Soulmates (13 page)

“Date around? Why would I want to date around when I knew she was what I wanted? There was never a reason for me to date around. When I met her, that was it, I was crazy in love with her."

“I hate to change the subject, but I’m confused
—
do you still love Emily?”

“I will love her forever. I told her that I would, and I meant it,” he said.

“So, if you love Emily, then why do you seem so infatuated with me?” she asked.

“You’re different, but you remind me of her a little,” he said.

“Really? So, you like me because I remind you of Emily? Okay, Jesse, let me give you a little advice,” she scolded. “First of all, when you like a girl it’s not cool to tell her about the long lost love of your life. And second of all, it’s never okay to tell a girl, who you’re interested in, that you like her because she reminds you of your old fiancé!" Presley tried to walk faster than Jesse.

“Hey wait, I didn’t mean you remind me of her. I just haven’t felt this way about a girl since her. I mean,
you
asked
me
about her.”

“Yes, I did, but now I’m wishing that I hadn’t,” she replied angrily.

As Presley kept walking she thought to herself,
“What is he thinking? I cannot believe he just went through the whole entire story of their engagement. What an insensitive jerk. Why do I care anyway? Typical guy. I’m going home anyway
."

She stopped walking, intending to have another fit, but before she could get another word out she felt something hit her arm. Stunned, she looked down and saw something slither in the grass. Right beside her foot she saw a grey head push up through the ground. The rest of the body followed. Then she glanced up and saw a snake hanging from the limb of a tree above her. She screamed as several snakes began falling from the trees. Once they hit the ground they began to multiply. They slithered violently towards them, their almond shape eyes growing wider. Jesse quickly caught up with her.

“GO! GO! GO!” he yelled pushing her down the path away from the snakes. They ran dodging the snakes that were falling from the branches. Jesse stopped long enough to pull out the crystals from the bag. He handed one to Presley and the crystals lit up, morphing the snakes into their true state
—
demons. They were the same evil spirits that they had encountered before, only many more. Fiend was nowhere in sight. They were all panting like a pack of wolves, gasping as if they were unable to catch their breath. They were powder white with evil red narrow eyes. The ring leader of the group had dark reddish brown hair that hung in a straggly way framing his frightful narrow face and hiding his dark horns. His arms and legs were deformed and he moved with spastic motions.

“We come with a message,” he said, as he slowly limped closer to Jesse. “We have your friend but, we are willing to trade her for… you.” His tongue periodically dropped out of the side of his mouth as he spoke.

“Trade her for me?” Jesse asked as his voice cracked mid-sentence.

“Yes,” the demon answered. “Follow us and we will lead you to her.”

“No, don’t go,” Presley pleaded. “Remember, it’s a trap.”

“Don’t listen to her. Come with us!” the demon shouted.

As Presley turned around to run from the demons, she tripped over a blunt object protruding from the ground.

“Jesse! It’s a bone,” she said as she brushed off the dirt. Oh, Jesse, look, it’s a skeleton of a wing!”

Bones covered the ground. Jesse quickly examined their surroundings. He saw bones barely buried under the ground, scattered, far as his eyes could see. The demons deep harsh laugh turned into a high pitched shrilling scream as they vanished into the sky.

Presley started sobbing uncontrollably, “We have to get out of here! What is this place? I want to go home, Jesse! I want to go home, now!” she cried. “Jesse, I can’t go any further. This is all too much. What are we going to do?"

She started running then tripped on another bone and fell down, again.

“Come on, Presley. Get up. Don’t you see, this is what they want? They want us to give up. They want us to give in,” he said.

“Why? What do they want? If they could kill us, then why don’t they? They’ve had ample opportunities to kill us, and they haven’t. This is more than a game to them. It’s more than just the chase that they are after,” she said angrily.

Jesse sat beside her and brushed Presley’s hair from her face. “I had always heard about demons and evil growing up, but nothing could have prepared me for this. I want you to go home, too. I want you to be safe. I will get you home,” he promised. Presley looked up at Jesse. He embraced her and then said, “Come on, girl, we are so close to finding Manna. I can feel it.” As they rose off the ground, Presley brushed the dirt off of her jeans.

≈≈≈≈≈

After walking a few miles further they came to a clearing. Jesse was puzzled as he looked intently around the area. “I don’t understand. There should be a tunnel,” he said, taking The Book of Codes out of the bag. He opened it and turned to the end of the book. “See,” he pointed at the page. “Here! The tunnel should be right around here."

They split up for a short while until Presley shouted to him, “Jesse over here, I think I found something.” Jesse hurried over to her and began vigorously pulling deeply rooted vines away from the covered entrance. Presley unmasked the hidden opening. Jesse yanked the last large vine away unveiling the entrance. They shielded their eyes from a radiant light. Eventually their eyes adjusted to the brightness.

“Look how it glows!” she exclaimed. “Have you ever seen this color before?

“No, it’s like blue or an emerald green, maybe
—
I don’t know. It’s so bright. I can’t tell.”

As they entered, it was apparent from the worn rock floor that the tunnel had been used in the past. Presley pressed her hand through the weeds and against the emerald walls as she tried to imagine who had constructed such a formation.

“This is amazing, Jesse,” she said.

“I’m speechless,” he confessed.

“Did Manna build this?” she asked.

