Barla stood up with a huge grin on her face as she moved across the living room to hug her sister. She shifted her gaze to Amanda and said, “You never told me you asked my sister to come over!” She folded her arms around Diane and rubbed her back as she felt her sister begin to cry. “Hey, Diane, it’s okay. I’m right here now.”
Diane was overwhelmed with emotions. She never thought her sister would be able to come back to Earth; she never imagined being able to hold her, touch her, or talk to her ever again. Her happiness at seeing her long-lost sister overcame her powers of speech or anything else for several minutes. Finally, she was able to get a grip on herself, and she pulled away from Barla and held her at arm’s length as she said, “I just can’t believe it, Barbara. It’s really you!”
“I go by Barla now, but yes, it’s really me. Come on let’s sit down. We have a lot to discuss and not just me, but Neal needs our help right now.” She took Diane’s hand and led her over to the loveseat, and sat down right next to her.
Jessica could not understand what she had just witnessed. She had not known Diane had a sister who was missing, and she was intrigued but did not want to be distracted from finding out what was going on with her son. She asked again, “Tell me what happened with Neal.”
“I asked my mom to come over, not only to reunite with her sister but because I knew I would need her here to convince you of what has been happening with Neal. It’s a very complicated story, and I’m sure you’ll have a hard time believing what I’m going to tell you.”
“Get on with it Amanda. I’ve waited a long time to hear the truth from you, and I’m ready!”
“We’ll see about that,” Amanda muttered as she looked down on her folded hands as she tried to decide the best way to tell the story.
Chapter Four
JESSICA SCOWLED DARKLY at Amanda’s doubt and wished she’d get on with her explanation. She decided, at that moment, to believe whatever Amanda told her. Any explanation would be better than imagining all of the possible heinous scenarios.
Amanda took a deep breath and looked around the room to all of her guests. Some of them knew almost everything, so this would not be a complete revelation. She decided to start at the beginning as she looked only at Jessica, “You remember when Neal and I went sailing just after we were engaged?”
Jessica nodded.
“Well, everything was wonderful until a sudden electrical storm hit us. I was knocked unconscious when a rogue wave knocked me over, and I hit my head on the bed stand. When I woke up, I had no idea where I was or who I was with. I didn’t know what had happened to Neal or to our yacht.
“The simplest explanation is that we were found by a man named Petre MacVeen and he sold Neal, me, and the yacht to a man who’s known as Elder Vargen. The boat was disassembled to find out how it was engineered. Neal was kept hostage and forced to work for Elder Vargen in his Old Soul Engineering Facility. Neal’s knowledge of engineering is what Elder Vargen exploited, and he kept him docile by addicting him to a drug called resh.
“I was held captive in another area and had no idea what had happened to Neal. Elder Vargen had me impregnated because he wanted to have a child from me. He never counted on the fact that the wise-woman called in to attend me would take pity on me and help me escape. Unfortunately, she wasn’t fast enough, and I ended up having my twins before she was able to send me home. She sent me home alone, and so I missed out on Juila and Jena growing up.
“You know how I was when I was found off the coast of Cancun. The trauma kept me in a coma for seven years, and I was unable to do or say anything to help you locate Neal. After I woke up, I had a hard time remembering just what really happened. I was even more confused and scared than Neal is right now. I wrote down all of what I remembered in a journal, at the insistence of Dr. Medin.
“The dreams I’d had while I was in a coma were very confusing and seemed quite contradictory. One person who was prominent in my dreams was Riccan. You can imagine when I met him for the first time while I was awake, it got me very excited. He and I discussed my memories, and he became convinced something quite extraordinary had happened to me. He took me to his parents to talk about what I knew, and they agreed.”
Jessica shook her head and interrupted, “That’s really great, Amanda, but what does this have to do with Neal?”
