Chapter Thirteen

It had been easy to tell Karl that he was going away on vacation (that he was going to be gone probably the entire summer), but it was more difficult convincing Samantha of his trip. She didn’t understand why he had to go alone and when he explained to her that he wouldn’t be alone – he had her daughter with him after all – she was not at all relieved.

“I’m going with you if you like it or not.”

Vince had been pacing the back porch and when he heard her profess her feelings for going, he stopped and turned to her while shaking his head. “No. There’s no way I can risk your life by going there.”

“You sound as if there’s more to this trip than just a vacation.” She studied his face for a while. “What has my daughter said about this trip?”

With that he sat down; there was no more use trying to paint a pretty vacation picture. “You remember that book I showed you a while back?”

She was about to say no, she had not remembered it but then it came back into her mind. Yes, she did recall that strange book. And when she confirmed this he continued.

“I told you that there were some secret letters hidden inside the text. Well, I finally figured it out. It spelled out Golgotha – Calvary.”

She narrowed her eyebrows as he told his story.

“Everything that’s happening to us seems to revolve around the crucifixion. Mykella’s having dreams of actually being there and the book tells us that there’s something going on there and that it must be kept secret – otherwise the words wouldn’t have been hidden.”

“You’re going there in hopes of finding out some answers?” He nodded and she shook her head behind some pity. “You’re going to the most sacred place for all the wrong reasons.”

Vince stood up and looked down at the woman he had fallen in love with. “I’m sorry but I have to know why all this has to happen to me.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me, Vince. I’m not the one who’s going to judge you when you die. But, as it is, I’m still going with you.”

He watched her pack a suitcase full of shirts, pants, panties, bras, and several items of toiletries and shoes. He was amazed at how easily the case closed; if it were him he would have had to sit on it in order to close it. She went over to her dresser and reached in the top drawer and pulled out her passport and shoved it in her back pocket. Once complete she tossed the case in the back seat of his car and they headed off to his dorm in order for him to pack his belongings.

He hadn’t packed nearly as much as she did but he didn’t really care. He wasn’t planning on being there all that long. Mykella wanted to stop in Ireland first but that trip too, shouldn’t last more than a day or two.

Oh, how optimistic he seemed about the journey.

They hadn’t spoken much during the drive to the airport. Vince had abandoned his negative attitude toward the trip (he didn’t care what was to happen – just as long as he kept up his end of his prophecy and kept the child alive), but Samantha felt something heavy weighing down on her chest. She was beginning to feel that her daughter’s instincts were right about going, but she was also beginning to feel that by going she may have to give up someone she loves.

She turned her head and watched the traffic speed past her as tears fell down to her chin.

“I’ve never been on a plane before.”

Vince turned and saw Mykella sitting in a seat several rows behind him. He unlocked his seat belt and went over to her and took an empty seat next to her. “I’m surprised that you didn’t try to fight your mother on this.”

She cocked her head to the side. “On what?”

“Going. I thought you didn’t want to risk your mother’s life like this.”

She smiled. Her eyes glimmered from the overhead lights. “I’m not risking her life. But I’m showing her my life. You saw one of the greatest battles and you could never convey what it must have meant – not really. And so I could never project the importance of my destiny to her through what you saw. All I can do is show her but one person who has sacrificed his life for all.”

They sat there in silence for a while and then he turned to look at her once again. “Why do we have to go to Ireland? What do you hope to get answered by some nuns?”

Again she tossed him that angelic smile of hers. “The prophecies aren’t entirely clear to me and I believe it is these nuns at St. Vincent who have studied the prophecies probably longer than most have lived.”

“And then I’ll know.”

She looked at him and read the conflicting emotions that arose in him as they had at the library. “Do you no longer want to know?”

Vince lowered his head. “I’m not sure. Can I possibly handle the entire truth? If there’s going to be a death among those I love, is there nothing I can do to stop it?”

Sadly she shook her head. “You know that answer as well as I. Prophecies can be misread, yes. But the ones that are true can never be changed.”

“That’s why I’m not so sure I want to hear what the prophecies are.”

“All I know,” she paused and saw that he had looked away. “Vince, look at me.” He turned to her behind reddened eyes. “All I know is that, yes, some people we love may die. But it is for everyone that I live. I’m forever grateful for your guidance and training, but now I must rely on those who have watched the prophecies unfold through time. My training now is that I learn all that I can about my place in the prophecy.”

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He could feel his heart breaking. Was she telling him that he was going to die? Was she telling him that she must no longer see him? There was very little emotion in what she said – it was said like she was trying to subdue all of her emotions – so it was difficult to assume what she meant by her lines.

His eyes opened and he turned his head and saw that they were still flying over blue waters. He looked over and saw that Samantha was still asleep and he wondered now if Mykella ever paid her a visit without him being there. Was she talking to her now? He tried to love her (he does, really) but he found it difficult to want to open his heart to this sleeping woman when the world is going to hell in a basket.

As if that were its cue, the plane jerked as it hit a bit of turbulence and this caused Samantha to open her eyes. She blinked several times and then smiled at Vince and stretched her neck. “Where are we?”

He looked back out across the ocean and in the distance he saw a high cliff signifying land. But as he watched the cliff he found that he was thinking of his mother who stood forever on that cursed cliff. “Don’t know – I just woke up, myself.”

