Oblivion (The Watcher Chronicles #3) (8 page)

“Who will I live with when I go back with you?” Leah asks.

It’s a question I hadn’t thought too much about but feel sure I know the perfect person to raise Leah.  She raised me and Faison after all and we didn’t turn out too bad.

“I think the woman who adopted me would love to have you as a third daughter.”

“You lost your real mom too?”

“She left me when I was seven, but she picked Mama Lynn to be my mother after she was gone.  Even if I tried, I don’t think I could pick a better person than her for you to live with.  Plus, my house is just down the street from hers so I’ll only be a short walk away.”

“I hope she likes me.”

“Trust me.  She’ll love you.”

My stomach growls.

“Did you say Brand was making breakfast?” I ask Leah.

Leah sits up and nods.  “Yeah.  Sounds like you need it.”

“I’m starving.  Let’s go eat!”

I finish getting dressed and strap my sword on remembering God’s chastisement about not just leaving it anywhere.  When Leah opens the door to Brand’s quarters, I smell the wonderful aroma of eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and coffee.  Isaiah, Baruch and Remy are already sitting at the table digging into their meals.  Brand and Mason are speaking to one another in the kitchen area.

All eyes turn our way as we take our first step into the room.

I’m just about to say how good breakfast smells when I see Isaiah and Baruch stand so quickly from their seats the chairs topple over onto the floor.  Before I know it they phase and I hear them threatening someone behind me with bodily harm if they attempt to move a muscle.

I turn to see what’s going on and feel my body begin to tremble.

Baruch and Isaiah have Malcolm pinned against the cement wall of the hallway.  He’s dressed in his black leather uniform.  Malcolm doesn’t try to fight against the two angels holding him back.  He allows them to restrain him, and I get the feeling he’s amused by their reaction to his presence in their secret hideout.

But seeing Malcolm again isn’t what makes me tremble.

Faison is standing off to the side staring at me with startled eyes.

Before I know it, my sister is in my arms crying, much like the last time I saw her.

“I’m so sorry,” she sobs.  “I’m sorry I left you.”

If anyone knows the pain I’ve suffered from being left by those I love, it’s Faison.

“It’s ok.  Everything is ok now,” I say, hugging her tightly to me.

Mason and Brand walk into the hallway.

“How did you know where to find us?” Brand demands of Malcolm.

“Did you really think I didn’t know where you were?” Malcolm counters.  “I know everything that happens in my sector.”

Faison lifts her head and looks at Malcolm. 

“Why are you doing that to him?” She questions Baruch and Isaiah.  “He saved my life.  Let him go!”

“Saved you?” I ask. “How?”

“The people at the Watcher station I was taken to were keeping me prisoner.  They said Lucifer wanted me for something.  Malcolm phased in and grabbed me just before Lucifer was supposed to arrive.”  Faison looks at Baruch and Isaiah fiercely.  “Let…him…go.”

“Let him go,” Brand reiterates.

Baruch and Isaiah take their hands off of Malcolm but watch him with undisguised distrust.

Malcolm straightens out the leather jacket he’s wearing.

“Why are you here Malcolm?” Brand asks.

“I thought you could use my help in this little rebellion you’re trying to cook up.”

“Why would you help us and what makes you think we would trust you to help?”

“Let’s just say not all of us Chancellors are happy with the way things are going.  It’s time to shake things up a bit.  I’ve never been too much on uniforms either,” Malcolm says unbuttoning his jacket.  “I’m hot natured.  Clothing just makes it worse.”

Well that explains the constant open shirts of the Malcolm back home, I think to myself.

“So you want to return control of the world to the humans because of your keen fashion sense?” Brand asks.

“Do you need a better reason?  I can tell you which Chancellors will help when the time comes and which will stab you in the back.  Do you have anyone who can do that for you?”

“No,” Brand admits reluctantly.

“There you go then,” Malcolm says. “I can be of use to you.”

“How do we know this isn’t some sort of trap?”

“You can tell if I’m lying can’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Am I?”

“Not that I can detect.”

“Then have a little faith in me.”

Malcolm looks directly at me.  “Consider us even now by the way.”

“Even?”

“You saved my son’s soul.  I saved your sister from a gruesome death.  I think that makes us even.”

