My Sister's Keeper: Chapters Twenty Three and Twenty Four [NaNoWriMo]
Part Eighteen: total words uploaded to date = 34500. Total words written to date = 37700. Have the ideas formulated for resolving the story and tying all the different cords together. Hopefully the written end result flows as well as it does in my mind! We'll see.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
They sat in silence staring at each other. Benjamin had learnt first hand of the power that resided within this little group. Enough to bring the chopper down, even to end his life. It was the power that allowed them to capture over twenty armed soldiers, and stop a planned assault before it had even had a chance to start. These type of events can change the course of history dramatically. Perhaps this will alter the war itself, Benjamin thought. It was that power - unknown by them in it's entirety until this flight – that his senior, Major Kartal, wanted to understand more fully.
Emerald watched Benjamin, reading his mind in a way he couldn't possibly fathom. She marvelled at his arrogance. At the arrogance of men with guns believing they could take what they wanted and study it, regardless of the sovereignty of those involved. That these soldiers could see a power so great it captured a town of enemy soldiers via two females. Yet they thought they could capture that power, and possibly harness it? Emerald laughed at the audacity of the man. “Your arrogance will be your undoing,” she told him, directly into his head. He heard the words, as if he were speaking to himself. Emerald's voice was clear in his mind. But how is that possibly, he wondered?
He looked at her eyes wide opened, unable to hide the fear expressed on his face. “How did you do that?” he asked.
Anastasia and Ruby both looked at him, and back at Emerald, unaware of what had just taken place. “She just spoke into my mind, into my head, directly. How did you do that?” Benjamin's voice was becoming noticeably shaky from the experience. The pilot briefly turned his head, but noticed nothing untoward occurring, and decided to continue flying and minding his own business.
“Answer my question first,” she said, again directly into his head. Neither Anastasia nor Ruby were privy to this conversation, but they continued to watch, hoping to work out just what was happening. “How could you soldiers be so arrogant as to believe you could contain this power. If you thought you were greater than it, why would you need to study it?”
“We weren't convinced there was any power here. We wanted to know who you were in contact with, perhaps other fighters in the town. We never believed that these two here could do such a thing.” Benjamin spoke out loud as he answered Emerald's question.”
“Do you believe now?” she asked him, out loud, for the others to follow along.
“Reluctantly,” he replied.
“Why reluctantly?'
“Because if that power is real, and it appears it is, given the first hand experience that I have received on this flight, then I want to study it even more.”
“So close, yet so far,” Emerald told him. “You soldiers have your might. I have my power. That is the only clue I will give you.”
They continued to sit in silence as the helicopter flew towards the refugee camps. Ruby could see the coastal plains open up below them, and the ocean emerging into view beyond it. It was her first ever glimpse of the ocean waters, and even from this height and distance she marvelled at the enormity and beauty of it. She tapped on Anastasia's shoulder and pointed out towards it. Anastasia smiled at her, knowing what this sight meant to her. “It's beautiful, isn't it?” she said.
First time to fly like a bird, Ruby told herself. First time to see the ocean. “First time to see magic tricks,” Emerald reminded her. Ruby turned to her, and nodded.
“Yes it was. And they were the best magic tricks as well,” Ruby said.
“Benjamin doesn't think so,” Emerald said to Ruby, giving them all a cheeky grin.
“Well he didn't see what I saw. I've never seen magic before, but if I had then I'm sure it wouldn't have been as good as that.”
The pilot flew the helicopter on towards the refugee camps, located to the north of the urban area, and on the opposite side of the city to the army base. He flew along the coast line, giving Ruby the best view possible. She wondered if he did that deliberately. I think so, she told herself. I like him, he seems like a nice guy. “The camps are less than five minutes away,” the pilot said to the group seated in the back.
“Ruby looked out from her middle seat, over Anastasia towards the sprawling mix of hope and misery stretching out over the earth as far as the eye could see. Somewhere down there is my new temporary home, she thought. Until I can get to Mars. If they will let me.
The pilot radioed into the landing centre outside the main headquarters. “We have permission to land,” he told the group. “Starting descent now.”
They waited until the helicopter had completely stopped, and the pilot had come around and opened their door before joining him on the landing pad. Ruby and Anastasia waited with the pilot, while Emerald had a word with Benjamin.
“We are going through to speak with someone who works here, a woman named Jelena. You guys should wait in the foyer area over there,” Emerald told them, pointing to a building to the side of the landing pad. “I'll be back for you two in a few minutes. Then Benjamin can leave.”
They started walking towards the main headquarters where all the refugee staff were housed. “What do you still need me for?” Benjamin asked Emerald.
“You're army, you will make sure we can get through security, to speak with Jelena.”
“And who is this Jelena woman? What do you want with her?”
“We've met. She can help me from here. Then you're free to go. But not before then.”
They entered the main doors off the landing pad, and looked for security. Benjamin introduced himself and asked for Jelena, one of the child Psychologists. “Jelena? What's her surname?” he asked.
Emerald shot Benjamin a look, as if to let him know that she didn't have that information.
