Chapter Twelve
The bad side to falling asleep with the aid of any cold medicine or other sleeping remedies is that one never has complete control over their dreams. Vince never once thought about this but when he began seeing strange distorted images, he began wondering if he should try to wake up.
The Dreamkiller image of Xan was standing behind his mother glaring at him behind an obscene smile as she licked her lips. And then the scene quickly changed and he became a witness to Mykella, naked, sitting on top of Karl. Their thrusts became rhythmic to the pounding going on in his drugged mind. He put his hands over his ears, trying to block out the violent grunts and moans of the lovers, and he shut his eyes as tight as he could.
No research in dreams could prepare one for this torment. His world and everything in it began spinning faster and faster until he thought he would vomit before it stopped, and then a gentle hand was felt on his shoulder. Everything stopped. The Dreamkiller and mother stopped. The lovers stopped. Sound stopped.
He turned and opened his wet eyes and was taken aback to see Mykella (clothed) standing before him. He opened his mouth but she put a soft finger over his lips.
“You need to sit for a minute.”
He agreed and found his bed in the room which was still spinning (his head was slowing it down a little) and sat down. She sat next to him and remained there in silence, waiting for him to speak.
When he finally looked at her there was a new look in his eyes. There was a look of disappointment and resentment. “Did you,” he couldn’t finish the question – he felt dirty even thinking of it.
She studied him. “Did I do what?” And as she watched the lines of his face alter she finally understood his question and she looked away from his eyes as she lowered her head and hung it there in embarrassment.
There was no need for an answer; her reaction was all the answer he needed. “Karl told me this morning.” And then he heard a hushed sniffle coming from her. “Why? That’s all I want to know.”
There was a pause in the room and then she finally turned and looked at him. “I wanted to know why humans hungered for the flesh. Why does your friend want to be with so many different girls? Why did you want me to put you in your sister’s dream, alone?” There were tears in her eyes and she had begun to tremble as she spoke.
He had to admit, he had not expected to have this conversation until she was much older. But he had to clear up a few points first. “I want you to know that I needed to see my sister for a completely different reason. I love her in a brother-sister way, not the way you see Karl with women – he doesn’t love them that way.”
“What way does he love them?”
He shook his head. “Look, maybe love is too harsh a word. He likes these girls a great deal – enough to be with – but he doesn’t love them. The kind of love between siblings is unconditional. I’d die for her and she’d do the same for me.”
She was thinking about this a moment and then she looked into his eyes. “Would you die for me?”
That was another question he never thought about before now. If it came down to it, would he put his life on the line for her? He stared deep into her eyes and was safe there. And that was when he had decided. “Yes. I would die for you. Would you die for me?”
A single tear fell from her eye. “I already have.”
* * *
It had taken him two days to reach the walls of Jerusalem and in that time he had seen just as much (or even more) bloodshed than he had ever seen in his brief association with Orion. His family he felt needed to die in order to promote his soul to a different plane of being. The sword duel with a young Rick way back when was pure fun; the way he had severed his hand and watched the fear build up behind Rick’s eyes.
Bombs were exploding everywhere he looked and he began thanking whatever brought him to this reality that he was all spirit. He yearned to have flesh once again but at the moment he was quite satisfied at knowing that the explosions went through him.
And just how was he going to get information about the key of Eden in this day and age? Only two scenarios played out in his mind. He could inhabit someone’s body in the hopes that either that person would know or else they might know someone who knew. The other was more simple although more time consuming – to snoop around inside people’s houses and listen in on conversations hoping that he might get a clue or two through idle chit-chat.
He sat down on the rocks with his back to the city (the place thought to be the same where Judas hung himself) and lowered his head. Again he was alone even in this most holy of places. Surely he would have felt God here to save his soul if he truly did exist. But no. All he felt was the nothingness he had grown accustomed to over the years. It was during these moments – which were beginning to appear more and more as his years wore on – that he wanted his mortality back. What he would give if he could just once more walk barefoot on the grass; to feel the sun warm his face; to be held by someone who loved him.
He bent his head skyward. “I’ve made my choice! Why do you curse me with these feelings?” Tears fell from the corners of his eyes and he knew they would never hit the earth. He studied the sky and watched the clouds pass by. What he was looking for he didn’t know.
And then the answer arrived to him. In the garden he would have the pleasure of eating from the Tree of Knowledge and everything would be all right. He would know how to regain his flesh. And he would know how to raise a new breed of Dreamkiller and take over the world. Yes, and he knew he must be quick otherwise Rick’s boy may try to find the key as well.
* * *
Vince awoke in a very depressed attitude later that day. Not only has he discovered that Mykella wants what humans want, but she has also claimed to have died for him. What she meant he had no idea – maybe she thought of the sadness she felt when she reached inside his soul. He was godless, he knew, and it was very possible to connect with this since she was, herself, the spirit of an unborn child.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Not only that but now he has to find Karl and apologize for not believing in what he was told from his best friend.
He stood up (he was still dressed from earlier this morning) and went out to find Karl, only to discover that he was in the Commons eating a sandwich by the window.
Vince approached him cautiously and sat down opposite and looked down. “I’m sorry for being a total shit to you earlier,” he said without looking at his friend.
It took him a few moments but he finally spoke his mind. “Yeah, you should be. Where do you get off not believing me anyways?” He placed his sandwich down on a paper plate and glared at Vince.
Vince looked up. “I thought I knew everything about Mykella. Man was I way off. I didn’t think she knew how to have those feelings.”