I nod.  “Agreed.”

“You should probably come inside so we can talk some more,” Brand says to Malcolm.

I watch them both enter the room embarking in a tenuous détente
.

Mason comes to stand by my side as I turn to Faison.

“God will open the Tear for us to go back home,” I tell her.  “Please, Faison, come back with me.”

“I want to,” she says, hesitation in her voice.  “But I want to know if John Austin is alive in this reality first.”

I understand what she wants but have no idea if I can give it to her.

“I don’t even know if he exists here,” I say.

“Isn’t there someone here who can find that out for me?”

“Maybe Josh can help with that,” Mason suggests.  “If he’s anything like our Joshua, he can probably find out if John Austin exists here.  Let me go ask him.”

Mason steps back into Brand’s quarters to find Josh and ask for his help.

“Do you think it’s silly?” Faison asks me.  “To want to know about a John Austin I don’t know.”

I place my arm around Faison’s shoulders.  “No, it’s not silly.”

Mason soon returns with Josh in tow who is licking something off his fingers which just reminds me how very hungry I am.  But, there’s no time to eat.  I don’t know how much time God will give me to convince Faison to come home with me.  Every second could be precious.

“Josh says he can find John Austin for us,” Mason says.

“Where does he live in your world?” Josh asks.

“Tunica, MS,” I tell him.  “He died a few days ago in our reality.”

“Follow me,” Josh says taking a few steps down the hallway, “let’s see what we can find out.”

I take one of Faison’s hands, not willing to lose contact with her because I need her to know I’m there for her.  Mason follows behind us.

Josh takes us downstairs to a large cavernous space and I realize we’re in a set of subway tunnels.  This space looks like it was once used as a subway terminal with its green pillars delineating the platform from the tracks.

An impressive array of pieced together computer equipment is set up in one corner and Josh goes over to sit down in front of a rudimentary keyboard.  It’s a far cry from the high-tech computer system our Joshua has access to.

We provide Josh with as much information as we can about John Austin.  It doesn’t take him long to locate him.

“It looks like he lives in Tunica on this Earth too,” Josh tells us.

My heart sinks.  If John Austin is alive here, what hope do I have of bringing Faison back home with me?

“He’s alive?” Faison asks, filled with a new sense of hope.

Josh looks at his computer screen.  “Yes, he’s alive.  He lives in a town called Cypress Hollow.  He has a wife named Shelby and a daughter named Abigail.”

“He’s married to Shelby?” Faison asks, in complete shock.  “Do I exist here?”

“Full name?” Josh asks.

“Faison Mills.”

Josh pulls up Faison’s information.

“You also lived in Cypress Hollow.”  Josh reads a little more.  “Apparently you were adopted by a Lynn Mills when you were a baby, but she died in a car crash when you were seven.  You were sent to live with your only living relative who was your mother’s brother, Dan Mills.”

I feel my heart race and not in a good way.

“Where is this Earth’s Faison now?” I ask.

“Hmm, it looks like your double committed suicide when she was fourteen,” Josh leans in toward his screen to read something, “but the police suspected your uncle was abusing you and might have killed you himself.  They weren’t able to find any evidence to support their suspicions though.  Looks like your Uncle Dan died here a few weeks back from complications due to pancreatic cancer.”

We were in a world where Faison had lived alone with Uncle Dan for seven long years.  Seven years where he would have had constant contact with her.  I felt like weeping for that little lost girl but didn’t.  She was in a far better place now.

“I’m dead and John Austin is married to Shelby,” Faison says, trying to absorb all of the information at once. “We always said we’d name our daughter Abigail.”

Faison breaks down into sobs and I hold her close to my chest.

I look up at Mason and see his concern for my sister.  I know he wants to help but there’s really nothing either of us can do.  Faison will have to deal with the information she’s received on her own terms.

There’s a great pressure on my chest just like I felt the first time I went through the Tear.

I put my hands on Faison’s shoulder and make her look at me.

“The Tear is opening.  Come home with me,” I beg.

Faison catches her breath and nods.  “I am.”

After that, the only thing I feel is pain until we’re all back home.

Chapter 6

It’s morning time in Cypress Hollow.  The birds are chirping.  The grass is frosted over and glistens like snow against the rising sun.

