Maliuth: The Reborn
Read Maliuth: The Reborn Online
Authors: Stormy McKnight
Maliuth
A Reborn Novel
By
Stormy McKnight
Copyright
pending, Stormy McKnight
Cover
Art by Brandi Doane McCann
Published
by Stormy McKnight
http://www.stormymcknight.com/
Maliuth is the first book in The Reborn series.
Maliuth is a work of fiction and the characters,
events, and dialogue found within the story are of the author’s imagination and
are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, either
living or deceased, is completely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced or shared in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including but not limited to digital copying,
file sharing, audio recording, email and printing without the permission in
writing from the author
.
One minute she was driving along, minding her own business and the next
thing…wham! She was being pulled into a bright light. Alea Wyatt was killed in
a motor vehicle accident. Her energy left sitting in the void waiting for
something she didn’t even know existed.
She couldn’t see her surroundings,
but there wasn’t a sense of panic or fear going through her, so that was a good
thing. All she felt was peace and calm. Into her mind popped the realization
that she was dead. The knowledge didn’t cause her pain or despair, it was just
a fact that she accepted. Her first thought beyond that was…why wasn’t she
freaking out? She was only thirty-eight years old. She had a long life left
ahead of her still. There must be something calming in this void to be keeping
her from screaming and ranting. She didn’t know how long she hovered there in
the stillness before she finally heard a voice.
“
Do you have unfinished business
?”
The question boomed out of nowhere with a hint of impatience.
“I don’t think so.” Taking a moment to think she had asked, “I guess that
would depend on what you consider ‘unfinished’…I mean there are a lot of things
I would like to see—”
There was a resounding sigh then the voice came back, “
That’s right you are Terran or as you call
yourself…human
.” She was suddenly flying through the light and landed with
a thud in a seat. “
Is this better
?”
Alea opened her eyes to see that she was in some kind of DMV hell. There
were thousands of small tables with paperwork on them as far as the eye could
see. She was shocked to note that not all of the occupants of the room and
their various seats were human. She noticed a large counting digital wheel with
the words “Now serving number” over it. The thing was spinning faster than she
could keep up with and the number displayed was so large her mind couldn’t
fathom it.
Turning to face the “woman” in front of her, she realized that although she
appeared humanoid, this creature wasn’t human. She had an elongated face, with
large luminescent eyes. Her hair was platinum blond and in a tight bun at the
back of her head. Perhaps to fit into this vision, she was wearing a feminine, gray
business suit. The color of her clothes almost matched the color of her skin
exactly. The effect was un-nerving.
“
Well. Is this better
?” She
could hear the woman’s words but the mouth didn’t move.
“Sure. Yes.” Alea had never been one to question authority or rock the
boat. If her food wasn’t prepared correctly, she ate it anyway. If someone
asked to take cuts in front of her in line, she always politely let them. Even
if that one person ended up being a family of twenty. She had always tried to
do the right thing. Therefore, even though this room was totally overwhelming
and hearing voices talking in her head wasn’t normal…she just said yes.
With a knowing smile, the creature held out a form, “
I am your Universally Appointed Afterlife Social Worker. I need you to
sign here.”
With a pointy finger along the pages the woman instructed,
“and initial here…here…and here.”
“What am I signing?” Alea didn’t want to be rude, but she had always read
the fine print before signing anything. It was out of habit that she had
blurted the question and when her social worker looked exasperated, she almost
just started signing.
“
It is the release of our energy,
currently in your possession, back into the system for re-cycling.”
“Your energy? You mean this form of my body. Back into the system to
become what?”
“
To become what it is meant to
become.”
The woman said cryptically.
“What if I don’t want to sign?” she was stalling for time as her mind
processed what was happening.
“
You don’t really want to know.”
Upon giving that warning, everything went away. Alea knew this was what hell
would be like. No sound, no hint of light…just a blank canvas of nothing.
“Okay.” She whispered frantically, “I get it.” Then she was able to see
again and gave a sigh of relief.
“
It works every time.”
The
voice held a hint of gloating and Alea wasn’t amused. Before she could react,
there was a flash and a wild looking male stood there. He was tall and gangly
with messy black hair falling across his oversized eyeglasses.
With a quick look at his clipboard he muttered, “
Flaura. We have a huge bottleneck of Earth human’s and not one of them
has learned anything. How hard is it to use their limited time wisely?”
He
looked Alea over with disinterest, “
The universe
is clamoring for energy. Why are you sitting here with that one
?” He waved
a hand at her. “
Does she meet minimum
requirements or not
?”
“
I don’t know Florian. She is
so…meek.
” Before Alea could defend herself Flaura went on as if she hadn’t
just insulted her, “
Don’t you have some
Neutisians to process. I hear their star went supernova.”
Flaura gave a
longing look at Florian. “
I would be
happy to help with them
.”
