I thought it was stupid of them, but then I realised Michael had deliberately allowed them to make the speeches they’d made, not pressing them nor reminding them they are supposed to sound like God’s answer to the prayers of the Normals. His followers will soon wise up and become more sophisticated politicians.
If you wish to read from an earlier book, from Book 01 to Book 10, use this link button to open the LC Book Index:
6931
They had organised a wonderful buffet made up of traditional foods from each of the countries of his federation. After a toast, the music played and we danced. My family were amused when an elegantly dressed man in his forties asked me for a dance by saying, “This music must have been written for you.” With a giggle, Wendy identified it for me, Orchids In The Moonlight.
“Are you suggesting I am a flower? I thought being a butterfly was enough of a problem for the Ipohin and various governments?”
He smiled and ignored my barb. “A rare and precious flower. Perhaps under the sun you are a butterfly and under the moon an orchid?” He led me onto the dance floor and from the first movements of our bodies, I sensed he was an expert dancer. He obviously was a Talent, for he blocked himself so efficiently I had to depend on my physical senses entirely for him to exist for me. He did not ask for a second dance and once he’d politely seen me back to my seat, I did not see him again. I was enjoying myself too much to wonder about it.
At midnight, all the lights went out. Everybody thought it was a part of an organised show, until Cherine cried out. Instantly Robbie called for energies and flared them. We did not need the light to jump to Michael. He was already in Ahní’s arms. He’d reverted or rather, I should say, he’d been reverted to a three month old infant. Clutched in his hand was a piece of paper. Grabbing a napkin I took the paper from him as everyone fussed over him.
A stranger touched my arm. “Please put the paper on the table without touching it.”
“I’ve already thought of that, in case there are fingerprints - not that there will be.”
Patiently he repeated himself, “Just put it on the table please.” I did so. He bent over, his hand hovering about an inch above the sheet of paper. By now everyone was watching him and the music had stopped. He had a faraway look on his face so we realised he was using a gift. Robbie shielded us so that there was total silence. He sighed as he remembered to breathe.
“This comes from San Francisco. I see the bridge and the city in the background. He has a board on his lap and he is using a special pen for writing. I see a male hand holding the pen. His mind is blocked, I cannot sense him.”
“Do you sense when he wrote it?”
“I think it was today.”
“Can you show me the view of the bridge as he saw it?”
The man did so and Robbie left his body. Jumping he returned in time to the early morning and spent the first hour searching for the exact area from where the man would have seen the bridge as it was in the picture in his mind. Robbie waited. Two hours later, bored but still alert, he searched the picture in his mind again in minute detail as he compared it to what was before him. Startled, he realised a tree in the distance did not exist in the picture, which suggested the picture comes from a different reality. He returned to us within minutes of his leaving.
The man asked him, “Did I see correctly, was he there?”
“You saw correctly, but it was a false lead, it was from some alternate Earth. Thank you for your help.” He touched Cherine’s hair. “How is Michael?”
She turned a stained face to him, tears flowing. “He is not a Cherinian baby. He has been blocked and is a Normal.”
Our Cassie really is irrepressible! Softly she asked Jade, “Does Ahní get to keep him or Cherine?” I burst out laughing.
6932
I quickly spoke, so that they don’t think I’m heartless. “I’m sorry. Cherine, it is not such a tragedy. All we have to do is wait for him to fall asleep and once his soul is in the void he’ll recover or we’ll find a way to break the block.” I could not help adding, hiding my grin, “If you want him to sleep as soon as possible, we’ll need someone to breastfeed him.”
Ahní clutched more tightly. “I will! My husband only suckles at my breast.” We thought it was funny and soon everyone was laughing as she mentally apologised to Cherine, her cheeks brightly flushed.
As soon as we returned home, I changed back to my usual age and loose clothing (sans bra of course). I spread myself over the sofa. “A clue we had has been confirmed. He responded to my challenge and he came to the party; so it means he is able to watch what is happening on this Earth. Even though it is a red herring, we’ll have to check the various realities to find one that matches the vision perfectly. I think he is deliberately sending us around in circles just for the fun of it. One thing we also know. He has studied calligraphy and is talented. Am I the only one or does anyone else also get the feeling that he is immature? I don’t think he is a child, but he is childlike in some ways.”
