Without denying anything, Jena merely smiled and hurried her steps to greet her sister and grandfather. Did you tell grandpa what I was trying to do? she asked her sister through their mind link.
Juila nodded ever-so-slightly with a glint of excitement in her eyes. He was glad to hear you were pushing her to move ahead. He has the same idea as you about getting it claimed to keep it safe.
Nena was the last to reach the group, and she leaned forward and waited for her husband to bend down to kiss her. She was planning on offering dinner or refreshments as an enticement to keep his mind on anything other than the task Jena had proposed. Before she could even speak, Jena began to talk. She sighed at the lost opportunity and waited to hear what Daven would say, although she already suspected he was in cahoots with the girls.
“Grandma was just commenting on the fact that she wanted to wait until you were both home before she tried using her samara for the first time. I’m glad you showed up when you did so we can go back to the room to complete the task. How about it, Grandpa, are you ready?”
“Sure, that sounds like a great idea,” he said with a wink only for her. He put his arm around his wife’s shoulders and turned her around to head back in the direction of the Ascension Gate room. “I’m so proud of you for wanting to get this taken care of.” He smiled down at her with the most loving expression.
Nena did not have the heart to refuse him when he looked at her in such a way, nor did she dare refute his assumption of her willingness. She was fairly certain he already knew how scared she was to approach the stone, and she wanted to be brave for his sake. If he asked her to take a walk on the moon, she would probably try to make it happen simply because she loved him that much and always wanted to please him.
Soon enough they had reached the dreaded room. Daven led them to the small table in the room before he went to retrieve the wrapped bundle containing the samara from the hidden niche in the wall. Even through the cloth, he could feel the power emanating from it and wondered what it would be like to have his very own. He sincerely hoped this one was actually meant for his wife since there was always the chance it was meant for someone else who also had the same color of birth crystal as Nena.
Seeing the fear on his wife’s face as he set the precious item on the table, Daven said, “I think we should say a prayer before we begin.” He saw nods of approval and a look of relief from his wife and knew he had said the right thing to help ease her mind. Nena had great faith in Jehoban and His ability to keep her safe from harm.
They reached for one another’s hands as they sat in a circle around the table. Daven spoke, “Jehoban, please watch over Nena and keep her from harm as she endeavors to do her part in fulfilling your prophecy. If this is not something which she is meant to do at this time, please give us a sign so we may know to stop. We ask this in Your name. Amen.”
They remained with their hands clasped for several more tense seconds while they waited for anything to give them a signal to stop. When nothing happened, Nena sighed in resignation which caused the others to laugh at her display of annoyance. The tension had been broken, and they let go of one another’s hands.
Jena uncovered the samara and pulled on the cloth to bring the stone within easy touching distance to Nena. She spoke gently to her grandmother as she instructed her on what she should do. “I want you to relax as well as you’re able and then take both of your hands and place them on either side of the stone. There will be an instant of intense contact as the samara makes its initial link with your essence and fusing with your life-line. From personal experience, this is the last time you will feel… What’s the word I’m looking for?” She turned to Juila for her answer.
“Incomplete.”
“Yes, exactly. This is the last moment in your life where you’ll feel incomplete.”
“I don’t feel that in my life at all,” Nena protested as she looked at her husband who had always made her feel whole.
“Trust me, you will feel more. Juila and I have always shared a special bond, but when we each got our own samaras, there was another level of depth to our skills which we never knew we were missing. It’s too amazing to properly describe, so you’ll have to try to explain it when you’re finished. Go ahead and begin.” Jena knew her grandmother wished to stall as long as possible which was why she had added a slight compulsion to follow orders with her last few words. She hoped the use of power was subtle enough so as to be undetectable, yet somehow she believed her grandmother knew she had done it since she scowled over at her.
Nena knew her time for stalling had come to an end. With her heart racing and her hands visibly shaking, she stretched out her arms with her elbows resting on the table and let her palms come into contact with the cold, hard surface of the crystal skull. She was thankful for Jena’s description of what to expect; otherwise, she might have been tempted to wrench her hands back at the first flash of power she felt course throughout her body.
After the initial fear and shock had worn off, Nena found herself delving into and seeking out the source of the power. At the same time, she could feel the same quest for coming from the samara. Somewhere in the middle, they each found one another and the joining was as indescribable as Jena had spoken. It felt as though every neuron in her brain had been set on high alert and she was able to process every input simultaneously and still have the capacity for even more.
It took a few seconds for her to even register how much information she had been assimilating. The scenes flashed through her head so fast, and yet each detail was memorized and categorized for future use. She could tell the exact second when the samara identified the thing inside her which told it that the samara was hers and hers alone. She was the missing element for the source of power which was hers to behold for the rest of her life. It was unbelievable to think she had been scared of this wonderful object and it made her feel foolish for even doubting.
Input began to slow, and Nena discovered she was able to direct the flow to answer some of her own queries. Time crawled for her as she asked question after question. As if the samara were gratified, she could see even brighter colors emanating from its surface, and she smiled with pleasure.
