Looking at Adit, I have officially been struck stupid. When I was piecing or trying to piece everything together in my head before, it didn't add up to that. I thought maybe Nerezza help the stepmom or vice versa not that Nerezza was the stepmom.
"Have you gone mute on me?" Adit asks, snapping her fingers, in front of my face. I was so out of it; I hadn't even seen or heard her move.
"No, no, no I'm just, no" is all I can say right now.
"You're in shock."
"I mean yea, yes, yea you can say that," I stammer out. "With everything that has been told to me, I've been trying to fit the pieces and I didn't get that one."
"It's fine," she says, going to sit back down. "Do you want me to continue?"
I can only nod.
"That night I woke up to my parents arguing," she starts. "Now mind you my parents have never argued. My mother wanted to take me back to her realm to live. My father begging her not to."
She looks down at herself then back up at me.
"You asked about the markings on my body." I nod. "They are protection spells that was inscribed on my soul the day after the attack by Nerezza."
"Inscribed on your soul?" I ask.
"Yes," she answers laughing humorlessly. "My physical body on earth is not my original form. It's similar but not the same. The markings are on my soul so when this body was formed when I returned the markings showed back up."
"Was it painful?"
"Hurt just as bad the third time as the first." she answers.
"Third time?"
"Original marks are burned into my soul. They came through on my flesh. Then when this body was put together, they had to come through again."
"You said protection. I thought you were the most powerful being ever." I say trying to understand further.
"I am," she says smiling and flexing a little. "I cannot be killed but I can be hurt. If you stab me, I will bleed. But the marking protects me from spiritual attacks."
"Nerezza?"
"My parents and Nerezza are what could be considered set beings. I'm not." I look at her in question. "Think about the elements wind is wind, water is water and so on and so on. They are set elements. I'm that conundrum. I can be anything and everything. My parents are good. As you very well can tell, Nerezza isn't. That's why my parents kept me away from her while I was child until I could get the markings. They didn't want her to taint me."
"Is that what she was trying to do when you were younger?"
And to my surprise she bursts out laughing.
"Oh, I wish. No, she was trying to seduce me and basically suck the blessing that my parents gave me out," she says still laughing.
"Why haven't you killed her?"
"Trust me, I've tried. She can't be killed only contained," she says sighing. "I have tried to contain her but she always manages to slip away. Now she is in hiding and waiting. Gathering up as many followers as she can."
"Are your marking still working?"
"To a certain extent," she answers. "My father created Mecca, so I had the strength of a planet to back my markings. I don't on earth. That and the fact that my heart isn't in it. If it wasn't for the deal Mother made with me, I could honestly careless about earth's inhabitants."
"Did you know when you saved Kaira, that your mom would use her to have the spirit of your wife?"
"Nope. Only Nerezza did. Her looking into the future bitch slapped her. To be truthful, when I saved Kaira, I was just mad. I was angry. It hurt me looking at how her parents was ignoring her. I lost my babies. I will never get them back. But they had this beautiful little girl. I stood there listening to them talk and I snapped."
"Kaira was there? Why doesn't she remember it?"
"I put her to sleep." She stares into my eyes again. Hers are still glowing brightly. "I'll be the first to admit that since I got pieced back together here, I haven't been the person my father raised me to be. I know I have broken my mother's heart and she worry constantly about my state of mind. I also know my heart isn't where it should be. I've done things here that I never thought I'd do on Mecca. And I'm sorry you and Kaira got roped into all this. But it was bound to happen in some way. Now I'm not saying that your current positions would be as they are cause this war that will happen will affect everyone and everything. There is a lot out here that you don't know about. But you are going to have to learn in order to keep your family protected."
"From my talk with Ezzy, I'm learning everything that goes bump in the night is real."
"Yes, it is," she says smiling. "And there is so much more."
Standing up, she walks back over to the bookshelf, grabbing the book back from the top. She goes to hand it to me. I actually flinch away from it.
"Take it," she tells me. "Do not fear a book, if you're going to fear anything fear the actual being."
