Consequences (29 page)

Finally bringing my face into focus, she has
a look of confusion. “Yes … I think … I do trust her.”

“Then, please, tell me what happened to
Ellie.”

“She isn’t exactly sure … if we are going to
accept that she is ‘The Cassandra’… then, I guess we have to accept
that she actually has visions. She said she saw Ellie in a vision,
being hunted by the Symboulio. And that they cornered her, after
the boat she was sailing on docked, in a coastal Greek village.”
She sounds tense, like she has witnessed the attack for herself …
as far as I know Ann has never even met Ellie. Evidently something
more than words passed between Cassandra and Ann.

“Wait a minute, Ann … what is the Symboulio?
I heard you mention them when we were outside; along with the
Symbio … you said you were a member.” I can feel the threads of
understanding starting to braid themselves together … finally, I’m
going to know more than Christopher, about something …
anything.

“I am a member of the Symbio … here; it’s a
council that works alongside the ethereal creatures. They mostly
work to expand the knowledge of world events from beings that were
actually there, they are also interested in the scientific study of
extra-sensory perceptions. Like I said, I only just joined, but I
believe that they are doing good work. They do police the
malevolent behavior of both the creatures and living people with
talents … but that isn’t their prime objective. What Cassandra
described, the Symboulio, they are crusaders bent on destruction of
the ethereal realm. She said that, in her vision, Ellie was acting
as if she had befriended a boy, a ‘seer’ like me, who belongs to
the Symboulio, and that he led her into a trap. Cassandra watched,
as the boy stabbed Ellie with a special knife covered in poison.
Apparently, the poison could paralyze, possibly even kill, her Ho
Thanatos core while the knife would dispatch the solid form Ellie
was projecting. Cassandra helplessly viewed Ellie bleed out her
life force, a bright green energy that was the center of her
essence. Cassandra feels incredibly guilty for not being there …
she was telling me about a conversation she’d overheard, when
Artemis interrupted. She was telling me that she heard the
Symboulio were actually after a powerful precog … they were after
her.” Ann’s gaze becomes serious as she turns to look at the chair
where Cassandra and Artemis still sit.

“You don’t blame her, do you? How was she
supposed to stop it from happening? At least we know why
Christopher is in that condition. Now; we just need to figure out a
way to help him.”

Ann looks into my eyes with a question on her
lips. Her expression changes from the harsh examination she placed
on Cassandra, to one of consideration and sympathy. “You are a good
friend, Michael; I’m glad you called, if for no other reason than I
could meet you. I think that we should ask Cassandra exactly what
she heard, and saw, and then maybe, something will come to us about
helping Christopher.”

“All right … that sounds like a solid place
for us to start off … but you’re going to have to talk to me, and
tell me what she’s saying.” Ann’s face becomes focused once more on
Cassandra, and I’m not exactly sure if she heard me … damn, it
sucks being normal.

Following behind Ann, I’m drawn back into
noticing how powerful her character is compared to her physical
dimensions. She is a survivor, reminding me of smooth river rocks
worn into gems by the rolling rush of water. Her life has shaped
her into something that beguiles the senses … but at the same time
she is so hard and unfathomable. I find myself deeply fascinated,
and repulsed, by her fierce independence. And, I have no idea what
to make of her statement about being glad to meet me. But I can’t
ignore the way my heart sped up when she first said my name, or the
pit that formed in my stomach as she looked into my eyes with such
thoughtfulness. I haven’t been this confused by the opposite sex
since … Lilly.

Ann turns and looks at me with an expectant
glance; I distinctly hear her voice in my head. With a jagged edge
to her tone, “Well?” rings inside my skull. Apparently I am
supposed to start the questioning. I nod, as I pull two chairs over
and place them facing Cassandra.

I am not sure how this is going to work; so
as I sit down and turn on my interrogation technique, hoping that
we will find a way to communicate. Crouching forward in my chair
with my elbows on my knees, I follow Artemis’s line of sight to
what I assume are Cassandra’s eyes. “You were about to tell Ann
what you saw the day Ellie died … could you, please, continue?”

