The Afterlife of Alice Watkins 2
Page 34
“And was it abused?”
“In the decades following the final wave of plague, this world formed a forgiving and accepting society. We have lived in peace and tranquility.”
“And how did I get to China after the preservation?”
"A'khet's transport lay hidden beneath the monastery. That is where A'khet placed our beloved daughter. After many decades, A'khet learned a cure for your disease was developed, but you needed to be where your people would discover you. A'khet took the transport many miles across the border to an area designated as part of a road-building project. We constructed a chamber within the rock and kept watch until you were discovered. In honour of Martin's concerns, the tissue samples were placed in the chamber."
“It frightens me to think of being in that chamber alone for all those years.”
“Only days. Those who found the chamber summoned the authorities and with all reverence and care, transported the capsule to their facilities. But Umru did not release our beloved daughter as we believed, Umru was wise and remained bound to her for centuries. When A’khet were questioned about the preservation, we remained silent. A’khet are not gods, we could not know if Umru would save our daughter or if she might still be lost. And A’khet could not foretell how long Umru would remain with her.”
“What happened to Martin Watkins?”
“He stayed with us until his death and watched over his niece. He is buried in the earth here; his resting place is behind the monastery. You visited there the first day you came back to us.”
Alice remembered the rock in a meadow behind the monastery the time Noah brought her here. She’d lost time between viewing the scenery and lying on the grass near the rock, but remembered gravitating towards that place.
Alice stood. There remained nothing more for her to learn here. Whatever else might still be revealed in the future, whatever explanation may come from her presence in a different time, no more would be offered by the A'khet.
“Thank you, A'khet, for all I've learned today and for your kindness and care of Martin Watkins and Alexis Langley. I hope somehow, she understands as well,” Alice reached out and touched the spokesman A'khet, a gesture each A'khet received with a smile. “It saddens me,” she said, “that my being here caused you to lose one of your own.”
The three other A’khet stepped back for her to leave the room.
“The child, Eliza.”
Alice turned. “What about her?”
“She will bring to humankin Knowledge to preserve those whom they cannot cure, as our dear daughter was preserved.”
“But not by Umru?”
“Not by Umru, she will gain A'khet Knowledge and bring science to the world using the tools of mankind. A'khet has found a way to make this so.”
“And your secret will remain safe.” Alice instinctively understood. The A’khet could not offer a cure, but they could provide an opportunity for mankind to wait while it found one.
A’khet nodded.
“A’khet suffer no grief now.”
The monks brought a very happy Eliza back to Alice with a small shank of lamb's wool she'd woven into a ball. She showed it to everyone, thoroughly enjoying being the centre of attention. Alice picked her up and made her way along the terrace, as her little girl—the great scientist of the future—waved and called "bye-bye" to A'khet and the monks as they went.
Chapter 41
Walking along the terrace, Alice felt a quiet instinct that what passed between her and A’khet today was not the end—something more would come. Soon she would learn why she’d been placed on this path, why she led a life of beauty and happiness that rightfully belonged to another. To Alexis Langley. Alice Watkins was trespassing. She looked up at the sky. It seemed bluer today. The grass greener. The air sweeter.
As she reached the top of the steps, she once again felt drawn to the meadow behind the monastery, to the resting place of Martin Watkins. Alice went through the archway and put Eliza down to play on the grass. The cluster of rocks where Martin was buried was unmarked, so she sat on the smallest, hoping Martin's grave wasn't beneath her, and watched as Eliza ran off some of her boundless energy, chasing insects.
A movement in the distance caught her eye. She watched as the white-haired young man walked towards her. She’d seen him before, countless times—in dreams, on Saturn Station, at the Tabernacle, reflected in a picture at Patrick’s home. She shielded her eyes from the sun to watch his approach. Each step he took sent shafts of colour swirling up from the ground; geometric shapes of many hues surrounded and moved with him. As he neared, the colours and patterns fell away. In form, he seemed little more than a child, but his eyes held wisdom, his face ageless. And now, she knew he’d stepped through dimensions to stand before her. His appearance exuded pure gentleness and light. He smiled down at her where she sat.
