Veiled (11 page)

“
You did bring up a good
point,” she said smugly, almost cheerfully. “Now I’m better off
than him, and I have you to thank. Too bad for you I guess.” She
laughed.

“
He might blame me, and
hate me for it…but you can bet that he hates you even more for
betraying him. You don’t think he will just let you do this
unscathed, do you?” I turned to leave, but then something occurred
to me—so I stopped. “I wonder who imploded Legion,” I said over my
shoulder. “It wasn’t you…was it? There had to be someone there who
didn’t quite want to give their will to Legion…” Then I left her
standing in mid space all alone, mulling over my accusations, while
I flew back to my happy clan who was congratulating Dorian for
winning the Saturn contest.

The trumpets announced the
coming of the Eternals, and this time they were riding on a chariot
that was being pulled by two Seraphs. Behind them came a whole
choir of Cherubs and several other Seraphs in formation holding
lighted Flaming Swords. There was a white cloud like substance
surrounding them all. The scene was spectacular and more majestic
than ever.

They were so luminescent
that they eclipsed the sun itself with their glow. Several spirits
shielded their eyes against their light. No doubt the first day of
the creation was not going to be an ordinary event, but rather a
glorious one. We were going to witness the creation of our new
planet and we would finally get to start our much awaited lives. As
far as I knew, none of us had ever witnessed the creation of a
planet before, so this was supposed to be a very exciting time. So
why wasn’t I exited?

Celeste was now perpetually
under Max’s clutches and she seemed to enjoy this restrain. Dorian
was the new appendage to the Luz, Amor, and Paz trio, and Alex was
becoming fast friends with Katie who—unlike me—was always happy and
laughing. This time it seemed that Valerie was better company for
me. Neither of us ever giggled or played interstellar games, and
though Dane was almost always around, they didn’t seem to need
constant contact like the others. Russell and Nancy were also
always together, and when they were not enjoying a playful banter,
they were playing jokes on others or laughing about something that
no one else seemed to get. Alex had mentioned that he wished we
were more like them. It looks like he got his wish—with Katie. This
last thought brought an unusual pang to my already low state. Why
did it feel like my world was ending…right when it was
beginning?

“
You’ve been very quiet
lately. What’s wrong?” Alex asked as our clan gathered at a good
spot for viewing the creation.

“
Nothing,” I
lied.

“
I know you, Tess, and you
are upset,” he said softly. This should have made me feel better,
but it didn’t. His sudden interest in me and my well-being made me
angry and resentful for all the time he seemed to be spending with
Katie.

“
What gave that away?” I
responded sourly.

He moved to my side and
scooped up my hand. “Why don’t you tell me what’s bothering
you?”

I wanted to scream at him!
Why was he being nice to me all of a sudden! “Go back to Katie!” I
wanted to shout, but I didn’t. I just let my hand drop from his and
looked straight ahead.

He was hurt of course. I
didn’t have to look at him to feel the disappointment that emanated
from him. It was sad to admit it, but part of me liked the fact
that he felt hurt by my rude display. Sadder still was the
realization that I was turning into Agatha—cynical, unpleasant, and
bitter.

“
What’s gotten into you,
Tess?” he asked through gritted teeth, trying to restrain his hurt
and anger toward me.

I remained silent for a
while, neither one of us was looking at each other.

“
Everything has changed.
We are not even a clan anymore…not the clan we used to be anyway.
There are new spirits…”

“
Would you have left Katie
down there with Legion? Or would you perhaps ask Dorian to give up
Luz or Celeste, Max? Things have to change, Tess, and if I remember
correctly you were just as ready and willing for things to change
as the rest of us. Well…here is change, and a small change at that,
to ease us into the big changes that are about to come.”

“
I didn’t think that
change would equal losing loved ones.”

“
You haven’t lost anyone
yet.”

I turned my head with a
sudden jerk. “Yet?”

“
Yes yet. You may
unwittingly cause your own worse fears to come true,” he said
turning to look at me straight in the eyes.

“
Do I run the risk of
losing you, Alex?” I asked, daring him to tell me the truth about
his feelings.

“
I can’t be your best
friend forever, Tess,” Alex said with a pained and frustrated look
in his eyes. I looked back at him, horrified by what I was hearing.
“I’m sorry…but I just can’t go on like this forever—it’s too hard.
Our relationship has to change, too, or…”

My jaw dropped and he
didn’t finish his threat, but his meaning was quite clear—we were
done.

“
Hi, guys!” Katie’s cheery
voice sounded in my ear. “Isn’t this exiting? I was just talking to
Paz and Amor. They are so cute. How do you tell them apart? I kept
calling them the wrong names, it was so embarrassing, but I guess
they are used to it. When do you think they will start? I think it
will be the most amazing thing ever!”

I turned and looked at her
with sheer hate, a feeling I had never felt for anyone before…not
even Agatha. I felt both ashamed and vindicated by my feelings and
left her side before I said something I would regret.

* * * * *

Chapter 9

I found a place to watch
the creation far away from my clan, but where I could still see
them. Katie leaned over and asked Alex something. No doubt she
wondered why I had left so abruptly. He said something back to her
and as he did so he let his eyes briefly stray to where I was
standing. He held my gaze for a moment. His look was hard and
accusatory, and then he looked away. I could swear that part of me
died right then.

In the distance I could
hear the Cherubic choir singing. They sounded remote, as if their
song was not meant for me, but for everyone else.

