Regenesis (Book 1): Impact (30 page)

She
wore tight black leggings under a checkered black and white skirt. Rachel also
wore a brown and black striped tee shirt underneath a dark gray zip up hoodie.
The hoodie held two purposes then, though the most important feature was the
long sleeves which hid her bare wrist from her aunt, who Rachel feared might
notice and overreact.

Her
Aunt Claire knocked at her door and told her dinner would be ready soon. Rachel
got off her bed, opened the door, and told her she’d wash up. “Will Jordan be
joining us tonight?”

Rachel
shook her head, “He’s working tonight.”

“Oh,
well I guess it’s spaghetti for two,” she said before she turned and headed
back toward the kitchen.

Rachel
shut the door, locked it, and fell back onto her bed. She’d lived with her aunt
since her mother died when she was twelve and although she loved her aunt for
all she’d done for her, Rachel felt she needed her own privacy, and that was
why she had a lock on her door, her closet, and on her journal that sat under a
locked charms box on her windowsill. Rachel doubted her aunt would even want to
pry, but Rachel was an overly cautious person.

Claire
returned and knocked again. Rachel let out a sigh, got up, unlocked her door,
opened it, and let her aunt talk. “There’s a handsome young man at the door for
you Rachel.”

“What
are you talking about?”

“He
says he met you a few weeks back,” she continued, “And that you two will be
classmates this coming school year.”

Rachel
frowned but followed her aunt out to the door to find Vladimir there. Her aunt
left the two of them alone. Rachel left the door open and kept close to it. She
examined Vladimir and asked why he was at her home.

“I
am sorry to suddenly appear here on your doorstep,” he started, “And I am only
here because I have a discovery that I believe could not wait until I merely
happened to cross paths with you again.”

“What
are you talking about?”

He
took a breath and told her, “I have something for you.” He reached into his
pack and retrieved her emerald gemmed, silver banded bracelet.

Her
eyes lit up as he returned it to her, “Vladimir where did you find it?”

“I
was returning home with my host brother from the party last weekend where I
happened to see someone on the street who desperately wanted to sell it. I
realized he must have stolen it from you and promptly bought it off of him,”
Vladimir reported.

Rachel’s
heart sank. “How much was it? I’ll pay you back.”

The
young man refused though, “It was nothing. I only traded him a pocket watch
that was hardly worth to me what that bracelet is worth to you.”

“No
way,” she shook her head, “What do I owe you?”

The
lad only smiled though. “Rachel,” he said calmly, “I knew before I spoke to the
man that I was going to have to lose something to get it back from him to
return it to you. And besides, you told me how important it was to you and as
such I could not simply allow some brigand to make off with it and rob you.”

“But
what about you? Now you’ve lost–”

“I
have not lost a thing,” he stopped her. “Rachel, it was no trouble.”

“W-Well
what can I do to make it up to you?” she asked.

“Rachel,
you do not owe me a thing. Some people do the right thing and do not expect
anything in return.”

“At
least stay for dinner.”

“I
can’t.”

“We’re
having spaghetti, garlic bread, green beans, and I think that my aunt made some
Jell-O–”

“I’m
allergic to tomatoes.”

“Well…Well
what about coffee sometime?”

“I
do not–”

“There
has to be something. Please, there must be something that I can do to make it
up to you.”

“Rachel,”
he paused a moment to ponder her request. Vladimir finally came to what he
believed to be a reasonable appeal, “I am more than aware of how little your
boyfriend cares for me, as such he would never agree to this but I ask you it
nonetheless as you are one of the first friends I have made since I came here
this year.” He took a small breath of courage and asked her, “Would you
continue to be my friend?”

She
blinked. “What?”

“Just…please,
be my friend.” He averted his eyes momentarily as he mentioned how he was
usually not able to make very many friends on account of how quiet and reserved
he was. “As such I would rather not lose someone like you so soon after I
became acquainted with you.”

She
laughed at the request but agreed. “I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone come out
and ask to be my friend Vladimir.”

He
apologized, “As I said before, I am not exactly the most sociable of sorts.”

She
forgave him anyway and agreed.

They
stood at the doorstep without an idea of what to do or say next. Rachel knew
she was already late for dinner with her aunt, yet she felt she wanted to stay
and chat with her new friend more. After a short moment passed, Vladimir
scratched the back of his head and claimed he needed to be leaving. “If I’m out
too late I fear my host parents will fret.”

