White Oblivion (12 page)

24

Around 3am the next morning there was a banging on our door.  Half asleep Doran and I looked at one another as if wondering if the other knew who it could be.

Doran got up to go see who was at the door as did I after putting on my robe.  Having heard the knocking from his room in the basement J had come upstairs to see who it was also.   Doran went to look through the peephole with J and I trailing closely behind. 

Then, abruptly turning around Doran signaled for me to go get Ina and go to our room. Meanwhile, he and J stood by the door giving each other eye signals.

Quickly I ran upstairs to retrieve Ina then took her into our room as Doran had ordered.  I then came back to the top of the stairs to see who was at the door.  Doran opened the door and there two policemen who looked like they were SWAT or something.  I wondered why they were knocking on our door

“Good evening sir.  How’s it going?” One of the cop’s said. 

“What can I do for you?”  Doran replied calmly.

I noticed that J was not around so I figured that Doran must have told him to go hide somewhere. 

“There have been quite a few disturbances reported.  I’m sure you’ve been seeing the news by now and are aware of what’s been going on.  So we’re just going around checking things to make sure things don’t get out of hand,” the cop answered.

“Oh well actually I’m fine here.  I didn’t  report anything.  In fact, I was just about to sit down for lunch,” Doran responded.

“Oh are you here alone?”  the other cop asked surprised. 

Then before Doran could respond, the other cop interrupted and asked, “Mind if we take a look?  From our experience you can’t be too careful.  We’ve had reports of people hiding out.  Even had quite a few kidnappings.”

The truth was there hadn’t been any such reports.  In fact, things were totally to the contrary.  The community was tighter than ever and doing everything in it’s power to avoid giving the cops an excuse to harass us.  As for the kidnappings we had begun hearing some talk of that.  Though it was suspected that the cops and military were the ones doing the kidnapping.  It seemed that anyone who hinted at being any type of organizer was suddenly coming up missing. So for that reason, Doran and others like him were taking care to lay low. 

It was clear that the cops were up to something.  Somehow they had to come to view Doran and the rest of us a threat and it looked like they were there to see that we too came up ‘missing.’

My mind started racing.  I had to do something.  There was no way I was going to let them take Doran or the rest of us.  I knew Doran’s plan was to sacrifice himself so that we could get away safely, but there was no way I was about to lose the love of my life.

Still maintaining a calm demeanor Doran responded to the cop saying, “I do mind.  As I told you nothing to report here and I was just about to have a bite to eat.  I
have
seen the news, but as I’m sure
you
know this neighborhood has been pretty quiet so I think I’m all good here officers.  I do feel better knowing that you all are on the job though so thanks for stopping by now,” Doran said waving and moving to close the door.

Just then one of the cops stuck his foot in the door while the other grabbed hold of his holster posturing to force his way in.  Suddenly, I had a flashback of what happened to the black guy outside of Everlasting Life Cafe the day I had my first date with Doran.  I saw a flash of every black boy the cops had brutally and maliciously murdered that year. 

It was happening again, but this time they were walking right up to our doors and doing it.  I refused to allow Doran to be one of those statistics!  I remembered that Doran had stashed lots of weapons throughout our house as if expecting something like this to happen.  So I stood up to go grab a couple planning to go help Doan when suddenly I was grabbed from behind.

25

I quickly turned my head to find that J had grabbed me from behind, covered my mouth and was dragging me into our room with Ina, who looked terrified.

Whispering J said, “Ma, Ina we have to get out of here.  I need you to stay calm and do as I say.  We gotta climb outta here onto the roof.  We’ll have to go this way,” he said pointing to the window near where we were standing. “Those cops will be up here any minute so we don’t have time to discuss it.  I need you both to just do as I ask,” he continued.

Ina and I didn’t need any convincing.  We could feel the tension in the air.  Besides that I knew that Doran had instructed J to get us out of the house so I obeyed.  I also knew that Doran, even with his calm demeanor, was prepared to defend his family at all cost and that he wanted to ensure that we were safe knowing that he didn’t do so in vain.

Quickly, Ina went first onto the window ledge and quiet as a mouse J hoisted her up onto the roof.  He went next.  Meanwhile, I couldn’t help but eavesdrop on what was going on downstairs.  However, I could barely hear anything from the room with the door closed. 

Then just as it was my turn as I stepped out onto the window ledge to grab J’s hand from above for him to lift me up the most horrific of sound pierced my ears.  It sent a sharp pang shooting through my heart like a poisonous arrow. 

