Otherland (21 page)

Lydia jumped up nervously and began pacing again. “Why now are you refusing to tell me the Prophecy? For all your attempts before, and now you’re changing the subject and doing everything you can to get me to forget about it so you won’t have to tell me, even though it is your duty to do so.”

“It’s also my choice to choose the right timing, and right now is not the right timing. My purpose now is to get you to calm down and feel good so you can be ready for another day tomorrow. Providing you this information, and possibly getting all your anxieties going again, would be counterproductive at the moment.”

“You didn’t care about the timing before.”

“Aliyah, just because I’m a Light knight doesn’t mean I don’t make mistakes or don’t misjudge situations or timing. I don’t know if you noticed, but I am human, like you, which means I’m both fallible and mistaken. Now please eat more than the two bites you’ve had. You’re making me feel like a pig.”

“Ha ha, welcome to being a human male. Pig just about sums it up,” she played.

“It warms my soul to hear you laugh and see you smile, Aliyah.”

“Yeah, it does feel good. I missed it. Thank you, Jacob.”

And just as her concerned eyes directed toward the bundled babe, he stirred. Jacob could physically see the relief in her face and body. “I’ll take care of him,” he said.

“But I thought you said your duty wasn’t to be a babysitter?” she said lightly.

“This world is full of many pleasant surprises. I’ve grown quite fond of Jasper, even if his poo could kill an army of Dark souls just with its stench.”

Against her advice to Jacob to only drink one glass, Aliyah wound up drinking the bottle, filling her cheeks with a contented rosiness he was happy to have witnessed. She’d eaten. They’d played in the Jacuzzi, where he felt the release of tension in muscles he didn’t even know he had.

She’d taught him card games, War, and Rummy, and laughed more than he’d ever heard her laugh when she taught him Slapjack, and it’d taken him a good five sharp slaps to his hand before he understood the objective of the game. She’d even taught him how to play 52 card pick-up, and laughed long and hard while she used her spiritual energy to sprawl the 52 cards all throughout the room, even placing an Ace of Hearts in the toilet.

He’d tickled her, brushed her hair lovingly, kissed her. Long after she was snoring into the night, quite loudly, he might add, for someone so small, he stared at her with all the brilliant love pouring out of his heart for her, while also feeling a pain so harsh, so devastating, that he wanted to cry out and scream how unfair it all was. Now that he had her, he didn’t want to lose her, not ever, ever again.

He was filled with the harsh regret of all the decisions he’d made years past. Just as the High master had chosen the right time for her to know the Prophecy, so he’d done the same for the Light knight. Telling him, after all the decisions in his life-cycle had already been made, with no way to turn back time and choose differently. When Jasper woke up in the middle of the night, he curled the three of them into the bed, and held both of them. His Family. His heart. His home.

So instead of crying out all the pain he felt inside, he sent up a gracious prayer for having had the privilege to be loved by the greatest warrior princess there ever was, and to finally have the chance, the most precious moment in eternity, to be able to love her too.

Chapter 35

Aliyah woke up, never remembering feeling so wonderful, but the Light knight was somber. “What is it? What’s wrong?” she said while devouring their breakfast.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit odd that we’ve been here for 12 hours, yet not once have we been accosted by a Dark soul or a possessed body?”

“Perhaps your lightness shields me from detection,” she said in wondering. “No reason to be a crabby pants about it. I know I definitely enjoyed the reprieve. I haven’t gotten restful sleep like that since as long as I can remember. It’s amazing what a well-rested body feels like. I feel like I can do anything. I’m ready to battle the world, or the worlds, rather. Now, about that prophecy.”

“Wouldn’t you like to freshen up, do what girl’s do -?”

“Jacob?” she eyed him with the raised eyebrow that said there’d be no more stalling.

So much for his appetite. “The Prophecy says that a child would be born and raised into both light and dark. She would come to be called Aliyah.”

“You’re shittin’ me,” she exclaimed.

“What? No, I’m not – Do you mind watching your language around the baby? We still don’t know if he maintained a 12 year-old’s mind, and I don’t want that to be his first word.”

