TRANCE, Inc. 18

I stood on the sidewalk as the Uber pulled away from the curb.

"You sure you're good here?" my driver had asked.

"Yeah," I'd answered, pushing open the door. "I'm good."

Now, I turned around to face the parking lot and the strip mall beyond it. Moonlight bounced off the pavement. There were no cars. Shadows draped down from the eaves, like curtains across the big front windows of the Black Dragon Dojo. My breath fogged a little in the chill evening air. It was quieter here than it had been, deeper in the City. And I felt a sense of security, of calm and belonging, that I certainly hadn't experienced in Seth's packed penthouse.

I'd arrived at this place before in moments of uncertainty. The first time, I found it by luck. Then, when I was dealing with Amber's betrayal, I found myself here without much thought. This time though, as the foundation pillars of my life shifted dangerously beneath my feet, I came with a purpose. I was here to recommit myself to the purpose that I had had when I came here at the start of it all.

I would be a man who could protect the people he loved.

"Chance?" A voice with a familiar accent interrupted my inner monologue.

I turned in disbelief. No way...

Terra jogged up the sidewalk toward me, black ponytail bouncing. Despite the coolness of the night, all the woman wore was a pair of dark yoga pants and a black sports bra. She slowed to a stop and I could see her raise an eyebrow. I couldn't tell how long she'd been running, because she wasn't sweating and didn't seem out of breath.

"Did we have a workout scheduled that I was unaware of?" Her tone was light, but the underlying question was clear: What are you doing here?

I laughed softly, hesitated a moment, then shrugged. I had enough to worry about without feeling awkward for showing up unannounced at my martial arts studio in the middle of the night. "Honestly," I said, not hiding my surprise, "I didn't expect to see you. Do you live nearby?" I had to fight the habitual urge to bow slightly in greeting.

The woman brushed a stray hair back from her face, tilting her chin and eyeing me thoughtfully. "Around the block a short way," she confirmed after a moment. "I was just out for some exercise, enjoying the dark and the moon..." She trailed off, as though waiting for me to offer my reason for being here.

Who goes for a run at 11 o'clock at night? I wondered. Then, I realized that the same could be said for people like me who ran at 6 in the morning. "I've been having a rough night." I looked away from the woman and once again out over the empty parking lot. "I came here to... I guess I came to center myself."

We stood in silence for a moment before my teacher took several steps forward and down onto the asphalt. She looked up at the sky, letting her arms fall open by her sides like she was soaking in the moonlight. "Why here?" she asked, not looking around. "Because of all your happy memories of this place?"

"Ha," I laughed quietly. "That must be it."

Then, when she glanced back at me, I tried to come up with a better answer. "You gave me a chance to improve myself when I was way less capable than I am now. I felt like someone who couldn't handle a single thing, who couldn't even stand up for the people he cared about, and yet you were willing to guide me in a new direction. Even in the last month I've become a totally different person. That's how quickly things changed for me, and you helped me make the change in the right direction." I chewed my inner cheek thoughtfully. "I suppose, of all the places I could have gone tonight, this was the spot I hoped would remind me of the man I want to be. And who knew that I would also run into a friend?"

Terra didn't make a sound, so if I hadn't been watching her I might not have noticed the surprised expression that flitted across her face. "I told you before," she said. "We aren't friends."

I shrugged. "Maybe not," I answered. "But I still feel better for seeing you." It was the kind of earnest, honest thing that I would once have thought twice before saying. I mean, really, it felt kind of sappy even as I said it. But I wasn't going to second-guess myself. That's why I came here, after all. To remember that I was becoming a man who would do and say what he pleased, who wouldn't apologize it.

Terra seemed to mull over my words for a moment, staring into my face with an intense expression like she was reading my thoughts and trying to figure out my true intentions. The woman's eyes were captivating, even in the dark, like pools of shadow and low-burning embers. I met her gaze for several long, hazy seconds and, for the first time that I could recall, she was the first to look away.

"It is good to see a friend," she said slowly, glancing back around at the parking lot.

I blinked, and took a breath to steady myself. I felt like I'd just won something, an invisible and unspoken victory, and I wet my lips before nodding agreement.

