25. Liora & Charmaine Soul Mates
Chapter 25
Liora & Charmaine: Soul Mates
B ellagio - Las Vegas, Nevada
April 17, 2018
(4 Days Before Death)
“Are you going to sit there and pout, or actually eat dinner?” Darlene asked. She chewed down a mouthful of fries.
Charmaine glanced up. Two meal carts had been rolled in, loaded with nearly every dish on the menu. Darlene, the only one with an appetite, piled a second helping onto her plate before settling back in front of the TV. Unopened shopping bags surrounded her, the remnants of a day spent indulging.
Charmaine’s gaze shifted to Dolly and Darlene’s brother. Russell had stripped off his designer cap, jacket, and platinum Rolex, shedding the persona the world had come to know in the last forty-eight hours. To her, he looked more like himself now—a little less the streaming star, a little more the brother she knew.
The convention had wrapped today, with Di Salvo Entertainment flying in celebrities for the big finale. Lamont had come earlier, hoping to convince Russell to attend, but he’d declined, despite his name being plastered across the marquee. Charmaine hadn’t missed the disappointment on Lamont’s face when Russell shrugged him off, staring out the window. Lamont had told him he wouldn’t be seeing him for a while, but Russell didn’t seem to care. He didn’t even look at him as Lamont left, and Charmaine noticed he didn’t look at her either.
During the whole exchange, Darlene barely tore her eyes away from the TV. She’d only spoken to Lamont once, and that was to ask for Lucio’s credit card. He hadn’t responded.
Russell parked his wheelchair by the window, eyes fixed on the city below. The fountains outside performed their synchronized water dances, but he barely moved, leaving only to use the bathroom before returning to his spot by the glass.
Darlene refused to acknowledge Charmaine. She’d tried small talk, then pressed for answers—anything about Darlene’s strange existence with Dolly. Nothing. Darlene just sat there, engrossed in her show, ordering more things from the hotel boutiques on Lucio’s private account. To anyone who would listen, she announced she wasn’t Lucio’s wife but his mate.
When the hotel staff grew concerned and contacted Tristan, he did call the room. Darlene, of course, yelled and made her demands. After a brief conversation, the issue was resolved. She went right back to ordering any and everything she wanted.
It seemed like every other minute someone knocked at the door to deliver designer clothes, diamonds, necklaces, bracelets, purses, and the most expensive perfume that she kept spraying in the air.
Darlene played with the iPad and surfed the internet to pick out things she desired. There wasn’t much Charmaine could say or do. She waited for the Guardian to advise her on what came next. Then she felt it—a head swimming nausea and a burning ache in her limbs. She got up and fast-walked to the bathroom. Inside, she locked the door and flicked on the light. It was then she recognized Liora in her reflection.
“Hey?”
I apologize for the rude way I summoned you, but if I had reached out while you were near Darlene, she would have sensed my presence .
“She doesn’t seem to know what I am. She is barely talking to me,” said Charmaine.
Darlene is never unaware. Please don’t think that way. She is very aware of who you are, and she is beginning to suspect what you are in this equation. She just has a problem with your relationship with her sister. You’re not an ally to her, and you won’t be. That is for Sonya and Kaida.
Charmaine frowned. “Why? What did I do?”
That is nature. We attract the energy that we connect with. And all humans are nothing but walking, talking light bulbs.
Charmaine smiled at her reflection. Liora smiled back, then Liora’s smile faded.
I have some unfortunate news. I can’t feel my sister anymore. That means I don’t know how she and Sonya are doing at the nightclub.
“What time is the big performance?” asked Charmaine.
Not until sundown, that is four hours away.
“Do you think they are okay?” asked Charmaine.
Kaida knows I don’t respond well to all the suffering she will find in that place, so she is shielding me. Kaida protects me from my pain, even if it means at her peril. She is not invincible. She is now in a den of supernatural’s. It could all go bad.
“We shouldn’t have let them go. It was too dangerous. This plan was doomed from the start,” said Charmaine.
I’m sure if she is in trouble, she will let me know. As I will do with her. Kaida and Sonya had to go in. The message she sends tonight to the darkness and their response will teach her all she will need to know to protect us from it.
“Does she know what is going on here?”
Yes. I am sure she knows the vampires suspect you. If ever I am in danger, she knows before I do. I am sure she knows that we have not joined. I’m sure she is changing her plan now that she is aware we can’t leave.
“What now? What do I do?” Charmaine asked.
Liora sighed and looked away.
“Say it. How can I help?”
You must choose now. There is no defense for what is coming next if you don’t. My sister’s life, your friends’ lives, your life now depends on it. We must become one.
“Fine. Fine. I don’t care. Let’s do it,” Charmaine said.
A union does not work that way, unfortunately. You are unwilling to make that choice. I have tried several times, but you will not let me in. And I’m not sure why.
“That’s not true. I don’t care. I was the one who let Nzinga in. I convinced Sonya to stay with the First People. I was the one who covered for Dolly, who keeps it all together.”
Liora smiled.
Charmaine frowned. After a moment of reflection, she saw her life through her guardian’s eyes. In the real world, Charmaine was the guardian, the protector of her friends, her family, and strangers. She needed to feel important. She wanted to be the one everyone turned to. If that meant sacrificing her life, her finances, and her happiness, then so be it. She was a savior. A self-appointed savior.
Charmaine looked up at Liora.
Do you see it now? Why the choice is hard for you? Do you understand what allowing people to be strong without you would mean? Accepting me is a release from so much of your identity. What you feel is your purpose. And you are not wrong. You have a beautiful inner light, Charmaine. A gift from the realm that is passed down to you by noble warriors of another time. From me. Your human spirit is not willing to give up that fight.
Charmaine nodded. “I see it now. And I wish I had known before.”
For a long minute, Charmaine, born the only child, with no friends, from a middle-class family in suburbia, outside of Baton Rouge, did everything to be liked by peers who didn’t look like her or identify with her. She lost her self-worth by focusing on the appreciation of others.
Charmaine turned from her family in rebellion during her preteen years. It happened after an all-white cheerleading squad purposefully tricked her into being left by the bus on an away-from-home trip. The teacher didn’t even try to come back for her.
Crying and alone, she met a girl named Sonya Reed, who was there for competition, who lived in Scotlandville, and whose mother agreed to take her home.
The need to be around those who would trust her, rely on her, and make her feel important grew. It had always sustained her. Charmaine let tears fall. Regret assailed her as she thought of how far she had pushed her family out of her life. When their love should have been enough, not the acceptance of others.
It is okay, Charmaine. I see you were born with a light. You just didn’t know what it was for, and those girls saw your light and wanted to extinguish it. You found your tribe. There is nothing wrong with doing so. And because of you, Sonya and Dolly, and Darlene are here today. Your parents understand. They loved you. They still do.
“Thank you. Thank you so much!” she wept, placing her hand flat on the mirror. Her head bowed, and she cried. The energy she felt from her touch on the mirror made her lift her head and face Liora. A cooling sense of self-love and forgiveness went through her when Liora touched the glass from her realm.
I am humbled to know you, to be you, to live this life with you.
In a flash, the transition was over. Charmaine opened her eyes and faced the renewed her in the mirror. Her mind was clear. Her knowledge was vast. She was unbelievably humbled.
“Hey! What are you doing in there? Go use the bathroom in the bedroom. Don’t be stanking up the bathroom out here that we all share!” Darlene beat her fist on the door. “I’ll kick you out of here and make you get your own room!”
“I’m coming out. Give me a second,” Charmaine said.
Charmaine laughed and smiled at Darlene’s threat. She inhaled and embraced Liora. In doing so, she embraced herself.