Taken (Breaking the Darkness) (11 page)

“I’ve been known to shake it up from time to time.” He bounced his chest to the music in his head for a minute and slapped a drumbeat on the steering wheel.

I hated to interrupt his performance. I was enjoying watching him get lost in his own thoughts. “I don’t really have a lot of time. I have somewhere I need to be, or have to be.” I couldn’t feign a smile anymore. Concern filled my thoughts. How was I going to deal with Ziona? I couldn’t tell her what I knew. If I did and she got what she, or
he,
wanted, they might not have any use for me. My little bit of knowledge was my only leverage I had. I also needed to face the possibility of the ugliness that I could face in the interim.

“Hey…” He lowered his head into my space. “What’s going on with you? You look terrified. Are you in danger?” His jaw tightened and he probed me with his eyes, repeatedly.

Danger? That was an understatement as of late. He may even be the danger I would face in my future. He was working with or for Ziona.

I couldn’t quite figure out what it was about him. But against my better judgment and advice given to me by the few who were truly looking out for me, I felt an instant connection with Graven. Yes, he was hot, but that wasn’t totally it. This was way more than a physical or sexual attraction.

Being near this man felt easy. In my chest I felt drawn to him. There was a magnetic pull I couldn’t explain or stop, for that matter. There was a sensation of recognition that made no sense, and it coursed through me like hot blood.

I blew out a huge nonexistent breath. Slowly lifting my eyes up and over to his. I gave him a look, a cross between a sad puppy dog and a cat in heat.

“Why would I trust you? I don’t know you or anything about you. Well, I know one thing… You run with a not-so-nice crowd. A crowd of people that you’ve made clear would threaten my wellbeing,” I retorted.

“Exactly, yet there you were today, sneaking around a secret meeting full of my less than savory associates. So let us start attempting to lay a little bit on the table.” His knuckles whitened as his grip on the wheel increased. “I don’t know what you’re into or have gotten yourself into. There’s a chance that I can help you. If nothing else, I can at least send you on your way with some safe journeying advice.

“Look, why don’t you just take this opportunity to sit back, as one would say, and enjoy the ride. The scenery here is to die for. We can talk more about this later.”

A slight chill ran along my spine at his word choice. I decided not to play into it in case he was trying to scare me. I kept my focus on Graven rather than the Cherokee. I loved red rock country, but if I stared out at the boulders in the horizon, I feared I might find myself at the top of one.

I always felt most at home here in the four corners. The landscape never disappointed. We moved around a lot over the years. There are wonders that most Americans, let alone the rest of the world, don’t even realize exist in that part of the country. With no overstuffed characters walking around compounds of large steel amusements, most people didn’t flock to the region for their holiday.

Time seemed to pass quickly and we turned off onto a dirt, or should I say rock, road. I would have driven right past it. It blended in well with the natural surroundings and curved past a large rock structure. We traveled just out of sight of the road and continued up in altitude to a plateau. We approached a modest-looking house. There was a barn in close proximity that certainly housed a number of paddocks. I could see the horses in the distance. They had a vast amount of space to explore.

We pulled up to the front of his house. The front porch was large enough to host a small cocktail party. There were antique-looking rockers off to one side. Adjacent to either side of the porch stood two large stone statues that looked like gargoyles. They weren’t quite as gruesome looking as the ones you see perched on the tops of castles or plopped down in someone’s backyard next to a garden gnome.

The double doors were agape. I was surprised that he left his home wide open. I could see into the house before we had a chance to exit the truck. The view from the front door extended straight through the giant glass windows and doors that lined the rear of the house.

Graven grabbed his phone and shut off the engine. He didn’t bother taking out the keys. He didn’t say a word, just got out and started to walk into the house. I was beside him in an instant.

