Back in Atlanta, Elisa and Lola were meeting with Miss Elizabeth to discuss care for the children in Hosea’s absence. Lola sat stone-faced as Elisa and Elizabeth spoke.
“So, just what kind of deal did you make with Matasis?” Elizabeth asked.
Elisa responded, “According to Paul, as long as I agree to do their bidding, the Council agrees not to harm the girls. I’m supposed to meet them at their lodge on Auburn Avenue tonight for the details. I think the Council has something very specific in mind. And, I’m not supposed to have any contact with the girls while this agreement is in place. That’s going to break my heart but I’d do anything for them.”
Elizabeth reached out and took Elisa’s hand as her eyes began to fill with tears. Elisa took a deep breath and let it out as she fought to compose herself.
Lola, who seemed oblivious to the gravity of the moment, smacked her gum and smiled, “The girls will be alright. They are always alright because I bore them and I’m always alright. Plus, you’ll still be able to hang out with me right, since I’m not in the game?”
Elizabeth and Elisa gave each other a knowing look before moving on. Elizabeth laid her hand on top of Elisa’s hand again before asking, “Do you want to say good bye to the girls before you leave? They’re in their rooms reading and getting ready for bed.”
Elisa smiled, “No, I don’t want to say good bye. But, I would like to say good night.” Elisa stopped by Ruth and Sarah’s room first. Both girls were sleeping and Elisa gently kissed each of them on the cheek. Next she knocked and entered Cil and Deborah’s room. She told each of them good night and gave each a hug.
Deborah sensing something was off asked, “Is everything okay, Auntie Elisa?”
Elisa smiled, “Yes, darling. Now go to sleep.”
Outside the bedroom door a very nicely dressed Lola called, “Are you ready to go?”
Elisa replied softly, “Yes.” Somberly, she rose and re-entered the hallway. “I’m ready. Let me grab my purse out of the kitchen.”
Lola, being Lola, demanded, “Hey, I need for you to cheer up so that we can have some fun tonight.”
As they headed for the front door, Elisa stopped for a second and asked Elizabeth, “So, what time is Rob due in?”
Elizabeth answered, “He’s due to touch down around ten so I guess he’ll be here before midnight. Do you want to hang out for a spell so that you can see him?”
Elisa just smiled and then turned to follow Lola out of the door. As she exited, she replied, “Thank you Elizabeth for all you do. Words cannot express my gratitude. I hope to see you again, soon.”
As they walked down stairs to Elisa’s car, Lola pointed out, “I love them kids, too, but I didn’t get all dressed up to sit around talking to a bunch of other women. No offense.”
“None taken,” Elisa smiled. She knew that one of the main reasons Lola liked to hang out with her was because she had a car and money. Elisa could buy drinks when the men were either cheap or absent. Elisa had to admit, though, that when the two of them entered a bar or club, the men typically sat up and took notice. That was a rush for Lola whose self-esteem was often beaten down by the choices she made. In nightlife, Lola found life like she dreamed it would be. Elisa had accepted that Lola was going to live and die as an addict. All she could do was to walk with her so that she might watch over her as she hoped for the day when she might turn a different way.
The destination of choice that night was a club off of Edgewood. It was near the building where Elisa would be attending her first Council meeting. Elisa pulled into an empty lot across the street from the club. As she got out, she sensed the presence besides herself and Lola. Deborah was completely invisible and hiding in the back seat. Somehow she’d eluded detection all the way to the club. Elisa knew that she was a bit distracted but that didn’t fully account for her oversight. This girl certainly had advanced skills to remain hidden from her for so long.
Elisa called out, “Deborah, you can come out of the car now.”
Deborah made herself visible and stepped out of the vehicle with her head hung low. Lola swore and then proceeded to ask, “So, what are we going to do now?”
Elisa gave Lola a look and asked rhetorically, “So, what do you think we should do?”
Lola replied with the question, “Take her home?”
Elisa nodded, “Hey, you go on into the club. Here’s some money. I’ll take Deborah home. It’s not that far away and I’ll be back in twenty minutes. Find a good table for us to hold court.”
