"Remember to breath," Uncle said as he took my arm and led me into the huge hall. Tables of guests all turned to watch us. "Breath," he reminded me.
This dress may be beautiful but is was a nightmare to walk in. I felt everyone's eyes on me. All turning their heads to whisper. Judging me ... my head was feeling woozy trying to block their emotions... focus.
"Welcome Mae," a member of the counsel said as he walked to greet us. "You will be seated here for the meal and we will have a chance to catch up but first we will need a sample of your blood and a quick display of your powers."
He led us to the front where an altar was set and three men were waiting. I offered my hand slowly as Uncle had instructed. They all seemed nervous as a drop of blood was taken from my finger with the prick of a needle. The room grew silent as the spot of blood on the paper was dropped into a bowl and lit. It burnt bright purple, pink and then white. All spiralling up into the air like a strand of DNA. Uncle smiled at me proudly.
"The blood is pure. She is of no threat and no longer human. Welcome to a new world, Mae Grayson," the counsel member said leading to applause from the room.
It was time to make a speech. Oh god... I blew out a deep breath as Uncle gave me a 'you can do it' look. What would I do without this man? Well I would be dead several times over that is for sure.
I cleared my throat as the counsel member placed the microphone in front of me. My throat immediately went dry and I again looked at Uncle as I lost the ability to swallow. He passed me a glass of water. I took a sip and started to cough. Oh my god could I look any more of a twat. The silence was deafening and I was on the cusp of bursting into tears, hitching up my dress and doing a runner.
I turned my back on the audience to try to stop coughing and take another sip of water. Uncle stood in front of me and took my hands in his. "No one here wants you to fail. Not even Lee. All you have to do is introduce yourself and show them what you are capable of. Just one thing, not everything. A display of non human abilities. Take deep breath, turn and tell them your name. Tell them what you are and who you are married to. Do it quickly."
I nodded and took a moment to use his strength to ground myself. I turned and faced the room full of people all waiting on my announcement.
"Sorry I'm a bit nervous," I mumbled into the microphone which decided to squeal with feedback. I swallowed a took a deep breath. "My name is Mae Day... I mean..." I looked over at Uncle in horror as I realised my mistake. He nodded for me to carry on. "Sorry, erm... I meant to say Mae Grayson."
My mind went blank, totally blank. What the hell was next... name... oh power.
"I am an empath. I am also the wife of Lee Grayson your protector and guardian of the realm."
"May we have proof of your claim?" the counsel asked.
I nodded and tried to ignore the picture of Lee and I, which appeared behind me from our wedding. Though it looked idyllic and knew it was far from it. We were both putting on a show for people much like we would tonight. Protect the realm, show a united front and a history in the making.
"As you are aware this is a test and we have not shared with Mae what she will be asked to do and we are not 100% certain she can do it but she is new to this world and her powers will grow," the counsel member announced. "Uncle believes she can do it so I ask you all to remain silent and be aware of your emotions during this test as it will affect Mae's ability to carry out the task."
Uncle led me to a chair in the middle of the room and help me sit with the stupid dress on.
"I don't know if you all remember hearing about Mae and the Trolls. Her husband and father in law rescued her but there were other people who had fallen pray to the same fate as Mae," Uncle said.
"Troll hole?" I asked feeling a flutter of fear under whatever spell was protecting me from the true horror of what happened that day.
"Troll hole," he said and smirked as everyone around him laughed quietly. "Any way Lee and the others brought them all back. Some unfortunately didn't survive..."
I gasped.
"... but we helped them transition to the afterlife and they are much happier now."
I fought against a waved of sadness for them which made tears sting my eyes.
"Others were more fortunate. We were able to reunite families and in some cases track down relatives for infants who had been taken."
I was impressed.
"However, we have some left over who we can't place and have been looking after to ensure there was no specific reason they were taken. Do you understand what I say by that?" he asked.
"Ordered," I replied. "When I arrived they said something about seeing who had ordered me." The memory was foggy but important enough to rear its head.
"Ordered," he replied. "If you weren't ordered?"
"They wanted to harvest bits of my body."
The room gasped and I heard a few growls... do not panic! It was then I noticed my memory was appearing on the screen behind me.
"Projection," a counsel member noted. "Well done Mae."
"Trolls are not very organised so someone is behind this farming," Uncle noted.
"Farming?" I asked.
"Yes and you are going to find out who. I suspect the parents are taken and harvested, should they fall through the 'Troll hole' as you call it with their child. Or the child is cut from the pregnant mother and that is why there is no bond, as the child never had the time to link visually and emotionally with the outer being of the mother."