My hands actually shake when I reach for the book. I go to open the book and she places her hand over mine with a shake of her head.
"Not here. You are going to take it with you," she tells me. "Now grab you any other books you want to read them come tell my mother bye."
"Bye?"
"Yes, bye, we are leaving." With that she walks out of the room.
Walking to the book shelf, I grab a couple books to read to Kaira. I know he will find some of this interesting. These books basically contain the origin of her people. I vaguely wonder how I will be able to take the books from this plane, But Adit said grab them so I do. I hear voices coming from the sitting area and make my way to them.
"Mother don't start please," Adit says. "She didn't ask. I told you I would answer all the questions she had."
"Adit she has the right to know," Aja says.
"And I will tell her when she asks." Adit says getting up as I enter the room. "Tell my mother bye now."
Watching Adit leave the room, I turn back to Aja. She is wearing a small sad smile. Her eyes watching her only child.
"Come here," she says to me.
I walk over to her as she stands up.
"Everything will be ok," she says. "Don't mind Adit. I hope to see you again. And I want to meet Kaira."
I nod my head. I'm still wondering about what I overheard them discussing.
"Thank you, ma'am, for your hospitality." I say bending down to hug her. "And for saving me."
She laughs at me.
"Yes, never do something like that again." she says stopping me from straightening back up. "And ask everything that you want to know about." she whispers in my ear.
I pull away searching her eyes. I offer her a smile before stepping back. I go to turn around and bump into Adit who must have been standing behind me.
"Oh I'm...." before I can finish the sentence, she tilts her head and touches my temple. My world is blank and filled with white. I seem to be floating. There is no sound whatsoever. Its peaceful for a moment.
I am sitting. I go to open my eyes and the light hurts. Snapping them shut I groan.
"Take it easy. Your body hasn't been used in a couple of days. Think of it as waking up from a coma." I hear Adit say.
The overwhelming need to pee and for something to drink consumes me. I crack my eyes open and look in the direction her voice came from. She is sitting behind the wheel of a car.
"If you're going to be sick please don't throw up in my car," she says. Inclining her head with a point of her finger. She directs my eyes to the convenience store in front of me. "Can you walk? I know the first few moment when waking from stasis is discombobulating."
Blinking my eyes and wiping my face with my hands, I nod at her. I open the car door and step out. I have to lean back on the car for a second and the world starts to spin around me. I hear Adit open her door and step out of the car. Walking around she stands in front of me. Holy shit she towers over me. Grabbing my face, she tilts my head, looking down into my eyes. I can barely keep my eyes open and focused on her.
"Why am I so tired?" I ask her.
"Your body and mind are getting back into alignment," she says smirking. "The feeling will pass. Come on."
Heisting me up so I'm leaning into her, she helps me walk in the store. Guiding me to the bathroom, she pushes the door open and walks me in. Opening a stall, she pushes me and steps out.
"Take as long as you need," she says.
I hear the bathroom door open as she leaves. Shaking off the confusion, I do my business and slowly make my way to the sink. Washing my hands and splashing water in my face. I exit the restroom. I see Adit at the counter when with various drinks and snacks, talking to the cashier. She is dress casually in gray sweatpants and a white sleeveless shirt. I mentally laugh cause it's a wife beater but Kaira hates that term. She even has on a gray bandana. After seeing her in the sarong its odd to see her dressed in regular clothes. Her dreads are down braided in one ponytail going down her back. I get the feeling that she a has natural lazy confidence.
The cashier is flirting hard with her. All smiles and giggles. Showing off all of her 32 pearly white teeth.
"Nah, I'm not from around here and I barely ever come this way," Adit is saying to her.
"Oh ok, well if you do ever come this way again stop in," the cashier says back.
Finally, taking notice of me both she and Adit look my way.
"Better?" Adit asks.
I nod my head. She hands me one of the drinks after she pays for everything.
"Let's go."
We leave the convenience store. I am pleasantly surprised to see a Koenigsegg Jesko sitting in the parking lot. I am even more surprised when Adit walks to it unlocking it. This car costs well over 3 million dollars.