I examined my hand for a
moment, my aura had changed. It was dimmer and murkier. I realized
that whatever Valerie had predicted was coming true, much sooner
than I had expected.

Suddenly, I was startled by
an eruption of laughter all around me, I looked to the center where
the Eternals were, and they too were laughing, but I couldn’t
figure out why. My eyes strayed back to where Katie and Alex were
standing. She was laughing heartily and he was smiling.

I realized that I couldn’t
be here anymore. I couldn’t stand to see them and I couldn’t stand
to be surrounded by all these happy spirits. Before I turned to
leave I saw one of the Eternals bend slightly and whisper something
into the female Seraph’s ear. Her eyes darted to where I stood and
her cat eyes fixed on mine for an instant as she nodded in reply. I
decided that I was getting paranoid thinking that everyone was
talking about me, so I turned and made my way through the thick
crowd. I didn’t care if I missed the most important event in my
world’s history, I needed to be alone.

I had no idea what was
going on in the center of the assembled crowd, and perhaps it was
better that way. My heart was not in it anymore. I thought for sure
that if I got away, I would be able to think things through, maybe
get to the root of these miserable feelings…but I had no such luck.
The Eternals established the link, so I got to hear
everything.

They began by explaining
that following this First Day of creation, we would get to explore
our brand new spirit world. They explained how much bigger it would
be than the actual planet, and that each spirit should start their
training right away. Then the creation started.

I settled on Europa,
Jupiter’s moon, and tried to clear my thoughts, but I kept getting
interrupted by the occasional “ooh” and “wow” from the crowd. This
made it difficult to focus on a particular train of thought long
enough to reach any conclusions about my current situation. So I
tried to lay flat on the surface of the moon and look up at space,
and was just about to enjoy the quiet, when I heard a thunderous
BANG! It was so loud that not only did I hear it in my head, but
also with my own ears. I immediately stood up and flew back to the
gathering, fearing that something had gone wrong. But then I heard
some of the spectators start to clap and cheer and I realized that
whatever that was, it was supposed to happen.

Floating and spinning in
the middle of space was a little fire ball—that I can only imagine
was to be Earth. As it spun around it grew in mass, getting
brighter and brighter. I could now see that the elements were
churning and changing inside the ball. This went on for quite a
while, the ball accruing in mass until it reached the size of a
smaller planet.

“
It’s not solid,” someone
said.

“
Not yet,” another
responded.

“
When?” said the
first.

“
Who knows…?”

“
Shh, can’t you two just
enjoy this moment?” said a third.

“
Look! It’s cooling on the
outside and forming a crust!”

“
Yeah, it is…”

“
Will you two be
quiet?”

A crust was indeed forming
and it looked as if it got harder and harder. But there was a
strange string of beads that moved with the force of the spinning
mass.

“
What are those little
things?” I asked quietly, unable to restrain my
curiosity.

“
I don’t know…little
rocks?” one of the spirits standing next to me answered.

“
No, they are shiny and
clear,” another said.

“
Droplets of water,”
someone in front of us suggested.

None of this made sense to
me, but I figured that there was a scientific explanation for this.
We just didn’t know it.

Meanwhile, the First One
raised one hand and the mass, still spinning began to slowly move
sideways. The First One glided backward with his hand extended and
guided the mass as he went. We instinctively followed, not wanting
to miss whatever happened next. He stopped and moved to one side,
with his right hand still extended, guiding the mass toward its
final resting place—third from the sun.

“
Let there be
light,”
the Eternals said and Earth began
its first orbit around the sun. They exchanged pleased glances
before looking back at us, and the crowd cheered.

“
Earthlings,”
they called.
“Your world
is now formed. Tomorrow we will reconvene for the Second Day of
creation. We hope all will attend.”
They
made a sweeping motion with their hands and from above our spirit
world came into view. It was many times the size of Earth, and it
had a blue hue to it. From one side of the spirit world, several
forms could be seen coming toward us. They were lined in a single
file and slowly made their way down toward the center of our
gathering, where the Eternals and their court were.

“
Earthlings, meet your
tutors. These are the best of their worlds and they have been
training spirits just like you for a long time. They have lived,
died, and are now preparing to be re-embodied. They are wise,
listen to them.”
The tutors filed into the
center and placed themselves at either side of the Eternals. I
noticed that some of them still shuffled their feet as they moved.
Apparently the habit of walking was too great to
relinquish.

A huge Cherub handed one of
the Eternals an enormous volume. It was bound in white leather and
as thick as a human was wide. From the other side another Cherub
placed a stand right in front of the Eternals where the volume
could sit.

“
This is your Book of Earth
Life, the pages are empty now, but will soon be filled with a
history of Earth and all that happens therein. From this book, your
world will be judged.

“
As individuals, you will
have a book as well. Scribes will make a record of each of your
lives, and from those pages you will also be judged.

“
The purpose of the Book of
Earth Life is to keep track of major events, both good and bad, and
how you as citizens of Earth have dealt with them.”
One of the Eternals turned the volume so that the
edge of the pages of the book were facing us, but where pages
should have been were seven locks, keeping the pages hidden beneath
it.

“
As you can see this book
is sealed.”
The Eternal lifted one arm and
displayed a giant golden key ring that held seven golden
keys.
“Each of these sections represents a
Seal or a period of time. You will be assigned to live during one
of these periods of time. The assignments have already been made.
You will find out to which Seal you belong as you enter the spirit
world. Sentinels have been posted above every continent. You will
give your name to the sentinels and they will tell you to which
continent you must report.