See How She Falls Page 6

  “I’ve never tried it before, so I. DON’T. KNOW!” I shouted. I was so tired of his mood swings. I was worn to the bone, nauseous, and unsure of what I was about to walk into. The least he could’ve done was be supportive.

  “My apologies. We will try it now, and see if you are able to do it. Just imagine yourself becoming whole as you enter the next realm. It will be a projection of the real you. If you are unable to do it, I can pass messages between you and the Order.” Aberto threw his hand out in my direction. I reluctantly grabbed it and allowed him to pull me through to the other plane, somewhere in the swamps of Georgia.

  I mentally tried to feel myself forming a whole being as we passed into the next plane. As the last of the dreaming faded behind me, I could hear a loud “Pop.”

  “Well done, Izzy.” Aberto released my hand, and I opened my eyes to find a whole room of women gawking at me.

  “Umm, hi?” I stammered.

  “Well, that was fast," Sena said with a smirk. “How’s it cooking, Abe? Learned any new tricks? Thrown any more wrenches into the Big Man’s plans?”

  “It is always a pleasure, Sena.” Aberto ground each word out through gritted teeth.

  “Don’t mind Old Abe, he is just a grump. I think it is all of the years he’s spent in the dreaming not getting laid," Sena stage whispered.

  “Umm, okay?” I wondered when I would stop stammering. These women probably thought I was a poor excuse for a savior if they’d ever seen one. They were right.

  “I guess you want to talk the Grand-Seer, right?” Sena had started speaking slowly to me, as if I were having trouble catching up.

  “Yes, the Grand-Seer, right. That would be awesome. Knowledge is power and all of that.”

  “Well, follow me then.” Sena moved off hollering at everyone to stop gawking as we went.

  I finally began to take in my surroundings. We were in what amounted to some sort of old house that had been left to the elements for God only knew how long. The floor boards creaked and moaned beneath my feet as I went, sending out yells of anguish. We made our way towards a dilapidated staircase, which Sena began climbing immediately. She moved fluidly up the stairs with Aberto close behind. I eyed them warily, taking my time to carefully place my feet the entire way up. I wasn’t about to let a rickety staircase be my demise. No way, no how.

  When I finally reached the top, Sena was busy yapping at an exasperated Aberto. I thought it served him right. In all honesty, it seemed like Sena was doing it to intentionally annoy him. She seemed to like getting a rise out of people.

  “Right this way, if you don’t mind.” Sena led the way down the hall to what must’ve once been the master bedroom. “She’s been waiting for quite a while.”

  I walked into the room and froze. Sitting before me alive and well was my mother. My knees threatened to buckle as my stomach churned. I blinked rapidly, doing my best to erase the image. Surely this was a mistake. This couldn’t be. My mother was gone. She was dead. What sort of hell had he brought me to?

  “Oh, dear. You didn’t tell her, Aberto?” The painfully familiar voice moved towards me in a flash, steading me as the world tried to flip upside down and shake me off.

  “Izzy, I didn’t think. I apologize. This is the Grand-Seer. She also happens to be your aunt.” Aberto’s voice was muffled inside of my ringing ears.

  “I’m sorry, my what? My aunt?” I paused trying to get the air to return to my lungs. I was sure my body was going to feel this when I got back. “I don’t have an aunt. Especially not one that looks just like my mother. What kind of game is this?” I pulled away from the woman trying to embrace me. I was tired of surprises, tired of tricks, and more importantly tired of everyone keeping secrets.

  “This is no game. Your mother chose to leave here when we were young. She saw what had to be done, and what her life must be to bring you into the world. As far as she was concerned, she no longer had any family when she left here. It is our way, Izzy. It is how we have lived for thousands of years, constantly running from the scrutiny of the Council. If we kept in contact with anyone that decided to leave and join them, they could be used to find us. We do this to protect ourselves, and our beliefs.”

  “But, you look,” I struggled to breathe, barely getting the words out, “just like her.” Tears flowed down my cheeks. Nothing made sense.

