Chapter Six
“I could tell there was something about you when you came in the room.” Karinna closed the door quietly behind her and stood looking at both of us.
“You could see her aura.” Gabe got up and ran his fingers through his hair and looked at Karinna like he got caught breaking a rule. “I should have known.”
“You can’t hide things like that from me, and besides, Abel already informed me of her.” She gently touched Gabe on the shoulder. “I’m not going to go and tell on her, I’m here to help and she will need lots of that.” Karinna only smiled at me.
“Now, why don’t you freshen up,” She pointed at me. “And both of you come downstairs and we will discuss this with the other Blackbirds. The Alliance has left and our leader needs to make a few decisions” She looked at Gabe with a smile before letting the door click shut behind her.
I looked at Gabe and shook my head. “So that’s what you are, the leader of the Blackbirds?”
Gabe looked away and fidgeted with something on the palm of his hand. “It’s a clan. It’s my clan, Abe is our mentor and I am the leader. The Alliance has four clans, the Blackbirds, the Phoenix, the Eagles and the Dragons. We safeguard certain districts of Atlantis and keep anything of magical qualities safe.” Gabe recited to me as if he had to clear his conscience of it. “I hope you don’t think it’s too strange.”
I laughed at him. “Strange? I hear voices.”
It felt like in that one moment, a tension between us had finally broken as we laughed together.
“At least the voices aren’t made up,” he said standing in front of me. “They come from someone who is very real.”
“But, it’s still a voice that no one else can hear.” I tried to make my voice light.
“Yeah, but you’re not the only one and you’re safe here, with us, no one is going to tell the Alliance, at least not yet.”
I looked away and thought of the whole trial. David had made me look bad, but I still wasn’t sure of what the Alliance thought of me and someone needed help that I could only hear.
I looked at Gabe and drew in a deep breath, what could he think of me now? “You believe me don’t you?” I forced the question out of me that I wasn’t sure if I wanted it answered.
Gabe smiled warmly at me, put his hands on my arms and gently stroked his fingers over the soft sweater. “I believe you because I know it’s the truth. Don’t let David bother you, and what he says.” He looked away for a moment. “The amulet was planted on you; all we have to do is make the connection.”
“What about the Alliance? What did they decide?” I drew in a breath and held it almost expecting him to say “hang her until dead.”
“They didn’t. And, they couldn’t make a solid decision about you, but they think you really didn’t have any association with it. Karinna assured them of that.” I let my breath out. “Don’t be so nervous.” He teased.
“How can I not be? I have never been on trial before, even at home and much less from a hidden world. I didn’t know what to expect. If I would have sneezed, they might have killed me on the spot for being rude,” I said seriously and Gabe only laughed at me.
“Then I would have been dead a long time ago.” Gabe smiled at me. “Are you going to freshen up, like Karinna suggested or are you going down as is, because I think you look fine the way you are.” I felt my cheeks blush.
“I better freshen up then.”
“Don’t trust me?” Gabe teased.
“Of course, but you’re a boy.” He flopped on my bed holding his chest like my comment was an invisible arrow that had struck him. I only shook my head at him as he folded his hands behind his head, smiled and waited for me.
I tried to fix my hair and rinsed my mouth out with sweet tasting water. I then looked at myself in the mirror wishing I had a little make-up to color my ghostly white complexion.
We went downstairs to a room off to the side of the large kitchen that looked like it probably had every kitchen utensil known to man. All of the Blackbirds, as I know them by, had gathered in what looked like an informal living room with a plush sectional couch, large screen T.V. and tall windows that gave a view of a swimming pool surrounded by a lush tropical garden. I felt like I had really walked into one of those magazines with all the beautiful homes that you see at the grocery store check-out aisles.
“Emily, I hope you are feeling better.” Claire popped up and gently guided me to sit beside her on a smaller couch.
“Better, thanks,” I said sitting beside her.