"So, if we really are friends, would you tell me what is bothering you?" My instructor sounded as cool as ever, but there was an odd, misplaced curiosity that she couldn't mask. Like she was as much intrigued by the idea of being my friend as she was offering to hear my troubles.

I blew out a breath and considered her question. Then, I reasoned that this was what I was really here for. I had come because I believed that in this place I was being forged into a better, stronger version of myself. If there was ever a time to get moonlit advice from my strange martial arts teacher in a deserted parking lot on a Thursday night, that time was now.

I left parts out, as I told my story. But, even without a single mention of hypnotized sex slaves or corporate mind control, the story still felt bizarre. My four lovers and I were having trouble in our relationship. Just today, I had lost one of them to her job and one of them to her boss. Another was currently spending quality alone time with her ex-boyfriend and while things seemed good with the fourth, it was probably only a matter of time before new drama reared its head. The most important people in my life were being taken away from me. I knew that I had to do something. I had no idea what that something was.

Terra maintained the same calm, attentive expression throughout. There was an energy about the woman that I had never detected during my previous visits, like some tight, coiled part of her had smoothed out and sharpened. Her focus, though, was as weighty as ever. When I finished speaking, she reached up and undid her ponytail.

She shook her head and a dark waterfall of hair spilled across her bare shoulders. "Will you walk with me?" she asked.

I nodded, a little confused, but followed as she led me down the sidewalk in the same direction she'd been running. A part of my mind tugged me back the opposite way, telling me that I needed to return to Seth's party, to my companions, to the problems I had yet to solve. The rest of me, though, followed Terra with expectancy and maybe even a bit of hope.

We walked in silence down the street, between the shadows of sidewalk trees and around the corner deeper into the neighborhood. One block, then another. A car drove past us, and the headlights shone on a black, iron wrought fence. I tilted my head to look up at the dimly lit belfry of the small, neighborhood church.

"My home is just past here," Terra said, calling my attention back to earth and along the side street that ran down one length of the churchyard. It was dark, so it was hard to read her expression. "Would you like to come in for some tea? As friends."

I hesitated an instant. She's taking me back to her place? I thought. But then, my sense of may-as-well-go-for-it-at-this-point kicked in and I nodded agreement. "Alright," I nodded. "Tea. And Terra's wisdom."

My martial arts master gave me a lopsided smile as I followed her past the looming church and down the shadowed lane. "Tea, for certain," she said. "Wisdom... We'll see if I have any of that in the cupboard."

* * *

She lived in a small white house with a front porch and a bench swing. An automatic light clicked on when we got to the top of the stairs, but Terra put out her hand and I hesitated.

I gave her an uncertain glance.

To my surprise, there was uncertainty in her face as well. Her voice was stiff, almost formal, when she finally said, "I invite you to enter my home."

I hesitated, then bowed again, slightly. "Thank you...?" I wondered if this was how she treated all her guests.

I must have responded correctly, because the woman turned the knob and I followed her in.

Her kitchen, where I now sat at a round, wooden table, was just inside the front entrance and through a doorway on the left. The kitchen floor was cracked linoleum. Terra, while I watched, had hooked a kettle over onto the stove and was now going through cupboards gathering supplies. I sat back, feeling the usual sense of uncertainty you get when you enter someone else's home for the first time.

"Do you need any help?" I asked. The pace of my evening had slowed from rapid-EDM-pulse to chill-teamaking-vibes at a surprising rate, and I felt myself struggling to adjust. I had expected my instructor to pull out some 60-cent bags of Earl Grey, but I was getting a whole Japanese tea ceremony.

"No," Terra answered, laying out several small, Eastern-style teacups and a short, broad teapot. The pot was black metal and pitted with age, like it was some sort of heirloom. "I will prepare the tea. And, while I do, I will tell you a story. You can see if there is wisdom in it."

I swallowed and sat back in my chair. It creaked softly. The house was dark except for the dull yellow bulb that hung over the kitchen and shone through a shade made of old plastic.

