Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Girl Talk from SPRSWB

Dorrie held up the dress.  “Sergei will be here soon.”

Clair reached for the dress.

Dorrie held it back.  “Promise me you’ll give this man a fair shake.”

Clair frowned at Dorrie and pursed her lips reaching for the dress again.

Dorrie backed away from her.  “Promise Clair.”

Clair bit her lip almost hard enough to break the skin. She huffed and finally said, “I promise, fair shake.”

Dorrie held the dress out to her.  “Thank you.”

Clair snatched it.  “Why are you on this guy’s team?”

Dorrie looked beside herself.  “Are you joking, you weren’t at the table when he said that a man doesn’t walk out on a woman after they’ve been together for years.  Maybe you didn’t notice that he had only been in your space for a few seconds and knew that you were worth the effort.  Or did you miss his calm acceptance of your episode.”

Clair thought back, that had been odd.  Only Dorrie knew about her voodoo heritage.  Being raised in Africa she was a bit more understanding about that sort of thing than the average American.  During the phone call he hadn’t even brought it up. He had been more concerned with the idea that she had changed her mind about seeing him. Which considering their rocky meeting was fair.

What had been even more odd is that when Clair thought about it everything she did when he was around seemed oddly out of character. She wasn’t the type to get into a man’s face regardless of the circumstances. She really needed to pay attention. Something was not quite right.  Clair realized that Dorrie had called her name twice and startled she looked up.  “Yeah?”

“Where were you?  I swear you need a keeper most of the time.” Doreen said with slight shake of her head.

Clair shrugged and nodded.  “Just thinking.”

Dorrie huffed some herself this time.  “That is something else you need to give up, just feel Clair.  I know you are attracted to this man.  Be attracted to him and stop giving yourself such a hard time about it.  And for God sake try and have some fun.”

Clair smirked at her worrying mother hen of a best friend.  “Done mama Dorrie?”

Dorrie returned her smirk.  “Smart ass, for now, yes.”  She grabbed her purse and started for the door.  “Have fun.”

Clair smiled and said sincerely, “I will do my best.”


“That’s all I ask,” Dorrie yelled back as the door shut on her.



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Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Saturday Night from So a Psychic and a Rocket Scientist Walk into a Bar

Clair was in her bedroom in front of her full length mirror annoyed with what she had chosen to wear.  It wasn’t a bad outfit it just didn’t look like a date outfit.  Because of her profession, and because of Jonny, besides jeans and t-shirts Clair only had two absolute looks, dress black for her concerts and skank club gear for Jonny’s concerts.  Somehow neither one seemed appropriate. Not that she knew what Sergei would consider appropriate. She couldn’t help but to wonder about him and their meeting.

Sergei hadn’t even blinked oddly when he had calmly asked her what she had seen.  As if he were accustomed to dealing with people with extra sensory perceptive gifts.  Their phone call last night had been brief but not once had he even implied that he thought her repeated fainting spells had been odd.

He had called around 8 last night, very respectful of her time. Clair had been sitting at her piano going through her paces. She had literally been thinking of him and wondering if he would actually call. Part of her hoping he would and part of her hoping he wouldn’t. The contrast made her uncomfortable. She had been lost in thought when the ringing phone made her jump.

“Hello Clair, how are you?” he had casually answered when she had said hello.

“I’m fine.”  She had been at the piano, of course.  For whatever reason, the day after she had met Sergei she had started a new piece.  She was sure it was just coincidence.  She needed to rationalize the things that she felt when she thought about Sergei. Meeting him had been pretty impactful in a way she didn’t want to deal with.  She had slowly fallen for Jonny and previous guys.  A little flirting at a music event, a date or two. Then eventually they got intimate.

This was different.  Sergei spoke to her in ways she didn’t know she had places to speak from. It was maddening she went from anxiousness, to excitement, to blind terror.

“That’s good to hear, we still on for tomorrow night or have you come to your senses and changed your mind?” Sergei said rather cautiously.

Despite herself Clair had chuckled a little under her breath.  “Should I come to my senses and change my mind?”

He had paused for a moment or two as if he were actually thinking about it.  “Well, Clair, I’m not an easy boy to get along with, you got a taste of that a few days ago.  I know that you never actually instigated this so I don’t hold you accountable for going out with me.  I’d like a chance to get to know you and you seem like a person worth knowing Clair.”

“Clairvoyance.” She had said instantly surprising herself because she never asked anyone to call her Clairvoyance.

