Between Ascension, page 10
part #9 of Levels of Ascension Series
“What about your real father? What’s his name?”
“We don’t know; our mother won’t talk about him.”
“That’s weird. I wonder why,” Willian mused. Wishing to change the subject, Willian asked, “What’s with all of the strange classes you have to take in school?”
“What do you mean? They’re all really normal here. How are they different than what you’ve done in Tuala?”
“Our main focus is on using elemy. Of course, we all learn math, writing, and history.” He tried to think about how he could explain the differences and came up without anything. It was almost as if his brain were short-circuiting while he was talking with Valentina.
“We’d probably think it was like a wizarding school if it’s anything like I imagine it to be.”
“Didn’t you ever go to school in Tuala before you left? You did say you were eight when your mom sent you, right?”
“The Roanoke Colony keeps to themselves. They weren’t much on education, and they did not allow the people to get birth crystals so there wouldn’t’ve been much point in that training anyway.”
“I don’t understand. I thought you had your own birth crystal.” Willian was becoming increasingly worried about the prospects of him being able to marry her if she did not even possess her own link to the elemy.
“The three of us do have them, but they have always been kept a secret from the people where we were living. Much like here, the people only see what they want to see.”
Relief washed through Willian at Valentina’s admission to having a pendant. Their situation just became immensely easier because of it. “So have you ever learned how to use the elemy?”
“Jena and Juila have been teaching us. We just discovered our true origins only a short time ago, and we’ve got a lot yet to learn to catch up with other kids our age, I’m sure.”
“What’s the furthest level you’ve mastered?”
Not sure if she had been learning the skills in the same order as Willian had, she answered, “Behn and I have both gotten through the memorization level, and Jon is a little behind, at freezing water, in fact, because he just started.”
“Would you like me to give you lessons? I think it could be fun.”
“I’m not sure. It’s kind of hard keeping it a secret from our parents.”
“We could practice it here at my house. Melissa and Marcus already know about where I’m from, and they would be sure to give us privacy to study.”
“I’m not sure privacy would be wise for us, Willian,” Valentina replied slowly. She instantly recalled the moment’s lapse of judgment which ended with Jon punching Willian in the gut.
Wishing he did not have to say it, Willian answered, “Bring your brothers. We can all work on it together. Please say you will, it’ll be fun.”
“I’ll ask them. If they say no, then I can’t come over there alone.”
Trying to keep his voice cheerful, he answered, “No problem, just let me know what they say. We can start tomorrow if you want.”
“Okay. I should probably get going. I’ll talk to Behn and Jon, and I’ll call you back tonight to give you our answer. Thanks, Willian.”
“For what?”
“Just…I don’t know. Goodbye.” Valentina hung up the phone swiftly and hit her thigh with her fist at how badly she had ended the conversation. Willian must surely think she was an idiot now if he had not already.
She left her room to see what her brothers thought about learning the crystal skills from Willian. Knowing Behn, he would be amenable; however, Jon was a different matter entirely. With the tense scene between Jon and Willian from the day before fresh in her mind, she opted to talk to Behn first.
Valentina leaned into Behn’s bedroom and tapped lightly on the door to catch his attention. “Do you have a minute?”
“Sure. What’s going on?” He set aside the magazine he was reading onto his nightstand and pulled his legs up to give his sister room to sit on his bed with him.
Valentina took the offered spot near him and jumped right in with what she was thinking. “I just got off the phone with Willian. He asked if we would be willing to have him teach us to learn more crystal skills. He said we could start tomorrow.”
Behn cocked his head to the side, smiled, and said, “And it wouldn’t hurt to be able to spend more time with him during the break!”
Valentina actually blushed at her brother’s taunt. “I can’t say I’d mind, actually.” She chuckled and then became serious again as she moved on to her next point. “Do you think Jon would be willing to go?”
Raising his eyebrows, Behn considered his sister’s question. It would be a tricky matter where Jon was concerned. “I’ll talk with him if you want.”
Rushing forward and hugging him tightly she announced, “You’re the best brother ever! Does this mean you want to go?”
“Sure, why not? It’d sure beat sitting around the house for the next two weeks. Besides, you never know when our abilities will be needed.”
“Hopefully never while we’re here on Earth. That’s another thing: Willian seems to think we’ll eventually be moving back to Tuala permanently. Do you think we will?”
“There’s always that possibility. I’d be willing to if that’s where Juila wants to live. From what I witnessed between you and Willian, I’d also dare to guess you’d go as well.”
“I don’t know…” Valentina answered uncertainly. “What about our parents? We can’t just disappear from their lives. That would definitely not be a good way to repay them for all of the time, effort, and love they’ve poured into our lives growing up.”
“You’re right, but there’s nothing saying we wouldn’t be able to come and go like Juila’s parents do.”
“True,” Valentina agreed, starting to warm to the idea. When her brother spoke about it that way, it did seem less daunting and final. Maybe she would be able to work something out in a future which included Willian after all. “I told Willian I’d call him back tonight about our decision whether or not to train with him tomorrow. Do you think you could talk to Jon right now?”