“Now, can I have everyone’s attention?” Abe said putting his glass down on the table. “We need to discuss things here and figure out what our plan of action is.” He looked over at Gabe. “Would you like to get started?”
Gabe stood in front of everyone; he looked uneasy and a little nervous. I tried to meet his eyes, but he wouldn’t look at me. He shifted his weight and opened his mouth to say something when Claire interrupted.
“Hey, aren’t we forgetting an introduction.” She tilted her head towards me and kept her eyes on Gabe.
He looked at me with his grey eyes.
“Is that really necessary?” The dark haired girl said across from me with her black piercing eyes. “She isn’t staying here and she wasn’t invited.”
I looked at her dressed now in a pair of jeans and a bright blue tank top that showed her delicate arms. She glanced at me coldly and then looked away as if I had evaporated upon her command.
Gabe looked back at Claire. “Fine, introduce everyone, Claire, but hurry up.” Gabe gave in as he folded his arms.
“O.K., you of course know Gabe, me and Abe. This is Alicia, she really has manners and is a good friend, unfortunately, that girl isn’t here right now. Sitting beside her is Zach, and behind him standing along the wall is Ian.
“I remember you guys from the plane,” I said looking between them.
“Yeah, that is when I brought home Bella. That was a hell of a ride through the passage. I didn’t think we were going to make it.” His southern accented voice had a tone that I couldn’t help but to smile at. To me he looked out of place here in this tropical paradise. “Ian here, the pilot, thought it would be best if we answered Gabe’s distress call or whatever it was. What did you do hit the buttons with? Because it obviously wasn’t your fingers.” He looked up at Gabe as he shoved another potato chip into his mouth from the large bowl on the glass table between us.
“That might have been me.” I confessed. “I tried to find a cell phone and thought that was Gabe’s.”
“Well, I can see how it could be mistaken.” Zach shrugged his shoulders and ate another chip.
Alicia only rolled her eyes and moved from her spot next to Zach.
“Can we start the meeting, or do we need to hear more about accidently mistaking a communicator with a cell phone.” Alicia crossed her arms and stood behind the couch. “That’s kind of irrelevant here, since it’s the past. Shouldn’t we consider what the future might hold?” She began to tap her foot on the floor and looked at Abe and then back at Gabe. “Well…”
Gabe cleared his throat and looked at all of us. “Abe and I have studied the amulet and we have never come across anything foreign before. It is made of compressed sand, not from any of the continents of Atlantis. We think it is beyond here, possibly from another realm.” My head began to swim of the existence of other worlds. “Em, here as you know is a Receptor, and already her abilities are getting stronger. She said that the island of Bimini is being invaded by the Alfheim and if so, Eris has gone against the Alliance.”
“How do we know the Receptor heard the message right? She is new to this and the message could be a fluke or even centuries old.” Alicia didn’t look at me and I glanced away wondering if my ability was maybe a curse.
“That’s why we should investigate,” Gabe said in a calm voice.
“And I will help Em
ily to control and filter out messages as well as send them.” Karinna sat next to Abe and smiled with her twinkling eyes.
The meeting ended with a decision to go to Bimini and take a look around. In the meantime, Karinna has taken teaching me about being a Receptor seriously. In fact, I had my first lesson that afternoon.
“You must be in tune with your surroundings at all times and never let your guard down. I know it seems like a lot right now, but in time it will become second nature.” Karinna’s voice was soft and calming to me.
Again, as instructed I closed my eyes and listened to the rain hit the large leaves of the overgrown plants. The wind blew gently and the ever constant waves brushed the shore in countless repetitions. I became relaxed and for the first time, my thoughts were void except for the sounds that surrounded me.
“You did really well for your first time. I could see you concentrating,” Karinna said as the rain came down harder. “Let’s go in.”
“But how am I supposed to be aware of everything and still manage to pay attention if someone is talking to me?” I asked as we passed under the large palm trees.
“Everyone has their own method and you will find yours. It is just going to be trial and error.” As reassuring as her voice was, it didn’t make me feel any better.