“
They are going fast. You know how
advanced Neutisians were. Their energy is a prime commodity and all of the good
sectors are acting fast
.” Seeing the dejected look on Flaura’s face he
relented, “
Give this one her three days
and then come help. They are truly wonderful to process and your sector could
use their energy.”
Grabbing the pen, Flaura pressed it into her hand.
“Why are the ‘Nutisans’ so great?” Alea held the pen absently in her
hand.
“
Neutisians,”
Flaura corrected,
“
were almost to energy level ten
.”
She replied as if that explained everything. At Alea’s blank stare, she just
sighed and added. “
Most
Earth humans are at a level three at the
highest, if that gives you any indication of the different levels of
advancement. Where Earth humans are prone to violence and closed-minded. The Neutisians
were…well, the opposite
.
I have only
ever gotten a few level ten’s in my sector, and none of those were ever wasted
on Earth
.”
Alea stared at the papers and at Flaura’s pointed look started signing
and initialing where the woman had requested. “There. I’ve done what you
asked.” She felt tears stinging in her eyes.
“
Don’t go all weepy on me.”
The
woman held out some type of tissue. “
I
forget how hard Earth humans are to process sometimes.”
Alea noticed the
tissue she was using had gone from white to purple where she had blown her
nose. For some reason this was amusing and she started laughing. This woman was
going to have a purple snotty tissue to remember her by. She bet a fancy
Neutisian couldn’t do that.
“
That’s the spirit. You have a few
days to say good-bye and get any unfinished business out of the way. Look for
your next assignment sometime before the three days are up. If you are needed
before that, you will have to go early.”
Giving her a stern look Flaura
leaned closer. “
This part is important,
so listen carefully!”
Alea turned her full attention to what Flaura was
saying. Emphasizing each word her social worker said, “
Whatever you do…do not miss your window! If you do…you will become a
lost particle and who knows how long that will take to retrieve you.”
“What is a lost particle?” Alea couldn’t help asking.
“What you would call ghosts or
spirits. They failed to go through their window and if enough time passes,
start to think they are still alive. In most cases we find them, but sometimes
the energy fades to the point where they are stuck in the black void.”
Alea bit back a terrified gasp, “How will I know what I am looking for?”
She would do anything to avoid that black hell!
“You will. Just keep your eyes and
mind open.”
Flaura gave her a small smile
, “You held it together pretty well. For an Earth human you aren’t so
bad.”
With a flourish, she stamped the papers Alea had signed. There was a
flash of light and she swore she heard the faint sound of laughter as the room
she had been sitting in disappeared.
The nice thing about being present at your own funeral is that you can
see what kind of turn out you got. Alea had to admit that she got a pretty good
send off. All of her family and friends attended, and even though there were a
lot of tears…there was a lot of laughter too. She had to hand it to her
husband…make that her former husband. He was holding up pretty well.
After Flaura had stamped her papers and the room disappeared, she had
landed at her funeral services. She had three days according to her afterlife
social worker to say good-bye, but how was she supposed to do that? Running to
her husband Jeff, she had thrown herself against him…then slid straight
through. Now you would think that wasn’t so bad, right? Wrong. She got to see
every cell in Jeff’s skin and blood. She absorbed his feelings and tasted his
emotions. She flew out the other side and hit her knees. The
taste
of pain was almost worse than the
feeling
of it.
Taking deep breaths, she managed to get to her feet again only to realize
that hours must have passed. She was alone now and had no idea how to get home.
Closing her eyes, she concentrated as hard as she could on the home she had
shared with Jeff. When she opened her eyes, she saw with relief that she was in
her favorite spot. The window seat at the front of the house.
Shifting to get more comfortable, she sighed and the sound seemed to echo
around the room. This had been her favorite place to sit. She spent many an
evening and weekend reading in the sun, waiting for Jeff to come home from work.
Looking up she realized that someone was about to sit on her. She hurried to
move herself out of the way. She wasn’t in a hurry to go through that again.
Scooting away, she turned toward the sound of talking in the living room.
Before she could take a few steps, Alea realized that the house was dark.
How had time passed so quickly? She had been about to go into the living room
and suddenly it was hours later? She would never figure out what to do for
closure before three days was up. It had already been one. Knowing that Jeff
had to be in the bedroom, she made her way into the hallway. Before her was the
bedroom door, but there was a darkness across it that gave her pause. She
didn’t sense any danger coming from the shadow, yet she was scared all the
same.
“
Alea
.” A male voice called to
her, “
I know you can feel me. It is time
…”
Alea backpedaled away from the door. She couldn’t deal with the way she felt
when that voice had called out to her. She got butterflies in her stomach and
her heart rate increased. She thought she had been happily married, so how
could another man’s words cause those emotions so easily in her…and it was a
stranger she didn’t even know doing it.
“Go away.” She called out. Her voice was weak with what she hoped was
fear, not longing.
“
Alea
…”
Alea turned and ran back toward the living room and was shocked to find
Jeff sitting with their friends on the couch. They were talking softly and she
heard “Disneyland” a few times. She laughed as the memories flooded over her.