She leaned over his lap and looked out the window. “Looks like we’ve found land, though.” She smiled and stretched her legs out. “Why are we visiting some convent again?”

Vince shrugged. “Hey, that was your daughter’s idea – not mine.”

They smiled at one another. That was the one thing they had in common. It was Mykella who had bonded them together. If it had not been for her, Vince would never have had a reason to go to Samantha because Donnie would never have walked out on her. She reached out and took his hand in hers and squeezed it. There was an understanding that happened at that moment. Things were going to change soon for them as well as for everyone else, but for now they had to make the best of what they had.

Vince knew that Samantha didn’t quite know the full scale of what was happening but he knew that she could detect that something was going to happen; she could almost feel it in her veins, so to speak.

If only he could tell her everything he knew. If only they could just say to hell with everything and just run away. If only the powers that be would never have given him this prophecy. If only,

“You okay?”

He blinked and looked at her. “Huh?”

“You’re all pale and your forehead’s all sweaty. Are you getting sick?”

He felt fine. Sure, he had a million wishes and questions, but other than that he felt perfectly normal. This he told her and this did not convince her. “Once we land you’re going to see a doctor. I’m not going to be shacking up with some contagious man for a couple of days.”

He really didn’t see the point but he agreed anyway.

Another hour passed and the plane had rolled into the airport on time. Vince and Samantha walked arm-in-arm through the boarding/exiting corridor and when they came into full view of the airport they looked around for a customer service desk. They found one and went over to it and requested a rental car and if it were possible, a hotel reservation.

They were fortunate to have received what they had asked for and when they headed for the luggage department Vince stopped and almost fell over several chairs but he was caught by Samantha as she reached out and grabbed his arm.

“Jesus, Vince,” she almost shouted and helped him into one of the chairs he almost toppled over. “You’re whiter than a ghost.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed his forehead with it. “I need to get you to a hospital.”

Vince quickly shook his head. “No. I…I need to get there – now.” With her help he stood back up and wrapped his arm around her shoulder for support. “I got this strange feeling of deja vu.”

They walked out of the airport and found their rental car moments later. After he was safely in the passenger seat, “You stay here and I’ll go get our luggage.” She reached in and kissed his forehead.

“Thanks,” he said and then leaned his head back against the headrest. When she had gone, he kept wondering why he felt like he had been here before. “I’ve never been here – never would have even considered it.”

“But you have been here,” said a familiar voice inside his head. “You were inside me the same time I came here. I was so sick, and that’s probably why you’re sick.”

His eyes snapped open. “Why were you here?” he asked without caring that he was speaking out loud to no visible person.

“I thought I came here to get away from it all. My car crashed and I was taken in by the Sisterhood of St. Vincent. Strange, I never thought in a million years I’d see my old school nurse there at that convent.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Sister Catherine. She was my old school nurse. I learned that she left the year after I went into high school. Never thought she’d go to Ireland. She’s since passed on, I’m afraid, but her two companions in Christ are still there.”

Vince almost jumped out of his seat when he heard the trunk open and then slam shut. He turned around and saw that Samantha was heading around to the driver’s door. When she sat down and started the car, “This is where my mother was when she was pregnant with me.”

“Hello to you, too,” she said with a smile and then pulled out of the parking lot. “Where to?”

He heard his mother say left and so he told her to turn left. They had followed the same road for quite a while without any further directions. Vince began having doubts that his mother knew what she was talking about. “I think we need to stop and get directions.”

She glanced over at him and nodded. “We need to get gas anyway.”

They found a gas station about ten minutes further up the road and she pulled the car in and parked next to a pump. Samantha got out and began pumping the gas. Vince opened his door and stood up and wrapped his hands behind his head and stretched. He turned his head and then saw something he couldn’t quite believe.

“Hey, what’s that?”

Samantha turned and almost dropped the handle of the pump. How close to the main road this castle was, she pondered. Sure, a fog had rolled in, but we would surely have seen a structure as large as this castle standing by the road. How could we have missed it? “What is that?” was all she could think to say.

An older mechanic happened to walk by them when Samantha had asked the seemingly obvious. “That there’s St. Vincent. Kinda creepy the way it lunges out at ya, huh?”

Vince grinned at the man and nodded. “Can you tell me about the nuns who live there?” He was looking at the castle instead of the man.

The mechanic rubbed his head with a greasy hand. “I heard there’s only two sister’s who run the place nowadays. There were three, but the oldest died about twenty years ago. They don’t come out very often and when they do they don’t speak much to anyone.”

“Is there somewhere we can park? We actually were invited to visit the convent,” Samantha lied and was taken by surprise when the mechanic said that they could use his lot to park in and all they’d have to do is cross the street – the walkway wasn’t all that far to the door.

They thanked him and she parked the car behind the station.

“You sure you think you can walk?”

Vince smiled and nodded. “Been doing it since I was about seven months old,” he said.

“Let’s get this over with, then.” She opened her door and hopped out. She was joined by Vince as she went around the front of the car. “We’re doing this for Mykella, right?” she asked behind worried eyes.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder once again; this time it was not from lack of balance. “I don’t think she has an evil streak anywhere in her veins. She wouldn’t need to go if it weren’t important.” They began walking and then he stopped and looked at her. “Besides, we’re talking about nuns here. How weird can nuns be?”