Sacrifices
Page 28
Chapter 24 - Repast
July, 1981 - North Hudson Bay, Canada
The truth of this life is that we should be less concerned about how long we live, more concerned about how we live.
About ten seconds after the sisters disappeared, a light appeared in the middle of the group of service men the sisters had left on the beach. That light became a glowing disk which Cil and Deborah stepped through. Cil carried the bruised, limp body of Isadora with her. She tossed Isadora into the snow.
Big Mike asked, “Is she dead?”
Cil replied, “No, but if we kill this body, she will just claim another. If she does that, we’ll have to wait until she pops her head up again to find her.”
“We would appreciate it if you guys would take Isadora. Just keep her on ice in a saline solution and she’ll be fine for transport. We’ll keep Matasis at our place,” Deborah added.
The Circle Knights had purchased, on the sisters’ behalf, an old mansion in the Garden District of New Orleans which the sisters would use to imprison some evil spirits. The plan was devised as an alternative to sending them back into The Pit where they were often conjured up by wayward mortals.
A beaten and defeated Isadora muttered, “It’s all gone, it’s all gone…” as Big Mike’s crew her into the cryogenic chamber for transport.
Cil instructed the servicemen to back away from the portal that was still open. A blue, almost blinding light began to shine through the opening. The service men saw Ruth and Sarah as they stood between two worlds. Ruth held onto Sarah, but this Sarah did not appear as she did when she first went into the portal. She was the very embodiment of darkness, soaking in light of every hue. Looking at her was like staring into a starry night in some empty corner of the universe. She and Ruth were cloaked in a blue sphere of Ruth’s creation to protect the others, as Ruth continued to talk Sarah.
Ruth kept calling her name, “Sarah, Sarah…” and tried to maintain eye contact with her younger sister.
By going dark and releasing her full destructive capacity on Isadora’s realm, Sarah became a unique celestial anomaly. Ruth Ann and Sarah stood in the balance between worlds.
Ruth and Sarah had a special bond. Gabriella had sought to bring Ruth out of her shell so that she might reach her full potential. Sarah had become a surrogate mother to Ruth in her adulthood despite the fact that she was the younger sibling. It was a division of the labor of love. Cil focused on keeping Deborah between the yellow lines and filling her with her own spirit, while Sarah looked after Ruth. As a child, Ruth leaned on Gabriella. As an adult, she shared her darkest thoughts with Sarah. Ruth didn’t know what she’d do the next time she got the blues if Sarah wasn’t there to comfort her. Ruth had never actually hurt herself, as Deborah had done, but she had thought about it often.
Ruth continued, “Let go, breathe, release...”
Ruth smiled, held Sarah close, and began to sing softly into her ear. Sarah laughed at Ruth’s singing and closed her eyes. Finally, the surface of her body began to show traces of something resembling human flesh. A few moments later, she stood as Eve did in the garden. Ruth covered her with glowing blue bands so that the two of them could step through the portal and onto the frozen tundra. The portal closed. Deborah took off her white cape and wrapped it around Sarah.
Deborah whispered, “Nice job, little sis.”
The four sisters climbed atop the bluff to view the battlefield. The four of them stood shoulder to shoulder with their arms interwoven next to the still fluttering crimson family banners.
They called the names of the fallen into the mist and softly falling snow, “Uncle Jorge, Auntie Alejanda, Miss Elizabeth, Gabriella, Grandma Elisa, Grandpa Rob, Ashe.”
This was the first time they’d ever dared to refer to Elisa and Rob as their grandparents. Elisa had telepathically conveyed the truth to them soon after they arrived in Mexico to live with Jorge’s family, but had sworn each to a secrecy so severe that they dare not utter the truth. After calling out the names, the sisters sang the “Hallelujah” chorus of a song called “Total Praise” as they reflected on all that they had lost.
Cil looked out over the landscape and said, “It is done. This season of loss is over for us and the season of growth is upon us. Let’s wrap up here so that we can get on with it.” As the sisters turned away, images of The Elders appeared in the distance around the island like hours on a clock. The twelve Circle Elders were present. The Elders were pleased with them and had compassion for their losses.
The sisters joined Big Mike and his team on the watercraft that was ferrying Isadora and Gabriella’s remains back to the Navy cruiser. Gabriella’s stone body lay on the floor of the vessel. Ruth sat beside her on the floor stroking her face. Sarah sat next to Ruth and rubbed her hand across Ruth’s pulled-back hair.
The Communications officer who was sitting across from the sisters timidly leaned forward to speak to Cil, “Excuse me, ma’am, I hate to interrupt, but about that dragon?”