by Mia Fox
Pushing his thoughts toward ideas of riches and power did nothing to motivate him. Nor did the images that Raven left of myself and James living our life in happiness. He didn’t wish revenge on us and frankly, he had no desire for more powers beyond what he already was capable of, but what he did want was Charlotte. To Raven’s chagrin, it was the one image that sent him over the edge. An image of Maebeline supporting the work of the Nephilim with voodoo and shaman prayers caused Phineas to give up the fight he had launched against the elements and instead, give into them. Raven was naturally fuming that the one image that gave his mind fully to her was that of Charlotte, but if it served her well and she could keep Phineas pliable, then so be it.
Phineas stood and approached Maebeline’s door, ready to fight the woman who he believed was fully responsible for Charlotte’s pending death. He stopped for a moment and walked back to the street to the mailbox where he gathered up the day’s letters and bills.
An older man from next door saw him and being a neighborhood watch type of street, took it upon himself to find out what Phineas was doing. “Hey, you there. Something wrong with Maebeline?”
“She’s just out of town. I’m watching her place for her,” Phineas lied easily.
“Hmm, she usually asks me to do that,” the man said scratching his head. “I can save you the trouble.”
Phineas turned and in a split second raised his hand in the ‘stop’ motion, sending the man careening into the picket fence that bordered his property. The man stumbled to rise, but Phineas refocused his sights on him again. Within seconds the man clutched his chest and slid back down to the ground. Phineas slowly walked toward the man. “Sorry sir, but the only trouble I’m experiencing here is with you.”
“Please, call an ambulance. I think I’m having a heart...”
“Shhh, I’ll do better than that. I’ll bestow some neighborly kindness unto you. This will be quick. Phineas left him and turned toward Maebeline’s walkway. After knocking on her door, he turned and saw that the man had now closed his eyes in death.
* * *
Chapter Thirteen
The air was still and the woods were quiet. Too quiet. Daniel pulled Samantha closer to him and looked into the sky where the blackbirds had suddenly scattered.
“Something isn’t right,” I noted. “It feels...”
“Wrong,” agreed Daniel.
Charlotte finally joined the group, moving the furthest from Shadow since they had left the ballroom. “What could be wrong?” she said in a dream-like haze. She bent down to run her hands through the mud and sludge.
James gently pulled her up by the elbow and led her back to me. He leaned in and whispered. “I need to leave you with Daniel. You’ll be alright. He knows this place and you’ve trained for this moment.”
“I know that I’ll be okay on my own, but why do you have to leave?”
“I think what you’re feeling is my energy. Something is happening to Maebeline.”
I saw that his brow was tinged with beads of sweat and his voice sounded raspy, not at all like its usual, silky smoothness.
“You’re not well.” Alarm tinged my voice.
“That means she’s not well. I...I need to get there.”
“Go! James...go now.” The fear in my voice didn’t go unnoticed. We held each other tightly. James running his hand down my spine, soothing me and calming his own nerves. We held each other like that for a moment, mutually accepting the other one’s support.
“Don’t panic. Not about me, not about anything. You keep your wits about you here. Understand?”
I nodded.
“And Suki...remember that I love you.”
There was something sad about his tone, something off, but I just clung to him a bit tighter. “Of course.”
“Let’s try something,” he said, and then focused his energy on projecting his voice into my head. “Do you hear me?”
“Yes silly. I always do.”
“You didn’t when you first arrived. Now don’t be a smart-ass.”
“You love bringing up the subject of my ass.”
James gave me a loving little smack across my backside. “You. Me. We’re One. I’ve always been there for you and that’s not changing now.”
“I know.”
He leaned in slowly, hesitantly as if he needed to memorize every changing expression on my face. When I tilted my head up to his, he met my mouth with his own, gently letting his lips graze mine.
Again, I felt his hand move up my back and rest behind my neck, pulling me in closer. Even traveling on foot through the mud, he still gave off his clean scent like warm sunshine after a light rain. I sighed against his mouth and let his tongue interweave with mine. My leg wrapped around his, pulling him in closer so that every inch of our bodies pressed against each other. God, I didn’t want to left him go.
The wind picked up and he pulled away from me. “It’s time. If I can catch the wind just right, the continuum of time will pull me back exactly where I need to be.”
“And that’s not with me,” I said sadly.
He gave me a sideways, sad smile and pressed two fingers to his lips and then to mine. I felt the jolt of electricity run from his body directly into mine when he touched me. He gasped suddenly and placed his hand on his heart.
“James!”
“It has to be now,” he said suddenly weaker.
“Can you make it?”
Without a sound, he was gone, riding the wind and the gears of time in search of his childhood home in New Orleans where Maebeline still resided.
* * *
I sat on a tree stump, taking a moment to assess the situation. On the positive side, I was reunited with both Charlotte and Samantha. But there was still much to be done if I were to get the three of us home safely. The Triad needed to be fulfilled and there was no telling how to do that. Charlotte was the only one who could access information from the Amulet of Pollox and her mind was not her own. Even if I were to draw upon the information that I had learned from each of my past Releasors, Samantha seemed reticent to leave Daniel. As for myself, I too worried about leaving for fear of James suddenly returning and being alone. If we were to form a proper Triad, each of us had to be aligned simultaneously with the same goals and thoughts.
