REBORN: SOULS
BY
XAVIER RALEIGH
PREFACE:
Throughout history, the tales and legends in the eternal fight between good and evil, have been told and recorded. As time moves on, it becomes more apparent that the old saying “What goes around, comes around.” is very evident. From the stories of the Beowulf, Norse Mythology, legends of old, proven history, and Victorian era literature, to the present time, we see the fight continue in much the same way.
“There are untold events throughout history that never came to the knowledge of the human race, however. For there to be a balance in the fight, for one side or the other, these events have remained hidden, until now. Therefore, it is my duty to relate these events for the betterment of humanity.”
“The following story is the culmination of these events, recorded from the memories of a young man named Machi Vascellum, his twin sister Yarin, and from my own personal experiences with the two of them.”
-True Chronicler
CHAPTER 1:
The twins, Machi and Yarin, were fifteen years old when the first of many tragedies took place in their lives. Taking a family trip into the mountains, Roger and Alexa Vascellum were excited to get out of the small town with the kids, and stay at the cabin that Roger's father had built up on the shores of Lake Stratten. It was the perfect time of year for a break. Spring had begun and school was out on break. After long winter months of work, and financial hardships of owning their own business, Roger and Alexa had decided to take this trip to, as Alexa liked to put it, ‘Remember the family bond’.
Easy and lounging days drifted by, like there wasn’t a care in the world. There was no phone at the cabin, or television to keep the family from enjoying the outdoors. The cabin was of a simple log frame, based with shale rocks, with heavy oak paneling above. Located several miles from the main highway, with the lake on one side and surrounded by thick forest on all other sides, it was well secluded from the outside world.
Every morning, Roger and Mechi would go out on the little fishing boat Roger and his father had built together, while Alexa and Yarin would sit on the back porch, watching the sunrise and drinking coffee. Even though there wasn't any fish left in the lake, because it was so remote that the forest department figured it would be a waste of time, Roger and Mechi loved to just go out, put a line in the water, and talk about things they couldn’t when ‘The Girls’ were around.
All too quickly, it seemed, spring break was over and it was time to head home. For Roger and Alexa to get back to work, and for Yarin to get back to school. Mechi would have been going back to school as well, but he had advanced so much faster than Yarin over the years, that he was able to graduate two years early and spend his time helping with the family business.
It was a morning just like any other, when the unfortunate event of this seemingly normal family, was to take its course.
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Three years have past since their family was broken by the accident. Mechi and his twin sister, Yarin were with their parents, when the car was suddenly struck by a bolt of lightning. Machi remembered that instant in particular because it’s the last thing he remembered. There was something really strange about it though… there wasn’t so much as a cloud in the sky that day.
Mechi had awakened from the coma during the night and was trying to wrap his head around the fact that everything he knew had changed. Still a little blurry minded, he had been asking for his family for several hours. The hospital staff came and went from his room, only giving sorrowful looks to him in response to his request.
Finally, after hours of asking, with a weak voice, he yelled as best he could, “Listen to me, I want to see my family! Now!”
The door opened. Mechi was ready to jump at whomever it was walking in, and throttle them until they listened to him. Fortunately though, he hadn't the strength, and it was a good thing too.
To his surprise, it was none other than his sister Yarin who entered.
“Machi, you’re finally awake!” Yarin shouted, running into the hospital room.
It was a fairly plain looking room with the same linoleum floor and whitewash walls that you’d expect to find in a hospital. The only notable item in the room was an old console T.V. screwed to the wall across from the bed. In the age of flat-screen T.V.s and streaming, did they really expect someone to steal it?
Though he knew it was Yerin, she looked quite different from what he remembered. She had grown a little, he judged that she was only a couple inches shorter than his own, six foot frame. Her hair was cut short, just above her shoulders, and she was wearing a casual outfit that he would never expect her to wear. All the years growing up, he recalled, she had always preferred a ragged pair of pants, tennis shoes, and a tee shirt.
