Tales of Olsen

13

The apartment was transformed when we arrived home the next day which surprised us. We had only been gone three hours; two for the class and Jordan had insisted we stop to get take-out so that we didn’t starve. The living room looked like Alexander’s office and he had spread papers all over the walls.

“What’s this?” I asked realizing that these were some of the documents we had found.

“You two found these?” he asked

“Yeah,” I replied

“You’re braver than you give yourself credit,” he said

I shrugged not sure what to say to that. Jordan was in the kitchen getting the food ready.

“There’s a trend here,” Alexander said, “I can’t fault you for not noticing.”

“What trend?” I asked

“Well, they’ve been searching for you since your soul last emerged which was over four hundred years ago by Earth’s standard.

“Wait, what?” Jordan asked, “you’re so old,”

I ignored her

“So, they knew I’d show up now?” I asked

“That’s the trend.” He replied, “They’re monitoring others as well because they think there are humans who exist today who descend from people like us.”

“Oh,” I replied, “why’s that important?”

“I think he might have been studying them to see if their reincarnation was known to them.” He replied

“You haven’t told us exactly how this curse works,” Jordan said

“My bad,” he replied hastily, “we were cursed to die,”

“What?” I asked

“In Olsen, we don’t die or, we never had before a few decades ago,” he replied, “it’s happening because the barrier between your reality and mine is slowly being eroded, soon we will become humans.”

“What’s so wrong with that?” I asked

“We’ll become mortals,” he replied, “we’ll die.”

“Oh,” Jordan replied

“And your brother is trying to stop that?” I asked

“Yeah,” he replied

“Well isn’t that a good thing?” Jordan asked

“Immortality is the curse of never dying.” He said, “many people tend to mistake it for eternal happiness.”

I stopped for a moment and thought that through,

“Even so, he’s willing to sacrifice all humanity to keep his immortality.”

“What does that even mean?” Jordan asked

“He wants to seal the earth to the realm of Olsen and make human beings immortal so that their bodies will be available for us to occupy,” Alexander replied

I sucked in a breath.

“That’s what they meant about possession,” I said,

Alexander nodded

“Aren’t you like them?” Jordan asked, “wouldn’t this be good for you?”

“Eternal life is nothing without the one you love,” he said, “she would never agree with that and losing her because of this would be a million times worse than an eternity alone.”

Alexander turned to look at me and somehow at that moment, I knew exactly what he meant.

“Umm, “Jordan said bringing us back to earth, “if you stop him, what does that mean for you?”

“It means I become mortal, all of us do.” He replied, “and we live until we die unless we find another way to end the curse.”

“Sounds like a downgrade,” Jordan said with a shrug

“Sounds like someone who has never lived over a hundred years.” He said with a smile, “regardless, humans will lose their free will and they will no longer have control over themselves.”

“You said you could teach me how to stop the millions of voices in my head?” I asked

“I have to unlock you.” He said looking at me with compassion

“What does that mean,” I asked

Jordan walked out of the room and went for the medallion. When she brought it out, it began to glow, and it fell from her hand.

“It burnt me.” She said assessing her hand.

“You’re too weak to hold it,” Alexander said reaching down and picking the medallion up.

“This is your life force.” He said, “it’s the last existing one. After you leave this body, you’ll be back with your parents in Ethel.”

“And when I unlock the medallion?” I asked ignoring what he was saying about leaving this body. I had a basic knowledge of what he meant and that was all I needed for now.

“You will have full access to your powers and to your original self.” He said, “instead of the millions of you that exists.”

“What powers does she have?” Jordan asked

“She’s limited in this body,” Alexander replied, “but she should be able to slow time, heal wounds, control the elements and from our last encounter, control emotions.”

I looked up at him and I could tell that the last one had been painful for him.

“Is there something that happened between you and her the last time you two met?” Jordan asked

I turned and flashed her a quieting glance, but she ignored me and grinned.

“What, I had to ask?” she said, “you two seem to be very uncomfortable about something even though she has no idea who you are.”

I shrugged wondering why I felt this way about a man I didn’t even know.

“I think we should leave that in that past,” Alexander replied, “I need to unlock you.”

“What do I need to do?” I asked deciding to ignore that part of me that told me this was stupid and impossible.

“Lay down on the couch,” he said, “Jordan I’ll need towels nearby.”

“Why?” Jordan asked,

“The less you know now, the better.”

I didn’t want to lay down and let him perform any sort of unlocking on me but I didn’t know what else to do and so I walked over to the couch and lay down. I wanted to say something, but my mouth felt as if it had been sealed shut. Alexander rested the medallion on my chest and already my body began to burn where he rested it. I felt heat beginning to trickle through my body. Pools of sweat began pouring off me and I felt as if I had been immersed into icy hot water.

“Is she okay?” I could hear Jordan asking from a far distance.

Alexander didn’t respond but I could feel his hand gently caressing my hair as I drifted off. Suddenly, I was no longer in the room, I looked around; I was no-where.

“Eloise of Ethel” came a caressing voice that seemed to surround me.

I turned around trying to identify the source but then realized that there was no-one there. It sounded more like the heavenly whispers of angels.

“I think that’s me,” I whispered

“No-child, that’s me.” The voice commented

I could tell that this person was having a bit of fun with me and I didn’t appreciate it.

“So, you’re the real me?” I asked

“Imagine that I transcend space and time,” the voice said, “so I am you, and I am not you. Do you understand what I’m saying, Eloise?”

“Yes,” I replied, “we’re one.”

“Not yet,” the voice said, “but we’re becoming one right now.”

I felt a flood of insecurity wash over me. I wanted to figure everything out but the only thing that came to my mind was Alexander.

“Who is he?” I asked

“He’s the only man we’ve ever loved” the person answered, “the kindest man in the universe and he’s in pain because of us.”

“What do you mean?” I asked

“It’s not for you to know,” she continued, “what you need to know is that you have to trust you. You were born for this.”

I didn’t even know what to make of that, but I didn’t say anything.

“What will become of me?” I asked

“You do know I won’t tell you anything about the future, right?”

“Then why am I here?” I asked, “why me! Why not someone else.”

I was silent for a while and once again I became frustrated. Leave it to me to leave myself in the dark.

“One day when this is all over you will realize that you are more than just your present self. You’ve just existed in different shapes and forms. Until you get that, you won’t understand any of this.”

I shrugged trying to ignore the anger that was building up inside me.

“And what if I let the world down?” I asked

“Look around you, Eloise,”

I looked around, there were tiny stars all around, but they seemed to be afar off.

“What?” I asked

“Earth is merely a speck in the whole scheme of things. If this fails, you make it back to here and live happily.”

Looking around I tried to figure out where here was.

“So, you won’t tell me what happens?” I asked

“Darling, what happens will never change. You must choose to do what you want to do above all else and accept the consequences thereof. Otherwise, you would have wasted whatever frail humanity you have left.”

Suddenly my body became cold all over and I began blacking out. I reached out to grip something but there was nothing, only nothingness.

“Eloise,” a voice breathed from the distance.

I struggled against it but it wasn’t long before I opened my eyes to see Alex staring down at me. He looked as worried as I had ever seen him which was unusual for his cool demeanor.

“What happened?” I asked

“You’ve been unlocked,” he said, “and now all hell is about to break loose.”