Terra's movements were smooth and controlled, like she was following a well-practiced pattern. She removed several packets of herbs from a cupboard, took down a stone bowl and poured a small measure of each packet. As out of place as my teacher seemed beyond the confines of her studio, I was beginning to see that the confident, precise movements that I had originally noted in her training style were evident here, too. When she spoke, it was in rhythm with her preparations.

"I am not very good at this. The wisdom and life lessons aspect of teaching. Back where I come from I was known as a skilled fighter, but my master didn't think I was ready for the responsibility of taking... students of my own." She paused, like she was rethinking what she was about to tell me.

But I wasn't letting her back out. Not now. We were already too deep, and I was too intrigued. "Your master?" I prompted.

A second of hesitation. Then, "Indeed," she went on. "Just as I am the smith to your sword, I was once a blade to be forged." Terra's eyes were faraway for a moment, but then she shook her head. "But my story is not about that time. It is about something that happened after. It is about why I am here, far away from my home, living like this..." She waved her hand, seeming to indicate the room we were in, and the neighborhood, and the City. "Instead of... elsewhere, happier."

I accepted the teacup from her outstretched hand and set it, still empty, on the table in front of me. She placed her cup next to the other chair, then went back for the herbs. After, she sat down across the table and continued to speak while we waited for the water to boil.

"I understand that your culture in this part of the world frowns on the type of relationship that you have with these women. Polygamy, polyamory, whatever some might call it. My culture is more accepting in that regard. In spite of that, I also had an experience like yours. I met someone, and we fell into a relationship that was considered unacceptable..." Terra trailed off and focused on the small bowl of herbs in front of her. Her fingers were carefully shredding tiny leaves and buds and stems, piling them in a mesh filter. "My master found out, as did everyone I knew. It was exceedingly difficult."

Silently, I stared at the tiny mulch pile. "And you couldn't make it work?" I asked. This was not the uplifting inspiration I'd secretly been hoping for. "Is that what you're telling me? That this was bound to happen and I should just give up?"

The woman's eyes narrowed, and her lovely face came together in a brief scowl. "Do not put words in my mouth. I hadn't finished. My enemies, too, discovered my forbidden love. We were forced to part ways, to break off and give up everything we had made together, just to keep each other safe."

Enemies? I thought, struggling to keep the disbelief from my face. Who has enemies these days? Where are you from, Terra? I wanted to pipe up, to ask what culture she kept referring to. Had she escaped some sort of criminal organization? Or was she from one of those parts of the world that still clung to centuries-old rites and customs instead of adapting to modern times? But the set of Terra's features kept me silent. She looked guarded, like she knew her story was begging for questions but she was in no mood to answer them.

My teacher seemed to interpret my expression as an inability to see her point. She chewed on her lower lip, then pressed her palms to the table. "I've already said that I am not so good at this aspect of teaching. But what I mean to say is this... I learned that you must go after what is yours or it will be taken from you. Be strong until you break, because the things that truly matter are worth it. If you are not strong, if you do not go after what is important, you will regret it. As I do."

We sat quietly, and I felt the weight of her words hanging in the air. They settled around me, pressing in and urging me to action. But what action could I take? What could I do to unravel the web of manipulation and control that ensnared me and the people close to me?

The kettle whistled, and Terra rose fluidly to fetch it.

I watched her for a moment, and wondered if her story was true or if she had just spun me a fable to teach me a moral. I blinked, realized that the woman had glanced over her shoulder and captured my gaze with hers. Her eyes flared and her mouth turned down in a slight frown. I wanted to speak, to apologize for staring, but I found myself unable to move, trapped by the weight of her gaze.

"You say that I have helped you to change," my teacher said. She approached the table, kettle in one hand. "But you are still doing the same thing as ever. Running from your problems instead of facing them. You ran away tonight, and that cannot happen again. But it will. A part of you, a part of your mind, is stuck, anchored, wrapped in the chains of the things you've done and thought and learned."

The woman reached out and lifted the mesh filter. She placed it carefully in the body of the black teapot, and then slowly raised the kettle. A cloud of steam rose into the air as she poured the boiling water over the mix of herbs, but as I leaned forward to try and get a scent of the tea Terra's hand shot out to stop me. Her fingers curled into my shoulder, firm enough to be almost painful.

