Chapter 3
The Coincidental Deaths
Except for on the cliff side, dense jungle surrounded the clearing Jared and the others were in.
Hilcar waved everyone toward him as he started walking away from the canyon rim toward a dirt path as wide as a single-lane road that led into the trees. “Follow me, and stay on the path.”
Jared proceeded forward with the group into the lush, tropical foliage. However, as he walked, observing his surroundings, Jared thought it was strange that he didn’t see any animals, and, other than the sound of the group’s footsteps on the dirt, the jungle was quiet and still.
In contrast, Jared’s head was filled with noisy anticipation. With every step he took, he grew more excited, not only because he was interested to find out where Hilcar was taking them but because he knew that the farther he walked, the closer he got to having his questions answered.
The group traveled silently for several minutes until they came to within about 20 feet of an enormous, earthen wall. The barrier went straight up past the tops of the trees, and the trees themselves were at least 15 stories tall. There was no visible passage through or around the wall.
Hilcar stopped, faced the group, and held up a hand. “Wait here.” He turned back around and took a few steps toward the wall.
From high in the trees, a large, gray bird swooped down and flew over everyone’s heads. Jared ducked. At that same moment, the ground surged to his right, just off the edge of the trail, and then a long, thin, tongue-like cord shot out from the bulge in the ground, grabbed the ostrich-like bird, and pulled it underground.
Paul gasped. “What was that?” He pointed at the ground, which had returned to normal.
Gromagan said matter-of-factly, “A jobalich.”
“What’s a jobalich?” Danielle’s voice trembled slightly when she asked.
“Well, you don’t ever want one to get its tongue around you—that’s for sure.” Prienna chuckled. “It’s a scavenger. It’ll eat anything.”
Paul looked around like he was nervous. “Will it get us? Should we run?”
Jared was concerned about the very same thing.
Prienna held up a hand to calm Danielle, Paul, and Jared down. “Just stay out of the jungle and the sky, and you’ll be fine.” She smiled.
Paul gulped. “You mean they can fly, too?” He shot a worried glance into the sky.
So did Jared.
“No, not jobaliches. But, porumfids do,” Prienna explained. “In fact, that creature that just flew over our heads and was eaten by the jobalich was a porumfid. They’re scavengers, like jobaliches, except they won’t eat other scavengers.”
“Somebody should have told that porumfid about jobaliches,” Jared joked sarcastically.
“Yeah, they’re not the smartest of beasts,” Dorn added with a grin and a nod.
After everyone exchanged smiles, Hilcar took a few more steps toward the wall and then turned his head to address the group. “Quiet please. I must get permission from the guards for us to be able to pass.”
“What guards?” Paul questioned.
Dorn pointed at the wall. “Those.”
In front of Hilcar, two huge bubbles formed, side by side, from the wall. They looked like two bubbles being blown from bubble-blowing wands.
As they emerged, they morphed, from looking like lumps of mud the same color as the wall into giant centurions with bald human heads. Their disproportionately large upper bodies—like super strong body-builders’ physiques—were covered in leathery-looking robes that went all the way to their ankles. Also, each sentinel was holding a long, metallic staff with a large, brass ball on top.
In a thundering voice, one guard asked, “What is your request?”
Hilcar calmly stated, “My company and I would like to pass.”
The two towering guards took a wider, more defensive stance, and each guard spread out a pair of large wings to block passage to the wall.
Jared flinched. It looked like the guards were going to attack Hilcar. Jared almost called out for his grandpa to run, but the guard on the left spoke.
“Do you have a token?” he asked.
“Yes.” Hilcar held his hand out to the side. In his up-facing palm sat a small, glowing, white rock.
Jared relaxed slightly.
The guard held out his hand, and the rock shot out of Hilcar’s hand into the guard’s. Both of the sentinels retracted their wings and walked backward. When they reached the wall, they were absorbed back into it.
Jared was fascinated by Teruvisa—the portal, the cave, and the guards. They have some amazing technology here.
Just as Jared wondered what was going to happen next, a slit appeared in the wall from the ground almost all the way up to the top. The barrier melted away until the breach was wide enough for the group of people to enter.
Hilcar motioned for everyone to follow him. “Okay. Follow me.”
When they had all passed the wall, it rapidly closed back up. Overhead lighting extended down a long and spacious corridor with a smooth, metallic-looking, rounded ceiling. The tunnel was probably big enough to drive four semi trucks through it, side by side.
Hilcar turned around and held out his hand. The glowing rock went flying out of the wall and landed in his palm. He closed his fist around the stone and then put it in his robe.
