Portals (25 page)

As I spoke, the two men looked at each other and then into the glass. Even though I knew they would normally only see their own reflections, I had the uncanny feeling they could hear and see me. Both zeroed in on me through the glass, and I felt a chill shiver down my spine. I backed away without thinking. Thulu took my hand and held it firmly.

Lassiter caught their stare and my reaction.

“They know you’re here.” His voice was soft and almost strangled. “Let’s get you out of here.”

That was fine by me. We left the room quickly. Lassiter stopped for only a few words with the others before following us down the hallway to the elevator. We didn’t speak until we were completely out of the building.

Of course, my phone sang immediately. Jones’s voice sounded concerned, and I quickly filled him in. He asked to speak to Lassiter, and I passed the phone to him. Lassiter replied in one to two word answers, so it was difficult to know what Jones wanted, but Lassiter’s skin paled as he listened. Handing me back my phone, he looked at Thulu and me.

“Your friend Jones said for you to go straight home. He’ll meet you there. I’ll be along soon, as well.” He looked at us intently. “Straight home.”

“We need to pick Carter up from our cousin, Ally,” I said.

Lassiter shook his head. “He’s better with her for now, I think. Just go home. Jones said you are protected there, as you are nowhere else.”

“Which is exactly why Carter needs to be there, too.”

Lassiter started to say something, but changed his mind. “Make it fast then.”

Thulu and I were already moving toward the parking garage. I didn’t like being in the dark and called Jones back.

 “What did you tell Lassiter, Jones?”

“I will explain when you get to your house.”

“What about Carter? He’s with Ally at their clinic.”

“Their clinic is protected, as is their home. I will send someone to watch over them, so they will be okay.” Jones’s voice was firm. “Go home.”

“Okay, we’re on our way.” As soon as we opened the doors to the car, a small voice chirped from the back seat. I looked and saw Aela, flanked by two of her warriors, arrows nocked in bows and at the ready.

“Will someone please tell us what’s going on?” I asked testily as I climbed in. Thulu was getting in the other side and started the car. He expertly maneuvered the SUV out of the garage and toward home.

“Just wait, La Fi. We want all of you together so we can go over this only once.”

“All of who?”

“You two, Reo, Sloane, your friend Lassiter.”

I sighed, knowing that Aela wouldn’t say a word. I looked around at the traffic which wasn’t too bad, yet. Thulu drove carefully while the fairies peeked out dark-tinted windows. I began to look around, not knowing what I was looking for, but looking anyway.

I hit the garage door opener and Thulu pulled in smoothly. We locked up the car, as the garage door rattled back down. We made our way across the backyard and onto the back porch, flanked by the fairies.

I didn’t see anyone. Thulu was unlocking the back door when it opened and Reo stood frowning at us.

“I’ll be back later,” said Aela, as she and her warriors popped out.

“Do you know what’s going on?” Reo asked.

“No. All we know is Jones said to get home,” Thulu said, as he locked the back porch door before following me into the house and locking the kitchen door behind him.

“Is he here, yet?” I asked Reo.

He shook his head. “Sloane and I ported in only a few minutes ago. We did a check through the house, but everything was locked up tight. I turned the alarm off when I heard you guys.”

I smiled my thanks and headed for the refrigerator and got a Coke, while Thulu did his own brand of magic with the coffee maker. In spite of being on edge, I pulled out cheese and crackers to serve. Reo helped himself to a Coke and got one for Sloane. He poured a glass of ice water for Jones and set it on the tray.

Sloane called out from the family room that a portal was forming. Thulu picked up the tray, and we all trooped out of the kitchen and down the hall just as Jones stepped from the portal.

Settling in to our usual spots, we all looked at Jones expectantly as I handed him the glass of water, ice tinkling merrily, which I thought was rather stupid of it. The ice, that is. It certainly didn’t feel like a merry occasion.

Jones nodded at me and took a sip of water before speaking. “Your friend Lassiter is going to join us.”

“Yeah, Jones, what’s up with that anyway?” I asked.

“We need someone who will keep us informed about the two in jail and Lassiter will make it much easier than my having to break in someone new.”

“You do realize he has no idea who you are, right?” Thulu added.

“I assumed so, yes.”

I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth, but the knock at the front door sounded before I got a word out. Thulu went to answer it and Lassiter came into the room, while Thulu went off to the kitchen.

I introduced Lassiter to Jones, and he found a spot to sit. Thulu soon returned carrying another tray with the coffeepot, several mugs, cream and sugar.

Once everyone had helped themselves, we again looked toward Jones, who turned to me.

“La Fi, what did you see during the lineup. Please be as detailed as possible.”

“That’s the thing, Jones. It isn’t like when I see others who shift or -” I’d started to say possess someone, but decided to skip that part. “-or whatever they do. Usually, I get like a double exposure. With these guys, I didn’t get that, but I still knew they weren’t human.” I paused trying to recapture the feeling I’d had earlier. “I’m not sure what they are, though I suspect they are the mutated daemons.”

Again I stopped myself. I’d started to say they were the same as the entity that had taken Daria. Or at least the one I’d seen through Jones, but I wasn’t ready to talk about that yet either.

Jones watched me carefully. He stood up and moved toward me holding out his hands. “May I?”