She heard a low whistle from the other end of the line.  “My Lord, that’s a god-awful first name, no wonder you go by Clair.  Do you really want me to call you that?”

Immediately embarrassed Clair held her warm forehead in her hand.  “No, I guess I wanted to see if you would go running for the hills.”


He chuckled a little this time.  “Honestly Clair, if you turn out to be as much woman as I think you are, it would take wild horses to drag me away.”


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Monday, February 27, 2017

All the Unexplained - SPRSWB

“Not everything of this world can be explained by science or anything else for that matter.”  He pinned her again with his laser blue eyes.  “I don’t discount anything, there is something in you Clair that is beyond the norm and it glows off of you like a beacon, it attracts me.”

Clair knew she was staring at him in the oddest fashion but she couldn’t seem to control the instinct to do so.  All of her life she just knew that talking about the eccentric nature of her family line would be a bad ideal for a first date.  It would be a bad ideal before marriage but she had admitted to herself that she would’ve volunteered the information if Jonny had ever asked her to be his wife.  She had never guessed that the secrets of her lineage permeated off of her and someone open to those ideals would be able to associate and see how she was different from most people.

“To be honest, I have a family history that would imply that extra sensory perception was an ability I should have, but you are the first person I’ve ever had even a blip of activity with.” Clair admitted.

Sergei frowned slightly.  “Really?  I find that very interesting.  Not a single occurrence before?”

Clair shrugged sheepishly, “Not involving anything else besides music.”

Sergei sat silently for a moment the question burning in his form as he softly asked, “How bad was it, Clair?”

Clair was very solemn and couldn’t hide the fear in her voice as she said slowly, “Bad.”

He nodded.  “I thought so, had a gut feeling about it.”

Clair finally asked, “Is there any reason to believe that someone would want to hurt you?”

He nodded quickly.  “Yeah, this project that I’m here for is under much scrutiny and debate.”  He leveled his impressive eyes at her.  “There are people who would rather not see it done.”

“How pertinent are you to its completion?” Clair said in a very direct way.


“There’s the thing Clair, without me, it doesn’t happen.” Sergei laid hard.

“You want to talk about it?” Clair asked earnestly.

He hesitated for only a moment, “Virgin launch.  The ideal has been humming around the aerospace industry since we first got people on the moon.”  His eyes started to glow again as he started talking with his hands.  “What if we could charter people into space, like airline carriers charter people around the world?  It’s a huge undertaking because you would have to be able to eliminate a bulk of the physical limitations to being in space that astronauts train years for.”

“Okay,” Clair inserted following.

“What is the one thing missing from space that makes it so damn difficult for people?” Sergei asked in an ironic way.

Clair thought for a second. “Gravity.”

Sergei smiled at her then.  “I have developed a rather crude and preliminary gravitational system that would not alter regardless of the gravity, or lack thereof, in space. Currently it can be isolated to a single hub.” He shrugged, “So far I’ve only been able to stabilize a hub the size of a Lear jet, but that’s just the beginning.”

Clair felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.  “You’ve found a way to create gravity?” she said in a disbelieving fashion.

Sergei nodded a bit as he responded. “Sort of, I’ve mostly found a way to borrow gravity.  Gravity is one of the big four forces of the Universe, it just exists, the trick is tapping into it.”

“How?” Clair asked honestly intrigued.

He was casual but confident as he continued. “Same way it exists now, orbiting bodies in a circular pattern, centrifugal force meeting rotating atoms.”

Abruptly he grabbed a napkin and pulled a pen out of his jacket pocket.  He drew a crude looking cigar shaped vessel and drew several rings around it.  On each ring he attached various circular objects of varying size, and with arrows he displayed the directions each ring would move and the directions each circular object would rotate in.

He showed her the crude drawing.  “Mankind’s problem is that we always think we need to reinvent the wheel, we don’t need anything new, the solution is in the application.”

Clair’s mind wrapped around it instantly.  “A roving solar system, with the hub as the sun.”

Sergei nodded.  “It would move in space just like our galaxy does, creating its own gravity as it goes.”

Clair shook her head.  “That’s so simple it’s brilliant.”

Sergei nodded.  “I had this thought for quite a while and I often thought that it really couldn’t be this simple so I never brought it up.  But people are chomping at the bit to get into space.”  He paused before finishing. “So I put a little more time and planning into it, mapped out the physics of it all and I was able to generate a gravitational field on a model airplane.”

