Piercing The Fold (10 page)

Nick walks directly in front of us and pipes in. “When did you all start figuring out you were different?”

I answer, “Um, well. I always felt a little different, but I just started having more intense experiences recently. I guess about three weeks ago now.”

Nick questions Nate. “How about you?”

Nate thinks for a moment then answers, “I guess it has been about three or four weeks for me, too. But I agree with Jesca, I have always felt things were a bit ‘off’ for me. All of a sudden, those crazy, bizarre, realistic dreams and nightmares I had for years were crossing over into my reality.”

Angela sneaks up behind us to listen in and whispers excitedly, “Me too! At one point, I couldn’t separate the dreams from reality. And the feeling of something tracking me was becoming so frightening.”

I ask her, “When did you start experiencing all of this?”

“Same scenario. About a month ago things short-circuited in me. I mean, that’s what it felt like. My parents and Siobhan intervened as soon as things started getting really unbearable for me. I thought I was losing my mind.”

It isn’t just me. We all experienced similar events.

We enter a room. It reminds me of a conference room back on the university campus in the library—one huge table and lots of chairs around it. Once again, the décor is sterile: gray walls and fluorescent lighting. There is an expansive projector screen at the front of the room. Each of us takes a seat.

Ezra remains standing. “All right. Why you? Why now? How can all of this be possible? Those are just a few of the questions that replay in your minds on a frequent basis now that you know what you will be—a guardian.”

Ezra must be the first link in the chain of command since he is the spokesperson of this debriefing.

“I am aware that each of you has been personally informed about what we are up against. It is no mistake you have been chosen to fight this battle, so get that out of your head. You have been through many events recently. All of these events on your map of life have occurred for a greater purpose beyond anything you have ever known. For one, you have been gifted with abilities. Second, you have been told that you are a part of a fellowship of guardians. You are to protect humanity.”

Angela speaks up. “You have to admit, those are some pretty big shoes to fill. Not just for us, but for you. I mean, what are you going to do to prepare us? What makes you mentors?”

Jake speaks. “We have created a training program customized for each of your abilities. You each are gifted with variations of specific metaphysical abilities. Yes, they have been inherited. These gifts are worthless without practice. Right now, your abilities are inconsistent and hazardous to your health. We need to train you to use them. We will be working to make these gifts valuable assets to both you and to others. Each of us possesses dominant abilities: superhuman strength and intense physical speed. We each have more unique abilities.

“Nate, your unique gifts are Ushering, which is controlling others through Compulsion, and Latrosis, which is healing with your mind using your inner energy, your life force.”

Siobhan speaks. “Nick, you can shift into anything with a life force, any animal or person. This ability is called Transfiguration. You also have the gift of Pyrokinesis, producing and controlling fire with your mind.”

Ezra jumps in. “Angela, your highly tuned combat skills and your ability to levitate are your unique gifts.”

Luke continues with me, “Jesca, your gifts are Telepathy, Ushering, and Qi, the use of your life force from within. But that is only what we have gathered so far.”

The “so far” makes me a little concerned and anxious.

I wonder if the humming and vibrations are the unknown? Is that what Qi is?

Luke continues to speak, “Bottom line, each of you will be able to control, defend, and protect yourselves and others with your abilities.

“Until now, you have each thought you were going insane with the abnormal things going on in your lives. I have been there. We all have.”

Luke gestures to the other mentors. “We have each been through variations of what you are experiencing right now. We successfully gained control of our abilities and have used them to protect ourselves and humanity. Now that we have spent years defending humanity, we have been chosen to teach you, guide you, so that one day you can continue the training for future guardians. Once we have trained you and you are sent to guard your territory, Sebastian will be in direct communication with you.”

Nick asks, “And how does that happen? How does Sebastian communicate from Dobria? Cell phone?”

Nick scoffs and elbows Nate. Nate smiles and rolls his eyes.

Ezra laughs as well, then answers, “Through sleep, visions actually. In your dreams and nightmares. Since he has been in Dobria, Sebastian has adapted to many properties of that planet in that galaxy. Communication is different on Dobria. It is unlike the way we communicate here on Earth through auditory words. In Dobria, simply thinking is enough communication.”

The four of us, the newbies, look at each other.

I raise a question. “What about when you aren’t sleeping and he needs to communicate with you?”

Ezra replies, “As your abilities become second nature to you, you will begin to harness additional abilities that are interlinked. It’s like opening a door to your mind you never knew was there. Once you open the door, it’s like you have opened the floodgates. Telepathic communication is one of these gifts that you will grow into if it is not your dominant ability. For now, your mentor is your first line of communication between you and Sebastian. Once your telepathic gift has grown, Sebastian will communicate directly with you.”

Jake adds, “Training will last for four weeks. It will be both physically and mentally intense. After your training is complete, you and your mentor will be assigned a territory in the US to actively monitor and guard. You will be prepared to infiltrate Sondian sleeper cells as well as perform combat missions to shut down Sonde guardian activity. Balthazar and his guardians are still trying relentlessly to follow through with the plan of opening a passage between our world and Sonde.”