Artemis shifts her position so that she can
watch our three-way conversation from the sidelines, in the process
she looks up at Cassandra and then turns to look at me. As long as
I am observant, I can catch onto the nuances of Artemis and Ann’s
body language, and hopefully understand some of what is happening.
Artemis’s move tells me that I not only have Cassandra’s attention,
but she is speaking directly to me. Trying not to seem too
confused, I look over at Ann for some assistance.

When Ann’s voice settles in my mind this
time, it is soothing and calm. She is repeating Cassandra’s story
word for word, silently projecting the tale directly into my brain,
while at the same time nudging her head to the left … trying to
tell me to look at the storyteller, not at her beautiful caramel
colored eyes. Distracted momentarily by my own stupidity, I mouth,
‘Oh right’ and turn to face Cassandra once again.

The story starts with a recap of what Ann has
already explained to me. Ann’s voice has a hypnotic effect, and
soon, I feel as if I am actually hearing Cassandra’s words.

“Cassandra, Ann explained most of this to me
already … and I do want to know the specifics of Ellie’s murder,
but so that I can understand the players and the motive, I need to
know more about this group, the Symboulio. Please, tell me what you
were about to tell Ann … tell me what you overheard, first. Details
could be important, try to remember as much as possible.” I need
Cassandra to switch from giving us the highlights to giving us the
entire story. I need to put myself into that moment in time, so
that I can grasp the situation. Be careful of what you wish for …
because you might get it.

I still can’t see Cassandra, though I can
imagine her sitting before me scratching Artemis’s neck. In the
intensity of the moment … Ann’s voice, Artemis watching our
exchange like a tennis match, and the fur in her mane moving on its
own accord … I guess sometimes believing is seeing, because there
before me sits the prophetess of Delphi, the princess of Troy, in
all her glory. I can’t tell what she looks like, or what she sounds
like, with any certainty … I just simply know, she is there.

Cassandra begins telling me about what she
has seen, "I will try my best to remember what they said … I can
see my Ellie being led off a boat, being held tightly by a young
man. She leaned into his hands ever so slightly, there was some
sort of trust between them … they also shared an incredible fear; I
could see it in their eyes. Behind them were two very large Ho
Thanatos wearing cloaks … the two creatures were stained with evil;
their energy craved wickedness. They are known as the Timoro. I
could see their tentacles of oily brown energy licking at Ellie,
trying to find a way in. But they couldn’t hurt my Ellie, not while
she was solid … while she stayed on your side of the veil; and by
the gods, they were furious about it, too.”

Ann isn’t projecting with an accent, but as
the illusion deepens, I can hear the Greek inflection in
Cassandra’s words. Now, I am starting to understand why Ann spoke
as if she had been there to see Ellie’s death first hand …
Cassandra carries your imagination into the tale, a storyteller of
unbelievable talent. “Do you know who the creatures were?”

“No, Michael, I do not. I only know that they
were very dangerous … almost as dangerous as the human that waited
for Ellie at the bottom of the gangplank. She was trapped … the
human knew how to slay her mortal form, and if she tried to escape
back to the mist, the evil ones were there to destroy her ethereal
soul.”

“What about the young man you mentioned?”

“He both supported and led her … she didn’t
struggle; she seemed to gain comfort and strength from his touch. I
do not understand why he would kill such a beautiful, trusting
soul. I can’t believe that someone as clever and strong as Ellie
would allow herself to be trapped like that … I had warned her so
many times.” Ann’s voice pauses, and I realize that Cassandra has
stopped speaking … obviously needing a moment to collect her
thoughts. I pray that the fantasy won’t break and fade away into
the silence … this daydream is becoming addictive, and I don’t want
it to end.

I am mistaken in believing that our illusion
is in any way fragile; because there is no going back, Cassandra
still has a story to weave, and we are trapped in her web … so we
wait.

In my mind, I hear Ann’s voice cracking with
sorrow as she begins speaking for Cassandra again. “As you asked,
we will discuss Ellie’s murder later. I had seen the older human
that was waiting, before. I knew what he was capable of, but I was
too afraid to help Ellie.

