Chapter Sixteen #4
While Avalon had a spring meadow filled with flowers, and Lucian a castle bedroom for escapades in bed, Genesis had a lush, green forest with a cascading waterfall.
There were birds calling, and it was peaceful.
“Oh, this is nice,” Lucian said. “Pretty.”
She explained.
“When I was a kid, my mom watched a documentary on the with me. There were parrots, and all kinds of trees. I always wanted to go there.”
They both squeezed her hand.
“You did it,” Lucian said. “You found your space.”
She did.
And she was proud of herself.
“When you share your space with Josh, it might look different, so don't panic if it is. His energy will connect with yours, and that might alter it.”
Well, that was good to know.
“Thank you for the warning.”
Now that she’d mastered the first lesson, it was time to move on. Time was of the essence in order to get Genesis up to speed.
Without Lucian’s tuner, they were going to be at a disadvantage.
“Now that you can create your space, you’re safe here. This is where you can come to help people.”
Genesis didn’t understand this.
She’d call this bullshit, but Lucian and Avalon were with her, and she was either dreaming or she’d actually done it.
She just wasn’t sure which.
“You did it,” she reassured. “This isn’t a dream. This is how we enter our minds. Next, let’s teach you how to hear them.”
Lucian knew this was the hardest part.
Each one of them had to learn how to get the voices to come into focus. Avalon could do it alone, but he needed Ridge. They would see what Genesis could do.
She’s almost as strong as she needs to be. Will she be as strong as you? No, but Genesis can do this.
He heard her speaking just to him.
You have something up your sleeve. I can feel you pulling strings and calling out to something. What are you doing, Avalon?
She laughed, and he felt it.
I’m breaking Trey and the dead out of the cage. We’re going to need them later to help with this.
Well, shit.
They are in danger if they are out.
Yes, but there was danger if they weren’t. It was a lose-lose at this point, and she knew it. Losing Tori’s dead was a risk, but losing Lucian was worse.
Trust me. Have I ever dropped the ball?
Well, no.
But still…
I don’t want to know because Raven is going to be PISSED if you mess with his spells. I hope he doesn’t find out. He’s calm until he feels like his family isn’t safe.
Her too.
And Lucian was her family.
“Now, close your eyes, Genesis, and focus. Listen for them calling for you. It’s going to sound like buzzing at first, but then, if you move into the sound, it will get clearer. Think of it as tuning a channel on a radio. You have to get it just right.”
She tried, and she could hear the buzzing.
It tickled her ears.
And made her laugh.
“It’s in my head,” she said.
Well, yeah.
They were all in her head. They were standing in water near a waterfall, so this was her realm.
Her place.
“Move into it, like you’re trying to hear what they are saying,” Avalon said. “Go to that place where you can be strong. Go to the place that calls to you.”
And she did.
All around them, the forest morphed, and it became cold.
Icy.
Chilly.
All around them, snow fell, and she morphed into someone different.
Here, she controlled the ice.
It looked like she didn’t need Josh for it to change. It changed as she was focused on the voices. Her safe space had multiple levels.
“I can hear them.”
As they stood there, they watched as Genesis found herself for the first time in her life. Avalon could see in her place, and Lucian was whole again, having his eye back.
And Genesis…
She was powerful.
They all heard them come into tune, as the snowflakes and ice crystals danced around her.
That’s when they heard them calling out to them.
Please help me!
Can anyone hear me?
Where am I?
How did I die?
What happens next?
HELLO?
There was a symphony of questions, and all of them in different voices, and different tones. Some were crying, and some were screaming.
Some were in English, and some were not.
Avalon held the static stationary for her, as she learned how to control it.
“Those are the dead, and some psychics. What I do is weed through them and find the ones I can help. Mostly, I look for any person who is trying to hurt someone and stop their intent.”
Genesis listened.
She was taking in each conversation.
They were lost, and she knew it.
“Yes, they are lost. Your job is to shepherd them. Lucian uses his gift to help solve murders, mostly theirs, and my job is to stop people from being hurt.”
That made her curious.
“What’s my job?”
Avalon told her.
“You’re going to take over for me one day. You’re going to be the new Oracle. Time will stop for me, but you will pick up where it leaves off. Then, time will continue.”
She blinked.
“What about Lucian?” she asked, and Avalon was staring at him.
Oh, and he knew why.
Being in Salem was to be his job.
But he didn’t want it.
“I’m not taking over. I have a job with helping the Littlemoons and all the psychics on this plane. I keep telling you that, Avi, and I mean it.”
That amused her, and it broke her heart at the same time. If she didn’t change fate…
It wouldn’t matter.
Lucian was more than likely going to die. She’d bought him time when she saved him before, by getting Bishop to rescue him, but she was running out of choices.
“You are so stubborn,” she joked, not letting on that this was one of the few last times they’d share this plane before his spark was extinguished.
When Genesis gasped, signaling that she heard the same voice screaming in pain in the voice, Avalon spoke in her mind.
He doesn’t know. Please don’t warn him. I’m working on saving him. When it’s your time, you’re not privy to it for a reason. It makes leaving this realm more difficult.
She wasn’t sure how to talk to her.
Just think about speaking in my mind.
And she did.
We can’t let him die. He has a child on the way, and he has a life. Isn’t there something we can do?
Oh, she was trying.
I’m working on it.
“Don’t worry, Lucian. I won’t make you come with me,” she stated.
It made him laugh.
“Oh, well, thanks for that,” he joked.
Deep down, her heart hurt.
Avalon wanted to tell him, but if she did, she might not be able to save him. Lucian would sacrifice himself for his family and to save someone else.
Instead, Oracle had to keep trying and hope that in the last minutes, there would be a reprieve.
Genesis was listening to the voices.
“They sound sad,” she stated.
“They are,” Lucian stated. “They feel abandoned.”
Avalon was about to say something, but before they could, they all heard it.
It came up so fast, slamming into the energy that was protecting Genesis’ mind.