Lola took the money and smiled. She sang as she danced across the street, “I’m going to a Go-Go…”
You never want to give cash to an addict but Elisa had only given Lola enough to buy one drink. After watching Lola go into the club, Elisa turned her attention to Deborah. “So, what are you doing here?”
“I don’t know. I saw you and Mama leaving and I wanted to go with you to see where you were going,” Deborah said.
Elisa replied, “Well, you see where we are. No big shakes. I’m just going to hang out with your mama for a little bit. So, let’s go back to the house.”
“Auntie Elisa, may I ask you a question? You know what I can do, but what is it that you can do?” Deborah asked.
Elisa thought for a moment and then smiled and took Deborah’s hand. She led her to a storefront window where the two of them could see their reflections.
“Well, I think you already know that I can read minds. I can do a number of things, but one of the things I can do is particularly special. For the longest time I couldn’t do it, but it’s come back to me of late.”
Elisa stretched out her hand towards the glass and their images dissolved transforming the space into an opening.
“Come, this is a passageway to something very nice.”
Deborah hesitated. The portal surface was murky and had a watery look to it. Elisa took Deborah’s hand and said, “Trust me.”
Deborah exhaled, releasing her fears. With a nervous smile, she followed Elisa into the portal. Instinctively, Deborah closed her eyes. Once on the other side Elisa said to her, “Open your eyes.”
What Deborah saw next could only be described as paradise. She saw a land so lush in foliage that it seemed unreal. Winged creatures flew to and fro. Small four-legged animals scurried about. The air was so fresh, so clean that Deborah could hardly believe it.
“Oh, my goodness!” Deborah exclaimed.
“Yes,” Elisa smiled, “it is breathtaking, isn’t it. The sun here is a large red one, circled by a small white dwarf star and we are so close to them that it often looks like morning even in the middle of the night here. There’s fruit everywhere, plenty of water, and, believe it or not, all the animals are vegetarian.”
“Vege-what?”
“Vegetarian, meaning that animals here don’t try to eat one another.”
“Wow…” Deborah’s mouth remained open in astonishment.
As the two of them walked hand in hand towards a clearing, Elisa continued to explain, sharing her world with little Deborah. In the clearing they found a large rock that they could both sit upon.
Deborah smiled and mused, “I wish I could live here all of the time. It’s so pretty.”
Elisa thought for a moment and confided to Deborah, “Well, it has been discussed. Would you like it if you and your sisters could live here all of the time?”
“Yes!” Deborah screamed.
“Well, let me see what I can do. I would love to have you here, but it’s not just up to me.” Elisa said honestly.
She had once proposed this when it was learned that the Council of Nob had begun operations in Atlanta, but the powers that be in the Circle, the ruling body over the Circle Knights and their Elders, rejected the idea. Although she’d once sworn an oath to obey as a Circle Knight herself, she was this close to going rogue… again.
Elisa looked up at one of the setting suns, as the smaller, brighter one took prominence, “It’s time to go but let m
e show you one more thing. Look over there across the field.”
Deborah stood up on the rock so that she could see and cried, “Ew-wee, is that what I think it is?” as she began jumping up and down.
Elisa nodded, “Yes, it is.”
Back at the portal, Elisa took Deborah’s hand and led her through it back to their world. As they exited the portal, they were greeted by seven cloaked men whose wide hats hid their faces. These were the Seven Warriors of Zi.
From behind them Zi called out, “Toshite moraemasu ka!” and the men parted revealing Zi the Sorceress, Isadora Queen of the Dead, Destry the Destroyer, and Matasis the Deformer. Zi gave a sly smile and commented, “Welcome back, old friend.”
Deborah didn’t know who they were, but she knew that she didn’t like them. She whispered to Elisa, “I can get us out of here.”
Through a forced smile, Elisa told Deborah pointing at Zi, “No, darling, I know this one and the others are my new friends. Although I’m not sure why they’re here now when I’m supposed to meet them at their place at midnight?”
