There was a great flash of light that seemed to envelop and surround me. I blinked and found myself standing on the beach of Calypso. What was I doing here? I looked down at my attire. I was dressed for jogging in my usual black t shirt and shorts. I looked at the peaceful ocean. It was a beautiful afternoon and the sound of the waves was soothing. I remembered leaving the resort to go running and then something happened. It was at the very edge of my memory. I was supposed to do something. What was it?
I turned and ran back up the beach towards the resort. Exercise always helped me to think, and I couldn't help but shake the feeling that something wasn't right. There was a sense that I had forgotten something important.
I could see the buildings of the resort ahead, and I launched into an all out sprint, pushing myself to the brink of my endurance for the last few hundred yards.
I slowed down to a fast walk so I could cool down. I was just about to stop and stretch when I saw Prince Eric Val Tarran step out of the main building onto the beach.
My heart skipped a beat. The prince was dressed casually in swim trunks and flip flops. His skin was a perfect bronze and I couldn't help but run my eyes over his magnificent upper body – his toned arms and muscular chest. I thought back to our last meeting in Brooklyn just before David and I got whisked off to the Temple of Trials. I remembered kissing Eric in the back of his limo. The prince was a delicious kisser and a perfect gentlemen. Of course, this was right before someone tried to kill him.
Prince Val Tarran was flanked by an extensive entourage of fashion models, staff members, and security forces. Even though he was dressed for the beach, I watched him talking with a senior staff member who held a tablet computer. Apparently, business never stopped for Prince Val Tarran.
I knew that the prince didn't have time for me. I was just a lowly Earther and a commoner to boot. I was about to duck behind a nearby palm tree when Prince Val Tarran spotted me. His eyes lit up and he smiled.
"Well, if it isn't Ms. Eliza Grant. I didn't know you were going to be staying here at Calypso."
I smiled back and gave a little wave.
"Hello, Your Highness. It's good to see you again."
I could see the fashion models giving me the once over. Clearly, they were trying to figure out who I was and where I fit on the social ladder.
"Are you an actress?" a tall blonde said.
"No. Are you an astrophysicist," I said.
Prince Val Tarran chuckled. The tall blonde shot me an evil look that could have melted steel.
"I'm guessing that's a no," I said.
Prince Val Tarran's senior staff member motioned at the ocean. "Your highness, if I may politely interrupt, but it is time for your surfing lesson."
Prince Val Tarran clapped his hands together. "Yes. Of course. Eliza, would you like to join us and watch me, what it is called it again, Cedric?"
"Surfing, your highness," the senior staff member said.
"Surfing. Yes, such a delightful Earth sport. We have something similar on Orion. Well, Eliza what do you say?" Prince Val Tarran said.
Normally, I would have jumped at the chance to spend more time with Eric Val Tarran, but standing around trying to make conversation with a bunch of stuck up fashion models and Orion bureaucrats while watching the prince get a surfing lesson didn't really strike me as a fun day at the beach.
"Maybe some other time, Your Highness. I'm kind of all sweaty and gross and I'd like to shower. Besides, I've got a dinner date with the Ross Family in about an hour," I said.
Prince Val Tarran nodded. If he was disappointed, he didn't show it. I imagine that life in the royal court of the Orion Empire had given him plenty of experience at masking his feelings. It was certainly a skill I was hoping to master. Mary always told me that there were times when we had to hide our true feelings away.
"Very well. I shall, as the saying goes on Earth, see you around," Prince Val Tarran said with a grin and strolled off to the water's edge with his entourage in tow.
I watched the prince go for a second and then walked into the main building of the resort. I took the elevator up to the top floor where the Presidential Suite was located and slipped inside. I smiled when I saw who was waiting for me
"Bloody Hell, Eliza. Where have you been? We've only got dinner with the whole damn Ross Family in less than an hour," Thomas Adebayo said and looked at his watch.
I gave Thomas a soft punch in the shoulder. He was looking sharp in a crisp black suit and tie that fit his slim frame perfectly.
"Looking good, Tom," I said.
"I may be from the mean streets of London, but I can clean up all right when I have to," Thomas said.
"I'll say. You're going to have to watch out. The girls are going to be all over you."
"Thanks. Now hurry up and get changed. I don't want us to be late. You know how Michael Ross is with people who make him wait."
Didn't I know it. There was a part of me that wanted to saunter in late just to show the great Michael Ross that I wasn't one of his employees or book lickers, but I knew that anything I did would come back on David, and I couldn't hurt David.
I left Thomas and hurried into the bathroom. I stripped off my running clothes and jumped in the shower that was practically bigger than my old bedroom back in Astoria. I turned on the water until it was as hot as I could manage and relaxed for a moment. I still had plenty of time before the big dinner with the Ross Family, and I needed some time to think. I didn't know that Prince Val Tarran was on Calypso. Interesting that both the men that I cared about – David Ross and Eric Val Tarran – were in the same place at the same time. A girl could get used to this, I thought and reached for a green bar of soap.
Suddenly, I was overcome by a vision of a desolate beach that looked out on a black ocean that bubbled with noxious oil. A choking green mist moved in from offshore, and terrible twisted creatures swam in the ocean and flew through the air. The feeling of despair, of complete devastation and spiritual emptiness was the most striking feature of the vision, and I almost cried out.
