Authors: Michelle Love
ALYSSA
Grace and Rodney hold my brother’s hands in theirs and show him the truth. I couldn’t have him left in the dark. He might be a pain in the rear but he’s my pain in the rear, and I love him.
The look of complete cluelessness he had when everyone in the room knew something he didn’t left me sad for him. I had to ask the current Phoenix couple to enlighten him.
Mom gave me her version of the news when we were on the plane. Can’t say I really believed her.
Here’s how that little conversation not every girl gets to have with her mother went:
“I would like for you to lie back, Alyssa. I think it’s best if I tell you all this like I used to tell you bedtime stories. Remember how I did when you were a little girl?” Mom asks me.
“Yes,” I say weakly, sniffling, I lay back on my pillows. Mom covers me, up, tucking me in.
“Once upon a time there was an ancient secret society which tended to a couple of extraordinary creatures. These creatures were sent to them from God. The creatures helped to warn humans of disasters before they happened as to give those who heeded their warnings a chance to survive.
Almost every culture has stories about these creatures, from the ancient Egyptians to the American Indians.
These creatures are human but they can also take on the form of large birds. There are only two of these birds at a time. Once one pair is done with their jobs, and too old to go on anymore a new pair is formed.
Now, not just anyone can be these creatures. They’re chosen before they’re even born. The two who are chosen are mates for life, from birth until death. There is no other way.
Your father and I are members of the society which takes care of these God given creatures. When I was pregnant with you we were summoned to a gathering. All the pregnant couples in this group came together. The high priest, Galchobar, was there for what reason we did not know.
He walked through the mass of people, touching each woman’s stomach. After he had done so with all the pregnant women he went up to the altar. First calling out the man’s name, Lyle Fontaine, then the woman’s name Sierra Fontaine.
They walked up to the altar with him. He beckoned us to say the chant of unity. Then he stopped us and spoke another man’s name. This time he said David Devlin then he said Antonia Devlin, and we walked to the altar, and the same process was repeated.
It was our unborn children who were chosen to be the next pair. Your names were given to us at that time. Yours, of course, was Alyssa, which means princess in Greek. The Fontaine’s were given the name Eden, which means full of fire.
After conferring with the Fontaine’s, we made an agreement you would be raised in a very normal environment as long as we kept you chaste.
It was your father’s and my intent to give you at least a few years of normal before you have to begin an extraordinary life. Not a bad life by any means. It will be fantastic, Alyssa,” my mother tells me in a soft and comforting voice.
I open my eyes, not really believing the story she just told to me. “Mom, are you on acid?” I ask her.
“What? Oh heavens no, silly girl,” she admonishes me.
I sit up very slowly, then turn and look her in the eye. “Mom, are you telling me, that me and the gorgeous stranger are some kind of flying people? That we are destined to be together or some shit like that?” I ask.
“Alyssa, I will not have you talking like that. You’re about to step into a very important role. Now Eden has been groomed for his role his entire life. While we have sheltered you, a fact that now I don’t think was fair to you, but it’s done, nevertheless. Now we have to get you to grasp onto what is now your immediate future, and all that it entails,” she tells me.
“So, where is Kyle in all this?” I ask.
“Sorry sweetie, Kyle is nowhere in this,” she says.
“Mom, you let me be his best friend since I was ten years old and now, oh sorry, that’s over. Ummm… not so easy to do, okay?” I gripe.
“I realize that now but it changes nothing,” she says.
“Yeah, it does. He has feelings too, Mom. What about him? This will kill him. If he even believes me. Who is going to believe me Mom? This is ridiculous. When are you going to tell me I’m on some kind of morbid TV show where parents prank their kids with really mean pranks?”
“You can’t tell anyone about this, Alyssa. They won’t understand,” she tells me.
“Well, you got that right, Mom. Like, who would understand that a couple of babies were summonsed up from Hell or wherever to rule the skies as giant birds?” I ask.
“Stop that right now, Alyssa. You are not from Hell, far from it. You come from all which is good. The things you will do are for the good of mankind, and there is not one thing evil about it,” she tells me sternly.
“Unless you count the part where you make a couple of kids spend the rest of their life together. Whether, they want to or not. I mean, can’t I be this creature, and still be with who I want to?” I ask.
Oh boy that sounds dumb. Am I beginning to believe this crap? Yeah, I’m going to turn into a big bird, squawk. Mom has lost it, I thought.
Needless to say, it was all true.
Grace and Rodney let Scotty’s hands go, and we all wait for his reaction. As his eyes open I see new depth to them. “No way!” he says. He looks at me, “No way! You’re going to be a giant bird, Sis.”
Everyone in the room laughs at his reaction. He looks around at all of us. “I can’t believe you kept this a secret from us, Mom and Dad,” he says then comes and gives me a hug, much to my surprise. “I’m really sorry about all those jokes I played on you, Ally. Please forgive me. I’d never have done those things to you if I’d known what you are.”
My mother and Eden’s share an, “Awww, how sweet.”
I hug my brother then ruffle his hair. “I forgive you, Bubba. It’s what little brothers do, after all.”
He gives me a smile and says, “Thanks, Al. You’re the best.”
The butler announces dinner is being served in the formal dining room, and Eden takes me by the waist. We follow the old man through a myriad of halls and rooms until we reach a spectacular dining room. It’s even more beautiful than the five-star restaurant Eden took me to.
Now this is the life!
Eden pulls out a chair for me at the enormous table, I sit and he takes the place next to me. The other Phoenix couple sits across from us. It’s odd, but I have no questions to ask them because they’ve told me everything in short clips of visions in my mind.
When they held my hands I saw things so quickly it’s not humanly possible to process the information, yet I did. Here I was thinking this whole time I was plain old Alyssa Devlin, ordinary girl. I thought my destiny was to become Kyle Boyd’s wife and mother of his children. Nothing more than that.