Karl tossed him a confused look. “What d’ya mean by that? You didn’t think she knew how to have those feelings?”
Vince didn’t mean to have let anything slip, but now that it has, he knew he must choose what to tell him and what not to (much like Samantha). But unlike Samantha, Karl may be a very important ally if things start to get heated up. And if that were to happen then he needed to be as open as he could without making Karl think he was nuts.
“I met her right after we heard Samantha was pregnant; Mykella’s her daughter.” Here he paused in an attempt to read Karl’s body language and when there was nothing to read he continued. “She will be hunted by a race of demons – from hell most likely – and I’m trying to teach her how to survive. Her knowledge of moving through the dream world has grown faster than I had expected – that’s how we first entered your dreams.”
After he stopped Karl sat motionless for a short while and then finally crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. “Why are you telling me this? Why not just come up with something entirely more believable? Why this story?”
“Because it’s the truth as I’ve known it for the past three months. I don’t expect you to believe me; I just want you to understand that sometimes I might do weird shit but it’s only because of events occurring in the dream.”
At last Karl nodded and sighed. “Okay, but if you start attacking me,”
“I’d never want to fight you – you’re my friend. We’ve been best buds since we were kids.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Karl said as if he could read through Vince’s lines of what he called the truth.
Vince stood up. “I need to go to the library. I’ll see you later,” and he turned and walked out of the Commons before Karl could explain that the semester was over (Vince even had graduation to think about).
He found his usual table vacant and went over to it and sat down and opened Pison to a different page. He studied the page for quite a while wondering if he could actually make out what was written on the page (even if it was gibberish). Was there another code hidden in this text? Was he, Vincent, on the verge of solving another Da Vinci Code?
He knew this book to be at least as old as Orion was young. If he would have to guess, from what he heard in his father’s book, an approximate year of Orion’s reign must be somewhere between 1150 to 1250 A.D. But was the book older than that?
Maybe Mykella will get to find out when she’s older. He would have to tell her to let him know if she does.
But for now all he knew to do was figure out the hidden letters like always. And like always he had unearthed several more letters. All the letters he had found meant nothing to him – it just seemed like some alphabet written by a dyslexic. He scribbled down the two new letters and stared at all the other letters.
GC OA LL GV OA TR HY A
There was nothing he could make out with this assortment. He realized, as he thumbed through the book, that these were all of the letters. The other pages contained sketches of people praying to their god Orion. But these were the only hidden letters to be found within the covers of the book.
He leaned back in his chair and sighed as he stared at his paper from a long angle. Still there was no sense in the letters. Feeling helpless he scanned the shelves of books around him with little interest. Books of Theology, Christ, and pagan rituals congested the rows nearest to him.
Vince squinted his eyes and cocked his head to the side as he read the bind of one of the books about Jesus of Nazareth. On it was simply a printing company’s version of a cross. And as he looked at the cross in the book he thought of Mykella and how she told him that she saw the actual crucifixion of Jesus.
He looked down at the letters and thought of the crucifixion and wondered what they held in common. Come on, Vince, think. An odd thought entered his mind and he stood up, walked over to the book on the shelf, grabbed it and walked back to the table.
He found the index and ran his finger over the headings and found the pages discussing the crucifixion. He turned to the first page and there it was. The mound where the crucifixions took place: Golgotha (Calvary).
He looked hard at the names of the location and over at the letters. Every letter represented a letter of the location. When he first found that there were hidden letters in the book he thought he would be overjoyed when he solved the puzzle. But now, with the puzzle solved, he almost had an empty feeling in his being. Okay, so the book is trying to pinpoint the location of the death of Jesus. So what? What does it mean?
Take me there.
Vince almost jumped in his chair when he heard the voice of Mykella whispering in his head. He pondered the idea of a trip to Golgotha and laughed to himself. “There’s no way I’m going there.”
Why not? It’s there I think we need to be.
He stood up again and replaced the book of Christ. Why – to be blown to bits by religious freaks who’ve been fighting some holy war since the times of Christ himself? I don’t think so.
You know what’s funny about you, Vince?
He could detect the malicious sarcasm in her voice. What’s that?
Unlike you, my dear, I don’t need flesh. I can go there just as easily as the wind blows. And I’m going. I want you to go with me.
Vince sat back down and dropped his head down on the table next to his notebook. There were many conflicts tearing his soul apart at this moment. He tried to quiet his mind (everything was screaming in his ears and he couldn’t single out one rational thought) and felt the tears falling on the table next to his fist.
If it’ll make the hurt go away, I’ll follow you anywhere.
If she had a heart right now, it would be breaking as all she wanted to do was hold Vince in her arms and whisper nothing except promises of eternal happiness.
Go back to your room and tell Karl that you’re taking a long vacation this summer. You and I will see this mystery through, Vince. He nodded and she continued. We need to make a stop on the way there. I need some answers and I think a convent – St. Vincent – in Ireland can answer them.
There was something about the name of St. Vincent that caused a spark in his mind. He searched his memory and it stopped at his father’s death bed. Karl had told him that his father’s last words dealt with St. Vincent in Ireland.
Why do I have to make my father’s story (was it his prophecy?) come full circle? Why is it me who has to unearth further mysteries of the Christ? Why was I chosen for this prophecy?
Because this is your prophecy. Just as the final outcome to my survival is mine. You are written as the one who protects the Child. Someday, before I come into the world, I will tell you the full prophecy and what all three said about the Dreamkillers. But right now, rest assured, it is your burden because you are the chosen one.