“I mean, wow that was really friggin’ amazing, huh?” Gabriel said.
Kerim pushed Gabriel aside and rushed towards Cristal.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She gave him a thumbs up but was still unsure if she were the cause of what seemed to be a mini earthquake.
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
What just happened here? Was it an earthquake or was the shaking isolated to the room? So many thoughts were filling her mind.
Kerim bent down to pick up her laptop. The light from the screen was still on—a good sign that all her work was not lost.
“Looks like your laptop is just as tough as you,” Kerim said, while placing the computer back on top of the desk.
On the screen, the video chat window was open, and Harry and Joanna were watching them.
Joanna’s mouth was wide open, her eyes wide with shock. Harry was grinning from ear to ear. He was speaking, but there was no sound. Behind them, people were picking up things off the ground. From what Cristal could make of it, they were mostly cups, cutlery, and overturned chairs.
Cristal reached over and pressed the volume button until Harry’s voice was audible. Gabriel came over and stood behind her while Kerim moved to the other side.
“…that was spectacular, guys. Dr. Saeed and I were working on some tests. We believe we are closer to proving my father’s theory. We want to talk to all of you in person tonight. I will text you the details.”
Chapter 8
Questions That Need Answers
CRISTAL STARED AT HER monitor in disbelief. The video chat window went black.
“Were you in on this?” Gabriel asked, turning to her.
Cristal said, “No,” and sat back.
Suddenly Kerim leaned towards her, grabbed the chair’s armrests with both hands and spun her chair towards him. With his hands still on the armrests, he leaned over and looked directly into her eyes.
She heard Gabriel ask, “What was that, guys?”
Kerim’s eyes seemed to be shooting accusations into hers while she was trying to process what Harry had told them.
“You were very calm during the whole thing,” he said to her raising one eyebrow.
She stared back, not one to be easily intimidated. She could hear Gabriel moving around behind her.
“She didn’t seem calm to me,” Gabriel said.
Kerim tilted his head towards him.
“Gabriel, you had your eyes closed the whole time.”
She felt her body relax for a moment.
“Well, not the whole time,” Gabriel replied. “Okay, most of it.”
Kerim’s eyes met hers causing her body to tense up again.
“Before you answer, Cristal,” Kerim said, “I want to know, can we trust him?”
He pointed at Gabriel.
“Hey! Wait a minute!” Gabriel cried out.
She shoved her chair back, releasing Kerim’s death grip on the chair, forcing him to stand up. She looked from Gabriel to Kerim. Question is, can I trust either of them?
“If you really want to know…” she said drawing out the words like maple syrup dripping out of a bottle.
She could see Gabriel pleading with his eyes for her to continue. Oh, no, here we go.
“This isn’t the first time this happened to me.”
Gabriel leaned back on the desk, his mouth open in astonishment.
“What do you mean?”
Kerim moved towards her, kneeling down on one knee. He placed his right hand on the armrest. His steel grey eyes searched hers. It felt like he was digging into her mind for answers.
“Do you want to know what I saw, Cristal?” Kerim asked in a low voice.
Her arms felt as if they were paralyzed, her legs stiff.
Kerim continued, “You started the earthquake and the bright light, right?” he asked in a hypnotic tone.
Cristal clenched her fists and struggled to get up. Why can’t I move?
Summoning all her strength and will power, she managed to push Kerim away. She stood up, causing him to stumble backwards onto the desk. This time she leaned in towards him, planting her fists on her hips.
“Is this an interrogation, Kerim?” she hissed.
She could feel her emotions getting out of control.
“I was watching you and there was a beam of light coming out from your chest to the ceiling and it bounced back to the ground. It was like the light was coming through you.”
Kerim took a step forward, approaching her with caution.
What is he talking about?
Her hands fell to her side. Even though every cell in her body wanted to escape from the mindless inquisition, she forced herself to stay put. It was impossible for her to tear her gaze away from him. If he leaned any closer, their noses would have touched.
“I don’t know anything about that,” she admitted, not knowing what else to say.
“When the room was shaking, you were motionless. Your eyes were empty. But I could see things above your head.”
Gabriel threw him a look.
“What things?”
“I don’t know how to explain it,” Kerim continued. “It was like watching a movie from an old projector onto the white screen. Except the screen was the light that was coming out from inside you.”
She blinked in astonishment. That’s impossible. Does he think I’m going to believe this BS? I have to get out of here.
“Cristal, did you feel or see any of that?” Gabriel asked. “Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay. I don’t have to stay here and take this crap.”
She leaped up, bumping Gabriel to the side as she grabbed her laptop and her backpack and headed to the door.
She hurried down the hallway with Kerim and Gabriel tailing her. When she reached the living room, Kerim grabbed her by the shoulder with Gabriel blocking her path.
“Cristal, you can’t leave now. We need to talk about this,” Kerim said.
Who the hell does he think he is?
“No, we don’t. I need to go and find Harry. Let me go.”
She pushed his hand off of her.
“Harry?” Gabriel asked.
She noted the sound of concern in his voice.
