Anointed

by Sara B Gauldin

  “I know; I just can’t get him out from under this slab.” Terra’s voice matched her pallor.

  “Who are you talking to, Terra? Are you okay?” Liam asked. He gazed at Terra with confusion as the unmistakable sound of sirens blended with the screeches and growls of the Scourge.

  “I’m sorry, Liam; I know this must be very confusing for you. We're going to try to get you out. When you feel the slab come up, I need you to try to pull yourself from under it.”

  “We?” Liam asked. He tried to rise, craning his neck to see who Terra was talking about.

  Elise called out: “George, I need your help to lift this concrete!”

  “Of course," said George. He moved toward the women so quickly that he appeared to blur.

  Brendan glanced at his former mentor again. She changed so much since he last saw her. As he attempted to fend off the Scourge, Elise and George helped Terra to remove the largest slab of rubble that pinned Liam’s leg. With Terra and Liam pulling him backward and Elise and George lifting the heavy wreckage, Liam slid free. At that moment, Brendan recognized something in Terra that he witnessed in his charges from afar many times. Her human body was failing her.

  “Elise, check on Terra, I think there's something wrong,” Brendan called out a moment too late: as he spoke Terra slumped to her knees beside Liam.

  Elise nodded a quick acknowledgment to Brendan as she turned her attention from Liam’s freed leg to Terra. Her mouth opened in surprise as she realized Brendan was correct: something was terribly wrong.

  Terra’s hand remained curled around Liam's shirt but her eyes looked through her love, rather than at him. Terra sunk down the rest of the way to the ground. Her body was limp and lifeless.

  “Terra? Somebody help!" Liam reached out for Terra. "Somebody, please help us!”

  “I’m right here Liam; I'm going to try to help her!” Elise said.

  Liam looked past Elise, hoping to see the emergency vehicles that were approaching.

  “He really can’t see us at all, can he?” George waved his hand in front of Liam’s face. Liam did not respond.

  “We’ve all been blind, but no more. We need to get Terra to a hospital! I can’t find any outward injury that would cause her to lose consciousness. I think there's something damaged inside.” Elise put her hands-on Terra as she attempted to find the source of the injury. The human body was an anomaly to Elise, who had always been a spiritual being, but she knew that there was an order to all living things that allowed them to survive. Her immortal mind began the task of mapping the system that served as a vessel on Earth for Terra's true entity. As Elise worked, George stood guard over her. Elise could not defend herself while she attempted to understand and repair the finite system that held Terra in the mortal world.

  Liam attempted to lift and support Terra's head. He looked into the face that had haunted his dreams throughout his lifetime and watched the color drain away with her life.

  “Please don’t die, I barely know you, but you’re in my dreams every night. Please don’t leave me!”

  Chapter 8

  The sound of sirens approaching grew progressively louder. As the guides battled, the flicker of emergency lights accentuated the abnormal shapes of the Scourge.

  “Oh no!” George said. “How can we get Terra and Liam to the ambulance without the Scourge attacking them and the other corporeals? The police and EMTs can’t see the threat!”

  The first police officer on the scene climbed out of his vehicle. His youthful face left no doubt about his rookie status despite the distinctive white streak near the front of his hairline. His eyes widened as he took in the destroyed fountain.

  “What in the world… terrorists in small towns?” he mumbled to himself. He reached for his radio without breaking his gaze. “Dispatch, this is car twenty-nine. We have a major problem here in the park. The entire fountain has been destroyed. Requesting back up and we need a bomb squad down here. I don’t know what caused the explosion but let’s hope there aren't any more devises.” He took his finger off the radio button as he waited for a response.

  Liam called out to the first responders. “We’re over here! Please help. She’s hurt badly. I don’t know what happened. The fountain just exploded!”

  “How many are injured?” the officer shouted.

  “Two of us,” Liam said. “I’m sure my leg is broken, but she’s unconscious!”

