It was then that the big steel door, the one she had entered through seemingly ages ago, the one that had not been able to stop the stranger from coming in, swung open once again.
'That'll be quite enough of that now, old timer. You've caused enough pain.' Nancy, it was Nancy. Violetta wanted to scream for her to get away, but could not.
'Ah,' the stranger said, 'my old friend the witch.'
'Spit on your friends! I ain't no friend of yours. We go back a long ways, but man, I done had jus' about enough of you. So it seems like it's time for me to send you back where you belong again.' Nancy's voice was deep and strident and full of warning, but still somehow comforting. To Violetta, it sounded like there was no doubt Nancy could get rid of this man, like she was in charge, and there had certainly been a change in energy in this room, all of it feeling like it shifted to that heavy door, and to the woman who stood inside it.
'Now,' Nancy said, 'you take that hoodoo of yours off my girl so you an' me can go round and round again.'
Violetta was fading—finally—and fading fast, she could feel it. Still, she thought she could feel the pain let up just a little. It might have been a figment of her frazzled imagination or wishful thinking, but... she didn't think so.
'You know,' the stranger said, 'your old swamp nigger magic won't work on me now. I'm too powerful by far, and you know it.'
'Oh, there you go with that nasty mouth of yours,' Nancy said, 'seems something never change. I'll tell you, though, this old swamp nigger's got a few tricks left up her sleeve yet, old timer.'
'Stop calling me that!'
Suddenly the pain disappeared from Violetta's body—at least the sharp, immediate agony—as the stranger turned his attention to Nancy. Violetta now found herself with enough strength to lie over on her side and curl into a tight ball, but no more than that. She wanted to watch what was happening between Nancy and the stranger, but she was completely sapped of strength, and while the agony had left her for now, her insides still burned white hot. She thought if it did not stop soon, she'd burn alive from the inside out.
Violetta had presence of mind enough to notice she was facing the staircase leading to the second level, the staircase that would have been a likely enough escape route minutes ago if she had only listened to Katie, who had died anyway trying to help Violetta get away. She saw that almost-hero now, her head lying near the bottom of the stairs, eyes rolled back, tongue lolling, in a pool of blood. And strangely, just above it, she saw someone standing there.
Maddalena.
Apparently that man was focused only on Nancy now, his back to Violetta, because Maddy put an index finger to her lips when she saw Violetta's eyes move to her. There was no way for her to know that Violetta could not have said shit even if she had wanted to, and Violetta supposed that did not matter. In this moment, for once in her life, she would be the demure and quiet little miss, something she had not ever been before. Maddy began to step toward her, bowing slightly to check on her, when she noticed Katie's body there. Violetta's heart just about broke for the look on Maddy's face.
That's right, Madds, another one lost. Still think you can do this all on your own?
She pushed the nasty, hurtful thought aside as she watched Maddy swallow her sorrow and look away from the body of her former lover. But something passed over her face, a kind of dark and bitter cloud, and Violetta did not in any way envy the man or creature on the receiving end of that. The very air in the room was absolutely crackling with energy... or was it magic? Or were they one in the same? Regardless, even through her hazy, faded and burning mind, Violetta could feel a force in this room the likes of which she had never experienced, and it seemed to be encircling a single pinpoint of space. Space that was currently being occupied by the sea-smelling stranger.
She smiled. Even in her agony, she smiled. So this was how it was, this was the big family secret. Power and protection from on high. She closed her eyes, willed the burning pain back to a void in the very farthest recesses of her mind. It would not disappear entirely, and certainly would come back to eat her up later, but for now she knew she could push it away, make it secondary. And with the pain secondary, she could focus on that crackling charge of energy in the room, focus on it and become a part of it. Somehow she knew she could be a part of it, as if it were a viable, living thing, calling to her. And when it called, she answered.
And the man—the powerful and dangerous thing that had hurt her so badly, the monster that had ripped a girl's head right off her shoulders without even touching her—screamed.
