Girl Possessed (Book 1 of The Girl Trilogy) (4 page)

“
We’ll see what happens and
then we’ll talk.”

“
I hate when you do
that.”

“
What?”

“
Oh, never mind. I hate
this kind of talk about puberty. And how could I get serious with
Shaul if we aren’t even moving to the same place? He wouldn’t like
me anyway.”

“
Of course he would like
you—you’re beautiful.”

“
Mothers have to say that,”
I looked at her with an annoyed expression on my face. “You said
you don’t want to go to Seneca Mountains. Did you change your
mind?”

“
Dear God—no.” Her eyes
widened. “We’re definitely not going there.”

“
Why don’t you want to go
there?”

“
I like Shaul,” she smiled,
avoiding my question which thoroughly irritated me. “He’s different
and very good looking—don’t you agree?”

I didn’t feel like talking anymore.
“He seems mature for a teenager.”

“
Being on your own does
that to a person.” She ran her fingers through her long sandy
blonde hair. “You’re pretty grown up too, Cordellia. You were
always different than the girls you went to school with in Los
Angeles. That’s a good thing.”

“
Most of the girls at
school were snobby and wannabe dome cinema stars. They thought I
was weird because I liked to read and practice extreme
sports.”

“
Those were the days—you
have to admit—when life was so much simpler.” She looked a little
teary eyed.

“
I miss reading. It’s hard
not having TD pods anymore. And I miss our vacations to Marina
Island.”

Mom tilted her head back up at the
stars. “You were quite a fish on those trips. I couldn’t get you
out of the water.”

“
Those were the days,” I
admitted. “Remember the flying suit I rented?”

She shook her head in disapproval. “I
must have been crazy to let you do that. When you jumped off the
cliff, I felt like I was going to have a nervous
breakdown.”

“
But, it was so
exhilarating flying through the sky like a bird, observing the
breathtaking landscapes from midair, circling the mountains the way
I did. I wish I could do that again someday.”

“
You will, you will. Please
God.” She had a contemplative look in her eyes like she knew
something I didn’t. I hoped she was right. I just wished life could
get normal again. We had seen too much death and
destruction.

I paddled the raft alongside the dock
near the amusement park ruins. Then I climbed up onto a plank and
helped my mother out with the cane Shaul made for her. The park
looked dilapidated and desolate like an old ghost town of the past.
That saddened me.

It was only a couple of years ago that
I rode the turbo Ferris wheel. The gate keeper gave us ZPD
injections before we got on so that we didn’t permanently lose our
equilibrium. Initially, my mother objected to the drug because she
was all natural, but because it was my birthday, she gave in that
time.

That ride was so fast and spun in so
many directions. The bubble lifted up so high in the sky that I
thought I was in outer space. It was so fun and my mother couldn’t
get me off it. Now the ride was charred from looting fires and the
thick center pole hunched over like an old man.

I looked at my mother, hesitantly. “I
guess we should wait for Shaul before we sneak on the
hydro-cruiser—right?”

“
I suppose so—I’m not sure
how we can get on that thing by ourselves without getting
caught.”

“
There’s a guard at the
loading ramp and one on each deck.”

She looked concerned. “I wonder what
this thing transports. It seems like it has awfully high
security.”

“
Makes me wonder what
they’re afraid of.”

“
Or what they’re hiding.”
She started plating her hair and braiding it, something she often
did when she was nervous.

I felt a cool wind rush up my spine.
When I turned around, Shaul was standing there, a wry grin on his
face.

“
Thought I’d ditched you?”
he smirked as he brushed his hair out of his eyes with his
fingers.

“
Thank God you’re here.” In
a moment of stupidity, I almost threw my arms around him. “This
place gives me the creeps.”

He shook his head, seemingly amused.
“And Sunset Boulevard doesn’t?”

I frowned.

He turned to my mother. “Patravia, you
look almost as good as new. Those are some powerful
drugs.”

“
I feel pretty good
too.”

I couldn’t help but notice the glimmer
in Shaul’s eyes. There was something strong and fierce about his
appearance. “You look all cleaned up and you’re not even wearing
the same clothes.” He was dressed in Dizie Toulan khaki pants and a
light blue Ceabor shirt. “You look like you’re going to a country
club robotics match.” I could just see him sitting regally upon a
mechanical digitized horse swinging clubs at space balls in the
king’s court with a bunch of rich kids.

He raised an eyebrow and teasingly
said in his musical voice, “I have a surprise for you
both.”

5

I hadn’t seen anyone dressed so
attractively since before the economy crash. Shaul looked debonair
in his sleek attire standing amongst the amusement park
wreckage.

“
From the looks of you, I
take it you didn’t swim to the dock like we were
expecting?”

“
Change of plans,” he said.
That crooked grin formed on his wickedly handsome face. “This way,
ladies.”

My mother’s eyes widened, looking
pleased.

Shaul held out his hands to her. “May
I?” he asked as he scooped her up into his arms.

Startled, she giggled like a child,
hugging her cane to her body as he carried her.

I followed along beside as we walked
off the dock toward the dark, desolate parking lot. He stopped and
opened the passenger door of a shiny white speed wave.

“
I haven’t seen one of
these in a long time,” My mother seemed surprised.

“
A friend loaned it to me
for our trip. She needed someone to drive it down south for her. We
can leave it at the bottom of Seneca Mountains and someone will
pick it up there.”

“
That’s convenient,” I said
wondering who “she” was. Did he have a rich girlfriend? If so, why
was he leaving her and going to live in the mountains?