Matasis smiled a sly smile, “That was the plan. But, we ran into your sister Lola at the club and she told us that you were out here with your little friend. So, we came out to look for you.”
“So, where’s Lola?” asked Elisa trying her best to hide her anger at Lola.
“Oh, she met some guy and they went off together to who knows where, but you can imagine can’t you?” Matasis teased, before going on, “Why don’t you come on over now?”
“Well, I need to take the child home,” Elisa answered.
Matasis smiled, “Oh, you can bring her. We won’t bite, since we’re all friends now. Besides the others are already in the meeting hall waiting on us. I was going to introduce you at the end of our meeting but, since you’re here now, I’ll bring you in at the beginning. Then, you can get this little girl home and get back to your evening out. Come on, you’re one of us now.”
Elisa realized that she had to go all in if this game was going to work, so she relented. She took Deborah’s hand and spoke softly to her, “We’re going to go and visit with my new friends for just a little bit and then it’s off to bed for you.”
Deborah told her sisters later that Isadora looked at her like she was a hot cheese burger on the grill, although each time she told the story she inserted a different delicacy: fried chicken, Seven-Up cake, pork chops, and the like. Elisa stepped in between Isadora and Deborah.
Isadora flashed a devilish smile as she tried to intimidate Elisa and Deborah, “I heard that you’re not nearly the talent you were before. I heard that besides your gift with portals, you’re not the woman of legends anymore. I heard…”
Elisa cut Isadora off mid-sentence, “Do you want to try me?”
Elisa’s unblinking gaze remained locked into Isadora’s eyes. After a tense moment Isadora smiled and turned away.
As they walked the short distance across the parking lot from Edgewood to Auburn Avenue, Matasis spoke quietly to Elisa. “Let me give you a tip. I know even though you’re a Circle Knight castaway, it probably still turns your stomach to work with us. You wonder how you can ever trust these people. Well, let me tell you, now. You can’t. I certainly don’t. But, what I do trust is that every entity is true to itself. So, if you know what motivates someone, you’ll know, within certain boundaries, what they will and will not do. So, I suggest you get to know them, disgusting as that might be to you, for your own safety. Since I need you on this project, I say this for my own benefit. My second tip is this – never, ever, try to play me. I know you’re known by many as the Enchantress, but if I ever catch you trying to play with my mind, I will kill you and all you hold dear. Are we clear?”
Elisa nodded. She was well aware that Matasis took his vendettas as eternal matters.
Matasis took a step and then added, “Oh, and you need to lose your sister, Lola. She’s a drug addict and her mind is weak. If I so much as hear her name in association with any Council business, I will kill her myself. Are we clear?”
Elisa answered, “Yes.”
As they entered the Council of Nob’s sanctuary, Elisa felt the magnitude of the bitter pill she’d agreed to swallow for the sake of the girls. The Sanctuary was filled with soulless dark water. Realizing there was no turning back she took a breath and plunged in. She’d never been the best swimmer, and to make things worse, the water in this room was so, so very cold. So, that day, to survive, she went cold as well, to survive the long night’s swim.
Waiting in the Boardroom were Chase the Saint Killer and Poseidon the Space God along with several servants and guards. Elisa had expected to see all of them. Paul had informed her of the Council’s current composition. But there was one more entity present that she hadn’t expected to see that night. His name was Henri. He was a Frenchman and dear friend that Elisa had met many years ago in a lifetime far away before she’d ever tasted the bitter air of The Pit. Henri smiled at her. She exhaled softly and smiled back at him. Henri was a Nightwalker. In fact, he was an ambassador of the ruling Nightwalker clan. Elisa also knew Chase in the life before. She stared at him hoping for some response or acknowledgement, but his stark-white face remained like stone.
Zi entered the room. Seeing Henri, Chase, and Elisa, she commented “Oh, how the worm has turned.”
It was a reference that only the four of them understood. They had come together under very different circumstances many years ago when they were the best of friends. Today, each stood alone.
