Aris Returns (20 page)

“It’s the first day we’ve been able to eat outside since October.” Colleen shifted
her huge shoulder bag to her other arm, grabbed Sarah with her free hand and guided
her to a bench where a young couple and their little girl were preparing to leave.
“I thought spring would never come.”

They sat, spreading their lunches between them. “The sky is so blue today. After all
the rain the last few weeks, this is heaven.” Sarah unwrapped her hotdog and took
a bite. “Yum. I sure missed these during the winter. Nobody does a dog better than
Louie.”

“You got that right.” Colleen followed suit and the two women ate in silence, enjoying
the relaxed atmosphere between them.

Sarah popped the last bite in her mouth then wiped her lips on her paper napkin. “I
could go for another one. How about you?”

“Yeah, I could eat it but I’ve got to fit into the nightmare of a dress I bought to
walk down the aisle. If I put on another pound, it won’t zip.” She giggled. “Maybe
that wouldn’t be so bad.”

“Come on C, you know you’re looking forward to the wedding.” Sarah balled the refuse
from her lunch into a little, tight ball then tossed it into the garbage can. She
unscrewed the top of her water bottle. She took a long drink.

“What I’m looking forward to is it being over.” Colleen shook her head from side to
side. “I don’t know how I ever let Bob talk me into this big wedding thing. I’d much
rather just get married by a judge.”

“That’s just because you spend half your life in court rooms.” Sarah brushed the crumbs
from her lap. “Want to walk?”

“Sounds good.” Colleen disposed of the remnants of her lunch in the same garbage can.
Standing, she glanced down at her watch. “Let’s go. I have another half an hour before
I have to be anyplace.”

They took their time, strolling at a comfortable pace and not talking.

After a few minutes, Colleen broke the silence. “Did Carlos tell you they gave him
more hours and increased his pay at the store?”

Sarah stopped walking, turning to look directly at her friend. “No, he didn’t.” She
stood still for a heartbeat then moved forward. “When did that happen?”

“A couple of weeks ago. He’s been working hard and staying clear of trouble. It’s
amazing what you’ve done with him.”

“Yeah, amazing.” Sarah wondered why Carlos hadn’t told her. It was certainly a reason
for him to be proud. It was the first real job he ever held and he was doing well
according to Colleen. Why had he kept it from her? She decided to ask him the next
time he had a session.

“Sarah, look.” Colleen pointed to the grass by the root of a tall tree. “It’s the
first robin of spring.”

Her voice had a pensive tone. “Yeah C, the first robin of spring.”

#

A handful of spring flowers appeared around her door, then
Carlos stepped into her office. “Here, these are for you.” He appeared uncomfortable
as he pushed them at her.

Sarah was surprised, delighted at the array of color and fragrance she held in her
hand. “Thank you. What a great surprise.”

“The store has more flowers than we can sell. I never have figured out why a grocery
store sells flowers.” He dropped in the chair across from her desk.

“It’s just another commodity, I guess, they might as well make the money as a florist.”
She buzzed Maggie.

When her assistant peeked into the room, she was smiling. “Need some water for those
poseys?” She crossed to take them from Sarah’s waiting hand.

“Yes, just leave them on your desk. I’ll get them after our session.” She looked a
little embarrassed as she completed her thought. “And Maggie, you might as well go
home. Carlos is the last client of the day.”

Maggie gave her boss a knowing wink just before she left the room. She closed the
door quietly.

Sarah leaned back in her chair, staring at him. He was beginning to feel uneasy when
she finally spoke. “Okay Carlos, want to tell me why I’m the last to know how well
you’re doing at the market?” Her tone was flat but not accusatory. “I would have thought
you would be proud of it.”

He wiggled in his chair. She could see her words made him uncomfortable. “Yeah, I’m
still just a stock person. It’s nothing to brag about.”

“Well, I think it is. It’s the first job you’ve ever held for more than a week and
they must be pretty happy with you to give you a raise.”

His stare was angry, his words clipped. “So what gives? You and my parole officer
been talking about me? I thought that wasn’t allowed.”

“Carlos, we both care what happens to you. She’s proud of your accomplishment, that’s
why we talked about it. She just assumed you told me already.”

He tilted his head and smiled a slow, sideways grin. Teasing, he said, “You really
do care what happens to me Sarah?”

He wouldn’t drop his gaze. She began to feel uncomfortable. “Of course I do.” She
stood, picked up her recorder from on top of her desk and walked to the chair near
the recliner. “Are you ready?”

He joined her, still grinning. “I’m so ready Sarah. You’ll never know how ready I
am.”

#

CARLOS HAVARRO, transcript, session 12, May 14

The torchlight cast tall dancing shadows on the damp stone walls as we descended deeper
and deeper under the castle. Richard led the way, I walked in the middle and Gabriela
moved in silence behind me. The slippery steps seemed to spiral down without ceasing.
At last we reached the bottom and were in a narrow, cold corridor. Richard held the
torch high as we stepped over pieces of rock that had fallen from the rotting walls.
I didn’t know stone could smell so musky and old. There were puddles of water here
and there to be stepped over or gone around.

We walked for what seemed a very long time, finally arriving at a huge, ornate door.
The ancient wood and metal hinges and latch were encrusted with slime. Richard pushed
hard; at last the door swung open.

I was stunned by what waited on the other side. We entered a great room, larger still
than Henry’s audience chamber. It was opulent. Torches and candles burned everywhere
and the room felt warm and dry. As we moved forward I felt small bursts of fresh air
coming from between some of the stones of the floor.

There were no tables or chairs in the room. All the walls were decorated with gold
and rare jewels, shimmering in the candle light. I glanced at the high ceiling. I
saw it, too, was encrusted with treasures.