  “Can you tell if the lady is breathing?” the officer asked.

  “I think so, but I'm not sure,” Liam answered. “Please get her to a hospital. Something is really wrong!”

  The officer looked in the direction that Liam had called from. The debris obscured his view of Liam despite the brightness of the full moon that now beamed down upon the seemingly tranquil park. “Alright, I'm going to try to get you both out of there, but first we need to secure the area. We need to make sure it's safe for the EMTs.” He pushed the button on his radio. “Dispatch, we have casualties; requesting permission to approach the area.”

  “This is dispatch,” the radio crackled in response. “Be advised, the backup you requested is en route. Hold your ground until the area has been secured.”

  “Understood,” he responded. He turned to the menagerie of first response vehicles. “The area is not secure. There may be more explosives. Fall back to the end of the block until we can be sure it's safe to proceed!”

  "And the injured?" the lady driver of the ambulance demanded.

  "We can't risk sending anyone in. We may set off another explosion."

  "I don't like it; we may be running out of time," she replied.

  "We have no choice, fall back." He gestured to the waiting vehicles, waving them away from the area.

  "Understood," the EMT grumbled as she pulled the shifter into reverse and began slowly backing the ambulance down the block.

  “Are you going to help us?” Liam called out, demanding an answer as he watched the ambulance he was counting on leaving him and Terra behind.

  “I have orders to wait for back-up,” the officer said. “Can you make it out on your own power?”

  “I doubt it,” Liam said. “I won’t leave her anyway. Please hurry. She's so pale; I don’t know if she'll make it much longer!"

  Elise kneeled over Terra her hands glowed faintly as she sought to map the intricacies of the human body. Elise traced each vein and capillary in her mind, carefully cauterizing and repairing each hint of damage she systematically encountered as she learned anatomy first hand.

  “Brendan,” George shouted. “When the other police officers arrive, we're going to have to try to cover them as well. They can’t get Terra and Liam out of here if they are overrun with these things!”

  Brendan stood with his back to Amity as they attempted to cover the gap in the rubble that surrounded the two living teenagers. “We'll do what we can, but these things just keep coming!”

  “Do you think we can move them ourselves?” asked George.

  “I’m afraid we can’t wait,” Elise said. Her hands were on each side of Terra's head. Her eyes remained closed as she attempted to heal the damage. “Terra's running out of time! I can't repair her fast enough.”

  “If we lift them, there are three of us to each of them,” George said.

  “It may look a bit strange to mortal eyes, seeing two people floating toward them,” Elise said.

  “No,” Liam’s plea interrupted the planning. “Please don’t do this!” he used his arms to shift his body directly over Terra’s inert form. As he examined her, he put his ear to her chest. “You need to get that ambulance over here now! I don’t think Terra is breathing. I don’t feel a heartbeat!”

  The officer looked back at the firefighters and EMTs behind him and slowly shook his head. How could he ask them to go into a situation that could lead to them triggering another explosion because he failed to protect them? He grimaced as he weighed his options. He took a deep breath, and then let it out slowly.

  “Alright, do y
ou know CPR?”

  “Not really,” Liam shouted.

  “Then this is what we are going to do,” the officer called back. He held up his hands so that the palms were arranged for chest compressions. “Can you see my hands? I want you to position your hands like mine and put them over her heart. Are you ready?”

  Liam turned to Terra. He tried to do what the officer had asked him to do. Terra looked so frail and broken lying on the ground covered with cuts and bruises that were obscured but not hidden by flecks of blood and soot. None of it could undermine the strange pallor that now encompassed her normally fair complexion. Her full lips took on a bluish tint.

  “Brendan, we can’t wait,” Elise called. “Everybody, gather around Terra and Liam. We have to lift them out of here now!”

  As the officer called out a count, Liam attempted to administer chest compressions. Terra lay inert and lifeless before him.

  “I’m not sure it's working!” he called back through his own pain and terror.