Clair was holding the napkin, staring at it blankly not really believing how unerringly brilliant this man was.  “Talk about thinking outside of the box.”

“I find the only issues with science are all the rules, we’ve made things too complicated.  None of us can see the forest for the trees.”  He stated like it was obvious “God had it all right in the beginning, why mess with that?”

Her thoughts got captured by his mention of God.  “Don’t tell me you’re a scientist that believes in God.”

He fixed her with a very serious look.  “No true scientist can look at the evidence and not.  It’s too balanced, everything is.  I don’t know if religion has it right but I do know that something holds this all together.  We’ve broken things down to their smallest component and we have no idea why everything doesn’t just fall apart.  That’s either magic or some other divine force.”  He fixed her with a knowing look.  “And I don’t have to tell you about all else in this world that is unexplainable.”


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Friday, November 11, 2016

Familiar With This Sort of Thing - SPRSWB

“I would like to take your hand, but I don’t want you to have another episode,” he admitted candidly.

Which made Clair ask, “You seem familiar with my odd behavior, why is that?”

Sergei smirked at her.  “You don’t know much about gypsies do you?”

“Well I don’t give any credence to most stereotypes, I don’t see fortune-tellers and the like.” Clair affirmed.

Sergei leaned back in his chair.  “As terrible as it is to say, while stereotypes themselves are wrong, some of their assumptions are based in fact.”

“You believe in things beyond the norm,” she stated more than asked.

“Believe them, hell, I’ve seen ‘em,” he imparted. “Not everything of this world can be explained by science or anything else for that matter.”  He pinned her again with his laser blue eyes.  “I don’t discount anything, there is something in you Clair that is beyond the norm and it glows off of you like a beacon, it attracts me.”

Clair knew she was staring at him in the oddest fashion but she couldn’t seem to control the instinct to do so.  All of her life she just knew that talking about the eccentric nature of her family line would be a bad ideal for a first date.  It would be a bad ideal before marriage but she had admitted to herself that she would’ve volunteered the information if Jonny had ever asked her to be his wife.  She had never guessed that the secrets of her lineage permeated off of her and someone open to those ideals would be able to associate and see how she was different from most people.

“To be honest, I have a family history that would imply that extra sensory perception was an ability I should have, but you are the first person I’ve ever had even a blip of activity with.” Clair admitted.

Sergei frowned slightly.  “Really?  I find that very interesting.  Not a single occurrence before?”

Clair shrugged sheepishly, “Not involving anything else besides music.”

Sergei sat silently for a moment the question burning in his form as he softly asked, “How bad was it, Clair?”


Clair was very solemn and couldn’t hide the fear in her voice as she said slowly, “Bad.”


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Wednesday, November 9, 2016

I Choose to Not Let You Die - SPRSWB

With the clarity of daylight, understanding flooded her senses.  “Oh dear God, you knew you were coming to New Mexico to die.”

Sergei didn’t pretend to not.  “I don’t back down Clair, I face things head on.”

Clair was beside herself with rage at the lack of care he showed with his life.  “You are insane,” She uttered carefully. “I’m not the only one who needs a keeper apparently.”  She got up and headed for her kitchen but stopped short and turned around to look at him. She didn’t mean to but ended up yelling the last bit out, “How long have you known?”

He casually shrugged.  “All my life really.”  He stood and tried to touch Clair but she pulled back. He held up his hands.  “You believe in patterns, right?”

She shook her head.  “No Serg, not like this, this is not the pattern.  Death is a natural transition, murder is malicious and brought about by pattern wreckers.”

He moved closer to her but made no effort to touch her again.  “Sometimes the pattern needs to be wrecked so that it can begin again, set right from being wrecked before.  Can you agree with that?”

Clair huffed loudly because they both knew that she did so she refused to answer.  “Our paths change here, for better or for worse, we choose, it isn’t chosen for us,” she clarified with a great deal of passion.

Sergei nodded.  “I agree, I choose,” he emphasized the word, “not to run away from this.”


Clair, still enraged, felt her chin rise as she declared, “I choose to not let you die.”


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Friday, November 4, 2016

Karmatically Predisposed Not to Lie to Me - SPRSWB

Sergei walked into her home.  “Perhaps the anticipation of seeing you has me at a disadvantage.”
With slow deliberation he turned to her and pulled her into his arms.  He shifted and tilted her just enough that she had to grab his arms for support.  For a moment his lips hovered over hers letting her breath in as he exhaled and then returned the favor.  “Something very appealing about watching you breathe me in,” he whispered against her lips.

