WILDly (23 page)

It didn’t sound
like that big a deal, but it wasn’t very nice to be told that I was
of the lowest social order! Alex was out of my league it seemed: it
was like having a high school crush on someone way above your
grade. But it didn’t bother me that much – I had just found my
biggest crush ever. No, I smiled to myself, it wasn’t my biggest
crush
; the biggest
love
of my life, yes.

“But why?” I
asked. Surely celestials and ambassadors were intelligent enough to
respect all living beings equally? I was disappointed with the
silly social bustle; I’d expected more of them.

“Believe it or
not, but it’s actually to protect the lower orders - you know, from
energy surges. We may exploit the distance advantage of your link
should it ever be necessary.”

I frowned at
Alex.

“Imagine it
like this: the distance from Earth to the celestial body is like
the size of a vehicle, say a small car. The energy of the celestial
body is the size of the engine. A white star has an engine of a
jet, a planet of a car, a moon maybe of a scooter.

Now say for
instance a white star causes a far away moon to surge during an
energy transfer, it would be like putting a jet engine into a
Mini-Cooper. We need to always protect the lower orders and the
social orders were born out of this.”

There was a
long pause while Alex stared at me.

“Valerie
Stanton, I’ll have you know that I’m very much in love with you and
have been for a long time. So think about this, think again, and
make sure of your feelings. Because if you agree to this, then I am
here to stay. Do you still feel the same way?”

My beaming
smile was a dead give-away. Alex pulled me closer to him, both his
hands pressing firmly against my back. He bent over and kissed my
forehead softly. I closed my eyes, concentrated on nothing but him.
He moved down and briefly kissed the tip of my nose.

Then he kissed
my lips, hard and passionately.

Right there in
space, at our own Lagrange point, the entire universe was smiling
on us. It felt safe knowing that they weren’t watching, that time
stood still only for us.

Alex kissed me
like I had never been kissed.

“We can’t stay
too long,” he interrupted suddenly, “this is really draining on me.
It takes a tremendous amount of energy to keep time still. I can’t
hold it any longer.”

“We’ll have to
practise more,” I joked, flushed from the kiss.

“I love you
Valerie. I’m so happy to have found you,” he said, his hand against
my jaw line, his lips in my hair.

“Me too, Alex.
I love you too,” I smiled from ear to ear.

“Brace for
impact, we’re going to fall now,” he warned.

I glanced at
the stars again and it was an image that would stay with me
forever. The sensation of falling came over me as suddenly as a
thief in the night. Nothing more spectacular happened than a bright
flash, a blur of everything around, and then we were back on Earth
and falling.

It all happened
so fast: we were in space one moment and maybe a split-second later
we’d fallen. I felt as disorientated as before and stayed put on
the ground, hands and knees burning from scraped skin.

Alex was
quicker than me and helped me to sit up next to him, facing the
sunrise. The strange events of a moment ago, travelling on a beam
of light with Alex, made the first rays of the sun seem magical as
it peeked over the mountains. It also made everything around seem
magical, as if everything was holding its breath waiting for the
sun to rise. In this light, Alex was even more magical than before;
the pedestal he was on in my mind towering high above the
clouds.

***

Chapter 19 -
Enlightened

“Sorry ‘bout
this,” he sincerely apologised as he pulled up each leg of my pants
to take a look at my injuries. He softly kissed the wounds one by
one, starting with my left knee. My skin tingled all over; then he
moved to my right knee, my right elbow and palms and the hairs in
my neck stood up. Finally he kissed my mouth, softly, as he had
done with all the wounds.

His right elbow
had been skinned too, but he downplayed it. I didn’t want to offend
his male ego, so I left it there.

I was still in
disbelief about Alex. Every single touch was a reminder that I
wasn’t imagining things; that he was really there, with me, kissing
me. He pulled my head under his chin and held me to him as we sat
on the hard ground next to the road. I loved him being so close to
me.

“It’s fine. You
can run me over any time if you promise to kiss all the places
better,” I whispered to him, still very shy.

“Let me fix
this,” he said, pushing me slightly away from him. He looked guilty
as he noticed blood seeping through the skin on my knees again.

