Anima's Conquest - Book One: Chapter 1

Alina listened to the soft sound of rain against the large window of the dimly-lit dining room where she and Brian sat.  He watched her with a placid look on his stubbly face as she worked steadily on an English exercise out of a textbook – one of many books he had given her to study from since her move to Pennsylvania ten years ago.  Periodically, her face would take on a preoccupied expression and her eyes would drift around the room, looking at the tall bookshelves on which large amethyst crystals and sculptures of angels (true to Biblical descriptions – elongated, clawed, with many eyes and many wings) served as book-ends, or at the bag of gifts she had placed at her feet.   She sighed quietly and played with the silver snake ring on her index finger, moving it up and down with her thumb.  

“They’ll be down here soon,” Brian stated.  “I think Brenda’s havin’ trouble getting out of bed.”  He leaned back in his chair and rested his hands behind his head.

“Will Ms. Meredith be with them?” Alina asked, tapping two fingers on the table.

“No.  She’s too sedated.”

Alina frowned and pushed the bag of gifts under her chair with one foot.  “Well, that is no way to spend the day.  How long you make her sleeping under this medicine? Do you think of how that is for her?”

Brian snorted and gave Alina a wry smile.  “I guess ya don’t know much about what normal teenagers consider a good time, then.”

Alina gritted her teeth and slumped forward towards Brian, glaring up at him from under her eyelashes.

Brian tossed his arms up beside his head.  “That was disrespectful of me - sorry.  Listen, if she weren’t sedated, Brenda’d probably be in the hospital now, or worse. We had one of our own die on us last week- remember that lady, Nora Corbin?  From the astral projection training group you led a few months back? She died after Ms. Meredith tried to give her Sight.  Thought she was ready, but she wasn’t.  Bled out into her brain just from one touch.  It’s unfortunate how little we’ve been seeing of Meredith, but that’s just how it has to be,” Brian explained.  “The world’s not ready for what it needs.  It’s sad, but true.  And to make matters worse, her powers are too strong anymore, she can’t control ‘em. But, hey, that’s why you’re here.”

Alina sulked and fidgeted with the fluorite pendant she wore around her neck. “And she will just be like this? Sleeping, until you bring her to me? She will just wake up in strange house, and that’s it?  How can we do this thing to the one who will lead us through the merging of the worlds? …Do you even really believe?”

Brian shrugged and scratched his head, mussing his stiff, dishwater-blond hair. “Like I said, ’s just how it has to be. You yourself have never hesitated to remind us all of how dangerous the Zelishem can be to the uninitiated, how difficult the bridging between their world and ours’ll be, as well as how difficult it was even for you to train yourself to understand their workings and resist the jarring of their energy with your own as a human. We’re just trying to mitigate that danger, and the drugs are the only thing that’ll dial down that energy enough that we can keep our wits about us.”  He paused.  “Also, don’t forget your articles. Ya still keep doin’ ‘at. And after how long?”

              “Right, right, the articles.  She will wake up in a strange house,” Alina muttered bitterly as she stared off into space, her mind clouding over with concern for Meredith.

              The sound of footsteps on the stairs broke her out of her reverie.  Alina closed her textbook and looked up to see Richard and Brenda Silva, as well as a third individual – a tall, bird-like, tan-skinned man with messy black hair whom she had never seen before.  Her upper lip curled up involuntarily when she looked at him, and her face tightened into a wary expression that she forced herself to flatten out as he and the Silvas approached.

              “Hello, Richard, hello, Brenda.  I am sorry, I do not know your name,” Alina said, looking at the unfamiliar man and hesitantly extending her hand.  “I’m Alina—“

              “David Abernathy.  Pleased to meet you, Ms. Galenko. I know exactly who you are and I have heard many good things,” the man said stridently as he gave her a firm handshake and a toothy grin before sitting down at the table.

              Alina tilted her head up.  “Oh, so you are David.  I have heard about you as well, I believe.  You’re the one who, ah…”

              Richard turned his head towards Alina.  “He’s the one who confirmed the presence of non-human DNA in Meredith.  He just got back from doing some evangelical work for us out West.  Thanks to him, more people will be ready for the merge.”

              “I see,” Alina muttered, pursing her lips.

              “Oh, please don’t worry, Alina.  We had no doubt in your conclusions about Meredith. It’s just that other people might have wanted to see something a bit more, well, concrete,” Richard explained.

              “I have only the utmost respect for your intuitive ways of determining such conclusions, Ms. Galenko!  I wish I were the same way.”  David’s shrill voice, as aquiline as his appearance and movement, reverberated through the room as he spoke.

Alina offered him a melancholic smile and pushed one of her thick braids behind her shoulder.  “Well, however it is you serve us, it is how you serve us.  It is not a question of how you wish you were.”

David kept silent and crossed his arms.

“Anyway,” Alina continued, looking back at Richard and Brenda.  “Brian tells me Ms. Meredith developed faster than you believed she would, and this leads to some misfortunes.”

“Right,” Richard replied.  “We expected she’d begin her transformation at the age of 20, but it seems she’s, well, precocious.  It’s more than she can keep up with, let alone anyone else.”

“I am prepared to help, you know this,” Alina stated.  “Where is she? Let me see her.”

Brenda leaned forward in her seat with her elbows on the table and her weathered, flabby cheek resting against one hand.  “Listen, Alina.  She can’t live here with us anymore,” she creaked.   “She can’t be around ordinary people like us,  you know - people without your kind of training? The real, natural kind of training, no shortcuts, if you know what I mean? I’ll get right to the point, prepare your space as soon as you get back there tonight because we’re bringing ‘er to you tomorrow. ” She stared at Alina, her dark-circled eyes wide and anxious.  

Alina’s mouth fell open for a moment.  “Of course.   I should have known.  I clear it the room already, a long time ago, when I first come here.”  She sighed and smiled, without realizing she was doing so. Brenda forced a reciprocal smile and turned her face to the window.

“We just wanted you to meet David beforehand.  He’ll be taking her to you.  She’ll be asleep, but, in the event that she wakes up, we believe he’s the only one other than you who could survive over an hour with her in a tight space with his mind in one piece at this point in time. In addition, we know how you’d feel about a stranger showing up at your doorstep,” Richard said.

“I see.  Well, that was very considerate of you,” Alina breathed, wondering to herself if David’s mind was in one piece to begin with.  

Richard nodded.  “Is your living situation still satisfactory?”

“Ah, yes,” Alina answered.  “Though, do you mind if I put more plants to the yard?”

“Of course not.  Do whatever you want.  It might be my property in name, but it may as well be yours by now.”

              “Thank you.”

              Richard cleared his throat.  “We are on the verge of a massive shift in consciousness, but we can’t achieve it unless we all work together.  Otherwise, everything we know and have worked for could be destroyed.”

              Alina closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her expression perfectly blank.  “Yes, I know.”  She paused and bit her lip, folding her hands together.

              “What is it?” Richard asked her.

              “May I, ah…” She inhaled sharply.  “May I see Ms. Meredith now? Please?”  Her eyes were wide and she held her mouth open slightly as she waited for a response.

              Brenda glared at Richard.

              “I’m sorry.  You’ll see her tomorrow,” Richard replied.

              Alina cast her eyes at the floor and reached down to pull the bag she had brought out from under the chair.  “Give her this, then, please,” she said, holding it out towards Richard.

              “I will,” Richard said with a smile as he took the bag.

              Brenda continued glaring at her husband.  “I’m goin’ back to bed.  I can make it back up there myself, so if you guys have more ya needa discuss, you can do that.”  She pulled herself up out of her chair and dragged herself back up the stairs, leaning heavily on the banister.  Without a word, Richard hurried after her.  David stared in their direction with a pensive expression on his face.

              Brian placed a hand on Alina’s shoulder. “Think that’s our cue to get goin’. Is there any more shopping you need to do while we’re here?”

              She shook her head.  “It is raining.  Just take me home, please.”  A warm smile spread across her face as the reality of Meredith’s imminent move sunk in. “Ah… perhaps we should pick up some extra food?”

              Brian nodded firmly.  “All right, then.”

              David turned back towards Brian and Alina.  “It was good to see you, Brian.  Very nice to meet you, as well, Ms. Galenko.  I hope we will be able to spend some time together in the days to come, there is so much I would like to talk to you about.”

              Alina raised an eyebrow.  “Sure,” she muttered.  “I am looking forward to getting to know you, as well.”

              David smiled so brightly it looked like his face could split open.  He pulled Alina close to him, despite the woman’s reflexive tensing up as soon as he put his hands on her.  “I will see you tomorrow.  Love and Light.”

              “Uh-huh.   You, too,” Alina clipped.  She forced her shoulders to tense even more until David finally let go of her.

*****
                                               
              Shortly after Brian and Alina left, David stood in the doorway of Richard’s study.  “I still think you should have put me in charge of this.”

              “Didn’t I tell you I wouldn’t have this conversation with you again, David?” Richard growled from his desk, covering his angular forehead with his massive hand.

              “But just look at that woman!  She’s too sentimental, there’s no room for that sort of behavior!  Not with what we’re dealing with!” The younger man crowed.

              Richard stood up.  “Listen.  I realize you have devoted considerable time and self-discipline to tapping into higher states of consciousness.  But - and not to say I’m any different - you’ve come to where you are largely through study. Through theory.  Through the workings of a technical and ego-driven mind.” He narrowed his cadet-blue eyes as he spoke, as if he were sharpening his words enough for them to sink into David’s mind once and for all.  “You lack the purity of intuition necessary to assist with the sort of transformation Meredith will go through.  Think of someone who paints by numbers and references compared to one who paints by inner sight.  The end result could well be the same image, but who has the real skill? Which one of those images has the power to move the soul?” His lips curled into a slight smirk as he stared at David, but there was no hint of amusement on any other part of his face.

              “I see.  I understand.   I’m just worried about our plans derailing,” David explained.  “You know how rebellious Meredith’s been.  What if Alina can’t –“

              Richard waved his hand impatiently.  “Enough! Go check on Meredith!  And Brenda!  Go!”

              David straightened his back and squared his shoulders, swallowing any remaining urge he had to argue with Richard.  “Will do,” he muttered with as firm a nod as he could manage.  He slunk out of Richard’s study and walked across the hallway to Brenda’s bedroom. The door was closed, but he entered without knocking.   The woman gave a lazy nod of acknowledgment, her face sullen and pale as she lay on her bed. “How are you feeling, Mrs. Silva?” David asked in a hushed voice that was somehow no less piercing than how he sounded at full volume.  He stood over the bed with his hands clasped politely between his hips.  

              “I’ll be fine. I’m fatigued, you know? I hope I’ll last ‘til Mer leaves an’ that’ll be the worst of it, worst’ll be over once she’s gone, I hope” she slurred, turning towards him.  “I feel sorta pathetic,” she said, giving David a half-smile. “I wish things could’ve been normal, that I could’ve had a daughter I could sit in the same room with without some kinda bad reaction.  An’ this fog an’ fatigue?  It never really goes away, not even when she’s asleep. ‘S’like the drugs just weaken her.”

              David smiled, his amber eyes filling with intensity. “Well, those who bring about the most profound changes must sacrifice something.  You were prepared for this from the beginning, weren’t you?”

              Brenda gave no response.  Her eyes were glazed over, locked on the dim light fixture that bathed the room in a sickly yellow glow, and her mouth hung open slightly.  David gave her a gentle shove.  “Mrs. Silva!” he shouted.  Brenda shuddered and gasped, then blinked a few times.  “You had some kind of staring episode,” David said with concern.  

              Brenda’s round, hazel eyes widened as she weakly gripped her sheets.  “But… she’s not even anywhere around me, she’s all the way down in the basement.”

              David pressed a finger to his chin.  “You’ve most likely suffered some damage to your nervous system from the last time you had to spend time with her.  With some time and effort, I could possibly synthesize a drug that could reverse some of these effects.”

              “If we’ve got that kinda time,” Brenda sighed as she turned over to the wall, wrapping her arms across her narrow chest. “Please go check on Mer.  I’ve got a feeling she’s wakin’ up.  An’ turn that damn light off on your way out.”

              David nodded and did as he was told.  He made his way into Meredith’s room – a room that had fallen into disarray.  She was sprawled across her bed with the sheets crumpled at her feet.  She was fully awake, yet unmoving – she breathed slowly with her eyes fixed on the ceiling.

              “Looks like you need another dose,” David said.

              “Looks like you need to go fuck yourself,” Meredith slurred in response.  “I mean, come on, look at me.”

              “Well, right now, if you’re even awake, it’s not enough. Listen, you won’t have to go through this for much longer.  I will be bringing you to Alina tomorrow.  You’ll be staying there until she gets you under control,” he explained as he approached Meredith’s nightstand and pulled a bottle of white, rectangular tablets from its top drawer.  He opened the bottle and removed six tablets, placing them in Meredith’s pale hand.  “Go on, take them.”

              The teenager complied with a groan, cringing at the bitter taste of the pills.  “You all should’ve just sent me to her after what happened with Nora instead of wasting all this time.  Or, hell, I dunno, after Mom started getting sick.  You all keep telling everyone I’m their salvation, I’m some sort of guide, but look what’s happening,” she droned.  She tried to stand up, but she swayed on her feet and fell back onto the bed, panting quietly.  “And the worst thing is that you and Dad are making them pay.  Fucking bullshit,” she growled as she rolled over and sunk her face into her pillow.

              David grinned and spoke soothingly.  “Well, you’d pay to survive what will essentially be an Apocalypse, wouldn’t you? We just need time to iron out the kinks.  Nothing can be perfect, not even a universal ascension; not even a union between the mundane and the sublime.  Be patient with yourself, dear Conduit.”  

              Meredith turned her head back towards David and grumbled under her breath as her long, unwashed black hair flopped across her face. “Get out of here.  That’s an order from your so-called savior.”

              David coughed.  “I’ll be back in about an hour, once this round of pills kicks in.  I’ll need to do one last round of lab work on you before you leave to live with Alina.”

              “Right.  Get out,” Meredith said gruffly as she sat up as straight as she could and stared David in the eyes.   David felt his muscles tighten involuntarily.  

            “You do know I can resist that, right?” David sneered.

            “Only to a certain degree.  I can see your neck muscles twitching.  But, hey, if you refrain from pissing me off, you can avoid the effort of having to resist anything at all.  Sound good?” Meredith said with a lazy smile as her eyelids grew heavy.

            “Right. I’ll be back in an hour,” David repeated himself and slipped out of the room.