“I thought for sure I was going to lose you too.” Yarin said, setting down her purse on a visitors chair as she walked to the side of his bed. “The doctors told me that you could be in a coma for the rest of your life. I’m so glad that you’re okay!”. And reaching out for her brothers hand, she added “Machi, I have some bad news, and so much more to tell you.”
As Yarin explained the past three years that Mechi had been sleeping through, something like flashes of electricity started running through his head. He couldn’t tell if it was an effect of the lightning strike, the coma, or if he was just going crazy. Five faces suddenly leapt into his mind. He had never seen them before, either in the history books that he had read, nor in the cities that they had visited when they went on family trips. That’s what scared him the most, the fact that he didn’t recognize them. For someone with a photographic memory, that’s a very scary thing.
Each face was accompanied by a series of sights and sounds from the past, obviously before his own time. He saw visions of life experiences connected with each face, however the details of each experience were hidden. As Mechi tried making sense of what he was seeing, a voice quietly whispered; “In time, you will know all. Patience.”.
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By the time that the flashes had ended, two hours had passed and Yarin was still talking. However, even though he had been distracted, the information she told him had still seeped through into his mind, causing a feeling of his brain overloading. He shook his head attempting to clear his thoughts.
“... And those morons at the Protective Service Department…” Yarin continued.
“‘Yarn’…” Mechi interrupted, “... How have you been doing? I know all that other stuff you’ve been talking about is important, but you haven’t mentioned how all of this has affected you, or what you’ve been doing.”
Yarin jerked back with a surprised look on her face. Mechi saw fear and pain leap up for an instant, then they were gone as she composed herself.
“I’m fine.” she said sharply. “Where did that come from? I mean, doesn't it even faze you that our parents are gone? And everything else…” She grunted a sound of frustration then said, “I’ll be right back.”
She got up slowly and headed for the door, stopping as her hand rested on the handle. “I’m sorry,” she said without turning around “I guess I just need some air after all this excitement. You should get some rest. The doctor will be in soon to check on you.” And with a sideways smirk, she walked out closing the door behind her. As soon as the door was closed, Mechi heard her yell,
“My name’s Yarin, Yar-in, NOT YARN!”. Then, the sound of departing footsteps.
Experts say that the bond between twins is a phenomenon that we, as humans, may never fully understand. It’s said that the souls of twins are entwined to the point that, even no matter where they are in the world, one will know what the other is going through, or feel the same emotions, that sort of thing.
Mechi never really understood what all those “experts” were saying. As far back as he could recall, he and Yarin had never had a bond. Neither physical nor emotional. It was almost as if they were born at the wrong time. To put it plainly, ‘Same time, years apart’.
That’s why her reaction to his question didn’t surprise him. He would have had the same reaction if it had been the other way around. ‘Good’, he thought, ‘she’s still Yarin.’. Although they weren’t very close, he was hoping that the past events, including the loss of their parents, hadn’t changed her. Sad as it is to say, he still wanted her to be the sister that he remembered. Maybe it was nostalgia or familiarity, he couldn’t tell for sure.
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“No, I won’t be a part of it!” Agitated by the fact that the first thing her brother could do after coming out of a coma was to make fun of her name, Yarin was apparently taking out her frustration on the person who had called her as she left the hospital.
She stopped suddenly when she realized that her outburst had drawn the attention of quite a few people wondering the streets. A sharply dressed business man, a woman dressed in a housekeepers uniform, and some other, more ordinary people. There was one that made her uncomfortable though… A homeless bum who had poked his head out from the box on the corner. He looked at her without emotion, just a blank, penetrating, stare. She averted her eyes, turned away, and walked in silence for a minute or two, every-so-often glancing back to make sure she wasn’t followed, then quickly ducked into an alley.
“I told you before,” she continued with her phone conversation, “when he wakes up, I’m done with this town. That includes everything: the apartment, the job, everything but the car. We are going home.”