“Oh…”
Rachel cleared her throat and asked once more, “Are you sure you can’t stay?”

He
nodded, “Some other time maybe.”

She
agreed. He turned to leave, but she stopped him and asked, “How did you know
where I live?”

“Ah,”
Vladimir was taken aback by the question. “My host brother Pyotr knows a friend
who knows a friend who knows a friend who happened to know where you live.”

“Oh.”

He
apologized yet again, “I am sorry to have just suddenly dropped by, but I knew
how you worried about it at the party and I imagined you still did.”

Rachel
thanked him again and remained there on her doorstep while he left. She looked
over her bracelet once more, briefly tried to read the Latin engraving on the
inside of the band, and put it back on her wrist before she returned inside and
shut the door.

--          --          --

Once
their meal was over and after all of the dishes were washed, Rachel told her
aunt she wanted to go out for a walk and that she’d be back later. Rachel left
without a jacket or purse and headed toward the park.

It
wasn’t dark out and the air was finally cooling to a tolerable level compared
to how warm it was earlier in the day. She wandered alone toward Stipek Park,
which was only a short distance from her home, and though she wasn’t sure why
she wanted to get out of her aunt’s house, she was glad to have the time to
herself to meditate on the evening.

Rachel
kept glancing at the returned bracelet, hardly able to believe Vladimir
returned it to her. She smiled while she recalled the gesture and walked toward
the bench where she and the young Romanian met weeks before. She espied someone
on the bench and for a brief moment her heart raced at the possibility of it
being Vladimir, though she quickly realized it was someone else.

Her
smile waned as she walked past the gentleman who sat there on the bench with a
set of what she thought were scriptures. Rachel walked past him though and
headed toward a green field where a flock of geese stood. A few young men
entered the park at the opposite end of the field and quickly ran onto it to
chase the birds off. Rachel watched the geese fly away from the danger, but
then they stopped. The geese and the boys and the cars on the road past the
field all stopped in place. They didn’t move or fall or make a sound.
Everything around her simply froze where it was at that very moment in time.

“It’s
frightening, isn’t it?”

Rachel
wheeled around and looked at the man who sat where she’d met Vladimir, though
he was entirely changed. He wore silver plated armor with a golden trim and
golden chainmail beneath the armor that reached just to his mid biceps. The man
wore a light, form fitted garment beneath his armor that extended from the
armor down to the gauntlets he wore. His cape was white with blue detail and
golden corners and the cape fell near his Achilles tendons. His armor passed
his waist and went down to his knees. Past that he wore tall, silver armored
boots that met at his knee. And in his hands he held a four-foot long sword
made of silver. The blade had no sheath and the man held the hilt in one hand
and let the blade rest in his other.

The
stranger continued, “Witnessing something that you cannot comprehend. Something
so vastly out of your control that it could easily drive you to the depths of
madness, as you know that there is not a soul on this earth who could possibly
help you.”

Rachel
backed away from him and started to flee but as soon as she reached the edge of
the park she blinked and found herself right where she fled from. The man let
out a breath and asked her to stay calm. “I am not here to harm you Rachel,” he
told her.

“How
do you know who I am?” she asked with a scowl.

The
man chuckled and questioned her, “Shouldn’t you be far more concerned with how
all of this around you has happened?” He noted the sudden unrest in her eyes
and he apologized, “All of this is foreign to you.”

“What’s
going on? Are you the one who did this?”

“I
am.”

“That’s
impossible though.”

“What
is?”

“This!”
she said while she indicated the park’s sudden static state. “You can’t
just-just stop time.”

The
man shrugged and recited, “
I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me.
” He waited a moment before he added, “Philippians chapter
four verse thirteen.”

“I
knew that…”

His
eyes flashed and he cracked a smile, “No you didn’t.”

Rachel
opened her mouth to protest but she immediately found herself mute. She looked
at the man and he apologized yet again. “Unfortunately I have other matters to
attend to, so allow me to get to the point Rachel.” He stood up from the bench,
took a step toward her, and said, “Last Friday you and your boyfriend Jordan
Wilder were out at a party in Seattle where he was gravely injured. A bright
light came and saved him, though you did not know from where the light came or
how your boyfriend survived.” The man looked at her and asked whether she could
guess how her Jordan was saved. At first Rachel only glared at him, but the man
merely snickered and told her she could speak again.