I heard a loud crack then Doran scream out in agonizing pain! It sounded like someone slammed a metal folding chair shut.  However, I knew we didn’t have any metal folding chairs and that the cracking sound was Doran’s bones.

Breath instantly left my body and I was frozen.  Still whispering, J frantically pled with me to come on.  Overcome with despair my body went limp and J hung onto my arm with all of the strength that he could muster up. 

I saw Ina peer over the roof ledge pleading with her eyes for me to please join them.  I gathered some courage, got myself together and snapped out of it.  Then, grabbing the roof ledge with one hand and holding onto J’s hand with the other I hoisted myself up onto the roof. 

When I climbed all the way up onto the roof J and Ina hugged me tightly.  Ina had tears streaming down her face with her eyes plagued with terror.  I was shaking like a leaf terrified at the thought of what they were doing to Doran.

In that moment I felt like life had left my body.  Doran was my air.  I had such a strong connection to him that it felt like I was experiencing his pain. 

I couldn’t believe how quickly things had taken a turn for the worst.  My thoughts were racing and all that I could think about was what to do to save Doran.  I wondered if I could make my wings come back and fly to his rescue and bring him back to safety.  However, I had no idea how to make it happen.  I knew that I had to do something, but I didn’t know what that was.  My heart was heavy with pain and I was struggling to focus enough to recall what was going on when it happened the first time to make it happen again.  I needed my wings! 

Then, just as the thought of it entered my mind I realized what it was.  When I was levitating my heart was light! 

Quickly I let go of all emotion.  I allowed myself to feel that pure love that I felt when I was levitating.  Before I knew it I was back.  I’d done it!  My wings had returned.  Ina and J stared at me in awe. 

I couldn’t believe that I was able to invoke the shift on command.  However, I had no idea how to get back into the house and even if I did I had no idea what I would do once I was in there.  Then, just as quickly as I had shifted back into myself I was back into my white body.

I was devastated!  I had failed Doran who loved me enough to risk his life for me!  I was so upset with myself for not being able to hold it together long enough to help him in his time of need.  Disappointment didn’t begin to describe what I felt about myself in that moment.  My worry over Doran had apparently been stronger than my love love for him and I felt horrible about that. 

As I sulked J motioned for Ina and I to be still and quiet.  The more I heard Doran’s agonizing screams the harder I cried.  I had to do something.  I couldn’t just keep hiding out on the roof while those monsters killed my husband. 

I decided to give it another shot.  However, the more I heard him scream the more hatred claimed my soul.  I hated who they were.  All they ever did was bring chaos and terror everywhere they went.  Parasites all of them!  I cursed their entire existence!  It angered me how patient we’d always been with them and their childish, savagery ways. 

All they ever did was kill and terrorize us and without ever having reason or justification for doing so.  Meanwhile, we just stood by and let them do it.  Why!?!?!?!!!

We
were the ones with ample reason and justification to eliminate them, yet we never did.  Always the passive, so-called ‘peaceful’ ones.  The more these thoughts ran through my mind, more heated I became.  I mean literally!  The roof started to get really hot, which was strange because it was late Fall. 

J looked at me and I looked over at him in puzzlement.  It wasn’t me causing things to heat up.  

“What’s happening?” I whispered. 

“I’m not sure, but now we have to get off of this roof before we burn up,” J whispered back. 

J then went to the edge of the roof laying on his stomach to see if the cops were still in the house.  I went to join him.  He quickly tried to stop me from seeing, but he couldn’t stop me in time. 

I looked over the ledge of the roof and saw the cops dragging a very limp Doran out to a police van.  His legs were loosely dangling beneath him.  My heart cried out in agony as I quietly watched.  Then for an instant Doran’s eyes met mine.  They looked at me assuringly as if Doran knew something that I didn’t. 

Doran and I always had such a close connection that we didn’t need words to communicate.  He would always call it the power of black love.  I felt that love in that moment and I knew just what Doran was telling me.  He was telling me not to worry.  Though looking in my eyes he also knew that I would never do that.   

Instantly, I visualized myself snuggled up on Doran’s chest on a Sunday morning.  I let all the other emotions go and allowed the feeling of love in that moment consume me.

Meanwhile, as the cop threw Doran into the van I heard him again scream out in pain.  It looked like they had broken both of his legs as they were both quite contorted. 