Her voice had started to rise again but she caught herself before she got too loud.
“We will see how that works out.” said the voice on the other end of the line. It wasn’t a calm reassuring tone, but a gruff and malicious one. A voice like that would normally chill even a hardened man to the bone. It had done so the first time that Yarin had heard it. “We… will… see.”
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There was a knocking at the door, and it started to open before Mechi could give an answer. The man that walked in was a squat, but well built, framed sort of guy. Mechi could tell he thought highly of himself, as he sauntered into the room. “Good morning,” the man said, looking Mechi up and down over his wire framed glasses. “I hear that you just woke up not too long ago, how’re your feeling?”
“Uh, do you mind not touching me!” Mechi said as he pulled away from the man and almost falling off the bed. “What do you want?”
“I’ve come to do your primary check-up. And since you have been my patient for the past three years, I should be the one to do it, don’t you think so Mr. Vascellum?”
“Your patient? You look like you just stepped out of the rain pipe.”
“Mowing the lawn out front actually, but I didn’t have time to grab my equipment before coming in here. We are slightly under-staffed at the moment.”
The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out an employee security badge with the name Dr. Robert Samuals printed on it. Pinning it to his lapel, he said “My name is Samuals, and I have been taking care of you for the last three years, so please allow me to continue for the short time that we have left.”
His way of speaking had changed in an instant, and there seemed to be something like a tiny flicker of green in his blue eyes as he spoke. The change of speech had been so slight that Mechi couldn't quite figure out what the difference was, but a sudden feeling of contentment overcame him and he allowed the Doctor to continue the check-up.
“I understand that your sister has been here almost every day to visit you. Lately though, she’s been looking a little worn down. There have been a couple of times that I thought she might end up in a bed next to you. She’s a resilient young lady though, she always comes to your side, no matter what.”
With that statement, Mechi started to wonder if she really had changed since the accident. He could recall many times over the years when she said that she would rather be the sister to someone else, anyone else, but him. There seemed to be no end to the rollercoaster he was on.
“Are you sure you’re talking about my sister, and not some cute girl who has the same clothing?” Mechi asked, as Dr. Samuals shown an overly bright light into his eyes.
“Quite sure.” Samuals replied with a chuckle. “Dr. Terence, the doctor that takes care of you on my off hours, says that she’s always here. It makes me wonder how she has time for a job with all the time she spends here.
“A job?” Mechi asked, “What kind of job? I always thought that she would be the anti-work type. Come to think of it though, I should’ve guessed based on her outfit.”
Dr. Samuals laughed. “Yes, when she first started visiting, she wasn't quite that well dressed. But a couple of years ago, when she earned her GED, she was hired on by a company that funded her apartment, clothing, vehicle, and even your care here at the hospital.
It hadn't occurred to him earlier, but finding out that someone else had footed the bill for his care, made him feel a little more at ease. He could only imagine the strain that his care would have placed on Yarin. With their parents gone, she wouldn't have been able to afford it on her own.
“Dr. Samuals,” Mechi said, with some hesitation, “I thought you should know that I’ve been having weird flashes go through my mind. It’s not painful or anything, but it just makes me wonder if something might be wrong.”
The doctor looked at his patient with a smile of humour on his face, as though he were looking at a ninety-year-old man telling fish tales.
“How often do these flashes occur?” he asked.
“Only once since I woke up, but I’m worried that they’ll come back.” said Mechi with a strained looked on his face.
“I wouldn’t worry,” Samuals said, trying to reassure him, “If they happen again, you let me know, okay?”
“Will do doc.” he replied.
After that, the check-up went on without a word between them. Only Mechi’s thoughts kept him from falling asleep. For someone who had been sleeping for the last three years, he was exhausted.
“Do you really think this is funny? I’m not sure the human race can handle this.”
“Oh, come on, you remember the last time, we had so much fun.”
“Yes, but many innocent lives were lost, and you want to do it again?”