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  As I looked at Brett in astonishment for what he was thinking, he started to grin, giving me that silly smirk that always seemed to calm me somehow.

  “Please, Emilee, if I don’t bring you back willingly, when I do get you back to the ship, Douglas will take me apart bit by bit, and slowly. Then Lily will finish the job. Don’t put me through that!” Brett said, and the smile turned to a sober pout.

  I shut my eyes, took in a large breath of water, blew it out and as I opened my eyes, Brett had that silly smirk on his face again. I gave him a smile, not sure if I really meant it, but decided I really didn’t want to go down into the darkness, and found that I wasn’t really angry with him anyway. I was just angry with everything, it was all out of control.

  I started up, but only moved a few feet before something grabbed my ankle and yanked me down. Whatever it was, cut into my skin, and I let out a yell, (if you can yell in the water), and was pulled down so quickly that as I looked to Brett for help, he disappeared as I entered the darkness.

  I looked down, trying to see what had a hold of me, but could see nothing, it was so dark. My diamond started to glow a dark orange color, danger, and gave enough light for me to see my ankle. There wrapped around it, was a tentacle of sorts.

  Then looking in front of me as dark as it was, I saw a face, Queen Anahita’s to be exact. Behind her was a shape, another fey, but I couldn’t make out who or what, female or male. I was shocked and as I reached out for Queen Anahita to help, she disappeared into the darkness, as it seemed that she was dragging the other fey with her.

  I felt him then, Brett next to me, fear in his eyes, and shock; he was in my mind and saw Queen Anahita too.

  My shield then took over, and as it surrounded Brett and I, it severed the tentacle from the beast that was trying to drag me down.

  I looked to Brett and I was sure I had the same surprised look on my face as he had on his. Brett grabbed my arm and we started to swim up as the Grey whales came into view. They swam past us, heading down to the darkness, and I heard the one say, “Watch our young one”, as they disappeared.

  We headed to the young whale and then headed up to the surface of the water. Brett wanted me out as soon as possible but I stood firm, or swam firm I should say. I wasn’t going to leave the baby whale alone.

  Brett knew that I would be stubborn about this so he gave me an accepting but frustrated look as he said, “Could you put your shield around the baby too then?”

  I smiled a triumphant smile and did just that, we were all in my shield and we waited, wondering what was happening and hoping that the two Grey whales were okay.

  My ankle was throbbing and I knew that a piece of the creature was still wrapped around it, with its sharp spikes imbedded in my skin. As I looked down, I could feel Brett’s eyes looking down too and as our minds joined again, he was overtaken with anxiety, fearing poison.

  I jerked my head up to look at Brett and saw the fear in his eyes. Just then a rush of water came out of the sea, just feet from us, the two whales. They were safe but one had several gashes across its back.

  I released my shield and the baby whale left my side, swimming over to its family. I headed over to them too but Brett took hold of my arm saying, “We need to get your ankle taken care of, Emilee.”

  “I need to tend to the injured whale first.” I said in haste, sensing that the gashes were filled with the same fluid or poison that I now knew was seeping into my blood stream.

  Brett came with me, never letting go of my arm. As we reached the great beast, Brett helped me to get on top of it, where the gashes were.

  Looking at my hand with the ring on it, that I thought was supposed to heal, not kill, I hesitated for a moment. I wondered why it killed the shark.

  I put my hand in the largest crease, into the oozing bloody wound, and as the ring started to glow, the entire gash, started to glow. I removed my hand as it closed up. I did the same to the other wounds and then laid down on the whale’s back, exhausted from what I had just done. He was healed but I was in bad shape.

  The whale sank into the water just a bit to allow Brett to get on top and then the whale swam over to the ship. Brett picked me up and walked to the whale’s head, just above his mouth and the whale raised his head up to meet the deck of the ship. Brett was able to hand me over to Adam and then he climbed over the railing onto the ship.