“What about the Alliance…they don’t know I can do this.” The rain fell gently around us hitting the large leaves like they were drums. “What will happen when they do?” My voice overflowed with worry.
Karinna gazed at me and took my hands. “I’m sure where you are from that some things have to remain secret even from authorities. Not all laws are perfect, no matter where you are from. Some things have to be protected at all costs.”
That evening only brought more rain and everyone except for Abe and Karinna, was in the living room off from the kitchen. I lingered in the shadows for a moment as they visited and watched some old movie that must had been a musical by all the singing. I thought of going upstairs to my room as I knew I was welcomed, but at the same time I didn’t fit in.
Instead, I quietly opened the refrigerator and pulled out a reusable bottle of water. Claire had made it a point to show me everything and that I could help myself.
I closed the door to the fridge and hoped it didn’t squeak like the one at my trailer. The thought of home burst in my head like shattering glass. I pushed it away knowing I couldn’t change anything now.
To my attempt at trying to be sneaky, Gabe looked into the darkened kitchen and stepped just under the arched wall that separated the two spaces and flicked on the light.
“What are you doing?” He asked leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest and raised his left eyebrow into a questioning arch that I wish I could do with my eyebrow.
“I was just getting water and going to go upstairs, I’m tired.” I wasn’t tired, but it was a good excuse.
“Is that Emily?” Claire’s voice boomed joyfully from the living room.
“Yeah,” Gabe answered back.
“You know you’re going to have to go in and be tortured like the rest of us by old musicals,” he said motioning behind him with his thumb in a hushed voice.
“What did you say?” Claire asked. “Is she coming in?”
“Yeah,” he replied as I shook my head in protest.
I hesitated slightly as he only smiled at me and tilted his head trying to coax me in. I couldn’t leave now, no matter how much I wanted.
I sat next to Claire, who scooted over devouring popcorn and next to Alicia, who immediately left the room upon my presence.
“Hey where are you going?” Zach asked sitting in a chair to the side of us.
“I suddenly got a headache,” she replied going into the kitchen. “Where is the aspirin?”
I could hear her rummage through the cabinet and felt even more uncomfortable as I looked at Gabe.
“Do you want me to make you some tea?” Claire twisted around spilling a little popcorn.
“No, I found something.” The refrigerator closed and she came back in.
Alicia sat on a chase by the window and looked out at the dimming landscape. Covering herself up with a chenille blanket, she reminded me of those paintings of tall, beautiful women posing for their portrait with distant expressions on their pale faces.
She then rolled over and met my gaze.
“Can I help you?” She blurted out.
I only shook my head and quickly looked away.
“So, tell us about where you are from.” Claire suddenly put me on the spot.
“Oh,” I felt all of them looking at me. “There isn’t much to tell, it’s really boring.”
“Abe said you live in the Midwest, what is it like living there?” Claire continued either out of trying to make me feel included or curiosity. Her questions, I could tell was a bottomless pit.
“Hot and dry in the summer with lots of bugs, cold and damp in the winter, sometimes with snow and sometimes without. There are lots of corn, bean and wheat fields and cattle. That is pretty much it.” I looked at everyone hoping the questions would stop. “Sorry, it isn’t interesting, not like here.”
“It isn’t interesting here,” Claire said plainly.
“What do you mean? You’re in Atlantis, hidden worlds, protecting magical implements. What isn’t interesting? You at least have a beach, not some pool thirty miles away that costs five dollars to get into.”
“Well, I think it is interesting here,” Zach said with his leg crossed over his knee. He had a white pair of socks on and I could see his big toe peeking out from the hole in them.
“You think a pig is like what, a delight and a half, when you bring home a new one.” Alicia broke in and waved her hands in the air.
“Most of those animals I saved and I saw you enjoying Bella’s eggs this morning.” Zach shook his head as he looked at Alicia.
Alicia let out a grunt.
