The Savior Rises (17 page)

Stefani dropped her to the pavement, grabbed her purse, and punched the release button to unlock all the doors.

“Thank you, ma’am,” she said as she climbed behind the wheel. She barely waited for Daniel to shut his door before she jammed the car into drive and hit the gas pedal to the floor.

“Where to, sailor?”

She laughed as she high-tailed out of the parking lot, hitting the freeway on-ramp, and swirling the semi-circle at 50 miles per hour. By the time she got the car straightened out, they were cruising at more than 100 miles per hour, heading south on 280. Neither had any idea where, but it was nice just to be moving away.

After driving in silence for 20 minutes, Daniel placed his arm on Stefani’s shoulder and softly whispered, “I think we can slow down. We don’t want you to be the one who ends up killing us.”

Stefani slammed on the brakes, barely holding the car under control as it skidded to the side of the road. She threw open the door before it had even come to a complete stop, jumped out, and rolled onto the ground. The car following them barely missed slamming into her.

After skidding to a halt, she popped up and ran down the embankment as Daniel grabbed the wheel, threw his foot over the centerpiece, and slammed on the brakes.

“Jesus, that girl has completely lost her mind,” he said as the car finally came to rest with its right front tire teetering over the edge of the road. He put the car in park, got out on the passenger side, and walked around to the driver’s seat.

After a few minutes, he had the vehicle safely positioned on the shoulder at a complete stop. He turned the ignition off and quickly told the concerned driver who had stopped that everyone was fine.

“Just a domestic dispute, no worries,” he said. “I think she might be on her period. She goes bonkers when she’s on her period.”

The other driver shook his head in acknowledgment and climbed back into his car.

Daniel walked down the embankment. He called Stefani’s name, but got no response.

“STEFANI!” he yelled, over and over again. He heard nothing in reply. Finally, he caught her scent and found her sitting under a tree with her head buried in her hands. She was convulsing with spasms, shaking, even though it had to still be in the high 70’s.

“Are you ok, Stefani?” he asked as he walked up to her, kneeling beside her.

“I can’t take it anymore. I really can’t. My mother? What does that mean? I’ve lost my grip on what’s real. I don’t understand anything anymore. It’s all jumping around in my head and my head seems to have holes everywhere. Some stuff is leaking out that should remain, and some stuff that should disappear is stuck inside. I can’t take it.”

“I know,” he responded. “It isn’t easy, but it’s almost over. Your birthday is still the key. I do know of one guy who might be able to help us, but he’s in a little town outside of London.”

Stefani started laughing. It wasn’t a normal laugh – it was a hysterical, crazy laugh that only the truly insane might project.

“You mean Hector? I met him a few days ago, buddy. He’s dead.”

“No, I didn’t mean Hector although I am sorry to hear of his death. My friend’s name is Collin. I’ve known him for 200 years, and he’s a straight-up guy. I don’t always agree with what he does, but I do trust him.”

“Crap, why not?” she said as she lifted herself up from the ground. “Are we flying first class? I only fly first class, and I expect you to foot the bill. How much money are you holding in those pajamas of yours?”

Daniel looked at what he was wearing for the first time and had to admit, he didn’t look too hot. His pajamas were ripped to shreds from the fall and from changing. His skin still had several abrasions that had not fully healed.

He laughed at his clothes, but said, “If you’ll take me shopping on the way to the airport, I can figure out a way to get us first class tickets.”

They drove in silence, stopping at the Stanford Shopping Mall, where they both bought some jeans and new shirts. Neither was wearing anything presentable for a trip across the ocean.

After a couple of phone calls from a pay phone, Daniel had his connection meet them at the mall. They took some pictures and quickly had passports made up while they waited.

“Talk about delivery service,” Stefani said. “Just call me Charlene for the time being.”

She cackled at the name associated with her newly acquired ID.

They both felt better after their new make-overs and were ready for their trip. They jumped back in the stolen car and headed to the airport. They found a flight that left in less than four hours, and it had two first class tickets available. Life on the run looks a little better in first class.