“Alice. I am Ariel. I have come to correct a grave error. I am here to return you.”
His voice, perfect in both pitch and timbre, was a voice Alice heard before, at the Top of the World.
“You are out of time, Alice,” he said, as he knelt beside her. His eyes, a colour not yet known to man, held her reflection. He touched the earth and a wheel-like structure rose. In the centre, encompassed by a shallow cup, hung a droplet of fluid-like brilliance, breathtaking in its beauty—brighter than any diamond, more glorious than any sun. Stretching outwards from the cup, shining strands, linked like a chain, reached towards a glowing outer rim.
They watched it together, and he smiled.
“The most unique of creations, Alice. Life.”
Alice gazed at the hovering droplet in the centre of the wheel, drawn into its depths. When she looked at Ariel, instead of her reflection, it was the droplet that reflected in his eyes, as if it stood in her place. This symbol, this wheel was to help her understand her place in the universe.
“The essence of life,” he said, “brighter than any star, any moon or any sun, existing within the fabric of time. Each of the links is a soul covenant, reaching from your life essence to the continuity of time at the edge of eternity.”
He touched the earth, and another wheel appeared. The outer rim glowed, but the links were dull, the central life essence dim.
“Alexis,” she whispered, understanding.
“A'khet spoke of the union between their corporeal and non-corporeal selves. In humankind such a union also takes place, between the spirit and the body. This union is the soul. Each spirit forms countless soul covenants on its journey to eternity. The physical body, subject to its mortality, eventually dies, severing the soul bond. It is then the spirit is released to link with a new body, within the same soul group. At the time of your death, Alice, the union between your spirit and your body ceased to exist.”
“I’m dead?” Alice whispered.
He didn’t answer her, only continued.
“The preservation of Alexis Langley was achieved by a melding of human and A’khet. The soul union of Alexis Langley was present, but the mantle of the non-corporeal A’khet, itself a spirit form, created a quiescence—a temporary death, concealing the spirit from natural universal forces and Time. Alice Watkins died, the soul bond dissolved and her spirit withdrew, entering another of her soul family who Time believed was near to a quickening—a birth. Alexis Langley woke possessed of a new, unnatural soul covenant formed between the spirit of Alice Watkins and the body of Alexis Langley."
“How can such an error be made? How can anyone possess two souls?” Alice shook her head.
“The life essence of the one you call Alexis Langley is now part of the ethereal canopy; A'khet is with her, and they must be released. While her life essence remains in a soul union, she cannot attain eternity nor return while her body is host to another covenant. Death is the only force that can dissolve a covenant already made. But your covenant with this body has no foundation, no veil drawn between lives, there could be no forgetting.”
“That’s why I remembered being Alice.”
“Each decision made,” Ariel said, “each path chosen during a lifetime changes destiny. Only one constant remains, unchangeable and eternal, and that is the destiny of the human spirit to inhabit these physical temples. Each temple is reborn countless times, and many life essences make covenants with each physicality. Your life essence has distilled many times into the physicality you now occupy; it is another of your life essence's temples. So upon release from Alice Watkins it became drawn back to its family—it is the natural order of the universe. But the soul union of Alexis Langley never dissolved, because she continued to live under a mantle of concealment of A'khet Umru. The body now inhabited by the spirit of Alice Watkins belongs to the soul union of Alexis Langley. Though many times have you been born to this existence, and yet more in worlds to come, I am here because this timeline has no place in eternity and must cease.”
“So, I am dead?" Alice knew she was thinking in primitive terms; it was impossible to comprehend the vision of eternity Ariel presented. She remembered the feeling of peace during her vision of Alexis Langley's descent towards her passing—so beautiful and profound. But now, she had so much to live for.
