Rog laced the strap to his robe and pulled it tight, fleetingly proud that between cloth and muscle was not much. Yul combed her hair with her fingers and nodded. Rog opened the door.
“Sorry to bother you guys,” said Mairi, not waiting to be invited to come in. “I can’t hold this in anymore.”
Rog looked at Yul and she shrugged her shoulders. “Have a seat Mairi. Can I get you anything?”
“Some snizzle would be great if it’s not too much trouble.”
“None at all, was about to fix a fresh brew.”
“I’ll do that Rog,” said Yul.
“Thanks sweetie. Now, what’s on your mind Mairi?”
“Have you heard from Kyra, since we parted ways?”
“No, wasn’t really expecting too, at least not this soon. Why do you ask?”
“I’ve got a very bad feeling.”
Rog sat up, putting his forearms on his knees as if to leverage the extension of his neck. “What kind of bad feeling?”
“Like something has gone terribly wrong, not just a little wrong, but tragically wrong.”
Yul walked in with three blue onyx cups of snizzle on a wooden tray. Mairi took a cup, her hand had a slight tremble. Rog ignored the tray and continued, “Do you know something we don’t?”
Mairi shook her head.
“So, this is just a feeling then?”
Yul jumped in. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt something in Mairi’s tone, something Rog didn’t. “Tell us more about this feeling.”
Mairi sighed and looked down and her eyes watered.
“Mairi, what’s wrong?” asked Yul, looking somewhat concerned at how quickly the intensity in the room ratcheted up.
“I need to show you something.” Mairi stood up and her hands gingerly rolled down the turtleneck she wore, which, Yul took note, she never seemed to wear before she was captured. Rog and Yul got quiet and Mairi begin to quiver.
“Oh my Janus,” exclaimed Yul. “What the frail is that?”
“A little gift from the good doctor.”
Rog stood up and moved closer wanting to reach out and touch her neck. “What did they do to you?”
“He called it an ampulator, a living organism that, as the doctor said, would form a symbiotic relationship with my nullness. He placed it around my neck and,” Mairi paused as if a bitter aftertaste made her frown, “and the creature’s hundreds of little receptors attached themselves to my nerve endings like the tentacles of a small cephalopod.”
“Oh my Janus,” Yul repeated. “Why didn’t you tell us?” She regretted the words almost before they left her tongue.
“Some things you don’t want to remember, to relive, to give a second life to—once was enough. Until now.”
“I’m sorry Mairi.”
“No need. I’ve come here of my own accord.”
“Please continue.”
“The amp, as the good doctor liked to call it--. Mairi stopped as tears came down like flashing railroad gates, seemingly unable to continue as the vivid memories sped by in her mind.
Rog looked stunned. Yul hugged Mairi. “You don’t have to continue.”
“I’ll be okay. Give me a second.”
“Take your time.”
Mairi blew her nose and wiped her tired eyes. Then she continued. “When they took the vile thing off, I thought I was done, I thought I was free.”
“You are free Mairi. It’s gone,” said Rog.
Mairi tried to smile. She knew Rog meant well. “Not exactly.”
“What do you mean?” responded Rog, slowing his voice as if he wanted to hear what he was saying.
“I suppose you’ve noticed I’ve worn nothing but turtlenecks lately. Seems the amp has tattooed my neck. I’m told it will fade in time, but never completely go away. Seems I’m stuck with a visual reminder of that horror, a little going away present, if you will.”
Yul just looked on, not knowing what to say that wouldn’t sound patronizing. She tried to imagine how she would feel if her physical appearance had been altered against her will, in a permanent way.
Before she could respond, Mairi added, “But that doesn’t bother me as much as the other side effect. I’m not the same person I was before.”
“You will always be Mairi to us,” said Rog, shaking his head as if his words needed additional emphasis.
“It’s not that,” said Mairi. “The amp has ‘awakened” a dormant quality of my nullness, unlocked it so to speak. Remember me saying, or perhaps it was just Kyra that I told, that I was a child of the shells but that I had no clue what made me so?”
Yul looked at Rog and he returned the look.
“No matter. I now know. I know and it terrifies me.”
“What terrifies you?”
“I see things. I feel things. Things I never saw, never felt before as if a whole channel of communication has opened to me, one that was there all along, but one I never knew existed. Do you understand what I am saying?”
“Keep going.”
“This nullness, if you want to call it that, as best as I can figure, and keep in mind, I’ve only had this ability since I returned, is not bound by space and time. I can see things, feel things, in other places, in other times.”