The interior of his home was sparsely furnished. A few couches that were built with what looked like reclaimed wood filed up the living space. They had some Native American woven blankets thrown over the corners. A huge stone fireplace shared the back wall with the rear patio. Open to the rest of the large open living area was the kitchen. The island that separated the room was covered in what looked like hand-painted tiles. All the kitchen appliances were top of the line stainless steel, restaurant quality for sure. The refrigerator had glass doors and was more organized than a supermarket shelf. He grabbed a water from a chiller drawer under the island.

Graven tipped the bottle in my direction. “I would offer you one, but…”

“Exactly.” I laughed

He paused his motion. “There’s something about your eyes. It’s interesting the way the color blends in with the rest of your astral appearance.” I could feel his eyes searching my soul. “But behind them, I can feel there’s something. Something I need to know. It feels like there’s something I need to offer you. It’s so hard to put into words.”

I wouldn’t let on, but I knew exactly what he meant. I was experiencing the same feelings about him. We just stood there for a minute and stared at each other. He was a book I needed to read.

“What do I look like? I can’t very well go look in the mirror, can I?”

After he swigged down half the bottle of water in one gulp, he laughed. “No, you can definitely not see yourself in a mirror. So I guess you don’t really know about how to alter or adjust the image you’re projecting. Given there aren’t a lot who can travel in the astral plane, there are even less who can change what they look like to others. Some travelers can present themselves as anything or anybody to those that can see them or those they meet in their journeys.

“I’ve never seen anyone who looks like you. Your hair is silver and your skin, if you will, is a bluish-gray. Your eyes are, well, besides mesmerizing, almost crystal clear. You shimmer with radiance, like a diamond in the light. Your attributes are… Maybe I can tell you what I think about that when we get to know each other a wee bit better.” He smirked a little.

I fought off the embarrassment and threw my shoulders back a bit. I didn’t want to give off any more signs of possible vulnerability. He knew a lot, a lot more than I did. I might have walked myself into a trap and not even realized it.

“You seem to know an awful lot about this. Do you journey in this way, or just by rugged Cherokee?”

“I assure you, I have many forms of transportation. Some I enjoy more than others. But, yes, I can project. It‘s how I’m able to keep tabs on my assets while I’m not present. My preferred means of travel, though, is my horses. But that is strictly for pleasure.” The words rolled off his tongue slow and I could hear a faint moan under his speech.

“So do you alter your image?” I couldn’t see why he would want to mess with near perfection.

“Let us speak about me another time. I do hope we’ll have another time for you to get to know me better. Now would be a good time to start telling me what’s going on with you.”

“I’m not so sure if I should tell you, but at this point I don’t have much to lose. I actually don’t have that much to tell because there’s so much I don’t know or understand. Maybe a few days ago, I was going about my business grabbing a cup of coffee and the next thing I knew I woke up imprisoned in a dark room. I don’t know how long I’ve been locked away. Not knowing how much time has passed is very frustrating. It’s hard to tell without any signs of daylight.” I continued to explain the basics of my situation.

“I’m being held captive by your friend Ziona. It felt like days before anyone came to see me. She only just recently graced me with a
visit
. She’s claiming I’m something other than what I know myself to be. She said my grandmother would have told me about having powers or something. I would think that she’s totally crazy except all of the sudden I was able to leave my body like this.”

He didn’t seem surprised by my story thus far. He blew out a hefty breath and I think I heard him say “hmmm” to himself. He looked at me and polished off the other half of his water in one slug.

“I see, so you’ve never astral projected before? I can tell you’re new to it, but you move around like someone who’s had some training or has been practicing for quite some time. You just have some sloppy ways and look confused or unsure of yourself.”

I zipped over to the window and gazed out into the desert. Without turning back to him, I answered.

“I’ve only traveled maybe three or four times. This attempt was to try and follow Ziona out of the room where I’m held captive. My goal was to figure out where I am so maybe I can try to find a way out. My trip wasn’t as successful as I would have liked.”

“And here you are with me. Sometimes fate has a funny way of delivering us where we need to be.”

I turned to look at him, captivated by his eyes. They were screaming volumes of emotions at me that were hard to sort out. I was afraid maybe a little bit of pity was mixed in there.

