At exactly 6:30, there was a knock on my door telling me that Brian was on time for our date. I grabbed my jacket, heading for the door, but as soon as I opened the door, Brian’s smile turned to one of concern, and he immediately, started questioning me. “What’s wrong? What happened?” he asked, throwing me off guard that he was able to read me so well after so little time.
“What do you mean?” I asked, playing dumb, trying to push him out of my apartment so that we could leave.
“Don’t play dumb with me, Blaine. What happened?” he pushed, giving me a stern look.
“Brian, please, let’s just go,” I pleaded with him, hoping he would just drop it and we could go out to eat. I really didn’t want to think about Caleb anymore. I also didn’t want to think about how close I had come to losing my life that afternoon. I had been so terrified, and I really didn’t want to go back to that moment again.
“No, Blaine. We’re not leaving until you tell me what happened?” he continued to interrogate me.
“FINE! Caleb surprised me at the studio this afternoon. I almost died today, Brian! Is that what you wanted to hear?” I screamed, tired of him pushing me. I threw my jacket and purse back on the couch before leaning against the back of it.
“He attacked you?” he asked, his look of concern turning to one of anger.
“I wasn’t prepared for his attack, so I didn’t have my defenses up. He never should have been able to get that close to me,” I told him, trying to hide how scared I really was.
“Why didn’t you call me? I could have helped you,” he questioned, a hurt look crossing his features.
“Brian, you know what my life is like. I’ve been fighting Caleb and Marcus for a long time now. I can’t guarantee that nothing will happen to me, but I know how to take care of myself. He just caught me off guard.” I tried to downplay the severity of the situation.
“Just promise me that you will be careful. I don’t want anything to happen to you,” he pleaded.
I nodded my head, telling him, wordlessly, that I would be careful. He nodded as well, pulling me into his arms and holding me tight as I let the feeling of safety soothe my frayed nerves.
“Do you still want to go out or would you rather stay in?” Brian asked after a few moments of silence.
“I’m not going to let Caleb ruin my life any more than he already has,” I told him, a look of determination crossing my eyes.
He gave me a long, scrutinizing gaze before finally nodding. I grabbed my purse and jacket, turning off the lights as we exited the apartment. As we walked down the hall to the elevator, Brian grabbed my hand, lifting it gently to his lips and kissing it lovingly before returning our hands back to their original spot between us, our fingers remaining interlaced.
“So where are we going?” I finally asked when we made it to his car.
“It’s a surprise,” he told me, giving me his infamous ‘I’m-up-to-something- sneaky’ grin.
“Briiiiiiiiaaaaan,” I whined. “You KNOW I hate surprises.” And it was true. I hated surprises. I hate not being in control and not knowing what is going on. I felt too vulnerable, and I hated feeling vulnerable. Vulnerability was a weakness, and it could get me killed.
“Do you trust me?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at me in a challenge.
“You know I do,” I told him. It scared me to admit it, but in the last 24 hours, he had managed to change my entire perspective on him. “But you also know how I feel about surprises.” Over the last week, Brian had become increasingly good at detecting my moods and feelings, leading me to wonder whether he had the power of empathy or not. It wasn’t rare for two halfies to share powers, but it had never happened to me before.
“I promise, I won’t let anything happen to you. Just trust me, and you can keep your defenses up the whole ride there, if you want,” he assured me.
“Fine,” I sighed, not at all happy with this new development in our plans.
Throughout the car ride, I kept my defenses up while still managing to hold a pleasant conversation with Brian. We didn’t dig too deep with our questions, and we tried to keep it as light-hearted and loose as possible. Brian knew that I was already on edge from not being in control, and I knew that I might take out some of this fear and uneasiness out on him, so we tried to keep the serious questions out of it for now.
Finally, I saw Brian pull his car off the road and onto a dirt country trail that was barely big enough for his car. Eventually, the trail disappeared and we were driving on a grass-covered area. I watched in silence as we made our way through the rows of trees and bushes that lined our path, keeping an intense eye for anything that might have the intent of causing us harm. Thankfully, the forest was quiet and we were alone.
As I felt the car come to a stop, I looked up at our destination, my mouth dropping open in awe. Brian had taken me to a place I had only heard about in legends. A place I had only imagined existed in my dreams. It was one of the last remaining mystic caves in the world. My father had told me stories of this place when I was little, telling me that it was the last magically protected location we still had in America. As legend went, mystic caves were built on sacred land, protected from all magical detection. The only way to find one was to already know where one exists by having the memory passed down from generation to generation. If you were within range of a mystic cave, no one could sense you and if you were a halfie, your magic would be enhanced, making you stronger and more powerful. These caves were rumored to have unimaginable, limitless powers and abilities, many of which had never been shared through the generations. Legend also said that these caves held the secrets to our past. These caves held the history of our people. It held truths that had been long lost in our fight.
“Brian, how did you know about this place?” I asked, taking in all the sights I possibly could at one time.
“My grandfather told me about this place once when I was a young boy. When I moved to Orlando, I went searching for it and found it the first week I was here. Whenever I need to just get away or recharge, I come here,” he explained, a small smile forming.
