Ascension: Invocation (24 page)

“Any one of them might be Human,” Alicia yelled back.

“Well, how can I tell who’s Human and who’s... not?”

“I don’t know. If they ask about the girl... shoot them, I guess.”



The trio inched their way through backyards and alleys in an effort to avoid detection by whatever might lurking following the explosion. A light haze of smoke and soot patterned the air and glazed the clothing of everyone they encountered. It would be difficult to determine if someone had been near the exact blast area or if their skin and clothes had simply been soiled by ash. This, coupled with the fact that most of the party-goers weren’t exactly concerned about wearing clean clothes, made everyone worthy of suspicion.

“How soon do you think until they start looking for us?” Milan asked.

“It depends on how badly mangled their bodies are, I think. I don’t know.”

“Didn’t you regenerate the dead tissue in your vessel?”

“Regenerating dead tissue, clearing a hemorrhage and starting a heart is one thing. Walking with a broken leg is another. My vessel is that of an otherwise healthy 16 year old female. Who knows if the Humans thought to place only physically fit vessels near the blast?”

They arrived at the studio just as the sun was setting. Upon entering the building, the mood was decidedly different than before. The taunts Alicia had endured previously were replaced with a respectful tone. Everyone wanted the story. Thanks to Alicia, the network had an exclusive. L.A. had instructed the Tuscumbia staff to allow Alicia free reign on covering the girl and she intended to use it.

“Ms. Parker?” A fast-talking young, blonde rushed toward the three, her hand extended. “I’m Alexandra Templeton, associate producer. Just call me Alex. I’m new on location. Woah. Packin’, huh?”

Alicia had nearly forgotten that she was carrying a gun. “Yes. I... I’m sorry.” She handed the pistol to Milan and shook her hand.

“Don’t be sorry, sweetie, you’ve done nothing wrong. Guess I better not piss you off, am I right?” Alex’s big, toothy smile quickly vanished as she began barking orders to other employees. “Let’s get Dr. Janacek and the young lady in make-up, please! Ms. Parker, if you’ll follow me, we need a few slugs for L.A...”

The woman began to walk away and Alicia nodded for Sariana and Milan to follow the cosmetics team. “Ummm... Alex, she’s going to need a dress or something...”

“On it!” the woman shouted. “Wardrobe! Bring the cute little number you found to cosmetics. Snap it, assholes! Snap it!”

Alicia walked quickly to catch up to Alex. “Where’s Hal?”

“A bomb went off near Ground Zero.”

“What?”

“Jesus. You didn’t hear it?”

“I am aware of the explosion, yes. Was he hurt?”

Alex laughed. “Not unless he tripped over his shoelaces on his way there, honey. He just left two minutes ago.”

“Oh. I don’t think we’ve met...”

“No. I just arrived last night. Took a red-eye in from New York. God, this place is ass-backwards. I don’t know how you’ve been dealing with this heat... and the fucking bugs.”

“You have no idea.” Alicia was suspicious of everyone, of course, and this unfamiliar face was an obvious choice for scrutiny. What the hell questions could she ask to determine if this lady was Human? Alicia had no idea. “How long have you been with Triton?”

“Make up! Wardrobe!!” she shouted. “Let’s get Ms. Parker cleaned up, please!!” Two women arrived and prepared to work their magic on Alicia’s sweaty and now-unkempt headshot. Alex shifted her hip, placed her pen to her lips and exhaled. “Let’s see... I guess six... no eight months. I jumped over here after getting cut loose at ABC. Nightline.”

“After the lawsuit?”

“No, thank God. I had nothing to do with that shit. I got caught blowing an intern in Jeanmarie’s office. I hated that gig anyway. I only landed there because of the cuts at Fox.”

“Oh, yeah? One of O’Reilley’s girls?”

“Fuck that guy. Worse, though. I was Megyn Kelly’s bitch for almost two years. 18 months of fetching Austrian goat milk double-half-caf soy cappuccinos, not to mention a hot compress every two hours for her goddamned pilonidal cyst.”