Suddenly her contact was broken, and she scowled as her eyes refocused on those around her. “What happened? Why was my time cut short? I’d only gotten started, and there’s so much more to learn.” She stopped talking when she realized those around her were grinning foolishly. “What am I missing?”
“You have been communing with your samara for almost two hours.” Juila held up her hand to forestall Nena’s protest and added, “I’m sure it only felt like an instant to you, but my bum can attest otherwise.” She grimaced as she tried to resettle herself more comfortably on the hard chair.
Nena laughed at Juila’s last comment and then realized she was also stiff from remaining motionless for so long. She nodded and said, “You were right; it is indescribable. There’s so much more to learn, and I feel so foolish for having waited as long as I have. Thank you for pushing me to begin.”
Juila looked over at her sister and said dryly, “I think we won’t be seeing much more of Grandma on this visit. You’ve gotten her hooked on her samara now!”
“Nonsense!” Nena protested even as she was planning her next session with the stone still calling to her from the table. “Daven, dear, will you please put this away so we can go get some dinner before it’s ruined beyond redemption.”
“Gladly,” he agreed as he stood up and began pulling the cloth up over the skull. As if in response to the mention of food, Daven’s stomach began rumbling loud enough for all to hear.
Laughter ensued from everyone at the perfect timing. They stood up and stretched their stiff muscles as they waited for Daven to return the samara to its secret niche. As a group, they left the small room and made their way to the dining room.
The ever-diligent staff noted their passing in the hallway and began the seamless process of getting the meal ready to be ser
ved. As soon as everyone was seated at the long table, the food was being brought out to them. The aroma of foxl soup and fresh-baked bread was the first course.
Nena ate with more appetite than usual. As she chewed her broth-soaked bread, she reflected on the revelations she had just received and understood there was still a lot more for her to learn. There was also an underlying sense of urgency for her to acquire so many more details for her to do her part for Jehoban. The task seemed daunting if she thought about how many hours there were in a day compared to what was still needed before she was to be called into service.
“Oh!” she suddenly uttered as she realized an important truth: time was relative. She had the ability to travel back in time to add more hours to her day and still accomplish everything she needed.
“What is it?” Daven asked with concern.
“I’m sorry,” Nena apologized as she tried to come up with some excuse other than the fact that she had been daydreaming while eating. “I must have bitten my cheek.”
Jena and Juila exchanged a significant look. They knew their grandmother’s mind was racing and her exclamation had nothing to do with the meal. Events were moving faster, and their original timeline felt as though it were steadily moving up to overtake them.
Jena shivered in fear of her future. She looked down on her birth crystal to make sure it remained the dark amethyst to let them know they were still on the right track. It might have only been wishful thinking, but she could almost swear the purple had lightened slightly, which could only be a good sign.
Chapter Twenty-Two
SOFIA LOOKED ACROSS the table at McDonald’s at Luke, wondering how she was going to bring up the subject of Jena tactfully. Her thoughts must have been apparent when Luke put down his half-eaten hamburger and looked at her pointedly.
“Why don’t you just tell me why it was so important that we meet up today? I can see it’s eating at you and you’re ruining my appetite, which is hard to do.” He picked up his soda and took a long pull on the straw as he watched Sofia decide what to say.
“I know you said you were going to back off and let Jena have some space because of Willian. I wondered if you might reconsider,” she said hastily.
“It seems like a moot point given the fact that Jena is away at her grandparents for the next couple of weeks.”
Recalling the idea that Luke did not know about Jena’s true heritage, she had to tread carefully so she would not be the one to reveal the secret regarding all of their friends. “That’s true, which is why I wanted to meet with you. I want you to start thinking about being there for Jena when she comes home.”
“What are you not saying? Is something going to happen to Jena?” Luke desperately wanted to be with Jena, but he was not going to be the guy who interfered with her love life, he refused to be the third party in the relationship.
“Well…it’s possible Willian has found someone else.”
“What? That’s terrible! What a douche bag! He came all this way to profess his undying love for Jena and get her half-way convinced that he’s changed only to turn around and dump her as soon as she’s out of town! How did you find out about this?”
“When you put it that way, it does sound pretty bad; and I found out from Jon.”
Luke’s brow furrowed, and he asked the first thing which came to mind, “Why would Jon know anything about this?”
Sofia’s eyes grew wide, and she took a deep breath as she realized belatedly that she would have to explain the circumstances where Jon became involved. She decided to make the account simple and direct. “Jon punched him when he found Willian kissing Val in her bedroom.”
Luke’s eyebrows rose almost to his hairline as he registered what Sofia told him. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and said, “My head is spinning. I have so many questions. What was Willian doing at the Wilson’s house? What was Val doing kissing Willian? When did all of this happen? Why am I just now hearing about this? Does Jena know about it yet?”