Cherine shook her head. “Two thousand nine hundred Cherinians, Ipohin and other Talents and not one of us is able to sense him. His talents could not have come into existence at the same time. Some of them must have taken time for developing.”
Empathia had her own ideas. “He wants us to think he comes from the future. He definitely is not a Cherinian and I doubt he could be an Ipohin. He is not part of the Campbell gang so, it means he is a loner.”
I wondered, aloud, “The man who called me a flower, could it have been him? He had blocked himself and I could not sense anything from him.”
As I opened the box I screamed to Robbie, “Place it in stasis.”
Everyone crowded around to take a look at the weirdest but also most beautiful flower we have ever seen. They were awed, but could not understand the reason for my urgent call. I slipped my arms around Robbie’s waist. “Thank you. Now we have to experiment. Plants and flowers have an energy field. We must learn to sensitise ourselves so that we can identify the energy when it is released to the void. If like-calls-to-like and it returns to the plant it was plucked from, we can return in time to watch for him. If that does not work then we must identify from which planet it comes from. We’ll have to ask all the species.”
He grinned down at me. “You’re getting carried away. If I lost my arm in another reality or even in this one, I doubt the energy in it would return to me. If I recall correctly, where the arm should have been, the energy field will still extend, like a phantom arm, so I doubt my arm would hold any worthwhile energy field. As for identifying the flower, I’ve never seen it before so I doubt any of our friends can identify it. It is worth preserving, I’ve never seen anything quite that beautiful - among the plant kingdom,” he quickly added with a glance at us. We laughed at his teasing flattery. By the way, he was wrong in one aspect. Maybe the main body keeps a phantom of the limb it lost, but it does not mean the limb itself would not have an energy body. I’ve seen lots of Kirlian photos of leaves with a part of the leaf cut away…and they do show a phantom outline of the missing part.
As expected, no species knew of the flower. That left us with three or four possibilities. Either he is an alien of unknown species or else he can jump to other planets or he conjured the orchid or he brought it from the future. As Empathia said, he wants us to think he is from the future so - either he is making his wish obvious so that we think it is a red herring or else he is from the future. If he has come from the future, we’d feel very stupid if he asks us one day why we did not use the clues about him coming from the future. If he does, I don’t see how that helps me find him since we do not travel in time on our world. Robbie seemed fascinated by the note, examining it closely, but he came to no new conclusions.
6933
By the assailant attacking their leader, the Ipohin are now solidly behind us in our effort to catch the killer - pride does for us what love of life cannot. Michael came to study the flower and discussed with us our ideas.
“I do not think he is childlike Sam. He may be allowing his childish sense of humour to get the better of him, but any man who kills, however painlessly and regardless of the knowledge that dad will bring them back, has a streak of cruelty and hardness. Imagine you killing Allan. Despite knowing he will be brought back, it is physically impossible for you to do so in cold blood, your empathy stops you.”
I looked at Allan. “Hmm. Maybe, I’ll have to think on it.” Allan laughed, even though his girls pretended they were not amused.
“Perhaps you should dare him to meet you again.”
“He did say we cannot find him by bringing him to us. I don’t know how, but he did say I have to go to him.”
“Try it anyway.”
We met on the top of the mountain as before. He ignored the efforts to block him within stasis and gave me a puzzled look, without any hostility that I could see or sense. “There is a purpose to this?”
“Yes. I want to tell you what I’ve learnt and what I am still ignorant of.” As I did so I walked around and passed quite close to him. He did not react, so on the next round I came close enough to leap at him and grab hold, screaming for Robbie to lock us in stasis.
Not only his voice was torn by sorrow, he allowed me to sense the grief in him. “Oh Samantha, I did warn you. Why are you forcing me to hurt you? Close your eyes and don’t fight me or else I cannot avoid the pain.”
I stared into his eyes. “I’ll let go. You have such soulful eyes, have you copied them from someone you know?”
“Are they mine, are they not?” He stepped back, a tearing urgency in his voice. “Find me Samantha, before it is too late. Search for me where you can find me. Please.” Instantly he was gone.
Our meeting has left me shaken. If he is not playing a game, then there is more pain than I had imagined. God! It almost makes me think it has to be Arthur. I know it is not, but still…
The next day we joined everyone in Freddie and we discussed the events of the previous day. Expertly I was questioned so that even I realised I had not noticed certain small inconsistencies. Samuel angered me.
