Waking Other Lives

“What do you mean there is a breach in one of our safe houses? ” Abby shouted. “Someone must have sung like a bird, who is he?”

“I’m afraid, it might be Baran,” Rocco said. “My sources said he is still alive.”

“I thought you’d had him killed. Do I have to do everything by myself?

Rocco was silent. “He was supposed to be dead,” he muttered under his breath.

“Supposed to? That means nothing to me! I have another urgency pulling my strings tonight, I can’t deal with this nonsense. Send Masoud, let him deal with this until I get back.”

“You shouldn’t have tried to kill his mate, what did you expect Baran to do?” Rocco said, impertinently.

Abby turned back, narrowing her eyes. “What did you just say?”

“Nothing,” murmured Rocco, but it was too late. The gleam had settled on Abby’s eyes, her pupils had become smaller, her face tautened with focus. “No...no, please,” he begged, but he saw the swirling motion of her finger and knew it was too late. Water soon surrounded all his body in a cocoon, flowing freely into his mouth. Not having Abby’s essence, he couldn’t breathe underwater, and that’s what was happening to him. Abby was keeping him amply supplied with water, in and out. Gulping sounds were heard from him, he was holding his mouth closed, clamping his hand tightly on his lips, but was unable to prevent the water from suffocating him. Rocco’s body fell down, lifeless, his face tightened with the trauma.

“Anyone can be replaced, Rocco dear. Masoud!” she called.

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(Sierra’s POV)

My hands were shaking as I opened the coffin, how could one get ready for one’s death? Since I’d been thrown into alternative universes to fulfill the mission, I’d come face to face with death far too many times for my liking. I still remembered the death sentence, the prison, the wait in Rawonia. But, this seemed even more imminent, final, and real than that. This was the ultimate point, I’d reached it, and now I had to accept it. The sacrifice expected of me was too great, yet could I doom Elvan to death in here, Dante to a mateless life, and many on earth to a hellish destiny with Abby? What about Seth? How would he survive this, how would he survive me?

The coffin lid made a grating sound as it slowly lifted up, and I looked at Rawonia’s heart, expecting a miracle to happen. Nothing happened, and I looked at Elvan’s face.

“It didn’t work,” I said. Was that relief in my voice, I coughed to hide it.

“So, it’s back to finding more bugs, and carving more walls. I told you, that was for the best,” Elvan said, smiling.

“Finally, it’s been too long,” the voice behind me said. And, I already knew who was talking. She was awake. I felt cheated one more time. Now that I’d accepted she was not waking up, finding out she did, was such a disappointment.

“Come closer. Sierra. I’m still too tired to do much. I’m proud of you, my dear. You’ve done wonders. Abby will not know what hit her,” she said, slowly. “But, wait, where is the other piece of my heart?” she asked holding my hand when I sat down next to her coffin. She looked puzzled. “Oh no, you’ve split Sierra, into two. Well, that was unexpected.”

Her words pierced me with agonizing slowness, what did she mean bysplit into two? That fit too well with the nonsense Elvan had been giving me. Had that been the truth all along?

“What are you saying?” I asked.

“You’ve been split as you were making the journey to earth. One part of you has been imprisoned here by Abby along with your protector, and the other half has made it to earth. But, that means I’ll have to fetch the rest of my heart on earth by myself. Not a big deal since I am finally free from this magical coffin.”

“Protector?” Elvan asked.

“Your grandma is dead, if I’m not mistaken?” she asked

“No!” I screamed. “You are lying.”

“I’m sorry Sierra, but she’s gone, and she has assigned Elvan as your protector when she felt she wouldn’t make it.”

I didn’t need another protector, heck I didn’t want a protector. I wanted my grandma back. I wanted to be that simple college girl with the coolest, most loving grandma. Nothing more than that. “Can’t you bring her back, please? After all I’ve done, that’s so little to ask,” I pleaded.

