Coalescence (Camden Investigations Book 1) (28 page)

She detected
a human voice.
“It’s me. It’s Ron. I’m trying to resist. You shouldn’t be
here.”

“But I have
to be here. You cannot convey your visions. I’m here to help you.”

“You haven’t
learned how to interpret like I have. The aliens don’t think in linear terms.
What you’re seeing is yet to happen. It’s why they sent their communiqué
through early.”

“Can you be
certain it isn’t a malfunction? Why tip their hand?”

“I don’t
have time to share my experiences. You must go.”

“What if
it’s not their thinking that is out of synch, but maybe they are out of phase
with us, in some manner?”
DJ realized she was fumbling to make
sense out of a subject more suited to Evan or Mitchell.
“I need to see more.
I need to be certain for Iris.”

“You need to
be eradicated.”

DJ could not
recognize the voice. It wasn’t Ron. It resonated with a metallic ring as if it
was being channeled via interpreter.

In her mind,
she shook her head attempting to break free.

The metallic
voice made a grunting sound. DJ felt hands gripping around her trachea. It was
through making verbal threats.

“W
HAT
THE
hell is happening here?” Rachel stammered and cupped a hand over
her mouth in disbelief.

DJ’s face
was pink. Bursts of her coughs filled the room.

Kassidy
balled a fist at nothing in particular. “I’ll tell you what’s happening.
They’re killing her!”

“But how?”
Gavin asked. His eyebrows were raised in disbelief. “I mean, it looks like
someone’s choking her, but there are no hands around her neck.”

DJ’s hands
slapped about her neck. It wasn’t her hands doing the choking. Nor was it
Ron’s. He was all but catatonic.

Kassidy
threw up her hands. “We’ve got to do something!”

Evan threw
his arms about Kassidy’s waist. “No. Not that. No physical interaction. DJ
needs to break the mental hold. Whatever is harming her holds no physical or
tangible form.”

Kassidy
sputtered, “You . . . Mean . . . Whatever’s Doing
this . . . Is . . . Not . . .
Here?”

“I’m not
certain it’s tangible anywhere,” Evan said. “I think something’s employing
thought suggestion.”

DJ
FELT
light-headed and had a great desire to relinquish her fight. A
sleep sounded so inviting.

“No!”
A
new voice had joined the telepathic battle. It was someone DJ knew.

She wanted
to say “No, Mom. Stay out of this.” But she didn’t even have the voice to speak
telepathically. She was succumbing to the strangulation. What would have been
blurred vision in a waking state appeared to DJ as dark storm clouds. A metal
ringing echoed as if thunder.

“Do not
fight it, dear.”
Mom was speaking to her. It was so
unreal. DJ imagined it was the one voice she wanted to hear if she was to die.

This is
surrealistic
,
DJ thought.
“I’m sorry, Mom. You were right. I
wanted to be with you all along. Please forgive me
 . . .
”

She choked
one last time.

“That’s it,
dear Doris Jean. Let it go. Die. Move on.”

DJ’s final
thought was betrayal. Her mother’s motives were so selfish. Her mother wanted
her to die so she could join her in death. DJ wanted to rail at her mother’s
life long self-absorption. The narcissism! How could she want her youngest
daughter to die just so she wouldn’t be alone!

“O
H,
SHIT
. No! No!
This fucking can’t be happening
!” Kassidy’s
scream radiated out into the desert.

Evan and
Rachel kneeled over the dead body. “I’ll try CPR,” Rachel said. Evan nodded.
She began pumping her hand over DJ’s chest. Then she blew air into DJ’s
lifeless lips.

“Keep
trying,” Evan said. He ran a hand through his hair.

Kassidy
knelt behind Evan, she rubbed her hands on his shoulders. “Please, please,”
Kassidy pleaded. “Whatever I need to do, I’ll do it.”

Evan
realized she wasn’t speaking to him but some higher power she felt obligated to
bargain with. He winced realizing what an ass he was. He had always held
believers in disdain—believers in religion that was. Now, in this moment,
he wished he could plead to whatever power might correct this injustice. There
was a human need in times of extreme desperation to call out for a god. Evan
acknowledged this. He began praying silently for aid. Evan, the rationalist,
would have done just about anything at this moment to reanimate DJ Camden.

Rachel
continued to hammer at DJ’s chest. Kassidy proceeded to wail and knead her
fingers into Evan’s shoulders. To Evan, these actions seemed miles away. A new
concern gripped him. The thought of delivering the devastating news to Iris
made Evan feel as if his blood had been replaced with ice-cold water. It was
the first time Evan felt his pursuit of science was mere distraction.

“S
HE’S
GONE
.” DJ heard the words being spoken. They were in English, but it
wasn’t the language she understood. Why was that? Unless, her Reptilian
half . . . It was the tone of voice that translated their
meaning. It was probably one of her friends breaking the news to Iris. DJ was
surprised to find herself in tune with the living so shortly after passing.

She thought
to move her head and forth. It was symbolic in nature. There was no need to
move your head to search in the afterlife. In a flash, her mother appeared.

“So, I’m
here. I’m with you now, Mom.”

“Yes, but
not totally.”

“What do you
mean?”

“You have
died as a human. But your other half is not. You’ll understand shortly.”

Immersed in
confusion, DJ called out to her mother. But she had vanished as quickly as she
came.
What do you mean: I’ll understand? I don’t understand
 . . .
anything.”

She wriggled
about on the floor. Her body did not feel as if it were her own. Even if she had
died, she wasn’t supposed to feel like this. Something was not right.

“H
OLD
ON
! Don’t touch her! Leave her!” Evan was screaming at no one in
particular. Everyone
had
backed off and was in no danger of touching the
large lizard creature writhing about the floor.

