SHEMALLA HAD BEEN feeling anxious all day. She had no idea what was causing her to feel any different, but she knew something was going to happen. On more than one occasion, she had thanked her ability to perceive a situation before it occurred.
Without coming to any conclusion on the matter, she went to bed where she slept restlessly. The morning started the same as it always did with the sunlight pouring through the window. She tried to shake the unrest, and finally had to give up trying. Like any other time, she would have to wait and see what events unfolded and act accordingly.
She ate a light breakfast, took her usual walk through the neighborhood, read the paper, and then finally began getting ready for work. The museum was notoriously slow this time of year, and she sighed at the prospect of another long, boring day. With her dinner simmering in the crockpot, Shemalla left her house and slowly drove to work on the other end of town. She had traveled the route so often, she no longer paid much attention to her surroundings.
Before she knew it, she was turning into the staff lot and parking her car in the furthest spot from the employee entrance. She liked to be able to stretch her legs a little before and after every shift, it invigorated her and helped make her more cheerful. It was still another half hour before the museum opened and Shemalla went to the front to make sure all of the brochures were stocked.
“Opening time,” the manager yelled to the staff as he walked cheerfully to the front door and unlocked the top and bottom lock. He threw open the door and gave a hearty welcome to the couple who had been waiting outside.
Shemalla hurried to the back stock room to get another bundle of brochures. It was a good sign to have early visitors. Maybe today was going to go by rapidly after all. She turned on the basement light and began searching for the right box among the mess of crates and shelves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amanda was already ready to go by the time her father knocked. She shrugged into her jacket even as she walked across the room. She grabbed the room service tray from the table and opened the door. “Let me leave this outside, and then I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. Where’s Mom?”
“She’s downstairs already. I wish she’d leave the concierge alone with her incessant questions. I’m sure we’ll get everything straightened out with Carrie and the kids first thing tomorrow, but she just won’t let it be.” Chris shook his head in resignation as he fell into step beside his daughter on their way to the lobby.
“I’m sure she just wants to feel useful. Since we don’t know anybody or anything about this town, she wants…I don’t know what she wants any more than you do, except maybe to have Carrie cleared of all charges and her kids returned to her. I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen, but you never know.”
“We might know someone from town if your dream about Shemalla is true. We’re soon to find out that mystery, and, I must say, it is rather exciting.” Chris smiled down at his daughter as he put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her close to him as they rode the elevator down to the main floor.
Ever the optimist, Amanda could not help but feel better about everything when her father spoke. She wished she could have more moments like this with her father, but life always seemed to get in the way. The elevator doors opened, and they saw Diane sitting dejectedly in one of the lobby chairs facing them.
“Are you okay, Mom?” Amanda rushed forward ready to do anything to make her mother less sad.
“Don’t mind me,” Diane said as she tried to paste a smile on her sad expression. “I can’t wait to see what comes of this trip to the museum. Are you both ready to head out?”
“Yep. Wait here, and I’ll bring the SUV around,” Chris announced as he bent down to kiss his wife’s cheek before hurrying out the door.
Diane stood up and walked silently beside Amanda to stand in front of the glass to see when Chris drove to the entrance as it was too cold to wait outside. As soon as they spotted him driving around the corner of the building, they exited the building and got into the 4-Runner.
Amanda, again, wondered if this were something her father had done on purpose since her dream had them using the same type of SUV. She watched out the window as they drove through the same streets she remembered even though she had never been to this city before. It was eerie having such knowledge in her mind even knowing she had no logical explanation for it.
Soon enough, they were parking in the parking lot with the giant alien mural on the side of the building across from them. Amanda’s sense of déjà vu increased as they walked around the building and under the giant overhang where the entrance to the museum was placed. As if she were reliving her dream, the main lobby of the museum was exactly as she recalled, including the statue of the alien greeting them.
Once her father paid their admission, they entered the museum and wandered through the different displays. They finally came to the replica of the spaceship which had crashed in Roswell so many years before, and Chris said, “This really does look like the telepods from Tuala.” Unlike Amanda’s dream, Chris had already seen and ridden in Riccan’s telepod, so he had a reference of his own to draw upon.
The difference in his comment was not lost on Amanda, and she surreptitiously looked around to see if she could locate any employees who might actually be Shemalla. The museum was unusually devoid of all workers at the moment, and Amanda wondered if this were normal. It did seem rather a stretch of the imagination for the mystery woman to show up as if on cue to her father’s statement as she had done in her dream. Amanda smiled at her own foolishness in putting too much stock in the sequence of events being the same.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ride over to Willian’s house was tense, excited, or curious depending on whose mind was probed. Jon sat in the back seat of the car with his arms crossed and a sulking expression on his face. Valentina could hardly believe she was going to spend the entire day with the man who made her forget everything she ever held sacred. Behn drove the car, all the while wondering what lessons Willian might try to teach them.
“I still don’t see why I needed to come along,” Jon protested for the third time in as many minutes.
“You didn’t have to,” Behn reminded him. “I just thought you’d like to continue with your crystal training while the girls are away. It’ll be fun to show them how much progress we’ve achieved in their absence.”