Stefani sat in the lounge as they waited, downing as many Bloody Mary’s as she could stomach. She didn’t really care what happened, but she was excited to fly first class again.

“Do you know why they call them Bloody Mary’s?” she laughingly asked Daniel.

He didn’t think she expected him to answer her, so he just sat, saying nothing, feeling sorry for this sad, lonely woman who seemed more lost than anyone he had ever known.

Stefani wondered why her entire life couldn’t be first class. It almost didn’t seem fair, taking a break from reality and being pampered, only to be thrust back into the word of insanity again. She wondered if it were possible to fly around the world in a continuous loop, never stopping, spending the rest of her life flying first class.

Daniel sat across from her, smiling. It seemed like only yesterday that Matt had done the same thing. Freaky, it almost had been yesterday. So much had happened in the last few days, but time was an anomaly for Stefani now. Nothing ever flowed from one hour to the next in succinct fashion. Maybe her transformation into a gargoyle was warping her sense of what the definition of time even meant.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Daniel said as he glanced over in her direction.

“Ha,” she responded. “A penny is about all the money my thoughts are worth.”

Then she laughed out loud.

Daniel seemed like a nice guy, but she was beginning to understand she could never become attached. For one reason or another, men never stuck around in her life. If she didn’t drive them away or get them killed, then Greg would make sure they didn’t live. None of them cared enough about her to face the truth.

The truth.
She didn’t know what that meant anymore. Possibly the only flaw in first class was it gave Stefani too much time to think. Contemplating the self-reflection of one’s life is only worthwhile if the life itself is worth remembering. Stefani knew that her life was anything but. Her only form of self-perseveration was her ability to forget.

She wondered if her newfound powers might give her the ability to transform fantasy into reality someday. She sat back and reflected on the only birthday party she had ever known.

She invited Sarah and two other girls to the horse farm along the coast. There was a train that went around the grounds, and she had actually been able to ride a horse – a real live horse. It was fastened to a rope and only went in a small circle, but she had been on top of it.

They had each been allowed two rides. Her mother stood next to her, as the horse dutifully made its circular path. It went round and round, carrying one kid after another. The horse never went anywhere for all that movement. It just trudged forward, making the same steps, the same motion, time after time.

Her grandmother stood outside the fence, taking pictures. She waved as Stefani passed by each turn with the biggest smile on her face. She’d been so happy that day. The only problem was she now wondered if the memories were even real. What was factual in her past? What infected fantasies were concrete and which occurrences had her mind conjured up as a safeguard, protecting her from insanity?

Please fasten your seatbelts and bring your seats back to the full, upright position in preparation for landing.

Stefani jumped in her seat when the loudspeaker came to life with the flight attendant’s voice. She’d been so lost in her own thoughts she didn’t realize they were this close. Jesus, it was now time to rub her eyes and focus on the real world, assuming this was the real world, of course.

“You look so lost. Don’t worry; nothing is going to hurt you now. I will make sure of that. The good thing about being a team is sticking together.”

Daniel’s speech was thoughtful, even if it were a little trite and untrue.

They grabbed a rental car and headed out of the airport. Daniel seemed to have the driving thing down, but like Matt he had an issue with the roundabouts. Stefani wondered what kind of insane man came up with them as a logical process for navigating through traffic.

As they headed out of the congestion, she let her gaze flow to the scenery around her, inhaling the rolling green grass and the beautiful trees. A person’s appreciation of the little things is somehow so much more enhanced when the little things are taken away.

“Collin has a little cottage near the town of Bath,” Matt said.

Wait a minute. That doesn’t make sense.
Daniel said that
Stefani thought,
or was it Matt?

“Collin has a little cottage near the town of Bath,” Daniel said as he looked over and smiled at Stefani. He had such an amazing smile. Stefani was just now noticing it for the first time. She wondered how she had missed it before.