“I
don’t know…Did you save him?” she guessed.

He
shook his head, “No, it was you Rachel.”

She
laughed nervously and denied it. “That’s impos–”

“Rachel,”
the man stopped her, “Look around you. All of this should be enough to dissuade
any doubt you have about what is possible and impossible. When I say you were
the one who healed Jordan Wilder I am not lying to you nor is what I have told
you false.” The armored man apologized for his tone and continued to explain
the ability to her. “You are able to heal yourself and others from ailments, be
it a toxin, a severed limb, or a simple cut. Beyond that you are able to also
heal mental illness alongside deformity and a nearly innumerable list of
illnesses.”

“How
am I supposed to do that though?”

The
man grinned and told her it was something she would have to learn for herself.

He
turned to leave but she stopped him, “Who are you?”

The
armored man didn’t answer her. He instead recited another scripture, “
Ye are
the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do
men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick: and it
giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before
men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in
heaven.
Matthew five, fourteen through sixteen.” He turned from her and
continued to walk away while he told her to live a good life, as well as an instruction
to give up the drugs she consumed. “Although you now know they can’t possibly
harm you, I ask that you treat yourself better. You are a very special girl
Rachel, someone who very many people care for and love. In fact, there are many
who watch over you and want the absolute best for you. So I ask of you Rachel,
please cast aside whatever doubt you have in yourself and remember that you are
of great importance.” The armored man smiled and told her he would see her
again much later down the road and started away from her.

Rachel
chased after him, but a searing light surrounded the man and he vanished from
before her sight. The geese flew once more, the boys in the field laughed at
the birds, and the world continued as if nothing was the matter. Rachel, on the
other hand stood quietly in the park with her thoughts on the incident. She
only started home after the sun began to set and the air started to chill.

---*---

Chapter
11

August
29
^th
, 2029

2:23
AM

Baltimore,
Maryland

Jenna
Bell woke to a relentless clamor at her front door. She chose to ignore it and
hoped whoever tried to wake her would leave until she heard them faintly tell
her they were a part of the Baltimore Police Department. Jenna donned a
bathrobe hastily and started for the door.

A
lone man waited outside her apartment. He flashed a badge and quickly
apologized, “Sorry to wake you at this hour. I’m Detective Ryuzaki Miyaza of
the Baltimore P.D. I have a few questions for you about the man you met last
week named Mario Evanston, the man in the accident involving his taxi and
another woman.”

“What
is this about? Can’t this wait until the morning?” she asked wearily.

“Again,
I’m sorry, but it’s absolutely necessary that I ask these questions now.”

She
rubbed her eyes and asked to see his badge once more. Ryuzaki complied and
repeated his question. Jenna relented and told him, “I only met the guy there
at the accident, so I don’t really know him.”

“He’s
dead. He died in police custody last Friday.”

“Well,
I’m sorry to hear that but what does this have to do with me?”

“Hopefully
nothing, but to be safe I needed to come here and ask you a few brief
questions.” His eyes flashed before he asked, “Have you noticed any unusual
abilities within the past few days?”

Jenna
scowled, “What are you talking about?”

“Anything
strange,” he said, “Anything at all.”

“I
don’t know what–”

He
cut her off, “What about the apple? Or how about when you killed your cat Kiki
on Tuesday?”

Jenna
paled. “What…How do you, how do you know about that?”

“You
drained the remaining life from both the fruit and your cat,” he explained. “I
need you to follow me.”

“No,”
she shouted. “How the hell could you know that? Were you watching me or–”

“Damn
it we don’t have time for this!” the detective snapped at her. “We need to leave–”

“I’m
not going anywhere with you, you–”

Jenna
suddenly flew back from the detective and the door slammed shut and locked
before he could get in. He tried the lock and would have broken the door down
had a sudden cry not alarmed him. The Asian man turned to find a man behind him
in nothing more than a hospital gown. The stranger was soaked from head to toe,
hadn’t shaved in days, and kept his eyes locked on the Asian detective.

“Get
away from the door!”

The
detective grimaced. “You have no idea what you’re trying to stop here.”

“I
believe I do,” the drenched man hissed. “Get back from the door, now.”

The
already poor lighting in the hall started to flicker and though the detective
never looked away from the poor man in the hospital gown, he managed to say
before he left, “It’s too late Sage.”

