Otherland (6 page)

CHAPTER 8

Dwayne, the darkened criminal, felt such a thrill returning to the human world, his world, the place that was stolen from him abruptly by one girl, the girl he should have gotten rid of completely when he was done with her. Instead, he’d spent his human life chasing her. Obsessed with her. Needing her just one more time. That had been his demise.

Now, he was no longer human. He no longer had those physical needs. Now, he saw, crystal clear, what needed to be done. He’d been a stupid human to think that he could control her and possess her and keep her always in the human world. He’d spent the majority of his human life in search of her after she managed to escape again and again and again. Limited by the restrictions of the human body, he hadn’t been able to sense her, so had no choice but to find her the hard way, after years and years of searching.

Now, he’d found a way to possess her forever in Otherland without her ever being able to escape. He would not kill her, as he promised he wouldn’t. But he’d terrorize her until she killed herself or got into a car accident, something, anything, that would result in her death, and then he’d be the one to take her soul to Otherland, as she’d done him. He would be praised and rewarded his successes and be able to fly freely, while she would be the imprisoned one, forever and eternal, and he’d be able to see her and torture her at his will, as he’d finally be the good and she the bad, where he’d be seen as doing right, while she’d done wrong. It was perfect.

High above the human world, all he had to do was sense her. What had taken his human body years took only moments now. It was almost as though she’d done him a favor by killing him. She’d made it so much easier to find her.

He swooped toward the direction he sensed her, while remaining in the night sky, but just as he was about to drop down into the shadows, he received the summons. So close. Too close. He debated on ignoring it and continuing on with his business, but if he could sense her so quickly, would the Hunters be able to do the same with him?

It would take time to terrorize her to the point of her becoming a non-human, so he decided to return for the summons, as greatly as it annoyed him.

He thought he’d wind up in the same place he’d been before, the meeting spot before coming here, where this world seemed so far away. Instead, it was someplace in-between where he could still sense where he’d been.

“Why did you summon me so quickly? I only just reached the place I needed to be,” he said angrily.

“Where is the Light knight?” they asked.

“How am I supposed to know? Am I his keeper? My mission was to bring back the girl, not to babysit some human. If he can’t keep up, that’s not my problem.”

“Have you found her?”

“I only just got there before you summoned me. I could have had her by now. You’re serving to only waste my time. Is this how it’s going to be? You summoning me when I’m trying to carry forth my mission? If I have her in my grasp and you summon me, am I somehow supposed to choose between coming at your beck and call, and actually fulfilling the mission I was provided?” the darkened criminal vented angrily.

“You call this place enlightened, when really you’re not much different from the human world, constantly disrupting the very thing you say you want, because you don’t have the patience to allow the time needed to take care of it. Now, knowing Aliyah better than all of you, she could be jumping a plane to half-way across the world in sensing my presence, while you rudely intercepted me from getting to her.”

Suddenly, the Light knight arrived. “Sorry I’m late, Elders. The Lost ones can be quite demanding of one’s time, especially when you’re thrown into their clutches,” he looked at the Dark soul with a scathing look. “I came as soon as I could. I thank you, Elders, for your summons. Dark soul, this time I’ll allow you to lead the way.”

Only then did Dwayne realize that he’d been a pawn, a pawn all along. They were using him. He hadn’t been meant to find her and bring her back there, only to lead them to her.

But only he knew who Aliyah really was in the human world. He could lead them elsewhere, and they all knew that souls got taken by the Lost souls all the time. He just needed to bide his time, mislead the Light ones, and act like he’d been swallowed by the Nothingness. Then, and only then, could he fulfill his mission.

“We got word of a human found walking the white path toward the portal to the Darkness. She was able to escape, but not before providing her name. She did not call herself Aliyah. She said her name was Lydia,” the Light elder explained.

“Humans often mistakenly find their way onto those paths when they’re in a deep sleep. Did she actually go through the portal or was she frightened away?” the Light knight questioned.

“No, she returned to her world.”

“This is a waste of human time. Can we get on with it?” the Dark soul said in irritation.

“She was wide awake and was able to see and speak with the fallen angel placed on the border.”

“So what are you saying, Elders? That there may be another human, other than Aliyah, that possesses her same abilities, or that Lydia and Aliyah are one and the same?” The Light knight inquired, enjoying the Dark soul’s impatience.

“We cannot say for sure. We just thought this might be valuable information.”