“I think it’ll be fun,” Valentina put in brightly.
“Of course, you would! I’m going to be watching carefully for any move he tries to make on you, Val. This time I won’t hold back.”
Valentina rolled her eyes even as she kept her head facing out the front of the car. His remark did not even warrant a response since she was going to be in full control of herself and on her best behavior. At least that was her plan, which was easy to decide when she was subjected to the tremendous power of Willian’s pull on her self-control.
Looking up in the rearview mirror and catching Jon’s black look, Behn spoke, “We’re going over there to learn, Jon. Please at least try to be polite. I can tell you by experience, whatever is happening between Willian and Valentina is not likely to go away. The sooner you get used to the idea of Willian being a part of our lives, the happier we’ll all be.”
They pulled up to the curb in front of Parker’s residence. Jon was the last to leave the vehicle, and he slammed his car door with more force than necessary as his final demonstration of his protest for the day’s activities. Both Behn and Valentina hurried up to the door to knock and did not even give Jon another look, expecting him to follow them like a good boy.
Jon’s expression changed to curiosity when he saw Mrs. Parker answer the door. She looked nothing like he expected and thought she was probably a very nice lady. He would be polite to this woman for having to put up with Willian in her house. As soon as he stepped into the house, he felt something strange on his leg and looked down. A cute, black Pomeranian was resting her front paws on him and sniffing for all she was worth. “W
ho’s this little cutie?” Jon asked as he leaned down to let the fluffy dog sniff his hand. He was both surprised and pleased when she started to lick his fingers.
“Oh, that’s Pesi. Pesi leave our guest alone! Come on; that’s a good girl.” Mrs. Parker leaned down and picked up the dog and cradled her in one arm as she moved into the living room to allow the guests to go down the hallway to Willian’s room.
“She wasn’t bothering me. I really like dogs,” Jon spoke to Mrs. Parker, but never took his eyes off of the dog’s big, brown eyes which seemed to be appraising him as a likely person to keep petting her. He smiled before he turned and reluctantly followed his siblings. Much to his pleasure, Mrs. Parker set Pesi on the floor, and the little dog scampered straight to him and stayed right beside him as he entered the bedroom.
Willian remained on his bed, wanting to keep as much distance as possible between him and Valentina so he could do his best to stay on track. “I’m so glad you took me up on my offer to teach you,” he spoke excitedly. “Do you want to do a quick run-through of what you’ve learned so far so I can see how you process the techniques? It’ll help me tailor your lessons to your own style.”
“Sure,” Behn replied easily as he plunked himself down on the bed beside Willian. He could see how their instructor was trying to keep himself as professional as possible to try to win Jon over to his side. He only hoped Jon would not feel slighted because he was further behind in his lessons and this exercise would prove him lacking to Willian.
Not one to hedge where his education was concerned, Behn did not hold back anything as he held out his hands and, pulling energy from his birth crystal, he created a sphere of light resting between his fingers. He moved the ball away from him several feet and then recalled it back into his pendant. Feeling energized by the exercise, he used more elemy than necessary to create a breeze throughout the room, ruffling the papers on Willian’s desk and setting Pesi to barking.
“Sorry,” he apologized as he allowed the breeze to end.
“No worries,” Willian replied with a smile. He gestured over to his nightstand and said, “Feel free to use my glass of water for the next couple of skills.”
“Thanks,” Behn replied and shifted his attention to the offered tool. With only a slight change in his expression, Behn used the elemy to boil the water and then slowly shifted the direction of the flow until the water stilled and then began to crystallize as if frozen. Once it was a solid block, he demonstrated the next skill by picking up the glass and moving it onto the bed in front of Willian.
“Nicely done,” Willian praised as he picked up the glass and instantly returned the water to a liquid state even as he moved it back to the table. He opened the drawer below and pulled out a small tea light. He handed it to Behn and asked, “Will this do, or do you need something larger?”
Letting the small candle rest in his palm, he answered, “This will do fine.” Without waiting for another beat, Behn called a flame to the wick. He allowed it to flicker for only a couple of seconds before he extinguished the light with only a thought. He smiled at his success and also a bit in wonder at what they were now able to accomplish. Never in his life had he imagined the necklaces he and his siblings wore were so important and vital to their future.
Willian handed him a piece of paper which had several paragraphs written on it. Behn glanced at it for a good ten seconds before he handed it back to a surprised Willian. Verbatim, he recited back everything he had seen. He smiled smugly as he saw the shocked look on his new teacher’s face at the speed at which he had accomplished the task.
Chapter Sixteen
“I’LL GO NEXT,” Valentina offered as she could see her brother was now just basking in the pleased expression on Willian’s face. She was eager to have him look at her in the same manner.
“Okay, go ahead,” Willian prompted. He was most curious to feel Valentina’s touch of power. He hoped it would not cause any problems because of their obvious attraction for one another. Just her presence in the room was causing his heart to beat faster and his palms to sweat. He was thankful she had opted to sit in the desk chair across the room from him, almost as if she felt the same tension between them and wanted to keep her distance.