Nate says, “Can’t he see what imminently will happen? It could be the demise of both galaxies.”

Ezra says, “See, that is the thing. Balthazar has been playing the role of a god in Sonde. The power that he has, the adaptation of his abilities and his strength—he has been gone from Earth for so long, he has lost his humanity. Now, all he sees is the ability to bend and push the nature of science. And our world is just that, another world to collect. Yes, it is beneficial to pursue sciences and their possibilities. But there must also be respect for nature and humanity. Balthazar has been blinded with greed and power. He has lost himself in it.”

Ezra tells me just after debriefing that these four weeks will be extremely exhausting, but revealing. Ezra says that the feeling at the end of every day of training could easily be compared to the unleashing of an inner part of me that otherwise would have never been uncovered.

The rest of the first day is busy with touring the facility, lunch, and settling into our individual units. The facility is enormous. Not anything like I expect. The cafeteria is like a dining hall. Four round wooden tables with four chairs at each table. That would allow for staff in the cafeteria, security, and the maintenance crews of the facility. It is not at all like a sterile hospital or like the entry of the facility. Once you enter the units, the hearth room, the cafeteria, and the gymnasium are warm and welcoming with wall hangings and canned lighting.

The smell of food from the cafeteria is overwhelmingly welcomed. I have not eaten much in the past 72 hours. As I walk along the cafeteria assembly line, I notice nothing is pre-made. And the staff is standing along the other side of the counter waiting for requests. Cooking supplies, fresh produce, meats, and seafood, the spread is impressive. There are three chefs and two servers. One of the chefs reminds me of Jack Black. He has this animated voice and personality that shows through as soon as Angela speaks to him with her order.

“Grilled cheese and portabella mushroom, uh, sir.”

He responds, “Please call me Patrick, Angela. So you want the best grilled cheese and portabella you have ever tasted, my dear? Not a problem.” Patrick proceeds in startling us with a huge howl.

The chef next to Pat is Charisma. She is African American. She has the biggest smile on her face when she asks Nick what he would like. “Nick! How are you, sweetness? You a New York boy, right?”

Nick responds with caution, “Uh, yes, ma’am, that is right.”

Charisma snickers. “Ma’am? Ah, please. Call me Ms. Char. Now, what will you have?” Char bats her eyes. “I make a wicked Rueben sandwich, if I do say so myself.”

Nate and I look at each other and smile.

I step up in front of the third chef. He is very tall and has blond hair. He has soft, honest, blue eyes. He greets me in a very proper English accent.

“Hello, Jesca. My name is Fenton. What would you care to eat, my lady?”

Lady? I’m pretty sure I am drooling at the sight of food. To be honest, anything would have been great. I choose a club sandwich with sweet potato fries on the side.

All of the mentors snatch up one table. I wait to see where Angela and Nick plan to sit.

Nate stands next to me with his tray of food and nudges me with his elbow in a friendly manner. “Let’s go sit with the others.”

We walk over together.

Nick looks up first. “Hey, guys.”

I respond to break the ice. “So, what do you guys think? Pretty heavy, huh?”

“Yeah, pretty crazy,” Angela says.

“Yep. The galactic godlings, Sebastian and Balthazar, were simply mythical when I first learned of all this a few weeks ago.” Nick gestures with his hands. “Now, with all of this,” he points toward the mentors, “and them,” he points to us, “and you guys and the validation of your testimonies. It is starting to sink in that I am not in a nightmare. It’s surreal, and I could totally use a support group right about now.”

We all smile at his candidness.

We decide we need to learn more about each other, our abilities, and dealing with all of this baggage. We are up for meeting after our first full day of training in the rec room.

After lunch Ezra gives us free rein of the facility. My immediate thought is to go for a run and explore the numerous trails through the caves that had been cut out and maintained over the past four decades of the facility’s existence.

Jake told us on the tour that Sebastian created this facility right after his first few teleports to Dobria. Jake said Sebastian had a very strong influence on the creation of the compound. It needed to be conducive to the type of training the future guardians would endure.

The facility started as an area the size of a standard high school gymnasium. As the numbers of guardians grew, the facility expanded and now the facility spans miles underground in all directions. Construction is still occurring, further expansion. There are multiple facilities scattered all over the world from what Ezra has said.

The trails are gravel, and the cutouts are very large, about six feet wide and ten feet tall. I head down the first cutout, which takes me deeper underground. The twists and switchbacks are like back home in the woods, minus the smell of trees. I feel a chill.

How? Where is it coming from?

I wonder if they have created massive central air units and air duct systems in order to keep the oxygen levels stable for us to survive down here for an extended period of time. I breathe in the smell of the earth, rich with minerals. Then, I smell water; it smells like the moments before it rains.

I come up quickly on an open area. The height of the area’s ceiling takes my breath away, and I stumble back to take in its grandness.