Poseidon quipped, “What, another dreamer? Don’t we have enough of those?”
Across the universe humans were often referred to as dreamers. The act of dreaming was an experience unique to Earthlings. But among the species on Earth that dreamed, humans were said to be able to see the future, past, and alternate realities through their dreams. Getting consistent results from any particular human in this matter was like chasing the wind. Many aliens, like Poseidon, had grown skeptical of these “dreamers” as if they were some sort of snake oil being pushed by fringe scientists and anthropologists.
Matasis smiled and formally introduced Elisa to the group at large. “Elisa here has some very unique skills which will allow us to reach our goal in a tenth of the time originally estimated. But rather than explaining what she does, let me show you what she can do.” Matasis motioned to the servants to pull out a large full length mirror.
Before Matasis could continue, Chase asked, “So, who is the little munchkin tagging along with her?”
Matasis looked back at Deborah who was hiding as best she could behind Elisa’s skirt. “Oh, she’s Elisa’s little niece, Deborah. She has some talents too, which perhaps we’ll take a look at a little later.”
Elisa cringed as she realized the depth to which Lola had sold them out.
Deborah, frightened by their hungry gazes, instinctively went invisible taking Elisa with her.
Chase quipped, “I guess she couldn’t wait.”
“And she took the big one with her,” Destry commented.
Chase corrected him, “No, they’re both still here.” This was the first inkling that somehow Chase could still perceive Deborah when she was in her hidden mode even though he wasn’t a mind reader like Elisa.
Elisa spoke to Deborah, “Darling, you can let them see us. It’ll be okay. I promise.” Slowly, they both came back into view. Still, Deborah clung to Elisa’s skirt.
Zi plopped down into a chair and demanded, “Enough chatter, let’s show everyone what Elisa can do.”
“Okay, but first we’ll need a volunteer. You will think of a location and Elisa will create a portal to that location.” Matasis said as he looked around the room for a volunteer.
At last, Henri the Nightwalker, spoke up, “I’ll do it. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’ve had the privilege of doing this before on a number of occasions.”
Destry snickered, “Better you than me. I’m not gonna have some dame strolling arou
nd my head.”
Elisa thought, “That would be a short trip.” Besides, since Destry was completely human, his mind was easy pickings. Disgustingly enough, he thought about women constantly. Surprisingly, the woman most often on his mind was Zi who could not stand him or his kind. Maybe that’s why he thought about her so much.
Elisa turned to her old friend, “Okay Henri, you know what to do. Just think of a place.”
Henri closed his eyes and so did Elisa. A moment later, Elisa’s eyes opened revealing two glowing orbs. She reached out towards the long mirror in the front of the room. Its surface became murky, as the storefront window had earlier. But unlike before, the lighting in the room allowed everyone to clearly see images from the other side.
Henri elaborated on what they were looking at. “What you’re seeing there is one of our subterranean ports. And if you look closely, you can see our ships loading your first shipment.” Everyone in the room was impressed. Even Zi, who also possessed limited teleportation ability, was reminded of how talented her old friend could be.
Matasis took the floor again, “Two things to note here. First, you see that Elisa is the rarest of beings which can combine telepathy and teleportation. Anywhere you want to go, on any plane of existence, she can create a portal to get you there. Secondly, unlike others who have created temporal or special distortions in the past, Elisa’s creations are persistent. Meaning, that as long as that mirror remains intact and the exit on the other side is not blocked, you will have a working portal.”
Poseidon sat up. “Can you do that with non-humans as well?”
Elisa answered, “Yes, I can.”
She touched the space god and closed her eyes. A moment later she opened her blazing eyes and reached out with both arms towards the glass top conference table. Immediately, ripples appeared on the surface of the table and an ocean world beneath it. Items sitting on the table began to bob up and down, some of them sinking below. Poseidon reached into the table and pulled back his wet hand. Then inexplicably, he grabbed one of the servants and tossed him down into the portal. Deborah shrieked and Elisa tried to quiet her. Everyone else in the room was riveted peering into the portal as they watched the flailing servant struggle against the gravity of a new world. Holding his breath, he inched his way back towards the portal. But before he could reach it, Poseidon asked Elisa, “So, can you close these just as quickly?”