His eyes were blue, and they held a sparkle she hadn’t realized, as well. Isn’t it odd how some people’s eyes have a sparkle embedded inside them? A beacon of goodness emanating from their inner being, and the only place it can sneak out is through the eyes. Maybe the eyes really were the mirror to your soul. Stefani found herself laughing out loud again. It came out before she could stop herself.

They drove through Bath, taking in the scenery. Stefani would never tire of the scenic beauty of England. The buildings all seemed so old. She knew some of them had been restored and simply made to look old, but that didn’t matter.

Apparently Hitler, in all his wisdom, had learned of England’s love for the city of Bath, and during World War II, had ordered it destroyed. German bombers made several runs, dropping bomb after bomb in an effort to level as many structures as possible. His goal was thwarted, though. All the people did was gain resolve against his tyrannical assault; and when he was eventually defeated, they built the city back up again. Bricks and mortar can be restored; damage to a person’s sanity is much more difficult.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the human mind could do the same thing? No matter what adversity you faced in life, you periodically set aside time to rebuild what had been eroded. The only issue would be the things that could not be restored. A 1,000-year-old tree might be replanted, but it would never be the same as the original.

There must be some parts of the mind that cannot be repaired. Some parts of your body, once lost, must remain forever broken. Maybe the only salvation for true healing was death.

“You really are in your own world, aren’t you?” Daniel said, breaking the silent wall that had somehow been building between them. “You seem so sad today. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Nope, I’m fine,” Stefani replied. “I’ll snap out of it. I just need to get my mind refocused on the task at hand. How far is it to Collin’s house?”

“We’re here,” Daniel said as they drove up a rocky road, twisted to the top of a hill, and pulled up in front of the smallest cottage she had ever seen. It was not just a farmer’s cottage; it looked like it might only be one room. Stefani wondered if it were too tiny of a home for even Red Riding Hood.

As their car came to a stop, the front door opened. In the entryway stood the most weathered little old man she’d ever seen. He was too tall to be considered a midget. Stefani wondered if thinking that was even politically correct. But he was a tiny guy.

She barely stepped out of the car when the little guy said, “I have been expecting you.”

Really
, she thought to herself. Should she pretend to feign shock or should she just proceed along with the pretense of insanity. It was one thing to experience déjà vu; it was something completely different to live the same life over and over again.

Can you image your existence being stuck in such a rut you literally lived the same time period over again, time after time? Didn’t Bill Murray attempt the feat in “Groundhog Day?” Now that was a funny movie, but being forced to experience the situation is something else.

At least, when Bill Murray was in the middle of his redundant episodes, he had a good time. What if the day you were forced to re-live was the worst day of your life? The day you discovered your father was not what you thought he was? The first time you realized that your family was capable of hurting you beyond all repair?

“Hey,” Daniel said. “Are you ok? Why are you crying?”

Stefani had started shedding tears, and she hadn’t even realized it. She had no armor left to crack. Her fight against the demons in her life overwhelmed her, and she had no strength left to live. If she were given the choice of death or one more chance at a normal existence, she most likely would pick death.

“It is very nice to finally meet you,” Collin said. “I’ve heard so many good things about you. You would be surprised what a person can pick up if they keep their ears tuned to the right station. Would you like some tea?”

“Warm tea does sound nice,” she responded, surprising herself. She must not have realized how thirsty she was and, sadly, childlike as well. Some nice tea would do her wonders. Maybe even kick her out of the funk she found herself wallowing in.

It was true what they said about the weather in England. It was foggy, misty, rainy, and cold almost all of the time. How in the world is it cold all year round on a little island, surrounded by the ocean? Weren’t the watery currents supposed to provide some kind of warmth from the recurring cycles or something?

After Collin heated some water and made them all tea, he gave them a few minutes to let the warming liquid filter through their bodies before the serious conversation got underway. The pleasantries of socializing should still be maintained, even in the darkest of times.
Hahaha, that sounds like a line from a movie,
she thought to herself.

“So, what brings you here, and how can I be of help?” he asked solemnly.