“Jelena,” he repeated. “How many Jelena's do you have working in the child Psychology department?”
The security officer got the message, and called through to reception. “She's on the fifth floor. If you take the elevators just down the hall that will take you to her section.”
“Thank you,” Benjamin said, as they made their way to the elevators. “I've gotten you this far,” he said to Emerald, as they reached the lifts. “What more do you need from me?”
“I may very well still need you. And you're forgetting one thing. Just because you can see me doesn't mean anyone else can.” They entered the elevator and proceeded up to the fifth floor.
As they made their way down the corridor, guessing as to which way to go, someone started walking down the hall towards them. “Can you tell us which office is Jelena's?” Benjamin asked.
“Yes, it's the second one, just there,” came the reply, as he turned around and pointed it out. “Is she in some sort of trouble?”
“No, why would she be?” Benjamin asked, annoyed at the inquisitiveness of the stranger. He got the message and hurried along out of the area.
Benjamin knocked on the door that had been pointed out to them. “Come in,” came the response from inside the office. Benjamin opened the door and walked in, followed by Emerald. Jelena was seated at her desk, laptop opened, and piles of paperwork sprawled across the desk. “Can I help you?” she asked, looking up to see an army officer and a small girl standing in front of her. She sat there in stunned silence as Benjamin began to speak. She took none of it in, but remained transfixed by the sight of the child. “Emerald?” she exclaimed. “I thought that was a dream? And you were an angel?”
“You can see her?” Benjamin asked.
“Of course I can see her,” Jelena said, bewildered by the statement.
“Don't mind him,” Emerald added. “Shell shock.” Jelena nodded her understanding.
Emerald turned to Benjamin. “You may go now. Remember – power beats might. And that's still your only clue.” Benjamin hesitantly took a few steps back, until realising he wasn't being prevented. He was free to go. He quickly turned and left the room.
“What are you doing here?” Jelena asked Emerald.
“This is where we help each other,” Emerald told her.
“How so?”
“Come with me, there's two people I would like you to meet.”
They walked out of the office and made their way back to the ground floor. Waiting outside the main doors, unsure of just what was going on, stood Anastasia and Ruby. She ushered them inside, and back to the foyer area.
“Jelena, this is my sister Ruby. And our friend Anastasia.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Jelena lead the three visitors back up to her office. She could still vividly remember when she had met Emerald. She still found herself unsure as to what the nature of that meeting was. She had left it believing Emerald to be an angel. She saw no reason to change her mind. But who were these two new people? How did they tie into all of this, she wondered. She had a flight to organise with over three hundred children, do I even have time for any of this? But there was something about Emerald, something that intrigued her. Appearing as she had, and telling her where her destiny lay. Okay, she thought, lets see where this leads.
She showed them into her office, and allowed them to take in the views afforded by the rooms height. The sprawling mass of humanity that stretched out before them was always a difficult sight for those encountering it for the first time. Ruby and Anastasia stood transfixed by what they were now seeing.
“Please take a seat,” Jelena said to her guests, pointing to the seats lined up against the far wall of the office. She rarely had more than a single visitor in her office, but had decided one day that just in case they were ever needed, she wanted to be prepared. As it turns out, this was that one day. Ruby and Anastasia pulled their seats closer to the desk and faced Jelena, all three looking at each other as if waiting for the other to start. Emerald kept standing, to the side, watching the proceedings.
“Let me start,” Emerald began. “We've all just arrived from the city of Talias. We managed to escape Kirban before the invaders completely flattened it. We walked for over a week. We've actually lost track of the days. We were in Kallamantan earlier when we encountered enemy soldiers. As you can see by the fact that we are here, those enemy soldiers were no match for us. This was always our destination, and I was determined that nothing, or no one would prevent us getting here. To this place, and more specifically, to see you.”
“And why me, exactly?” Jelena asked Emerald, whilst Anastasia and Ruby watched on, also eager to know the answer.
“As you and I have already discussed, Mars is your destiny. It holds your future. I will see to it that it happens for you. But it's also Ruby's destiny. You two have a connection that will reveal itself over time.”
“But I will be going to Mars on the next flight, with the children that have been selected from the camps. We leave here in a few days.”
“And you need to take Ruby with you,” Emerald told her.
Jelena contemplated what Emerald was telling her, but all the plans had been made. “I can't do that,” she said. “My colleagues could help prepare her case for the next flight. But this one is booked.”
Ruby listened to the conversation with much interest, especially as she appeared to be its subject matter. She knew Emerald could work miracles. She had seen it for herself, and no one could dissuade her of that fact. But her heart sank a tiny bit on hearing what Jelena was saying. But she was intrigued by the emerging fact that Jelena and her sister seemed to know each other. She's prepared the way it seems. All part of the game plan. She placed her hand on Anastasia's knee knowing that the two of them were just passengers at this point. Anastasia placed her hand on Ruby's, letting her know they were there together, no matter what.
“Jelena, like so many here, you have experienced enormous loss and suffering. Life throws its challenges at us. I think you know that already. But life presents its solutions also. Except we so often fail to see them because we get stuck in the view point of loss and struggle. You have to change the way you are willing to look at everything. I am offering you a solution.”