“Have you considered the possibility it was all a show. If he has studied our ways as you say, he probably knows your heart.”
With acid in my voice I replied, “I am no novice!”
“You are not.” Ordinx soothed me. “However, if there is a possibility Samuel is right, you should consider the reasons for such subterfuge.”
I locked eyes with Samuel. “You have shared from my mind. What makes you suspect what you feel?”
“Nothing. I only suggested you remain suspicious of everything he says or reveals of himself.”
6934
“What if I do so and it turns out his emotions were real?”
Haven said, “You are not responsible for him. He has acted in ways that force us to view everything about him with suspicion.”
“I will act according to my conscience and intuition, as you must each act according to yours.” Cherine gave Robbie a grin so everyone stopped trying to influence me. I am not angered by their attempts, for I know they are afraid for me. I just wish Samuel’s eyes would not turn so cold when he worries for me. “Nobody has given me any ideas regarding his cryptic plea.”
Our isi spoke directly to my mind, but with her public voice so that all heard. *Where have we not searched Samantha? We have concentrated spatially and discussed the time directions, I feel he suggests an alternate possibility. It was meant as a clue.*
“Not somewhere in space and not in the future or past? That only leaves within my own mind!”
Comments like ‘ridiculous’ flew as fear filled their hearts. Cassie spoke loudly, “Not within a mind.” Silence fell as she struggled with her thoughts. She gave up on where her mind was taking her so she compromised. “We all speak of his sense of humour - what if he comes from my mind?”
I shook my head. “I would not be the target if it was from you.”
She gave me a smile, “You are doing what we tried when you suggested it was in your mind. We will not succeed if our fears for the ones we love force us to block off any possibilities.”
Alki sounded angry, “What are you talking about, how could that man be from either of your minds? You are allowing him to divert you from our search for him.”
“There are enough of us to search for him in all possible ways pappou and he knows that. We have to examine all possibilities. For instance, Arthur warned us there is another talent far more powerful than any of us singly. He said it was a good person or being, but that he or she might have their own agenda. What if they are the one and the same person? Dimi, have you heard anything about such a talent?”
“I’m convinced that if he exists, nobody else knows about him. There aren’t even any rumours. The Normals do speak of a force, a power, that is watching us for the sole purpose of protecting them should we turn violent. There are different interpretations, some telling each other it is their God, others claim it is their Jesus, while others claim it is a Normal who has superpowers. There is no logic to their claims, I think it is an imaginary creature or force, born of their fears of us.”
We did not seem to be getting anywhere with our discussions, but nobody wanted to give up before deciding a course of action, so we argued until the early hours. I lay in bed for half an hour, too awake to sleep, and then jumped to my apartment. I made my kind of coffee and sat on my tree-seat with the warm mug in my hands, my eyes mostly following the Sparklers as they danced in our skies, my thoughts not directed at any one topic. I felt Robbie as he arrived in my kitchen, made himself a coffee and then walked out to me.
He joined me in watching the Sparklers for a while before saying, “We don’t have storms, I miss them.” I made space for him to sit behind me against the main trunk. He looked at the land far below my hanging feet, shrugged and took his place, wrapping one arm around my waist. “You tell me you are not an artist and yet you spend more time than any of us watching the Sparklers and the shapes they form.”
“Not so much for the beauty dad. I let my mind flow with them, it is a kind of meditation technique I enjoy.”
“Did it help you tonight?”
“I feel like Cassie did, I’m almost terrified of going where my thoughts lead me.”
6935
“The best way to lose your fear is to talk to someone about them.”
“I think Cassie was right. Not a mind but a group of minds. Perhaps Dimi is closer to the truth than he thought. What if the souls of the Normals have reached out to each other for comfort and formed a super Normal entity?” I wiggled my bum so as to sit forward. “It is more likely the same has happened to us, I mean our family. We are closer to each other than any group of our size has ever been. If our subconscious can reach out into the cosmos, would ours not reach out to each other?”
“A collective kind of Vincent?”
“No, Vincent came into existence for a specific purpose, created out of your conscious and subconscious needs. What would he have been like if he had spontaneously formed without a pre-existing purpose?”
“Childish, amoral, almost crazy!”