Puzzled, Elisa turned to him, “Yes?”
“Close it now then,” Poseidon demanded. He was a sadistic creature when it came to humans but he also wanted to see blood on Elisa’s hands.
Elisa looked to Matasis and he nodded for her to proceed. She didn’t want to but Elisa knew that she had to stay in this game. She told herself that for the greater good she had to do this thing. Elisa held Deborah’s face tight against her skirt with one hand as she reached out towards the table with the other. A moment later, there was glass where there had been an alien world. Poseidon nodded his approval.
“I think at last our intergalactic, inter-dimensional Omni Portal is a go as our waterlogged servant can now attest.”
Isadora frowned and cackled, “I was going to sacrifice that one tonight.”
Elisa interrupted, “Matasis are you done with us?”
Matasis gave an ominous, “For now. Be back here tomorrow evening right after sunset. We have work to do. And, you might want to pick up some winter wear while you’re out tomorrow.”
Henri the Nightwalker motioned to Matasis that he was going to escort Elisa and Deborah out. Among the four old friends, Henri had been the late night philosopher. His observations could be striking. Of the battle between French and English culture he would say well before Darwin ever set sail, “The evolution of a society is no less painful than the evolution of a species. Branches must die so that others might live and thrive.” Henri expected that the French culture would come to dominate the world. I can tell you that in this distant future, that was not the case. Rather, it was the language of technology that decided the issue. Additionally, Henri would be sad to know that in this future age Nightwalkers are all but extinct. But Henri, unlike others of his tribe, never had delusions about that.
Henri called out to Elisa, “Madame, s’il vous plait attendre.” He gently offered his arm for Elisa to take. “It is good to see you, old friend. I’m so happy that you escaped from The Pit.”
“Escaped? I know what you mean. But, even when you escape Hell the stench remains, at least as long as you're on this side of the Jordan. But yes, I’m back. In fact, I’ve been back for a minute and, honestly, I’m a little surprised that I didn’t hear from you sooner.”
In truth, Elisa was a lot surprised, but she tried to hide her disappointment as her fingers dug into her arm beneath her long sleeve blouse.
“Yes, I’m sorry about that. Given the tense relationship between the Circle and Nightwalkers since we aligned with Matasis, I just couldn’t risk it politically.”
“Politically, really? I was locked away for nearly three hundred years, and made to endure unspeakable obscenities. So, now, you can’t be seen with me?” Elisa shook her head.
Henri reached out to touch Elisa’s shoulder, “Oh, my Elisa, if only you knew how I longed to see you again. But, since my father became king, my own heart, my own desires, are of no consequence.”
Elisa pulled away a bit with the now sleepy Deborah clinging tightly to her leg. “Oh, I hear what you’re saying, but at the end of the day you’ve abandoned your friends and gotten into bed with Matasis. That’s a hell of a price to pay for blood loyalty.”
“Elisa, I know it’s horrible that we are reduced to doing business with the likes of these. But, the reality of it is that they have the upper hand right now. But, their season will pass just like all the others before. We just need to survive today, do the same tomorrow and all the days thereafter until their star sets.”
“And then what?” Elisa asked.
“Then the knives come out. Assuming Matasis is eventually defeated and these things play out, those in my father’s regime shall be blamed and cast out for our enemies to devour.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
“We do this for the survival of our people today, so that they might have breath tomorrow to curse us.”
Elisa asked, “Gosh, what they’re up to must be pretty awful? I wasn’t in the room long enough to know everything they’re doing, but I sensed enough to know that this thing they are building has a very a very dark purpose. Surely, you know this?”
“Oui, Madame,” Henri answered, “they are building an inter-dimensional portal which they plan to use to permanently open the door between this world and a thousand others. They call it the Omni Portal. It will be indestructible once completed. It will allow easy passage to our world from Poseidon’s world, Isadora’s Oblivion, and …”
“And, the Pit.” Elisa injected.