Wow! I couldn’t have been more wrong!
Apparently these creatures have existed for thousands and thousands of years. The couple who sits across from us doesn’t look it, but they’re one hundred and fifty years old, and they don’t look like they’re kicking the bucket anytime soon. They appear to be in excellent health. Both are still attractive, with few wrinkles and silky, shiny silver hair.
Grace has green eyes. In her younger years they were a brilliant almost teal color, the years have faded them some, but not a lot. Rodney had chocolate brown eyes when he was young. His have faded a bit too, but they still radiate compassion. That’s what I feel the most in them is a compassion for others.
I know it dwells in myself as well as Eden. It will enhance once we’re able to change. So many things will enhance. They couldn’t show me the future, only the past. What our gifts will be is unknown as each pair has different ones. But it’s the overwhelming compassion for all creatures which drive the Phoenixes.
An odd fact they shared was about birth control and how it doesn’t work on us. They’ve had five children in their marriage of one hundred, thirty-two years. We’ll have children when Our Creator wants us too.
That’s another thing they gave me, faith. I believe without a shadow of doubt in Our Creator. Never have I had such a strong belief.
The only thing which bothers me about all of this is the knowledge Kyle will never leave my heart. I made a place for him there and he will always reside within me.
My place is with Eden and he has a much larger place in me. He’s in my heart and soul, so much different than the small piece of my heart Kyle’s in. But he is a part of me, and I don’t know how the future will be with him always in my life.
He will be a part of it though, and Eden as well as Laura or anyone else who gets involved with Kyle will have to deal with it the best they can. It’s out of my hands.
A maid fills all the stemmed glasses with a white wine, and I look down the table at my parents. Scotty is on the same thought as he says, “Hey, Dad, am I allowed to drink wine?”
“If it’s placed in front of you, it’s yours, Son,” my father answers.
Scotty does a funny thing with his eyebrows, and says, “Man, life sure has changed hasn’t it?”
We all find ourselves laughing. Eden’s hand comes to rest on my thigh and I look at him. It’s almost as if I can see right into his soul. I’m so nearly there. I send a thought out to him, shouting it loudly in my head to see if he can see it. ‘Tell me you love me.’ I send it out to him over and over as I look into his emerald eyes.
His knuckles graze my cheek and his caramel lips move as he whispers, “I do love you, Princess.”
Wow!
Grace and Rodney giggle at us, making my attention turn to them. “Did you see that?” I ask.
Rodney answers, “We heard it.”
OMG! They heard it!
‘Taste the wine,’ suddenly fills my head, and I reach out to take the glass, taking a sip and finding it sweet and delicious. ‘Do you like it?’ runs through my mind. I turn to look at Eden and smile.
“I do,” I say, and he rewards me with a kiss on my cheek.
“This is fun,” he says as he raises his eyebrows.
Rodney gives Eden a wink, and says, “Just you wait until your wedding night. To be able to communicate with thought will prove quite stimulating to you both.”
I blush and look away, thinking about how men are always thinking about sex.
Grace surprises me as she speaks, “They all do, Alyssa. You’ll see soon enough when you can hear everyone’s thoughts.”
I giggle at the knowledge the couple across from us can hear everything we think. Eden looks at me. “This is so much better now you know everything about us.”
I kiss his cheek, “It is.”
***
After dinner we gather outside in the spacious back yard. If you can call it a yard. It’s roughly the size of a football field, a large and glorious swimming pool is lit up in the middle of it. The sound of the waterfall which flows into it makes a comforting sound in the night.
The Phoenix couple is about to give us a demonstration of their abilities which will soon be ours. “All you have to do to transform is picture yourself as the bird. You’ll look just like we do, but you’ll keep your distinct eye color,” Rodney tells us.
Grace smiles, and says, “You may wish to cover your ears, the boom is quite loud.”
I look at Eden and cover my ears as does he, and the rest of our family. Grace looks up and Rodney looks down, then two simultaneous claps of thunder shake us as they become two giant, blackbirds, and fly straight up into the air.
I uncover my ears to peer into the night sky. Their dark bodies disappear. A loud shriek makes me throw my hands back over my ears.
We all turn around to face the direction it came from to find them coming in low and landing just in front of us. They stand still and let us touch them.
I’m amazed by them, and the fact I’ll soon be one. Their feathers shimmer in the patio lights. So black their feathers are that they sometimes appear blue.
Gorgeous!
A small squawk comes from Grace, her head nods and I know she wants us to step back. Both birds close their eyes for about two seconds, and they’re back to people again.
“To return to your human form, you simply see yourself as that, and presto, your back,” Grace says.
Scotty gawks at them, and says, “If I hadn’t seen it, I’d never believe it. I wish I could tell my friends, but they’d call me a liar.”
Rodney looks at him. “You can never tell anyone. You can only talk about our kind with members of The Phoenix Foundation. They’re our protectors, and benefactors. It’s they who bought our homes and cars and pay for everything for us.”
“Homes?” I ask.
Grace puts her arm around me as she walks with me. “We have homes all over the world, Alyssa. We’ve taken the home in England for our children and their families to keep after our time as Phoenixes is over and your time begins. Other than that one property, the rest will belong to you and Eden.”
“I can’t believe it. Tell me, Grace, is it a dangerous life we’ll lead?” I ask.
“At times, yes. But we have a superior homeostasis,” Grace says. “Once I got knocked out of the sky from a great height by an airplane. I fell all the way to the ground, and broke several bones, and suffered from bleeding on the brain. I transformed into my human self once I went unconscious. Rodney was fine, and he got an ambulance and said I’d fallen from a helicopter we were riding in, but not nearly as far up as I really was.”