"You have to understand, I can recognize the
time frame of my visions: past, present and future … and I have
found that I can do nothing about the past or even the present;
because as soon as I’ve experienced the vision, the present has
become the past. I watched what happened to Ellie, as it happened …
and I couldn’t even warn her. I didn’t know what else to do; the
only thing I could think of was … finding Christopher. He needs to
know what happened to his love … either way Ellie’s loss will
torture him, but not knowing … would be a never ending agony.” I
nod, as hard as it is to watch my friend self-destruct before my
eyes … I have to agree with Cassandra’s reasoning. And I am not
sure why, but I have a feeling that Cassandra’s trip from Greece to
Montana took more courage from her, than walking into a trap in
hopes of saving Ellie.

Hoping to calm Cassandra, I say, “No one here
blames you for what happened … if you had tried to save Ellie then
you both would have died. You knew what Ellie would have wanted …
someone to care about Christopher, to inform him of what happened.
You are a true friend, for identifying with Ellie and being
sympathetic to her wishes.” I can see Ann out of the corner of my
eye. She has an eyebrow raised and her lips pursed; I can sense her
surprise at my statement. Finally giving a quick nod in my
direction, I can imagine what she is thinking … “Pretty insightful,
for a small-town, wild-animal cop.”

When Cassandra picks up the story again, I
can tell by the tenor and intensity in Ann’s voice that Cassandra
has accepted my reassurance, and is continuing by telling us
exactly what the ‘older human’ said to Ellie. “The man waited
impatiently for Ellie to descend; I watched as he ran a shaky
arthritic hand through his greasy, black and silver hair. He
actually looked hungry as Ellie came to a stop in front of him. She
didn’t say a word; she just stood without emotion, as if she was
solemnly waiting to be led to the guillotine. The human seemed to
be trying to invoke a reaction from her, as he explained that our
first lifetime on this world was a trail, full of the intense pain
and pleasure that needed to be passed in order to depart into a
place of rest. Not heaven, just worm food, but it would be the
ultimate moment of peace for the soul. Those that failed the test
so miserably, they were kept in the torture chamber of life by
passing into the ethereal mist, and they needed to be put down …
like a sick dog, for their own good. Ellie just stood there, never
giving him the satisfaction of having an effect on her stoic
expression. But, I could tell that she was scared; and as a last
act, I could see her reading his dull eyes. She wasn’t going to let
him know that she had accepted her own defeat; she was going to
make sure to do damage before her execution.

"All she said in return was: ‘If you really
believe that you’re giving Ho Thanatos the gift of ending our
worldly torture … then why, Esidor, do you suck the life out of us?
If you actually believe your time here is the trial before glory …
then why do you hang onto your existence so viciously? Why, sir,
are you scared of your … ultimate peace?’

"He, of course, had no answer for her, but
she seemed to be doing more to him than uncovering his delusion.
Ellie was hurting him; his face was contorted in such a way that it
was giving away his internal torment. Through gritted teeth, he
told her to give the Symboulio the information needed to catch the
precog, Cassandra, or he would take her energy and she would
disappear into nothing. She gave them nothing; she just continued
to attack Esidor’s mind until it looked as if he may collapse. At
which point he told the boy, Ellie’s deceptive friend, to kill her.
The boy pulled a knife from inside his jacket, and as he slipped it
between her ribs, he whispered something in her ear.

"I watched for what felt like a millennia as
the vision faded, showing me her demise. Ellie leaned back into her
young friend’s arms and actually smiled; reaching up, she brushed a
tear from his cheek. When he withdrew the knife, she began to
hemorrhage her beautiful essence. Bright green, wispy and spiraling
in beautiful swirls, it fluttered and floated, riding on delicate,
invisible butterfly wings; her energy became one with the air. Then
that disgusting, immoral representative of the Symboulio started
consuming her life force like a dying man gorging on ambrosia.”
Again, I can tell Cassandra has stopped speaking, because Ann has
paused.

When I look over at Ann to confirm my
assumption, she is crying. She is hunched over with her hands
covering her face, and her shoulders are shaking.