Winter's Fury - Volume Two of The Saga of the Twelves (46 page)

“
Cool,” mumbled Kimberly,
“stranded at the mall… again.”

Hyun's chortled was
sarcastic out of the corner of her mouth, but did have a degree of
merit.

For Kimberly, Derek and
herself it had been a day spent going in circles.

In more aspect than
one...

~~~~~~~<<<
ᴥ
>>>~~~~~~~

~ 27 ~

Explanations and
Preparations

Day Four, Sunday, 1:16
pm…

Marianna leaned back
against the air mattress, so full it felt like her stomach was
about to burst. It had been difficult to eat at first, having not
consumed anything of real substance in almost four days. After a
short time, she had managed to put down an amazing amount of
food.

She put a hand on her
distended belly. She could not believe she had consumed so much of
the fresh garden salad and fruit Derek and Hyun had brought up from
the Fish Market. After eating granola bars and drinking nothing
heavier than water, the natural sugars and carbohydrates tasted
like heaven. The cold cuts and cheeses, the crackers and breads,
the pretzel sticks and potato chips, and the soft drinks and juices
had been wonderful. Even the beef jerky had been ambrosia sliding
down her throat, and she had never been a fan of dried and salted
beef in the past. It hadn’t mattered she had been full by the time
it got passed around. She could only manage a few bites and had
given it back to Andrew to finish. She had savored it all the same.
She had watched the teenage boy devour it like a lion through the
flesh of a gazelle and smiled.

The others had gorged
themselves with equal abandon. They were ravenous after the stress
and arduousness of their journey to the mall. This despite the fact
it had been a short trip.

Now they were lounging
about their new-made common area. They either lay upon the large
conglomeration of bedding or sat in a rough circle before her and
Andrew. Those on the floor rested upon a variety of cushions they
had pilfered from the outdoor furniture department.

The remaining members of
the group who had not introduced themselves to her, did so as they
ate. The animals too had come up to her, not wanting to frighten
her. In a slow procession they welcomed her to their party, wishing
her warm thoughts, making her feel much more safe than she had
before.

Throughout it all, as she
shared the banquet-like meal with Andrew, her companions began to
fill her in on what had happened to them. One at a time, they told
her their part in the whole picture. And, they began to explain how
it all fit together. Trickle by trickle, she began to understand
the true meaning behind what had occurred on that fateful night
before Thanksgiving. Some of it was almost too incredible to
believe and seemed borderline insane. But, when tiny Elena had sat
before her and conjured a bright phosphorous light and then another
and then another, it made sense. The little girl's ability juggle
them in mid-air right before her eyes, compelled Marianna to
believe. What they were telling her was the truth.

Once she had opened her
mind to the possibility of it all, the more it became firmer than
probability. With repetition and time, it had become fact. The same
sense of impending doom she had been trying so hard not to think
about for the past four days, made more sense. It became easier to
understand, to qualify in her mind. Even the recent events in her
life, and in the lives of her family, began to take proper shape in
this newfound reality.

It is the Melded
World
, she had to remind herself for the
fourth or fifth time. She still found it hard believe she no longer
walked upon the Earth. This was a whole new place onto itself, an
infant in its’ own right, growing and changing with each passing
day. There was no Los Angeles, no Phoenix, no California and no
Arizona. This was someplace else, and she was here on purpose, for
a very specific reason. They had stolen her from the clutches of
her parents, because of what she was inside, because of what she
had been born with. It was a Gift or a curse, depending on one’s
disposition. That was why she was here. That was why they all were
here. With that thought in her “war-chest of understanding” the
last pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

Now, it made sense to her
why, out of the wild blue yonder, her dad decided life in Holbrook,
Arizona was not good enough for his family. It seemed fitting now
when she peered back in time. It made sense that her father would
find his dream job so fast. It had been within the first week he
began to look for work along the west coast. He had found
deliverance at the Department of Water and Power as one of its’
Systems Managers, based in Los Angeles.

Although, it was true he
had worked for many years as a Systems Analyst at the Cholla Power
Plant. It was a massive factory just a few minutes outside of the
small town she had grown up in. Never in a million years would he
have thought he could land a job in a major metropolitan area.
Plus, one that came with more than a few pay grades above his
current salary. Back then, it had seemed like a wish come true for
her and her family. But now, from Marianna’s altered perspective,
it seemed like something altogether different. It seemed like
something eerie, deviant. It made her skin crawl. When she looked
at it from this holistic standpoint, it did make sense. This was
all destined to have happened to her, just as it was for every
other member of the Twelve.

There were powers of such
magnitude at work here, they were impossible to fathom. They seemed
so vast and so ancient, how were they alone going to fight against
them.

We are all sooo
screwed…

“
So, Marianna,” began
Joaquin. He was one of those sitting in the arch about her, pulling
her from the dreary play of her mind and back to the present. “Tell
us your story.” He looked around with a sly smile on his face. “I
mean, tell us how you ended up in a snow storm wearing only a
sweater.”

Jason and Derek chortled
behind an arm or a fist. The question being funny, they were still
trying to show her a small degree of politeness.

She smiled in spite of
herself, glancing around. Hyun, Anthony and Sophie were smiling
back at her. Kimberly and three little ones were either lying still
or had fallen asleep on the air mattresses. She could not see them
from where she sat, so she did not know if they were listening or
were already lost to their dreams.

She cleared her throat and
massaged the roof of her mouth with her tongue. It still ached from
her lack of proper food. She had heard. If one followed a period of
adequate nourishment with a serious “pig-out” session, the roof of