“Why did you come with me? I would think that a better course of action would have been to follow Ziona.” He tossed the empty bottle into a steel recycling bin.

“Truer words may not have ever been spoken.” I looked down at my toes and thought about how my feet missed the real world. “I don’t know. I did consider it for a minute. There was something about the way I felt when our eyes first met. There was an unspoken connection.”

I was surprised I admitted it. I shuffled around a bit and then looked up at him. “After Ziona asked you what was going on and you didn’t expose me, I was hopeful. At that moment, I needed something to believe in. It’s crazy, since I know nothing more of you than your name, but I decided to believe in the hope you could help me.”

Graven looked stressed. He pushed back the hair on his head as if some of it was out of place—it wasn’t. He then rubbed his hands together and blew out a much bigger breath, as if releasing the stress.

“Ok, so Ziona is holding you captive. You don’t really know why, other than she thinks you have some kind of powers. Does she know you can journey from your body?”

“No. Umm. I keep telling her I don’t know what she’s talking about. Truthfully, I really don’t know. The little bits I do know I’ve pieced together while I was exploring my new ability.”

“What else has she said to you? Has she hurt you?” he demanded as his chest expanded and his muscles clenched.

“She and I had a bit of an altercation, but I’m okay. I fear on her next visit I will not be so lucky. She’s full of threats, but she’s also trying to entice me to think she can help me if I’m honest with her. She’s desperate to give whatever she thinks I have to offer to a
him.
I don’t know who
he
is. I can only assume you know.”

“
He
is one of the most dangerous dark leaders globally. He goes by the name The Taker, although he’s gone by many. Ziona is one of his high-level cronies. She’s very loyal to his cause, whatever it might be. She isn’t one to disappoint him.”

“Do you have any idea where I am? Can you help get me out?” I sputtered out so fast I wasn’t sure he made out each of my words.

“Whoa, slow down, Lyra. I have no idea where you are. I try to keep my distance from Ziona and the rest of the organization when I can. I do my job. I make money at my clubs and cater to some very unsavory characters when I must. I walk amongst the darkest of souls.”

Fear and hopelessness rose up against me. I again reached for my amulet that wasn’t there. Maybe I made the wrong choice to go there. All I now knew was the name of my worst enemy. I wasn’t any closer to finding my way out. Maybe it was time to make my way back.

My eyes must have said it all. I was about to hit the misty trails back to my body when he appeared before me faster than I remember seeing anyone ever move. He reached out and placed his hands on my arms. I don’t know how.

The realization of my false sense of safety just kicked into overdrive. I thought if I came here he couldn’t harm me, other than maybe tell Ziona I was at the meeting. Now he had hold of my astral body. What were the implications of this? I struggled to get away. My arms remained in the very place they were when he grabbed them. Panic was about the only thing I had left.

“Please! Do not go. I will not harm you. Do not resist me. I have the ability to force you to stay here, but I will not.” I looked at him nervously, and with that he relaxed his grip.

“I apologize for grabbing you. I couldn’t let you leave like that. I don’t know if I can or will be able to help you. At the very least I can still provide you with some of my knowledge so you can have safe journeys.”

I gently nodded.

“How long do you think you can stay? We have a lot to cover?” Graven asked.

“I wish I knew. She told me she’d be back in a few hours, along with some ugly threats. How can you grab hold of me if I’m not really here?”

“Why do think you aren’t here? Are you not having this conversation with me? You’re in my home. What makes you think this isn’t really where you are? I’ve been able to journey beyond the limits of my physical body since I was a young boy.”

“Can everyone in your family astral project?”

“No. Having special gifts was never a question in my house. Some of us possess the same gifts, while some of us have unique abilities. Our differences have often made it hard for some of us to relate. Do you have any siblings?”

“No, most of my life it was just me and Gram. I wished I had a sister when I was growing up. We moved around a lot so I never really made a lot of friends. I never had enough of an opportunity to get close to anyone.