Chapter Four
A knock came to the door. Gabe jumped up and went to answer it. I could hear mumbled voices discussing something, but felt too weak to get up.
“How is she?’ I could hear a female voice ask.
Good, at least another girl lived here. I hoped she was the one that changed my clothes.
“On the balcony,” Gabe replied as their footsteps came closer.
From behind me came a petite looking girl about my age. She barely reached Gabe’s shoulders and held a tray of different kinds of fruits in her delicate hands. The girl then motioned for Gabe to pull a small table closer to me. She smiled brightly with her vivid green eyes and curly red hair pulled up into a loose bun. Her face was pale and dusted with a few freckles.
“Hi, my name is Claire,” she said with a smile. “I thought you might like something to eat, but I wasn’t sure what you like.”
“Thanks, and everything looks really good. I’m not that particular.” I picked up what looked like a pear wedge and poked it in my mouth.
It was sweet and I ate another as Claire and Gabe watched me with great interest.
“I hope you’re feeling better.” Claire to my relief sat down and took an orange slice.
“I am. This is really good,” I said eating another slice of pear.
Gabe sat next to me and took a slice of what looked like kiwi.
“Zach grows all of this, he as a regular barnyard going on. He has all kinds of animals and a large garden.” Claire said wiping the juice from her chin.
“Zach, he was on the plane.” I turned to Gabe.
“He brought back another chicken.” Claire only shook her head.
“It was a speckled chicken-a Leghorn named Bella.” I remembered though at the time I thought I was seeing things.
“You have a pretty good memory, especially nearly being poisoned to death.” Gabe looked at me and I sat still for a moment thinking of what he said.
“You mean I almost died?” I really hadn’t thought of it that way.
Gabe turned to me and brushed my tangled hair behind my ear. His grey eyes looked into mine with tenderness.
“I wasn’t going to let you.” His words were solid that put me at ease.
“Um, I’m going to go and I will be back later.” Claire got up with uneasiness in her voice. “You can get cleaned up in the bathroom that is right in your bedroom. Oh, and I put some clothes for you in the closet.”
“Thanks-a lot.” I said as Claire nodded and glanced at Gabe.
He looked at her then me finally realizing that Claire was suggesting that he leave too.
“I have better go too, so you can get cleaned up and rest some more.” Gabe stood up.
Claire had left barely clicking the door behind her as I followed Gabe back into the bedroom.
“How can I rest after everything that has happened?” I asked as he turned to me with his hand on the doorknob. “I would like to know what is going on and when…or if, I can go home.”
“Well, that isn’t really for me to decide, it is up to Abe since he runs this place.” I sighed looking at Gabe standing in front of me. “I know this is something you never expected, especially living in St. F, but trust me Emily; I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I know.” I looked down at the ground. Gabe was always that way, a true gentleman, just like a knight in shining armor.
Gabe then ran his fingers through his hair and then tilted his head back with a groan like he was arguing with himself.
“Actually, be ready in an hour and I will show you around Kangee.” Gabe blurted out as if it was bottled inside him. “That is, if you feel like it.”
“I definitely feel like it,” I said as Gabe promised to be back in about an hour.
I carefully removed the gauze bandage and looked at the neatly stitched cut right above my belly button. The thick ointment that Abe put on still covered it. I just wanted to get clean and feel like myself again. I stood in the shower for a long time letting my muscles relax.
The water even made my skin soft when I got out to dry off. I rummaged the red stained cabinets and found some perfume, lots of towels and soaps. I wished Claire would have given me a little make-up to color in my paleness. The silver framed, oval mirror reflected a girl as pale as a ghost with a fading bruise on her cheek. I was a sight.
I fluffed my damp hair, put on some lavender smelling perfume and examined my bruise again. It was fading quickly, nothing but a reminder of a past that seemed a million miles away.
When Gabe said he would come in an hour that is exactly when he showed up. I scrambled to find a shirt and a pair of capris that hit me between my knee and ankle. Claire must be good guessing sizes, or I am just lucky they had clothes that fit me.
Gabe took me by the hand down the quiet hallway. Giant pictures of landscapes and portraits hung on the wall that was painted in a soft tan. The hard wood floors shined in the bright light from the window that went from the floor to ceiling. The brown and burgundy speckled rug was the only thing that quieted our footsteps.