“Sure.” Behn threw his feet over the edge of the mattress and hopped off of the bed. “I’ll be right back!” he said as he confidently strode out of his room.
Valentina sat anxiously on his bed anticipating a shouting match from down the hall. She breathed quietly, hoping to catch any of the conversations, but never heard anything. When Behn came back a few minutes later, she thought maybe he had not even discussed it with their brother.
“We’re in,” he announced triumphantly.
“What? Just like that, he said he’d go?” Valentina was trying to figure out what the catch was to this turn of events.
“Sure. I just told Jon the sooner he learned everything about using his crystal, the faster he could know how to hurt Willian if he ever attempted anything untoward to you again.”
“You didn’t!” Valentina’s hand covered her mouth in shock at what Jon might accomplish if he had more training.
“Nah, I’m kidding. I just reminded him we are really behind in our training and we wouldn’t want to have our mom blamed for the lack.”
“Gah, Behn that was terrible!” She scrambled off of the bed and advanced on her brother who was still standing in the middle of his room with a goofy grin on his face. She noticed with satisfaction that he registered fear as he saw her scowl the closer she came to him. With lightning speed, her hand shot out and delivered a punch to his arm as she passed him and continued out the door, across the hall, and into her own bedroom.
She sat at her small desk and picked up the phone receiver.
Willian picked up after only the first ring.
Valentina smiled at the thought of Willian sitting near the phone anticipating her call. She almost forgot about how their last call ended until Willian spoke.
“Is everything okay, Val?”
“Yeah, I was just calling to see if the offer to teach us still stands for tomorrow.”
“Absolutely. I’m available whenever you can get over here. Are both your brothers coming?”
“Surprisingly, yes, they are.”
“I’ll be sure to be on my best behavior for Jon. He packs a mean punch, you know!”
“I’m really sorry about that, Willian. Jon shouldn’t have done that to you.”
“Yes, he should have, Val. I would have done the same thing in his place. It’s his job to protect you; I totally get it.”
“I’m glad you understand. It must be a guy thing.”
“Probably.” Willian could not help but chuckle at Valentina’s tone.
Without having anything further to discuss, Valentina said, “We’ll call you when we’re leaving the house. Will that give you enough time?”
“Sure. I can’t wait to see you, all of you, I mean.”
“I’m looking forward to it myself. See you tomorrow.” Valentina hurriedly disconnected the call and realized it was another awkward ending to their discussion. She did not understand why every encounter she had ever had with Willian ended strangely. Surely, it would have to get more comfortable…eventually.
Chapter Fourteen
AMANDA HAD ALWAYS had a hard time sitting idle when she thought there was something which needed to be done. Unfortunately, there was nothing to do until the next day when the museum opened. Of course, she could probably drive over to where Shemalla’s house had been in her dream, but she thought that might not be prudent since she had never actually met the woman in real life. She could hardly be expected to go up to her front door and introduce herself as the person who dreamt about her while she was in a coma. It sounded nuts even to herself, and she had lived it.
The previous day had been filled with air travel, rental cars, and eventually checking into their hotel. Coincidentally, it was the same hotel as the one from Amanda’s dream. She did not mention the detail to her father, but she got the distinct impression he already knew based on the sly looks he gave her as they had checked in.
Amanda was most worried about her mother since she seemed on the verge of tears almost all of the time. They were going to visit the jail on Monday when visitors were allowed, but until then they were going to see if Shemalla really did work at the museum. Amanda and her father both hoped the quest to find Shemalla would help to distract Diane from her preoccupation with Carrie’s situation.
As a mother herself, Amanda knew it was a futile effort. She would be just as upset if one of her daughters were in jail with nobody to be able to see her. It still boggled her mind even to imagine how things could have devolved so far that her eldest sister would even end up in jail. Worse yet, they had no idea where her children had been taken, other than knowing they had been put into foster care.
A knock on her door interrupted her musings. She got off of the bed and opened the flimsy excuse for a security door.
“We’re heading over to the restaurant for dinner. Do you want to join us?” Chris asked.
“Sure, let me get my jacket. It’s pretty cold here, or maybe I’m just too acclimated to the Florida sun,” she teased as she left the door open to retrieve her coat from the back of the chair next to the bed. Amanda joined her father and carefully shut her door behind them. They walked down the hall where Chris used his room key to open his own room.
“Ready?” he called into the room.
Diane appeared almost immediately; together, they all headed downstairs to eat. After their orders had been placed, Diane asked, “What time does the museum open tomorrow?”
“The desk clerk seemed to think it opened at noon on Sundays. I guess that means we can all sleep in,” Chris answered brightly.
“That’s too bad. I’d hoped they’d be open earlier so we could at least get one mystery solved quickly.” Diane frowned in disappointment.
“I wouldn’t exactly say anything would be solved, Mom. In actuality, it would only be the start of a new mystery. We don’t know why Shemalla was even a part of my dream. We never came here before to elicit her help, so there’s a lot we still need to figure out.”