  I thanked the whales for their help and apologized for my ignorance in the water. They reassured me that they would be close by, throughout our journey in the seas and would help us as much as they could.

  I asked then, “What happened down there, and what was that creature?” but before they spoke, (or maybe they did but I didn’t hear it), I was in the wheat field again.

  Chapter 5

  Dreams,

  The safety in our own mind.

  Dreams,

  Are they visions of what may be?

  Or

  Hopes for what we want?

  The wheat was dead, dried and broken. It crunched beneath my feet as I turned to look at the tree, the beautiful tree. It was destroyed, the trunk split in half, the top of the tree, branches and leaves, dead and dry, laying all about. The sky was dark, grey and gloomy. A gust of wind came and blew me backwards, but I caught myself before I fell.

  There was a dense fog behind what was left of the tree. It moved and slithered as if alive. There was something there, a silhouette of something large, a building?

  The fog moved, swirling, moving as if someone was telling it exactly where to go. It moved, some to the left and some to the right until I could see what was in front of me. It was a large palace-like structure, in shambles.

  This had never been here before in my dreams, I thought. Why now and what has happened here? I wondered.

  Then from behind what was left of the large trunk of the tree came a figure; a large strangely grotesque, deformed shape. I took a step back, and as I inspected this creature more intently, I realized that it looked like an insect, but not one that I had ever seen before.

  Its head was small, too small for its tall, muscular body, rounded at the top with a very narrow, pointy chin and two very large, egg shaped eyes on both sides of its face. Its arms, two of them were long and muscular from the shoulders down to the elbows, if you could call them elbows, they moved as if double jointed, but his lower arms were skinny with what looked like pinchers for fingers.

  He smiled at me, (yes, I was sure it was male), and said, “Welcome home Emilee, I have been waiting so long for this reunion.”

  Before I could say anything, another movement came from the other side, Stephan DeMill.

  My ankle started to burn, and as I took a step back, I gasped in horror, seeing Stephan here with this creature. I put the foot down that was paining me, and I fell as it gave way.

  As I looked towards my foot, my ankle was swollen, double in size with what looked like teeth marks all around it. Blood was oozing from the marks but there was also a white foamy substance.

  I felt ill, dizzy as I looked up and saw Stephan walking towards me and the creature walking back towards the crumbled structure. I tried to stand, but couldn’t endure the sizzling pain in my lower leg, now so intense. I scooted back as Stephan got closer. He bent down to grab me, and I yelled as I fell back on the ground, the dried wheat crumbling at my back, and cutting into the skin on my neck as I lay there trying to get away from him.

  I tried then, to put up my shield for protection and reached behind my head for my barrette, but it wasn’t there and the shield didn’t appear. I looked on my hand for the ring but it was gone too. I was helpless, there was no one around to help me and I couldn’t seem to help myself.

  As Stephan bent down with a smile so evil, he touched my arm, and I screamed, “Don’t touch me!” as I kicked and struck out with my hands.

  He said then with calmness in his voice, “It’s alright Emilee, I’m here, and you will be alright. We can heal you. It’s me Emilee, Brett.” And then as I looked
at Stephan’s face, it started to change.

  It was Brett, my Brett, holding my hands in a guarded way and I realized that Jordan was holding my legs down. Angelina was at my other side, opposite Brett, and I could see Rose over in a corner, crying. I was back on the ship, in a room, not in my dream world.

  “It’s dead, everything is dead!” I said, as I started to sob. I tipped my head back, looking away from Brett’s face and up to the ceiling. I knew somehow that this was a vision of what was to be, if I didn’t stop it, but how? How could I be so powerful, to save the planet and all who call it home.

  I sat up then, and looking into Brett’s face, the fear and confused look I saw there was frightening. No one knew what I had seen and seeing me in this condition caused them all to be full of anxiety. I could feel the uneasiness that filled the air.

