Tales of Olsen

15

The next day when I went into the kitchen to get breakfast, I was greeted by an awkward silence that only I could feel.

“Hey!” Jordan said

“Hi,” I replied with as much enthusiasm as I could muster

She didn’t seem to notice my lack of enthusiasm.

“What’s the plan for today?” she asked

“We have to go to class,” I said wondering why she was being so chirpy this morning.

“I thought we were going to skip all of Keith’s classes until we had this all figured out.

“Why would you think that?” Alexander asked

He was sitting at the window staring outside.

“I,” Jordan started but then looked between us, “I thought we discussed it.”

“We should go,” I said, “and I think I know what we can do.”

Alexander finally turned to look at us and I felt a sense of pleasure that I got his attention.

“What are you planning?” he asked

“I should let Keith take me out,” I said

“You’ve lost it,” Jordan said

I knew she was upset but she wasn’t the one who caught my attention. Alexander was shaking his head and smiling at us.

“You have lost it.” He said, “you’ve lost it.”

“Listen,” I said, “maybe if I let him take me out to dinner he may slip and say something that he shouldn’t say.”

They both gave me with incredulous stares.

“Well Keith only has two weeks before he had to complete the ritual,” I said, “unless we engage he’s going to come after us and I haven’t heard you guys coming up with any alternatives.”

They looked between themselves and then back at me.

“We wanted to leave this conversation for later,” Jordan said

She was looking guilty and Alexander was looking away.

“What have you two been up to?” I asked

“We were talking, and Alexander knows a way to get you out of the country without anyone finding out.” She said

I was shocked that they had found time to make this plan without my knowledge and even more shocked that they thought I would be up to running away from my problem.

“Are you guys crazy?” I asked, “Jordan, you’re the one who told me I needed to do this and now you think it’ makes sense that I run away? After all that I’ve learned and all that I know about what’s happening?”

“Nothing will happen if you aren’t here for the ritual,” Jordan said

“Why do I know that’s not true?” I asked looking over at Alexander, “tell us what happens if I’m not there for the ritual!”

He remained silent and I wanted nothing more than to reach out and clutch his throat with my bare hands.

“Tell me!” I demanded

They both looked away guiltily.

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to find out myself from Keith,” I said grabbing my purse although it was empty, and I still wasn’t ready to leave, “I think he might tell me everything if I ask nicely.”

I walked towards the door and I knew I would have made if it wasn’t for Alex’s hand on my shoulder. I flinched not wanting to feel the same connection I had the night before and spun around to face them.

“What happens?” I asked

“Keith and his followers will invade the Earth and kill everyone until they find you.”

“I can’t let that happen,” I said trying not to picture it in my mind.

“It won’t,” Alex said, “I’ve been trying to find a way to seal the breach, so they can’t travel between realms.”

“Yeah and how’s that going?” I asked

He didn’t look very confident and that meant there was no way I could leave. To think they thought that was a good idea was confusing.

“Why would you think that would be something I’d agree to?” I asked

“We weren’t planning to tell you,” Jordan said, “we can’t let you die.”

The way she said this only reminded me of the little Indian girl I had seen in my memory. I could only wonder who had been there to try and save her in the past. Were there people alive today who remembered her and how deep did this thing go.

“I have to stay,” I whispered dreading the possible outcome.

“And then what?” Alex asked

His anger was evident, but I wouldn’t let him intimidate me, not now

“And then we figure something out,” I said, “you seem to know everything about this. Figure it out. Whatever worked in the past we can do again? I don’t mind losing my life to stop them.”

He took a noticeable step back and I knew I must have hit a nerve.

“I know you’ve known the past versions of me, but nothing is worth the life of all these people,” I said, “according to you, I’m not even human so why should I be the one standing in the way?”

“You’re right,” he said, “you aren’t human.”

His words were clear, but I could tell they came from a place of pain rather than understanding.

“We have to go,” Jordan said before I could ask my question.

I looked over at the clock, but it was still early.

“Let’s go” she insisted

We were out the door before she finally looked at me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked

“We should talk,” she said, “about you and Alex,”

I wondered if she may have seen us last night, but it wasn’t likely. Jordan slept like a log and we hadn’t made much noise.

“What’s there to talk about?” I asked as we made our way to the elevator.

She flashed me a knowing look and I ignored it.

“You two have been going at it since you met,” she said, “do you feel something for him?”

I scoffed but it was weak enough that even I wasn’t convinced.

“I couldn’t tell you what it was,” I said

The elevator took us to the lobby, but my mind wasn’t registering anything. I was too distracted with thoughts of Alex to think about anything really. He was consuming my thoughts and no matter how I rebelled against the feelings, I couldn’t help wanting to be near him.

“It must be a consequence of your old lives,” Jordan said,

“I didn’t say anything was happening,” I replied

The day was bright and clear outside and yet it felt cold as if there was a storm coming. I looked in the distance to see if there were any clouds, but the sky was bright and clear.

“’You two are perfect for each other,” Jordan said bringing me back to the present, “you two just need to figure it out.”

I shook my head and tried to ignore the sense of pleasure I felt to hear that. She was my oldest friend and I needed her blessing on certain things, including this.

“I think you’re buying into this too much,” I said, “there’s nothing to be had here. I just want this to end so that I can go back to my life.”

The thought of the life we had before all this way far from my mind. I couldn’t remember the girl I was before I arrived and everything about going back to that life saddened me. I was suddenly very aware of something advancing towards us. It looked like a cloud from afar off but there were no clouds this loud and none of them moved at that speed.

“Something’s off,” Jordan said

It was even stranger that on this clear beautiful day, there was a cloud barrelling towards us.

“Get inside,” Alex shouted in my head.

This must have been what he was watching for earlier. We were coming under some sort of attack.

“Run,” I said to Jordan who was frozen in place.

Instead of trying to cajole her, I grabbed her by the hand and began pulling her towards the building. We weren’t very far from the entrance but Jordan’s body was making it hard for me to move fast.

“I can’t run,” I said knowing Alex would hear me. He could come to our rescue, but he wouldn’t be there on time. Suddenly my life was flashing before my eyes and I hadn’t done any of the things I had planned on doing.

“Fight,” Alex whispered, “you can control this.”

I looked up at the cloud and wondered what the hell he was saying. There was no way I could defeat whatever this was, and I didn’t want to know what would happen if I failed.

“You can,” he said slowly, “just absorb and transfer the energy.”

I stood there feeling like a speck of sand facing a tsunami when a boldness came over me. I stood tall and allowed the winds to whip my hair about me. The cloud was close now and it felt more like a tornado than anything else. When I inhaled I began to feel the life force of the tornado and soon I was engulfed in pure unrestricted rage. It was burning and blinding.

“Transfer,” a voice whispered in my ear

I realized that the rage of the tornado was beginning to take over. I couldn’t allow myself to become angry and get swept away. Instead, I took another deep breath and allowed my body to relax. The tornado stopped right before me and when I looked up I knew I should have been afraid but there was no fear in me; only understanding. I reached up and waved my right hand from left to right slowly and then swiftly lowered it. The wind died down suddenly and the rain and mist dissipated leaving behind nothing but clear skies.

“Well Eloise, you’re officially the most powerful being on Earth,” he said, “and now they know you’ve been unlocked.