Jelena sat silently as she listened to Emerald's words. They came from the mouth of such a young child, but she heard in them so much that she felt required her consideration. And she seems to know so much about me, she thought. An angel indeed. Jelena started to recollect the events of the past year. The war had failed to impact on her life for so long. She had begun to believe that it would remain someone else's concern. Together with her husband, she had taken an interest in it's development, and watched the news of its escalation. But it seemed so far away, and not their concern. Until it was. She remembered the day her husband received the news of his forced conscription into the armed forces. All of a sudden the war was their concern. It had become their business. It had landed unannounced upon their doorstep. That was the day Jelena's world changed, forever. But everybody's world was changing. People were being displaced in record numbers. Other countries were threatening to get involved. The news kept saying World War Three had begun. And her husband went to fight – for what they never really knew. For someone else's power struggles. For someone else's desire to control.
She remembered the day when that knock on the door came. The messengers of misery doing their rounds. I'm sorry to tell you but your husband is dead, she recalled. She knew it was said with a bit more grace than that, but the coldness of it all, the conveyor belt process of sending young lives to feed the death machine, just to continue the process by delivering the news that would surely shatter many more young lives. This planet has a sickness, she thought. She had lost such a fundamental reason for living, so what was she to do? She came to work helping people, helping these refugees. People who had also lost, and perhaps far more than she had.
“I want to help you, Emerald. I really do. I'm not sure what I can do though,” Jelena said.
“I know you do, Jelena,” Emerald told her. “And as you are remembering, your journey has lead you here, right to this very point, in both space and time. And with reason. You've lost, not once but twice. Still you help, and still you search for a way to help. Now it's time for you to receive help.”
Jelena knew she had busied herself in the camps. Her training in Psychology had readied her to assist in the most effective way. But it had also allowed her to keep her mind preoccupied. She wanted to help. It needed to be done. But if she was to be brutally honest with herself she had started to use it like a drug. To bury her own pain. And along came this angel, that wont take no for an answer, to remind her of this truth. Tears started to flow as she listened to Emerald's words. She had held them in so long, determined never to release them. She couldn't show any weakness, not when everybody needed her to be strong. All these children, she thought. If they see me cracking under the stress then what will that do to their confidence. All those justifications failed to make a difference, as Jelena wept at the thought of just what the past year had contributed to her life. But there was so much more than that, she realised. The tears of pain were mixed with tears of joy and gratitude. Someone was watching over her, and had sent their angel to guide her steps. Jelena realised that she needed to find a way, if possible, to help Ruby get to Mars. It's divinely ordained, she reminded herself.
“What do I need to do?” Jelena asked Emerald.
“You don't need to do anything, not just yet. First I want to introduce you to someone. You need to prepare yourself for this,” Emerald told her. Jelena looked at her with complete uncertainty in her eyes. So much mystery associated with Emerald, she thought.
They all watched as a small figure started to materialise within the room. At first they all sensed it's presence more than they could perceive it with their vision. But slowly the figure of a small male child became clearly visible to all who were in that room. Ruby shifted in her chair as she realised what she was seeing. Anastasia tried to keep her sense of intrigue hidden from view, not wanting to create more upset and tension than had already been stirred up in the room. But she was in shock at what she was seeing. Not knowing Jelena's history she had no idea just who she was looking at.
Jelena looked at the child for what seemed an eternity. Then she turned to Emerald. “This can't be,” she said, shaking her head. She was having a difficult time accepting what her heart was screaming at her to acknowledge.
“Why can't it be?” Emerald asked her.
“Alexander was stillborn. This child is developed. Perhaps four or five years old.” She breathed heavily as she spoke, wanting desperately to believe that Emerald had returned her child to her, but could she deal with the hurt of losing him all over again?
“That's the image you have of him in your consciousness,” Emerald told her. “It's how you perceive him to be.”
The child started to walk over to Jelena, slowly, until he stood in front of where she was still seated.
“Mommy,” he said. Jelena wept openly and without shame. She had no way to prevent it, so she let it out. Anastasia and Ruby were both hit by the power of the emotion in the room. Ruby looked up at Emerald, and felt like she was watching an artist paint the most beautiful painting ever known.
Chapters One and Two (Part One)
Chapters Three and Four (Part Two)
Chapters Five and Six (Part Three)
Chapter Seven (Part Four)
Chapter Eight (Part Five)
Chapter Nine (Part Six)
Chapter Ten (Part Seven)
Chapter Eleven (Part Eight)
Chapter Twelve (Part Nine)
Chapter Thirteen (Part Ten)
Chapter Fourteen (Part Eleven)
Chapter Fifteen (Part Twelve)
Chapter Sixteen and Seventeen (Part Thirteen)
Chapter Eighteen (Part Fourteen)
Chapter Nineteen (Part Fifteen)
Chapter Twenty (Part Sixteen)
Chapter Twenty One and Twenty Two (Part Seventeen)
This fiction is my own work, written for Steemit
Image Credit: Unsplash.com
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