Ryan
lost sight of the Japanese man once the lights failed. He tried to find him but
his eyes never managed to dilate in time; he also felt he had another worry to
trouble him first. He tried the door, but found it locked, and only once he
heard a shrill scream did he break the door down. The sight of the room
startled him. The wall where her window had been was torn away completely.
Jenna Bell’s room was on the fourth story and though Ryan thought she might
have been captured or thrown from the room, he found her in the kitchen with a
broken neck.

Ryan
walked softly beside her and turned her wrist over expecting to see the scar on
her arm, however it wasn’t there.

Someone
seized him by the back of his neck and whoever held him in that vice lifted him
off the floor and slammed him into the kitchen cabinets. Ryan felt the muscles
in his neck collapse and he felt his consciousness quickly slip away. He heard
the sound of metal clatter and before he could guess what might have made the
sound Ryan felt seven objects impale him through his back. Warm blood filled
his lungs and a burning sensation gripped his arm. Ryan’s vision blurred and
everything he managed to see grew dark. Finally, Ryan felt the sensation of
flight, one last time.

---*---

10:35
AM

London,
England

Jason
passed away in the night on the twenty-seventh, despite his sudden start toward
recovery. None of his doctors saw any reason for the decline in his health but
Jason died all the same. Doctor Reynolds asked permission to perform an autopsy
to determine where everything went wrong but hadn’t discovered anything, or at
least she hadn’t reported anything to Audrey. Audrey wouldn’t have been able to
take the call anyway; since the news of her husband’s death she remained in
tears and sobbed alone in her hotel room.

Her
brother handled the funeral arrangements, though the decision for burial or
cremation hadn’t been made. Jason never specified and as such the choice fell
to Audrey. No one, her brother Jack least of all, wanted to bring that question
to her. All they could manage was to avoid it until the very last possible
moment.

Audrey
lay curled in a ball clutching a tear soaked pillow. The lights were off and it
was quiet beyond the sound of her weeping. She raced from the first time they
met to when Jason finally stomached asking her out, she recalled their first
date, their first kiss, his proposal, their marriage, and every single memory
she held of him. The mistakes he made melted away while her faults became
illuminated. She hated herself for the harm she caused him and regretted the
forgotten apologies.

She
remembered the day he asked her to marry him. He had been distracted for weeks
leading up to it, but on that day his thoughts seemed entirely elsewhere. Jason
revealed afterward that his heart raced faster then than it ever had before.
Audrey noticed familiar sights from London, scenes from their first few dates,
art museums they’d visited together, and finally a quiet dinner outside with
the London Eye just a short distance from them. In retrospect she should have
seen it coming since he hardly ate a bite at dinner. But midway through their
meal he confessed that he couldn’t wait any longer. He knelt in front of her,
retrieved the ring, and asked her to marry him. He told her he wanted to
propose on top of the London Eye but couldn’t wait anymore. Audrey hardly heard
a word he said about the original plan. She nearly tackled him to the ground
when she threw her arms around him and repeatedly accepted his proposal.

Out
of all the people Audrey had ever known, Jason was the sole individual who
never seemed to feel fear. She didn’t come to find out until months later, but
on the day of their wedding Jason was so nervous he vomited in the bathroom
only a half an hour before their ceremony began. One of his groomsmen happened
to be present in the restroom when Jason became sick and helped to clean him
off and calm him down. His buddy assured him that no one would even notice him
with Audrey beside him and once Jason regained his stamina the two headed back
out to the procession.

Audrey
thought about Jason’s friends who still didn’t know. She wasn’t even sure she
recalled half of their names from their wedding and couldn’t even fathom how to
contact all of them for the funeral. Time rushed past too quickly; Jason would
be buried or cremated in only a day or so and then the memorial would follow
and from there she couldn’t see anything in her future. Audrey wasn’t even sure
where to begin in resuming her life, a life she shared for years with a man she
loved with her whole heart. It didn’t seem real and she tried to fight against
the nightmare but knew he was gone. Audrey only thought about how Jason
wouldn’t return home each night promptly around six in the evening, he wouldn’t
surprise her with flowers and she wouldn’t wake up to the sound of him brushing
his teeth in their bathroom, and he wouldn’t ever kiss her or hold her again.

The
bedroom door crept open and her sister snuck in, just as she had nights earlier.
Suzy walked over to her sister and handed her the phone. “Jason’s doctor’s
asking for you.”