“I don’t know. This whole place is lifeless. I mean, except for plants and a few animals, we haven’t seen one living creature that would be capable of building this. I think that they are all dead."

“Obviously there was once an intelligent entity that lived here. And now nobody. Only bones. What could’ve happened?” she asked.

“Maybe they were wiped out. They’re gone now,” he answered.

“Yeah, maybe Fiend killed them. And, if so, would that include Manna?” Jesse suddenly stopped walking and his eyes grew large.

Presley looked beyond Jesse and, in utter amazement, saw the most brilliant, luminous castle. She was astonished by the gleaming structure. It shined as if it were created out of diamonds. Invitingly, a long, smooth, majestic white pearl passageway lined with large soft blue weeping willows, led the way to the castle. The landscape was perfectly manicured with beautiful gardens surrounding the castle. Winged white horses roamed freely on the lush lawn. Amazed at the sight before them they inched closer to the castle. Jesse noticed that the embrasures were all vacant. A moat surrounded the entire structure. They slowly walked across the drawbridge, which was the only way to enter the castle. As they passed they noticed the moat was completely dried up.

“Presley, don’t be shocked if we don’t find anyone here. Something dreadful must have happened to the beings that lived here. There isn’t a soul around. All of the homes have been destroyed. This place is completely desolate of intelligent life,” he concluded.

“Well, we haven’t even reached the door yet, Jesse. Don’t get all pessimistic on me now,” she encouraged.

“Yeah, I know, but look. Shouldn’t there be guards up there?” he asked pointing to the tower. “And what about the guards at the door? I don’t see anyone,” he added.

They continued to the massive doorway. Jesse pulled up the heavy knocker, but before he could push it back down, the door began to creep open. They both took a few steps backwards, unsure of what they would find on the other side of the door.

An abnormally tall human-like creature stood in front of them. He had many wrinkles on his face and thin pale lips. His white hair hung down below his waist and his hands were twice as large as an average man. His eyes were kind and much wider than a human’s. Presley couldn’t believe it. Standing in front of her was a member of an unknown species, an alien to her, which also made her an alien to him. But he didn’t seem much like an alien. Not like the stereotypical alien that she had always imagined anyway. He didn’t have the awkward grey appearance. No, this alien looked much like a human apart from being taller and a few other notable distinctions.

He held out his large hand, “I’m Samson,” he said in a low voice. Jesse shook his hand. “You are Jesse and you are Presley. We have been waiting for you for some time. Please come in."

He graciously opened the door further, allowing Presley and Jesse to enter the castle together. Jesse took Presley’s hand and gently squeezed it indicating the bizarreness of the situation. Presley returned the gesture. The inside of the castle was dark and mysterious.

“I’m aware that you are here to see Manna,” Samson said softly, “Come with me." They followed Samson through the huge foyer and down a dark candlelit corridor that led to a massive room with a long table full of food. There were several platters of meat, bread, rolls, fruits, vegetables and a slew of deserts.

“As I said, we have been expecting you. Please eat, indulge yourselves." Presley and Jesse didn’t hesitate. They filled their plates and devoured each bite. Samson stood at the doorway, amused by their large consumption of food. After they were finished Samson asked, “Are you ready to meet Manna?”

“I’ve been ready for 168 years,” Jesse sighed.

Chapter Nine

Samson led them up a long and narrow passage. The stairs were beautifully illuminated with large candles burning in gold sconces on each side of the hall. Etched depictions of the winged horses decorated the walls. The stairs were cracked and aged, and each step they took echoed through the foyer. They continued down the hallway until they came to the third door on the right. Samson gently knocked then slowly opened the door. He entered the room first, as Jesse and Presley waited anxiously in the hallway. Presley glanced inside the room and heard Samson as he began to speak a foreign language to someone sitting behind a large weathered desk. Their conversation was brief, as Samson pivoted to leave the room, he gestured for them to enter. Timidly, Jesse poked his head inside the door.

“Please, come in,” the man said in a deep resonant voice.

A large, circular crystal lay on the desk balancing on a base. A compass floated in the air beside the desk. A large mirror stood in the middle of the room. Behind the desk was an adjacent room with countless tiny small lights and spherical balls, which were all spinning at different speeds, and moving in different directions. Although this should have appeared chaotic, it didn’t. The lights were magnificent and seemed to move with a purpose.

Manna noticed them observing the lights, “That is your galaxy
—
we have been studying it for many years,” his lips turned downward.

Like Samson, Manna’s hair was long and white. He, too, had thin lips. Presley noticed sadness in Manna’s eyes. He looked as if he had carried with him a great deal of pain and grief. His body was covered in a long, light blue robe held together with a white braided belt. His wide, icy blue eyes matched the robe precisely. He had many wrinkles, which made him appear quite old.

“Allow me to introduce myself,” said Jesse, holding out his trembling hand.

“I know who you are,” Manna took Jesse’s hand and held it as he talked. “I’ve been watching you, studying you. I’m glad that you are safe. I’ve been waiting for you to find us. I know that you come to me with many questions,” said Manna

“Questions?” Jesse said in a perplexed voice. “I don’t even know where to begin. Where do I start? Where are we? What is this Book of Codes? How do we get our friend, Paulette, back? Why are we here? How do we get back to our world? How did we get here? Who are you?”