“Ewww.”

“Yeah, ewww. Sex symbol my left tit. That woman leaks more pus than a teenage crack whore with a staph infection. Let’s go, ladies!! We’re not shooting the cover of Vanity Fair, goddamnit!!!” Alex was legit, Alicia thought. The make-up team scattered. “Where the fuck is wardrobe?!”

“Dang, Alex, I can’t be two places at once. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.” Alicia recognized that thick Alabama drawl. It was Amber from the Fashion Bug. She was rushing over in short cut off jeans, carrying two blazers. Alicia thought she looked like something out of Dukes of Hazard re-run. “Heeeeyyyyy, Ms. Parker! How are you?!”

“Amber!” Alicia was genuinely surprised. “What are you...?”

“You know her?” Alex asked.

“Kind of...”

“I came down here lookin’ for you this morning,” Amber explained as she helped Alicia into one of the jackets. “I wanted to see if I could get me a tape of that interview we did. My dumbass boyfriend forgot to set the VCR. They tell me they don’t make tapes no more, did you know that?” Amber was unhappy with her first choice, so she tried the next jacket. “They offered me a flashy driver thingy but I don’t know how to use that. Anyways, while I was here, the last wardrobe girl walked out on account of Miss Bitchy here, so that nice man Mr. Hal had me kinda take over seein’ as I was qualified and all.”

“You were also half naked,” Alex muttered. “You know I practically had to force her to put shirt on? She was wearing a bikini top for half of the day. Nice tramp stamp, by the way.”

Amber shrugged. “It’s hot out.”

“What about the store?”

“Fuck the Bug, baby. I thought about what you said and, hell, I ain’t been paid. This one looks cute on you. What do you think?” Amber asked Alex.

“I think you need to shut the hell up and let us get some work done.”

“Back the fuck off, Alex. She’s fine,” Alicia snapped. “I’m sorry, Amber.”

Alex frowned and shouted to the store “We’re doing this in 3, people!”

“Awww,” Amber smiled. “Ain’t you just sweeter than peaches and ice cream! Thank you, Ms. Parker.” She gave Alicia a friendly hug and whispered, “Good luck on your TV show!”

Alicia did her quick cutaways with L.A. to promo the forthcoming, exclusive interview with Sariana. From the shadows, behind the cameras, Alicia saw Milan and the girl emerge. Sariana was now dressed in a slightly big yellow dress that perfectly complimented her green eyes. Amber had done well for her. As trees of lights and catering carts crossed before them, it only now occurred to Alicia that she was moments away from not only the most important interview of her career but also making the most vital of re-introductions.

Alicia sat the girl in front of the cameras, as she had been before. She looked through the camera's view finder and adjusted the lighting to give Sariana a soft tone. It wouldn't be quite as flattering for Alicia's pale skin but, for the moment, her own appearance took a back seat to making the Princess appear as regal as possible. She needed a tiara.

Alicia scoured the aisles of the dollar store and finally found a child's princess play-kit. She removed the cellophane and plastic and placed the crown on the girl's head. That was stupid. It was too much, so she tossed it aside. Instead, Alicia found some plastic flowers and placed a tiny, fake daisy in her hair. That was nice. Or was it?

“My Queen,” Sariana said, removing the flower. “May we please proceed?”

Alicia snapped out of it. "We're going to tape this," she announced to the crew. "We're not going live. When we're done, I'm going to edit whatever needs editing myself and then we will feed it to L.A." Alicia planned to precisely control the delivery of Sariana’s message. She wanted to be certain to cut any remarks that might be misconstrued by the general public. It wouldn’t take long. Everyone agreed, although they didn't have much of a choice.

She sat down next to Sariana and positioned herself in her chair. "Sariana, I want you to cover everything we’ve talked about before. I want you to be calm during this interview, okay?" Sariana nodded. "In order to get your message out, we need people to believe that you're trustworthy. Just think of it like you and I are having a conversation. Like we have been. Forget about the cameras."

"I understand."

