The Time Stone (24 page)

Is that how the American legal system
works? Juan Carlos inquired.

“
Not really. I don’t
understand what happened exactly.” Mercedes replied.

“
Why didn’t you tell me
sooner?” Juan Carlos asked.

“
I just was annoyed and
embarrassed.” Mercedes replied.

“
I understand.” He
grimaced. “I want you to know that no matter what happens. I am on
your side. Do you understand that?” His voice coursing with
sincerity and virtue made her feel at ease in even the most
stressful of situations.

“
Of course” she nodded
gleefully.

“
Good, then let’s eat.”
Juan Carlos smiled.

After dinner, Mercedes and Juan Carlos
laid up on their backs out in the yard looking at the stars
colorfully painting the night sky in the horizon overlooking the
hills.

“
They are beautiful” said
Juan Carlos turning his head to Mercedes.

“
I think so” she continued
to look up.

“
Do you know that one?”
Juan Carlos asked.

“
I think that is the Orion
constellation.” Mercedes replied.

“
Looks like ‘El Sordado
Armado’” said Juan Carlos jokingly.

“
Hmm” she
smiled.

“
What do you think? I got
this job offer and I am not sure what to do.” Juan Carlos added
randomly.

“
What is it?” Mercedes
inquired.

“
It’s complicated.” Juan
Carlos added.

“
You can tell me.”
Mercedes said.

“
I wish I could.” Juan
Carlos feels bad about his new life as a potential member of el
culto. He begins to feel for Mercedes a love so powerful like any
he has felt before.

“
You should weigh the pros
and cons and determine whether it is right for you or not. It’s
just me but I would take it if it offers a boatload of money.”
Mercedes smiled.

“
Thanks.” He said wanting
to tell her he was crazy about her from the first day he saw her
and tell the truth about the culto. He wondered then if it would
affect how he really felt and how she felt and that even though
they only knew one another a short while. The very thought of
living without her was too much to bear. He thought this is where
you felt the other person and almost needed them to remain alive.
“I realize that there are some things that must be dealt with
alone.” He continued.

“
I can respect that” she
replied. “I know I have had a soul searching moment once or twice
before.”

“
Do you believe in the
power of the stars having an influence on true love” he
whispered.

“
What?” She turned with a
laugh to look at him, immersed in his big brown eyes for the
moment.

“
I think there is
something special about the way the heavens interact in our daily
lives and how they can bring two people close together and maybe,
just maybe if you are lucky you can find that one person you were
meant to be connected to.” He uttered.

“
Is that real or just
rhetorical nonsense?” She asked.

“
It is real. I felt it
when I first laid eyes on you” his slight romanticism was as strong
to her as the compounding verb use in his accent. “I have started
to fall in love with you.” He said.

“
I agree.” She replied,
“but….I didn’t think this would happen but it did. Wow!” She
finished her sentence and he kissed her on the lips for a brief
moment that she felt lasted an eternity. But then she felt herself
grounded back to Earth after the brief flight of fantasy with him.
“I got to start thinking of ways to get back home, Juan
Carlos.”

“
Can’t you call this
home?”

“
I don’t belong here. I
belong back in California. I got a life there, a job, an apartment,
a cat.” She laughed. “But seriously, I was wrongfully deported and
I want to clear that. I want to find out that the people are who
did this to me. It’s important to me.”

“
God works in mysterious
ways… maybe he sent you here for a reason.”

“
Maybe,” she thought for a
moment.

“
Maybe, it is bigger than
anything you have ever dreamed about. I would miss you a lot if you
left, but I respect your desires to return home.” Juan Carlos
smiled remembering the old adage that to truly love someone
sometime is to set them free.

“
Sometimes I feel my heart
is in constant motion, jumping from life to life, experiences
things that I was never meant to experience in time.” Mercedes felt
herself speak freely. “I can be myself with you and be open. I like
that a lot.”

“
I like you a lot. I know
God has a plan for all of us and put each of us in time for a
reason. Maybe next time your heart decides to jump in time, you
should remember that. You could look at your old ways with a new
purpose.” Juan Carlos added.

“
That’s deep philosophy
for a poor farm boy.” Mercedes spoke deeply.

“
I try.” Juan Carlos
smiled.

“
You could come back with
me.” She said.

“
I can’t. I don’t belong
anywhere else but here. It’s a simple life plus I can’t leave my
mother here alone.” Juan Carlos added.

“
Well maybe we can work
something out.” Mercedes smiled.

“
Maybe,” he grabbed her by
the hand and they looked up at the constellation Orion
together.

“
Look, he does looks like
‘El Soldado Armado’” said Mercedes pointing up at the view. They
both laughed.

CHAPTER 57

The winds blew over the small mountain
overlooking the rolling hills and the distant clouds evidencing a
major storm on the horizon, lightning and thunder beckoning amongst
the treetops. Juan Carlos donned his culto uniform and joined his
cousin and their crew of culto warriors. The caverns were high up
in the hillside regions of the mountains.

“
Is this where the item
is?” said one of the culto warriors.

“
The legend says its right
here,” said the leader holding the picture as he led the small
troop of four into the cavern. “We are the guardians of the secret
and are seeking our destiny.”

