Indigo Vamporium (12 page)

“What's so special about today?” I ask, trying not to sound suspicious. After all it is the day after full moon, and to my kind that means plenty.

“Cold, winter, drizzle, fog,” he says with a dismissive shrug.

David appears out of the smoky haze, having heard some of the story, he nods, shoving his hands deep into his pockets, “The captain's name is Hendrik Van Der Dekken, a dutchman who thought he could take on foul weather. I guess he said come hell or high water, because he got both. Somehow everyone on board died, some say it's because Van Der Dekken told the Holy Ghost to get stuffed. He pitched the ship into a mighty storm. Only in ghost form has it since been seen, right around the peninsula from Muizenberg to Table Bay.”

“Let's swim out!” enthuses Jowendrhan, the thrill of meeting a ghost ship too irresistible for him.

“Noyt bru, make out hey, if you go near it you'll croak. It's the curse.”

“I can't die,” Jo says without thinking, and immediately my eyes pulse a warning at him from behind Kevin's body shield.

David stares out into the thick depressing haze, “No surfing today. The sea's calmer than death and there's way too many trendies stomping over our turf.”

Looking out at the phantom vessel I marvel at the craftsmanship, amazed that so many people can see a ghost. What phenomenon is that? Or did it just get more solid and determined to be witnessed over time?

“You chinas joining us for a spliff and coffee?” offers Kevin.

I shake my head, “No thanks, I think we'll just head home.”

“Do you need a lift?” offers Dave, and again I shake my head. “Cool bru, keep the legend alive,” he nods, shaking my hand and leaning his shoulder into mine, walking away with Kevin into the curtain shifting moodily across the landscape.

They vanish, as if they too are no more than blips on the time curve, a glitch from the past walking across our future.

Maybe that's what today is, today is the day the theory of relativity becomes elastic, knotting itself, sharing with us a past and a future.

Peering into the vague clutch of people down the beach who are no more than a dark wet patch, I look for my future, hoping to get a glimpse of her.

Which one of you will redeem me?

Jo thumps my shoulder, “So what are we doing? If we go out on our boards we'll have way too many telescopic lenses trained on us. We do not need the attention.”

Nodding, I lift my board out of its makeshift grave where sand hides the tip, “Let's duck. We're freaks like that boat out there.”

“What's it called?” asks Jo, looking back out at the apparition.

That's one solid looking apparition. It was solid last night too.

“The Flying Dutchman,” says softly behind me, and I hinge in shock to see Tasmin standing behind us, listening.

Shit! What did she hear?

“They call it The Flying Dutchman after the captain, who was dutch. No one recalls the name of the ship even though it's been seen and recorded in ship's logbooks from as far back as 1881 to 1949.” She leans her head against my shoulder when she slips her arm through mine, cuddling, looking out into the foggy soup at the shifty galleon, “It's so beautiful.”

It dawns on me that it's Thursday night and I know we have plans for tonight, I just can't recall what. “What are we doing tonight?” I ask her, trying to sound casual.

“Andi's party.”

“Text me the details?” I croon softly in her ear, and get a mild thrill when she closes her eyes and leans her head in, her blue beanie brushing under my chin.

“Okay.” She squeezes me, looking up with a strange expression in her eyes, “You bleached your hair.”

I nod, grimacing.

“It looks hot,” she smiles, visually appreciating me, and damn it feels good. “See you later.” She stands on tiptoes to kiss my cheek.

“Stay safe,” I kiss the top of her head. We watch her walk back to the dark stain in the mist, regrouping with her pack, rejoining her kind like a singular cell being swallowed into an amoeba, stealing her individuality.

Jo scowls after her and I hinge back to follow his view. A tall dark shadow stalks her, like a lost specter stepped off the phantom ship to find a human to breathe through.

What that all about then?

“Who is that?” whispers Jo, stepping so close to my side I can feel his body heat.

“Don't know, it's too misty to see who that is.”

“We need to duck,” he says with sudden urgency, clamping my arm. I look back and front, he checks left and right, and in the thick cloak of ethereal madness, we step off the beach, back into the entrance hall at home.