I looked around at the others who were watching intently and no help at all. I nodded uneasily. I stood up and moved from behind the coffee table to place my hands in Jones’s.

“Please picture what you saw in the lineup,” Jones directed.

I closed my eyes and did as he asked; I brought up the scene as clearly as I could. After a few moments, Jones released my hands and returned to his seat as I sat back down on the sofa between Thulu and Lassiter, feeling very silly about that little piece of drama.

“As I suspected. They are of the same race as those I felt when I saw Daria for the first time.” Jones’s forehead creased in thought.

“Mutated daemons?” asked Thulu.

“I am afraid so.” Jones nodded. “This ties in with what we think is happening, but we are not sure if the mutated daemons are the cause of the portal openings, or simply taking advantage of a situation.” He looked around as if gauging us in some way.

“Please understand, they are not happy being exiled. Of that I am sure. They were in a prison that was meant to keep them forever. The fact they have survived at all is unexpected. Now they are coming to Earth through portals. And they are able to possess humans or to impersonate them. While they do not represent the threat to Earth that the Light Ones did, they are a violent people, and we would prefer to prevent their setting up shop here.”

“Are they trying to go back to their original world?” I asked carefully.

Jones shook his head. “That will not be possible, but it is something we have explored. Extra guards have been posted to both sides of Earth’s portal to Phaete. So far, no one has even shown up at the portal. It is too heavily guarded on both sides. Also, since they would be coming to Earth from another world, it is assumed that they would have no idea where to find the portal from this side. We can be thankful that your planet is so unpopular with my people.”

“How long ago did you send them to that other world?” Thulu asked. “How long are their lifespans? And would those who were originally sent through still be alive today or are these their descendants?”

Jones looked at Thulu and smiled, slightly. “It would have been about four thousand years ago.”

Lassiter’s head came up, and his gaze zeroed in on Jones, whose smile broadened.

I was shocked Jones was so blatant about his age in front of Lassiter. In fact, I got the distinct impression he had done it deliberately, and I wondered why. I raised an eyebrow at him questioningly, but he simply smiled.

For his part, Lassiter was no fool, and I could see him thinking about the things Jones had said, absorbing information like the proverbial sponge.

Jones went on, “Lifespans? There is no reason to think theirs would be any different from ours. Their mutation happened very quickly over a five year period. We had been rebuilding our numbers after the invasion of the Light Ones and it was slow going. There was one large group in particular who wanted to increase the number of children we produced. They enacted a spell to do just that and it resulted in the mutation. Not only the offspring were affected, but they themselves were changed. And it had worked. They were having multiple births, very frequently during that span. The children aged at a very fast rate, as well.

“It was about two years before those who participated in the spell began to show the violent effects that led to their banishment. They changed physically, as well as mentally, and the most extreme cases became little more than animals, incapable of recognizing their own families.

“By the time we banished them, there were thousands who had participated or been born. More than enough to create a viable society, assuming they did not kill each other off. So, to answer your question, Thulu, our best guess is that these are both descendants as well as those originally banished.”

Lassiter looked at Jones. “Okay, you’re obviously not human. So exactly what are you? Who is this ‘we’ and ‘ours’ you keep referring to?”

Jones quirked a perfect dark eyebrow at Lassiter. “We are called Dark Ones, referring to our dark skin color, or more commonly ‘daemons.’  He pronounced the word to rhyme with “day.” “That would be the name the ancient Greeks gave us.”

Jones continued, “As much as I would delight in bringing you up to speed, that must wait for another time, unfortunately.”

Lassiter took a moment, but nodded his understanding.

Jones continued, “I have spoken to Belus and Aurelia and to several of the goblin master chroniclers. It appears that we were wrong about Gabriel opening the portals, just as La Fi hypothesized.” Jones actually beamed at me. It was tough not to feel a tiny bit pleased at getting some validation.

 “The experts have been studying this ever since the portals opened last month. The most popular theory, which has by no means been proven, mind you, is that the spontaneous portals have been opening and closing for some time. Even though you have many people on Earth, there is much of your world that is unoccupied. Of course, now we have the exiled daemons as another possibility.” Jones shrugged elaborately.

“Why are they opening?” asked Thulu.

Jones shook his head.

“There are many theories and much discussion going on about this as we speak. Again, experts from several worlds are working on the problem. Because, make no mistake, it is a problem. Your species is simply too young and too unpredictable to be able to deal with this on your own.”

He paused and we all watched Jones carefully.

 “Let me go back a moment. During the search for the relics, the Light Ones began using their portal whenever they could. They fanned out all over the world, and I think it is possible they used other portals to get around. Certainly Gabriel did. This, in turn, has triggered even more portals, especially the more obvious ones, such as the ones in your cities. Their portal use weakened the fabric between the worlds and allowed these other portals to form spontaneously.”

“Why the cities?” asked Reo.

“Because the Light Ones would have been looking for energy sources and the cities have bigger populations. However, I also believe that these portals have been opening for some time in unpopulated areas.” He paused again as he looked at each of us.

“If you remember, I thought that time had gotten away from me when the Light Ones’ portal began to open. I also discussed this with the experts off-world, and I now believe the Light Ones’ portal was not due to open for another twenty years or so, just as I had originally expected. I think the early opening was triggered by whatever is causing the other portals to open.”