He watched her skin flush and her eyes dilate ever so slightly.  The woman was exquisite, God help him if she ever figured it out.  He sealed his mouth to hers.  Clair stopped bracing herself and sunk her fingers into his hair a startled sound coming from her. Sergei felt his head swim for a moment, he could get drunk just kissing this woman.  Resigned he lifted his head and resettled Clair in front of him.  They had things afoot.  “Your mother?”

Clair blinked up at him, still slightly dazed. “My mother?”

Sergei smiled despite himself.  He did understand how she felt, the control freak in him would be damned if he showed it.  “Are we going to her?”

Clair nodded. Then started wringing her hands.

Sergei took her arms into his hands. “Clair?”

She shook her head.  “I can’t... I don’t know what... how to explain...,” she huffed deeply. “I’ve never... in my life... to this degree...”

Sergei just stared at her enjoying her gapping.  “Clair, spit it out.”

“I want to jump your bones.”  Clair’s grey eyes popped open and she put her hand to her mouth staring at Sergei in an accusatory way.  “Did you, I don’t know why I just…”  She stared at him gravely.

“I told you, it was a two-way street.  I can’t lie to you either.”  Sergei said softly relief in his voice. 

“It’s starting to become a permanent state.  Before I met you I at least knew when to keep my mouth shut.  But if anyone asks me anything about you, if you ask me anything, the truth comes flying out.  Whether I want it to or not.”

Clair pulled a face thinking about this.  “Karmatically predisposed not to lie to me, that’s not so bad.”

Sergei held up his finger, “Two-way street.”

Clair shrugged.  “I don’t lie often enough to really worry about it.”

Sergei grinned at the shock mixed with horror that spread across her face.

“This sucks.” Clair winced hard as she heard her own words.

Sergei nodded.  “Not all the fun and games you thought it would be huh?”


“Not at all.”  She put up her hands.  “Let’s go.”


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Wednesday, November 2, 2016

So a Psychic and a Rocket Scientist Walk into a Bar - Those Witchy Rumors

Charlie took the hint well.  He got up as well and started out of the office.  “There are weird voodoo rumors circling Clair, just be careful.”  He threw over his shoulder as he was walking out.

Sergei smirked.  “And why would that be a problem?”

Charlie shrugged.  “Some guys get put out about things like that.  Weird witchy shit.  Never know what will happen when one gets uptight about you.”

“Charlie Benson, are you afraid of sweet harmless Clair?” Sergei asked clearly bemused by the prospect.

Charlie shrugged again.  “Not really but you know, it bears to wonder about.  Just in case things go sour.”

“They won’t,” Sergei winced internally, that truth trigger of his was just as hair pinned as ever.

“Confidence,” Charlie said.  “Something else geniuses have a wealth of without thinking about how hard it is for other people.”

Charlie shuffled out of the room leaving Sergei watching his back not really sure if he was okay or not.  With a huff, Sergei sat back down and stared at the screen. The chirping of the cell phone brought him away from any reflective thoughts. “Clair.” He answered recognizing the number.

“What’s your schedule like?” she asked a little impatiently.

He shrugged hearing the anxiety in her tone.  “Whatever it needs to be. I’m my own boss remember.”

“Tomorrow night, about 6:30.  My mother is free.” She said slowly.


“I’ll meet you at your place, with bells on.”  He stated ironically.


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Saturday, October 8, 2016

Gallery of Past Art: Enchantress

I've been called a bit of a Renaissance woman. I've dabbled in as much art as humanly possible.  The art I feel most compelled to create however is writing. But I'm not immune to my first art which was drawing and painting. Over the course of the next few weeks I'm going to share some of my favorite pieces:

Enchantress

Enchantress was drawn with ebony pencil and colored pencil. I only wanted brief bits of color to highlight the mostly black and white space.


The hardest thing to capture was this look on her face. I needed it to be focused and drawing low lidded eyes was my biggest challenge.


I took extra time and effort to try and get the shadowing just right. The play of light on her face, neck to try and reveal the tendons and plans created by human anatomy.



Although it can't be seen in the photograph when this work was hung at my Senior show it was placed under an angled light so the sparkle of glitter I placed at  the lit points was visible.

