The Oak Hotel - Watty Awards 2013 Finalist

Chapter Twenty-four - Crossing Paths

Chapter Twenty-four

Crossing Paths

"These things," the woman whispered as they entered the privacy of the tower, "Should not be spoken of lightly."

"But my grandfather was alone," Kayleigh said. "He was abandoned." She felt a new anger stirring within her. "We know he's going to wake up one morning and discover the city empty and all of the trees gone. Ka Tolerates-"

But the woman was no longer listening, having moved ahead of them into the main room. As it had been on their previous visit, the pool of tiny glass spheres sat motionless in the center of the floor. The familiar door at the other end of the room was closed. Lincoln stared at the acorn at its center and wondered if there was a telescope pointing out the window on the top floor.

When he turned, the woman was sitting before the silent collection of beads, "What I have to tell you is vital. Sit with me, please."

They walked toward her, but Lincoln stopped suddenly and smiled. Inspired, he said, "You're Kayleigh's Grandmother, Laura Corwin."

Kayleigh's eyes widened with shock.

The woman's look of impatience turned at once to consternation. "My name is Pearle Kho. Laura Corwin has not yet been born and Emil has not left this planet since his arrival. Back on Atoth, my parents were members of the Royal Family Kel-Rhodanic. Our family had strong ties to the Kell-Korai clan. For what it's worth, Kayleigh, you and I are related by many links in our heritage."

Calming herself with a deep breath, Pearle closed her eyes and rested open palms on crossed legs, just as Emil had done. "I am the only surviving member of my family. If it hadn't been for Emil, I would be dead as well. I fear that we here in Kana Hove are the only ones of the true blood who remain."

Lincoln thought about mentioning his own family's flight and settling near Burnam Tau'roh, but just as he took a breath to speak, tens of thousands of tiny glass beads rushed into the space above the bowl. The strange sound they made was familiar and, both Kayleigh and Lincoln were surprised to discover, welcoming. The blurred vision before them went from a hypnotic, undulating sphere of grey to an icy black.

Pearle's voice, stronger now, filled the room as an image began to solidify within the now silent bead cloud:

"Truman Stitch has been punished for his crimes against humanity. In your time, he left de'Na for Atoth. He thought he had you, Kayleigh, as a trophy to mend his reputation with the Applewhite regime. It was soon discovered that he had failed in every way possible. When Sirnaq Applewhite found that the ghesthi'voult (the negative energy the de'Malange had taken from us) was intermingled with Stitch's soul, he was furious. And very concerned. He commissioned a group to discover or manufacture an inescapable prison."

As she spoke, images passed before them. They saw Truman Stitch standing before a tribunal of elders. Each face was grave and condemning. They watched as Truman was taken away and held against a dull, silver wall with some sort of shimmering force field. In another room, the same group of ancient faces conferred over what to do with him.

"What kind of jail did they put him in?" Lincoln asked.

As if in answer to his query, Sirnaq Applewhite (a squat man with white hair and short beard) stood from his seat and spoke to the gathered: "It is agreed upon that no prison on our world is capable of permanently securing the abomination that Truman Stitch has become. Therefore, we must look elsewhere."

The scene shifted in a quick right-to-left blur of light and they saw Applewhite again, though in less formal attire. He stood in a dark corridor beside a young male not much older than Lincoln.