The horrific image of a rotting woman's torso on the floor flashed in front of my eyes as the memory of the weight and stench of all the bodies filled my mind as though I was still there. I felt as though I was there again as the room was full of people struck with the horror now on screen like a slasher movie.
"Mae, try to control your emotions. Don't relive it. Push it away gently," Uncle spoke calmly as my eyes continued to see the bodies and not the world I was now in. "Give me your hands, let me help you."
I remembered the wiping of my eyes, the feeling of grit, being half drown, thrown onto bodies, a severed foot in my mouth, tearing off my clothes, check my virginity, tallying up my worth....
"I said come back to me!" Uncles voice commanded.
... hanging me upside down by a leg, smashing me off walls as they dragged me to the pits...
"Mae Grayson, do as you are told!" Uncle commanded making my vision shake. "Listen to my voice..."
...the pits, the people, the screaming, the smell, the cold, the darkness... the fear struck me cold.
"MAE!" Lee's voice called into the vision. I stopped thinking and listened. "MAE!" he called again urgently.
"She is listening," Uncle whispered.
"Mae," Lee said. My head was spinning. I felt woozie, slightly nauseated and thirsty.
"Take a few breaths," Uncle said softly.
I stared ahead my mind going back to the womans torso.
"She's going back in. Mae..."
Her floral skirt, elasticated waistband, severed at the hips but the hip bones were missing...were they harvested like they wanted to do with mine.
"MAE!" Lee called.
Was she a mother? Had she fell through a hole like me only to have them cut her baby out and harvest her organs before dumping her remains on a pile with others?
"MAE!"
No doubt they'll go back later should they get an order for her legs or toes...
"MAE!".... "Where the hell is Conrad? Call him again!"
Had there been baby parts on the pile of dead bodies? I scanned the image looking for baby fingers or toes poking out. Maybe I mistook them for dolls or toys. Were there any baby shoes or clothes?
"MAE! YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME!" Lee growled his voice shaking my head so much I had to hold my head to stop it falling off my shoulders. "STOP LOOKING AT THAT!" he commanded using his lion voice.
My hands held my head as I tried to remember what I was doing. Babies, where were the babies? The vision stopped like it was on pause and I couldn't find the button on the remote to move forward. I continued to try as women in front of me covered their eyes from the screen behind me and the men looked pale.
"MAE, I SAID NO!" Lee growled. "Where the hell have you been Conrad? Something is wrong!"
"Mae, look at me," Conrad's voice called. He whistled clicking his fingers. "She not blinking, let alone engaging. I'll hold the image there but you better call my father as I won't be able to hold it forever."
I should be thinking of something, I was looking for something... what was it? Babies... maybe if I rewind the memory... gasps and shrieks filled the room.
"Where's Sebastian?" Uncle asked.
"Busy, he will be here in a moment. What is wrong?" Conrads mother replied.
"She rippling," Uncle replied nodding to the screen behind.
"How long did the spell last?"
"It's still working. She has taken her mind back to the trauma and was spelled to not fear it happening in the future, not to forget it," Uncle replied.
"What can you see Conrad that we can't?" she asked.
"I'm trying to block her but it's like she is trying to look around me," he replied sounding distant.
"Her nose is bleeding," Uncle sighed.
"Sorry for the delay," Conrad's father said arriving. "How's the transition show off going?"
"Judge for yourself," Uncle grumbled. "And watch the ceiling!"
"Sorry I never quite get the size right here. Move aside Conrad let a professional in," his father teased.
"Sure, here you go mum," Conrad teased back.
Uncle sighed impatiently.
"It that her projection? She is so clever!" Sebastian said. "Look how clear that picture is, its almost 3D!"
"She is in the middle of her test," Uncle growled.
"Ohhh yeah, sorry everyone we will be back on track in a moment," Sebastian said. "She is still learning and I accidently spiked her with my blood during her transition which set her back and pissed Lee off."
"Can you focus on her please?" Lee moaned.
"Mae, can I have a look?" Conrads father asked.
What was I trying to see before Conrad got in the way?
"Stop trying to think of that. Think about what are you going to cook Lee for dinner tomorrow," his voice almost a lullaby.
Cooking people. Taking bits back to his wife... did he take a baby? Was it her baby? The body?
"Ahhh, I see what she is doing. It is actually very clever."
"I don't care what she is doing. Stop it before it causes her any further harm," Uncle replied.
"Conrad fetch me a baby."
"What are you doing?" Uncle complained.
"Trust me. You want to help her, give her the pieces to the puzzle. She is an empath. She feels others emotions as though they are her own. Her time in that realm meant she almost drown in the onslaught of others horror, pain and fear, projected onto her like crushing waves from every angle. Her sympathy for the dead along side her own injuries, which left her very near to joining them, has left a faint link. She is trying to amplify that to match them to the children which is why we are seeing it projected on the screen. She is trying to work it out like a student studying for a test. Is Franco here?"
