CHAPTER 16

A Glimmer

Don’t drag me into the future, for I can’t remember my past.

Leave me here in this moment; allow my memories to come rushing back.

Mom is still as stone for a few breaths, but then she sinks to her knees upon the hard ground before tears begin to flow.

 

“Alexander, it’s Stacy. Look at me; you don’t want to do this.”

His cold eyes glance at her and with a flick of his wrist he tosses her across the parking lot behind me. Before my scream dies, Valant is gone in a flash. He better hope she is okay, because if my dad lives through this, the guilt is going to kill him. I turn toward him and take a deep breath. Nobody has had luck talking to him, but who am I to give up on a lost cause?

“Dad? Dad, it’s me, look at me. I’m your daughter, Alexis. Remember? You helped me when I was younger. I know you, and you know me. You’re being tricked by someone. Let me help you.” He looks at me blankly and continues coming forward, closing the distance between us and concentrating only on me. Am I another Healer on his hit list or am I just inconveniently in the way? At this point, I don’t think he knows who I am, who any of us are. His voice bounces off the mountains in the distance and I swear I see the clouds tremble on his command. Ryan flinches next to me, my words confusing and alarming him at the possibility of my father being behind the murders. Yeah, you and me both big guy.

“But these Healers will turn bad. This is my mission to get back, to get back somewhere… now I can’t remember and Bryan is gone… I don’t know where… or why. I have to, it’s the only way I can get back to... to...” He shakes his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He’s trying to remember us which means he’s still in there, somewhere. My mouth open to speak, but Ryan squeezes my hand tighter and I can feel power rush into him. He can still pull it within his being where I cannot. I try once again and feel the tingle of Gaia’s energy flow into me as my father’s hold over me is broken. Ryan isn’t cut off and now we have an upper hand. We don’t react, allowing this to play out as my father growls at us through the rain.

“These people are against the Council!” My father continues with lost eyes. “He said once I finish this task I can go… I can go home.” But I don’t think my dad will be going anywhere. I smell a rat and I am narrowing in on the face in the vision with Sandra. Dad appears confused for the moment, his ire taken down a few notches as he searches his mind for answers. I have obviously broken through, for now at least.

I turn to Dana and hear another pop as Valant comes back into view, cradling my unconscious mother in his arms. It’s been many years since I have seen her this way and my anger flares. I whisper to Ryan as Dana runs toward Galena who is coming to amongst the rocks.

“I can’t explain everything right now, but that man really is my dad and I know he’s being deceived. Someone has set him up, and we need to trap him and get him quickly back to Dana’s. Can you get a read on him at all?” Ryan looks to be focusing on my dad, but shakes his head quickly.

“Nothing, it’s too dark, and, dangerous.”

I see fear in Ryan’s eyes, a view I have never seen before and it takes some of my hope away. My will battles the worry and I turn back to my father, chin high. I’m not surprised he can’t hear a thing; my father’s mind is mangled. Galena is talking urgently to Dana so I ask Ryan to use his skills and find out what they are saying.

“The Healer’s Leader is saying that every time your father takes a life he is being more and more removed from himself. She said, ‘the Demon realm took my son’s image and replaced it with another and now this one is being torn from him as well.’ Your dad, he is either becoming someone or something else…he doesn’t even know who we are.” Man, we are either out of time or maybe, just maybe, he has recalled something of his past and that Alexander is fighting back. Ryan continues as I form my plan.

“Dana is saying that she’s heard of this type of thing happening when a Demon wants to live on earth. It gets a human to perform unthinkable acts, forcing them to trade places with them forever. The demon is coming through and your dad is being trapped in the Demon’s dimension, or he may…”

“May what, Ryan? This is no time for your patented information withholding.” I push him with both hands smacking his shoulders.

“Alex, she says he may be dying.”

Heat swarms through me at the thought of losing my father, again. I look at my dad who is now arguing with himself, but a voice more like a roar is tearing out of him. The Demon, I am guessing, so we need to act quickly.

“I warned you once, Earthen Protector! Leave now or I will destroy you!” My dad is losing the quarrel with the Demon. He is mere ten feet away and is starting to take an interest in coming toward us. I know what has to be done and I don’t have much time. I place both of my hands on Ryan’s arms and look into his eyes.

“Ryan, I think you need to leave me here and protect everyone else. This is something I need to do alone. He needs to see me.”

“What? Are you crazy? I’m not leaving you alone to face what’s left of your dad.”

“If you don’t leave he’ll kill you. I can’t let that happen and you need to let me try and save us this time. I may have a chance, but not with you. Please. Trust me.”

Ryan moves his eyes from mine to my father’s. He seethes, but then I see his resolve shape into a reflection of faith and trust. “Okay, Alex, but I’m not going far. If your mom or Galena need healing Dana can take care of it, but I’m staying here for you. Please keep your mind open to me so I can tell what’s happening. Promise me.”

“I promise. Now go. There isn’t much time.” I am not even sure if there is any time left, but I have to try. “See if you and Dana can figure out any other way to knock my dad out if this doesn’t work. I can’t kill him, Ryan. I just can’t.”