“Whoa,” said Rog. “Are you shiotting me?”
“No.”
Rog didn’t know what to say. He was expecting a longer answer, one he could pick apart, somehow.
“Kyra, Von and Em are in grave danger. My powers are not so refined that I can tell you what happened or how it happened or why it happened, but I know, and please don’t ask me to explain it because I can’t, but I know beyond any doubt something is terribly wrong. I feel a silence that should not be there. I feel a coldness that was never there before. I hear whispers just beyond my ability to decipher. I hear a call for help.”
Rog thought for a second. “But why hasn’t she called us?”
“Maybe she can’t?”
“Or maybe, she called someone else, someone she thought would be in the best position to help her.”
Rog shot up. “You two stay here. I’m going see John.”
Categories: Story, Mairi, Rog, Yul
10 comments:
Just lost my comment and was shown an error message, I have not seen before. Going to wait a little while, see if it shows up, before I begin the task of writing a new.
Dang blogger. You know, I've never had this happen yet, knock on wood, at WordPress. :-(
It's the thought that counts anyway. :-)
Then again, I say get working on that comment pronto. :-D
Great chapter. Can't wait to see what happens next. So many questions... looking forward to answers.
Thanks Jenni. Answers are just around the corner. :-)
Frustrating writing these things a second time for one cannot help but want to include what was there the first time, but this being the second time, the thoughts are coming, but rather have been, and so it never, ever sounds as good. In other words, bear in mind, my first comment was fan*tastic, regardless of what this one turns out to be. :-D
Though structure is always something to take note of, style etc, and as I know I have said to you before today, one of the things that is so wonderful about The Story and you as a writer is that you are always presenting us with something new, however it doesn't get mentioned most times, but due to the fact that it was so noticable on the chapter below, it struck me consciously with this one too, just how it is layed out and what a great job you've done here again in that respect.
Mairi and Von have some similarities to them now, both having been held captive, both with stories to tell that they haven't told, nor may they ever, nor need they, at least in as much as it being clear to us as readers the magnitude of these experiences, as can be seen from how they both react to thoughts of those events.
The greater part of my comment was about the fascination that many of us feel about sixth sense, telepathy and all those related subjects. How this being the world of B-4-0, where Kyra can bring Yul back to life, where Kieran drinks shots and where Kyra and Calfuray do battle, Rog and Yul might be a little more open to what Mairi is saying, but even if that weren't the case, even if none of those things had happened, she would still be be (this bit was fantastic the first time around, really was!) believable.
Sigh - must remember to copy before posting.
In any case, this is as the one that went before and the one that will come after (no doubt in my mind), another excellent chapter of the story. A beautiful branch.
Sweetest, thank you for noticing the style. I am an aesthete at heart, and for me, the look and feel they "are both." And I want both!
Part of this is not so much plan as my desire for variety, to do something different, to taste something new, to stay fresh and interesting--and so I change the format. The "play" format, which I think we will see soon, is again, a desire to have a different flavor to a chapter, one that I think will lend itself well to the chapter I have in mind. Stay tuned. :-)
I think Mairi and Von, at a future date are going to have some very interesting conversations. I love it when characters have overlapping experiences, and in this case, to be tortured or imprisoned is the kind of experience one does not talk about with others who have not shared this burden, for there are no words to convey, and so, often family is met with silence when asking about what happened.
However, put two war vets with similar experiences together in the same room, and many times you can't get them to shut up. They speak the same language and words have nothing to do with it, they only point to other things.
I do love the way you remind me of things in the story I've forgotten about. The Bravo universe is expanding, growing wider and deeper, and I'm loving every step into their world.
Thanks Sweetest for such a wonderful and engaged and thoughtful comment. :-)
**still trying to catch up....story of my life :)**
WOW- this went out on the edge!
I had to read it twice, and let me tell you it was as good the second time around !
it just gets better and better Tree.
Are you worried about ending it at all? I hope it never ends!
Thank you Meg. I don't see this story ending anytime soon, so although at times it looks like the story could be coming to an end, think of it as only the end of one chapter, which means the beginning of another. As long as the ideas continue to flow and I'm having fun the story will continue.
Thanks for the very kind words. Very much appreciated Meg. :-)
Wow... this is going to be cool. I'm sorry for Mairi's pain but what the amp left her with is a special gift and I hope they can do something in time to save Kyra, Em, and Von.
I think she will. Got to love a woman with super powers. :-D
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