I turned to watch Samantha quietly holding hands with Daniel, while Charlotte was once again enamored with Shadow, gently combing her fingers through the little girl’s blonde locks and then pulling them away before the strands turned to snakes and nipped at her wrists.
“Charlotte dear, maybe you should let Shadow comb her own hair? Her snakes seem hungry.” I tried to keep my voice even, but my look of disgust gave the game away.
“I won’t hurt her. I love her,” Shadow argued.
“But do your snakes know not to bite?”
“They won’t hurt Charlotte. They know how I feel about her.”
“That’s all very fine and dandy, but...” my voice was rising.
“Shh,” Charlotte placed a finger to her lips. “Be polite. You should know better than to raise your voice to an innocent child.”
I rolled my eyes. That was ripe. I had been to finishing school, ladies teas, debutante balls and more, and now I was being given etiquette lessons from a teenager with identity issues and an unhealthy relationship with an Encantado.
Before any more discussions could ensue, a low rumbling could be heard, interrupting the strange stillness of the air. Daniel instinctively pulled Samantha closer and I carefully scanned the horizon for signs of danger.
“Run!” I hurriedly grabbed Charlotte by the arm while Daniel moved toward Samantha, his eyes showing as much concern as my own.
“Samantha, Sam...come on, come on!” he urged.
“What? I don’t see anything? What is it?”
“There’s no time. Come on.”
“We can’t out run them,” I screamed. There isn’t time. Go up,” I urged pointing to the trees that surrounded us with their strong branche
s, wide enough to hold even a grown man.
“Charlotte, come on,” I urged, but the girl planted her feet solidly underneath her, unwilling to be led away.
“Not without Shadow,” she said quietly, with little concern for anything happening around her. Neither the shaking of the earth or the sounds of rumbling seemed to sway her. What started as just a warning now gave way to the sound of scampering claws as raccoons and squirrels climbed trees, deer bounded by, and wild horses pounded the ground toward us at full gallop.
I desperately tried to pull Charlotte out of harm’s way, but she merely turned toward the oncoming stampede, looking for Shadow, who was nowhere to be seen.
“We have to go!” I pleaded.
Daniel helped Samantha grab a hold of a tree, interlacing his fingers as a step and then pushing her upwards. She had always been athletic and her old skills came back to her easily as she climbed higher and he followed, ready to grab her if she lost her footing.
“Suki!” he called down to me, extending his hand to mine.
“Not without Charlotte!” I shouted above the rumble.
“Alright then. You go for Charlotte. I’m going back to the Gazebo,” he said looking upwards to ensure Samantha was safe.
“Daniel, no,” Samantha begged. “I can’t lose you.”
“I need to stop the time. Don’t you hear it?”
The sound of gears, grinding and moving and a ticking clock could be heard. It was barely audible, but if one focused it was most decidedly there.
“Daniel, if you stop the master clock it will buy us time before the Reckoning,” I confirmed.
“Be careful,” he said as he ran into the clearing.
Samantha watched him go and then shook off her sorrow. The fiery redhead was back and she turned her attention back to me. “The people who live here are motivated by innocence and happiness. They feed off of it,” she explained. “That’s what the Reckoning is all about.”
I looked up at her. “Samantha, how have you managed to maintain your mind? Why haven’t they taken control of you?”
“Because Daniel keeps me sane and when they are near, I remember all of the loss I’ve experienced. I didn’t know the specifics, but I felt it. Now that you’re here...I remember. My parents. Charlotte. You. It’s enough to make them think that I no longer have any hope. But I do.”
I smiled up at her. “You certainly do. You were always...” but I didn’t get to finish my thought. A large buck bounded within inches of me, but I swiftly rolled away, using one of my practiced Krav Maga moves that fortunately came back with necessity and instinct. As I hit the ground, the hands from underneath the muddy surface protruded through, reaching and grabbing for my legs.
“Samantha, you always knew of a person’s true essence. You need to focus on Charlotte. Help her remember. Focus on the Amulet of Pollox. If we both focus our thoughts, she has a shot.”
I called upon the elements to help me and with each angry glance I shot in the direction of those offending hands, bolts of lightening thrust them away. “Come on, Charlotte. I can’t keep this up forever.”
But Charlotte was lost in her own misery, chasing after a girl who wasn’t one. “I have to find her...Suki, I just have to.”
I turned at the sound of my name. It was the first time since having arrived in these Realms that Charlotte had spoken it. I looked at Charlotte’s eyes to see if I would be met with real recognition or if she were only repeating what she had heard from the others.
“You remember me!” I asked with hope, and then called up to Samantha. “It’s working!”
“I do.” Charlotte looked down at her ball gown, once a beautiful creation of white, now stained and muddied. “What has happened to us? Where’s...where’s...,” but she only buried her face in her hands and shook her head, unable to complete the thought.
“Phineas?” I said, reading her thoughts, although it pained me to do so.
Charlotte wiped the tears and nodded.
“He’s here. At least he was, but he was with Raven.”