Monday, September 12, 2016

The Would Be Prophet

He knew he needed to just keep running no matter what. His legs pumped but it seemed like he wasn’t making any ground. He didn’t know why the Gudha was chasing him and he didn’t have time to consider it. Nor did he have time to contact the Nitya who he had learned often defended humans against such persecution from other alien species. It all looks so good on matra sites when you infuse them but the actuality was no organization moved that fast. But life was no salad field it was sometimes very tough especially for peaceful humans. It was like the aggressive aliens on the earth didn’t understand that this level of violence was abhorrent to the native species.
“You should hear me out.” Miles heard the creature as if he was standing next to him. He had always been disturbed by the Gudha and their invasive ability to project their voice, thoughts and ideas into the human mind. It was an outlawed practice but this one was much too comfortable breaking the rules. He doubted that telling him that would matter. The only reprieve was that they couldn’t read the minds of humans just push themselves into them.  They looked just like humans except when they were projecting.  Their eyes would glint red for a sharp second before they returned to normal. Most people would miss it because it usually happened so fast. Miles was desperate to remember what it was that Gudha hated so he could put himself in the middle of it. It was something very common.
“Head to the water.” He stopped and stared up.  He had been running through the algae alleys.  The algae paved streets glowing under his feet. It was different from the main roads which were lined with algae lamps. He figured he would stay in the less lit pathways. The city was constructed of green spaces. The buildings made from combinations of biodegradable compounds that could be shaped into walls and doors the windows a poly from algae that made them see through and energy producing for the buildings and rooms they were attached to.
The voice had come from a woman perched on the second landing of the building to his right looking down at him through the see through floor she was standing on.
“They hate water.” She followed with. Deftly she hopped on the ledge of the landing, flipped her legs over and landed neatly in front of him with a slight click of her boots on the algae pavement.
Miles stared at the dusky blonde.  Her skin was the shade of slightly browning leaves or a red malt beverage. Her long blonde hair was braided and lay on her shoulder. She was incased in a peculiar fabric.  Most people wore loose flowing linens and cotton. The weather regulator had taken away the need for heavier cloths and clothing decades ago. If his history was correct she was dressed in an almost leather like fabric.  Which was impossible. Leather was extinct just as the cows it was made from were. The pants fit her slightly bulky muscular form closely. The shirt she wore was made of the same fabric and was long sleeved forming fingerless gloves on her hands. It also clung to her skin the color just a few shades darker than her.
“Oh my stars.” He muttered as he saw what she wore on her hips.
The woman smirked slightly if the no toothed shifting of the corner of her lips upward was the only indication he was going to get. She placed her hands on the hilts of the long weapons she wore on her belt which was loosely wrapped around her hips.
“Trust me you’ll be happy I have these before this is over with.” She confided as she flexed her fingers over the wooden handles. She pinned him with her light brown eyes. “Run or stand and fight.”
“Run!” he replied instantly and took off.
She kept pace. “You’ll have to deal with him before it’s over with.”  She said as she jogged casually next to him. “They don’t quit.”
Miles knew she was right he just didn’t want to deal with it. “The fountain on main.”
She shook her head. “Not deep enough to scare him.”  She sped up and got in the lead. “We need to head to the lake.”
“Don’t trust her.” Miles heard in the back of his head from the creature pursuing him. He looked at the woman running in front of him. “Who are you anyway?”
“They call me Nikki.”
Miles tried to fight the frown. “That’s a very old name.”
She made a sound that he assumed might be laughter.
“Do you know why it’s chasing you?” she asked out of nowhere.
“No.” He muttered as he tried to keep up.
“How long?”
“Since yesterday.”
“What was the last thing you dreamed?”
Miles frowned at the question not really sure what that had to do with anything. “I really can’t remember.”
“Try!” she threw over her shoulder forcefully.
Miles couldn’t really focus while he was running but he was encouraged by seeing the lake a few yards ahead.
“Don’t stare at it jump in.” Nikki said as Miles slowed at the edge of the lake. He gave her a quick look and she nodded towards the water.
Miles’ fear grew as he finally could see what had been chasing him. The creature looked just like a man. He had long red hair that brushed the middle of his back tied back into a ponytail. The algae lights glinted eerily off of his black icy eyes.  The Gudha had a look about them. Very human features pulled almost too sharp.  They always held their faces passive and still nearly emotionless. They dressed very similar to human males with the long flowing white cotton tunic and loose pants of the same fabric. It was a known fact that they roughly possessed 35% more muscle than the average human male. The larger muscled form shifted slightly as the creature approached the woman who had literally led him to water. He was about 6 feet tall which made him larger than the average Gudha.  They usually ran under 6 feet hovering around 5′ 9′.