Gabe turned at the end of the door lined hallway, and quickly glided down the stairs that opened to a large room with tiled floors, still everything was in muted earth tones. The room was large and had another open, curved staircase that looked like some princess should be making an entrance down. Across from that was a large, arched, double wooden door with round, stained glass windows at the top. Light fell through the windows and painted a mixture of bright colors that shifted on the floor.
Gabe cautiously opened the door and we slipped outside. I was going to ask him why he was being so sneaky, but didn’t, there must be a reason why, and I didn’t want to jeopardize that. I waited until we were outside.
“Why are we sneaking?” I finally got to ask.
Gabe turned and smiled at me.
“No one else knows that we are doing this.” I implied.
“Not exactly,” He said motioning for me to follow him down the flight of stairs.
I looked back at the mansion. It was beautiful, like the ones you see in magazines that rich people live in. Windows were everywhere, some were stained glass and embedded everywhere in the stone walls. Flowers, shrubs and fountains skirted the landscape like a grand gown that a queen would wear to a ball.
“Gabe, this is beautiful.” The beauty nearly took my breath away. “But, how did it get the name Kangee?”
Gabe stopped and looked around with me. I was sure it was nothing to him; he evidentially had spent time here, but allowed me to take everything in.
“It has always been called Kangee and means raven. We are part of the Alliance and our group is called the Blackbirds,” Gabe said as he looked at me with a smile.
I wrinkled my nose at the familiar, but strange name. “Really, who picked that name?”
Gabe began to walk away and I wondered if it was him that did, I hoped I didn’t insult him.
“It has been called that since the Alliance formed hundreds of years ago by the Atlantians. The Blackbirds were a strong group and protected Atlantis.” He then stopped and smiled. “Come on you’ve got to see the beach.”
We walked down a path part way covered with palm trees and part open to the endless blue sky that led to the beach. I had never been to a beach before, and the sand was warm under my feet. Gabe led me to the water’s edge allowing the waves to barely brush over our feet.
“I know I said it before, but this is beautiful.” I looked at the endless amount of blues and greens.
“It is beautiful and dangerous at the same time.” Gabe said picking up a small cream colored shell. “Em, I wished you would have gone to Thornbrooke, but I can’t back time up.” His words weren’t stern, but had a twinge of regret to them.
I looked in the distance. I should had listened; maybe he was in trouble for even associating with me.
“I’m sorry.” I met his eyes as he only
smiled.
“Don’t be, because if you didn’t you might be in worse danger and I might have been killed.” His words were passive, like it wasn’t dangerous.
“Well, then,” I said with the waves around my ankles. “I guess we’re even.” I tried to cover my worry with a playful tone.
Gabe’s grey eyes fell on me with seriousness to them. “Em, there is something you should know, the others are skeptical of you because you were wearing an amulet. I know you never even thought twice about something like this ever happening, but, Em, did you know about the amulet?”
“Amulet? You mean like a necklace?” My fingers went to my bare neck where the necklace once was. “I got it at Pandora’s. She showed me one that had an opal and then when I got home, there was another necklace in the bag.”
“You mean you didn’t know about the other one?” He asked anxiously.
“No, she must have put it in there by accident…or maybe not.” I thought of the two trench coat men that came in when I left. “She acted funny when those two guys that nearly killed us showed up.”
Gabe fidgeted with the shell he still had in his hand. The curtain that had been over his face fell into a more relaxed one.
“So, you are saying that you had no idea about the amulet or what Pandora is?” I shook my head at his vague question.
“No. Gabe what are you talking about? I don’t even know what you mean by amulet. And as far as Pandora goes, I thought she just had a junk store, what is she then?” I asked feeling I never knew the residents of St. F as much as I thought I did.
Gabe flicked the shell back into the water and looked at me.
“Emily,” Gabe rarely called me by my first name, and it made goose bumps cascade up and down my arms. “You were never to be involved in this and by me bringing you here not only jeopardizes us, but the whole Alliance. Pandora was a part of this too; she is what you call an Implement Maker of Magic. She has magic in her that can only be used in the things that she creates. Those two guys were after something she had, and we think it was the necklace you had on.”
I stared for a moment into the many blue shades of the sky and water. You could hardly tell where one began and one ended.
“You mean Pandora was like a witch?” I looked at Gabe as he picked up another shell.