“Are you God?”
Ariel smiled. “No, Alice, I am a sentinel, I stand at the gate of time and eternity. I am the beginning and the end.”
“And you are going to take me away from Noah and Eliza, where I have been so happy?”
Alice saw the inevitability. How could she remain? To continue walking Alexis Langley’s path, imprinting her footsteps where another’s should be? It would be too cruel. She’d been here long enough, borrowing joy and happiness for only a brief point in time.
Alice buried her face in her hands. “I can’t bear it. Eliza is a baby. Noah will be broken hearted!”
“Time will be forfeit,” Ariel spoke so gently, “but they are not lost to you, they are waiting for you. But not here, not now.”
“Time will be forfeit? Then none of this will have happened?”
“This error set in motion a thread never meant to be, not in accord with the universe.”
“These are only moments in time,” Alice spoke her thoughts aloud, and though she felt tears, she also smiled.
"We tried many times to bring an end to this. Now, you are ready to allow the life essence of Alexis Langley to return from the ethereal canopy. She must be released. You said when you defended her rights— she was preserved so she may live.
“Will Alexis meet Noah and love him as I do?”
In answer, Alexis’s wheel vanished, and Ariel once more touched the earth. Alice's wheel continued to spin, and another wheel came to life. The wheels rotated in perfect balance, and together, formed the symbol of infinity; across the centre where the rims overlapped, geometric shapes danced and moved in glorious harmony.
“This time is forfeit, it will cease to be. But as the universe blinks, so another time is born.” He smiled tranquilly, “Across the reach of eternity, you will find each other. You are always linked.”
“What happens in other timelines, when A’khet Umru covers Alexis’s spirit? Will this happen again? When will I come back to this body and live this life?”
Ariel didn’t answer, just rose from his kneeling position.
"When the veil is drawn, Alice. A'khet understood this time must end, but continues as it should, for you, and for Alexis, within the folds of Time."
How could she fight it? These laws were set by the universe. By Time itself. Alice knew then what happened was unique. Time and the universe were changed because of her. She looked over to where Eliza was laughing and playing in the grass. Alice was stealing time, stealing life. Stealing from someone now straddled between worlds.
“Many choices and many paths, Alice. You will remember nothing,” Ariel said as he took her hand. “Not even in dreams.”
As he touched her, the coolness she so often felt back on Saturn Station swept along her body. Her beautiful new life faded as she called out to Eliza.
Chapter 42
“I’m here, Grandma, it’s alright,” Eliza’s voice drifted through the fog. She held tightly onto her grandmother’s hand and called to her mother, “Mum, Grandma’s awake!”
Michelle’s frightened face appeared over Eliza’s shoulder.
“Mum! Oh, Mum, we were so scared. Nurse! Mum’s awake!” Alice heard distant hurried footsteps and urgent voices.
She gulped in her breath and tried to sit up, but her body felt heavy and weighted down, her legs straight out in front of her. What happened? She'd been sitting in the chair with Sammy on her lap, waiting for Michelle and now she was in bed? A doctor and a nurse took Michelle and Eliza's place beside her, checking her pulse, shining lights into her eyes, adjusting tubes. She must try to smile and reassure Eliza that whatever happened, her grandma is okay now, and she mustn't worry.
The doctor finished his examination and sat on the side of the bed—an older man with greying hair and a kind voice.
“Mrs Watkins? Welcome back. Can you hear me?”
Alice felt very weak; she tried to nod her head, yes, she could hear him.
“You are in St Mary's, and you are quite safe. You've had a massive stroke,” the doctor explained, “caused by an artery in your brain giving way. We call this event an aneurysm and one such as yours carries a very high fatality rate. However…” the doctor smiled towards the side of the bed where Alice could just see Michelle and Eliza from the corner of her eye, but she didn’t have the strength to turn her head, “...your son and daughter and granddaughter insisted we give you every chance after we operated and repaired the artery.”