Valentina performed the same tasks as her brother had demonstrated. Hers were achieved even more efficiently and easily as she felt how swiftly the elemy came to her call. She reveled in the feel of each lesson which seemed to caress her soul with the perfection of the process. All too soon, she was at the end of what she knew and sighed as she let the elemy sink back to the earth as she no longer called it to her need.
“Very elegant, Val. I can see there is quite a difference in how you and Behn process the steps. What about you, Jon? Do you want to go next, or do you just want to watch today?”
Wishing he would have gone before his sister, he felt trapped into performing for Willian. He did not like it, but he was glad he was offered an out. Like Behn had said the day before, maybe he could learn something useful from this smug bastard. “I’ll go,” Jon finally answered.
“Great! Begin whenever you’re ready.” Willian tried not to have any expression which would anger Jon. He kept his gaze fastened on Pesi just in case Jon felt as though his gaze were aggressive.
Jon put Pesi down on the floor so he could focus all of his attention on proving to Willian the skills he had learned. With less speed, but the same accuracy, Jon performed the first six tasks. Since he had not advanced any further with Jena or Juila, he was forced to end his performance. “That’s as far as I’ve learned so far.”
“You’ve learned quite a bit with the short amount of time you’ve been training. I noticed you used the same techniques as Valentina. You both manipulate the elemy in a unique way so as to conserve your strength. Very interesting!” He paused to consider the implications of what he had witnessed. Taking a closer look at the two siblings, Jon and Valentina looked much more alike than Behn. Maybe the similarity in looks could help account for their specific way they demonstrated their skills. “Jon, pretty soon, I believe you’ll surpass your siblings in skill. You’re more powerful than you know.”
Blushing slightly at the praise, Jon was also suspicious of Willian’s motives for saying such a thing. It could be possible that Willian was catering to his ego in the hopes of getting him to like him better. He hoped it could be true, and only time would tell him for certain – time and practice he amended. Feeling flustered, he handed the frozen glass of water over to Willian.
As soon as Willian’s fingers touched the cold surface, the ice returned to its liquid state.
“How do you do that so fast?” Jon blurted before he could stop himself.
“With enough practice, you’ll start to get a feel for the structure of the things you manipulate with the elemy. It’s easy enough to move the molecules back to their preferred state with only a thought. It’s a lot like creating when you combine ingredients to make a meal. After you practice hundreds of times, you’ll be able to think something into being rather than have to go through each step individually.
“It’s a lot like reading; actually, you no longer have to notice each letter of a word to know what it says as a whole. Some people even learn to read a sentence or a whole paragraph at a time. I’ve even heard of people being able to read an entire page at a time, but I haven’t tried to master that yet.”
“Interesting,” Jon mused thoughtfully as he returned to his seat across the room, next to his sister. Maybe these lessons were going to be okay, he thought to himself. Already, he imagined new possibilities with just one suggestion from Willian.
“So, I think we should start with healing lessons. Jon, I know this is isn’t the next phase for you, but I’m certain you’ll pick it up, so go ahead and listen while your brother and sister learn. Once I get them practicing, then we’ll move on to extinguishing a flame for you. Does that sound good for everyone?” He looked at each person and saw their excited nods of assent.
“All
of the lessons you have learned up until now are designed to show you all of the pieces needed to heal. You will be using bits and pieces of each skill in various configurations in order to move the pieces of the person, animal, or plant you are trying to heal. Does this make sense?”
“I think so,” Valentina spoke slowly as she started to see what Willian was telling her. Of course, it seemed too simple to be true when he explained it. “How do we practice this? I don’t have any injuries to heal, and I don’t really relish the idea of hurting myself in hopes of being able to fix it.”
Willian smiled at her summation of the situation. He reached over and pulled a plant off of his nightstand and held the pot between his hands. “I think we’d all rather practice on this,” he said as he held it up for all to see. He set the plant down on the bed and then pushed his thumbnail through one of the leaves. “Who wants to try first?”
“That’s it? We don’t get any more instruction than that?” Behn asked in disbelief.
“In Tuala, the teachers let us try it first. If we were unable to figure out the proper sequence, then more instruction would follow.”
With a sigh at her brother’s statement, Valentina came forward and knelt on the floor in front of where the plant was resting on the bed. “I’ll go first,” she said with a look of disgust at her brother for not trying. She took the plant from the bed and placed it on the floor in front of her.
Knowing Willian had given her a clue about the other skills learned to be the key, she tried to piece together what she thought should happen. She gathered elemy into herself, knowing instinctively that a visual display was not needed, and imagined the cells of the plant’s leaf much like she thought of the water molecules to get them to move. She poured the elemy into the cells and focused on them moving to join together again like she would with creating ice.
Without any idea of the amount of time which had passed, she felt the cells respond to her request. As soon as she saw the damage close in on itself, she returned the elemy to the earth and sat back on her heels in relief. She took a deep breath and then smiled triumphantly up at Willian. “I did it!”
Ascension Vision- The Levels of Ascension Box Set Page 39
