Don't Label Me! (12 page)

Melissa woke first and noticed with no small
relief that she wasn’t tied up or anything nasty like hanging
upside down over a cauldron of boiling water or whatever cannibals
did to their prey. Instead they seemed to have been placed inside
some kind of grass covered hut. It was a little dark inside it but
nothing ominous. Okay this wasn’t so bad. She surveyed the other
three bodies stirring on the ground. No harm had come to any of
them.

The sound of approaching footsteps had her
looking to the entrance. Surprisingly an exceedingly elderly white
caucasian male entered. He wore little; a loincloth and what looked
to be the well worn remains of an army shirt, open at the front and
sleeves rolled up. Ornate tattoos covered most of his legs and
forearms. He extended a hand in greeting. “Private William Stevens,
pleased to meet you dear lady.”

“
You’re English!” Melissa was a little
embarrassed at being lost for words. She finally remembered her
manners and took his hand. “Um, sorry. Just surprised. I’m very
pleased to meet you too, Private Stevens. My name is Melissa. These
men are my husband Rob, my friend George and our town doctor
I-Wayan Agung but you can call him Doc.”

William settled on his haunches, native
style, studying the waking males then he turned back to Melissa.
“Quite a collection you have there Melissa. And you can call me
Will since we seem to be already on first names. I guess times have
changed outside.” He appeared to study her clothes. “You must be
hot in those pants. I’ll get one of the girls to bring you a
sarong.”

“
Oh thank you. To tell the truth we
dressed to cover up our arms and legs because some of the tribes
outside find too much bare skin disrespectful. We didn’t want to
offend.”

“
Really? Well you won’t offend anyone
that way here. The girls hardly ever even wear tops.”

“
You don’t get many visitors from
outside then?”

“
No the portal usually keeps them out.
It must have judged your worthy though. It let me through back in
1944. I was being hunted down by some Japs. Don’t know what
happened to them but they were behind me one minute and then not
the next. When I found the tribe here I couldn’t speak their
language but they made me understand I was welcome and safe for as
long as I wanted to stay. I fell in love. I stayed. My wife still
lives but we’ll be meeting our ancestors soon I guess. I have no
fear of that. The tribe have taught me much about the interaction
of the afterlife with this world.”

Melissa beamed at the man. She guessed that
other tribes outside must have dealt with his pursuers and that was
who had ended up on the poles at the gate. t seemed more important
to share their common bond rather than those grizzly details. “I
died once. My friends brought me back from the edge but I have no
fear of it either.”

“
Then that is how you found the gate.
Only those with the otherworld sight can find it. Sorry we drugged
you. We were just being cautious. We didn’t want you knowing the
pathway into the village.”

Doc stirred and dusted himself off before
extending a hand to the stranger. “I heard some of that while I was
waking. We understand your caution. Do all the tribe speak
English?”

“
No, only me. My wife knows a few
words of endearment as well as a few swear words she uses on me
when I stuff up.” He smirked at that.

Rob woke, surveyed everyone then quietly
went to sit beside Melissa. George tried to struggle to his feet
but soon realised the ceiling of the hut wasn’t high enough for him
to stand straight so he found a space on the dirt floor next to
Doc.

Melissa introduced everyone again then an
elderly tribal woman entered with a tray overflowing with fruit and
refreshments.

Will smiled adoringly as the woman placed
the tray on the ground then sat herself next to him. “This is my
wife Do-Eelah which means very clever. Which she is by the way.
Without her love and knowledge I would never have survived here
this long.”

Do-Eelah clasped her hands together at heart
level then nodded at the strangers. “Hello.” The greeting sounded
shy and uncertain but her smile could have melted the coldest
heart.

Will gestured for them to eat. “When you are
all refreshed please come with me to the long house so you can meet
the elders, give us news of the outside world and tell us why
you’re here.”

The center of the village was dominated by a
giant fig tree of indeterminate age. Their tree of life Will called
it. In its branches monkeys and children were busy chasing each
other. It wasn’t clear who was chasing who but they looked to be
having fun. Off to the side of the tree was a longhouse where all
the elders of the tribe, male and female, had gathered to hear
their tale. Will acted as their translator.