“Yes, Daddy,” she said playfully.

“There would come a time when the Dark would rival against the Light, and that the two worlds would mix, versus staying separate, opening a passageway where humans and spirits would freely roam amongst the two worlds. This child, Aliyah, would maintain powers that none other before her had every possessed. She would walk both lands and contain the abilities of both humans and spirits alike, while also being able to travel to both the Lightness and the Darkness, walk the Forbidden, and conquer the Nothingness.”

“So
that’s
why you didn’t want me to reveal my name,” she said.

He rolled his eyes, “Not that you’ve ever listened. Revealing your name revealed who you were, threatening the Darkness and those within it. Since revealing your name, so long ago, your destruction has been sought for ever since. This is not a personal battle between you and Dwayne, though that is how he sees it. He used his ability to be able to track you to gain passage here, but you are the biggest threat to the Darkness. Just as the Prophecy foretold, the Dark rebelled against the Light, because the Light was doing everything to keep you safe and alive while They had completely different intentions for you.”

“My and the Lights’ job ever since have been to keep you alive and safe. When you no longer were aware that you were Aliyah, you couldn’t be tracked. I planned to return your memories to you when the time came, but you innocently wandered back into Otherland; they figured out who you were and what your new name was, so you were no longer safe, which is why I was returned here. The Prophecy says that if Aliyah dies -.” He left out the part of her going dark. “ – then all would be lost and an eternity would come to pass of a Darkness one has never known.”

“Where are you in this prophecy?”

She was too astute.

“I’m not,” he lied and felt guilty about it.

“When did you learn of it?”

“Not too long ago.”

“So that’s why you’re all lovin’ up on me, now. You want to go down in history,” she teased.

“Your mind is too distrusting for your own good,” he said, not humored.

“So, does it say if I’m going to be successful or not, or how I’m supposed to accomplish all this stuff?”

He shook his head. “It only says what will happen if you fail.”

“No pressure, right?” she smiled unsteadily. “So you’re all depressed because you’re afraid I’ll fail?”

“No, I know you won’t fail.”

“Then you should be happy … unless there is something you’re not telling me.”

He hesitated. “It won’t be easy. Your will will be tested beyond anything you’ve ever endured before. There will be sacrifices that will threaten your ability to stay Light and will attempt to get you to turn Dark.”

“Why would I want to turn into the very thing that has done nothing but hurt me my entire life?”

“That’s what you have to remember.”

For the first time that morning, her high spirits fell momentarily, “What … kind of sacrifices?”

“I cannot tell you anymore than what I’ve already told you,” he said testily.

And then her high spirits fell completely. “Because you don’t know anymore, or because you won’t?” she stared at him with heated eyes.

“You’re testing my patients, Aliyah.”

“Sorry to inconvenience you, your Light knightedness. I’m part of a Prophecy that says I’m responsible for all of this, and you’re getting impatient with me? You tell me there are going to be sacrifices that will test my will, like I haven’t already sacrificed enough. What am I supposed to sacrifice now? There are only two things I have left, and it’s you and my son, and I’m not willing to sacrifice either one of you.”

“You have more than that. I think it’s time you see your parents – your real parents – so that you can understand where you come from, where you started,” he said hurriedly.

“And risk losing them after I just found them, I don’t think so. The more people I involve in this, the more sacrifices will be made available.”

“The Prophecy says the child was born and raised with both light and dark. If Dwayne was the dark, then the light must be your biological parents. You’ve spent far too many years with the dark, threatening to turn you, because it’s all you’ve known, it’s all you remember. It is time for you to remember the light. You need as much of that on your side as possible.”

“I don’t even know if they’re still alive,” she said, her voice now quiet and insecure.

“They are. I took the liberty of checking … and getting a phone number, and an address … and calling them.”

“You did what?” she exploded.

“They’re expecting you.”

“Oh,” she raged. “You have totally crossed the line with this one. How could you -? How dare you -? You remember that whole thing about free will? Well you just took mine away, buddy, by doing that. How can I not show up now if they know I’m alive and are expecting me?”