The old truck
was almost next to us and we both turned away from it. It crawled
past us, but I didn’t mind, Alex was with me. He waited for it to
pass before he got up and pulled me up as well.

“Stick out your
palms,” he ordered.

“I still don’t
know how to do this, you know? What if I have to heal you someday?
Shouldn’t you teach me how to do this?” I asked as he stuck out his
palms to face mine.

He stopped what
he was about to do and stared absent-mindedly in my direction for a
moment or two before answering me.

“It’s actually
a very personal thing, transferring energy and sharing a link. They
say it’s almost like se... uh.... never mind. You get a glimpse
into the soul of the other person; it fills your mind. You need to
be emotionally ...uh...prepared for it.”

“It sounds
interesting... would you let me try?”

He ignored my
question. “I believe it’s to protect the healer, knowing the person
you heal. You weaken yourself healing another. Never do this if you
don’t trust the other person completely, okay?”

“Let me try,” I
asked again. I was very curious to see what he’d meant. And to get
a glimpse into Alex’s soul. After all, he’d healed me already, as
if the weather didn’t reveal enough about my emotions!

“Usually it
only works if both parties envision it, although it is possible to
force someone if they don’t resist. The most important rule is
never to touch, and to be as quick as possible. Touching divides
the power equally but also shares the links, like the jet engine
and the scooter. And unless you’re of equal power, it can be fatal.
So close your eyes and lock your hands - you’ll feel the magnetic
field and know when it’s in position. You ready?”

I smiled.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Valerie, don’t
let the feelings and emotions overwhelm you, just keep your focus
on the flow of energy,” he warned as he lifted his hands up to face
me.

I nodded. It
sounded simple.

“Here goes,” I
said, slightly uncomfortable. He made it all sound like a
significant event.

I lifted my
hands up in his direction. A strong, pulling sensation drew my
hands immediately into position, my palms facing Alex’s palms,
about two centimetres apart.

“That was
easy,” I announced, relieved.

“Now we have an
energy link between us, and the Sun with the Earth through us. This
is dangerous, Valerie, having an open link: a surge could kill us
both. Always get it over and done with as soon as possible,” he
warned seriously.

“I’ll try to be
quick,” I answered, staring into his eyes, eager and nervous for
what was coming.

“Close your
eyes and envision the flow of energy from the centre of the Earth
to you, through your hands, to me.”

“How will I
know when to stop, Alex?” I asked.

“You probably
won’t recognise it yet, it takes practice. It’s where your emotions
change from the other person’s to your own. I will tell you, so
listen carefully. You need to keep your focus, no matter what you
feel, okay? Listen for my call,” he urged.

I nodded again
and then closed my eyes. I pictured Earth in my mind and the flow
of energy from the centre through all the layers from liquid to
solid, right up to the surface below my feet. I imagined it flowing
into my feet from the surface and my legs and feet felt warm, blood
rushing in the skin of those areas, feeling as if it was alight. I
concentrated on the physical feeling, astounded by the sensation
and effect that my thoughts had on real life. As it moved up
through my body to my hands, my entire being felt alight.

“Keep focus,”
Alex urged again.

This time I
braced for the emotional jump, from mine to his. It wouldn’t be too
difficult to recognise the difference, I thought.

I imagined the
warm energy in my hands jumping over the distance into Alex’s
hands.

My heart missed
a beat, and I pulled in my breath as something opened up, like
bursting the membrane of a soap bubble. His emotions came flowing
in as the energy flowed out. My mood changed very slowly. The
nerves disappeared and I briefly turned cheerful before getting
slightly irritated. Somewhere deep below, something bothered me. It
didn’t feel exactly right. Not long after, irritation grew into
exasperation, and then into anger. I was overcome with rage, the
worst that I’d ever felt, completely overpowered by it. But it grew
on me, it became me, it overwhelmed me.

“Valerie!” I
heard Alex’s voice yelling at me. “Valerie!”

I didn’t want
to stop. I liked it, I wanted more. It was an addiction, this
feeling.