“He couldn’t be, Suki. I have to believe in him.”
There had been a break in the stampede, but the rumbling had started up again and this time it was ten times louder, if that were even possible. There wasn’t time to answer her unspoken question. “Charlotte run!”
I stepped over the dead, white limbs of the souls who resided underneath us and grabbed Charlotte’s hand. The two of us ran until a voice, sweet and that of a child, rang out... “Charlotte!”
Charlotte stopped in her tracks at the sound of Shadow’s voice.
“No Charlotte, we have to go. You can’t stop for her...for it,” I said with emphasis.
One of the hands, regenerated yet still mangled, reached for Charlotte, only to be zapped powerless by me once more. “Charlotte, we don’t have time. You have to help me. Concentrate on the Amulet. Think of all of the powerful messages and information it contains.”
“But I can’t leave her,” she said looking out toward the lake. “I think she’s that way.”
I spoke in my most soothing tone. “Just try.”
We moved further into the forest, away from the main path that the animals seemed to run through, and Charlotte focused her mind on those who had come before her.
“I know how we can get out of here. All of us!”
The loud caw of a blackbird overhead called as it forced a branch to crash down upon us. The distraction broke my hold over Charlotte, and in turn, her ability to see into the greatest minds of the past. Charlotte became captive by one of the ghostly white hands from underneath. It grabbed onto her ankle and no sooner, another hand reached even higher, climbing upwards onto her leg and scratching a terrible gash down her calf. She fell, giving more hands the opportunity to hold onto her, working as best they could to drag her deep within the mud.
I sent one electrical bolt after the next, and while they temporarily halted one hand from its hold over her, there were so many and my assault had to be continual if she were not to succumb. I sent one more charge at a nearby hand, working carefully to avoid Charlotte’s leg with my own attack, when the same blackbird, a particularly large one, cawed and caught my attention.
Yet, truth be told, it wasn’t just the bird that captured my attention, but a vision that was suddenly planted in my mind as well. Suddenly, I saw Phineas and Raven together -- very together, lying in their room before joining the ball. Phineas’ intimate exploration of Raven’s body was right before my eyes, giving me the answer once and for all of whether or not he was still aligned with Raven.
I did my best to shake off the image, telling myself that maybe it happened years earlier. I wouldn’t put it past Raven to fool my mind with an old image, in spite of the fact that my mind’s eye most distinctly saw her in the same dress that she had been wearing earlier that night at the ball.
Still, I fought the offending display and focused on Charlotte’s needs. But Raven was relentless, planting one image after the next, just as she had done to Samantha when she plummeted over a cliff to her death. Each visual became more graphic than the prior, taking all of my attention.
Phineas’ mouth kissed the side of Raven’s neck, then met her mouth with his own as his hands wandered as well. I summoned the elements, allowing a cool rain to fall down on us, hoping it would jar me out of this horrific home movie, and it nearly did...until Raven twisted the knife.
“No!” I called out and suddenly lost my grip on Charlotte’s hand.
“Suki! Suki!”
But what I saw was too shockingly painful. Phineas’ face hovering close to Raven’s suddenly wavered and shook, his image changed and contorted. Trying hard to see what was happening, rather than try to move away from the scene, I became riveted by Raven’s antics.
Unable to turn off the images, I instead tuned into them and watched each one flow from one to the next. First, Raven lying in bed with Phineas, breaking my heart for Charlotte.
“It doesn’t mean anythin
g,” I kept telling myself. “So what...I know they were together once. It could be a scene from years earlier.”
But there was one niggling thought that I couldn’t ignore. The dress. The one that Phineas lifted above her knees was the very same she wore in the ballroom.
“She could still distort the timing. She isn’t the Queen of Sheba. Lots of people wear a dress more than once.”
But even if I could convince myself that Phineas was still aligned with James and I, and intended to remain faithful to Charlotte, I couldn’t ignore what I saw next. The image of Raven lying on top of the bed, her face sighing in ecstasy as a man’s form was prone above her, his head between her legs. It was so...intimate.
As he rose up, his strong arms holding himself above her, there was something familiar about him. The movie screen in my mind shifted and I no longer saw things from above, but rather from Raven’s point of view, looking upwards into the face of her lover...looking upwards into James’ face.
* * *
Chapter Fourteen
“No!” I gasped again, further losing my focus on Charlotte. The image of James making love with Raven was too much to bear. The bird above cawed again, this time sounding almost gleeful as Charlotte, lost without the guidance of the Amulet or my support, became captive by two even stronger hands that held her legs in place.
“Suki!” Charlotte shouted as the sounds from the stampede were nearly upon us.
With the damage done, Raven released my mind back to me. I immediately retched and vomited, but forced myself to focus on the situation at hand -- Charlotte faced an even worse predicament. “Release her, you abomination of hell,” I shouted, knowing that Raven was behind the images, this painful distraction.
“Where’s Shadow? Where is she?” Charlotte screamed in panic.
I shook my head. “It’s you we need to worry about...” and then I plunged my hands into the mud, trying to free Charlotte, but the hands wouldn’t take me as bait -- their hold on Charlotte remained.