“Yeah, that’s kind of why I did it,” he said quietly.

“What is it that you are not telling me?” She was in his face.

“You have siblings. An entire family. Aunts. Uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, the whole nine, though I do regret to inform you that all your grandparents have passed on. Your parents are in their mid-60’s and 70’s. I already explained to them that your body spent a significant period of time in a coma, and so therefore it didn’t age.”

“I am so mad at you right now, Jacob,” she pointed out.

“I know, but you’ll forgive me. You always do.”

“Then I guess you won’t mind staying here and babysitting Jasper.”

“Aliyah, wait, I planned on going with -.” The door slammed. “ – you. I don’t think I have ever seen your Mommy this mad at me before, Jasper. She’ll be back.”

All in 30 seconds when she realized he still had the directions, which he refused to give to her unless she took him along for the ride.

“Fine, but I’m not saying one word to you, not one, throughout this entire trip.”

“I think you just said about ten.”

“Starting NOW.”

CHAPTER 36

“We’re going to have to summon the Light elders.”

The Dark elders were convening, trying to figure out a solution to an issue they hadn’t foreseen when they’d turned against the Lightness and allied with the Lost souls.

“We cannot. They will expect redemption. Everything we’ve spent an eternity conspiring toward would all be lost. I don’t understand it. We allied with them. They were supposed to destroy the Lightness. We’re losing thousands a day to the Nothingness, thousands of our own, with fewer losses of the Lights. Are they really so lost as to not even have a sense of direction? There must be something we can do to turn them around and stop them from destroying their own.”

“We’ve tried. They won’t listen. Even promising to give them the humans did nothing to stop them from continuing to destroy the Darkness.”

“The humans, that’s it. We’ve imprisoned them all in the Darkness. That’s what the Lost souls are after. Should we return all the humans to the Lightness, the Lost souls will change course and finally destroy what they were meant to destroy – the Lightness.”

“Brilliant, but how will we return them to the Lightness without a Light elder?”

“Are you forgetting what we’re dealing with? They’ve done nothing but protect the humans. All we will have to do is tell them we’re releasing the humans, and they will come and take them, no questions asked.”

“Won’t they suspect our motives?”

“It doesn’t matter. They will still make that sacrifice to save the humans. They’re Light. That’s what they do.”

“Our numbers have fallen significantly. We need to return to Otherland at least a quarter of the souls sent to the human world.”

The angry Dark elder constrained the smaller Dark elder, his eyes flaring grey ice. “Aliyah is still alive! We need all the souls we can afford over there in the human world to rid of her and prepare for our New World. Here, the Nothingness may be spreading into the Darkness, destroying our realm, but there we are having far greater success. Humans are easier to control than are souls, whether Light, Dark, or Lost.

“They’re filled with self-preservation to keep their human forms alive, because they fear us and fear eternity, unlike those already a part of it. They will do just about anything to save their own lives and the lives of their families. It is they that are our greatest asset in strengthening our rebellion.”

“You’re right, of course, Dark elder. I just feared that if Aliyah returns here before she is dead and her soul imprisoned, our numbers are too few to fight her.”

“True, but in the end, Aliyah is still human. As great as the Prophecy foretold of her being, her humanity will be her undoing, and that undoing began the moment she retrieved her human child and returned him to the human world. She cannot entrust his care to anyone else but the Light knight, but she doesn’t fully trust the Light knight either. She will not return here and risk her human child’s life. That is why I provided strict orders that the child remain alive … for now.”

“And what of Dwayne?” the third elder asked. “He is calling himself the Dark master when we agreed that title would be yours when we finally settle into the New World. He is gaining worshippers. People are bowing to him. Even Dark souls have begun calling him the Dark master and following his orders instead of yours. Your orders were for her human form to be killed and her soul entrapped by any soul that accomplished it, whereas who they’re calling the Dark Master has ordered that she be brought to him alive.”