“When Michael killed you and Cherine, how did that mystery person know to protect you? If it had happened on our home planet I might have accepted it as possible - not when we are in a different reality.”
“I thought it was because Arthur wrote for us and made it happen.”
“Even he has to follow the rules dad - well, most of the time. Let’s pretend it is so, I’d like to see where our thoughts will take us…even if I’m wrong.”
The ideas we were exchanging made him uneasy, I jumped a packet of cigarettes to him. I sensed a fine tremble in his fingers as he lit a cigarette. “God forbid that you are right this time Sam. We cannot control such a creature.”
I turned to look at him with surprise, startled that Robbie, of all people, would think this way. “Why should we control it? All we need to do is teach it.”
“It will not impose human values on itself Sam, most of its instincts come from the age of reptiles. The subconscious does not have the ability to live in anything but the present. It cannot plan for the future.”
I laughed. “I think it has done a pretty good job of that up to now, better than we have. I think it is scared, it is finding it difficult to control itself. There must be some pretty murky stuff even just from the age of Man in our subconsciousnesses.” I grinned as he prickled at my using a word in a form that does not exist. I pulled myself up and flipped around so that I was facing him. He gripped my arms. “He asked for help dad and I mean to give it. Doesn’t anyone else see that this not a criminal toying with us, he really is asking for our help - to catch him!”
“Don’t do that! I thought you were going to fall.” He relaxed his hold. “We all have good intentions love, the question is how.”
“I’ll ask him.” I chuckled. “No wonder he insisted we have to find him, bringing him to us would be of no help. Go back to bed dad, we have a long day tomorrow.”
“If you come with - not that I think we’ll get much sleep,” he chuckled, “all our loves are awake and waiting for you.”
Chapter Two Hundred and Seventy One
We called for Michael and his family to be present at our meeting. I told everyone where my thoughts have taken me - my intuitive leap, as Robbie likes to call it. Most found my thoughts impossible to believe, but for some there was a certain inevitability to such a birth, for they have felt how close we are as a family. I did not explain that even our way of sleeping in each others arms and sometimes sharing dreams; our way of loving each other, all included within every caress, all included within each heartbeat of love, they all lead to this.
6936
“I find it impossible to believe that any life created out of all of you could kill innocent Normals.”
I answered Wilfred, “Father, Evridiki trusts in your love for her. Ask her to allow you to enter the underworld of the mind. You will be horrified. I am amazed at the restraint shown, avoiding even the memory of pain. I just wish I understood why it felt it needed such a dramatic introduction. Why couldn’t it just say ‘hi’?”
“That is obvious,” Cherine answered me, “if you are right and it truly exists, then it must be at war with itself. Perhaps a part of it wants to attack us or else assume control over us. The part that is restraining it can’t fight itself openly, it had to allow the darker side to act, but it made certain it did in such a way that it could live with the consequences. What puzzles me about your theory Sam, if it is also part of me, is why I did not sense it as the light.”
Laura grinned. “Perhaps it is like switching on a powerful torch to see your shadow?”
Allan asked, “How do you intend proving your theory? Sam, that you had these thoughts is not strange - not for you. That you have accepted them as being an intuitive leap, it could be seen as proof that you are right. You have many ideas we consider crazy that turn out to be at least partially correct, without you committing yourself. The fact that you are doing so based on such slender evidence, it suggests to me that the abnormality in itself goes a long way towards proving you are right. In other words, I think your part of this entity, created by your own subconscious, is making you take your theory this seriously.”
I loved the process of his thinking, whether he is right or wrong, but I only responded to his first question. “I thought I should enter my mind and go as deeply as I can. If I have my family with, I will not be lost within myself, nor will I be vulnerable to the hidden parts of me.”
He shook his head. “If you are right about its existence, that would be too dangerous - you would be too close to your subconscious. Why not go to your World and ask Adam to communicate with it?”
Somehow his idea did not feel right, but he was correct about the potential dangers. I did not want my loves to be in any danger so I struggled to think up a different solution. “Solomon, if we go to the Sparkler World, can you call to this entity to appear in a body?”
“Didn’t it say you must go to it?” Solace asked.
Robbie backed me, “We should try this way first, it is the safest. I want Vincent there with us. If the major part of it comes from you girls, I will not be able to protect you if it attacks.”
