Mother of Darkwaters: Book one of the Vessel series (55 page)

  
Julianna?

  
Yes.

  
What is going on? What happened?

  
I happened.

   Martha sees Julia’s eyes change from black to green.

   “Stop touching my body!”, Julianna demands with her own voice. She slams herself onto her right side. Her eyes change color back to the blackness of night. A deep male voice escapes her lips.

   “Heh-heh-heh,” the demon slowly mocks.

   Within a few seconds, Julianna is forced to roll over onto her hands and knees. She begins stalking the inner perimeter of the pillars while watching her grandmother from afar.

   “Éhti rééh ecix,” the demon threatens Martha with the words, ‘She is lost.’

  
No, I’m not. Don’t pay attention to him.

  
Can I do anything?

  
Yes. His name. He won’t give it. I need it.

  
Okay.

   Martha stares defiantly at the creature within her granddaughter’s eyes. She places her hands behind her back and begins pacing herself – walking back and forth as though she were a teacher or professor giving a speech inside of a large classroom.

   “Do you know where you are?”, Martha questions.

   “Heh-heh,” the demon laughs, “The Motherrr.”

   Martha stops pacing and looks questioningly as though she were confused by the demon’s response. She quickly throws out another question.

   “Are you a retarded demon?”

   “Shut your mouth, womannn,” the demon threatens through Julia’s lips.

   Martha’s left arm leaves her back and sweeps right to left towards the various books within the library.

   “Well, in case you don’t know,” Martha explains, “This is
thee
Collection. Have you heard of it?”

   “Yesss,” the demon answers.

   “Only the mightiest are entered into these books,” Martha taunts.

   “I will beeee,” the demon beckons, “I will kill herrr.”

   “No,” Martha counters, “You will not
beeee
. Because I don’t even have a name to write down. It is impossible for me to record any events when I don’t know in whom to credit. Therefore, no one will know. No one will ever read of this day. And no one will know about the retarded demon who somehow got lucky and killed the Mother.”

   “Shut up! Not luck. Powerrr.”

   “That’s the rules,” Martha parries, “I don’t make the rules. I just follow them. No name. No story.”

   “All will know Dranestannn,” the male voice answers victoriously.

   Martha bows her head, “As does the Mother.”

   “Ahhh,” the demon wails out as Julianna flops onto her back. She effortlessly stretches her arms and legs upon the written spell.

   Martha watches the blackness within her granddaughter’s eyes. They both give the illusion of two small hurricanes swirling in opposing directions. Julia closes her eyelids.

   “Ssstop that,” the growl orders. Only this time, it is the demon that seems to be desperate.

   Julianna smiles with a calm order, “Go home, Dranestan.”

   Martha observes Julia’s back arch upward. But it doesn’t appear to be from any violent reaction. Instead, it looks peaceful as her granddaughter exhales a long-extended breath. Black mist proceeds from her mouth before her body gently relaxes against the stone floor. The smoky substance moves upward and circles near the top of the pillars.

   Julia sits up and watches the mist. She pulls her legs up to cover herself for her gram’s sake. A few seconds later, a quite growl escapes the mist as it dissipates into nothingness. She looks over at her grams with a smile. Problem is, her grams doesn’t seem to be sharing the same enthusiasm about it.

   “You okay?”

   “No,” Martha scolds, “I am
not
okay. What were you thinking? What would you have done if I had decided to leave with Frank this morning?”

   “I’m sorry, grams. I never experienced a Captain before.”

   Martha’s head retreats, “Before? Have you lost your mind? How many times have you done this? How long has this been going on? And why in Lilith’s name have you been doing this?” 

   “Grams,” Julianna answers with a soothing voice, “I control the beasts, remember?”

   Martha pauses as her mind races to understand Julia’s last statement. She uses her right hand to wipe away sweat beading on her forehead. The woman’s blue eyes fixate upon her granddaughter.

   “That’s what it means? The prophecy means
that
?”