“He is exactly where we need him to be right now. His mission, his motivation, his feelings of power, and his obsessive need to control, makes him the strongest Dark soul in the human world. He will not stop until he accomplishes what he wants. I have no doubt that he won’t accomplish exactly that. He
will
be the one that destroys Aliyah’s threat to our dominion, so that the Prophecy will be as it was meant – ‘An eternity of darkness never before known’. Unbeknownst to him, he is making my job easy. He can gather the devotion of a billion followers, humans and souls alike, so that I don’t have to. When it is time for me to take my throne in the New World, all I will have to do is rid of him, and all of his followers will become my own.”

“You are wise, Dark Lord.” The two dark elders slightly bowed in respect.

“I am all-knowing!” he bellowed.

***

True to her word, Aliyah did not speak to him the entire journey, not even to acknowledge him with grunts, facial expressions, or body gestures. Her face remained stone-cold, and she focused her tunnel-vision on looking straight ahead while she drove. He’d tried everything.

He’d tried talking about Jasper to soften her, and tell her funny little things that he did.

He’d tried reassuring her.

He’d tried apologizing.

And when none of that worked, he’d tried tricking her and manipulating an answer or reaction out of her.

“Do you want me to get the gas attendant to fill your car free of charge? I know you’re probably running short on cash.”

“Do you want me to drive for a while?”

“You know, it’s your fault I had to cross the line. You’re too stubborn.”

“I watched you sleep all night. You snore like a big fat man with a sinus infection. You also fart in your sleep like a perfectly-tuned trumpet. I think you farted Amazing Grace.”

“Hey, so do you remember last night when you taught me how to play 52 pick-up? I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh that hard.”

“Do you want me to feed Jasper? You know what I bet he would love more than anything? Icecream.”

He got nothing. No response. No reaction. Just the repetitive flexing muscle of her clenching her jaw.

The only reaction he got out of her was when she abruptly squealed to the side of the road and shut the car down after he told her the house was a block away.

“Stay here,” she finally spoke.

“Oh, come on, Aliyah. You know you need my support on this. I know you’re mad at me, but you do need me. I can’t imagine how scared you must be feeling right now. Besides, you don’t know which house it is.”

“Yes I do,” she barely whispered. “I remembered the moment I saw the school. Stay! I won’t be very long. The only reason why I’m doing this to begin with is because you forced it.”

She cracked the window a ¼ of an inch, and locked the doors once she’d stepped out of the car.

“Fine,” he said, in pronounced resignation. “I’ll stay here and take care of Jasper.”

She laughed aloud once walking half a block, knowing that he was just learning for the first time about the child-safety locks, when he would have believed that her distractions had caused her to miss the important fact that he’d easily be able to unlock the doors from the inside. Finding the safety-lock button, however, would buy her a heck of a lot more time.

She stood across the street from her short-lived childhood home, and became flooded with flash-memories. It was a simply-structured house with light blue vinyl siding, a triangulared roof, and white shudders. Concrete steps that led to the front door, decorated with a white wreath – a wreath that she’d made out of white plastic bag pieces when she was six. A small flowerbed followed the length of the house, exclusively adorned with irises of all different colors.

She had helped plant those irises. Her mother, with her long dirty blonde hair and soft features, planted those because she always joked about how she didn’t even have a green pinky toe, and was more creative at killing plants than growing them. She’d learned that irises were not only easier to maintain, but also multiplied every year. Some things never changed, because those over-crowded irises were in desperate need of being replanted.

There were a dozen cars lined up in the driveway and on the quarter-acre of grass in the front yard, forewarning her that it wasn’t just her biological parents expecting her. “Nope, not doing this.” She began to turn away. But then she heard the jarring of a weathered door being opened. An old woman with long white hair stood on the cement steps, staring at her.

Mama,
her heart lurched. She’d underestimated just how much pain she would feel with this reunion.

I can’t do this. I should never have agreed to this,
she cried, as the feeble woman began slowly descending the stairs. Lydia’s good-heartedness kicked in at the thought of making the woman come all the way to her. “I’ll come to you,” she said in a croaky voice.

“Jacob just called and told me you were here. The poor boy got himself locked in the car and I had to explain to him where the child-safety lock was,” were her first words spoken. Despite her aged appearance, her voice was as light and smooth as Lydia remembered. Her mother had used that voice to sing her to sleep after waking from a nightmare. Lydia couldn’t get her mouth to work, unless she wanted to break down sobbing.