We got into the speed wave. My mother
sat in the middle with Shaul and me on either sides of her. It had
been a long time since I’d been in an auto and this one was high
tech with all the luxuries. The tan leather bench seat was smooth
and soft to the touch.

“
This is a nice speed
wave,” my mother commented as she brushed her fingers lightly
across the buttons and switches on the dashboard.

“
It is pretty cool,”
Shaul’s eyes gleamed. “It’s powered by a high end slush hydro
engine and generates electricity for land and disseminates SUH2 to
jet engines for flight.”

“
You can’t beat that,” I
said sarcastically. I could tell it was going to be an adventure
hanging out with Shaul Hainsworth.

My mother tilted her head back on the
headrest. “The car seems very light weight too.”

“
You’re right,” he agreed.
“It has to be to fly without wings.”

“
It just seems that the
autos from before the Economy Crash were a little heavier even
though they lifted off the ground.”

“
I’m surprised you noticed.
A lot of them were heavier actually. This one is a sports model and
can elevate higher than the standard.” He started the engine and
the speed wave lifted off the asphalt.

In a flash, we were already headed
toward the 405. It was sad to see the houses in the neighborhoods
we drove through abandoned and burnt down. In moments like these, I
found it hard to believe such a grand, happening city could lose
its life force in such a short period of time. Once on the freeway,
Shaul lifted the auto higher and we jetted south at about one
hundred fifty miles per hour.

It was even weirder being on the 405
in its desolation. Occasionally, another speed wave would whiz past
us in either direction, but other than that we drove alone. This
was remarkably different than the jam packed interstates of the
past. Even the billboards and storefronts near the freeway weren’t
lit anymore. Everything had an abandoned, eerie feel to
it.

My mother’s face turned pale. “I think
serpent people were in that speed wave that just passed
us.”

“
I figure all the autos
that speed by are serpent people’s because they are usually the
ones with the gold,” I responded.

“
Yes,” she whispered,
anxiously. It seemed as if she wasn’t listening to me. She twisted
her lean body in her seat and stared out the back
window.

“
I hope they don’t spot
us.” I was concerned about the horrors they would inflict upon us
if they pulled us over.

Still looking out the back window, Mom
continued, “I hate that demonic race. Did you know, Shaul, that
they are the descendents of the original serpent from the Garden of
Eden that is described in the bible?” She looked at him.

“
I’ve heard that.” His
chest rose and fell. “I heard there are two brothers that are
actual
direct
descendents of the original serpent. Supposedly, they each
encompass half of his soul, so if that is true, then the devil is
here on Earth right now.”

“
I know,” my mother agreed,
her eyes widening in horror. “I was told that Eve, the first woman
on Earth who ate the forbidden apple from the Tree of Knowledge of
Good and Evil has also been reincarnated in our time.”

Shaul nodded in agreement. “There is a
prophesy that one of the brothers will mate with the reincarnation
of Eve and produce a son.”

“
Oh, yes. My minister told
us that!”

“
It is said that their son
will be the reincarnation of the original man, Adam, and he will
have the power to enter the hidden and protected Garden of Eden
that is inaccessible to all others.”

“
Yes, yes. And he will take
his mother and father with him. Then either the serpent or the
reincarnation of Eve will put a DNA imprint of the original apple
back on the Tree of Knowledge.”

Shaul brushed his fingers through his
hair. “And by doing so, they will correct the original sin of
eating the forbidden apple against God’s command.”

“
I doubt that.” Mom
frowned. Her eyes were wide and glossy. “Some say that once the
apple is returned, the world will become entirely good.”

“
Yes,” Shaul continued,
studying my mother carefully now as he drove. “And evil will cease
to exist.”

“
And according to that
version of the prophesy, serpent people will all die…”

Looking back at the road ahead, Shaul
finished her sentence, “…because they are the representation of the
evil which will no longer exist in the world.”

“
My ministers have been
talking about this prophesy for years, but they believe the serpent
won’t choose to return the apple and alternatively will eat from
the Tree of Life, thus gaining eternal life and evil reign over the
world instead.” Her eyes lit with anger. “Are you religious,
Shaul?”

He chuckled, uncomfortably. “No. Not
really.”

Mom shrugged. “Well, you’re still
young. You have time.”

He laughed louder this time as he
shifted in his seat.

“
I doubt if the first
version of the prophesy is true,” I interjected.

“
Oh, and why not?” Shaul
asked somewhat amused.

“
Like my mother, I can’t
imagine a purely evil serpent person would even remotely consider
martyring himself for the world’s greater good.”

A big smile spread across his face.
“You’ve got a point there. From what I know of those brutal
killers, they wouldn’t do anything that didn’t serve their own
interests. And they certainly wouldn’t kill themselves and all
their people to save humanity.”

My mother’s voice filled with hatred.
“They have to be stopped, somehow, some way.” Her face was starting
to flush now. She looked enraged.

“
You’re right, Mom. I
know.” I was trying to pacify her. I was concerned about her knife
wound. It didn’t seem like a good idea if she got all worked up
over them. “Let’s just not think about what we can’t change right
now.”

“
Once we get settled, I
want to start an underground coalition against them.” She spoke
through gritted teeth. “God help me, I’ll make them pay for what
they’ve done.”

Shaul didn’t seem to pay much
attention to my mother now as she fumed about our enemies. He
appeared to be consumed with other thoughts, lost in some other
world of turmoil.

Though I was concerned about being
caught by the serpent people while out on the public freeway, I
also felt distracted and started losing track of my mother’s words.
Oddly, I felt like I couldn’t concentrate at all. There was a
surreal, unexplainable agitation overtaking my senses.