He nods with understanding, places his right hand on my cheek while his left grips my hand and fills his ring with an intense boost of his power. He leans in and whispers into my ear. “Be careful, Lex. The ring’s power should keep you free from his trap when I leave. He may not be in there anymore. Know that I can’t let you die. I won’t.” His voice and his promise unleash a shiver of dread and awe. My soldier and my protector will give me this chance, but my father won’t be so lucky. Ryan’s lips kiss my cheek and he slides away from me.

I turn to face my father, keeping the helpless act in place for a moment longer. I have had a slow but constant intake of Gaia’s energy during the brief lull in action. Now it is time to see if I can bring my father back from the brink and cast off his Demon.

“Dad, Dad, it’s me, Alex. Stacy was pregnant with me the day you were taken from her. Do you know none of that was your fault, Dad?” I take in a shaky breath before continuing. “We all think Bryan was behind it the whole time, so you see you have nothing to pay for, no penance is owed. Come back to us; come back to Mom and to me. We can be a family.” My dad’s face contorts and it seems as if bones are shifting as he warps into something inhuman and then back again. I need to try a little extra boost to get to him. Time to drop the trapped act.

I focus on the hidden force in Ryan’s ring and draw in a huge burst of Earthen power, allowing my emerald green vines to become visible and twine around my arms and waist and spill from my body, breaking the barrier. Grandmom’s dandelion seeds float amongst sparkles of emerald-green motes and flowing leaves. I use my power to lift rocks and squeeze them out of existence right in front of my father. Dad is transfixed by the display and I can see a question is playing in his mind.

“But, how? You are a Healer. How can you wield Earthen power in such a way?” He begins to stumble toward me, losing focus on his footing as he’s being drawn toward me.

“Because, Dad, I am half-Healer and half–Earthen Protector and I have been given the ability to wield both powers—yours and Mom’s.”

“Lies,” a sinister voice shouts from my father’s mouth. “Kill her now, take her power; you will be repaid handsomely for this one. Oh yes, he has been searching for her this whole time. He will be so pleased when he finds out we took her. Right under his nose the whole time, too.” Dad ends his insane tirade with a wicked laugh and fear slides along my side. It is now or never.

The rain starts to come down in sheets and I can barely make out the rest of my team in the distance. Dad is so close now, he’s stretching skin and gaunt appearance making my eyes sting. I know deep inside that Ryan won’t let him get much closer. I plead in my head for more time. Just a little more time.

“Dad. Dad. Look at me, please.” Dropping to my knees, I reach my hands to the sky. I dig deep and seek out my hidden golden power, the very spark my father gave me long ago. I draw it into myself from my very soul and imagine wrapping it in my vines and allowing them to escape my body. Vines extend from my hands and then a gorgeous tendril flows out of my heart and hovers a few feet away from my father’s face. It springs open and a burst of gold like a tiny sun comes forth.

My dad’s hand reaches for the spark, but then his body jerks away and a guttural “no!” escapes from him. The Demon is afraid; my father’s own power has been squashed by this creature, and it is the one thing he fears.

I rise from the ground and my vines grow out of the earth and trail behind me as I make my way toward what is left of my father. I will more of his gifted power into my being; golden tiny suns burst forth from my chest and ride my vines as I send them at him, surrounding him; the Demon cannot escape. The vines dance around and attach to my father, seeping into his skin and I see a red steam rise from his body as sounds of sizzling and wicked snarling escape his lips.

“You can’t do this, you can’t take him. I won’t let you!” I ignore the thing inside of my father and don’t let up.

My fingers wrap tightly around Serenity and Chaos as I pull them out of my back pockets to ready myself for one last-ditch effort by the Demon. Carvings of vines, waves, and Vex shine with bright gold power on my staffs, and just as I prepare to attack, he breaks free of my vines and makes a rush at me. His face is crazed and screams of desperation and terror follow in his wake. He lunges at me and I slide underneath his grasping arms and between his legs before immediately jumping to my feet behind him. Chaos hits first at his kidneys and then I bring Serenity down on his head, knowing not to hit hard enough to kill, but definitely strong enough to knock him out. The hits send two massive bursts of my father’s golden suns into the body that was once his and I am thrown back by an explosive red wave of power. Rage rushes through me followed by an echo of the Demon’s death and finality.

I lift myself up slowly, my clothes reflecting the ruin of the man before me as I limp over to my father’s slumped body. My power is drained and when I try to pull Gaia into me I fail. I put all I had into this long shot and it worked to rid him of the Demon, but I don’t have anything left to heal my father, let alone myself. When I reach his body, I roll him over gently and thankfully he is breathing, but unconscious. His warped face, no longer contorted and grotesque, still forces the tears from my eyes when I get a close look at all the damage that has been done already. I cradle him in my arms.

“Help! Please help us!” I send out a painful call into the distance.

Figures bound toward us through the rain and I feel Ryan’s strong arms attempt to lift me from the ground, but I refuse to release my grip on my father. I have him back now, and there is no way I am letting go.