  The small battalion of guides closed their circle around Terra and Liam. Their phalanx was close. Elise, Brendan, and George positioned themselves around Terra. Slowly, Terra’s physical body slipped from Liam’s hands. She rose from the ground until she was in a standing position. The guides supported her limp body as they lifted her between them. As they carried her, a small object fell from her pocket. Liam saw a glint reflected from the emergency lights on the metallic object.

  “What?” Liam muttered. “Terra? Are you alright?” he called out as Terra’s body moved toward the waiting ambulance one block away. He reached for what had fallen from Terra’s pocket. As Liam’s fingers closed around the hilt of a knife, a strange expression of realization followed by confusion dominated his features.

  The Scourge creatures circled around the guides. They now realized the lethal power of these new arrivals. They kept a safe distance as they waited for the best chance to strike.

  “We need to get Liam out of here now,” Amity said.

  “He is going to freak out if we just pick him up,” Constance said.

  “We don’t have time to worry about it,” Christopher said. “The park is full of Scourge. If we don’t get him out of here now we may not have another chance.”

  “Terra?” Liam called after Terra’s retreating form.

  “We don’t have a choice,” Constance said. “If we could warn him we would.” She kneeled beside Liam and positioned her shoulder to lift him.

  “Agreed,” Christopher positioned himself opposite Constance. “Amity, do you think you can stabilize his leg when we move him?”

  “Yes, as long as he doesn’t try to fight us,” Amity said.

  “If he does we just have to win,” Christopher smirked as he and Constance began to lift Liam off the ground.

  “What in the world?” Every muscle in Liam’s body contracted in response to the invisible hands that held him. “Help! Something has me!”

  The three guides worked together to lift Liam and carry him forward.

  The officer’s eyes widened as he realized the young victims of the explosion were approaching him. His hand flew to the radio. “This is car twenty-nine. Bring the ambulance back to its earlier position. Do not come any closer. I repeat, do not come any closer than your previous position. We have accident victims who may now be reachable for treatment.” He put down the microphone, then shook his head. A moment later, he was running toward Terra’s limp form as she approached him. He closed the distance in a matter of seconds. As he reached Terra, he confirmed that she couldn't have removed herself from the situation. She was unconscious and suspended in the air by a force he could not see. The officer took a step back. His mouth hung ajar as he turned in response to Liam’s cries of fear and pain.

  “Well, I never… The boys downtown won't believe this. Who am I kidding? I need to plan a vacation. There's just no way…”

  “Fools!” A voice from the Scourge mob hissed. “You sacrifice yourselves to save the human ones!” As the voice dissipated, the mob realized their opportunity. As the guides rushed forward at an immortal pace, the attackers abandoned all caution. The marauding throng of things surged towards the retreating guides and the unknowing humans. Their battle cry was a screeching, groaning cacophony of sound that raised the hair on the necks of all the mortal beings within earshot despite their inability to hear the ruckus.

  “We may not make it!” Amity shouted. Because she was turned sideways to support Liam’s leg, she alone could look back.

  “If we can get him to the perimeter the police set up, we can try to back them off!” Christopher said.

  Ahead of them Elise, Brendan, and George carefully lowered Terra to the ground. Despite the shock, the officer instantly turned to Terra to help. The EMTs moved to their first patient and began the practiced motions that allowed them to save and stabilize the fragile life force that allowed any entity to remain on Earth.

  “They made it!” Constance said. “I hope we were not too late.”

  “Terra’s human life is a small thing in the scope of what we see is happening here!” proclaimed Amity.

  As she spoke, a Scourge entity plowed into Constance from behind. It dug in with its claws and tried to drag her down. “Ahh!” she groaned as she staggered forward.

  “Constance!” Amity yelled. She shifted Liam’s leg, so she could free one hand as she reached for the creature. Within a moment, the Scourge was eradicated, but the maneuver had slowed them down.