It charges toward him from seemingly all directions; even, by the gods, from the injured one on the floor, the one he has damaged badly, the one he has poisoned with the bane of his existence and his magic. They have risen to their destinies, joined together in a circle of power and turned it inward on him. It hits him like a wall of stone, drains him of all that he is, all that he has.
Even still, he laughs. He laughs because they've all had to work so hard to defeat what is not much more than a puppet, a bag of land meat. If they have to work this hard now, imagine when they meet him face to face...
Chapter 18
'Maddy? Maddalena, are you with me?'
'Yes.'
'Are you scared?'
Maddalena opens her eyes and gazes back at the lightly freckled and slightly bemused face gazing back at her.
'Yes,' she answers.
'Don't be—'
'—you're telling me don't be scared,' Maddy says, 'which is stupid. It's like telling someone in a high place not to look down.'
They are seated cross legged across from each other in the store. It's dark and cool here, even in the summer afternoon. Between them, a hand-carved wooden bowl half full of clean, clear water, five lit candles surrounding it. Lying on the floor at Lauren's knees, a large book bound in leather and a knife that looks wickedly sharp. These are not at all unusual objects to be found in the store, but all together like this, they are a bit off-putting. Especially that knife.
'I'm here with you, Maddy, we're going to do this together, okay? You just have to remember that I love you.'
Maddy nods and keeps her eyes focused on Lauren, who begins flipping through the large book. Maddy takes a deep breath through her nose, releases it through her mouth, a basic trick of relaxation and concentration Lauren had taught her in the weeks preceding, and she is amazed by how well it works. She can feel the room charged with energy, her senses heightened, even the little hairs in her nose seem to be twitching. She is scared, but at the same time she is anxious. There is something inside her that needs to be open, used, not ignored.
Lauren stops on a page in the book, which is full of writing in a language Maddy can't understand, full of pictures of various symbols she doesn't know. The pages of the book itself seem to be emitting a soft light aside from that cast by the five candles, just enough to make it easier to read. Maddy thinks this is incredibly convenient, and very thoughtful of whoever infused the book with such power. She meant to ask Lauren who this might be, but didn't think now was the time. And really, did it matter where such an amazing power came from? She thought not.
Lauren waves her hand in a slow circle above each of the burning candles. 'Tell me about these, Maddalena.'
'What? I didn't know there'd be a quiz,' Maddy says defensively.
Lauren replies with a slightly exasperated smile. 'This isn't a quiz, Maddy, this is all stuff you know. There's no grade at the end and no time limit. Just tell me what you already know, deep down, in your secret mind.'
'Okay,' Maddy says, starting her breathing exercises again. 'The five candles represent the five points of the star, which in turn represent the five elements that make up human life.'
'And those are?'
'Earth, fire—'
'No, no, speak the words the way they're meant to be spoken. Asyr'Ryahu.'
Maddy knows there is no translation in English for Lauren's last words, but that it referred to an ancient language, supposedly spoken in some other place in some other time. The words, what few of them Maddy knows, are beautiful, especially coming off Lauren's tongue, but Maddy still has a difficult time believing it's not made up.
'Okay,' Maddy says, 'Fire... ferrasah... water... achit're... earth... embech're... air... amel la... and mind... me'ah. Is that right?'
'It is. Very good. Now hold your hand out to me.'
Maddy hesitates once again because Maddy has picked up the nasty looking knife.
'Maddy,' Lauren says, 'this is necessary. Our blood contains all of those five elements of humanity you said, right? I promise I won't hurt you much.'
So Maddy gives Lauren her hand, and she immediately draws the knife across Maddy's palm, opening just enough skin for blood to ooze from it. Maddy looks at it in fascination for a moment, thinking about the stories, thinking what a wondrous fluid, a living, breathing fluid, carrying nutrients, sustaining life. Why shouldn't it contain the power the stories claimed?
When she looks up again, Lauren is cutting her own palm, then she gestures for Maddy to hold her bleeding hand over the bowl of water.
'In the vessel of fresh water,' Lauren says, 'between the symbols of the five spirit elements, our blood will become one. You understand that as long as your blood is still viable, it is still a part of you, and through the energy of your will, you may make it do as you ask.' She squeezes her hand, drops of blood falling into the clear water and forming crimson clouds. She nods for Maddy to do that same, and she does.