Miles waded. “What are you doing?” he asked as she turned to face the Gudha. “Come with me.”
The woman continued to face the Gudha. “Swim to the other side. I’ll find you later.”
Miles was confused but did what he was told.
“I wish you hadn’t done that.” the Gudha practically sang as he watched Miles swim away.
Nikki hadn’t taken her eyes off of the Gudha to watch Miles swim away.  When it was time she would be led to him. Right now she had to make sure Miles had enough time to get away. The water would do that. It would make him harder for the Gudha to track and her presence acted as a shield so that Miles would disappear for just long enough.
“I’m sure.” Nikki said slowly as she gripped the handles of her weapons.
He put his hand up. “Now Nikki we should talk.”
Nikki stared at the beast. “Been a while Kal. I guess I know what you have been up to since the fall.”
The creature erupted into maniacal laughter that practically echoed in the space. “The Fall. Is that what you’re calling it?”
Nikki shrugged slightly as she took a step closer her hands firm on the handles of her weapons. She suspected he wasn’t looking for a fight. But these fellas were always so hard to call in the moment. She didn’t know how desperate he was to get to Miles. So it was time to find out.  He met her step for step until he was standing a few feet in front of her looking down at her.
“It’s just the framework, the story we’re all sticking to.” He leaned in. “But we feel the same to each other don’t we?”
“What are you after Kal?”
He shrugged. “I liked it better when they were filled with self-righteous indignation.” He stared at her for few moments. “He’s not even going to stand and fight. Remember when they would charge the gates of hell with a bucket of ice water.” He started to circle her a bit as Nikki turned to face him as he did.
“There is no hell anymore. No heaven either.” She muttered to him beneath her breath. “They are free of it all.”
“But we’re not.” He hissed. “Don’t you miss it?” He leaned in to whisper that against her ear. “The power of who and what you really are.”
“They get to choose. He gets to choose.”  Nikki said in a measured fashion.
“Choice has never looked good on them.” He muttered back. “Let me show him what his dreams really mean. He’ll never figure it out without help. Let me push him to doing what needs to be done.”
Nikki pulled out one of her blades and used it to casually scratch her head. “Not your call to make.”
She stared at him daring him to say the words that would stop this from being a conversation. She could feel his calculating his chances for success. And she knew the minute he decided to let her hold him.
Nikki grunted a bit then glanced at the large body of water behind her. “I thought being so close to the water would make you chatty.”
“You know I was a little doubtful about seeing what I thought I saw. Now that you’re here I know for a fact it was exactly what I thought it was.”
Nikki sighed loudly and rolled her eyes hard. “Kal you should let it go.”
“You mean let him go.”
“I do.”
Nikki stared at the beast. People were afraid of them but they didn’t realize what they were and what their nature was. Hell Nikki had been chasing these things for over 600 years and she couldn’t tell most days of the week which way one would go. She could feel the unease shift inside of her. The voice she listened to without question giving an order.
She saw the flash of Kal’s eyes before Gabe appeared. It was like a wind then a whisper and Gabe filled in the space that was empty to the left of them both. Both she and Kal looked over to see Gabe standing there his curly black hair in long disarray around his head just barely brushing his shoulders. His bronze skin stretched over Roman features.  His brown tunic and pants fluttering slightly in the wake of his arrival. His silver eyes glinted like shinning steel nearly iridescent when you tried to look directly into them. He stood as tall as Kal and just as broad. They mirrored each other in shape and form in the oddest ways.
“Like I said. . . I have no doubt now.” Kal said in a satisfied fashion as he started to back away from Nikki and Gabe.
“Go to him. I’ll keep him occupied.” Gabe said in a deep rich baritone.
Nikki looked at the two males and started to back away. She moved close to the water closed her eyes and searched for Miles. One breath then two and she caught his scent. The ones with the potential to change things always smelled different. She didn’t know if it was because of what she was or because of what they were but when Miles had passed under her that night six weeks ago she knew what would come next. She hadn’t smelled one since before the Fall. He was a heralding of a few potential futures and she was going to have to find him so he could decide what he planned to do about it.
Nikki focused saw where he was inhaled deep then shifted her space. She exhaled and opened her eyes and was right outside of a door.
