Chapter 12 #2
That one-word bomb was all she needed to sit down with a thud, dumbfounded, staring at Eric in disbelief. Just then a booming voice filled her head, and she clapped her hands over her ears and cried out.
Eric covered her hands with his and shared, “That’s Stefan. And it’s a whole lot easier if you don’t fight it.”
She just stared at him in shock, as suddenly the volume was reduced to something almost bearable. She took several deep breaths and asked, “Stefan?”
Yes, the man replied softly in her ears. Sorry about that, but we really don’t have time for niceties.
She stared at Eric, who nodded. “Oh my God. I can hear him.”
You can figure it out later, Stefan suggested. Right now Eric has a problem, and we need your help.
*
Eric listened as Stefan explained what was going on.
It was a little confusing to Eric, and, from the look on Eden’s face, it was beyond shocking to her.
However, she wasn’t running away, and she appeared to at least be calm for the moment.
For Eden’s benefit, Stefan added, I’m speaking telepathically to both of you, yet I do need to save the bulk of my energy to remain in this form before you.
“So, what have I done?” Eric calmly asked Stefan. “Apparently I’ve done something.”
You did something, all right. Stefan groaned. Whatever contact you made with somebody, with something, doesn’t want you to leave now. Maybe they can’t leave themselves, so they want you to stay, or maybe they need to leave and need your help to do so. I just don’t know which.
“How do we figure out which it is?” Eric asked him.
I don’t know what the answer is. I’m just telling you that’s what’s going on.
“If I can’t leave, I can’t help them,” Eric pointed out, “unless they want me to join them in eternity.”
Eden snorted.
You can use all the logic you want, Stefan replied, with a note of humor, but that doesn’t mean they understand or care.
“Ah, I can totally see that,” Eric noted. “So, what are our options right now?”
Either we communicate with them and find out what they want or overpower them so that you can detach from whatever energy they have attached to you. That’s something you’ll need to do regardless because you can’t have anybody else yanking your chain like this.
“I agree with that,” Eden interjected.
Eric nodded. Just then they heard voices of people nearby, and he stiffened. “This will get awkward,” he noted, trying for some calm. Sensing panic in Eden, he quickly reached out a hand and whispered, “It’s okay.”
“Sure, sure, it’s okay,” she quipped in disbelief. “I mean, do you hear yourself?”
“It needs to be okay,” Eric stated, “because, if I can’t leave right now, I’ll have to just sit here and look pretty, and that won’t last for long.” She snorted at that, and he gave a half a laugh. “Okay. So maybe not the best phrase.”
“No, you are most definitely not okay. I just watched you forced to your knees by little green men or whatever that no one can see. Nothing about this is okay.”
You are right, but you need to let that go, Stefan pointed out. We need to focus on things right here, right now, and we will find a way through this. Meanwhile, you also need to get rid of everybody.
She stared at him. “And I’m supposed to do that … how?”
Not only is this now a danger for Eric, but, if anybody else comes around, this entity, whoever it is, could latch on to them as well.
She stared back at the blinking image of Stefan, only nothing was there. “Do you hear yourself?” she whispered.
I do hear myself, he confirmed, and very quickly other people will hear you as well.
She blinked, looked over at Eric, and admitted, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
He winced. “I have an idea, but chances are you won’t like it.”
She snorted. “I haven’t liked anything about this yet.”
It’s not the issue at hand, Stefan interrupted. We obviously have bigger more-pressing priorities to deal with.
Just as the people were about to crest the hill, Eric offered, “This is the only idea I have, but don’t take it personally.
” And, with that, just as the people were coming around the bend, Eric grabbed Eden’s face in his hands, then pulled her toward him and kissed her with as much heartfelt passion as he could muster.
Eden returned the kiss with equal force.
In the background, she heard the people twittering to each other as they laughed and retraced their steps. By then she wasn’t aware of anything except Eric’s arms, as they wrapped around her and crushed her tightly to him.
She got sucked in immediately to the incredible power of whatever had them in a grip such as she had never, ever experienced before. When she finally let go, she was gasping for air, and she stared at him. “I think they’re gone.”
His gaze, dark, and his face, unreadable, he nodded, his breathing barely in control. “Yeah, and that’s a good thing.”
She didn’t say anything, still gasping for breath herself. She got up and walked over several paces, trying to shake off whatever the hell had just happened.
When she came back to him, he reached out a finger and gently rubbed her bottom lip. “I don’t know what the hell that was, but we’re picking that up again later.”
*
Eric found it hard to refocus, but he only had a small window to get Stefan’s help with this. “Okay, Stefan, the coast is clear. Now what?”
Only silence came.
Stefan’s form reappeared, shimmered once, and wisped out. At least they’re gone for the moment.
“Yes, they’re gone,” Eric confirmed, “but we have a very small window before another group comes along, particularly if this is the lunch break.”
Right. In that case, we need to contact whoever this entity is and find out what they want, Stefan suggested.
Suddenly a squawk registered just inside Eric’s head.
He looked over to Eden, who stared at him in shock.
He frowned and asked, “Are you okay?” She just nodded.
But her gaze was curious, not upset, more like unsure of something.
He realized that she heard the squawk as well.
He reached out a hand and squeezed hers again.
She clung to it. Meanwhile he discussed things with Stefan.
Stefan replied, We’ll have to go back in and try to get that person back there.
“And yet …” Eden stopped.
Yet what? Stefan asked.
Eden continued. “If this person is a prisoner, how do we let them out? Maybe they shouldn’t be let back out. Even if we can somehow free them, what’s to say that will stick, and they won’t be sucked right back in?”