“Now, see you even sound like a pig.” Zach laughed at his attempt at a joke and kept prodding Alicia with pig sounds only to have everyone laugh more at him.
“You’re despicable!” Alicia threw a small pillow at Zach.
“Hey, you’re going to scare Loretta!” Zach yelled holding what looked like a guinea pig.
“What the hell is that? A rat.” Alicia stood in front of him.
“No, this is Loretta,” he replied defining her name and holding the black and white animal up so Alicia could see it. “She is a good guinea pig.” He coddled the animal.
“It looks like a rat and if I catch it in my room, I’m killing it!” Alicia warned stomping off.
“Not if she bites off your hands first…or your head! I have trained her!” Zach yelled towards the darkened kitchen.
“Shut up!” Alicia’s voice echoed back
The room was silent except for the singing from the movie and Zach who baby-talked to Loretta, the guinea pig.
“Well, that was enlightening, especially for our guest who knows very little about us, except that we have an array of animals and if they go in Alicia’s room, she kills them,” Claire said clicking off the movie.
“That’s O.K.” I smiled and looked at Claire. She was being so nice and it was welcoming to have someone consider me that much. “I like guinea pigs.” I leaned over and petted Loretta. Zach smiled like he was showing off his own baby.
“If we are leaving for Bimini in the morning, we should really rest up.” Ian clicked off the floor lamp that was beside him in the corner of the room.
“You’re right. Hey Claire, do you mind taking care of the chickens tomorrow morning,” Zach said cradling the guinea pig.
“No.” She sighed and took the empty bowl of popcorn into the kitchen. “But don’t bring back any more.”
Gabe talked to Ian for a moment and looked my way in a quick glance. Claire excused herself followed by Zach.
“Waiting for an escort to your room?” Gabe asked with
a smile.
“Am I going with you tomorrow?” I looked at Gabe then at Ian who lingered putting away a book.
“It is essential that you go with us, you’re the Receptor. You are going to guide us to the sender.” Ian stepped behind Gabe and gazed at me with his icy blue eyes.
I only stood overwhelmed with my sudden responsibility.
“Me? But, I don’t know how to do that.” I looked between them as Gabe only gave me a sympathetic look.
“Well, how did you receive the message?” Ian asked as if I knew how it all worked.
“I don’t know, it just happened, I didn’t try anything,” I replied.
He shrugged his shoulders. “Then, maybe that is how it will come to you again.”
Ian left the room and Gabe gently wrapped his arm around me.
“Look, I can’t even imagine how you feel right now, but I trust you Em. You will do fine and Karinna will get you started, she has taught many Receptors.”
“So why don’t you use a more experienced one?” I asked as Gabe looked away.
“Because they are not around here, you are the closest one.” His words echoed with an underlining gloom as well as hope.
“Then, I will do the best I can.” I wasn’t sure of what my best was, but I felt I had to say something reassuring.
I tossed and turned that night until the sun broke the night sky like a knife. The rain had gone and replaced with brilliant sunshine.
A knock came to my door and it was Karinna holding a dark suit on a hanger. I let her in and she hung it on a hook on the closet door.
“What is that? Are you coming too?” I asked.
“No, only you, Gabe, Ian, Zach and Alicia are going. They’re just about done preparing and you are a little late.” She looked at me with a slight warning of her blue and green eye.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I should have asked.” I ran into the bathroom wiped my face and fixed my hair and just about forgot to brush my teeth.
“It’s alright. Instructions should have been given to you, especially since this mission is important.” I took a deep breath as butterflies filled my stomach.
“I know, Ian said I have to find the person who sent the message.”
“Yes and it will be easy for you believe it or not. It will come to you on its own, don’t force it and remember to listen to your surroundings; they are talking to you all the time. All the elements can carry messages and all you have to do is relax and listen to them.” She handed me a pair of black pants just like Gabe’s, only made in a smaller size and a t-shirt of silky black material. “Here, you will wear this so you can blend in with the rest of the Blackbirds.” I didn’t think myself as one of them and looked at the uniform with uncertainty, Karinna only smiled a pushed it closer to me.
I took it and Karinna motioned with her hand for me to go put it on. Everything fitted me well, like it was custom made. I looked at myself in the mirror. I didn’t look like me anymore. Another girl had taken over, and she looked as intimidating as a big black spider and as scared as a lost kitten.
“Ah, yes, very nice.” Karinna looked pleased. “You will do just fine and remember to follow your instinct. There is nothing else I can tell you to do but to trust yourself.”
When I got downstairs I could hear voices coming from the kitchen. I tightened my arms across my chest, and just like a frightened kitten I tiptoed hoping to not be seen. Karinna said she had to go and talk to Abe before we left and bid me farewell as she wouldn’t be here when I got back. I thanked her as she glided down the hallway like some otherworldly specter.
Somehow, I couldn’t elude Gabe’s senses. He turned around and looked surprised. He then smiled and came over to me. I felt weird wearing identical clothing.
“You look…” He stopped and for the first time lost for words.
“Please don’t say weird.” I interjected.
“I wasn’t going to say that.” He shook his head.
Alicia shot me a look as she walked by with a black duffle bag. Her shoulder bumped against mine and she mumbled an apology before fading into the other room.
Gabe watched her and looked like he wanted to say something.
“Are you sure I have to go.” I hoped something had changed. “Can’t I do that Receptor thing here and use radios or something to talk to you?” I tried to make up a scenario to something I didn’t really know about.
“Radios can’t penetrate the passage and the closer we get the easier it is to find the Sender,” Ian came from behind Gabe with a pack on his back and holding something that looked like a small pin. “Here, this is so we don’t lose you.”
The oval shaped crystal gleamed with many different colors and was about as long as my little finger. He unbuttoned one of my pockets and pinned it on the inside so it was hidden. He then took from his pocket what looked like a cell phone that flipped shut.
“O.K. Got you.” He confirmed.
I opened the pocket to see the glistening stone. “A broach is going to keep me from getting lost?”
“Or stolen, Receptors bring good money on the black market,” Zach said in a matter-of-fact tone.
“What?” I whispered.
“The stone is a locater and don’t worry, I won’t let you out of my sight.” Gabe stood in front of me. His eyes were filled with an unspoken promise that I felt he would do anything to keep me safe.
“If she doesn’t work out, can we sell her?” Alicia came back in and laughed at her own jabbing comment.
“There will be nothing of the such, you, all of you, are on a mission!” Abe’s voice boomed through the room that got everyone’s attention. “This is serious and to be taken that way. All of you are a team and look out for one another. Understand?” We stood like statues as his eyes met each of ours. No one said another word until Abe had everyone gather around the table.
“You should return by tonight and if no message is heard, then return assuming it was a fluke or one left over…a long time ago. Be gone and be safe.” Abe’s words were quick, but there was something deeper in them, an unspoken understanding between the Blackbirds.
Ian and Zach led the way outside and across an open grassy plateau that was like a stage to the beautiful sea scape that surrounded us. A white fence ran along the green grass in the distance. Suddenly two horses, both white, ran alongside us and Zach went up to them, petted both on the nose, and then joined us again. They watched him with the deep green as the background to their striking white coats.
“Those must be Zach’s, they are pretty.” I pointed at the two frolicking horses as Gabe walked beside me.
“I got those a few years ago, they were abandoned and starving. I found them in the hillsides of Meropsis and their mother must have died, they weren’t very old when I brought them here and they grew up strong and healthy.” Zach walked beside Gabe and me as he told us their story.
“That is really kind of you,” I said.
“One is mine and the other is Alicia’s.” Zach raised his voice so Alicia could hear him and then just like an adolescent boy; he smiled at her in a teasing way.
Alicia stopped and turned, the taunting worked very well on her. “I am not riding some animal with you on the beach at sunset. So get that idea out of your head!”
“I didn’t say anything about beaches or sunsets, but if you…”
“Stop it Zach!” Alicia walked faster as Zach ran behind her until they reached a large building.
“Are they always that way?” I whispered to Gabe.
He gave a small laugh. “Most of the time, it keeps it interesting that way.”
A large plane sat in the hanger along with two other smaller ones. Gabe, Ian and Zach looked the plane over as Alicia went inside and loaded the backpacks inside. I offered to help which she only shook her head no. I stood outside and waited for Gabe to tell me to get in.
“Are you ready?” Gabe asked as everyone got inside.
>
I looked at the monster of an airplane with its large propellers and then back at Gabe.
“No, but I want to find who sent the message.”
Inside were rows of leather bound seats, tiny windows and lots of dials across the front panel of the cockpit. Gabe told me to sit down and buckle up as Alicia sat across from me. I hoped the ride would be quick, not only for the sake of riding in an airplane, but the uncomfortable closeness that webbed between Alicia and I. She then opened a small book that looked like a journal. I didn’t want to stare too much so I looked towards the cockpit.
“I am helping Zach get through the passage and then I will be back,” Gabe said as Ian sat beside me.
Alicia sat immersed in her own world and Ian with his dark hair that nearly matched his shirt, sat beside me, tilted his head back and closed his eyes. I sat and with my arms wrapped around me as the plane vibrated and began to taxi down the long runway.
Once in the air, I looked out the small window at the island slowly fading in the distance. Clouds began to surround us, until we were immersed in a thick, depthless, yellowish glow.
I continued to look out the window trying to catch a glimpse of something.
“We are in the passage and it is remarkably smooth,” Ian said catching my attention. “Not like last time.”
“I kind of remember getting bumped around a lot.” I looked out the window again. “So, this is called the Bermuda triangle? From the few things I’ve heard the whole area is like a mystery…planes get lost and ships go missing. This is where we are, right?” I asked as Alicia only cleared her throat and raised her eyebrows, but didn’t look at us.
“Well, sort of…it is kind of hard to explain.” Ian looked away as if searching for a good answer. “A lot of planes and ships have wandered into the passage, but the passage is supposed to reject them, send them back with only a wild story. Sometimes it doesn’t and then they become lost to where no one knows. The passage we can navigate with our special instruments, but if it opens at the wrong time, for whatever reason, it can draw in whatever is close. It is almost like a black hole in space and is like an entity of its own. And as far as it being the Bermuda triangle, it is simply a large passage.”
I shook my head and hoped we didn’t get sucked into a black hole.
“…expecting the Wicked Witch of the West to fly by soon? I bet that’s what you thought this would all be like,” Alicia suddenly said as I twisted my head from looking out the window to meet her dark eyes.
“No…I…” Suddenly my ears filled with a humming. It was a message.
I closed my eyes and thought of what Karrina told me. I tried to relax, keep in tune with my surroundings and listen to the voice like they were standing in front of me.
“Emily!” I heard Ian call my name.
“I’m fine,” I said in a calm voice.
The humming slowed and a man’s voice came in broken segments at first, then suddenly loud and clear. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the voice.
“The Alfheim are here, turn around…go back!” The voice grew louder. “Do you hear me? It’s a trap!”
The message was loud and took me by surprise. It was like a radio on full blast that I didn’t know how to turn down. I took a deep breath and pushed it away.
The humming ceased and the echoing voice faded. I gripped the seat and took in deep breaths like I had been holding my breath.
“Emily, what did they say?” I could hear Ian’s voice in my ear.
I sat still, looking forward and frozen in a trance that I tried to shake off.
“It’s a trap,” I said. “The Sender warned me, we are headed for an ambush.”
Ian and Alicia looked at each other with grim faces. I was going to ask them about turning around, when a pain shot through my head. I pressed my hands to my ears as the pain faded quickly to my relief.
Then, something liquid trickled down my lips that was warm and had a metallic taste to it. My first thought was that something in the plane was leaking, until I wiped it with my hand and realized it was blood.