   Julianna nods.

   “I don’t understand.”

   “It’s my connection to the Place of the Dead. I can use my body to weaken them and force them back to their own plane of existence. It causes them to pretty much have to start over again in order to interact with our physical realm. It’s connected to the time when I gargled the water. But I’m not very good with the physics stuff yet.”

   Martha shakes her head, “Their interactions are minimal at best, Julia.” 

   The woman points at Julianna with her right index finger, “Of course that’s before someone decides to invite them in like a working girl at a truck stop.”

   Julianna’s mouth opens slightly as her bottom jaw lowers. She’s not quite sure, but she thinks her grams just called her a whore. And for the life of her, she has no words to combat with.

   Martha lowers her right arm and places both of her hands on her hips, “I just don’t understand the point of it all. Prophecy or no prophecy, it seems dangerous for no reason. It’s no different than if I go to a gas station, pour gasoline on myself, light myself on fire, and then say, ‘Hey everyone! Burning this gasoline causes it to return to the air.’ ”

   “Grams, it’s not like that.”

   “It’s exactly like that, Julia. Do you even know
why
you should be doing this? Or are you doing it just because you can?”

   Julianna looks away from her grandmother.

   “That’s what I thought, young lady,” Martha says while crossing her arms. She glances over to a pink robe lying on the floor outside of the neutralizing zone and walks over to pick it up. Once in hand, Martha tosses it to Julianna.

   “Here, put this on,” Martha orders, “I’m tired of thinking that my granddaughter is about to masturbate right in front of her own grandmother.”

   “Grams, that wasn’t my fault.”

   “It
is
your fault and you know why.”

   Julia stands up with her back to her grandmother and slips the robe on. She turns around and looks into Martha’s scornful eyes.

   “You’re right, grams. I’m sorry. I should have talked to you about this a long time ago. ”

   Martha stares sternly for what seems like an eternity to Julianna. Finally, she releases her frustration with a quite sigh. 

   “They’re demons, Julia,” Martha speaks a little more calmly, “They lie. They hurt. They destroy. And they always do it because it’s fun for them to do it.”

   Julianna nods, “I know. I’ll be more careful. Promise.”

   Martha turns away and begins walking towards the staircase.

   “I guess that’s your way of saying this will continue then?”

   “Not until I know all the whys, grams,” Julianna makes an unspoken promise.

   “I suppose that’s the best I’m going to get out of you,” Martha concedes to Julianna’s choice, “It’s not like I can stop you anyway.”

   Grandmother and granddaughter descend the stairs in silence. When Martha’s feet touch down onto the carpeted area, she heads towards the stairs leading into Julianna’s bedroom – away from the scene of coffee staining the velvet. Julianna notices her gram’s brief glance and detours to make her way over to the abandoned mug. She picks it up knowing this is the first time someone has spilled anything onto the floor. As a rule in general, Martha never allows any drinking on this floor. And if Julianna had to guess, Martha was probably on her way downstairs when she discovered her granddaughter’s predicament.

   Julia heads for the stairs leading down into her room. As she descends them, she tosses around the idea of whether or not to tell her grams everything.
Everything
could be too much. This morning’s event isn’t exactly one of those times when a family would desire to collage it into a photo album of cherished memories. And she’s pretty sure Martha won’t be logging this one. On the other hand, not telling her could be just as bad or even worse. The coffee stain is proof enough of that.

   Deciding to feel her grams out, Julianna enters her bedroom, takes a left, and walks the length of the hallway into the kitchen area. She hears the early signs of sizzling bacon upon entry. Martha’s back is to her. Julianna figures she must be going back to her previous mission prior to walking into the library this morning – breakfast. Julia walks over to the sink to the right of Martha, places the mug into the stainless steel tub, and fills it with water to pre-soak it. When she turns the water off, Julia walks over and wraps her left arm around her gram’s shoulder.

   “Sorry,” Julianna tests the waters of her grandmother’s emotional state.