“I’m getting to that, just bear with me a few more minutes. When I told them about what Elder Vargen did to me and how I suspected he still had Neal, they helped me locate him. A few other people were involved, including Barla,” she nodded her head toward her aunt, “and we contacted Vinia to ask her to help us get him home.” Amanda and Jessica both looked over to Vinia to see her look down to avoid seeing their stares.
“So a group of us got together when we knew Elder Vargen would be out of town, and we flew in and rescued Neal. Riccan and I brought him home to you and hoped that would be the end of it. Unfortunately for you, the therapist you had Neal seeing must have spoken about Neal’s case with Dr. Gascon.
“You see, Dr. Gascon approached me before I was released from the hospital and wanted me to answer his questions. I knew he could not be trusted because I had lived through very traumatic events in my dreams about Dr. Gascon’s ‘treatment’ plans for his patients. He loves to use drugs and electric shock therapy to force people to tell him what he wants to hear about his latest research ideas.
“So when you told me Neal was being treated by Dr. Gascon, I knew he had to be rescued. I gathered another group of people, and we were able to get him out of the hospital and back home as fast as possible.” Amanda knew she had left out some key points and hoped her strange explanation would satisfy Jessica’s curiosity. She looked around the room to gauge how her story sounded to the listeners.
Jessica remained silent as she absorbed everything Amanda had said. It seemed as though some major points had been glossed over, but she fixated on one point in particular. “So you don’t actually have any proof of Dr. Gascon being unethical except for your dreams?”
“Oh, no, there’s plenty of proof. I told you about the patient records at Cannon Memorial. I researched Dr. Gascon after I regained my memories of the past. Although I was never actually his patient, there were plenty of people who were tortured by him through his so-called ‘treatment protocol’. My friend, Dr. Medin, has first-hand proof as she has worked for Dr. Gascon in the past and she can verify everything I’ve told you. Neal was almost comatose when we took him out of his hospital room; he was definitely in danger.”
“How can we find this Elder Vargen? He obviously can’t be left unpunished after everything he did to the two of you. I want to have him arrested.”
“I’m afraid he’s out of your reach, Jessica. Please try to forget about him.”
“Forget about him? Are you serious?”
“I’m very serious. Please focus your attention on people within your grasp. There’s Neal’s recovery, and then there’s Dr. Gascon. I’m sure you’ll be hearing from him shortly.” She looked down at her watch and realized it was still another forty-five minutes until they actually broke into Neal’s room to rescue him.
She was going to have to hurry if she were going to have a solid alibi. She did not believe visiting with Jessica would be a good enough alibi to a police investigation as Neal’s mother could be believed to be complicit in the plan.
“Here’s the thing, Jessica, unless I tell you things you absolutely won’t believe, then we’re at a stand-still. The truth of the matter is I broke Neal out of his room at Creedmoor forty-five minutes from now. I have been to Queens and back in a matter of seconds because I have a special way to travel. Do you think the police will believe it? No. I can see on your face that even you don’t believe it.
“So here’s what you’re going to do. You are going to take Neal home now. When the police come to you, you are going to tell them that Neal came home first thing this morning of his own accord. Tell them you arranged a private jet for him to come home. Tel
l them whatever you like. There is no explanation I can give to the police which will be believed; therefore I cannot be part of his return.
“I am going to go out in public and make sure there are plenty of records saying I’ve been here in town all morning. I’m going to take Vinia with me so she can be seen around here as well so nobody can then say it was her either since we look so much alike.”
“Speaking of that,” Jessica broke in, “Neal told me about you before he went to be treated by Dr. Gascon. I know you two were seeing one another. Would you, and little Danika there, like to come and spend some time with him? It might speed up his recovery.”
Vinia enthusiastically nodded as tears started to roll down her cheeks. She had never wanted anything more than having a family want her around. Since her own family was dead, it would be very special to get to know Neal’s parents.
She looked at her watch again and stood up. “I think you need to take Neal somewhere public right now. Take him out for breakfast, go through a drive-thru, anything where he can be seen with you right now.”