"Holy shit dude!!!," I exclaim. "I thought these were illegal."
"No," she sounds already sounding bored with the conversation. "Stop gawking. You have a lot of nice cars I've seen."
I look at her. Her tall frame leaning relaxed on the car. She is holding something in her hand. She turns around and opens her car door. Sliding behind the wheel.
"Where are we going?" I ask while getting into the car, admiring the inside. "Where is Kaira?"
"She is at my home," she says. "And we are taking the scenic route there. I need you to remember some things."
She glances at me before starting the car. I realize what she has been holding is the key fob. It is sick looking. Reversing out of the parking space and slamming the car in the gear, she peels out of the lot.
"What do you mean you need me to remember some things?"
"Don't worry your pretty little head about that now," she answers.
Leaning back into my seat, I settle in for the ride. At some point I must have fallen asleep. I woke up no longer in the car but in a bed somewhere. Getting up to look out of a window, I see the streets of New Orleans. Looks like I'm on bourbon street to be exact.
How the hell?
I look around and don't see Adit anywhere. My stomach starts to growl. Remembering all I've eaten since waking up was some chips. I do a quick pat down of myself to make sure I have my wallet before I walk out the door. Hopefully Adit will be back to let me back in the room. Going to the elevator I head down to the lobby. Nobody acknowledges my presence. I really don't think too much about it.
Heading to the street, I see a vendor, selling hot dogs. I walk up to the cart; the vendor doesn't move to acknowledge me. I wave my hand in front of his face.
"Hello?" I say.
Looking around Bourbon street I notice no one is moving. Everyone is still like statues or mannequins. Some holding drinks, others holding hands. A few looks like they were frozen in laughter.
What the fuck is really going?
I walk up the street seeing more people frozen in place. Even the animals aren't moving. I hear music coming from St. Ann and make my way to the Bourbon Pub. Kaira and I used to come here a lot when we lived here. Passing the stuck in place bouncer I walk through the entrance and up to the bar. Even liquor in the process of being poured is frozen in mid-stream.
Fuck it. I think to myself as I walk around the bar and grab a bottle. Opening it I take a big gulp. I walk up the stairs to where the dance floor is located and seen frozen dancing bodies. Moving the frozen people, I head out to the balcony to overlook the street. I don't know what is current going on but I'm starting to feel creeped out. I turn back around to lean my back against the rail when I see movement inside the club. Putting the bottle down I walk back to the club.
The song changes to Hella Good by No Doubt. I haven't heard this song in forever. It's the remix. I scan the room looking for signs of movement again when my eyes snap to something that shocks me. Kaira and I are frozen on the dance floor. I walk up to us and let me eyes roam over Kaira and I. Our hairstyles are different. It is how we had it when we lived in New Orleans. I check out Kaira more. Damn baby's ass always been phat. I notice my hand cupping her ass cheek.
Looking around the room, I see similar things. It's like I'm in a memory or something. I see the frozen bodies on the stage. The club dancers scattered around. As I'm twirling around like someone in a cheesy horror movie scene my eyes take notice of someone watching me. Or so it appears. I walk closer and see that its Adit. I don't remember her being in the club that night. I wouldn't be surprised if she was. I look her up and down. I step closer to her and realize that it is not the me now she is watching but the me then.
"You always checking me out, aren't you?" she suddenly says scaring the bejesus out of me.
I stop myself from screaming out as I grab my chest. She turns and looks at me.
"Yes, I was here with you guys," she says.
"What the fuck is this?" I ask.
"This is your memory," is all she says before snapping her fingers.
I am jolted awake still holding my chest. I look and see I am still in Adit's car but we are sitting by a cliff. Adit is standing at the edge watching me. She is dressed down to a sports bra and a pair of boxer briefs. I get out of the car and make my way to her.
"What the hell was that? And what are we doing here?" I ask her. Looking over the edge of the cliff, I see we are extremely high up. We have to be more than 3,500 feet from the bottom. This is a river or stream.
She tilts her head at me.
"Remember," she says as she spreads her arms and falls backwards off the cliff.