”

  “That makes me sound like a leper.” Eva scowled.

  Zoe smoothed the deep furrow between Eva’s eyes. “What if she didn’t die?”

  “Who?”

  “Theresa Eva. What if she didn’t die and she’s still alive after two thousand years?”

  “That’s impossible. No one is immortal.”

  “Really?” Zoe smiled. “How do you know? As far as we knew, you didn’t have any gifts, and you didn’t have any family other than the Mullers before we left for Europe. How do we know that this woman is not the head of some big organization?”

  Eva looked at Zoe for a moment and then grinned. “You read too many stories, Zo.”

  Zoe grinned back and nodded. “Got you to smile. She might be Frau Muller.”

  Eva fell back on her chair, laughing. “Oh god, you just make me laugh.”

  “That’s my job.” Zoe kissed Eva tenderly. “Are you feeling better?”

  Eva shook her head. “No, but I don’t think I’m going to feel better for a long time. That was a shock.” She brought the glass to her lips and drank. She grimaced but didn’t put the glass down.

  “I was going to be shot in the head,” Zoe said quietly. “That would have messed up my day and my pretty green blouse.”

  Eva laughed. “Zoe, stop.”

  “If we don’t attempt to find humor in this, I think we will both be ready for the lunatic asylum just like all those poor women.”

  “You may be right.”

  “You know what I think? I think your aunt Tessa hasn’t been telling us the truth about her gifts,” Zoe said seriously. “I think she may have been hoping we were too bamboozled by what was going on with her visions and
that whole eye thing to question her any further.”

  “I think that vision thing and her eyes were enough to shake us.”

  “Yes. She didn’t lie to us, but she didn’t tell us the truth either. I was so shocked by what she could do when her eyes changed color.”

  “Do my eyes change color?”

  “Only when we make love, and that,” she buffed her nails against her shirt, “has everything to do with me and not your gift.” She gave Eva a devilish grin. “Ever since Irene told us about these gifts, something Tessa said to me in Larissa makes me wonder about something,” She added as she looked out of the window and into the garden.

  “What?”

  “Remember I asked her if it was her that said ‘no, don’t’ up on Athena’s Bluff and that didn’t give me enough time to rush you? She said it was her.”

  “So what’s wrong with that?”

  “That wasn’t the only thing that happened up on the mountain. Eva, that gun I had with me did work, but it jammed when I fired it at you.”

  “I don’t understand. The gun jammed and what?”

  Zoe turned away from the window and gazed at Eva. “I killed a rabbit with that gun right after you left. There was nothing wrong with that gun.”

  Eva stared at Zoe for a long moment. “Tessa jammed the gun? How? She was in Thessalonica.”

  “Yes. She could send a message to me that only I could hear, I had a gun that worked but didn’t…”

  The two remained silent for a moment before Eva slapped herself on the head. “Oh dear.”

  “What?”

  “Do you remember when Father brought me down to the church cellar and you were there?”

  “Yes, after I executed my collaborator cousin—that worthless piece of shit,” Zoe exclaimed vehemently.

  “Do you remember what happened?”

  Zoe frowned in thought, and then turned to Eva in astonishment. “Was this before I called you a cripple and vowed to kill you? Um…I fired my gun again and the gun jammed.”