Jared was intrigued by the stone the guard called a token. It must be some kind of key. Hmm... I wonder if I’ll get one.
“Let’s get you to your rooms.” With a silver treyo in his hand, Hilcar pointed down the seemingly endless corridor. “Everyone hold hands... and hold on tight.”
Jared grabbed the hands closest to him—Danielle’s and Hilcar’s.
Once everyone had joined hands, Hilcar pushed on part of his treyo with his thumb. Their human chain began floating, and then they accelerated down the tunnel. The lights above became a blurry streak.
A second later, Jared came to a dead stop. He felt Hilcar let go of his hand, so he let go of Danielle’s.
It must be over, he thought, referring to the ride.
Jared was amazed. He could tell that he had traveled fast but only experienced a slight amount of G-force upon being launched down the tunnel—and only for an instant at that.
I didn’t know I could move that fast, he joked to himself.
Next, he wondered how far he had gone, so he looked back down the tunnel. However, he couldn’t see the other end of the tunnel where he’d started. Whoa!
Jared quickly turned his attention to the room he and the others were in. Upon exiting the tunnel, they had entered a large, circular room. The walls, floor, and ceiling looked like polished obsidian.
There were 12 wooden double doors spaced evenly around the circumference of the room. Each door had an arched top that nearly reached the ceiling.
“First thing in the morning, we’ll take you to the council room to meet the Judges. They’ll begin to answer some of your questions. But until then, we have some rooms prepared for you to stay in.” Dorn pointed to one of the doors to the right. “This way, please.”
Jared was disappointed that he’d have to wait longer for the promised answers everyone kept telling him would come. However, at least he was given a more specific time.
He wondered who the Judges Dorn mentioned were. Their answers better be good. He was only half-joking.
“Judges?” Jared asked as he and the group began walking.
“Yes,” Hilcar said. “They’re the heads of the Council of Teruvisa.”
Well, if anyone can give me good answers, I guess the guys in charge are the best ones to ask.
As the group got close to the double-door Dorn had pointed out, it opened automatically.
Jared wasn’t impressed. All you’d need is a motion sensor and a motor to open a door like that.
They passed through the doorway into a hallway that was wide enough for everyone in the group to walk side by side with room to spare. The walls of the corridor were
metallic and shiny. The floor was made of polished, white stone. Rectangular light fixtures hung down from the ceiling in an intermittent line like the dashed lines on a road. The ceiling was about twice as high as the hall was wide.
As they walked, they passed a few shiny, metallic doors. Oddly, none of them had knobs or handles. However, Jared did notice that one of the doors they passed on the left looked like an elevator door, and, on the wall next to it, there was a kiosk. The touch screen was about the size of a piece of notebook paper.
After walking a few hundred feet down the corridor, they turned to the right and went down a smaller hallway. That passage curved to the left and came to a dead end. On the right, there were three white doors, none of which had handles or doorknobs.
“These are your rooms.” Prienna indicated the three doors. “You’ll find everything you need in them, including some clothes in the closet. Please, put on those clothes when we come back to take you to see the Judges. We’ll be back in about six hours. Now, try to get some sleep.”
Hilcar added, “And remember, do not leave your rooms and wander around. You will get lost.”
Prienna held her arms out wide to Danielle. “By the way, before I forget, welcome to Teruvisa!” She gave Danielle a hug.
Hilcar pushed open the door to Jared’s room, and they said their goodbyes. When Jared entered the room, Hilcar let the door swing shut.
As Jared stood there alone, he wondered what he could do to pass the time. He glanced around the bedroom to see if there was anything interesting.
There were no windows. The walls were made of large, rough-textured, stone blocks. The floor was covered with plush, red carpet. To the right, there was a king-size poster bed with a sheer, white canopy and four fluffy pillows.
The head of the bed was against the wall. Next to it, there was a chest of drawers made out of a dark, reddish wood. Across the room, in front of Jared, there were a table and chair made out of the same cherry wood.
To the left, there were two identical doors. He opened the door closest to him. It was a closet. Hanging inside were a white shirt, a pair of tan pants, and a light brown, hooded robe like the ones the adults wore. On the floor were a brown belt, a pair of brown socks, and brown shoes.
His focus returned to the hooded robe. He was curious as to what kind of material it was, so he reached out and touched it. He rubbed the material between his fingers. The robe had the look of cotton but was light and smooth like silk. Jared assumed that the cloth the robe was made of was particular to Teruvisa because he’d never seen cloth like it before on Earth.