one’s mouth would spasm in pain. Apparently, it was one of those
strange physiological reactions people rarely experience. She had
heard it from only one source - a friend of a friend who had to
spend the night in the desert, lost. She knew it for the truth now.
It had felt like she had pulled some unknown muscle between her
upper jaw and sinus cavity.

She sighed, gearing-up to
take the plunge. “Well, let me see,” she said framing her story in
her mind. “I had gone out to the garage, looking for this stupid
pot my mom always uses for cooking the turkey for Thanksgiving. You
know, one of those old fashion blue thingies with the white specks
of paint all over them?” She peered about, wondering if anyone knew
of what she was talking.

“
Yeah, I know what you
mean. It’s one of those pans that are rectangular and have those
little, metal spikes welded or fastened onto the bottom. I think
it's so the turkey won’t slide around when you carve it,” confirmed
Anthony. His face was bright with comprehension. “My grandmother
has one of those.” It was an afterthought, enthused, urging
Marianna to continue with its' expression alone.

Marianna saw Sophie give
the teenage boy a warm look, able to see how much she liked
Anthony. It was a lot.

Then Andrew spoke at her
side. “Dude, I think my mom or one of my aunts has one of those
things too.”

Anthony nodded and pointed
at his friend, raising, then lowering his eyebrows a few times. It
was a gesture of mutual understanding.

Marianna turned to look at
Andrew with a look similar Sophie’s. “Well, anyway, I was out in
the damn garage looking for the stupid thing. Some of you know
already, we had just moved here in the summer and…" She smiled a
crooked smile. "Well, we hadn’t unpacked everything yet, especially
the seasonal crap. So, there I was looking through all the boxes,
wearing my sweater, because I thought I was only going to be out
there for a short time. Gosh, there were boxes
everywhere...

“
I guess I was in there
for about ten minutes when it hits me. I remembered seeing my dad
put the same pot, or whatever the hell it is, down in the broiler
beneath the oven. You know, in the stove.”

Only the girls and Joaquin
nodded at this.

The other boys frowned,
wondering how the large wrestler knew what the hell a broiler
was.

The hulking boy did not
seem to notice.

“
So, I almost left the
garage when I realized I hadn’t turned off the lights, which is one
of the things my dad’s like super anal about. So, I turned to walk
across the room when this strange sound comes out of nowhere,
shaking everything. At first, I thought it was one of your famous
California earthquakes, but it didn’t feel like the ground was
moving or anything. It felt more like everything around me was
vibrating in some weird way. It made me sick to my stomach. So I
said screw it to the light, you know, let my dad be mad at me. I
didn’t care. I just wanted to get out of there.” She paused to
swallow, uncomfortable. She brushed at a stray strand of hair from
her eyes, tucking it neatly behind her ear. Even now, the memory of
the sick green oozing from every source of light around her made
her stomach turn.

“
N-E-ways,” she began,
swallowing to steady herself, “I just went for the door. I was just
about to put my hand on the doorknob when the funky-ass sound
begins to vibrate everything again. This time, I was definitely
sick to my stomach, but I also remember seeing this ugly green
color filling my vision. I think I was about to pass out or
something. I knew then something was wrong. This was something no
one in Holbrook or Los Angeles or Cucamonga had ever felt
before.

“
All I want to do was get
back to my family. I had this nagging feeling in the middle of my
shoulders something super bad was about to happen.

She swallowed big,
steeling herself against the memory. “I twisted the door handle
thingy and opened the door. And I see the most horrible thing I
have ever seen in my life.” She could feel the tears beginning to
fill her eyes.

Andrew’s hand engulfed
both of hers in her lap. He gave her a short, heartening squeeze,
enough to allow her to continue, to forestall her from breaking
down.

“
I see… or at least I
think I see… our house… our brand new house dissolve away into
nothing right before my eyes. It was as though it was never there.
With it went all my things, my brothers and sisters, my mom and
dad, everything… it was all just gone.”

She paused a second time
to take a few deep breaths. “But… that damned sound came again. I
just remember it felt like I was falling down a hole, some deep,
bottomless hole that was cold and black, and full of
death.”

She could see the others,
every single one of them, knew exactly how she felt. The pain, the
loneliness and the desolation at losing what was most dear to them,
they all knew it. It made her feel more at ease, more welcome now
that she knew they all shared this experience in common.

She had not been the only
one to have everything stripped from her. She was not the only one
left her bare and vulnerable, lonely and frightened in a place that
should not exist. They had all felt the same thing. They had lived
through the same harrowing event, having experienced the same
disheartening feelings. From the two tiny sisters to the giant boy
named, Joaquin, they had all gone through it. Finally - since
having awakened on the cold and unyielding cement of the garage -
she knew then she would not be alone. She would have them for a
long, long time. There would be others to protect her, to help her,
and fight beside her… until they finished what need finishing. She
prayed it would not take too long.

They waited for her to
continue, saying nothing, knowing patience was in order.

She gulped at the air once
again before she went on. “I woke up on the threshold of the door.
The garage was still there. The lights were off. In the semi-light
of that first, cloud-covered morning, I had no idea what happened
or why. I must have just sat there, you know, cross-legged for a
while, trying to get my bearings for a few minutes. But after a
while, I felt my legs beginning to cramp. It was then I realized
how freaking cold it was.

“
I got up and dusted
myself off. I looked around and didn’t see my house or my
neighbor’s house or the house beyond that one. I knew it hadn’t
been a dream. I knew I had been right in my assumption. Something
awful had happened to me and my family. I guess I sort of freaked
out, because I ran up and down what used to be our street, yelling
and screaming for help. But no one came, no one answered. It was
like I was on some deserted island in the middle of the
ocean.”