“Yes, the Pit where you were held all those years and a thousand other dark places you’ve never heard of before. If they are successful in building this, it will mean the end of creation. This is the gateway to destruction. Each being at that table has a particular thirst they seek to satisfy by doing this. And the problem is not just those miscreants in there, but it is who and what they represent. Poseidon not only represents his war mongering civilization, he also speaks for the old gods who were cast out of this realm and now seek to destroy it if they cannot have it. Isadora, Queen of the Dead, leads those spirits who worship death. She sees the creation of the Omni Portal as a means of increasing her empire of lost souls. Zi is the most dominant and influential sorceress in the world and she heads Espérons que des Abandonnés’, an End of Days cult she became involved in around the time you left. Their sole goal is to bring about the end of this version of creation.”
Elisa interrupted, “She still believes there’s no hope for us?”
“Correct, she believes the sooner we can bring about the End of Days, the sooner the righteou
s can claim their place. But, unlike other apocalyptic minded people, Zi does not count herself among the righteous. You may not know about the Destry. They’re new since you were cast down. The Destry leads a society of mercenaries dedicated to the art of war and suffering. So, the idea of starting the war of wars aligns with their theology perfectly. And, then, there is Matasis who relishes long painful deaths. Not only does he lead this group but he has the ability to corrupt others into doing his bidding.”
Elisa lifted Deborah up into her arms as if to leave.
Then she turned to Henri and asked, “So, what’s going on with Chase? There’s coldness about him now, which I’ve never seen before. He wouldn’t even talk to me, his closest friend!”
Elisa had reached out to Chase since her return from the Pit but her requests to meet with him had gone unacknowledged.
Henri paused and then sighed, “I’ve never seen anything more disturbing. Being a former Circle Knight himself and, given what happened, he seems to take the greatest pleasure in killing other Circle Knights. They call him the Saint Killer.”
Elisa understood. Chase’s quest for retribution inspired him. His life as an assassin had numbed him to death; the events of three hundred years ago had given him a target; and his thirst for vengeance made him relentless. Chase was also the most feared assassin in the League of Assassins but he cared little about such statuses. That wasn’t why he killed. He sought out lives to take simply as a statement against those who proclaimed all life sacred. The bitterness resulting from events in the 1700’s motivated him across the centuries.
Henri continued, “He’s never said it to me, but I truly believe Chase is only involved in this because he believes that staging an End of Days event is the only sure way to bring the Elders to the battlefield. He’s determined to make the Elders answer for what they’ve done.”
Elisa gave Henri a knowing look and then shook her head for she, too, had reason to be angry with the Elders.
. “What about you? Why are you really here? Do you think that, in suggesting this arrangement, perhaps, Paul may have been compromised by Matasis? And of all those he could have offered, why did Paul pick you – an alpha-level Circle Knight?”
“I don’t know about that alpha-level business anymore.” Elisa was a shell of her former self and she struggled to do formerly simple things. “But regarding Paul,” Elisa realized that she could only share a version of the truth with Henri. She hated that but too much was at risk to do otherwise, “I don’t know where he is, but one thing is true. I trust Paul when it comes to securing the safety of these babies. And, if I’m the lamb to be sacrificed in the process, I’m fine with that. Plus, Paul was the only Elder who defended my case before the other Circle Knight Elders, despite the political cost of doing so. And I still respect him for who he was back when I last walked this earth.”
Henri smiled, “Yes, those were the days – back in New Orleans.”
Elisa, wanting to get Deborah home, motioned for Henri to follow her towards her car. “Yes, they were. But, in this new age, this new, serious Henri will take some getting used to.”
“That Henri, for century upon century, was a child. But, these events have forced upon me a reality I cannot ignore.”
“For you to become a part of the establishment, these must be perilous times, indeed, in the Nightwalker community.”