Audrey
tried to dry her tears but the effort seemed pointless. “Did she mention what
this is about?” Suzy apologized and said she never asked. Audrey waited for her
sister to leave before she answered.

“Hello
Audrey? This is Doctor Reynolds.”

“Yes,
what is it?”

“There’s
been a…well I’m not sure how to put this, but your husband is alive.”

Audrey
felt her heart stop. She had already seen his body, how horribly disfigured he
was, how devoid of life or warmth too. The doctor repeated that Jason was alive
and recuperating rapidly. Audrey finally cut the doctor off and asked her to
explain. “I saw him, he’s dead. You told me so yourself.”

Doctor
Reynolds confirmed that Jason was dead. “I’m unsure of how to convince you but
I swear we have your husband back in our hospital and under observation. Please
Audrey, if you could just hurry here we would like you to see for yourself.”

--          --          --

Audrey
only took a brief moment to tell her family about the news. She didn't explain
it and simply left for the hospital with her mother and sister. Doctor Reynolds
greeted them upon their arrival and quickly ushered Audrey to the room they
kept her husband in. Jason lay somewhat exposed so the doctors could examine
him, but his skin and muscle looked nearly whole again.

“The
funeral home discovered him alive and breathing and rushed him here,” the
doctor began, “We weren't sure what could have happened. Jason was dead but
here he is now nearly whole once again.”

Audrey's
eyes remained fixed on her husband. She couldn't understand how someone so
gravely wounded could recover in a matter of a week. “Do you have any idea how
this is even possible?”

Doctor
Reynolds shook her head and told her they were as eager to know as she was. “We
ran tests on his blood when he was returned here and found some irregularities.
We found sodium thiperal and vecuronium bromite in his blood…Which are two
chemicals used to euthanize the terminally ill.”

Audrey
paled slightly and asked who would do something like that to her husband.

“We’re
unsure of that now,” the doctor began, “But the oddities don’t end there. We
performed a few other blood tests shortly before you arrived and found that
those chemicals are gone; they’ve been purged from his system.”

“And
no one here performed an operation or anything to remove it?”

Doctor
Reynolds simply told her there wasn’t anything they could have done to remove
it in time to save him. “The amount of the chemicals in him should have ended
his life, even after coming back here, yet here’s your husband and he’s making
the most miraculous recovery I’ve ever heard of.” Doctor Reynolds added that
the radiation remained but it did not concern her. “At the rate your husband’s
recovering, or regenerating if I might be so bold, he should be fully recovered
in an hour or two.”

“Do
you think he’ll wake then?” Audrey asked.

“I
don’t see why he wouldn’t.” Doctor Reynolds paused for a moment to take her
over to her husband’s side. Jason didn’t have a single scar, burn, or mark from
the fire. He was completely whole. “I’d like to ask you something Miss Templar,
Audrey, if you don’t mind.”

“That’s
fine.”

Doctor
Jamie Reynolds began by stating how the final decision would be Jason’s alone,
but she felt she needed her permission as well. “You see, I would like to
continue to monitor Jason after he’s well.”

“And
why’s that?”

“Basically
I find all of this uncanny and I would like to turn this into an opportunity to
study why he’s been able to recuperate so rapidly.” The doctor assured her she
would not charge them anything for the check-ups, “This is something I’m
curious about, something that could possibly bridge gaps between where we stand
now in medicine and where we need to go. Jason’s done something amazing, be
that consciously or not.” She started off toward the door and reminded Audrey
that the final decision was Jason’s alone. “I’ll leave you two alone and check
up on him later.”

---*---

12:19
PM

Las
Vegas, Nevada

“Twenty,
house wins.”

The
German cursed, tossed his cards in, and told the dealer to deal again.

Nick
and Strom sat at a blackjack table in the middle of the day on the outskirts of
Vegas. Strom still hadn’t won a single hand, even after two hours, but he was
determined to keep going until it paid off. Nick saw how much he’d lost and
though he guessed Strom could toss his wealth around as he pleased he doubted
the man could ever profit from all of his gambling.

Nick
worried when he stepped off the plane in Vegas, as he thought for a brief
moment that he could possibly have been kidnapped by Strom, but Nick soon
realized that wasn’t the case at all. He’d left Strom at the table and wandered
around a few times since they arrived and since Strom didn’t really pay any
attention to him, Nick turned his questions toward the reason why Strom took
the detour there, if there was any real reason.