“He said you would look younger than we would expect. If I didn’t see my Savannah all over you, I would think this was a trick with how young you still are, but you are. You are my Savannah. My Savannah, finally come home.” She broke the bounds of being the first one to cry; Lydia was quick to follow.

“It’s me, Mama. Your daughter. Savannah,” she finally sobbed, the name said aloud clenching her heart so unbelievably tight, she could hardly breathe. She ran toward her, and lifted her Mama in a gentle embrace.

Her mother touched her face with arthritic fingers, “I never stopped believing that I would see you again. I never gave up hope. All these years, I always knew that you were out there. I could feel it, and I vowed to keep breathing, keep living, keep fighting for that moment that we would be reunited. I never gave up,” she said fiercely.

Lydia – er - Aliyah – er – Savannah – didn’t have the heart to tell her that she’d never remembered … until now, but her mother’s blue eyes twinkled with all the light of the sun reflecting off the water’s surface that she consoled herself with the knowing that there must have been a part of her, the good part of her, that had, in fact, remembered. Perhaps all along having been the force that kept her from falling into darkness, and choosing light instead.

“So this must be Jacob, and my grandson, Jasper. You don’t have to stand all the way over there. Come closer. My eyes aren’t as good as they used to be.”

Looking at Lydia, Jacob cautiously approached. “Closer, let me see you.” After a moment, she inhaled with a bright smile, “My Lord, Savannah, you married yourself an angel.”

“It’s the greatest pleasure to finally meet the woman that brought
my
angel into this world,” he said. Lydia snorted impolitely.

“Come on, dears. We’ve kept people waiting long enough. As soon as I got the call, Savannah, I called the entire family – those of us that are left, that is. You have family come all the way from Hawaii that boarded passage and a flight just to finally see you again on the second greatest day of my life. The first, of course, was seeing you for the first time.” She walked ahead. Lydia stayed back just a bit in order to get a pinch into Jacob’s underarm.

“I can’t believe you would tell her we’re married when we are so far from being that. Not only aren’t we married. Jasper’s not even your son,” she sneered. “Don’t you dare use your Light knight eyes on everyone and win their hearts. Keep your eyes down, get it? I have every intention of telling them we’re divorcing at the end of this thing, and I want all of them on my side. Not feeling sorry for the fact that you’re completely annoying, intrusive in my life, a liar, and so not the angel that you want everyone to think you are.”

Jacob held the door open for her in response, and she was greeted by a huge banner that said, WELCOME HOME SAVANNAH, and probably 30 people young and old crunched inside the small house. She scanned the crowd for one face, and found him sitting in a wheelchair by the kitchen door, a huge smile on his face, and tears in his eyes.

“Daddy,” she crooned, and headed directly toward him.

“Baby girl,” he whispered while sobbing in her ear. She kissed his salty tears.

Pain crushed her, wanting to overwhelm her, and the only support keeping her body from falling was her happiness. All the years that she thought she’d been suffering alone, when they’d certainly had their share of it after losing her, without the blessing of lost memories, the advantage of forgetting, the peaceful obliviousness of not being aware.

Mama went to him, touched his hand, his face, his heart. “His blood pressure’s dropping. I fear all this excitement has drained him. Savannah, honey, would you like to help me get him into bed? He just needs to rest for a little while.”

“This old heart of mine just can’t seem to handle all the love it’s holding inside it,” he said with a tired smile.

Lydia pushed him toward her parent’s bedroom that she used to love to sleep in when she was younger, curled between the two of them, feeling completely safe and secure. She helped him into the bed, fluffed his pillows, and curled the blankets around him. She helped him with the pills and water Mama had handed her to give to him. “Is this usual for him?” she turned to Mama, and saw the flicker of concern on her mother’s face while covered with a gentle smile.

“I’m not quite finished with the food. The family can wait a bit longer,” she said. She pressed a slow kiss to her husband’s forehead, then left the room.