The camper
was in no way sturdy enough to withstand the thrashings of the eight-foot long
reptilian being that had morphed from DJ’s dead body seconds earlier.

“We’ve got
to calm this thing down.” Evan bit his lip, wishing his word choice had been
more kind.

Kassidy
offered. “How about we give it some fire water? Although, I don’t think it’s
going to stand still long enough to down shots.”

“
This
isn’t an
it
! It’s freaking DJ!” Rachel slammed a fist against the wall
prompting the refrigerator door to swing open.

She spied
its contents. It was all but empty except for the freezer section. It contained
some ice pops. Ice pops were all that DJ ate after the accident. Without
hesitation, Rachel hurled the pops at the writhing creature.

After three
rounds of pops, the Reptilian’s high pitched squeals had segued into softer,
more manageable grunts.

“I think you
gave it what it wants,” Gavin said.

“I think I
gave DJ what she recognizes,” Rachel responded.

“But how?”
Kassidy asked. “If DJ died . . .”

Evan squatted
to a crouch and held a hand out to the lizard. “It’s all right. It’s okay.” He
repeated the mantra a few times. To Kassidy he said, “I don’t think they can be
separated. There must still be an element of DJ in its makeup.”

Kassidy
swore she saw the lizard nod.

Then an
enormous clatter erupted as the Reptilian fought to stand.

The camper
swung far to the left, then far to the right. Darian, Evan, Kassidy, and Rachel
fought to retain balance by reaching out for purchase. Darian was fortunate
enough to find the kitchen table and clung to it like a life preserver. “It’s
her. I know it’s her. She wants to speak. I can feel it. DJ was always about
communication.”

Evan glanced
at Darian unsure if the UFO chaser was delirious. He really didn’t think DJ was
still alive but that her essence, as it was contained in genetic coding, was
still viable and could influence the Reptilian body that still housed it.

But Evan’s
belief that the Reptilian would function as if it were DJ vanished when it
began to peer intensely in the direction of the still unconscious Bill. Tawa
yipped and danced in frantic circles. Ron was slumped onto his side and barely
conscious. There was no one in close proximity to defend the vulnerable spirit
guide.

The camper
groaned as if in protest when the Reptilian stooped to touch Bill. Evan felt
frozen. His limbs would not move. But a small voice played in his head. It sure
as hell wasn’t reason. It was a voice Evan had never welcomed. It was a voice
of faith. It told Evan to remain calm. There was a purpose to the Reptilian’s
actions. After all, it was the human’s ally in the war against the Greys.
Its
actions have a purpose. Its actions have a purpose.
Evan felt as if he were
praying more than hoping. He glanced downward to find his hands clasped
together. When he looked back up he felt sickened. The Reptilian’s tongue shot
in and out of its mouth. It was staring intently at whatever prize it
cherished.

The
Reptilian half of DJ Camden was holding a pendant in its claw. Evan strained
his neck to see around the gargantuan beast. But try as he might he failed.
What did the Reptilian want with Bill’s pendant?

A flash of
blazing light held the answer. Evan closed his eyes, seeing orange light. It
permeated his eyelids. It was as if the sun had blinded him.

Etched in
the orange glow was a symbol. It was the caduceus, the staff and serpent
symbolism marked in the crop circle. The light flashed again. Evan then
recognized a human wheezing sound. It was emanating from Bill.

In a moment,
Evan’s sight returned. Bill’s pendant was glowing in the dusky light of the
camper. The etching of the serpent sparkled and seemingly floated off the
pendant as if a hologram. It spun round and round. Evan couldn’t be sure if the
serpent was merely a drawing on the symbol had been given life. In any event,
Bill was conscious and enraptured in what appeared to be a telepathic link with
Reptilian DJ.

Long moments
transpired. Evan glanced around the camper. Stark white faces with dilated
pupils observed the ritual. No one was going to interfere even if able. Shadows
bounced off the walls. Sometimes the shadow was the serpent form.

The lizard
teetered and Evan wondered if this would be the tipping point that would send
the camper crashing to its side.

He closed
his eyes and braced. When he dared to peek, he found the lizard was no longer
in the room and had been replaced or reformed into DJ’s human body.

The sudden
weight of the situation felt suffocating. He had to contact Iris. What if it
was already too late? What if the aliens had engaged their light weapon during
the Reptilian séance?

Bill spoke
and interrupted Evan’s thoughts. The spirit guide spoke in an assured tone. It
surprised Evan. How could this man behave so calmly after such a paranormal
experience? Bill advised everyone to remain calm and quiet. He would explain
what had just transpired. Evan focused. This, he had to hear.

Bill fought
off Tawa’s romantic advances, which had taken the form of face licks, as he
spoke. “The Reptilian has outfoxed the fox, so to speak.” Everyone murmured. He
raised a hand to hush.

“The hybrid
in its Reptilian form came to me and showed me the truth. Human DJ had been
deceived during her link with Ron. The Greys knew we were trying to track to
their ship. In an effort to deceive, the Greys gave DJ, via Ron, a distorted
vision that showed the planet already, and falsely, under attack. It was a
failed attempt at deceit. The Reptilian, which was never affected by the Greys
deceit, was brought to the forefront by the foolish hand of the enemy. DJ in
her waning human state eventually became privy to this deceit and the Greys
acted in telekinetic fashion to disarm her truth with the cold hand of death.
DJ succumbed to their wishes—at the behest of her mother—to give
rise to her Reptilian state. The Reptilian linked with me with aid of
Quetzalcoatl and showed me the true path of the ship. It is in the near
vicinity and there is precious little time for your friends to connect the
artifact to its energy source. Go now, and contact them.”

Rachel raced
to the transceiver and relayed Bill’s news. In short form.