“Nor will Vincent, but we have to take the risk.”
We needed those of our family but not within our family circle to stand by us, so we called for Vincent, insisted Michael and his family come with, included Dimi, dragged Alki, Marian, Allan and his loves into our group and the Sparklers carried us to their World. Everyone else just left their bodies and followed us, not wanting to be absent from such an impossible event. As we arrived, stunned, we stared at one of the most delicately beautiful women we’ve ever seen. As she stood before us, her face suddenly twisted for brief seconds into an ugliness we could not bear to sense, but which fascinated, then it found its beauty again. She managed to block her inner self and settled on a neutral look that slightly reduced the impact of her beauty, for it lacked some of the vitality of either extremes. At least she did not try to hide the relief she radiated.
“You have found me!”
None of us had believed I was right, especially not me, and for a moment we stood paralysed. As I belatedly took my first step towards her, Vincent walked past me. He looked as if he were hypnotised or in thrall to her, no longer aware of us. I stopped, holding my breath as he reached out a hand and she gave him hers without hesitating at all. “Come with me, I’ll teach you.” She looked into his eyes and they both disappeared.
6937
I glanced at Solomon, but I could see he was just as puzzled as the rest of us. I turned to look at my loves and saw Robbie was crying. We held back, not rushing to hold him in our arms, for he needed to hold his feelings to himself for the moment. He collapsed to his knees, his arms wrapped around himself, and his words came out like a sob of unbelieving and fearful joy, “Vincent has found his love.”
Sparklers exploded in frenetic dances, clouds of them forming and reforming, passing through each other in swirls that formed new shapes as they parted again. Obviously some of them must have left to broadcast the news, for the empty plains of their World filled with Cherinians of all species. They must have called at least a dozen Sparkler alternates, for they filled the skies by the myriad. All who came were those who love Vincent and they rejoiced at the words of Robbie. The World became an impossible world for us mere humans to be in, for the feelings being broadcasted were overwhelming us, causing a breakdown of our self-control. We collapsed to the ground around Robbie, sobbing our hearts out as we dizzily floundered within the emotions we were being inundated by. It was as if I was sinking into oceans of colours.
A golden glow grew out of Robbie and as it swirled we all became part of a golden circle of love initiated by him. It reached out to hold within its thraldom every single soul, protecting us from our own extremes. Cherine cried out and the air around her wavered and then exploded as she became The Light. The sudden multiplication of the power of the golden circle was too much for us and, as if our souls were exploding, we all lost consciousness.
We saw afterwards that all the others were affected as we were, Sparklers for the first time ever feeling as if their lives had short-circuited, and they fell to the ground or floated without awareness. For milliseconds the Sparkler World was in danger of disintegrating, but Solomon and a few thinkers desperately held on.
As we sat up, Meli gasped, ‘Oh!’ before opening her eyes. She turned to Robbie. “They are on Gilli’s world.” She started sobbing and those closest to her wrapped her in their arms. She felt the sudden fear in Robbie and understood him. “He has taught her Robert, she is no danger to me. They want privacy to get to know each other, so I am no longer monitoring them.” Tears flowed until she could not contain the beauty of it anymore and called out for all to hear, “Their souls swirl as one and it is so beautiful!”
Solomon asked Robbie, “Would food, drink and music be suitable?”
“A party? After they return to us Solomon.”
We all smiled as Cassie asked indignantly, “You expect them to come to us at a time like this!”
He smiled at her, “Not to us my love, to Cherine. Wait, you’ll see.”
Solomon provided refreshments as it became obvious that if they were to return here it would take a long time. Four hours later they appeared. They looked like icons in a church, the auras of their love and happiness visible. As they approached us, I realised she has the violet eyes of our Goldi. As Robbie had surmised, they walked directly to Cherine and knelt before her.
“Will you bless us?”
She hesitated a second, awed at the thought of touching them and then she put a hand on each shoulder. “You have not felt us? Your love for each other has blessed us.”
She stayed on her knees, but Vincent lightly pulled her to her feet, understanding they had received their blessing. I felt my knees shaking as it became obvious they were coming to me. They glanced at each other as they came to a stop before me, and I suspected I saw amusement in his eyes. “You were wise to choose Samantha. She is partly responsible for my being free to love you, she is a troublemaker.”