'You understand,' Lauren continues, 'that it is only through your strength of will, your power, that this will be done. I could take two chicks off the street, give them the same instructions, the same equipment, the same time and place and they'd come up with nothing but a bowl full of nasty, bloody water. But you and I, we're not just two chicks off the street, are we?'
'Hell no,' Maddy replies excitedly because, sure enough, she can feel everything Lauren is telling her.
'That a girl. Now tell me you understand and believe everything I've said. Tell me once, and mean it, because once you do you'll never have to say it again. You can never un-believe what you already believe... by the same token, once you go forward, you can never go back. Maddalena, once I show you what I'm going to show you, you can never go back. Do you understand?'
'Yes.'
'Do you accept?'
'Yes, of course.' She feels no hesitation now, only courage. Lauren has taught her this above all.
'And do you believe?'
'Yes, I do.'
As soon as the words are out of Maddy's mouth, the tiny flickering flames of the candles leap into the air, each one reaching a foot or more in length, and then they shrink back to normal size. In the bowl, the clouds of blood begin to form into tiny, spinning crimson whirlpools, and Maddy gasps. They swirl and dive, forming random shapes and patterns and then unforming again on their own. It is like a ballet, and Maddy thinks its beautiful.
'My God,' she whispers, 'are we doing that?'
'No,' Lauren replies, 'not we. You.'
'Now,' Lauren says as the blood trails in the water continue their aerobic routines, 'I'm going to tell you the story of Creation as we know it—by we, I mean my people, magic users, the Guardians as we're called in professional terms.'
'Guardians? Of what?'
'The gateways. Don't worry, I'll tell you all about that soon, for now, let me starts from the beginning.' She looks down at the book. 'In the beginning, there was one true God, and He created the heavens and the earth. Sound familiar yet?'
Maddy frowns at the large, leatherbound book Lauren has open in front of her. 'Is that the Bible?'
'No, not exactly. This book is like... the good Guardians handbook, like the Boy Scout manual. It contains any relevant information a Guardian might need.
'Anyway, our story of Creation starts like any other. In spite of what we know about the universe, and all the other universes, we still believe in one defining force that created it all. Of course, for us it's a more Deist view; we believe God, Allah, whoever, created the universe, wound it up like a watch and then stood back and let it run.'
Lauren gestures to the bowl, and Maddy sees an amazing thing: the blood is now forming into a tiny, dynamic diorama of the universe, with swirling galaxies, twisting and shifting solar systems. It is, at once, the most incredible thing Maddy has ever seen. The picture here is detailed and she believes if she looks hard enough, she can—at this very moment, the miniature crimson picture zooms into one of the solar systems in the bowl, then to one of the planets, earth, and then zooms in closer to the American continent, and then to the United States, New Hampshire, then—
'Oh my God,' Maddy sighs as she looks back at a moving, real-time picture of herself and Lauren, sitting across from each other, and in the bowl, the same picture, which has now become a picture within a picture within a picture. Maddy knows it goes on for infinity, image after image after image, all the same; it makes her a bit nauseous looking into this vortex. She raises a hand and waves it in front of her face, and the red picture of herself does the same. All of them. She laughs nervously.
'Neat, huh?' Lauren says. 'Back in another time and another place, this was a very useful trick for determining enemy troop movements in battle or other kinds of intelligence. The only problems is, it's not very reliable because sometimes the user sees what she wants to see, rather than what's actually there. It kind of relegates this spell to nothing much more than a parlor trick these days, but it's still useful.'
Sure enough, without any prompting, the crimson Maddy in the bowl leans forward and kisses the image of Lauren, and the real Maddy giggles slightly.
'I see what you mean,' she says, and Lauren smiles. 'Please, keep going, I want to hear more.'
'Alright, where was I? Ah, okay, so as far as we know, God is the puppet maker, but not the puppet master. He creates the universe, gives us free will, and then heads out for bigger things, greener pastures and all that. Now, here's where our beliefs diverge from everything we're taught about science, religion, astronomy...