“No, I agree with Kerim. We need to figure this out as much as we can before meeting Harry and the rest of the group tonight.”
She couldn’t think properly much less talk about it. Beam of light? Projections above my head? What next?
Just then, her cell phone beeped. She scrambled to get it out of her backpack. New text message from Harry. The sound of Gabriel and Kerim’s cell phone text message ringtones followed soon after.
Zero: Meet me at the GN University, Physics Dept., Room 1130 at 6 pm today. Confirm receipt.
She started to type a text back when her phone started ringing. Harry’s name came up on the screen. She swiped the screen to answer.
“Yes?” Cristal asked.
“Cristal, checking to see if you’re okay.”
Harry’s voice seemed serious, but she could hear a hint of excitement. His phone call should have calmed her, but she was feeling more anxious than ever.
“No, not really. What were you talking about earlier? What tests?” she said.
Should I tell Harry about the light that Kerim saw? No. Don’t tell him anything until I figure out what he is up to.
“I’ll meet you back at GN and we can talk then,” he said.
Before she could say anything, he ended the call.
Chapter 9
Who to Trust
CRISTAL’S THOUGHTS WERE rattling in her head like a pinball machine, each one banging into the other.
“I have to go,” she said still staring at her phone.
“Okay, I’ll drop you off,” Kerim replied.
He went into the living room grabbing his helmet off the couch.
“No, I’m taking a cab back to the office.”
Kerim appeared startled by her response.
“O
kay, then. See you tonight,” Kerim said slowly.
Gabriel stared at her with a look of concern.
“We should talk about this some more, but that’s just what I think,” he mumbled to himself.
Maybe Gabriel is right. She paused for a moment but then shook her doubts from her head and walked out the door.
***
Outside the building, she welcomed the fresh air. She stood still for a moment, taking in deep breaths, hoping to relax. She looked around. People were scattering on the streets like the fire ants that used to seek safety from the garden hose she used to wield on in the backyard of her childhood home.
“There is no signal,” a young man said to her. He was waving his cell phone. “Do you have a signal?”
She shook her head, knowing full well that her cell phone was working fine. It was connected to a satellite and not on a regular cellular network. Harry had made sure that all the Truth Seekers were able to communicate with each other at all times.
She glanced down at her phone and noticed there was a text message from Serena.
Lioness: We just had a small earthquake here in Manila. No physical damage but lots of people are saying they saw weird things. Like visions… Will send you pics soon.
What? An earthquake in the Philippines too? She began typing a response when she noticed some commotion on the corner of the intersection.
A group of teenagers on the corner were pointing towards the sky. She tilted her head to see what the big deal was. Something was very different. Angry strokes of crimson red with charcoal rain clouds hung above them. Streaks of lightning were crisscrossing each other like an intricate woven rug. If she squinted, she could make out an image, almost like a painting. The image of a middle aged woman was becoming more vivid and clear.
I must be seeing things. Have to get out of here.
She scurried down West 34th Street praying to find a cab that could take her out of the chaos but abandoned cars were making the normally traffic congested street even more difficult for cabs to get through. She started picking up her pace, half walking, half running. She had to get to GN, which was on Lexington and East 33rd Avenue, probably a good twenty-five-minute walk.
Pockets of people passed her by, their eyes opened wide, blinking fast as she raced past them. A woman with snow-white hair and clear blue eyes caught her gaze. She was walking towards her, clutching her black purse, her shoes with thick black heels hitting the ground making a sound like a crack of thunder with each step. Cristal covered her ears hoping to block the sound. Walk past her. Look away.
She tried to avoid making eye contact, but her eyes were drawn back to the woman. The old lady was now stopped in front of her raising her crooked finger at her.
Cristal froze, the old lady’s words crawling into her skull. Her skin felt like fire ants crawling up her arms.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she said, half believing her own words.
The woman continued, clutching the gold cross around her neck like it was the only thing keeping her alive. “It was you. There was a bright light coming down from heaven through your body into the earth.”
Cristal shook her head and said firmly, “No, not me! It wasn’t me.”
She yanked her arm away from the old woman and started sprinting down the street. Her heart was pounding; her palms sweating as she ran. Her backpack bounced against her and the straps rubbed against her shoulders.
She kept running, oblivious of the people bumping into her. The words repeated in her head like a mantra.
“It wasn’t me. It wasn’t me!”
She looked up and realized that GN was at the next corner. Need to get Harry to tell me what the hell is going on.
She dodged traffic and ran across the street. As she ran up to the busy intersection, another voice entered her head.
“But it was you, darling.”
Chapter 10
Earthquake or Not?
CRISTAL’S PULSE WAS RACING, her lungs gasping for air. “Was it me?” she asked herself.
She felt as though she had just finished doing the 100-mile sprint of her life. It seemed hilarious now that she was far away from the old lady. Imagine being frightened of a little defenseless granny. Harry would probably tell her to get her head checked if she told him what just happened. Deep down inside, the fear was like lead weighing down her gut. She had to get to Harry to get some answers.