“Very well, Elders. Thank you for this information. Dark soul?”

“Follow me then, Light knight,” he said, as he reentered the place he’d been, prior to being summoned. It was better off the Light knight being in this world as human, anyway. He would be required to sustain his body. He would need energy, food, water, shelter, and sleep. Perhaps he’d forgotten all the requirements of the human body in this world. All Dwayne had to do was remind him of his physical limitations.

So he had him walk for miles and miles without stopping for food and drink. As soon as the human collapsed in deprivation and needed sleep, the Dark soul would be able take care of what needed to be done.

Finally, the Light knight, stumbling, hungry, thirsty, and exhausted, said, “How much further is it?”

“Many miles more. You need to rest.”

The Light knight fell. “I need food and drink and sleep. I forgot how much the human body required to sustain.”

“I will get you what you need,” the Dark soul said. “Get some rest, and before you know it, I’ll be back with what you require.”

The Light knight nodded his head, hardly able to keep his eyes open, and Dwayne prepared himself to return to where he sensed her. Instead, the dawning light burned him and made him cry out in pain.

Again, he had to know he’d been tricked and made the fool. All the time he’d spent waiting for the human to tire was all the time the human had spent waiting for it to be daylight. Now, in daylight, he was trapped. He couldn’t go anywhere or do anything. He had to find a place of darkness to remain until the sun faded.

CHAPTER 9

The Light knight, as exhausted as he was, picked himself up and began walking the way they had come. He could navigate this world as a human in a way the spiritual could not. He raised his hand for a taxi, stopped at a fast-food restaurant, and within 20 minutes was dropped off at the place the Dark soul had been to prior to the summoning, which meant she was close. But it was New York City. Close could be thousands of places.

So the Light knight spent his time asking any and every one if they knew Aliyah or Lydia. He saw that most looked at him as something to fear and got away from him as quickly as possible. They all walked confidently, like they had things to do, places to go, but if you disturbed them, interrupted them in their purpose, they suddenly became afraid.

The Light knight thought to himself,
If these humans are living their lives in so much fear, how can they ever possibly grasp the very faith meant to maintain the spiritual world? How can they believe in anything when they’re so afraid?
” It was the first doubt he’d had against the High master since he’d made his vows to him.

Yet he talked to him, prayed to him, in this human world, trying to understand. “Everyone is so afraid. No one will talk to me. There are so many good out there, yet they’re petrified because of the bad done to them that they can’t trust anyone.”

He had no way of finding her. So he returned to the original spot they’d come to, and hid himself, waiting for night for the Dark soul to return. Apparently good could only be done in the face of evil, nothing less, nothing more.

But the Light knight also knew this was another trick in the human world, being so far from Otherland, surrounded by so many sights, sounds, lights, noises, smells, and so, so many humans with questionable auras.

It would take time for him to get accustomed to it all. It was simply overwhelming, and his time in the spiritual world had caused him so much sensitivity toward the essence of things and people. Even now, he could see the blackish-grey clouds forming in the sky, threatening to cover the sun, threatening rain.

He needed to find cover. Just as he was crossing the road, a vehicle came around the bend. He picked up his pace, but the driver didn’t seem to have any intention of slowing down, leaving the Light knight with no choice but to dive toward the curb, scraping his hands and knees. The vehicle squealed to a stop, harshly reversed, and squealed to a stop again.

“I am so, so sorry. You okay?”

A beautiful, yet flustered, black woman with long black tresses and high-cheekbones ran toward him.

The Light knight rubbed his skinned knees where his pants were now ripped, and painfully stood, “I seem to have had better days here,” he said, “But then again, I’m sure to have had worse, too.”

“Ooh, you are a pretty thing, ain’t you?” she smiled. “You cut, you bleedin’, and yo’ pants be ruined. I am so, so sorry. My stupid folder fell and I was drivin’ and tryin’ to pick up the paintings before they got ruined. Lydia kill me if I spoilt her work. Here, you want some money, get you some new pants? You a tourist?”

“Lydia?” the Light knight raised his brow. “I actually came here in search of Lydia. She may also go by Aliyah. She may not have any memories. You are friends with this Lydia?”

“Yes,” she said hesitantly. “But you in the city. There’s probably hundreds of them. What is the last name of the person you lookin’ for?”

“The Lydia I’m looking for may not have always been Lydia, so I do not have a last name. Aliyah’s last name was Demonica. Can you take me to her? I’ll be able to tell you if it is her.”