'The amount of energy generated in the creation of the universe, in what's referred to by our scientists as the Big Bang, was enormous and catastrophic, and we believe that residue of the energy from this event was somehow funneled into a single, astral body. Think about it kind of like lightning striking sand, melting it down, fusing it together into a large, solid mass. Only the mass that we're talking about contains the power of the creation of the universe.'
The picture in the bowl changes back now to the overview of the universe. Travelling slowly across it is a single clear bubble of space, an actual bubble formed in the water drifting slowly through the image. Maddy cannot quite grasp what this image signifies.
'I don't understand,' she says, 'what is that?'
'The best I can describe it,' Lauren says, 'is the power of God, formed into a solitary body. In some places and times it's called Chad'Ra, the God rock, or God crystal, others Demash Ari, the Darkstar—like that Crosby, Stills and Nash song, you know? Doesn't really matter what it's called because no one really knows if it actually is either one of those things or not. You see it in the image like that because... well, that's what it is. Everything and nothing, matter and antimatter. It's a real, solid object, we know this because it has left evidence of itself throughout the universe like an asteroid, shards of itself. On the other hands, these shards, tiny as they are and basically broken, are the most dangerous magical objects that we know of. I know none of this makes a whole lot of sense—'
'No,' Maddy says, 'I understand, in a way. It's like religious people trying to describe what God is.'
'That's right. In the end, they know, or they have faith in the fact, that He is something. They just don't know what that something is. I know how frustrated you get with me sometimes while I'm trying to teach you this stuff because I so infrequently give you solid answers, but that's only because I really don't have many solid answers.
'In any case, here's where the story starts to dwell in the land of fairytales. A group of powerful magic users, three of them, actually found the Darkstar, and they harnessed its energy to form the universe as they pleased. Three sorcerers with the power of God in their hands.
'The first, a sorcerer of the light whose interests rested in the technological and intellectual potential of humankind. The second, a sorcerer of the dark, fascinated by the primal and magical side of humankind, its potential as a warrior and survivor. These two sorcerers are, according to legend, who formed the two parallel worlds, so close together and yet so different. Symbiotic in a way, neither one could survive without the other, but always at odds with each other. It's our world and the Otherworld, Maddy. Our world, where technology and scientific thought are flourishing at an astonishing pace. The Otherworld, where magic controls every seat of power, but if you were to show them a Walkman, they'd flee in terror. Do you see?'
And Maddy does see, because the magic of the blood in the bowl has shown her. Yet, even with the visual evidence of all this before her, she has great difficulty believing this story. Still, she thinks to her first day here in this store, walking up behind Jake to find him studying quantum mechanics and parallel realities. Apparently there was a part of science that believed these theories as well. And didn't most religions over the course of history believe in the possibility of multiple universes or worlds?
'What about the third sorcerer?' Maddy asks, trying to focus on the story rather than her own interpretation of its believability. She was certain Lauren was coming to a point, otherwise she would not be telling this.
'The third sorcerer, yes,' Lauren says, 'that sorcerer wasn't interested in the potential of humanity, or in humanity at all. The third sorcerer was interested in the things that preyed upon humans, the creatures that inhabited the void between worlds, and that came to live in the dark corners of the worlds themselves. Some of these creatures, both powerful and magical, well...'
Lauren's voice trails off. For a moment, Maddy begins to see something take shape in the bowl, but it remains insubstantial then disappears into a swirl of blood.
'We'll get back to those,' Lauren says, 'they're part of the reason we're here at all. In any case, three sorcerers that use the Darkstar, the God rock, not to create out worlds, but to define and develop them based on their own personal whims. And when it was done, they allowed themselves to be absorbed back into the worlds they had shaped, to live amongst their people. They say, in fact, that in order for their powers to remain intact but not be abused, they allowed their bloodlines to be divided into five separate and distinctive lines. Which means theoretically there are five people somewhere in the world right now that are distant, distant relatives of the architects of our existence. And five in the Otherworld, and five in the void. Imagine the power they would hold if those fifteen beings were to come together.
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