  “We were twins, dear one.” My supposed aunt lifted her hands to cup my face, before gently placing a kiss on my forehead. “There will be time for answers later. For now, you must know the warning we were given. A warning meant for you alone.”

  “Just tell me. I really feel like I need to get back to my body soon.” The exhaustion pulled at me. My emotions were in turmoil as a thousand questions raged inside my head. But, much like Aberto, this woman seemed all too willing to let me wait them out.

  She nodded once before she blankly stared ahead. In a matter of seconds she became nothing more than a mouthpiece. It was the creepiest thing I’d ever seen, and I’d seen some pretty creepy crap over the past year. Her voice came out booming, a voice that in no way could ever belong to her.

  “Stop the darkness, or the world shall fall. Seer, you have been changed beyond recognition. You were never meant to be, yet always meant to be. For the price of what you’ve been given, you must pay. You will fall, but in your fall, you will save them from darkness. Seek out your strengths, use your allies, and wage the war that must be waged.” There was an audible snap as my alleged aunt came back to herself.

  “That is the worst. I hate when the Big Guy does that.” She shook herself as if trying to brush off whatever remained of the message.

  “Umm, so was that God just talking to me?”

  “One of them. Or maybe it was one of the chief angels. I’m never really sure who is going to use me as a mouthpiece. It is a most unfortunate talent to be blessed with," she said the last part loudly towards the sky, as if the gods cared what they did with her.

  I was beginning to resent them. It felt as if we were nothing more than pieces in their grand game of chess. And endless cycle played out between heaven and hell with no real winner. I didn’t want to play anymore. I didn’t want to be locked in a stalemate with no hope to escape. I began to panic.

  Reality slipped through my fingers like so many grains of sand snapping me out of my corporeal form. I needed to get back. I needed to be in my body, away from here. My mind raced in a panic. I looked up at Aberto, breathing out once, before I felt myself pulled into the dreaming. I heard him shout my name as I slipped back, pulled by some invisible string into the fog. I couldn’t tell if I’d done it in my panic, or if it was something altogether different.

  Chapter Nine

  “ABERTO!” My panicked voice rang out, echoing eerily through the fog. “Fantastic, just freaking awesome. How in the hell am I supposed to get back now?” I mumbled, making my way through the fog.

  An overwhelming sense of oppressions swept over me as I ran through the fog. Every moment of the past few years played out in my mind as I sought my way back home. Moments of fear and pain, moments of sadness, they all coalesced, forming an impenetrable wall. It was too much; the changes happening within me, the secrets, the terrifying truth of what my future may hold; and as my strength depleted, I began to fall. My resolve fled me in an instant, leaving me to the unpardonable truth. My death beckoned me, pulling me deeper into the darkness. Lost to the world, I fell to my side. The truth settled around me like a cocoon. I would never be enough.

  As I let the inevitability sink in, I heard it. A familiar voice called out of the fog. A voice I hadn’t heard for two months, yet there he stood. The culmination of nightmares and fears wrapped into the body of a cloaked figure. My future cradled in the palms of his crushing hands. Motionless, I was rooted to my place. The unchangeable darkness, the coming storm, it all pushed down upon me.

  He moved towards me, cutting a path through the fog to stand above me like some sort of centurion. The robe covered all but his sneer
ing mouth. The mouth that housed the words that would end me. “Do you see it now? The inevitability? This world will burn for its sins, Izzy. These people, they don’t deserve the grace they are given, or the protection of our kind. Why not just join us? Fighting really is futile.”

  The hopelessness pushed against me, prodding me, taunting me. Swallowing deeply, I rose to my knees. I’d never been a quitter, I wouldn’t start now. I’d been warned that the darkness would call for me, that it would tempt me. Strength I didn’t know I possessed rose up within me. Whatever this person was doing, I could fight it. I could fight him. Taking a deep breath, I stood on shaking legs to face the robed figure.

  “I will do everything in my power to protect this world from whatever it is you are trying to bring.”

  “Look down at your leg, Izzy. Do you really think that you can stop us? Just two more runes and the bridge will be complete. Your fight was lost before it began.”