“Boy, you crazy. I ain’t know you. Think I’m goin’ up and let you in my car. Dis New York City,” she murmured, walking away.

“Please,” he followed her to the passenger side.

“Boy, I will mace yo’ fool ass. Step away.”

The Light knight gasped, seeing the paintings on the passenger seat. “Otherland,” he whispered.

“What you say?”

“It’s Otherland,” he said more loudly.

“How you know that?”

“It’s her. I know it is. She has a necklace, a silver chain, a heart pendant with a blue stone in the center. She may not remember where she got it. I gave it to her, many years ago. Please, you must take me to her.” Being so close to finding her and seeing her again made him feel a type of agonizing human desperation.

“You an old boyfriend or somethin’?”

“I’m her Light knight,” he said without hesitation.

Cherise cracked up laughing. “You her Light knight. Now that somethin’ I ain’t never heard. You right. Lydia get a kick out o’ you. That girl ain’t had a man ever since I know her. Get in. You try anything, I’m packin’.”

“Packin’?”

“Yuh, I’ll shoot yo’ sorry ass.”

Five minutes later, they were parked in a small driveway beside a very small house that had definitely seen better days. The Light knight couldn’t believe his luck.
No, not luck. Thank you, High master.
Everything had to have been aligned perfectly for this moment to happen.

“Lydia’s … sensitive. You stay here. If she don’t wanna see you, then I’m goin’ respect that,” Cherise said.

“Thank you, Light soul,” he bowed his head slightly with respect.

She chuckled, “You an odd one. Fine, though, you sure that.”

Cherise opened the heavy hatchback, as usual un-WD-40ed and squeaky as all hell. “It’s me, Cherise. What got you goin’ now, callin’ me not even 6 in the a.m.? You keepin’ me from my sleep.”

Cherise found Lydia curled in a ball in a blanket at the very end of her bed, her eyes wide and frightened.

“What?”

“Look,” Lydia whispered, gesturing her head toward the other side of the bed where there was an orange towel.

“It’s a towel, girl, jus’ a towel.”

“Beneath it.”

Cherise lifted the towel, and stepped back, almost shrieking herself. Instead, she started laughing. “Girl, almost had me goin’ fo’ a moment. Now if that ain’t one of the creepiest things I ever saw.” She picked up the canvas and admired it. “I’d kill to have this kinda talent. What is it?”

“A fallen angel,” Lydia said, teeth chattering.

“I told you, you keep paintin’ if you let yo’self. Dis some dark stuff, though.”

“It doesn’t frighten you?” Lydia asked.

“Sure does, just like watchin’ those horror flics for entertainment. They’ll love it. You got this type of quality to yo’ paintings, make everythin’ look like it real, like it just
jump
out o’ the canvas at you,” Cherise turned it around. “Now that some scary shit.”

On the back, in dripping black, it read, ‘He’s Coming’. “Why you can’t jus’ name it Fallen Angel?” She turned it back around and looked into the red, threatening demonic-like eyes. “Never mind, it fitting. That’s what it sayin’. It sayin’, ‘He Comin’,’” Cherise said in a dark, serious voice before laughing again.

“Cherise, this isn’t funny. I haven’t been able to stop trembling in fear since I saw it. It’s trying to tell me something,” Lydia said.

“Yeah, it tellin’ you, you got a very vivid imagination, and the talent to paint it the way you see it. You should be happy. My talent is typin’ and talkin’ to people. That won’t ever make me rich in my lifetime.”

“I feel like I’m – I can’t explain it. Like I’m … cursed,” Lydia cried.

“Every great talent a curse, ‘specially when you an artist. Look at Poe. Crazy as a lune, he was, but brilliant.”

“Now you’re calling me crazy?!” Lydia shouted in exasperation.

“Well you ain’t normal, that fo’ sure. Speaking of not-normal, I brought someone here that I almost ran over with my car. He say he know you from the past. It was weird. He looked at this paintin’ and instantly called it ‘Otherland’, what you called it, but there ain’t know way he could’ve known that. Get this, he callin’ himself yo’ Light knight. Ain’t that somethin’?”

“Does it look like I can take on a visitor, right now, Cherise? Look at me!”

“Says he gave you that necklace ‘round yo’ neck. Described it and everythin’. He may be able to fill in some o’ the blanks to yo’ past. I think you should meet him. He fine-looking.”