“No, not a witch,” He shook his head. “She has magic in her that can only be put into things, objects, stuff that can hold it. She can’t use the magic in her; it has to be put into something to use it.”
“So, where is my necklace?” I asked. “It is safe isn’t it?”
“Abe has it. He was the one that recognized it and is trying to figure out what it will do.” Gabe threw another shell back into the water where it made a small plopping sound.
We walked silently together at the water’s edge. The waves crashed into the shore nearly reaching my knees before it receded. Gabe picked up several shells and put them into his pockets. I picked up a few, but put them back, I felt like I was stealing them.
“So, are there any Mermaids, sea Nymphs or any large squid-like monsters I should know about?” I asked breaking the silence.
“Not in the near vicinity,” he said with a smile as I threw my handful of shells into the waves. “We should get back.”
I didn’t want to leave, but knew we had probably been gone too long, and I didn’t want Gabe to get into any trouble. I thought about everything he had said, which only brought a brigade of questions that I wanted to ask. Before I could get any of them out, a humming filled my ears that sounded like a hundred people humming. I stopped and looked at Gabe’s confused expression.
“Don’t you hear that?” I looked around to find its source.
“Hear what?” He shook his head.
“Humming-it’s getting louder.” I put my hand to my ears to cover it, when I realized it was coming from inside my head.
I closed my eyes to wish it away, but from the sound a single voice pleaded for help. It was a female voice, barely whispering in a frantic tone. I felt like I had to tell someone and tried to pull away from the voice that only tugged at me like the currents of the ocean. I could have easily slipped into it, but I had to tell Gabe.
I opened my eyes expecting to be still at the beach. Instead, I opened them to see the cream colored ceiling of the bedroom. Voices were jumbled, and it was hard to concentrate from the pounding in my head.
“She’s awake, ask her what they said,” Abe said as he hovered over me.
“Em,” Gabe’s voice was gentle as a breeze. “What did you hear?”
I looked at him for a moment. “They were calling for help, I don’t know who, but they needed help.”
I sat up and swung my legs over the bed. Gabe stood in front of me and Abe only paced the floor.
“That is what she said when I brought her back. She kept repeating that we need to help them.” Gabe spoke as though I wasn’t there. “It was a call.” His eyes shifted back to me.
I didn’t remember saying all of that and only hoped I didn’t say anything like, ‘I think you’re cute and always have’, or something like that. I found the whole thing disturbing and pressed my hand to stomach gently.
“It’s obvious Emily; you have more ties to Atlantis than you think. What you heard was a distress call that our radio can’t pick up.” His eyes grew with suspicion and I thought of what Gabe had said to me. I had to be careful.
“I have never had anything like this happen before.” I tried to sound innocent.
“No, of course not, living on Earth you wouldn’t. It’s obvious to me that you are a Receptor, someone who is able to receive messages as well as transmit. That ability is only amplified by being here.” Abe’s eyes soften, but his voice felt cool to me.
“How?” I shook my head. “Why me?” I looked away from Abe and at the floor.
“I don’t know why, but, this I do know. You must have some connection here, maybe a relative or it could run through your bloodline. The ties from Earth to Atlantis are still strong and intermarriages were common, but with stricter laws, that has become a thing of the past. Still, lineages of Atlantians are quite common on Earth. It is hard to tell and right now, I wish I could investigate, but I can’t.” Abe’s eyes shifted to Gabe.
“For right now stay in the mansion.” Abe looked more at Gabe than me. “There is too much going on right now to add any more problems.”
Abe left and gave firm instructions that I stay in the bedroom. Gabe looked back at me as I dangled my feet over the edge of the bed. I watched my toes barely skim across the hardwood floor with each swing. Something about the movement was soothing.
“I can’t believe this is happening to me. What am I supposed to do now?” I asked looking at the floor.
Gabe bent down and looked at me with his storm colored eyes.
“If Abe can find anything out, he will. As for right now, the Alliance will be meeting, and then you will go before them.”
I drew in a deep breath and closed my eyes. I could feel Gabe sit next to me on the bed. His shoulder rubbed against mine and I looked up at him.
“What did Abe call me? A Receptor…what is that? It sounds like a disease rather than a messenger.” I was serious, but Gabe found humor in it.