The over-surveillance of the public that was popular during the last few decades before the Fall had made traveling like this impossible. But with the onset of understanding that there were other beings in the Universe with different abilities and powers she was able to live as freely as she ever had. Still old habits die hard and somewhere in the middle of her 4th century alive technology had taken such a leap that it had compromised her entire existence. Dalen had trained her hard fast and as usual without mercy to keep matters hidden. Photography, video, cell phones, the internet, social media had made doing her job even harder than it had been.
Miles opening the door cut into her thoughts. “Hi it’s you. Are you a Nitya?”
Nikki actually laughed in that subdued grunt she does. “No Miles I’m one of a kind. Like you.”
Miles frowned looking very confused. Nikki looked at Miles now that he was in a safer situation. She could see him clearly now. He was by all rights an average looking human being. One of the hang-ups of the previous ones before the fall was skin color. This lot never noticed the slight variations in pigment. They were all varying shades of dark. Dalen would say that’s how it was in the beginning so it returns. His features also were not very extraordinary. Large brown eyes, high cheekbones, sharp nose and chin with full lips.
What he held inside was a remnant of a long dead generation. A throwback that was birthed from the generic matching that humans are born of now from a system that could never quantify this trait less alone weed it out. A foreign element never meant for this mix. Chance would be pleased.
“I’m just a human.” Miles responded as he stood back so Nikki could come in. “I want to thank you for helping me earlier.”
Nikki nodded as she stared at him in a penetrating fashion. “You are human that’s not what I mean.”
She took in the place he was in. “Your place?”
It was a basic small room. Places were different not spacious like they used to be. Now a four walled room changed to suit the needs of the inhabitants. With food supplements and automated waste recycling people didn’t’ have to even dirty themselves with true cooking eating, shitting and pissing like she still had to do. She didn’t do it for necessity she did it because it made her feel real in a world that was even more different than anything else after the Fall.  Like always the only natural thing that humanity did was have sex. Well usually.
Miles shook his head. “I rented earlier. I needed to eat and rest.”
“To run again.”
Miles looked at her sharply at the judging tone of how she said it. “I’m human we’re peaceful.”
Nikki grunted. “So I’ve been told.” she practically whispered. “What do you know of history?”
Miles looked at her and waved his hand.  The floor pushed up to form a place for them to sit. The material pulled away like a liquid and became solid cushy beneath them. Nikki tried to get comfortable but she as always better on the ground in grass with the earth. She sighed softly as she moved to get settled.
Miles shrugged. “I’ve matra’d some things.”
“How about religion?”
Miles laughed. “Oh you mean how they used to believe in a supreme being called God when it was really just a few alien races that were guiding us in the guise of being an all-powerful being.”
Nikki made a face. “Yes that.”
“Yeah it makes me think the virus that wiped them all out was very needed.”
Nikki scratched her eyebrow in a sheepish fashion. “Well I can understand why you would feel that way. How about specifics? What do you know about individual religions?”
He shrugged again. “Nothing just the overview.”
She leaned in. “Now tell me about your dreams.”
He started to fidget with his clothes. “I don’t know if I’m comfortable talking about that.”
She nodded. “I know but that’s why the Gudha is after you. The only way I can keep you safe is if you know what’s happening.” she was met with silence. “Ok I’ll start. Was there a wooden structure two large long square planks of wood?  Shaped like this.” She formed a cross with her index fingers.
Miles looked at her. “I . . how did you?”
“There was a man nailed to it.”
Miles got up and started to pace nervously. “Very violent dreams I didn’t understand what I was seeing or why.” he paused troubled. “I’ve never seen such menace, such cruelty and it was men. It was done by humans. But it wasn’t just that. There was war I think it’s what they used to call it.”
“But that wasn’t all.” Nikki opened. “There was more yes?”
His eyes told what he wouldn’t say. He had seen the other end. The power of faith and he feared it.
“You have a choice to make.” Nikki started softly.  She was silent trying to gather the words being told to her to repeat to the man. “The concept is freewill. The undercurrents of freewill are choice and destiny. Understand that freewill is the operator that allows you choice however it does not affect destiny. What will be will be.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Because the concepts are foreign to you but they were a part of daily discourse amoung the previous humans before the” she paused. They didn’t call it the Fall. “before the Years of the Last Lord. Listen to my words and hear them not with your ears but with your heart. Humanity used to have a concept known as faith. Faith is what made religion a viable prospect. The issue is it went too far. Faith was used to supersede the rights of others to live, to love. It produced poverty, misery and death. It was used to justify killing and to dehumanize humans. On the other end faith could end wars produce peace miracles. Like with all things it was a great power and like great power it was abused but also saved. The Gudha wants this to exist in the world again.”