“I suppose,” Diane muttered.
“I think it’s all exciting!” Chris announced brightly.
“You would,” Diane and Amanda said in unison which caused them all to start laughing. It was the first genuine laugh Amanda had heard from her mom since they had learned about Carrie’s predicament. Amanda was grateful for the release of tension her mother had been harboring.
Their conversation ceased as the waitress brought their meals. They each focused on eating. Amanda’s mind raced with different scenarios which might play out at the museum the next day. She desperately hoped they would get some answers.
This trip would be very depressing if nothing came of it except a visit to the jail. There was nothing they could do for her sister except be there to show support, but it hardly seemed enough to erase the pain the family would be enduring as the drama of the trial unfolded. They had a long road ahead of them where this matter was concerned.
Because the conversation was so strained, nobody wanted to continue to sit and attempt it any longer than necessary, and they all returned to their rooms for the night. Amanda sat on the only chair in her room and opened up her cell phone. She missed Riccan terribly, but she was unsure whether or not she wanted to answer his questions about their progress. There really was nothing to report, yet she wanted to hear her husband’s voice. She hit the programmed button and held the phone to her ear.
Riccan answered on the second ring. “Hello.”
“Hi, honey,” she sighed. “It’s good to hear your voice.”
“I take it you haven’t gotten anywhere yet. It’s okay; I know tomorrow will be different. You know, as soon as you told me about your plan to go to Roswell, I couldn’t help but feel stupid for not suggesting the same thing sooner. I’m just sorry for the other reason you’re actually there. Have you heard anything about your sister yet?”
“Nothing. Mom’s really upset that the jail she’s in doesn’t allow visitors on the weekends. It seems stupid to me, too. Most people would have the weekends free, but I guess it’s because she’s in the county hold and not in the prison. I guess we can be glad for that, right?”
“That’s for sure. Do you think it would help if I made a few phone calls? Maybe I could bargain for her release,” Riccan suggested hopefully, wanting to give his wife renewed hope.
“Let’s just see what happens. I don’t know how things work here, and I wouldn’t want our interference to cause more problems for her. Carrie has enough wrong right now.
“We’re going to visit the museum tomorrow. I guess they open at noon.”
“I wish I were there with you. Maybe I should fly over there and go with you. What do you think?”
“As much as I’d love that, it didn’t happen that way in my dream. I think we should try to be as accurate to the original accounting as we can be.”
“How’s that going to work? You don’t exactly have a broken arm, do you? One of the things Shemalla did in your dream was to heal you before she sent you to Tuala.”
“True,” Amanda mused. She wondered if she were reading more into the dream than she should. It would be nice to have Riccan with her. She shook her head and said, “I think we should leave it the way it is for now. If I need you, then I know you’ll be here in a heartbeat.”
“Damn straight! I’d bring the telepod if you needed me immediately. I’m pretty sure the people there in Roswell wouldn’t think twice to see another spaceship in their midst. Can you imagine it? I might just come if only to see their reactions!”
Amanda burst out laughing at her husband’s absurd comment. “You’d better not, mister! I like my life with you just fine, and I don’t want to jeopardize anything just for your amusement.”
Pleased with his ability to make Amanda laugh, he relented easily. “If you insist! I’ll be a good boy.”
“Good boys are often rewarded,” she replied with a lowered tone in her attempt at being seductive.
“Grrr, I’ll be verrry good!”
Amanda chuckled again and then asked, “Have you heard anything from the girls?”
“Not a word. I’m sure my mother has been thrilled to pieces to have them stay at their house. If there were any problem, though, they’d be certain to get ahold of me.”
“Well, I guess that’s all I got. How about you? What have you been up to?”
“Nothing important really. I spent the day reading through some of the ancient text in the samara room. I was hoping to find another new entry, like the one you discovered. Unfortunately, I came up empty-handed. Really, I spent most of the day moping around the house wishing I could have come with you. I love you, Amanda. I miss you.”
“I miss you, too. Hopefully, we’ll be able to come home by the middle of the week. Dad wasn’t able to get too much time off of work, but we need to see what we can do about getting Carrie’s kids moved into my parent’s house.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks! I feel like this is going to be an uphill battle. I’ll call you tomorrow after we’re done at the museum to let you know how it went.”
“Cool, I’ll look forward to it. Good-night.”
“Good-night.” Amanda shut her phone and set it on the nightstand. Without anything else to do, Amanda undressed and got into her bed. She picked up the remote and turned on the television. She flipped through the channels until she came to a program called ‘History’s Mysteries’ and decided to watch it to hear what they had to say about the other worlds which she now knew something about personally.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Daven rushed back to his Residence and found the girls had abandoned their post in the library for a walk on the garden paths near the landing field. They rushed toward him as he set the telepod down on the ground and exited the vehicle. It warmed his heart to see their excitement to see him. He realized he had not received such a warm reception since the days when Riccan had been young enough to do it himself.