  I felt it then, a strange sensation, not painful but like hundreds of ants, just under my skin, rushing up the leg that the creature had taken hold of, spreading to the other leg, and up my torso to my chest. My face felt cold, and then the sensation went down my arms to my hands. I looked down to see my hands, white, silvery white, for just a moment and then they were my normal color again. I looked back up into Brett’s face and he was looking at me but he had a strange blank stare, as if he was not with us anymore.

  We were there then, he and I, the field was golden, the smell of wheat ready to be harvested. The ocean behind us, crashing against the rock wall below, sea gulls crying out, looking for an easy meal. The sun was warm against my skin and Brett was standing next to me, holding my hand, looking around in awe.

  He turned his head to look at me, with a questioning expression across his face.

  “It was all dead, everything was dead and he was here, Stephan was here, but not alone, a creature, a hideous creature was with him.” I said, quietly.

  As I turned to face the tree, it stood tall and healthy but things were different now. There behind the tree in the distance, was a castle, a majestic palace with tall columns on all four corners, a large gate in the front, but what was truly magical was what was behind it. It was a mountain, a large rocky mountain that sparkled as the sunbeams hit it. The castle seemed to have been carved out of the mountain, it was a part of it, glistening in the sunshine as well.

  “But the mountain wasn’t there, it was just a pile of rubble, the castle was in ruins.” I said, as I let go of Brett’s hand and started to walk towards it.

  Brett walked up next to me and taking my hand back in his, stopped me from continuing. He turned me towards him, and asked what I had seen before.

  I looked down at our hands and mine were white again, but not cold, only my face felt cold again. The same feeling of something just under my skin, racing up my body, and my hands tingled, like pinpricks as I held Brett’s hands.

  I suddenly had a hunger, a hunger deep down. I knew what it was for, I knew I needed him. I looked up into Brett’s eyes, and he knew it too.

  I looked away quickly, feeling embarrassed at the need I had, knowing that he understood. I removed my hands from his and hid them, crossing my arms over my chest.

  Looking towards the castle, I told him of the dream I had just had, the death all around, darkness, and the castle in ruins. I told him in detail about the creature that was there and what he had said. “Welcome home Emilee, I have been waiting so long for this reunion.”

  I looked back up at Brett and said, “Home? Could this be my home?”

  Brett looked over towards the castle and then back down to me and said with a look of guardedness and questioning in his voice, “I don’t know, I’ve only been here with you when you have let me.”

  The wind started to blow and as I took Brett’s hands again, there was a voice in the wind, calling softly at first, in a whisper, “Emilee, Brett, come back.” It became more forceful, each time this voice spoke, “Emilee, Brett, come back!”

  We were suddenly back on the ship, in the room where we had been. I was still sitting on the bed with Brett sitting next to me, our hands still joined and my hands were white again. The hunger that I was feeling in that dream world was still with me, only more intense now.

  I looked around the room and there stood Angelina, Jordan, Rose, Adam and Eagle, all staring at us.

  Lily knelt down next to us and said, “It’s not time to be there, not yet.”

  Brett was looking at our hands, and I knew that he saw the change in color but said nothing as he looked back up into my eyes and I saw that same strange blank stare.

  Lily looked down at our hands, placed hers on ours as she separated Brett’s from mine and as she did so, Brett’s eyes became clear, he was with us again.

  The white coloring that was covering my hands, seemed to slither and swirl, up onto Lily’s hands. The crawly feeling in my body, calmed some but was still there, as if hiding.

  Lily stood and staggered slightly and everyone took a step or two away from her as she shut her eyes and just stood there perfectly still. She let out a strange moaning sound and then as the discoloration on her hands dissolved, she opened her eyes.

  “Well now, that was fun, wasn’t it?” Lily said in a sarcastic tone. She then came back over to me, told Brett to move, in a not very patient manner and knelt back down next to me.

  Lily took my ankle, which was still oozing a white foamy substance, in her hands and asked me to please put my hands over hers. I did so without questioning, I somehow knew that questioning or arguing would get me nowhere.