I kept my focus on my love for Doran.  Suddenly, I felt that familiar feeling of lightness.  I looked to the side of me and saw that my wings had returned.  I looked below me and saw that I was levitating.  I maintained my focus on love.

One cop jumped into the back of the van with Doran while the other closed the rear door of the van and then headed towards the driver’s side with the key in hand.

I kept focusing.  What happened next blew my human mind.

26

Beyond the control of my human mind I returned, my wings spread wide and I took flight.  With a hunger for flesh I began to circle.  It felt as if I hadn’t eaten in thousands of years.  My sense of smell was instantly heightened and the stench of nearby sick, wounded and weakened prey was intoxicating.  My predatory instincts had taken control as I flew high, circling drunk with the thought feeding. 

Then as if it was a magnetic pull I swooped down and grabbed the cop just as he was about to shut the door on the driver’s side of the police van.  I swiftly yanked him out of the van just barely within seconds of him shutting the door.  The thrill of the hunt had by then heightened the intensity of my anticipation to feed and I had instantly become the ultimate predator.

Then, suddenly another urge overshadowed my anticipation.  As I circled the van with the screaming cop tightly clutched in my talons I felt a familiar stare that drew me in.

It was Doran, but he was neither the white Doran nor the black one.  He was an ibis-headed Doran standing upright with fully healed legs holding a staff burrowed deep into the heart of the other cop as he gazed at me in awe. 

We locked eyes and I descended down to where he was using the cop, who was still tightly clutched by my talon, as my landing pad.

Doran and I looked at one another intensely and within moments we had resumed our white physical forms.  Even in that form Doran’s legs seemed fully healed as we both stood at the rear of the van still in shock.  

I jumped off of the dead cop and ran up to Doran hugging him tightly and showering him with kisses.

“What was that?” he asked excitedly.

“It was black love baby!” I exclaimed still holding him tightly.

“Ha ha!  Well that was some serious love!  If I ever had any question about your love for me before it’s damn sure gone now!” he gleamed.

“Oh yeah…. well I can say the same.  You were loving me pretty good yourself from what I could see,” I replied.

“I guess love truly does conquer all,” Doran said.

Then J and Ina came running from out of the house and Ina ran up and gave Doran and I a huge hug.  J stood still in a daze no doubt questioning if what he just witnessed was real.

Then going to hug us both he looked at Doran and said, “Man what the hell was that?  I thought for sure we had lost you.  It was hard as hell just to watch that, but I remembered what you said about doing things the right way in the right time.”

“I know son and I’m proud of your because to tell you the truth I don’t know that I could have done that and we both may have gotten killed,” Doran said.

“Baby who were you and how did you make yourself shif?” I inquired.

“I can’t even really explain it.  It just seemed like an intense feeling of love overcame me and it was the only thing that I could think of.  It was a feeling even stronger than the pain I was in.  Next thing I knew I felt this feeling of lightness, like what we felt briefly when had all transformed at once.  Then, I became this sort of half bird, half human thing.  Once that happened something else took over and I was no longer in control of my actions….” Doran explained before I interrupted.

“Actually babe you were in control.  The real you was in control.  It was the evolved you,” I corrected.

“You know you’re right baby.  That’s actually exactly what it felt like.  Then it started to get really hot and I had this intense hunger for flesh.  It seemed to consume me.  So I took the stake that instantly appeared in my hand and put it through the cop’s heart.  By then you came down and we turned back into these bodies.

“Wow dad!  That’s amazing!  I’m so glad you figured it out,” Ina squealed hugging Doran again.

“What do you mean figured it out baby?  Figured what out?” Doran inquired.

“
Love
dad!  The key to evolving is love.  Once you and mom figured it out you could use your power to change into the bird!  That’s the same thing that happened on an episode of White Oblivion.  The lady was gonna lose her man to the monster, but then she remembered how much she loved him and didn’t want him to die and that’s when she turned into the woman superhero and he turned into the man superhero,” Ina said matter-of-factly.

We all looked at one another in puzzlement then Doran grabbed Ina’s hand and said, “Ok let’s go inside and discuss this show further cause I gotta know how this kid show is predicting everything.” 

We all nodded in agreement then filed into the house.  When we got into the house the first thing that Doran did was secure the front door, putting on all the locks.  We still hadn’t figured out how they identified us as being a threat in the first place and before we discussed the cartoon we had to figure that out.  For all we knew there were more cops on the way.