“It certainly isn’t a disease. You have a special ability. Receptors were once an important part of Atlantis, before Receptor Disks were made by the Alfheim. But, still, Receptors are important, especially since their numbers are few.”
I raised my eyebrows at him as he tilted his head back letting the few sun rays catch the gold flecks in his hair. I felt like I almost wanted to touch it, but composed myself, and gently rubbed my stomach instead.
“Does it still hurt?” He asked catching me off guard.
“What? No, not too bad, just a little sore.” Actually the stiches were beginning to itch and I wanted to scratch at them, but I certainly didn’t want to do
it in front of Gabe. “By the way, who were… what did you call them… Alfheim…the ones who made the disks.”
“They live north of here, actually hundreds of miles from here. They live in great forests and are responsible for a lot of inventions. The Receptor Disk is just one of them. It pretty much does what a Receptor can do.”
“So Atlantis is more than just a continent?” I asked as Gabe smiled.
“Yeah, it is.” He seemed surprised of my question. “It’s a world of its own and we are only a small part of it.”
Gabe stood up and looked at the silver watch on his wrist. “I didn’t realize we were together this long. Unfortunately, I have to go, but I will be back later tonight.”
He walked over to the cream colored painted door.
“Wait.” I stood up as he turned. “What about this meeting and the amulet?”
He only half smiled as I stood and stared at him. “Don’t worry Em, you will probably go in front of the Alliance tomorrow and by then Abe will know something about the amulet.” He gently placed his hands on my shoulders and pressed his warm lips to my forehead. My skin sparked upon his touch.
Gabe left as I sat back on the bed, laid down, and curled up with the puffy pillow. Everything swarmed through my head, St. F, the tornado, Jimmy, and my dad as well as the plane ride and waking up in a mythical place that had been sought after for hundreds of years.
I closed my eyes, and let my ears tune into the sound of the soothing waves that gently caressed the pink sandy beach. My body relaxed and I fell into a dreamless sleep.
“Emily.” A voice called my name in the distant.
I didn’t listen to it, and it called again. This time, I could feel someone gently shaking me.
“Emily, wake up.” I could tell it was Claire.
I opened my eyes and popped up nearly splitting my stiches apart. I grabbed at my stomach as she looked at me wide eyed.
“Are you O.K.?” She asked with concern.
“Yeah, sorry, you startled me.” I sat up and smoothed my hair down and out of my eyes.
“You were sleeping pretty well, but Gabe thought you might like this to read. It is the history of Atlantis and it tells about some of the inhabitants here.” Claire handed me a leather bound book that had worn edges and the title simply stated it was the history of Atlantis.
I flipped open the book and let the pages run through my fingers.
“Thanks, I can’t wait to read it,” I said sincerely.
Claire gave a small laugh. “You are the first one who ever said that. Most of us groan at even the sight of it.” I looked back down at the book. “But I suppose since this is all really new to you, I suppose it would be interesting.”
I put the book down as Claire twirled her hair around and around her finger. She glanced at me nervously, but tried to hide it with a smile.
“So, you’re a Receptor?” She asked with a quick voice.
“That’s what I am told.” I shrugged my shoulders.
“Who sent the message? Do you know?” She had a contained desperation to her voice.
“No, it’s actually the first time it has ever happened. I never received many distress calls in St. F.” I looked at her wide eyes. “I guess no one needed my help that badly.” I tried to sound funny.
“A Receptor doesn’t physically help, they are the communications link,” she said correcting my attempt at a joke.
I only shook my head as I noticed a bracelet of blue shells around Claire’s wrist.
“That’s pretty, did you make it?” I pointed at the various shades of blue shells.
“Oh, no, I didn’t make it. Someone else did-it was a gift.” Her words trailed off as if lost for a moment in a memory.
Claire held it out and I looked at the oblong shells with smooth edges.
“It is a friendship bracelet I got as a present from the Mer people.” She smiled as her cheeks blushed.
“Mer people, I’m going to guess that they live in the sea and I would know them as Mermaids.” I felt pretty confident in my guess.
“No, but close.” She put her hand down. “They travel by ocean, but don’t live there. They live on an island not far from here.”
“Well, maybe I should read the book.” I picked it up and Claire finally laughed when I was being serious.
“It wouldn’t hurt, because I think you’re going to be around for a while.”