  Poor Liam was now draped between the three guides in a constant state of turbulence as they attempted to deflect the Scourge that attacked from every side. Long scratches and bloody marks appeared on his exposed flesh as the mob tried to rip him from the guide’s grips.

  As the first responders tended to Terra, Brendan turned, realizing the terrible situation his fellow guides now found themselves in: the Scourge had now surrounded the guides as they attempted to move Liam. Liam still twisted and craned away from the invisible hands that held him. His eyes were wide with terror.

  “We have to help them!” Brendan shouted as he pointed at his struggling peers. He did not wait for a response as he rocketed into the fray.

  George followed Brendan a fraction of a second later.

  Elise vacillated for a moment; her eyes went to Terra, lying vulnerable and unprotected. “I owe her a chance,” Elise whispered. She kneeled down beside her mentor and attempted to connect to her human form once more. If she could heal more of the damage, Terra could have a chance at survival.

  Brendan and George worked frantically to clear the attacking crowd from the three guides who carried Liam. Working together they moved Liam the short remaining distance to where he could be reached by the waiting first responders.

  “I don’t know what’s happening!” Liam said to the confused officer. The guides carefully lowered Liam to the ground near the police car. The EMTs running footsteps were quiet to the guide’s ears as they took in the roar of their attackers.

  The mob of scourge advanced on the group without mercy. There was no time for a formal parting. As soon as Liam was safely on the ground the five guides refocused their energies on forcing the attackers back, and away from the humans on the edge of the demolished park. With nothing inhibiting the guides from their work, the Scourge soon felt the enormity of the guides' power as one by one they were reduced to residual energy or retreated in terror.

  Chapter 9

  Something's wrong with my eyes! The darkness won’t let me see! Where am I? Is anyone there? Terra’s mind raced.

  As if on command, the darkness yielded to a gray mist that started with one small flicker, then expanded to fill the surrounding area like oil dropped onto the surface of still water. Terra scanned her new surroundings; greedy to take in the impressions she was denied. She attempted to sit up but found that her body was suspended away from her conscious control. She was weightless and powerless in an eternity of nothing that surrounded her.

  “Is anyone there? Hello
?” Terra heard her own voice call out. The frail thin sound echoed back to her, as though she was standing near the edge of an abyss. A chill passed through her. Terra’s breath came in rapid gasps that left wispy clouds. Each cloud was quickly consumed by the grayness.

  A new realization added to Terra's disorientation; she was not only physically alone. She was completely cut off from the thoughts and feelings of her charges. Worse yet, she could not sense her one source of joy and comfort in existence, Liam.

  Why am I so alone? Where is this place? Terra’s thoughts echoed the same as her spoken words.

  “Ask,” a voice came from the nowhere surrounding her. Terra felt a surge of terror and hope. She was not alone.

  Terra looked around for the person who spoke but found no one. “Where am I? Why am I alone here? Where is Liam?”

  “Is that what you really want to know?” the androgynous voice came from every direction with its smooth and calm tone. The sound resonated through Terra’s useless body.

  “Yes, well I’m not sure,” Terra said. As she hesitated; another question took over her thoughts. Why was I pulled into this mortal life by Liam if we can never have one another? Why must he be sacrificed to the Scourge? Again, Terra's private thoughts reverberated around her. She wondered if the invisible voice could hear them, just as she could.

  “Ask!” the voice repeated. The sound resonated around Terra, as though she was inside a great dome structure.

  “Who are you?” Terra asked. The bitter cold encompassed her like an invisible cloak as she spoke.

  “That question is older than time, and you already know the answer. Ask what your heart really wants to know.” Somehow the voice was inside her head, and yet it surrounded her in the same instant.

  “Why wasn’t I destroyed when I followed Liam into the portal? How did I transition to this mortal life of pain? Why was I given my charge as a soul mate? Why does the Scourge need to destroy him?” Terra could not hide her pain and frustration as she spoke. She strained her eyes to see where the voice originated but the gray nothing would not yield a better vantage point.