  Lily then said impatiently, “It wasn’t the appropriate time for this. I don’t think you are strong enough to handle it yet. I can’t remove it, but let’s get this healed, shall we, so we can move on to the next part of this journey, as you call it.”

  I wasn’t sure why I needed Lily to help me to heal my leg, but as I put my hands on hers, I could feel a tingling in my ankle. (Which wasn’t a good feeling at all, let me just say) My ring started to glow as did my diamond necklace, and suddenly there was a flash of light that seemed to come from Lily herself, that blinded me for a moment or two.

  As my vision came back, I looked around and believed that everyone else had lost sight for just a moment and all had a perplexed expression on their faces.

  I looked over at Lily then as she removed her hands, stood, and stumbled just a bit before centering herself. As I looked down at my ankle, it was healed, just pink dots where the wounds had been.

  I looked up into Lily’s face and she had a weary expression as she said, “It wasn’t time yet, Emilee. He shouldn’t have done what he did. The skin is healed, but it is done. I tried, and I can’t change it now, I only slowed the process down.”

  She turned to Brett and said in a very kind and caring voice, (not typical of Lily), “Brett, you are sensitive to Emilee’s touch. You cannot let things be rushed. Her needs have changed and intensified, thanks to him. You must get her there safely and we are running out of time.”

  Lily looked over at Adam and said then, “How much longer, until we reach the Island of Bermuda? The next part of Emilee’s transformation was supposed to happen there, not here.”

  Adam told her that it would take another day or so but he would get us there as soon as he could, weather permitting, to reach our destination. He also told us that not only were the grey whales following us but also other creatures from the deep, to help keep us safe.

  The whales who had helped save me, had told Adam the creature that had tried to take me was from deep in the darkest parts of the waters, a mysterious creature, which not many had ever seen before. It didn’t seem to be following us and Adam suggested, we should all get some rest.

  Lily remarked, “Mysterious indeed, but he knows it very well.”

  Adam looked at me then and said in a matter of fact way, “Emilee, you will not go back in the water. If I need to put a guard on you 24 hours a day, I will.”

  Lily chuckled at this statement and said in a sly cat like way, “Don’t you worry your pretty little head over this, Adam. She
will be guarded quite closely.” And Lily looked over to Rose and said, “Won’t she, Rose?”

  Rose, who had been very quiet through all of this, which was very unusual, spoke now with firmness in her voice, “Not to worry, I won’t let her out of my sight.” And Rose had a very strange, almost wicked grin across her face. (When I say wicked, I don’t mean that Rose was evil in anyway. It’s just an expression, to be clear.)

  I looked back to Adam and asked, “The animal that had tried to take me, I cut the end of its limb off. It was still attached to my ankle. Where is it? Did you keep it?”

  Adam looked to Brett and then said, “We have it in the mess hall, in a sealed container in the cooler.”

  “Why there?” I asked feeling confused.

  Brett then spoke, “It’s still alive, moving as if it has a life of its own. It’s trying desperately to get out but the container is a non-breakable container, we hope, and we will keep it there until we can figure out what to do with it.”

  “Why?” I asked. “If it is a living thing, we should set it free. Let it go back to where it came from. Send a message that we are stronger than it is.”

  I looked to Lily, and she said in a very odd tone, “I don’t think it is trying to get out to go home. It’s trying to get to you, to finish what it started.”

  I looked at Lily in disbelief and asked, “Why?” Again. That seemed to be all I could ask.

  Lily said, almost to herself but we all heard her, “Maybe you should go and see it, maybe it is time.”

  At that comment, Brett piped in, “Over my dead body! We will keep it away from Emilee.”

  Well when Lily heard Brett say (over his dead body) she got a sad look on her face and said, “Not now Brett, it isn’t time.”

  Brett gave her a scolding look and continued, “The cold water that its in, seems to be keeping it calm, but if it sees Emilee, we don’t know what it will do.”