Alice tried to speak, but her mouth was too dry, and her voice hoarse, so she only managed a whisper.
“Am I—will I be alright?”
“We are hopeful. You didn’t wake after the surgery, Mrs Watkins. At times, we needed to help you to breathe. And at times, your heart needed some assistance. Your family,” he smiled again at Michelle and Eliza, “barely left your bedside, even when we felt they should not hope.”
“You started to breathe on your own two weeks ago, Grandma,” Eliza said through her tears. Alice made a supreme effort turn her head and smile at her granddaughter.
“Yes, you did,” the doctor agreed, patting her hand. “Now, we are tiring you with all these explanations. You've been here a long time, and you still have some way to go.”
“How long?” Alice mustered up the strength to ask.
“Nine weeks, Mrs Watkins.”
Alice tried to say, ‘thank you’. Nine weeks? The doctor stood and smiled broadly at Michelle and Eliza, then left the three alone.
“Nine weeks, Mum,” Michelle’s eyes were red from crying. “At first, if it wasn’t for the occasional brain wave patterns or whatever they called them, I think they were going to give up.”
“I would never let them, Grandma,” Eliza said fiercely.
“The baby?” Alice remembered. Yes, there was to be a new baby.
“A little girl. We were so worried about you, Mum. We called her Alice, just in case…you know…just in case,” Michelle dissolved into tears; she spoke through her sobs. “Steven is here, he came straight away. He comes to sit with you in the mornings and Eliza and I come in the afternoon; we didn’t want you to wake up and be alone.”
Alice lifted her hand weakly, reaching out to her daughter. Michelle collapsed forward in tears onto the bed, Alice’s hand smoothing down her hair. Her hand looked withered and thin, the wedding ring Ted placed there hung loosely on her finger.
Another little granddaughter. She must get well and finish that crochet jacket before the baby grew out of it.
Five weeks later, Alice stood gazing into her hall mirror. Her hair, cropped short from the brain surgery, had grown back into a soft bob. She liked it. It was pur
e white, she liked that too. She checked herself for chin hairs. Still there. Nothing a razor won’t fix. Then she removed her wedding ring and placed it in the hall table drawer.
Eliza and Michelle were making up the spare bed, talking and laughing. Eliza would stay here until the family were sure Alice could manage alone. Sammy wandered around the living room, yowling, then found his favourite spot where the sun came in through the window. He looked sleek and slim from his time with Michelle, who didn’t spoil him like Alice—and his new diet, which Michelle found under the sink, obviously agreed with him.
Alice sat in her chair. The branch had been cut back and wasn't tapping on the window. She reached down for her crochet—the yarn felt strange and coarse on her fingers, and she placed her work in her lap. The new baby, little Alice, had grown too big for the jacket now, anyway. She listened to Eliza and Michelle's happy laughter and sighed. So lovely to be home, and to be so loved.
Chapter 43
Added by Eliza Campbell, 23rd August 2103
I stayed with Grandma after her stroke. In fact, I never lived at my parents home again. I went to university to study law, staying with Grandma during holidays. In 2019, my uncle Steven married a girl from Scotland, and their little boy came along in the same year. Grandma's dearest wish was to visit Scotland to see them. I agreed to go, but we didn't finally get there until the end of 2025. Grandma adored Uncle Steven's red-haired, green-eyed wife, Margaret, and when our planned three months were up, she decided to stay on a little longer. I knew she would be safe with Uncle Steven, but I made her promise to come home in a few months.
On the night before I was due to fly back to Australia, Grandma asked me to walk with her. I’ll never forget that walk. Grandma changed so much after she woke from her coma. She learned to use a computer and threw out her entire wardrobe of old-fashioned clothes; mum and I went with her to choose everything new. Grandma even learned to drive and bought a car. All of which surprised me, but not as much as the story she related that last night; I couldn't even guess where she dreamed up such an extraordinary tale.