The stalactites are a soft, chalky white. They are dripping water into a pool of the lightest blue-green water I have ever seen. The pool looks fairly deep. I scan the open space around me. There are four more openings, cutouts, wrapped around the pool of water.

This place is massive.

Siobhan told us that our tour would only cover the basic facility rooms that we would be using on a daily basis. The rest was for us to explore.

I cross my legs and sit at the edge of the glowing pool. All that is audible is the trickle of water from the fingerlike calcifications above into the water below. The best part is there is no humming, or vibrations, or whispering. No looming, heavy, dark feelings.

I hear a crunching of gravel coming closer from a distance. I turn to see Nate exiting one of the cutouts. He takes his earbuds off. He must have had the same idea.

He sees me from across the pool and walks over. “Hey, Jesca.”

Without a second thought, he pulls his shirt off as he tries to catch his breath. I shyly divert my eyes back to the pool.

“Hi there, Nate.”

Nervously, I pick around in the gravel for a small pebble to toss into the pool. A thoughtless distraction to replace the really attractive one.

“You noticed it too, huh?”

Is he talking about my nervousness? I feel my cheeks redden and my heart race from embarrassment. “Noticed what?”

Nate dips his shirt in the spring and looks at me from the corner of his eye. “The silence. No humming. No whispers. You noticed it just now, didn’t you?”

I lie a little, “Yep. Yes, I did.” Then I wonder if he is lying a little, too.
He could be telepathic.
“How did you know?”

Nate wrings the excess water out of his shirt. He slides down and sits next to me. Then he looks into my eyes, really looks at me. It takes my breath away.

Nate blinks. “I feel it, too. It feels so peaceful and safe.”

Nate pulls his shirt back over his head.

I look away and start breathing again.

Nate continues to talk. “I noticed the silence when I got away from everyone and started my run. When I saw you sitting there, you looked so…” Nate looks down quickly.

Okay, how could this gorgeous guy be embarrassed in front of me?

Nate continues, “It just feels so serene. I knew you had to have been experiencing it too.”

There is a long silence.

“Yeah, you’re right. I was enjoying the experience.” Oh God, please don’t let him think I am referring to him as the experience!
Change the subject, Jes.
“So you hear the humming and whispers around you, too?”

Nate shifts, and his leg brushes against mine. “Yeah, ever since kindergarten. That is the farthest back I remember, anyway.”

We are looking at each other again.

Those green-blue eyes match the pool of water in front of us perfectly.

Nate continues, “I remember the nightmares that Mom and Dad would comfort me after.” He scratches the tip of his nose. “The whispers were real, too. I was hearing actual conversations. I was linking my mind with people around me. It was like I had a really awesome hearing device on.”

Nate grins, and I can’t resist smiling; it is contagious.

He is contagious.

“What am I saying? I don’t have to tell you. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

I grin. “Actually, you explain it so much better than I can. I never thought of it as my mind linking with theirs. I just thought of it as my mind intercepting everything around it.”

Nate’s expression becomes serious. “Well, then there is the dark energy. The heavy, oppressive force. When I was little, it was so frightening. I was afraid that it was going to gobble me up and I would never see my family again. But Mom and Dad got me through it every time. They always have. I can see how a person could easily lose their mind.”

I nod. “Mom and Dad got me through so much also. They kept me from losing it many times. Finally, it was becoming too much, an overload. I thought I was so weak and helpless. Now, I see that what I thought was weakness was strength just below the surface of the fear. I just needed to grab hold of it.”

We keep looking at each other.

Nate breaks the silence. “So you’re a runner as well.”

“Yes. Back home we have amazing trails in the woods. They are so beautiful.”

“You’re from Georgia, right?”

I didn’t drop my hometown during introductions.

I look down, feeling a little apprehensive.

I look back up at him with a half-smile. “Are you checking up on me?”

Nate smiles and wipes his brow with his forearm.

Adorable.

His smile softens as he looks at me again. “No, I just like to know the company I am keeping.”

The energy in the room is becoming so intense, I have to lean back on my arms to relieve the tension we are exchanging.

As soon as Nate’s gaze turns back to the pool and away from me, I feel the tension dissipate.

Nate says, “Well, I’m going to head back and shower up before dinner.” He stands and extends his hand to me and helps me stand.

“Thanks.”

The help up extends a second longer than necessary. I pull my hand away. “Um. I’m going to finish my run.”

Still watching me, Nate puts his earbuds back in and smiles. “Okay. Be careful, it is a little rocky. It was nice talking with you, Jes.”

Did he just call me Jes? How does he know my nickname? How did he…

I decide to let it go for now.

I reply with a dazed smile. “It was nice talking with you too, Nate.”

Nate turns and jogs back through the entrance cutout. Quickly the loud crunching of gravel becomes silence.

I take in a deep breath. I’m savoring this peace, this moment, because only God knows what chaos is beyond this facility in four weeks.