6938
“Troublemaker!”
He knelt before me. “Both you and Robert forced me to grow, despite your fear of losing me as your protector. You were wise for you prepared me for this day. Accept our vow Samantha, the family now has two protectors.”
I knelt and took his hands in mine. “We will protect each other, for we are one family. Vincent, I cannot believe how rude you’ve been, what name has she chosen?”
“I am Kirsten.”
“Kirsten and Vincent Teller. Has he proposed?”
“Samantha!” Dommi called out angrily. The two of them laughed.
“I warned you, Samantha the butterfly, troublemaker, but loved by all whose lives she touches.”
I accepted his words as being his way of telling her he loves me, but still, I was just a little bit irked. “Kirsten, are you a Cherinian?”
“I am from all of you, so I am linked, but I cannot name myself a Cherinian until Cherine does.”
“That means you are. In that case, you must appear before our Council to answer to charges of murder. I do not know whether the United States government will also want to charge you, but if they do, you must make yourself available.”
“Sam!” Robbie stepped over to us quickly and took her hand. “As you see, Vincent was right. We’ll discuss it later, right now we want to have a party to celebrate your existence and the love between the two of you.”
Even if we could, there was no way we could keep the existence of Kirsten a secret and rumours would have caused more damage. I called David, he locked his office door and I jumped there. I told him our news and his face drained.
“It sounds like a miracle Samantha, and I’m happy for Vincent. He seems to be one of the best liked Cherinians, popular with everyone. However, we cannot bury the fact that the new composite entity killed. She killed non-Cherinians and that will terrify everyone.”
“That is why I am here. Can you switch your shows and invite her to appear tonight?”
“I can…Samantha, this is too powerful a story, you should first discuss it with our President - I mean, of the United States.”
6939
“I want to cut through a lot of legal problems by you asking her the right questions. David, I’m not going to hide from you that I have a reason for wanting her to appear on your show tonight. She must be publicly asked the questions the whole world is asking so that everyone calms down and maybe it will reduce the questions both courts want to ask her. As things stand she has to appear before the Cherinian Council and your government has the right to demand she makes herself available to the American Courts - even though we have not signed an extradition treaty with them. If everyone hears her side we might be able to cut out a lot of bad publicity. David, if everyone hates us for a while, it will sadden us, but we can wait for the dust to settle. I do not want everyone fearing us again. I don’t know what her reasons are, even though I have my suspicions, and I have refused her permission to explain to us. Invite me to be on the show also, I’ll ask the questions you might not want to ask - or at least, not as directly as I will.”
“I have a feeling this should not be on just my show. What if I ask Townsend from London, Kirshoff from Moscow and Yung from Hong Kong? We’ll have to air the show live tomorrow, there is no way we can organise it for tonight.”
“We’ll help if we can but I want the show to be aired tonight. Would you like it to be broadcasted through Freddie?”
“Not a good idea. If I’m to have any hope of succeeding you better leave. Can I get through to you on your mobile phone?”
“Yes, I’ll stay on Earth.”
He called five hours later to let me know the show has been arranged and the stations are already announcing the special broadcast. We have to be at his studio by five o’clock his time, to be ready for six o’clock.
David privately admitted to me that he’s made a mistake, he feels he’s been totally neutralised, knocked off his feet. When we arrived everything came to a standstill. Hearts felt as if they’d been transported to a world where fairies exist and evil is unknown. Kirsten has taken from each of us what we think are our best features, but she has combined them in a way that is not only unique, but also unbelievably delicate and fragile seeming. Every man and women, whatever their sexual orientation, felt a desperate need to protect her from the evil in others, but also within themselves. For the first time ever, David’s show started seven minutes late.
David welcomed the other hosts and then asked for Kirsten to join him. If the faces of the other hosts reflected how the public felt, she instantly had a planet of people half in love with her and in awe of the faerie quality she projects. When she greeted everyone, there was silence for a time as they all felt it would not be right to disturb the echoes of her voice in their minds. David pulled himself together and asked for the Chief of Police of Washington, the Chief Public Prosecutor and a professor of law to enter. He hardly gave them time to sit before calling for me. I gripped Vincent by his hand and pulled him in with me. Everyone saw his besotted look when he saw his love - even though he’d only been separated from her for a couple of minutes.