“Why did you bring me here?” I questioned, turning to look at him.
“You wanted to know about ‘The Prophecy’ right? I figured that if any place had the answers you were searching for, this would be it.” My face must have conveyed my shock because he went on to explain more. “I can read thoughts… it’s one of my powers.”
“But I didn’t find out about the prophecy until after you asked me out,” I pondered, confused.
“I know. When I came to pick you up, I sensed you were upset with my empathy, but, for some reason, all I could get out of your thoughts were two words, ‘the prophecy.’” He hesitated for a second before continuing. “I’ve heard legends about a prophecy, but I never believed it until now. It spoke of a halfie who would lead a small army to victory against an ever-growing dark force. My grandfather told me that this leader would have the power of the entire universe in her hands.”
“Her?” I asked.
“Yeah. The leader, my grandfather told me, could only be a woman because only a woman would be able to control and harness the power, not letting it corrupt her,” he explained.
I could only nod as we made our way into the cave. I watched with a critical eye as we passed multiple carvings on the sides of the cave, telling the story of our past… the same story I had heard many times from my ancestors about the original coven and the “cure” that created the soulless creatures that now roamed the earth.
After walking for a few more minutes, we came to a large, open room with a black pool in the center. I gave Brian a questioning look, but he simply motioned me over to the pool. As we drew nearer to the pool, I noticed that the liquid within the pool was bubbling. I watched closely, mesmerized by the sight, as an image formed in the black sludge. I saw myself as a child appear, seemingly like I was watching a movie of my past. Suddenly, a voice resounded within the cave walls. “I am Delthea, protector and keeper of the knowledge of the universe. I know what you seek. You seek The Prophecy, do you not?”
“I do. My name is Blaine Christianson,” I responded to the unseen being.
“I know who you are, my child,” the voice spoke, this time much softer and much closer. I turned around to see a ghost-like woman standing behind me, an inviting smile gracing her delicate features. “I have been waiting for you.”
“I don’t understand what you mean?” I responded, a quizzical look on my face revealing my thoughts.
“You are the one, Blaine, the savior of all halfies. A great evil is upon us now, and it grows stronger by the day. You know the evil I speak of?” she half-questioned, half-stated.
“Marcus?” I responded back in a similar manner.
“Marcus gains strength every day as his army grows. You are our only hope. You must lead us to victory. There are five who will follow you. You must find them and train them to be stronger, faster and smarter.” She walked over to the pool, waving a hand over the sludge and bringing forth a picture of a face. “The one who wears the sign of Fire will be your strength.” The face of a handsome man who I had met on more than one occasion appeared before us: a man full of passion and fight. A man named Jason David Frank, or J.D., for short. “The one who wears the sign of Air will be your conscience and light of reason.” The face of a well-known actress, Kate Beckinsale, replaced J.D.’s image. “The one who wears the sign of Earth will be your support and anchor.” The newly-familiar face of our new dancer, Santina Lockehart, replaced Kate’s image and Brian and I both exchanged looks. “The one of Water will be your guidance and your tie to the past.” The face of a young boy, who I had seen countless times during my childhood, appeared in the sludge and began morphing, as if growing up in front of our eyes. Before I could stop myself, the gasp left my lips. “The long-lost brother you have been searching for has been within your grasp for some time now. Alex has no memory of his past, though, so you must be careful as to not scare him away.” I looked on with tears hanging off my eyelashes as I stared at the face of the man I thought I would never see again. My father had told me of my brother when I was a child, but I never thought I would see him again. Back then, my father and mother were on the run and thought there was no way they could raise a child. So my father used his gift of memory erasing and memory replacement, and he gave my brother to a lonely woman named Denise, to watch and care for. He replaced both of their memories, making them believe that Denise was Alex’s biological mother and that Alex’s father left them when Alex was merely a baby of two. After that, my father left, only seeing Alex once a year when he would stop in to check in on him. I looked up at Delthea, thanking her with my eyes to which she simply nodded. “There is one more who will join you on your quest. He who wears the sign of Light will be your motivation, your truth, your hope, and, most importantly, your heart. He will be your reason to fight. He will be your soul. He will be YOUR savior while you are the savior to the rest of us. You know who this man is. I can see it in your eyes.” I looked at her, nodding my head in affirmation before turning to look at Brian, the man we were referring to. As I had predicted, he read my thoughts, a look of shock appearing on his face. “Yes, it is you, Brian,” Delthea confirmed.
“This is impossible,” I said, shaking my head at the unbelievable situation I suddenly found myself in.
“I am a messenger. Nothing more. I am here to pass down the messages that your ancestors could not. I am nothing more than a collection of memories brought to life and preserved for all eternity to share the wisdom of the ages. It is your choice to believe me or not. You always have a choice. What you do with this information is completely up to you,” Delthea warned, sounding an awful lot like a disclaimer.
I nodded, letting her know that I understand. And just as silently and as suddenly as she had appeared, she was gone. I turned to Brian, giving him a bewildered look, as we wandered out of the cave and back into the darkest of nights. With my mind going a million miles a minute, we got back into the car and headed back toward the city lights, our hunger long-since forgotten.