Stefan paused for a long moment, before responding. Later tonight we could possibly do that, but, right now, I’m not sure it’ll be that easy.
Eden frowned. “Right, I agree. However, if putting them back in means locking them up again, you know that we’ll have a hell of a fight on our hands.
” She looked around to check if anyone else was coming their way.
“If it were me, and I had been locked up—as it seems they have been—I would do anything to avoid that again.” She snorted.
“I would fight tooth and nail to ensure I didn’t have to go back in there. ”
Eric agreed. “I just don’t know that we have time, considering the amount of energy needed and the limited space we have here.” He swung his arms around, noting the nearby drop-off by this very bench. “It’s not as if this is a good place to do it.”
She gave him a droll look. “Right. And yet you thought it was a good place to open this door.” He glared at her, but her lips twitched.
You also have to consider, Stefan added, that they may not be so much the victim as the hunter.
Eric’s gut clenched in that. “Seriously?”
Yes, seriously, Stefan stated. We don’t know anything about this situation. For you to continue to function without this person controlling you, we need to know more.
Eric swallowed hard and then nodded. “Agreed. Suggestions?”
Yeah, we’ll stuff them back in and will help them get out at another time, Stefan noted.
“Can we do it?” Eden asked.
Yes, I believe we can, and we must because, if that doesn’t work, Stefan replied, we’ve got a much bigger fight on our hands. So, before they gain any more ground, we need to move and fast.
Eric nodded. “Let’s start then.”
Sure, but we need a different location where you aren’t quite so … public.
Eric stood up, looked around, and then pointed. “There is that little hollow where I found the woman.”
The dead woman? Stefan asked in a brash tone.
“Yes, the dead woman.”
As they walked toward it, waiting to hear back from Stefan, Eden looked at Eric and asked, “Is there any chance that woman is dead because of this Origin portal?”
He froze on the spot, then turned to face her. “I don’t think so, but I don’t know.” He looked around and asked, “Stefan, do you have any insight on that?”
Not at the moment, but obviously—Oh, yes, there is absolutely some connection. This is … interesting.
“What’s interesting?” she cried out. “You can’t just say it’s interesting and then not fill in the blanks.”
I hadn’t really looked into her death, Stefan admitted, because it didn’t appear to be related in any way, but it absolutely is related. And that’s an even bigger reason why we must deal with this Origin.
“Damn,” Eric muttered softly.
“Enough with the damns and all,” Eden snapped.
“None of what you just said, Stefan, makes me feel any better,” she murmured.
“And why are we walking over to the place where a woman lay dying, particularly if her death is connected to this Origin, to what’s going on right now?
Wouldn’t that mean that she opened the portal herself? ”
No, not at all, Stefan stated. It doesn’t mean that she opened the portal. It’s likely that someone did, or, if somebody is controlling this portal, they had some way to open it, potentially to gain new inhabitants.
She stopped and swallowed. “What do you mean?”
“He means they are harvesting more of them,” Eric explained somberly.
“As in new people to lock up?” Eden asked.
Yes, Stefan confirmed.
An odd silence followed. Then finally, knowing that he had to ask for Eden’s sake, if nothing else, Eric spoke up. “Is that likely what happened to Debbie?”
I don’t know, Stefan admitted. Yet I don’t think we can discount it. It might just be that this woman’s death is connected to only Debbie’s death. Regardless, this portal is open, and somebody is trying to get out. And now they seem to want new people to get in.
“How do you want to do this?” Eric asked.
Carefully, Stefan replied. We can’t make a mistake here, nor can we assume anything. The last thing we want is to find out that whatever choice you make will be your last. We don’t want you to end up being their next guest.
“How old is something like this?” Eden asked into the dead silence that followed.
The portal? This one? Stefan asked. I have no idea. I don’t know if there’s any way to even figure it out. All I can tell you is that it’s far older than anything you have ever even imagined,” he shared.
“Hundreds of years, thousands even?” she asked.
Yes, Stefan replied. Yes, to all of it, and again there’s no way to know.
“So, why would they need new souls now?” she asked.
Eric felt her tension. Hell, he wasn’t feeling very good about any of this either.
And it seemed as if the entity was swirling around him faster and faster, almost as if the entity’s own fear just funneled faster and drew Eric closer.
“We have to do something fast,” he finally said, sensing the urgency.
“Whatever is going on, this energy is terrified and is not looking to get locked back up again. I can feel its terror. I can feel its pain. I can feel so much of it,” he said, “that, believe me, they won’t go back where they were. ”
Agreed, Stefan replied, I can feel that too.
Eden added, “Yet we need answers, and we need them now.”
Stefan snorted. That’s fine. You might need answers, he pointed out, but making a mistake now could mean saying goodbye to Eric, and then there will be no answers, … at least none that we’ll like.
“I get it,” Eden muttered.
No, you don’t, Stefan countered. You’re in a rush, but I can tell you that whatever is going on at that retreat is completely different from what’s going on here at the Origin portal.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “I mean, you’re absolutely positive that the resort people have nothing to do with this Origin?” When Eric turned to her in surprise, she shrugged.
“Eden, look at me. This Origin could be why Debbie died the way she did. As for Richard and Rinaldo, I just can’t be sure if they had something to do with her death or this most recent death or not.
And I know it probably sounds as if I want them to be involved, but I really don’t. I just want answers.”
“That’s all we ever want,” Eden stated. “Whether it’s in your field or mine, we just need to know what’s happening.”
And the way to do that, … the only way to do that, Stefan interrupted, is to contact the entity who’s now controlling you and talk to them. Or open that damn portal, try to stuff them back in, and deal with it another time. Those are our only options now.