Just as soon as the vision appeared, it vanished. I shuddered in revulsion at what I had just seen. I remembered my dream that I had back when I was training at the Blackstone Forge of what the Earth would look like if the Grimm were allowed to win. This was similar. The creatures that I saw could only be from the OtherVerse. The imagery was clearly the work of the Grimm, but why had I been granted this vision? Did I just see the future? Was it too late to prevent this awful scene from happening?
"Carrie would know," I said to myself and then immediately regretted it. I still hadn't gotten over Carrie. Even working with her again to rescue the wayward Prince Charles from the clutches of the Church of Darwin hadn't eased the sting of her betrayal. I just didn't see how anyone could choose duty over friendship, but then I remembered my own mission. There would soon come a day when I would have to choose between the friends I'd made at Blackstone and my own duty to the Earth and all of its people.
I got out of the shower, grabbed a fluffy white towel and patted myself dry. I wrapped the towel around myself, stepped out of the bathroom and walked into my bedroom. All the while, I couldn't stop thinking about the vision.
I flopped down on the king sized bed and closed my eyes. For a few seconds, I just lay there, focused on my breathing and tried not to think about the next few hours where I would be forced to make polite conversation with Michael and Nicholas Ross.
Suddenly, the vision reappeared. It was even worse this time. The intensity and the awful feeling of despair was almost too much for me to bear. This time, I saw abandoned houses. Towns with cracked streets that were stalked by giant wild dogs with huge, dripping fangs, and everywhere the awful green and black mist hung like a death shroud over the landscape.
"Why am I being shown this," I screamed in anger. Surely, there must be some reason for this vision to keep happening to me. Someone had to be trying to tell me something, either that or some creep had a really sick, twisted sense of humor.
Just then, the vision shifted.
I saw us being swept out to see through miles and miles of the terrible bubbling black ooze that covered the water and then, quick as a flash, we rocketed up into the atmosphere, until we were floating in space looking down on the Earth.
I saw the Gulf of Mexico. It was enveloped in the green and black mist that stretched out and covered everything from the islands of the Caribbean to the Yucatan peninsula. So much for Spring Break in Cancun, I thought.
The vision moved down through the atmosphere, zooming in on island off the coast of Cuba that was somehow free of the mist. We plunged down into crystal clear blue waters that resembled how the tropics should look and went deeper into the depths until we came upon a huge pyramid. The pyramid hummed with energy and seemed to pulse with an evil intent.
Suddenly, I heard Thomas politely knocking on my door.
"Hello, Eliza? Listen, I don't want to sound like a worry wart and all but are you almost ready?"
I sprang up off the bed, ran to the door and flung it open.
Thomas held his hands up in mock defense, "All right. I'm sorry. It won't happen again. It's just that I don't want Agent Ross to get all mad at us because we're late. Bloody Hell, are you all right? You look like you've seen a ghost."
I grabbed Thomas and walked out to the living room.
"I'm fine, Tom. I just know what I need to do. Do you have your Razor Phone on you?" I asked.
"My Razor. Yeah, it's right here," Thomas said and pulled the ultra thin silver phone/super computer out of his pocket.
"Great. Call David Ross and have him come up here right away."
Thomas eyes opened wide. "Call, Agent Ross. Eliza, are you out of your mind? We've only got dinner with Michael Ross in about twenty minutes. What's so important that it can't wait?"
I got to my feet and paced around.
"Tom, I'm sorry, I don't have time to explain. You've just got to trust me on this one. Now, will you call David?"
Thomas sighed and punched a button on his Razor.
"All right, but if I get thrown in the brig and tarred and feathered for this then I'm going to say that you made me do it."
I smiled. There was a huge part of me that was relieved because there was no way on God's Green Earth that I was going to get through a two hour dinner with both Michael Ross and his bastard son Nicholas. I didn't care how upset David got. I didn't care if he got in trouble with his father. All I knew was that the vision I had just received was going to happen and happen soon. As a Keeper of the Wend, I served the Earth and all of its People. I had to act before a tragedy of Biblical proportions happened.
There was a split second of silence and then the dapper image of David Ross projected out from Thomas's Razor Phone. I almost sucked in my breath. As always, David looked great. Clad in a perfect crisp navy blue suit with his curly black hair perfectly combed, David looked hot as he always did. He was seated at the bar making polite conversation with a beautiful older woman who seemed to be fawning over him. David excused himself, set his martini glass down on the bar and turned to us. He glanced at his expensive watch.
"Adebayo. Grant. Where are you? Dinner is set to begin in ten minutes," David said tersely.
"Um, Sir. How do I say this? I mean to say. Well, it's kind of like this," Thomas stammered.
I grabbed the Razor Phone from Thomas, "Look, David, something's come up. Thomas and I can't make it to dinner and it looks like you're not going to either because... Look, I just need to see you right now. "
David looked back at me coolly. I could see his star quarterback mind at work going over the details. David knew that I wouldn't pull some childish stunt and not show up for dinner with his father. He could tell that I was upset.
"Did you have one of your dreams again?" David said.
"No. Yes. I don't know but it's something major. It's going to affect us all if we don't stop it. Please, just come up here," I said.
"All right. I'll be up in five minutes. Ross Out," David said and the projection vanished.
To Be Continued
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