Sofia held up his hands to keep him from continuing and said, “Let me try to answer each question as you asked them. Willian ran into Val at school and supposedly said there was an instant connection between them which led him to go over to their house after school on Friday. Apparently, Val felt the same thing, and they ended up kissing. I only heard about it because Jon was so furious afterward that he had to vent to someone. And, no, Jena knows nothing of any of this which is why I’m asking you to be there for her when she gets back.”
“I can’t believe Jon didn’t call me. We’re supposed to be best friends and all. Heck, he could’ve called me over, and I would have helped him beat up that jerk, especially after he took that sucker punch to me at school for kissing Jena.” He rubbed his fist into his other hand just thinking about the lost opportunity to exact his revenge.
“Maybe that’s the reason he didn’t,” Sofia said with a wicked grin. “After all, Val kept Jon from getting in a second punch. I haven’t had a chance to talk with Val myself to get her take on this since she and her brothers went over to Willian’s house today.”
“What? Why would they all go over there?”
Again, Sofia could have punched herself for opening her big mouth. How in the world was she going to explain the real reason for them going over there? It was not like she could tell Luke they were learning to use magic from Willian. Instead of answering she temporized, “I’m not exactly sure what their plan was, but they all went over there. Maybe they’re trying to get this mess straightened out before Jena gets home.”
“Hmm,” Luke responded. He picked up his burger and took a vicious bite. He chewed hurriedly and took another bite as he tried to imagine how Jena would need him when all of this played out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The couple was still kissing and groping one another as they burst through the hotel door. The man pushed the woman backward as he continued to kiss her neck and began unbuttoning her shirt in anticipation of what was soon to come. They fell together on the bed, and the woman turned her head to allow easier access to kisses on her neck. She opened her eyes and immediately began screaming as she discovered another man already in the bed.
“What the hell?” the man exclaimed as he pushed himself off of the bed and prepared a defensive stance against the stranger in the room.
Petre, startled out of his sleep by the woman’s screams, sat bolt upright in bed and realized he was in a terrible situation. Even as the man erupted off of the bed on one side, Petre did likewise on the other. Unfortunately, the man was between him and the exit. Thinking as fast as his muddled brain allowed, he gathered elemy around himself and seemed to disappear before the man’s eyes.
“Where did he go?” the woman screamed as she sat up on the bed and held her blouse closed with her clutching hand. “Bruce, do something!”
“What do you think I’m doing?” His eyes scanned the room for any sign of movement. He began to edge over to where he had last seen the stranger, thrusting out his fist in the off-chance it might hit something. Hearing a noise behind him, he saw movement and turned just in time to see the door open. He lunged over to the closing door, grabbed it, and hauled it open. He scanned the hallway and thought he saw a glimpse of someone entering the elevator as the doors were closing.
He ran back into the room and grabbed up the phone and hit the zero button. When the operator answered, he yelled, “There was someone sleeping in our room. He ran when I confronted him, and he just got into the elevator! What kind of a hotel are you running? This is unacceptable!”
Petre could hear the man’s rantings as the doors shut. He breathed a sigh of relief at the close call and allowed the shielding cloak around him to dissipate as the doors slid shut in front of him. The elevator felt as though it were moving down, which was exactly what he wanted anyway.
It appeared his problems were not over when the doors opened into the lobby, and there were several men wearing uniforms converging on him. In a split-second, he recreated his cl
oaking shield and slipped between the men. He chuckled at their cries of dismay at his apparent disappearance and kept moving forward until he was through the lobby and back on the sidewalk outside. Keeping the shield in place for the time being, Petre tried to get his bearings from his rude awakening.
It was already light outside, and the streets were busier than they were the evening before. The sounds were deafening, and he felt the tension increasing inside him with each passing step. Thinking he was probably far enough away from the hotel that nobody would recognize him, he let the shield dissipate again, and he stood with his back to a building and watched people pass by without even noticing him.
Now that he was awake, he wondered what he would do to find Stephen. There had to be some way to get to where he was going. For the first time, Petre wished he had taken the time to learn more about Earth before he made the rash journey into this unwelcoming land. There were so many customs and strange happenings that he felt like a lost soul. Suddenly he realized how the people from Earth must feel when they mistakenly found themselves in Tuala, not knowing anything or anybody.
After several hours of watching the people, Petre began to recognize a pattern with their movements. Men and women would step off of the sidewalk, hold out their hands, and a vehicle would stop and pick them up. He had to assume they would then be taken to their destination. With this new idea firmly in his mind, he pushed himself away from the side of the building and did as he had seen.
He stepped off the curb in front of a vehicle. The car screeched to a stop with its horn blazing and the person behind the wheel shaking his fist and yelling at the top of his lungs. “Get out of the street you moron!” He cranked the wheel and pulled around Petre, holding up his middle finger out the passenger side window as he passed.
Petre stepped back up onto the curb and wondered why it had not worked for him as well as it had for everyone else. The woman right in front of him raised her hand, and a yellow car stopped in front of her. She opened the door, sat down, and gave the driver her destination even as she shut the door behind her.
Ascension Vision- The Levels of Ascension Box Set Page 43