Henri belonged to a flavor of the human experience commonly referred to as Vampires. They were a branch of humans that diverged from homo sapiens long before recorded history. There are many misconceptions about them; many of which are promoted by their community for their own protection. First, most of them are not immortal but, relative to humans, they do live for a very long time. Historically, their average life expectancy has been roughly eight hundred years. With modern medical advances that also benefit humans, the modern Nightwalker’s average life expectancy is closer to two thousand years. Pure bloods, like Henri, claim to be truly immortal.
Second, Nightwalkers don’t burst into flames when exposed to daylight. However, they are very light sensitive which brings up the third point. Originating from Europe, during the Ice Age, they lived in caves. Those who survived the harsh conditions and limited food supply did so by hibernating. After the ice receded and wave after wave of humans came up out of Africa, the Nightwalkers could not compete. Homo sapiens did not need to sleep through the winters because of their higher body temperatures. Armed with weapons, they decimated the Nightwalkers while they slept during the cold European winters. For their own protection, the Nightwalkers perpetuated myths and stories in the human community that taught humans to fear them. Actually, with the rise of human commerce, their extended life expectancies and ability to pass for human have allowed the Nightwalkers to amass great wealth and knowledge. Their libraries were the greatest on earth for, unlike so many humans, they loved and thirsted for knowledge. Humans use information to control one another; Nightwalkers use it to uplift each other.
However, some of the stories about Nightwalkers are based in truth. They are an arrogant lot. Most of them look down on humans and think them petty. Nightwalkers do tend to have large incisors. And, they do like to drink blood. That is a holdover from their Ice Age days. They prefer the blood of cattle and sheep to that of humans whom they think are nasty, disease-filled creatures. So, it does beg the question, if they are a part of the Earth’s history, why haven’t archeologists found any evidence of them yet? Well, they have, and lots of it actually. But archeologists refer to them by another name, Neanderthals.
Henri looked intently into Elisa eyes, “And, yet there is hope. We are hopeful that an age of enlightenment is upon mankind such that we can come out of the shadows and reveal ourselves to them within the next two hundred years. The rise of mass media will aid us in this.
But there is another thing. A handful of us, including the king, know about her. ” Henri glanced at the sleeping Deborah in Elisa’s arms. “I know that the circumstances of her birth were not optimal, but her birth may be our best opportunity to bring all three expressions of human existence together. Nightwalker royal blood flows through her veins which means that someday she could make a legitimate claim to the throne.” Henri paused, “Particularly, if she had the guidance of her Auntie. I know I can’t reach out to you, but if you reach out to us, it could work.” Henri smiled slyly at Elisa, “Hey, think about it. I know that you would add a lot our community and to my own house.”
“Your house?” Elisa smiled, turned and walked off towards her car. She looked back over her left shoulder and said loudly, “Bye, Henri…”
This was not the first time that Henri had made a not so sly play for Elisa’s time and affection. This time he’d woven Deborah into his strategy. She too had a good sense of who Deborah’s biological father was but Elisa saw no benefit in becoming entangled in Nightwalker political theater. Still, she was struck how the whole universe could be at stake and this man was still thinking about her skirt. This was not the time.
Elisa’s thoughts raced as she started the car. All the old ways and old gods that tormented men throughout the ages were seeking to stage a comeback. They sought a return to days when demons from the underworld walked the earth and aliens propped themselves up as gods to be worshiped. She had been enlisted to return all humankind to an age of chaos and fear, at best. At worst, it would truly be an end to creation. It confounded her that after all she’d been through surviving in The Pit that she had been chosen to be one of the first to face this gathering storm. She glanced back at a sleeping Deborah and remembered what gave her the strength to leave The Pit. In her lowest moment, her beloved told her of these precious babies. So, even though she wondered just how she might have the strength to make it through all that was to come, looking at Deborah told her that she had no choice.
As Elisa’s car began to pull away from the curb, Henri ran up to Elisa’s open window with his hand extended. “Here, I think this belongs to you.” He hande
d her the red sash she’d left at the café in New Orleans on that last sunny day, three hundred years prior, when she dined with Chase and Henri.