We’re home.

Chandler and JoJo come running out of my front door almost toppling me over as they squeeze me between them like an archangel sandwich.

“God Jess, we were so worried about you,” Chandler says to me.

“Oui, so very worried,” JoJo agrees, hugging me tightly giggling with happiness to have me home.

As if sensing her presence, they turn in unison to where Leah is standing. 

JoJo gasps holding a hand to her mouth.

“You found her?” Chandler asks, squinting at Leah as if he’s not sure he should believe his eyes.  “But how?”

“It’s a long story,” I tell them.  “I’ll tell you all about it over breakfast.”

I suddenly remember its Wednesday.  I didn’t get to eat the wonderful smelling breakfast alternate world Brand made but Beau’s cinnamon rolls are suddenly calling my name.

JoJo and Chandler walk over to Leah and introduce themselves.  I see Leah’s eyes light up with joy and I know she feels the bond we all share with one another.

I turn to Faison.

“How are you doing?” I ask her.

“I’m ok,” she says, giving me a small, sad smile.  “I really screwed up, didn’t I?”

I shake my head.  “No, it was meant to happen.  If I hadn’t followed you through, I wouldn’t have found Leah.”

“She’s one of you?” Faison asks.  “An archangel?”

I nod.  “Yes, she’s the fourth.  She’s been stranded in that other reality since before she was born.”

“Then maybe it wasn’t for nothing.”

“What wasn’t for nothing?”

“John Austin’s death here on our Earth,” Faison answers.  “If he hadn’t died, I never would have wanted to leave here and you would have never found her.  It means his death wasn’t meaningless.”

I’m glad Faison sees it that way but I still have a bone to pick with God about it.

I see Faison look off down the street towards Mama Lynn’s house.

“I should go talk to her,” Faison says.  “I never should have blamed her for his death.  It wasn’t her fault.  It was just his time to go.”

“Do you want me to go over there with you?” I ask.

Faison shakes her head.  “No.  I need to do it alone.”

Faison gives me a fiercely tight hug.  “Thanks for coming for me.”

I hug her back just as tight.  “I fight for my family, even if they don’t want me to.”

I hear Faison sniff.  “I did.  I just didn’t know it at the time.”

I watch as Faison walks down the sidewalk towards Mama Lynn’s house.

“Is she ok?” Mason asks me coming to stand by my side.

“She will be.  She just needs some time.”  I turn to Mason and give him my best doe-eyed look.  Hey, it’s worked for Faison all these years.  Why not me?  “Could you do me a favor?”

Mason smiles down at me, obviously amused by my attempt at cajoling a favor out of him with my womanly wiles.

“You know I would do anything you asked,” he tells me.

“Could you phase over to Beau’s store and grab us some cinnamon rolls for breakfast?”

Mason leans down and kisses me. “Be right back.”

When I look back at where Leah, Chandler and JoJo are chatting, I notice Remy standing conspicuously off to the side of the group.  He has a melancholy look on his face and I see him wipe away tears from the corners of his eyes.

I walk over to him.

“Are you ok?” I ask Remy.

“I’m just happy to see her back where she belongs,” he answers, sniffling.  He wipes his nose on his coat sleeve and looks back over at me.  “I’ll need to leave now, you know.”

I nod.  “I figured as much.”

“I don’t want to tell her,” he says.  “I’m the only person she’s had to count on her whole entire life.  I hope she doesn’t think I’m abandoning her too.”

“I think she already knows you have to leave,” I tell him, hoping the information will ease his guilt.  “She asked me who she would be living with when we came here.  She’s smart.  I think she realizes you can’t stay with her forever.”

“Who will be taking care of her?  You?”

“We all will but I think she would be in better hands if she lived with my mother.”

“Could I meet her before I go?”

“When do you think you will need to leave?”

“Soon,” a familiar voice says behind me.

I turn to see my dad.  I can’t help but smile.

He walks up to me and gives me a hug.

“Hey, Jessi.”

“Hey, Daddy.”

“Of course,” Remy says, realization finally dawning.  “I should have known you were Zeruel’s daughter.  I knew there was something different about you.”

My dad holds his hand out to Remy.