She pushed her way past the people on the street and ran across the intersection. Some GN staff were standing in clusters all around the designated safe areas. She saw members from her team gathering at the end of the street. She weaved her way through the crowd, searching for Harry. She could hear comments as she walked past.
“It’s the climate change that did this,” a lady from the accounting department said.
“I bet you it had something to do with terrorists,” another said.
“It was scary. I thought we were going to die,” a man from the helpdesk support team told a fellow team member.
As she came closer, the sound of their voices filled her head. The sound was rising as if someone had cranked up the volume full blast. She needed to calm down and take control of herself.
Get out of my head! She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing.
It was working. The voices were fading, except for one. Harry’s.
“Cristal, is everything okay?”
She opened her eyes to find Harry staring at her intensely. A wave of relief swept through her body until she noticed Joanna beside him, clutching onto Harry’s arm as if she were holding onto him for dear life.
Cristal wanted answers but not to the expense of having Joanna listening in.
“Harry, we need to talk.”
Harry must have noticed Cristal’s anxiety. He glanced down and pulled his arm from Joanna’s vice-like grip. Joanna put on a show by glaring at him, crossing her arms and pouting.
What a spoiled brat, Cristal thought.
“They’re doing a head count,” he said, switching back to Cristal.
“Good to know,” Cristal replied.
“Can you take me home?” Joanna asked, tugging at Harry’s arm. Harry shook his arm free, the expression on his face reflecting his irritation.
“Are you listening to me?” she whined.
He responded but his gaze never left Cristal’s face.
“Joanna, calm down. After they give us the all-clear signal, we have to go back in.”
“You’re the manager! You can let us go home, if you wanted to,” she said.
Cristal gritted her teeth. Patience with Joanna was not her strongest quality.
“Get a hold of yourself, Joanna,” she finally snapped. “At least you’re okay, so stop acting like such a bitch.”
“Okay? I’m NOT okay,” Joanna blurted out. She waved her arms to emphasize her point. “None of this is okay!”
“Do you realize what happened today?” Cristal asked, her anger rising.
“No, duh. We had an earthquake,” Joanna replied, rolling her eyes. “Right, Harry?”
Joanna turned to him with her hands on her hips.
“Tell us. Was that an earthquake?”
Harry gave her a dirty look.
“This is not the time or the place,” he said quietly.
Out of the corner of Cristal’s eye she saw a tall guy standing beside her. She looked up and was surprised to see Kerim. How did he get through the traffic jam?
“Alleys, side streets and sidewalks,” Kerim said.
It wasn’t the answer that made her queasy. It was the fact that Kerim knew exactly what she had been thinking.
The sound of a horn blast coming from the building filled the air, indicating that it was safe to enter the building. Kerim and Harry were standing toe to toe.
“Yeah, Harry, tell us if that was an earthquake,” Kerim said.
“This is not the time nor the place,” Harry repeated, narrowing his eyes.
He motioned to Cristal to go with
him towards the building.
“See you at six tonight, Kerim,” he said.
Cristal would’ve followed Harry. Technically he was her manager at GN although, her working there was only a cover to hack into the GN networks. But then again, Harry was the leader of the Truth Seekers and normally she never questioned his commands when it came to fulfilling their mission. Debating with herself, she found herself with a dilemma. Do I go back to work with Harry and spend the next few hours acting as if nothing happened?
Then she did something out of character.
She tucked her arm in Kerim’s and pulled herself closer to him, causing Harry’s eyebrows to shoot up.
She could feel Kerim’s stare but he played along, placing his hand on hers. If anyone else were watching, they did look like a couple.
“See you tonight,” she said to Harry. “Kerim, let’s go.”
She smirked imagining the steam spewing from Harry’s nostrils.
Joanna must have been enjoying the show because her smile was stretching wider and wider and Cristal could see a glint of glee in her eyes.
Cristal thought, I’m not as predictable as you think, Mr. Doubt.
“Your ride awaits you, my lady,” Kerim said, giving Harry a friendly wink. He was definitely enjoying Cristal’s tactical maneuver.
Cristal smiled to herself, letting him guide her away. She glanced back to confirm that Harry was watching them very carefully. She wondered what thoughts were running through his mind right now.
She pulled Kerim’s arm, urging him to pick up the pace.
“What’s the hurry?” he asked.
“No hurry,” she said. “I want to get away from this crowd.”
He squeezed her hand reassuringly. They walked hand in hand until they reached the intersection. She turned back to see GN staff walking into the building.
So what next, she asked herself, realizing that she hadn’t thought it through.
Cristal had just pulled a fast one on Harry and she was still enjoying the moment. Harry was probably having a fit seeing her walking hand in hand with Kerim.
“My bike is over there in front of the coffee shop,” Kerim said, interrupting her thoughts. “You want me to take you home? We’ve got a few hours to kill before the meeting tonight.”
She realized that her hand felt good in his. Why not play this out a bit?
“Nah, I don’t want you to have to drive through the chaos out there. I can take a cab after the meeting, assuming the streets will be clear by then. Let’s go to the coffee shop instead. It should be open,” she said.