*

Arelstin:

Stomping into his study, I slam my fists loudly on the hazel desk, “He's pulling ghosts out of the past! Have you seen the paper? Have you seen the beach? Did you know it came after him in the middle of a raging storm last night?”

He holds up his hands, “Slow down, Aree. What the hell are you talking about?”

“Do your bloody job and stop expecting the rest of us to pick up the slack! You're the one in charge of them and yet you didn't know he faced the Flying Dutchman last night? He's mixing up the threads of time!”

“What?” he says, standing, filling the intimate room with his angelic musculature. “What are you talking about?”

“I'm talking about the ghost ship that was lost to Cape Point where the two oceans meet! It's sitting outside at the beach.” Weary, I slump into the chair on the other side of his desk, manifesting myself a drink, slurping it loudly, slamming it onto the table and kneading my temples. “Damn it Venix. This is not good.”

“Are you telling me Seithe is calling up ghosts?”

“Yes! Seithe is pining for his mother and father. He's literally pulling history into the present. The last time the ghost ship was seen this widely and this clearly was thirty-seven and eighty years ago respectively. What's next? He'll call up the Dromedaris to sail into Milnerton and start a war between the naval military stationed in Simon's Town with the ancient ghosts of men who conquered this land!” Thumping my chair, I glower rage at Venix, “Man up! Man up now, or may the powers have mercy on you. One more slip up like this and I will let the demons remind you of wrath's bitter amphora.”

He looks pale, “Seithe summoned it into the ocean last night?”

“Yes! Didn't you hear his thoughts? He was thinking 'if mom was here – if dad was here' seething with contempt for you. If he keeps wishing, he's going to get exactly what he wishes. And the entire time continuum will get so tangled we'll never fix it!” I shout, more angry than I can recall myself ever being.

Standing so I can look him in the eye, I bellow, “You have failed them! You have failed the vulnerable and needy. How dare you call yourself an angel!”

*

Seithe:

Overhearing the shouting match, I become lightheaded, my legs stripped of strength. Gradually sliding down to sit on the stairs leading to the second floor, I stare woefully at the tiles between my feet.

“I'm doing this?” I whisper through numb lips.

Thunderous steps storm my way, pausing in front of me. “Your will is powerful. All living creatures have will, it's the strain god left in you. Will manifested an entire galaxy and everything in it, from the tiniest organism of light to the greatest planet in the outerdimensions. Yes Seithe, your will is bringing disaster crashing into the present. Will is god in action and you all wield it. Never ever forget the enormous power of your will. It defines and creates our reality in the third dimension.”

His heavy sigh baptizes my head and he crouches onto his haunches, looking me in the eye. “Forget about Venix, he's spineless and selfish. If you need help, call on me, I will help you.”

Staring at Arelstin, the simple gesture makes me emotional, burgeoning unshed tears into my eyes.

“I have a feather...” I trail off, my stubborn pride unwilling to ask for assistance.

I'll figure it out. I know I will.

He pats my shoulder affectionately, “I'm here, whenever you need me. You are never alone, not ever. You have legions of angels ready to assist you, and I'm now watching your mentor with an eagle eye. One more slip up and he will no longer be your problem.” He pauses, looking me right in the eye with such power I can feel the probe into my soul, “Being positive and optimistic might seem new age and hippie, but there's a very good reason for it. Govern your thoughts because what you think becomes real. If you focus on the good stuff, it multiplies in your life. If you focus on the bad, it starts an avalanche that'll bury you in pain. Govern your thoughts, son.”

Watching with an eagle's eye. Is that a clue?

He nods, smiling at me, laying a hot hand on my head, pouring angelic fire into my body, “Peace be yours brother. Peace and insight, in all things there is space for resonance, resonate with your highest vibration and walk in peace.”

With those words, he's gone, and for the first time since mom died the hole in my soul is mended.

Chapter 16

Seithe:

“Tell me what they look like.”

“What?” I ask Jo, turning to him and Ellie waiting together nervously on the threshold of my bedroom.

“The ningen,” says Ellie, curiosity emanating off her in a mirage of energy waves.