“Why?” Miles asked his face showing the horror he felt at her words.
“He has his own reasons. But at the end of the day it doesn’t matter the choice is yours.”
“Why me?” Miles said sharply. “This makes no sense. Everything is a choice there aren’t invisible beings and what did you call it destiny.”
She stared at Miles knowing he was fighting his instincts in an attempt to hang on to something known. “You’ve dreamt it Miles. You’ve seen the path. You’ve seen the future.”
“No!” he started pacing again. “What I’ve seen is a horror that is not our future. We are peaceful.”
Nikki was losing her patience with Miles who was refusing to understand the messages she knew he had been given and seeing for months now. “Humanity will fight or become slaves,” she related in a matter of fact way. “For that fight they will need every resource available. Faith is very powerful. Usually more so for those who don’t believe.”
“No I could never survive what I saw I couldn’t live through it.” he muttered in a dejected tone.
Nikki stood finally angry. She shook her head sharply and gritted out between her teeth. “You’d be amazed at what you can live through.”
She felt the shift outside and stood. “Goddammit.” she muttered and got up. “You stay inside.” Nikki headed to the door and went out.  There Kal stood a few feet away.
“Gabe?” She asked shortly.
“Was called away.”
Nikki fingered her blades and started over to Kal. A few feet away they began to circle each other. This went on for a few moments.
“You aren’t going to talk me out of the fight.” Kal asked.
“It’s too late for that Kal. You know it.” she breathed.
“Just making sure.” he uttered right before he pulled out a broadsword and moved in.
Nikki flipped her blades out of their holster to catch the first strike.  She parried with the left and struck out with the right. He dodged back to avoid the swipe and re set to swing from overhead. Nikki turned to avoid the swing and got first blood under his arm.
“You’re much better than the last time we fought.” He remarked.
“Unlike you I’ve never been able to just sit on my ass and wait anything out.”
“Touché.”
“Walk away Kal.”
“You know I can’t do that. We have to show the human a fight now.” He growled at her.
Nikki glanced back and sure enough Miles had produced a window so he could watch.
She cursed as she lunged for Kal. The battle was sharp and swift. Nikki swung down left while swinging up with the right. Kal canted his sword to block both blows. The click and clash set off sparks in the air. She turned and swung low and he got his leg out of the way before she could connected. She made a crucial mistake and took a knee to the face. The force sent her backwards.
She landed on the other side of the window Miles was watching from. She saw him as he looked from her to Kal and back again. The terror in his eyes and on his face was evident. Nikki shook her head and felt the fear of losing kick in. She ignored the pain and embraced the anger sparked by the sight of Miles just watching and still not being willing to fight for his own life as she was.  She kicked up as Kal approached her.
She was breathing heavily as Kal was. He was slowly stalking towards her. She bared her teeth at him her jaw clenching hard. She spared a moment to look at Miles as visions of her first real battle swam through her head and the words her teacher gave her left her lips in a feral growl. “You must fight to the end of your strength to your very last breath.”
With a scream she started to swing her blades at Kal. They continued as before swing parry swing parry and finally Nikki kicked Kal in the middle of his chest knocking the sword from his hands at the same time. She mounted him putting her left blade to his throat and the other raised high ready to strike.
Kal stared up at her unsure. After the second blade didn’t fall he started to laugh.
“Mercy eh?” he muttered then started to laugh in earnest.
Nikki shook her head as the voice of the Father gave his orders. “Get out of here Kal.” She glanced back at Miles who looked even more horrified than before. Damned chaos demons she sighed to herself. “Your work here is done.”
She got up and Kal was gone in a flash. A gust of wind and lingering cold was all that remained. She turned to meet the disbelieving eyes of Miles Trinity. The man that could bring faith back to the world.
He didn’t realize it but he was already changed, already effected by the dreams that showed him the future and tried to explain with the past. It was the concept of will he wasn’t getting. What he saw as horrors was will being expressed and fought for.
She didn’t stay she knew after what he had witnessed he would not let her back in. He was afraid of his destiny and would one day look back and wonder what could’ve been had he trusted his true path.  Especially when he sees another take up the path for him.
The nine that had been chosen to reseed humanity had been survivors honed and toughened by life. All had been strong of will and conviction. They would be appalled at what they unwittingly sired.  And this man. This would be prophet would let it all fall before taking a stand.