Lydia placed her hand around her necklace, “He knew about the necklace?”

“Uh-huh. Go get yo’self cleaned up. I’ll make you some of yo’ coffee you always think you need. Probably be less anxious without it, though, you ask me.”

“That’s why I don’t ask you, Cherise,” Lydia said, making her way to the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, Cherise stood outside the door, beckoning to him. “She a little worked up cuz of the latest painting she made, so don’t overwhelm her. Like I said befo’, she sensitive. She like a scared cat, and the smallest things get her goin’.”

The Light knight looked down, his shoulders drooping, “There are unfortunate reasons for her being that way. Her past was pretty wretched.”

“Don’t take a rocket scientist or a Light knight to know that. She a walkin’ canvas of tragedy, that girl. She my girl, though. You hurt her, you deal with me, got that?”

“Got it,” he chuckled.

His heart picked up and his human body began sweating in nerves. Moments away from seeing her again, he went through the door, and walked up the stairs.

“Here, let me,” he said, moving in front of Cherise and opening the hatchback for her.

“Fine, and a gentleman. You definitely not from ‘round here,” Cherise commented.

Lydia stood in the doorway of the kitchen, her hands clasped in front of her. She wore a simple white v-neck blouse, and black pants. Her hair was brushed and placed around her shoulders, and she’d added a very touch of makeup to attempt to cover the bags beneath her eyes. Was she ready? Was she ready to confront this person that may be able to tell her who she was in the past?

He stood, probably 6’2”, wearing a white t-shirt himself, and beige khakis that had ripped at his bleeding knees. He looked at her with beautiful blue-emerald eyes, was all she could think, not the green eyes of the picture of the boy. His face seemed carved of stone itself, muscled and angled. A slow grin formed on his lips, revealing a dimple on his right cheek.

The way he was looking at her was that of a person seeing another person that they’d known and hadn’t seen in a long time, almost as though he was barely containing himself from running toward her and embracing her.

Her eyes dropped in disappointment. “I’ve never seen him before, not a day in my life. I’m sorry,” she said. “Please leave.”

“Girl, you ain’t even goin’ give him a chance to speak? You don’t even remember who
you
is. It make sense you won’t remember anyone else.”

“Aliyah,” he said at her turned back while she was walking away into the kitchen.

She turned back to him suddenly. “What did you just call me?”

“It’s you. I can … feel it. I called you Aliyah. I fear your not being able to remember anything is my fault, but now it’s time. You must remember everything.”

Lydia stood there, indecisive for a moment, then began moving quickly. “You’re hurt. Sit down. I’ll get the first aid kit. Cherise, get him something to drink.”

“There’s my girl,” Cherise hooted. “You like coffee? I’m ain’t a fan of it, but Lydia drink it like candy.”

Instantly, his body’s glands began salivating. Ah, the temptations in this world. “Please, I would love a cup of coffee. That is something I have not had in ages.”

He stared at her beautiful honey-blonde hair as she cut his pants into shorts above his knees, and cleaned and bandaged the scrapes. He bent down slightly and sniffed it, a smile playing on his features.

“Boy, don’t think I ain’t see that,” Cherise said. “Eyes like a hawk, and I’m keepin’ my eyes on you ‘round my girl.”

The Light knight chuckled lightly, though he was saddened to see that Lydia had not moved forward in happiness, as he had wanted of her, seeming even more alone and broken and beaten than ever before.

He had hoped she would have found love with another, someone who could stay with her and protect her always. More and more was he recognizing that his good intentions had only caused more harm to her. He hoped she’d be able to forgive him. He hoped he’d be able to forgive himself, which wasn’t something he’d be able to do if anything bad happened to her.

There had only been one other time he’d seen her in the human world. It was the day he had carried her to the outer doors of the hospital and left her there without any memories of her prior life.

Some thing in this world that had been intent on his destruction had wound up hurting her in the process. He hadn’t been back to the human world since … until now. He sipped the coffee, allowing the bitter, the sweet, the creamy, to swirl in his mouth and delight his taste buds. Simply heaven.

“There, you’ll live,” Lydia stood, then left the room. She returned with the canvas and placed it before him. “This is the only reason I didn’t kick you out.”

He stared at the words, ‘He’s Coming’, then looked where she’d placed her finger. A small signature. Aliyah. He turned the canvas around. “One of the fallen angels,” he commented. “Show me the other paintings.”