  At his words, the burning began on my calf, ripping deep into my soul. I knew that when I awoke, I would have another mark. I wondered if this one would be my undoing. My rubbery legs failed me, and as I began to fall I heard a laugh.

  “I will die before I let you do this.”

  “Yes, you will. But really, your death won’t do anything to stop the darkness. It shall end all.” He paused, turning back towards me as the fog engulfed him. “Not even Aberto can save you from this.” His voice dripped with distain, his words echoing through the fog as he faded away.

  “Yeah, fat lot of good he’s done me lately," I muttered miserably. I sat there, thinking about the man that had been there. I needed to get back to my body. Eleanor and I had some more searching to do. I thought about my body, laying in the office. Breathing deeply, I closed my eyes. “Please let this work.”

  The dreaming spun around me quickly as I was thrown out into the office where my body rested. Conall, Kennan, and Aberto were all there shouting at one another. As I made my way on unsteady legs back to my body, Aberto turned towards me. The fear in his eyes was unmistakable.

  “She has returned," he said, moving towards me as I mended my battered soul back into my body.

  “Izzy, what happened?” Kennan knelt by me as I struggled to open my eyes.

  “Another rune, I have an aunt, Aberto is a giant liar face, secret keeping, butt munch," I muttered almost incoherently.

  “Milady, you are speaking in riddles. What happened? Have you been marked again?” Conall assessed me, trying to find where I’d been marked.

  I lifted my right leg and pointed lazily at the calf that was now caked in blood. I was so tired of these jerks ruining all of my clothes. I’d only packed three pairs of jeans, and this was the second pair they’d ruined.

  “It must be treated," Aberto, the obvious, said.

  “Where were you?” I looked at him, struggling to stay conscious. “I called for you.”

  “I couldn’t find you, Izzy. You were blocking again, or they were. I am not certain.” His eyes filled with remorse and unuttered apologies. “Rest now, there will be time for answers later.”

  “There’s no time for rest.” Tears filled my eyes as I choked back the reality. “It’s coming, there are only two runes left before it is here. Whatever they are summoning, it is meant to make people pay for their sins. They don’t believe the world is deserving of protection, so they mean to punish it. We can’t let that happen. There isn’t time to sit here and rest. Something has to be done, a price must be paid. You heard what she said, Aberto. The cost of what you did is that I must fall.” My panicked voice rose to a pitch.

  “No.” Aberto stood abruptly. “NO!” His shout rang through the office, shaking the walls. “It was not her doing. Why must you always ask the impossible?” Aberto’s voice echoed, reaching the heavens themselves.

  “Enough.” Kennan brushed the hair out of my eyes. “This isn’t helping anyone. Izzy, you need to rest. I know that you want to get moving, that you think if you take any time for yourself that people will be hurt. I’m here to tell you, if you don’t take some time for yourself, you won’t be strong enough. One night will not hurt you. Rest now, and in the morning we will search for answers.”

  “Forgive me," Aberto said as he faded into nothing.

  “Izzy, you need to treat this.” Conall’s voice dragged me from my fuzzy thoughts.

  “Bring me the stuff.” I looked up at Kennan. The worry in his eyes broke me.

  Conall brought the first aid kit, well the Guardian’s version of one, over to me. He pulled out everything I would need to treat the wound as I rolled up my pant leg. There on my leg was a rune I hadn’t seen before. If only this one had appeared two months ago. Then maybe we would’ve known that whatever was happening to me had nothing to do with the other Seers dying. Hindsight was for the birds.

  I got busy cleaning my leg as Kennan pulled Conall to the side. Their faces were somber as they discussed the transpiring events. They’d seen this before with Cait, and I knew that watching me go down the same road was tearing both of them apart. Seemingly forgetting my new super senses, they carried on a conversation they seemed to believe me unable to hear. Doing my best to act as though I couldn’t hear every word, I smoothed on the healing cream.

  “She is fading fast. We must act soon.” Conall’s voice was strained.

  “She doesn’t know about any of that yet. She doesn’t need to know. Not now. It won’t do her a bit of good. When the time comes, we will do what we must.” Kennan’s hand lifted to his face as he turned to look at me. It seemed I wasn’t that great at eavesdropping after all. Multi-tasking had never really been my thing.