They approached a small cavern inlet
and the leader reached into the rock face under a series of small
stones and pulled out a box made of metal with painted red and
black symbols of thin coding lines and orbs symbolizing their
ancient right, a dagger piercing a crescent object with a flash of
lines emanating from the center. There was writing, on the box,
that was foreign to them etched in gold. The leader carried the box
out of its hiding spot and opened it, retrieving from within it a
small green pentagonal shaped emerald that glistened in the
sunlight with five orbs etched inside of it. He held the object
firmly in his grasp as it fit perfectly in the palm of his hand. It
rotated and began to glow brightly unleashing a single beam of
golden light swirling and vibrating in a rapid pulsar succession
towards the back of the cave and within seconds the entire mountain
started to shake, rocks fell from the sky, trembling noises rumbled
above, and the mountaintop exploded in a brilliant blast as the
gilded light permeated the air above them in a sudden flash making
the entire crew cover their masked faces at the intense brightness.
And what emerged from the rubble and soon fading light was a
creature flying through the air, the face and wings of an eagle and
body of a lion.

“
It’s the griffin” said
the leader. They looked up in awe at it as they exited the cave and
saw it fly over them and head towards the town.

“
What incredible power?”
Juan Carlos said.

“
Come on” said the leader
beckoning to them and they began to run down the mountain after the
creature, the storm on the horizon drawing closer to
them.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“The storm is getting closer,” yelled
Mercedes staring up at the sky in front of the
farmhouse.

“
Help me get the animals
into the shelter.”

“
Yes Ms. Hernando” said
Mercedes running to help herd the sheep, chickens, and cattle into
the barn shelter and then placing wooden crates and plywood sheets
around it. They head into the house but before closing the door
shut, Mercedes sees an unusual sight, a weird looking creature
flying overhead with long wings that look like an eagle but it is a
four legged beast. “What the heck is that?”

“
Get in, child. The storm
is coming. I am trying to reach Juan Carlos on his cell phone but
he is not answering,” said Ms. Hernando.

Mercedes looks out into the distance
and sees a carrier truck with four men dressed in ninja garb
shimmering in the daylight. She recognizes Juan Carlos who had
taken off his mask.

“
Oh my God,” she ran out
of the house.

“
Where are you going?”
Screamed Ms. Hernando.

Mercedes ran to the carrier truck
rapidly approaching over the hillside as the storm commenced and
winds blew rapidly over the fields. She fought her way passed the
turbulent winds to the truck that stopped as she approached it. The
carrier stopped near her.

“
Mercedes, what are you
doing? You shouldn’t be here.” Juan Carlos said.

“
What am I doing? Why are
you with these men? Why are you dressed like that? They’re cold
blooded killers.” Mercedes screamed sarcastically and angrily
against the strong winds.

“
We don’t have time for
this Juan Carlos. Finish her now like you promised,” said Julio,
the leader.

“
What?” Mercedes backed
away. “Why did he say that? You want to kill me?” She began to
cry.

“
It’s complicated.” Juan
Carlos uttered looking at her teary face and cried
himself.

“
Do it, cousin if you
really want to be part of el culto?” Screamed Julio as he exited
the vehicle with the others except for Juan Carlos as the others
ran towards the far end of the town where the creature had landed
and begun to wander. “Kill her, Cousin,” yelled Julio in Spanish as
he ran off with the others armed and ready.

“
You want to hurt me.”
Mercedes looked at Juan Carlos in the eyes and with tears in her
own eyes she began to back away. “I don’t ever want to see you
again.”

“
No” he grabbed her “I
don’t want to hurt you. I was told to but I couldn’t because I am
in love with you too and I want to be with you. I don’t care if it
costs me my membership in the culto. I don’t need it.”

“
They killed innocent
people. Were you a part of that?” Mercedes cried.

“
I was brainwashed by
their ways. I know it was wrong. I just want you.” Juan Carlos
uttered.

“
Oh Juan Carlos” she
softened and embraced with him. The storm grew more fierce and
louder.

“
We got to go” she
said.

“
Get in” he said and she
jumped into the carrier as he hopped into the driver’s seat and
chauffeured it to the house.

They saw the creature grazing in the
distance and the crew of warriors running towards it with weapons.
The creature became defensive and started to rear up on its hind
legs and back down as it was beginning to retaliate forcefully
knocking them back one by one as they came and tried to attack it
with their spears and swords.

Mercedes and Juan Carlos watched as
the creature maneuvered around them as the storm and winds blew
fiercely and the rain started to come down in a torrential
downpour.

“
We should help.” Juan
Carlos said.

“
How can we do that?”
Mercedes yelled.

They sat in the car pulling up by the
house as the creature pounced on Julio with its front claws and
squashed him like a grape, splattering his insides all over the
field and the others began to run but the creature flew up and
swooped down in an instant grabbing one with its beak and piercing
the warrior’s heart. The third stood in paralyzing fear as the
creature reached with its beak and grabbed the spear from his hand
then lunged forward and stabbed the warrior knocking him to the
ground. The creature roared up loudly with a screeching howl in the
rain as it stood over all three victims. Juan Carlos and Mercedes
stood in shock as the creature laid its eyes on them and began to
run towards them seeing Juan Carlos’ ninja garb glistening even in
the glooming darkness.

“
I think it recognizes you
as one of them, Juan Carlos. Take off the suit” Mercedes
screamed.

“
I don’t have any clothes
under it” he whispered.

“
Run in the house,”
screamed Mercedes. They ran to the door and banged on it loudly.
“Ms. Hernando, let us in please” screamed Mercedes again and again
as Juan Carlos yelled.

“
Ma, open the door.” They
looked back and saw the creature approaching and ran around the
house. Juan Carlos knelt on the ground as he and Mercedes ducked
down below the back of the house near the shelter. “Will you marry
me?”