Neal looked up at her dumbfounded. “You mean you want me to leave with this woman?”
“Yes, Neal, I do. She’s not some random stranger; she’s your mother. In time you’ll remember, but right now we don’t have time for you to argue with me. You need to go and be seen in public. I’ll call you, Jessica, and let you know what time Dr. Medin will be able to meet with Neal. When Dr. Gascon or the police call, let them know everything is fine and you’ve already made alternate arrangements for Neal’s mental health.”
Jessica seemed rather daunted by the task set to her. While she had been so thrilled to come and get Neal before she had arrived, now she had second thoughts about taking him home when he was so obviously confused. She looked over at Neal and asked, “Do you think you can trust me until you can get your memories back? I promise to make sure you get to see this doctor friend of Amanda’s if it would make you feel better.”
Neal looked back and forth between the two women. It seemed he was not going to get any say in the matter since both women seemed to be of the same accord. He nodded and saw Amanda’s face transform into one of relief. He was glad he had made the right decision. Eventually, he would remember everything, and he hoped it would be soon. He stood up and said, “I guess we should get going then.”
Jessica still seemed hesitant as she remained sitting on the couch.
Amanda went to Jessica and knelt beside her as she spoke rapidly, but quietly, “I assure you he’ll be better, maybe even by the end of the day. He’s traveled quite a bit today, and he’s still suffering from the effects of the drugs he was given. Go get him something to eat; it might make a great improvement.”
Jessica slowly nodded much as her son had just done. She decided to trust Amanda to know what was best in this strange situation. After all, what could it hurt? She rose from the couch and said, “Okay, Neal, let’s get something to eat. Where do you want to go?” She walked slowly with her son across the foyer.
“Can we go to Denny’s?” Neal asked quietly.
“Sure,” Jessica replied as she opened the front door and waited for Neal to exit the house first. She looked back one last time before shutting the door. The look on her face clearly said Amanda had better be right about all of this.
Chapter Five
“TWO DOWN, ONE to go,” Amanda said almost to herself. “Vinia, why don’t you come upstairs with me and I’ll find you a nice change of clothes. These hospital outfits clearly won’t work for what I have in mind.” She looked Vinia up and down and nodded, “I think we wear the same size even.”
Vinia hastily stood up and said to Barla and Diane, “Barla, would you mind watching Danika?” At Barla’s nod, Vinia put Danika back on the floor and followed Amanda upstairs to get ready for another adventure.
Diane, now left pretty much alone with her sister, cleared her throat and said, “I hear you have two children of your own. Amanda said your daughter, Rasa, right? She said she’s really amazing.”
“Yes, she has just been accepted and the successor of an Elder.”
Diane nodded without really understanding the significance of the position.
“Women have never been Elders before now; Rasa will be the first when Elder Wilken steps down or dies.”
“Oh,” Diane said. She felt slightly stupid for not having anything more interesting to add to the conversation. Finally, she just asked what was really on her mind, “What happened, Barb…I mean, Barla? Why didn’t you come back like Amanda did? Why did you change your name even?”
“Well the simple story is similar to Amanda’s, and Neal’s, for that matter. I had lost my memory when I was transported to Tuala; even my name was a mystery. When Captain Ahn found me in the ocean, he gave me the name Barla until I could remember my own. It took a long time for my memory to return and by then everyone already knew me as Barla, so I kept it. It was also amazing since Diane had nicknamed me Barla when I was little, so it was perfect.
“I’m sure Amanda told you that Captain Ahn and I fell in love. How could you expect me to leave my soul-mate to return back to Earth? Eventually, we had our son, Gravin, and then it was just impossible. I knew that I would lose everything if I ever returned to Earth, even for a visit, and it wasn’t worth it. I’m sorry, it sounds callous, but it’s the truth.”
“But you’re here now, how is it any different than before?” Diane asked with a confused expression.
“You have your daughter to thank for this blessing. She figured out the key to retaining memories through the veil. You see, only people from Earth lose their history. The people from Tuala can travel back and forth without any problems. Amanda asked Jehoban to give me my own birth crystal which, in essence, made me a citizen of Tuala with all of their natural-born abilities.
“Even though it’s been a few mesans, or I guess you’d say months, since I got my birth crystal,” her hand came up to caress the bright blue crystals woven in to the shape of a tree-of-life pendant suspended from an ornate chain around her neck, “I’ve been too afraid to make the trip for fear Amanda had been mistaken.”
“What made you willing to try it now?”
“Amanda needed my help with Neal. After everything she’s done for my family and me, I had to do what I could to help out. I had to let go of my fears and trust in Jehoban’s protection built into the birth crystal he personally picked out for me.”
“Can I see it?” Diane said as she leaned forward to inspect the beautiful jewelry. The pendant was only about an inch across, and the metal was all gold. “It’s beautiful. When you said you now have all of the natural-born abilities, what exactly does that entail?”
Barla smiled and held out her hands in front of her. She concentrated for only an instant before a sphere of elemental energy pulsed between her cupped hands. She had it float above them both and then return to her palms where it dissipated into nothingness again.
Diane’s eyes widened with the display of what appeared to be magic. “What would you use that for?”
“Light mostly, much like you’d use a flashlight, except mine is always with me. There’s so much more to accessing the elemy which makes life a lot easier. I can create meals by thinking them into existence; likewise, I can clean up the mess with only a thought. There’s really no limit to what a person could do with the elemy.”
“I can see this gift has made you a very happy woman and I’m glad for you. I’m also thankful that you can now come and visit! Wait until you meet my husband and my other two daughters! Do you think Ahn would ever like to come for a visit?”
“I’m sure he will at some point, because we really hate to be apart. He’s never been to Earth, as far as I know. It’d definitely be an adventure for him!”
Diane laughed and the tension between them dissolved completely. They settled into talking about their children and what kept them busy during the day. Diane was not surprised to hear her sister had started an orphanage and was kept
busy with as many children as she could surround herself with. Barb had always wanted to have lots of children as far back as she could recall.
The conversation was interrupted as Amanda and Vinia returned from upstairs. Amanda leaned on the back of the couch and asked, “Barla, would you be okay to keep watching Danika while Vinia and I go out to create an alibi for my morning? Vinia didn’t want to ask you to do more for her, but I tried to assure her you wouldn’t mind.”
“Oh, Vinia, really it’s no bother at all. Danika is a wonderful little girl. We may even take her out to the pool to splash around a bit since it’s getting pretty warm. We’ll have loads of fun,” Barla leaned over and rubbed Danika’s cheek and said, “Won’t we, Danika?”
The little girl giggled and nodded her head enthusiastically.
Vinia laughed as well and said, “Okay, okay, I give up. Hopefully, we won’t be gone too long.” She turned her gaze back to Amanda as though asking her to keep the outing short.
“Barla, spare bathing suits are upstairs in my chifforobe, top left-hand drawer. Feel free to help yourself!” She turned to Vinia and said, “I was thinking about doing a little bit of clothes shopping, and then we could stop for some breakfast of our own. This has been a long morning, and the fruit and steena tea I had for breakfast really aren’t enough!”
“Why don’t we eat first then since I was too nervous to eat anything at all,” Vinia suggested. She was curious to see if the restaurants were any different on Earth than they were at home. She would be lying to herself if she said she was not worried about this outing. After their adventure in New York, this was surely going to be an easier task, she hoped.
“Okay, then, let’s go!” Amanda replied enthusiastically. She was going to have to be in a cheerful mood, completely unconcerned about life in general if she was going to look innocent of having kidnapped someone earlier in the day. This plan had to work, or she was going to be in loads of trouble with the authorities.
Ascension Vision- The Levels of Ascension Box Set Page 3