Pulling my knees up and holding them, I smile with a tiny burst of pride, “Huge. White as a Beluga whale. Lips like a dugong. Eyes wide apart and black as obsidian.”

Venix wavers into being in the middle of my room, “And like the dugong, they do have the potential for hands. They do have the same structure we have in our hands as bones in their fins.”

Way to go asshole. Thanks for raining on my parade, again.

He ratchets around to glare at me, holding out his hand, “The leaf.”

“What leaf?” I snap with irritation.

“The one you took from the vamporium.”

“You went to a vamporium?” says Ellie, her attention and craving to go out literally carving into me.

“Yes,” I nod to her. “To make sure it was safe for us all to go.”

“And?” she croons, sitting down in a graceful swoop onto my bed.

“It's safe,” smirks Venix, looking at me. “The leaf, Seithe.”

I hate that I have not one shred of privacy in this house.

Sighing my reluctance I open the bedside drawer, handing the jerk the silvery leaf.

He shows it to Jo and Ellie, “This is a special tree. It's part of the protea family which is native to these lands, called a leucodendron tree. The locals call it the silver tree.”

“It's so soft,” gushes Ellie, caressing it against her cheek.

Jo patiently waits for her to hand it over, reflecting light with its satin sheen when she does.

“Appreciate it, it only grows where deep magic pools in the ground. The vamporium here is the strongest portal in the world. Remember that if you ever need to escape to somewhere fast. Remember this leaf and you will immediately transport here.”

Oh, that's interesting.

“Intriguing,” I grumble sarcastically, inflecting he should leave us alone now.

He gets the hint, fading away into another room of the house.

Now that we're alone, I tell them about the ningen.

“She was beautiful, easily the length of two boats, enormous really, with a perfectly round head, unlike any dolphin or whale.”

“I checked it out on Google,” says Jo.

“And?” asks Ellie, swiveling to face him.

“They caught one on camera swimming in the ocean outside Namibia, just up the coast from here, on Google earth imaging. It's so big and white you can see it from a satellite!”

“Dad said they're native to here,” I share.

“Dad said? When?” demands Ellie.

“Before he left, he told me stories. I wasn't sure they were true, but now I believe him.”

“What else did dad say?” asks Jo.

“The only boundaries that exist are in our minds. Anything is possible. Everything and anything. He said we're bigger than our bodies, much, and can control our size if we want to.”

“Cool!” says Jo, examining his puny bicep with hope.

I almost laugh. I've been desperate to be as big as Venix or Arsay but I haven't managed to crack the boundary of my own mind yet.

Leaning across I tap his forehead, “All potential is in here. We were angels once, deep down we still have those capabilities.”

“But we have to find a human to love us to be forgiven,” says Ellie, her tone husky and glum.

I put my arm around her, “You will find him, Ellie.”

She jumps up, bouncing, “We have a party to get ready for.”

“Yup,” I nod, checking the time. “Oh hell, hurry up, we're due there in ten minutes.”

*

Walking into Andi's plush home, we appreciate the swank foyer and tribal beat playing kwaito from the speakers. It morphs to a pop song just as I enter the first lounge, instantly spotting Carrie and Taz.

Kissing Ellie on the forehead, I mumble, “Have fun. Call me if you need me.”

“I won”t need you,” she laughs flirtatiously, making a beeline for the jocks on the other side of the circular bar dominating the middle of the vast open plan entertainment area.

Leaving Jo to migrate to the wave walkers, I head for my girl, wondering what the reception will be like after the weird incident. I don't think this morning counts.

As I step into the sunken part of the lounge, she scoots up, gesturing for me to join her, “Hello handsome!”

Excellent, we're cool.

Sitting next to her, holding her chin and kissing the daylights out of her, I break it just long enough to whisper, “Good evening gorgeous.”

“Let's dance,” she grins, getting up, holding my hand, leading me to a secluded corner of darkness, wrapping her arms around me and leaning her head on my chest.

It's such a submissive gesture, I'm floored. Relishing the trust, the connection, folding her closer and smelling her clean hair.

Chapter 17

Tasmin: