Evelyn Earth Part 25

She was waiting by the water-side. Small droplets of rain hit the ground sending out arks of dry specks. They fanned out in one glorious motion before falling and in turn creating smaller arks, which also fanned out and fell.

She looked out over the horizon summing up all that lay before her. Things had changed since she last set foot here, many years had passed and she could sense that more change was on the way. Change that she could not control since Fate was not under her command. Her distant brother had seen the plan she had put in motion. He had seen the hatred she bore towards the beings that were slowly eating away at her flesh and he had sent his own power into chosen messengers to slow her vengeance.

She saw them created on the rays of the first light only days after she had initiated her destruction. As he rose majestically over the horizon she realised that he would never allow her to rid her body of all life, he valued the humans much more than she did. So be it. Next time she would not let things get so out of hand before she acted.

Her warriors had been spread out all over her heavy body by now, but they were unfocussed, some stronger than others. Some were completely unaware of their purpose. She looked down into the depths of the ocean. She had been lying dormant and content for too long, so long in fact that she had forgotten what it meant to be awake. She shook herself, sending out ripples of seismic activity. Even that took too much concentration. If she didn’t act fast, act now all her soldiers would have turned to dust and all this effort would have been wasted.

She summoned all of her conscious energy and with her delicate hands wove it into a web. Covering herself with this veil she sent out beacons of knowledge to her soldiers. It was time to unite, time to actively begin the cleansing of her body before the humans her brother had saved pinpointed the threat and scourged her warriors.

I woke up gasping the last syllable of ‘stop.’ Disoriented I looked around. The tentative light of morning was beginning to illuminate the container and I was lying on the mattress. Visions of what I had just seen still flickered in the back of my mind. As I began to sit up I heard movement and turned to find Owen glued to the wall of the container.

“Owen?” I mumbled. He looked terrified, his eyes were open wide and his mouth was closed in a tight white line.

“Stay back” he choked out. I clutched my head in confusion and the room began to flicker uncontrollably sending me into a nauseating tail spin.

“Stay back from what?” I asked as I pushed myself off the mattress still holding onto my throbbing head.

“I said stay back!”

“I don’t…” from the corner of my eye I saw my hand; it was covered in a dark spidery web. Clumsily I checked over my whole body and found that the darkness had covered me completely. It must have been triggered by the vision I received from the Earth Mother.

“Owen it’s okay…” I began, but I could see that he was beyond reasoning, his hands clenched and unclenched in a nervous motion that sent a shiver down my spine.

“What are you” he whispered. It was more of a statement than a question and I didn’t even bother replying.

“It finally hit you huh” I shook my head in of comic disbelief, “after all the time that we’ve been together you’ve finally let yourself see.” It was true, for the first time since we met Owen was really looking at me, at the real me. His pupils were completely dilated and I could see his pores widening to accept the onslaught of moisture that was about to erupt from his brow.

“Oh” I laughed, “it must be my eyes because I know you’ve seen this before” I waved my darkened hand in front of him, slashing the air between us. My far sight had automatically activated and I could only imagine what Owen could see right now—a black eyed demon with ebony veins waving its hands about and laughing. Slowly he began to inch his way towards the door.

“Go ahead” I motioned towards the opening in the metal frame, “run along.” It just wouldn’t do for Owen to logically assess a situation or face the truth. He was wrapped up in a fairy tale and whenever something didn’t add up he just re-wrote it in his head. I had no doubts that he would probably run out of here and gallop for help, thinking me possessed or somehow under the influence of some sinister power. Heaven forbid he saw me for what I actually was; an agent of vengeful hate.

Just as he was about to slip out into the sunlight I put up my hand.

“Actually wait. I have a question for you before you go.” I saw his neck muscles spasm as he painfully swallowed the nervous saliva that had been building up in his mouth.

“Did you really believe that I was just an ordinary girl?”

“N…no” he stuttered, “I knew you were different. Just not like this.” His eyes took one more sweeping appraisal of me before he darted out the door.

“Not like what?” I said to the empty air in annoyance. Powerful? More than human? The familiar feeling of rage gripped my insides and for once I didn’t try and rein it in. The Mother’s message was loud and clear, it was time for cleansing so why not begin right away?

“Different!” I yelled as I propelled the darkness out from my body, “DIFFERENT! I’ll show him what different looks like!” I felt all the rushing energy build up inside me and like an orchestral crescendo I felt the release as it surged outwards consuming everything in its path.

I imagined what it would look like from above. If I were a sea gull gliding on the cool air currents of the morning I would glance down and see a broiling opaque mass. It would remind me of the storms that I had seen on my flights around the ocean, more specifically the great tempests that formed before the skies erupted with rain. Instead of lightning there were flashes of darkness. Instead of thunder there was the silence of disintegrating metals and then finally the sound of water. The sound any sea gull knows so well.

I felt the swell of the ocean under me as the huge pillars of the pier melted away. I realised how Sebastian must have done this to the bridge, suspended over masses of H2o, he had felt the sea bed so many, many metres below him. Everywhere is earth once you tap into the pure hatred that lies within you. Nothing is inaccessible or impossible, it just requires that little extra…push.

With that thought I felt a tug on the edge of my consciousness. I ignored it, letting my power wash over me. Already everything before me was obliterated and now it was time to turn and finish off the rest, but that small pull made itself felt once again. Like a buzzing fly it itched at the side of my mind and I couldn’t swat it away.

 All I could see was darkness. I was in the centre of my own cocoon of power until a foreign entity crept into my field of feeling. It was a familiar entity, slow and miasmic.

“Sebastian” I echoed. I felt him move in closer to my position, searching and feeling his way towards me.

“Evie” he replied, his voice muffled by the thickness of the haze around me. I tried to pull it back inside me, but there was just so much of it. I had relinquished all control in my anger and now I was afraid that it would never come back to me. A spasm shot through my body and my back arched. The Mother’s vision burst into the forefront of my mind. She had been standing on a shore. The sun had been rising in front of her. How could that be possible? She was the shore. But of course, I was her embodiment. I saw her visions through my own eyes and it was her voice within me. She was always within me.

I stretched out my hand and used the same technique I had used with Sebastian when he lost control of his power. I used my body to focus my mind. I pulled the steaming inky tendrils of pitch back inside me, one motion at a time until I could hear Sebastian’s voice more clearly.

“Evelyn…n…n…n.” My name echoed around me, ringing sharper than before until he was in front of me. It was as if he materialised out of thin air.

“I have to get to the shore” I saw myself say. My mind was slipping away from my body and everything was becoming disconnected.

“Give me your hand” I heard him say from a great distance. Just as I thought I was about to slip away the touch of his fingertips jolted me back into my body. Suddenly he was in super fine focus, his black eyes intently fixed on mine.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. This all felt like a dream.”

“Have we been having the same dreams?”

“Did you dream of destruction?”

“I dreamt of instruction.”

“That must be what I’m doing” I mumbled, looking down below us the sea heaved, “we’re flying.” He shook his head.

“You’re confused Evs, you have to focus. Our instructions were to first unite, then to cleanse.”

“I’ve missed a step.” I said wide eyed.

“I think you’ve jumped the gun.”

“It was impulsive. I was angry.”

“You’re not angry any more. It’s time we went ashore. Do you still feel like you’re dreaming?”

“Everything is…staggered. Not right.”

“You’ve spread yourself too thin. Pull it back. I’ll get you to shore.” He tugged at my hand. The world was still hazy. All I could see was my own darkness and Sebastian steadfastly pulling me towards solid ground. I closed my eyes and imagined all the power I had just sent out rushing back into me. I couldn’t get a grip on the action, not until my feet touched the ground. I sighed. I flicked the trigger inside myself, like a vacuum cleaner recalling its power cord.

 I slumped in Sebastian’s arms as the last of the dark mass re-entered my body.

“Whoa” I exhaled.

“Woe indeed. That was a close one love.”

“What are you talking about” I smiled up at him, breathless, “I had that completely under control.” I could see that the last of his darkness had returned to him too, the black in his eyes seeping back inside him leaving only the shining jade.  

“Now don’t be alarmed” he began uncertainly, “but you came pretty bloody close to cleaning us all up.”

“What do you me…” I looked over his shoulder and saw that everyone was standing behind us on the shore. Toya was clutching Marla’s arm and Old Mal was slumped at their feet. Sebastian’s men were standing in a rough semi-circle around Owen who was on his knees with his hands tied behind his back. Behind them the city gleamed in the dawn light and around us there was absolutely nothing to reflect a ray of light.

“Oh crap.”

“Good job I must say, you didn’t miss anything in a 3km radius.”