After opening the other door in his bedroom and discovering that it was just an ordinary bathroom, Jared lay down on his bed, trying to take in all the recent events as a slew of questions entered his mind. Where exactly is Teruvisa? Why am I here? What are the Judges going to tell me? How are my nightmares and the vision of the hand tied into all this? How can I find out more about Teruvisa’s technology?
However, the more he thought about all his questions, the more his curiosity turned into anxiety and impatience. Finally, he couldn’t stand it anymore. He had to get out of the bedroom and talk to someone.
I could just go over to Paul’s room for a little while. Jared supposed that there wouldn’t be any harm in that. Maybe together we’ll be able to come up with some answers.
He walked over to the door and placed his hand on it where the door handle would have been if there was one—Hilcar had opened the door earlier by just pushing on it in that general area.
It worked. Jared nudged the door open just enough to peek into the hall. He didn’t see anyone, so he ventured into the hallway.
He sneaked over to Paul’s room—the one adjacent to Jared’s—and knocked quietly. He waited. There was no answer, so he opened the door and looked in. Paul was coming out of the bathroom.
With a loud whisper, Jared called out, “Paul.”
Paul jumped. “Oh, it’s you.”
Jared apologized. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I knocked, but I guess you couldn’t hear me because you were in the bathroom.”
Paul shrugged. “No big deal. I just wasn’t expecting anyone since we’re not supposed to leave our rooms.” He sounded a little critical, but Jared ignored it. Then, Paul got an inquisitive look on his face. “So, what’s going on? Why were you looking for me?”
“Well, I have a lot of questions. And, I was just wondering if you...” Jared paused, still holding the door open.
Paul completed the sentence. “If I had some answers?” He started walking toward the bed.
“Yeah.” Jared stepped in the room and let the door swing shut.
“Well, I don’t think I’ll be of much help, but I can tell you what happened to me.”
“Great.”
Paul sat down on the foot of his bed. “I was living in Mexico with my uncle Mark—”
“You don’t have a Spanish accent.” Jared went over to the foot of the bed, too, and sat down, facing away from the door.
Paul continued. “I went to an American school, and my uncle didn’t speak very much Spanish at home.”
“Then, why does he live in Mexico?”
“I’m not sure. Although, one time when my uncle and I were on a fishing boat with some of his friends, one of them made a comment—something about escaping from police in the U.S.—but I didn’t hear the whole conversation; I was busy reeling in a tuna.
“When I asked him about it, he said his friend was just joking around. My uncle seemed a little mad that I had asked him about it, so I never mentioned it again.” Paul shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“Whoa. A fugitive.” Jared’s mouth hung open.
Paul shot back, “Don’t tell anyone, okay?”
“Yeah, no problem.” Jared waved a hand at Paul and then changed the subject. “So, how long have you lived in Mexico?”
“Since I was about two years old.”
“Hmm.” Jared thought that was quite a coincidence. “Same with me. I’ve lived with my grandpa since I was two.” He paused for a moment, wondering if it could be more than just a coincidence. “So, how did you find out about having to come here?”
“Well, my uncle Mark woke me up, introduced me to Dorn, and then shoved me in a car. All he said was, ‘You’ll be safe.’ Then, Dorn drove us out into the middle of a desert and told me to walk up to a cactus—the biggest one I’d ever seen—and touch it.
“And when I did, it sucked me into it, and... well you know the rest. See? I told you it wasn’t much.”
A girl’s voice interrupted their conversation. “I knew it was your voice I heard out in the hall, Jared.”
Startled, Jared spun around. Danielle was standing in the doorway.
Jared asked, “What are you doing here?”
“Talking. Same as you two.” Danielle pointed at both boys. “Mind if I come in?”
Jared and Paul shrugged their shoulders at each other.
“Sure.” Jared walked around to the side of the bed closest to the door and grabbed three pillows.
Danielle walked into the room. “Thanks.”
Jared tossed a pillow to Paul and Danielle and kept one for himself. The three of them sat down on the floor, facing each other.
“So, what did I miss?” With raised eyebrows, Danielle looked at the boys.
Jared indicated himself and Paul. “We were just talking about where we were before we had to come here.”
“Well?” Danielle shifted her eyes back and forth between Jared and Paul again.
Jared said, “Both of us have lived with relatives since we were two years old. Paul told me that he had been living with his uncle in Mexico. I was living with my grandpa in California. How ‘bout you?”
Danielle tapped her lips with her index finger before answering. “Ohio. I’ve been living with my adoptive mother in Ohio since I was two.”
“Prienna adopted you...” Jared thought about how his grandpa had adopted him. Another co
incidence?
Danielle nodded. “Yep. Except, her name was Emily before all this happened.”
“That’s kind of the same thing that happened to me.” Jared pointed at himself. “My grandpa went by Henry, but then he told me his name was Hilcar.”
Paul interrupted, “Not me. I came here with someone I’ve never met before.”
Danielle turned to Paul. “Dorn.”
Paul nodded. “Uh—huh.”
Jared hesitated giving Danielle and Paul the details of Gromagan’s and his first encounter in his bedroom, but he wanted to tell them that there was someone else he came with that he’d never met before. “There’s also Gromagan. He came with my grandpa and me, but I’ve never met him before, either.”
After a short break in the conversation, Paul said, “I’m not sure if it’s coincidence or not, but it’s strange that we’ve all been orphans since we were two.” He had obviously been thinking along the same lines as Jared.
“Car crash?” Danielle asked.
Jared had the impression that she already knew the answer and wondered, How could she know that?
Paul’s mouth hung open, and he had a surprised look on his face. “Yeah.”
Jared’s jaw dropped, too. He looked at Paul, pondering the startling coincidence. “Mine too...” Was it just a lucky guess? He asked Danielle, “How did you—?”
“My parents were killed in a car accident, so I figured it wouldn’t be much of a stretch.” Danielle remained casual. She appeared to be unaffected by her discovery.
So, all three of us lost our parents in car accidents. Jared wasn’t sure what to make of it and tried to think of some questions he could ask Danielle and Paul to find out what else the three of them had in common.
Finally, Jared shrugged. “Hmm. So far, I can’t see any connection between us except that our parents all died in car crashes. There has to be something else, though.”
Jared felt the urge, for some unknown reason, to tell Danielle and Paul a little bit more about his recent experiences. He looked at both of them as he thought about what to say. “Well... I’m not sure how this plays into it, but for a while now, I’ve been having a recurring nightmare about a robed figure trying to get me. Also, I’ve been having these,” he held up his hands and made invisible quotation marks in the air with his fingers, “visions—as my grandpa calls them—of a hand symbol. Yesterday, my grandpa told me that he knew why I was having those dreams.
“Then, last night—uh, I guess that would be early this morning—while I was asleep in my bed, I was almost kidnapped by someone with pointed teeth. Luckily, my grandpa and Gromagan showed up and chased him away.
“Then, all three of us drove right to Lake Arrowhead and went through the portal.” Jared leaned back against the bed. He was hoping that they had similar stories. “So, have either of you had bad dreams, weird visions, or strange visitors that had anything to do with Teruvisa?”
Paul shook his head. “No.”
Jared looked at Danielle for a response. She seemed deep in thought. Either she didn’t hear him or didn’t want to answer. She must know something—at least more than she’s letting on. I’m sure of it. “Danielle, did you hear what I said?”
Danielle snapped out of her contemplation. “Yeah. Sorry, I was just thinking.” She shook her head. “No, I’ve never seen anything strange like that.”
Jared persisted in his questioning of Danielle. He wanted to find out what she knew but wasn’t saying. “Back on the pier, you didn’t really seem surprised to be here. How did you find out what was going on?”
Danielle looked up and grinned mischievously. “Well, I don’t really know what’s going on. If you remember, I said that maybe I knew what was going on.”
Jared wasn’t satisfied with that answer. So, what does she know? “So then, how come you didn’t seem surprised about all this?”
“Oh, I’m just as surprised as both of you are. But...” Danielle got more serious and looked at both of the boys. She took a deep breath before continuing. “For a while now, I’ve had these impressions—impressions that I could only express through painting and drawing.
“Anyway, my m—uh Em—uh Prienna, or whatever you want to call her, always seemed very interested in my paintings. She would always tell me that some day I would understand their significance.”
“What did you paint?” Jared expected her to say that she had painted pictures of hands like the one from his visions.
“They were just abstracts.” She waved her hand dismissively. “So, I haven’t quite been able to make a connection between my paintings and Teruvisa. But, I’m sure I’ll figure it out.
“Anyway, Emily woke me up and said, ‘We have to talk.’ That’s when she told me her real name was Prienna. She also said that she had a secret to tell me about my paintings and why she had adopted me. She said we’d have to leave right then in order for me to learn about the secret, though.
“After I got past the initial shock of her lying all these years about her name, I felt a sense of comfort. I know that sounds strange but, for the first time in my life, I felt I had a purpose... that something important was going to happen... I didn’t know what it was, but Prienna told me we’d be going some place very special. So, I agreed to go.
“Then, without even giving me time to change out of my pajamas, she drove us to a nearby park, had me walk into a tree, and now I’m here. This whole thing is just so strange. My world has been turned upside down.
“But honestly, I’m glad to be somewhere else.” She sniffed. “Prienna promised me that I wouldn’t feel so... different here.” Tears started to well up in her eyes.
“What do you mean different?” Jared asked, although he knew exactly what she meant.
Danielle sniffed again. “Well... I—”
Paul interrupted. “You were made fun of by the other kids for something, weren’t you?” He didn’t make eye contact with Danielle or Jared.
Jared got goose bumps and a tingling sensation all over. He sensed Paul was going to divulge another connection the three of them had.
Danielle asked, “H—how did you know?”
Paul, with his head still lowered, said, “There were metal detectors at the entrance to my school. Every day I would make the alarms go off. The teachers started making me go around the sensors so that I wouldn’t cause a disruption every time I entered the school.
“But, it didn’t matter. When the other kids saw me coming, they would make alarm sounds. They teased me about being an alien with some kind of mechanical brain in my head that set off the sensors.
“My uncle Mark told me I had a piece of metal stuck in my brain that couldn’t be removed. He said it got there during the car accident that killed my parents.” Paul looked up at Danielle solemnly. “And, I’m guessing Prienna told you that you were in the car when your parents died, too.”
“She did.” Danielle nodded. “And, metal detectors caused problems for me, too—especially at stores. It even got to the point where I didn’t want to go shopping with her anymore because it became a hassle to explain to the security guards and salespeople why I would set off the metal detectors every time we went in and out of a store.”
Jared’s jaw dropped. “Guys, guess what?”
Danielle guessed the obvious. “You too, huh?”
“Yep.” Jared nodded slowly. “Everyone thought I had a metal plate in my head, too. Only for me, it was the security sensors at the exit of the school library.”
Jared remembered the day he came home from school and told his grandpa about setting off the metal detectors after checking out a book and trying to leave the library. He mentioned how the librarian’s aide had to search through his backpack. He was so embarrassed.
After that, Jared’s grandfather sat him down and explained that Jared was with his parents in their car when a truck, traveling in the opposite direction, swerved onto their side of the road. The front of the car was demolished, but, because Jared was in the back seat,
he lived.
Aside from some cuts, the small piece of metal that penetrated his skull and lodged itself in his brain was the only injury he sustained. However, the doctors said Jared wasn’t in any danger. They decided to just leave the fragment in his head instead of putting him through the risks of surgery.
Feelings of sadness welled up in Jared as he thought about never knowing his parents, not feeling like he fit in, and being teased. Jared exhaled and tried to think of something else.
Suddenly, he was overcome by the feeling that he finally had friends that understood him—that were like him. He felt a strong bond forming between the three of them.
Danielle asked, “So, what do these coincidences mean?”
Paul scratched his head. “Maybe we were all in the same accident.”
Jared wanted to find out more about how he, Paul, and Danielle were connected, but he had to admit that Paul’s hypothesis didn’t seem very likely. “How could that be? And, what are the odds of all three of us getting a piece of metal stuck in our heads?”
“I don’t know. It was just a guess.” Paul shrugged.
“At this point, anything’s possible.” Danielle rested her chin on her hand and stared blankly straight ahead.
“Well, at least one thing’s for sure.” Jared, suddenly feeling relaxed and sleepy, lay down on his pillow, with both hands tucked behind his head. “Our pasts are somehow connected, and I have a feeling that our futures will be, too. But, I guess we’ll just have to wait until we meet with the Council to find out.” He looked up at the swirly texture of the ceiling and yawned.
Paul lay down on his pillow. “So, what do you think this place is?”
“I don’t know.” Jared gazed up at the ceiling. “I don’t even understand how we got here. All my grandpa said was that it had something to do with their technology.”
“This is all so unreal. We’re probably just dreaming,” Paul said. “And when we wake up, everything’ll be back to normal.”
“Yeah.” Jared’s eyes were too heavy to keep open any longer—the soft floor and fluffy pillow were too inviting.
He let the possibilities of why they were in Teruvisa, what Teruvisa was, and what else he, Danielle, and Paul had in common drift from his thoughts as he drifted off to sleep. Then, he began to dream.