From what I
could hear, something was happening behind Alex. It made me even
more anxious to keep the link open and the hatred flowing in. I
pulled stronger and stronger, to draw energy from Earth and to keep
the link open. Alex was clearly fighting it; I could sense that he
wanted to break the link. In that moment, I knew I had it in me to
kill someone and I was in a blue funk about it, so much so that I
opened my eyes.

The eyes that
stared back weren’t baby blue in colour, but green.

“Benjamin!” I
exclaimed.

The sight of
Alex’s angry face next to Benjamin gave me the strength to break
the link. I simply lowered my hands and the link was broken. It was
easy to regain my focus, as he looked even more angry than when I’d
run away from him. He was glowing, but with an intense blue
shine.

Benjamin was
smiling back at me. “Hello, Valerie.”

“What are you
doing? Did you take over the link?” I asked, surprised to see him
where Alex had been when I closed my eyes. He was uncomfortably
close to me and I stepped back but lost my balance. Benjamin was
instantly behind me to steady me and to support my weight.

“Wow, that was
exhausting!” I exclaimed, dizzy with the rapid jump in mood. The
only residual feeling inside me was a slight level of irritation,
but it could have been because Benjamin’s hands were still holding
me. At least I was me again, and I was very relieved about
that.

“I’m
interrupting,” he declared, self-satisfied.

“I can see
that, Benjamin. Why did you do that?” I asked.

I couldn’t
understand why Alex stood motionlessly and wordlessly, staring at
me and Benjamin.

Benjamin let go
of me, suddenly and stepped over to take a stance next to Alex.

“Alex probably
didn’t tell you this: once you have healed someone, you are
bound
to that person in more than one way. For one, it
amplifies any feelings that you had towards that person,” Benjamin
explained looking a little uncertain. He fidgeted with his hands
before continuing. “Yes, I have healed Alex more than once in my
life and we are the best friends ever. But, Valerie, I cannot bury
my feelings for you. And to be honest, I couldn’t allow Alex to
have that strong an advantage over me before you knew how I felt as
well.”

We were good
friends and I loved his company. Benjamin was like my older
brother. And this would probably ruin things forever. Friendship
didn’t exist between a man and a woman - that was clear as daylight
to me.

I was sad to do
it, but I didn’t have the heart to hear him stutter through a
declaration of love just to be turned down afterwards.

“Oh,
Benjamin....” I started, but he held up his hand.

“You may or may
not feel the same, but I have a proposal, so hear me out?” he
begged.

He took my
silent stare as an affirmative.

“I’m one of the
nearest Reds, and like all the stars in the sky, I’ve been watching
Earth. I’ll admit that I love Earth, I love the idea of you, the
power you have. But apart from all that, I love
you
,
Valerie. And somewhere, while being tasked to guard and protect
you, I fell in love.”

“Benjamin!” I
reprimanded.

“Right, I had
to get it off my chest, it was probably the best shot that I’d ever
had. My proposal might sound violent to you, but I believe it’s the
best way to solve this in a fair way. Surely you are a fair person,
aren’t you, Valerie?” he begged again.

I nodded,
realising he was manipulating me.

“So promise me
this one thing, Valerie? Promise me this one time, and keep it
Valerie?” he demanded.

I had no
choice. Alex violently shook his head, but I had no choice. It was
Benjamin, dear and caring Benjamin. It couldn’t be that bad, could
it? My heart felt so sad for him, that I wanted to give his this
one wish, if it would make him feel a little better.

I nodded
again.

“We will fight
for you. And you can heal us both, but whoever your heart tells you
to, first.”

“NO! No, no,
no, no!” I yelled. “There is absolutely no way! Forget it,
Benjamin,” I was really upset.

Benjamin waited
for me to calm down.

“You
promised?”

“You tricked
me!”

“You
promised!”

“I’ve had
enough. I’m going home,” I turned on the spot and started to walk
away to the car. We weren’t in the eighteen-hundreds, for goodness’
sake! I couldn’t believe his silly proposal, fighting like
four-year-olds over a
toy
. And worst of all,
I
was
that toy!