They had gone to that amusement park many times as a group. In fact, Jeff had
taken her for a surprise anniversary gift a few years ago. The souvenirs from
that trip were spread all over the house. The framed picture of them in their
mouse ears. The hoodie jackets were hanging in the closet. The swirly suckers
were in a drawer in the kitchen.
Alea had an idea and ran to the kitchen. Willing with all of her might
she got the drawer open. Take that amateurs! She was only dead for two days and
she was opening things with the power of her mind. Seeing the swirly suckers
right where she had left them, she willed the words…
I love you more
to appear as if written by sharpie across one
sucker’s wrapping. That should give Jeff a good laugh. They were always
competing to see who could say it last before falling asleep. It seems that she
got to say it last after all.
Turning toward the living room, she came up short again. Was that a dark shadow
in the room? The hair on her neck and arms was standing on end. Alea slowly
went to move around it when her body felt like she had touched a live wire. “
Alea.”
Her skin burned at the sound of
that voice. “
Alea, come to me.”
For
some reason she wanted to. What was wrong with her?
“Leave me alone.” Alea shrieked and stumbled back. She was shaking and
her knees felt like they wouldn’t hold her up much longer. Looking around frantically
she realized it was darkening in the house again. How much time had she lost?
“Jeff. I need to know what you want done with Alea’s clothes.” Her best friend
Molly called from the bedroom. Turning that direction, she found her friend in
the closet piling clothes on the floor. Alea laughed at the useless amount of
junk she had saved. She hadn’t been able to wear two-thirds of those clothes.
She had only kept them because the diet she wasn’t on would work any day and
she would be able to fit in them soon. Only soon had passed into years, and now
would never come. It could all be taken to goodwill.
“Just box it up for goodwill.” Jeff appeared haggard in the doorway. His
dark hair was unkempt and his face unshaven. Jeff never went a day without
shaving. When he tried to let his facial hair grow, he thought he looked like a
fuzzy peached teenager instead of a grown man. The clothes he was wearing were
not up to his usual standard either. She didn’t even know he owned a t-shirt
and jeans. His work attire was a three-piece suit, and weekend casual was a
nice sweater and slacks. Alea was mollified on some level that at least he was
mourning her a little bit to slip this far.
“Alea never could throw anything away. I don’t know how many times I
asked her to clean out her side of the closet.” Jeff reached on the top shelf
and Alea stiffened. There were some t-shirts she had kept when they had tried
to have a baby. It seemed all their friends and his sisters had gifted them
with joke shirts. They had sayings like, “womb with a view”, and “hands off the
bump”, and “baby loading”. Another one had an umbilical cord telephone calling
in an order of pickles and ice cream. Seeing those shirts would only hurt Jeff,
so again she focused with all her might and changed them. She erased the
pregnancy messages and made the shirts plain. “I wonder why she kept these.” He
laughed a hollow sound and threw the shirts into the goodwill pile. “Nothing
makes sense.”
Molly moved and put her hand on Jeff’s shoulder. “It will Jeff, give
yourself time.”
Turning from the closet, Alea realized it was fully light again. She was
running out of time and she didn’t know what else she was supposed to do. When
she heard voices in the family room, she hurried that direction. Jeff was
sitting in the middle of the couch surrounded by friends and his family. She
suddenly had the image of him as the years passed and knew it was going to be
okay. Jeff would find someone new to spend his life with. He would have children
to raise and then grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her chest tightened
with pain at the thought of someone else making him happy. It struck her like
lightning. It wasn’t something she was supposed to do for Jeff in her three
days. It was seeing that he was going to be happy that
she
needed to learn.
Turning from the couch, she froze. Standing before her was a shadowy
figure. “Alea…” his voice was husky and thick. “I have come for you. I can feel
your uncertainty and pain, but it is time. I need you in my world…” Alea sensed
the fatigue behind the words and knew that the effort to talk to her was
immense.
“I don’t know.” She was so unsure about what to do.
“I am Maliuth Stonarch. I swear to you that if you come to me, I will
protect you and find a way to make you happy. In this world or the next.” His
voice rang with conviction and Alea couldn’t help the responding rise in her
heartrate. “Our time is running out Alea. You have to decide.”
Alea stood between the couch and the dark figure, her mind whirling with doubt.
How would she get the courage to leave her husband? Yet Flaura had warned her
that this was a chance to say good-bye…not
stay
.
If she didn’t take her window, she would end up a lost particle if she did.
What were her choices? Returning to that black void or staying here and
haunting the man she had loved as some kind of lost soul. Neither of those
things were the answer. She had seen that Jeff was going to move on. It was
time for her to do the same.
Stepping tentatively toward the darkness she held out her hand. It was
now or never. When her fingers started to disappear, she was pleasantly
surprised. She had been expecting cold or fear to overwhelm her. Instead, she
was feeling warmth and happiness. She was making the right decision. Just as
her body was enveloped in shadow, she gave one last good-bye to the life she
was leaving behind.