“This is the antechamber. We remain here until we are called.” Richard spoke quietly
as if not to disturb the hundreds of flames illuminating the room.

“What..?” I began to speak, but Gabriela touched my lips with her fingers to silence
my question.

“We just wait, that is all,” she whispered close to my ear. “Do not speak until you
are requested to do so.”

Time is very different to my kind than it is to humans so I am unable to tell you
how long we stood. During the sea voyage to England I learned to put my mind in a
suspended plane where I silenced my thoughts, felt no sensations. A different kind
of death, I suppose.

A door I had not noticed on the other side of the room opened. A tall male courtly
figure walked rapidly toward us causing the candles to flicker and gutter.

“You may enter.” His deep resonant voice suited his dark, handsome features. He was
further proof our kind was a beautiful species. He spoke just his name, Sebastian.
We passed into a smaller chamber, the walls equally as richly decorated. This room
also contained two large golden chairs set on a dais and resting in their seats were
soft cushions of the richest, deepest blue velvet; more beautiful than any I had seen
in either the Spanish or English royal courts. On the floor just in front of the thrones
were several larger cushions of the same luxurious material. Sebastian motioned us
to kneel on the cushions, to lower our heads.

We obeyed and again, we waited. Despite the deathly silence, I did not hear them enter.
I felt a touch on my shoulder and raised my eyes. They appeared to be male and female.
They sat tall, lean and unmoving on their thrones, statues of marble. Their skin was
white, their waist length hair silver, shiny as polished metal. It flowed over their
shoulders and settled in the seat of the chair surrounding their entire bodies with
a glistening halo. Their eyes were light in color. I couldn’t see anything except
two dark outlined circles where the pupils should have been. They wore long blue cloaks
to match the velvet of their chairs. They were both
frightening and incredibly beautiful. I perceived they had never been human.

“Rise new born,” requested the female. “Come closer.” Her voice was low and melodious,
almost as if she were singing the words instead of speaking them.

I glanced at Richard and Gabriela. They both continued to kneel with their heads bowed.
I rose to my feet then step by slow step, moved closer to the royal pair.

“Halt!” ordered the male. His voice was deeper, more resonant but still melodic. He
rose from his chair, moving toward me with slow, measured steps. I stood frozen, waiting
to see if he would come all the way to my side. As he raised his hand behind him,
the female rose, following him.

“Why do you come to us?” When she reached his side, he held out his arm. She rested
her long fingers on it, her claw like fingernails resembled window glass, the finger
tips visible through them.

I whispered as I spoke. I told them my story, that I longed to know more about my
kind, what I was capable of doing and from where the first of our species came. The
female smiled a slow smile, I could see that her teeth were large and pointed.

“Alright, new born, you will learn.” Turning to Sebastian, she motioned him to take
us away. “Take them to the sanctuary, Sebastian. Tell him the stories.” My companions
stood and we were led back to the door through which we had just entered the chamber.

“Shall I go on Sarah, or would you like to rest and continue at a later time?”

She couldn’t wait to hear what he learned. She leaned in to look closely at Carlos.
His breath was quiet; his features relaxed and peaceful. “Please Aris, continue now.”

At your pleasure. We moved down the corridor to another huge, aged door. Sebastian
opened it and lit a torch from the one he carried. He moved around the room, lighting
waiting torch after torch, until the enclosure blazed with light.

The floor was covered with many layers of soft, thick carpets. I saw such things in
the richest rooms of the palace, but these were of colors so true and pure, they resembled
jewels. The walls were covered with hieroglyphics. Sebastian led us to the far corner.
He pointed to a colorful drawing of a large disc, hovering in a night sky. A beam
of light shown from a port on the bottom of the disc.

He told us many millennium ago the star voyagers came to earth. They traveled from
place to place through the stars examining all life that was found. On this planet,
they discovered humans.

Continuing to speak, Sebastian moved to the next drawing. Earth people were drawn
bowing to tall strange beings from another world. The humans were primitive and without
knowledge so they worshiped the star voyagers as gods. Akira and Khansu were in the
landing party that made contact with the humans. They were teachers and scientists.
Because our kind translates and communicates all languages without thought or study,
they were able to converse easily with all they met.

The next drawing depicted an ancient city with two of the strangers drawn standing
tall over the buildings and the humans. I asked if it was Akira and Khansu who sent
me to this room.

He told me it was. Khansu was the leader, being older and wiser, and Akira was the
scientist, being female and more adept at learning intricate information. He told
me they watched the interaction of the humans and saw they were similar to a species
on their own planet, a species raised for feeding the star beings. The difference
was the humans had the ability to speak.

Sebastian guided me, pictograph by pictograph, around the walls of the room. The story
he told was too strange not to be true. The star people traveled from a planet that
had three moons circling in constant motion. One of the moons was used as a farm where
they raised a species for food, but they didn’t kill them or eat them. They tapped
into their veins and drank their living blood. They cared for their stock and kept
them well and healthy so their blood regenerated rapidly. Each feeding from
their blood would leave them weak and ill, but stronger still once they recovered.
The older and stronger the servant, the sweeter and more powerful the blood. They
were treated well and mixed with society until at last, the blood no longer regenerated
and they expired.

“Sarah, are you there?”
Once again, she stopped breathing as he told his story and only his calling her name
made her catch her breath.

“Yes, I’m here.”

“Shall I go on?”

She whispered one word, “Yes.”

The star voyagers were able to feed on the earth humans but the blood didn’t satisfy
them as did the stock from their home. They starved and died one after another until
Akira found a solution. She found that if they completely drained the human at each
feeding, they were able to sustain their lives and feed much less often. Blood drinking
to the death began.