“What, are you kidding me?” Stefani blurted out. “You don’t know? Didn’t some witch give you the predetermined time of your death and the ability to see the future on a selective basis? I thought all of you old men were oracles and could tell us our fortune. Is the story getting side-tracked now?”

Daniel stared at her, not sure how to respond. He knew she was having trouble. Who wouldn’t, considering all she had been through the last few days, but she was really being rude.

“Miss, you have me confused with somebody else. While you might think you know the future, we all maintain our own ability to choose. Even when a choice is forced upon us, we hold the key and decisive ability on how we deal with that affliction. You can fight back or you can sit back and let bad things happen.”

Stefani was screaming full force now. She couldn’t control her tears.

“And what if you’re a child and that decision is forced upon you? What if you don’t have a choice, and you can’t make it stop? What if the very people whom you expected to protect you are the ones who are hurting you? What then, old man? DON’T YOU HAVE AN ANSWER, OLD MAN? WHAT THEN?”

She couldn’t stop yelling, but it was abruptly interrupted when Jason kicked in the door, launching it across the room.

“I’m back, “he said with an evil laugh. “Did you think you could have a party and not invite me? It’s just rude, people. Flat out rude. I hope it’s ok if I invited a few of my friends to tag along as well.”

Two men suddenly appeared at the back door; and as Jason entered, three men walked in behind him. Stefani could now smell the dogs. She wondered if gargoyles ever traveled anywhere without the mangy beasts as companions.

She had no desire to wait around and find out. She picked up the spoon from her delicate cup of tea. She flipped it over so the handle was pointing forward and jammed it in the neck of the guy standing closest to her. He let out an awful gurgled scream, and then the games began.

Collin sprung from the table, as nimble as the ancient Yoda from the old Star Wars movies. He bounced like a jack rabbit, grabbed a sword from the umbrella stand, and lopped off one of the guy’s heads who stood at the back door before anyone else had a chance to react.

Jason didn’t take long to recover as he vaulted over the ensuing battle, flipped his own sword out, and jammed it directly into Daniel’s heart. As he twisted his body around in a 180 turn, he leveled his swing, lopping off Daniel’s head as his mouth still hung open in surprise.

It really wasn’t fair how every male companion abandoned Stefani just when she was getting to know them. As Collin cut the legs out from under the second guy standing at the back entryway, Stefani de-armed another one of the front-door entrants. He dropped to his knees in shock, screaming out as he fell, seconds away from moving on to the next life.

Jason flipped over the table like a football player, twisting in mid-air, ripping his sword down Collin’s back.

Collin was a little too fast for him, even in his old age. As Jason’s sword rolled up Collin’s spine, but still doing little damage. Collin thrust his own sword in the air, catching Jason’s head, skewering him through his left eye. Jason screamed in protest as he fell to the ground, spasmodically slithering like a snake that had just lost the upper three inches of its body.

The one guy left standing bolted, retreating back in the direction from which he had just come. He didn’t want to share his leader’s fate. As he ran, a dog snatched him by his left arm and threw him in the air. When he reached the pinnacle of his arch, he fell back towards the earth screaming, right into the waiting beast’s mouth. The dog bit him in half.

The other two dogs flanking their companion dove on the carcass, and all three consumed the carcass. Within minutes there was no evidence he’d ever existed. How odd to have your entire being eliminated from the face of the planet in the amount of time it might take to toast a piece of bread.

Stefani leapt from the floor, dove through the door, and rolled on her side.  She slid on her back under the middle dog, dragging her sword across the belly of the beast and cutting a two-foot gash into its flesh. It howled in pain as it fell flat, barely giving her time to slither out from underneath it.

Seeing their comrade fall, the other two animals launched themselves on top of it, beginning to feast on the flesh of their own. This was a much larger meal than the man, and they both tore and swallowed as fast as their crunching jaws would allow.

Stefani saw her opening and, using the sword as a vault, catapulted herself onto one dog’s back, impaling his skull as she drove her sword down with all her strength. The dog squealed in protest, backed up, and fell on its haunches, shaking its head furiously. Stefani used her sword as a brace while the dog did its best to dislodge her.