I giggled. “When this is all over, I think we should ask the fairies in Freddie to elect her as their queen.” I walked over to Kirsten and kissed her cheek, softly whispering my apology in advance, “Sorry love.” I took my seat and spoke to the show hosts, so as to prevent them asking their questions. “Such a beauty is almost enough to make everyone feel that whatever her past, it should be forgotten and forgiven. I say it must not. She has to answer for the deaths and fear she inspired. Do you agree that I start off by asking the difficult questions?” The hosts all concurred that they would be grateful if I did. It is not easy confronting someone who is loved by someone you love. My face was grim as I spoke to her. “Before we speak of who you are and how you are loved, I must ask you, do you admit to killing Normals and a Cherinian?”
“No.” She looked me in the eye and there was the openness of an innocent in her stare.
I was visibly shaken, but not for the reasons everyone thought. Her answer implied my theories were not quite as fantastic as I’d imagined they were. “Are you saying you have not killed!”
“Oh. I have killed.”
“How many?”
6940
“One.” She must have seen the dismay on my face and felt it in my emoting, for I feared she had decided to only count the Cherinian. “You are not asking me the right questions Samantha.”
“I’m not?”
I was silent for too long, for producers do not like long silences on their shows. David asked her. “What are the right questions Kirsten?”
“First ask yourself some questions, since Samantha will not have me talk of who I am. Have you interviewed those I killed? Have the police?”
David turned to the Chief of Police. “I haven’t, but I presume you or an officer of yours has?”
“It was something I intended bringing up. We have not found any of them since the day of their return from their death. We were worried she might have attacked them again.”
Kirsten turned to look at me, for suddenly I was convinced I had understood the game she’d risked her life on, at least I thought I did. “They never existed. I’m sorry, I was foolish. Kirsten may we first talk about who you are and how it is you had to fight for our help?”
“It would be better you explain. The parts you don’t know I’ll tell.”
“It is said that the subconscious minds of all, humans and animals, share or are part of a gestalt mind. The proof for this theory has been cited by giving examples, for instance, how many times discoveries are simultaneously made in different parts of the world or songs are written that are almost exactly the same.
We believe there is a filter that prevents our subconscious from overwhelming us. We need that filter for our sub mind is not very bright, nor is it logical. It responds best to instincts and secret desires we hide from ourselves. If I am right, there is another filter that prevents our sub minds from joining the gestalt mind. That filter is known as our instinct of self preservation. That instinct can be weakened by circumstance or trauma, but with my family it has been weakened by love. Our instincts are as yours, but because we love each other so deeply, when we are alone, just the family, the instinct does not protect us from each other, only from outsiders, non-family members. Perhaps it is true for other families too, we do not know much about it and most of what I’m saying is conjecture based on the existence of Kirsten.
Because of Cherine and her also, at intervals, being the entity we call The Light, our sub minds are careful not to share too openly with the common or universal gestalt mind, so I suppose it was only natural that a gestalt mind of our own formed. Over the years it grew stronger; though not self aware, it still had the instinct of survival - our survival. That is why it preserved Robert and Cherine when they were attacked. When it used its power to save us, I think it also became conscious of itself.” Kirsten barely nodded, but now I was more confident I was on the right track.
“Our subconscious has been described, in layman’s terms, as being entirely amoral, selfish and wanting what it wants immediately. We have been foolish in believing that. If that were so, each of us would be constantly battling ourselves if we wished to be good or altruistic. What chance then of building a civilisation or of sacrificing ourselves for others? As with our thinking minds, our sub minds have various aspects to them.” I gave a small smile, not of amusement, but of nervousness. “Here is where my theories become really hairy. Where our different aspects in our conscious mind tend to overlap and even blend into each other, in our sub mind I think they are more sharply delineated. Our sub minds are made up of almost separate personalities that war with each other.
As Kirsten became aware of herself, so did the different aspects that make her a personality. It could be the reason for her becoming self aware, her action to save us, forced forward what we consider the good aspects. However, Kirsten soon discovered she had an evil side to her. Not evil in our sophisticated sense, but in a childishly selfish and self-centered sense. To fight it she almost split herself in two.
I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love - and should some of it be true for our reality, I hope you will love our Cherine.
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)- posted: 23rd May, 2020
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