   “Me, too,” Martha answers flatly.

   Julianna kisses her grams on the right cheek.

   “You can’t stay mad at me forever. I’m the cutest granddaughter ever.”

   Martha flips the bacon over inside of the iron skillet. She takes a step back and turns to face her granddaughter. Julianna crosses both arms over her chest and pokes out her tongue like a child. She holds it there. She begins grinning. Martha gives in with the slightest of grins.

   “See?”

   “I’m not mad at you, Julia. I’m frustrated. It took me by surprise. How long has this been going on?”

   Julianna lowers her arms and walks towards the kitchen table to her left.

   “Since Lady Lanecia,” the girl answers before pulling out a chair and taking a seat.

   Martha follows her granddaughter’s lead and finds a seat of her own at the table.

   “And how long have you been writing spells that ignore the neutralizing zone?”

   “Yeah, about that. It’s not the spells, grams. Spells are representations of your intentions, your heart, and your desires. They are like a physical representation of your faith.”

   “I understand what they are, dear. But if I went upstairs and drew up the same spell, I assure you no demon would show itself. It’s called a neutralizing zone for a reason.”

   “But with me, spells are nothing more than a safety net for my conscious mind. I didn’t have to lay out on the spell to get rid of the demon. But right now, the action serves to give me confidence, control, or whatever else you want to call it. I guess, not knowing why I should be doing it is causing me to be unsure. But I couldn’t see that until you pointed it out to me.”

   “You haven’t answered the question,” Martha remains firm in her probing.

   “Okay. Let me put it this way. The neutralizing zone doesn’t work for me because I don’t believe it has the power to do anything. I have the power.”

   “You must believe it can do something or you wouldn’t be using it.”

   “My safety net.”

   After a few seconds of silence, Martha gets up and walks over to the stove. She flips the bacon again.  

   “Do you talk to these demons? Or are you just trying to rule over them?”

   “I can’t rule over them. I can only dictate what happens once they’re inside of me.”

   Martha’s arms cover themselves in goose bumps.

   “Do they talk?”

   “It’s more like an intentions thing. It’s sorta hard to explain.”

   Martha turns and crosses her arms, “Try.”

   “It’s like when I come into contact with them. I immediately know how they feel about my baby.”

   Martha look at her granddaughter curiously.

   “No grams. I’m not pregnant.”

   “Child, you’re aging me by the moment.”

   Julianna smiles halfheartedly.

   “It’s something they can’t hide from me. I don’t know how else to explain it. Even when I met his father, he couldn’t hide it either.”

   Martha pauses as cold chills run up her spine.

   “You’ve met him?”

   “Umm - yeah. Once when I was with Lilith.”

   Julianna staggers a breath before finishing her thought.

   “He hates me.”

   Martha moves the pan off of the burner, turns the stove off, and turns around.

   “Hates you?”

   “He wants my womb. Not me. I remind him of the God of Heaven’s creation. He can’t stand it. But he tolerates me. Or at least, this is how it felt to me whenever I met him.”

   “Was he mean to you?”

   “No. He was really nice. But his eyes didn’t match his words.”

   “What did he say?”

   Julianna looks away from her grams. She looks down to stare at the floor.

   “That bad, huh?”

   Martha sees internal struggling within her granddaughter’s expression. She walks over and sits down by Julianna – taking the girl’s hands within her own.

   “Did he threaten you?”

   “No. He was nice,” Julianna reconfirms her earlier statement while staring at a design within the floor’s surface.

   “Can you tell me about it?”

   Julianna nods, but takes a few seconds to ready herself for saying the words aloud. She looks up to make eye contact with Martha.

   “He said, ‘he was happy to meet me’ and that, ‘I only answer to him.’ And after that he told me he wouldn’t do to me what
He
did to Mary.”

   Julianna emphasizes the word
He
by glancing upward.

   “You mean what the God of Heaven did to Mary? What did He do?”