"Woah," I muttered, freezing. "What's wrong?"

The woman's fingers released, abruptly, and she glanced away. "Be careful," she said. "This is not some cheap, leaf-flavored beverage. It is a powerful blend of herbs that will help you break free from the chains of your mind. And it must be experienced the right way, or not at all."

Slowly, I sat back in my chair. I eyed the teapot doubtfully. "Are you telling me that you made some sort of... drug tea?"

Terra pressed her lips together. The movement drew attention to her mouth, and I felt an unexpected thrill pass down my spine. A tingling sensation that could have been a hint of arousal... or fear. "You could call it that. But I would not be so dismissive. I do not share this lightly. In fact, I did not expect to share this ritual at all, ever. But you have impressed me, and that is not an easy thing to do. Your desire to improve and grow is compelling, despite the obstacles you have faced."

I bowed my head, not sure how to respond. I was flattered, sure. My badass warrior of a teacher was telling me that I had impressed her. And she was also offering me drugs.

Can I really do this? I wondered. This night had already gone so sideways. Was this the best way to right the ship? To my surprise, it was Devil Chance who poofed in at my shoulder to tip the scales on the final verdict.

Drugs? He enthused. Hell yeah, man! You've been such a wimp recently, boring and lame and unable to solve your problems. I'm with the hottie on this one. It's time to break the chains of lameness and stop being a little bitch boy.

I tightened my jaw at the scathing tone of my inner voice, but raised my eyes. I met Terra's dark orbs, and I knew the woman could see determination in every line of my face.

"Are you ready to break down the barriers holding you back?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yes." My voice felt scratchy in my throat. I was worried. There was no way this was legal, and it probably wasn't safe either. But, strangely, I also felt like I could trust my teacher.

Terra reached out and slowly pulled my teacup across the table toward her. She filled it with a single, confident pour and then pushed the small cup in front of me with her fingertips. "Drink," she said.

I took it in my cupped palms and raised it to my mouth. Steam curled up into my nose and I could smell something calming like lavender and something sharp like pine. My cautious, rational mind tried to object, to throw up last minute resistance. But my hand was already moving.

I tipped my head back and swallowed every drop of the piping hot liquid in a single movement. The teacup sounded far away when my hand set it back down on the tabletop. I tasted something sweet on my tongue, oddly metallic.

I swallowed again, dryly, and muttered, "How long do I need to wait before..."

My hands gripped the edge of the table as reality bent. Then, the world drifted, my vision sharpened and, deep in my mind, something twitched.

Something woke.

Terra was staring at me. I recognized the fact, but I had no idea how much time had passed. I was staring back, and my eyes were dry like it had been a while since I blinked.

I blinked.

I opened my mouth but Terra was already answering my unspoken question. "No more than ten minutes," she said. "I prepared only a small dose. You have much yet to do, tonight."

I coughed, glanced away, took a deep breath and nodded. I met her eyes again. My mind was still whirling, but there was a balance to it, now. Like a rotating top, spinning in place but without a single wobble. I couldn't really describe what I'd seen and felt in the last dozen minutes, but there was a settled quality to my thoughts. The kind of stillness you get after you've made a decision and are ready to follow it through to the end.

I knew that I would have to sit down and ponder if I wanted to unravel what I had just seen and thought and felt. But now was not a time for sitting. It was a time for action.

"I'm ready," I said.

* * *

My Uber pulled to a stop at the curb and I stood up from the swaying porch swing.

Bzz.

In my pocket, my phone vibrated. It wasn't the first text I'd ignored, and I had a missed call from Victoria, but I brushed them aside as I faced my teacher. She was leaning forward on the wooden railing, hands clasped and eyes fixed on the street. Then, she turned slowly to face me as well.

I scuffed one shoe on the deck, then said, "For what it's worth, I think you're pretty good at the teaching stuff."

Terra looked surprised, and then she couldn't keep a small smile of satisfaction from her face. "Truthfully?" she asked.