"Yes," Uncle replied as Conrad arrived with a baby. "Franco, can you join us," Uncle called.
"Lets say hello to this little fella. Hello human," he cooed. The baby cried. "Awww come here. You sit with Mae and get some cuddles whilst we try to find your family."
"The child is barely a month old," Conrads mother said shaking her head.
"There is a room full of them back there, all ages and no trace. This is their best hope," he said placing the baby in my arms.
"She isn't strong enough for this Sebastian. She is too new to all this," his wife complained.
"She is already doing it."
"Doing what?" Lee asked. "Why is she bleeding?"
"It's just part of the transition..."
"And why is she holding a baby when she obviously not well. Take the child back," Lee snapped.
"Lee she is not going to rest, her mind is consumed. She is staring at a puzzle and trying to find the answer. Like that game you all used to play as kids where you have to find a flute in a room full of junk. She can see the bodies and is trying to match them to the children. There is disconnect like a severed line but she can still see tiny trace amounts of the link from when she was there, like a photographic memory. She is trying to connect the dots and match the child to the parent. If she manages to do it even for a split second and Franco can share her vision, he may see the missing part of his puzzle and know the childs linage."
"Not if it puts my wife at risk. She has been through enough. I don't want her going back there."
"She isn't going to stop. She will keep going back until she finds closure. Sit down and give her some support. Let her use you as an aerial to see the connection. This is a display people will be talking about for time to come. Conrad get the next child ready we may only get a short time where she can see clearly, if so I want to try and pass the kids to her like a conveyor belt. Franco will only need that moment to note it. We can recall the image after."
"I will help with the link as much as I can," Conrads mother said.
"Franco, I come join us. We think Mae might be your missing link or at least give you a ghost image of it."
"If she can I will be impressed and relieved. This is driving me crazy," Franco replied.
"Shhhh," Lee whispered to the baby as he knelt in front of me and placed a finger in its mouth to suck on.
"I'll hold her hand, Franco get the other," Conrads father ordered. "Lee give her strength, I will try to keep her stable and my wife will help boost Mae's gift as she is still in transition as far as her gifts are concerned."
"Mae, this child was in the park today. Can you go to that image for a moment and see if the parents are there?"
"Ohhh look how quick she got that!" Sebastian said impressed as I barely noted what I had done but was left with a clear image of a couple in line for the zoo with a baby in a pram. "They won't even remember to look for the child until it's too late."
"I've got them," Franco said. I couldn't quite remember what he did or how he did it but it was similar to xmen where the Professor was able to find mutants. Franco could see people linage and had been used to trace mine so they could see my link to Uncle and Conrads mother.
"Ok next baby," Sebastian said as the other was taken away. My arms were heavy as the next was placed in them. "Mae lets go back to your troll memory, to the bit where you heard children cry. Do you remember that?"
I didn't. I heard people screaming and the crushing fear...
"Oooo no not that bit, go back. I want you to find a place where you can stop in the memory and look around," he said. "Let Franco see, there's a good girl."
My eyes were itching. I needed my hands back to rub them.
"No rubbing, it is only a memory. Where do you think they kept the babies?" he asked. "Focus on the child in your arms and who you should hand it to."
A baby with a bottle of juice was sat on my knee looking around. I looked from the child to Franco. My hand tightened on his.
"Ahhh she is going through Franco and not the memory."
My mind seemed to fly over a thousand lights and stop. I felt like I was waiting on a traffic light to change but was lost and wanted to turn back.
"Remember realms," Sebastian said his voice now in my mind.
All of a sudden it was like a piece dropped into a puzzle and I knew how to solve it or the moment when you look at a tube map and finally work out how to get to your destination.
"Got it!" Franco said. "Next."
I didn't get it. What was he on about?
"Don't worry Mae, just keep going before you run out of steam," Sebastian said swapping over another baby.
I looked at the child and it was easy.
"Hahha she is on a roll," Franco said impressed.
Baby after baby was placed in my arms and it became almost too easy. Like playing a game of guess who where you flick the faces down until you are left with one. The last one was the hardest. It kept flicking back to another child and annoying me until I realised it was a twin. I had barely noticed how quickly I dipped in and out of the troll memory but the child that belonged to the torso I remembered so vividly was going to be returned to her family so I felt in some way that I'd helped the poor woman even though I couldn't save her life.
Everyone applauded as Uncle declared the demonstration over. I felt drained and ready for bed but knew I was to go to bed with Lee tonight and it wasn't to sleep.