“Child, if I could bring back the dead, I would. But, that’s even beyond me. And, if I could bring back the dead, don’t you think I would start with my special child first, wouldn’t I save you first? But, that’s against the rules, and even I can’t bend the rules. Sacrifices have to be made for each rule we bend, big sacrifices. There are forces way beyond my sister or me, we also have to answer back for our deeds.”

You mean the type of sacrifices I was making, I wanted to ask. I didn’t, what was the use? So, there were things beyond her, why didn’t that make me feel better? Which one of those beings would greet me when I was dead, I thought.

“Okay, how do we do this?” I asked, readying myself.

“I’ll touch you, and the piece of the heart beating in your chest will gravitate towards me. This magical prison will explode, once we leave. But, you will be dead before then, Sierra anyway. It will be instantaneous, it won’t hurt child, I promise you.”

“What about Elvan, will she make it back with you all right?”

Rawonia’s heart was silent. I didn’t like her silence. Was she going to pull another one of those cruel tricks on me, her words on how Seth had to die in Rawonia was still fresh on my mind.

“Will she?” I repeated it.

“She is your now your protector, Sierra, since she’s gained consciousness.”

As though that explained anything. “So?” I insisted.

“A protector has to die before the person she protects can even be killed which is why Baran had to kill your grandmother before he could kill you. ”

“But, I’ll be dead once you take the heart. I’ve been dead since the Land of Dragoon. I don’t understand, what are you saying?” I snapped, losing my patience.

“If your grandmother had not assigned Elvan the responsibility, if she’d still been your protector, all would have been fine because your grandma is now dead, you see?” she rambled.

“No, I don’t see, for God’s sake, break it down for me like a child would understand.”

“I have to kill Elvan before I take the heart. That’s what I’m saying. Even I can’t overcome what I’ve programmed in a protector.”

I burst into raucous laughter, bending double, unable to get up. “You are kidding, right, because it’s too cruel to be real. You can’t really be doing this to me over and over again, it just can’t be real,” I managed to say in between my fits of laughter.

“I’m afraid I’m not joking,” she confirmed.

Elvan was silent, the words slowly sinking in both of us. Elvan finally nodded in silent approval.

“I should have listened to you, Elvan,” I said. “We should never have opened the damn coffin, is it too late to close the lid back on, do you think?” I said, turning to her.

“I understand what you are going through, child. But...”

“But, what dear sister?” interrupted a suddenly appearing Abby, standing in the middle of the room. “Did you think I’d let you escape? Did you think you would get away, though I have to thank Elvan’s dear mate Dante for this. If he’d not insisted in seeing her, I would not have bothered to check up on you at all.”

Rawonia’s heart tried to get out of the coffin, but the three of pieces of her heart had yet to be united, and she’d been lying in this coffin far too long, she simply didn’t have the power to stop Abby, not right now, not in her present state of being. She could feel the rejuvenated light in Abby, and knew she’d just replenished her source of magic, but she simply was too weak to do anything on that. If she had had a few more minutes, Abby would never have caught up with her. But, it was too late now, wasn’t it? She wondered whether.... Nah, she immediately gave up on the idea. If she tried and it didn’t work, all would be lost. She would have to do the sure thing and hoped that it would work before Abby’s magic sent her away. She saw the swirling of Abby’s finger targeting her, she felt the pull of the magic, and knew what was happening, what had already been set into motion.

“Goodbye sister,” Abby said. “I’ve been far too merciful on you, say hi to mom and dad from me, I’ll be here for a few more centuries.”

“Hold Elvan tightly,” Rawonia’s heart yelled as she touched Sierra’s arm, passing her the 1/3rd piece of heart in her own body just before Abby’s magic sent her beyond the realm of this earth. Without a beating heart, she would not be able to hold onto a breathing body. Instead, she would be reduced to a mass of energy, just like everything was, and had been where she and Abby had grown up. Sierra and Seth were now on their own to beat Abby.

Sierra and Elvan never understood what happened as Sierra’s split half made the journey in space to find its other half on earth, dragging Elvan with it. The magical prison exploded, but when it did, there was nothing else in it, but carved walls, piles of plaster on the floors, and a glass coffin which now lay empty.