  “Izzy, you need to rest now.” Kennan moved across the room to smoothly lift me from the couch.

  “Okay.” I knew he was right. I needed to sleep in a bad way. The rune could wait until the morning. The explanations could wait for a few hours. I would be absolutely no good to anyone if I didn’t take better care of myself. “I’m ready. Can you block me, please?”

  “Of course.” Kennan’s lips moving soundlessly against my hair was the last thing I felt before I slipped into oblivion.

  Chapter Ten

  Was this the dreaming? No, it couldn’t be. After all, Kennan had blocked me. I took a wary step, unsure of where I may be. The surroundings drew me in like a warm blanket, a reassuring weight. The fog drifted around my ankles as I moved through, growing ever closer to the source of comfort, the beacon that drew my soul. The voices grew louder as the fog parted, revealing my mother and aunt. Leaden feet pulled me to a stop as I struggled to gasp for air. It was a memory, a glimpse at something long past.

  “Why must it be her? Surely there is some other way. Some way for me to take her place," my mother pleaded.

  “Look at her, you know it must be this way. You’ve been with her since her first breath, surely you knew that her life would not be like that of any other Seer.” My aunt pointed out into the fog at a child playing. I looked more closely at the joyous figure until the truth finally settled in my bones. “She’s been jumping into the dreaming since she first began to dream. More time will pass, more memories will form. Her sanity is set on a precarious ledge. You must protect her. You must protect yourself. She must come of age.”

  “Oh, stop being a mouthpiece. This is my daughter we are talking about. How can you ask me to sacrifice my only child?”

  “We ask that you sacrifice so much more. You must give her a life separate from your kind. Raise her in ignorance of what she is, yet protect her. When the time comes, you must leave her. This is not a choice. If you do not do this, the world will fall to the darkness. She will either be this world’s savior or downfall. Failure to do as we ask will result in a world filled with chaos and destruction.”

  “But why?” Sobs racked my mother’s body as she struggled with words that refused to sink in. Broken, my mother sobbed, unable to keep the hurt from her face, unable to be strong. I looked at her, wondering how she could’ve written me letters hoping for
a good life, a life separated from this when she knew. She’d always known. Perhaps it was denial, perhaps fear, either way I resented the hope they represented and the life that might’ve been.

  “Why is not for you to understand. It must be so.” My aunt shook herself as if trying to get rid of the last bit of whatever had been speaking through her. “I’m so sorry.” Her voice barely rose above a whisper.

  “Promise me, promise you will protect her. If I must leave her, then you be there. You find her, and you take care of my baby for me.”

  “I promise. But I don’t think that she will be friendless in this world, my dear sister.” My aunt nodded towards the little girl. There, playing ring-around-the-rosie, was Aberto. “I do believe that the Old One will guard her well.”

  “But why? Why does he show such an interest? Can he be trusted?” Score one for mom, at least she wasn’t as accepting of him as everyone else seemed to be.

  “I will never understand the reasons of the Old Ones. Can he be trusted? I suppose we will have to let time tell. We must go now. People mustn’t know that we are still in contact.”

  “I know. I miss you. Just know that I will haunt your ass if you don’t take care of my baby when I’m gone.”

  “I said I promise, now go get the Old One to wipe her memory. You know what the big chiefs said. She can’t know what she is.”

  “Will I see you again?”

  “I don’t know. I pray that the gods allow it.”

  “As do I.” My mother hugged her sister tightly. Hesitant to let go, she finally closed her eyes and pulled away to move towards Aberto. “I need you to erase any memory she may have of the dreaming or what she is. She can’t know until she comes of age. Can you do this for me?”

  “I can. She will resent what has been stolen.” Aberto’s face looked forelorn.

  “It is the will of the gods, God, whoever is using my sister as a loudspeaker.”

  “Then so be it.” He paused for a moment, turning to look at the happy girl skipping around the fog. “Izzy, come here for a moment.” My feet carried me closer towards the memory.