"Okay. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

Alicia gave a signal to the director and the team rushed into place. "Rolling in five, four, three..."

Alicia spoke into the camera. "In the small town of Tuscumbia, Alabama and the world over, residents are preparing themselves for the coming elemental rain. The OWL..." she stopped herself. "You know what? I'm not using that anymore. People think it's gay. I'm starting again." Milan smiled in the wings, near the deodorant and mouthwash.

The director re-marked the shoot and began a new countdown. "As the world sits in anticipation for the coming elemental rain, a new voice has appeared and set the imagination of mankind even further into wonderment. Her name is Princess Sariana. You saw her first on Triton and, tonight, we speak with her in depth. She says she has an important message for our world. She claims to have been sent from another dimension to warn us of a coming cataclysm beyond our wildest nightmares. A growing envoy of fans and followers has made Princess Sariana one of the most popular figures within our present world-changing events. Is she who she says she is? Or is she simply a confused teenager in the midst of a crisis? You be the judge. Welcome, Princess Sariana."

"Thank you."

"Please reintroduce yourself to our audience."

"I am Princess Sariana, daughter of King Xander and Queen Hanorah of the Third Order of the kingdom of Lucifer. I am descendent of the Grand Queen Alicia."

"To clarify, you are referring to me when you say 'Alicia', correct?"

"This is correct."

"We’ll cover that in a moment. First, you should explain what you mean by the 'kingdom of Lucifer'. In our world, you maintain that we have a very different interpretation of what 'Lucifer' is."

"Yes. The primeval kingdom of Lucifer as it was once known, no longer exists. This planet was destroyed in a great civil war that divided our people. What remains of Lucifer are what you know as the rings of the planet Saturn. Lucifer is not a person or an angel. It is a place; a world."

"What was the cause of this war?"

"Some Luciferians wished to ascend to know God. The masters of wisdom have stated that we are all God and therefore, were one to ascend to the dimension of God; one would become supreme over all. This is not the will of the omniverse. This struggle between the Luciferians led to a great war."

"And the result of that war?"

"Those who wished to know God were banished from Lucifer and sent into exile elsewhere in your universe."

"Please explain what you mean by the 'omniverse'."

"The omniverse is the known world of universes, of which there are billions. There are more than you can imagine in the third dimension where you presently exist."

"Are we alone in the omniverse?"

"No. There are many souls of the omniverse."

"Have these other beings ever visited us before?"

"You have never been visited to my knowledge. Your universe in this dimension was long thought barren since the Luciferian war."

"What about U.F.O.s and Earth people who have claimed to have been abducted by aliens?"

"These people who claim to have been taken have confused their unconscious attempts of ascension with an illusion. The U.F.O.s you speak of, I do not know their origin."

"So, they're not crazy? They just didn't realize that what was happening was that their soul was trying to reach another dimension?"

"Correct. Your dreams offer you similar experiences."

“Out of body experiences?”

“This is the same. Yes.”

"Were these Luciferians the only inhabitants of our universe?"

“Indeed.”

"So, what happened to Lucifer? Where did our souls come from?"

"Lucifer was destroyed by the dissenters and all souls living upon it were captured. Specific Luciferian warrior souls were admonished to planet Earth. Most, however, were held captive by the Humans. We do not know their fate. We call ourselves Luciferians in honor of our lost, enlightened ancestors."

"When you say 'Humans', you're referring to the rebel Luciferians?"

"Yes. This is the name they have bestowed upon themselves. Following the destruction of Lucifer, the Humans ascended higher. The incendiary souls of Lucifer learned to create souls at will; a power not meant for any species to know. The masters of wisdom erased this knowledge from the Human logos but not before they populated Earth with new souls, including your species.”

“And what became of these souls?”

“Your world was to be home for three orders of new souls. The first order failed. Praises, the second order, declined the rebels’ offer of grand ascension and bravely defied the Humans. All of the original souls of your world then vanished. We believe that they may still be within your world but have ascended to much higher dimensions and remain elusive.”