The elders became grim faced as they heard
about the state of the outside world. “They know of the Din of who
you speak but had no idea their takeover of the world was so
complete, nor the devastation.” Will relayed. “They ask what they
can do to help.”

The guys looked to Melissa. Shit, they
expected her to do her ambassador thing. Still shy of the
responsibility that fell to her she reached within for her inner
priestess, asking the goddess for her guidance in what she needed
to say. “The outside, as you call it, is beyond changing. The
systems of corruption, greed and control that run it are too
powerful even for the Malakim or the earth goddess to fight and
win. If fight we must we will but there is a better way. When those
forces of evil tried recently to destroy our town our new friends
and allies, the fairies, allowed us to bring our community into
their dimension. Another group in South America has done the same.
We propose finding those communities and individuals that are
either outside of the current systems or willing to leave it all
behind. These more evolved souls can exist in the fairy dimension.
I believe you could too. In fact, it would be advisable, as it is
the one who protects you who we wish to free. It is she, Orea, who
through her love of you hides you. I believe it is Orea who created
the veil and the portal that hides this patch of jungle. By joining
our dimension you would no longer need her protection and she could
be freed to live again and rejoin the Malakim.”

Will translated her speech. An animated
discussion amongst the council ensued. There was little those from
Boswell could do but hope the council would support them. Will’s
wife brought them more refreshments while they waited what seemed
like hours. Finally an older woman rose and spoke to Will then
waited for him to translate.

“
She says that they understand the
plight of the protector and they would be ungrateful if they did
not also wish for her freedom. However they fear for their future.
They have no desire to be part of this outside world you have
described. The council asks that you advise them on how to join
with this dimension of fairy and how they may help in freeing their
protector.”

Melissa relaxed and noticed the guys did
too. If things had gotten ugly they could have teleported out but
that still wouldn’t have helped Orea. Now might be a good time to
talk to a fairy. She sent out a mental call to Eadoin.

The tall winged fairy materialized beside
her. “We hear we’re expanding the empire again. If you guys are
going to keep adding to fairy we might have to rename our dimension
Earth 2.0.”

Hideo materialised on Oxford St in time to
see a frightened young woman exit a building in a hurry. Going with
a hunch he followed, concerned when he noticed another shape step
from the shadows and follow her too.

If Sathi had hackles they were well and
truly up. They’d gone up when Mr Fishwyck had turned up for his
interview with Sheila. They should have relaxed back down once she
was out of his vicinity but that didn’t seem to be the case.
Usually she’d have gotten her emotions under control quicker than
that. Yet the fear wouldn’t abate and neither would the prickly
sensation crawling along her spine, telling her in very loud and
specific terms that she was being followed. Ducking into the next
doorway she peered around it furtively to see if anything was
further up the street. People of course, it was a busy Thursday
afternoon on Oxford St after all. Two stood out though. One guy had
a slimy feel, darkly shadowed, almost as if he harboured something
not unlike what she’d seen in Mr Fishwyck’s aura. She couldn’t be
certain. She wasn’t close enough and she damned sure didn’t want to
be. Someone else, further up the street caught her eye too. An
Asian with an aura that glowed far brighter than anything she’d
seen since she’d started being aware of such things. Okay, maybe
that meant he was a good guy. She hoped so. If she could backtrack
around the block and get a closer look at him. There was something
about the way he wandered down the street, casually but with a
certainty born of years of perhaps being comfortable with who and
whatever he was, that called to her. What it called in her she
wasn’t exactly sure but she certainly wasn’t going to hang around
and wait for either Mr Fishwyck or the other slimy bastard walking
down the street to catch up with her.

Hideo noted with approval when his
quarry sensed her tag. She had her wits about her then. She
disappeared momentarily into a doorway but then rejoined the throng
of pedestrians before disappearing once again down an alleyway.
Smart move. Unfortunately she’d been seen. The shadowed individual
following her veered to go after her. Shit, she’d be alone in that
alley. Ah yes, but if she was alone then maybe he could teleport
there without startling anyone. He sent a thought to Simon over the
common mental pathway used by all Boswellians.
Can I travel the non-local into a place I’ve never
seen?

A vision rather than words came back at him.
He locked onto the image of the garbage bins Simon sent, trusted
and yielded to the all-spirit to get him there.

Sathi realised her error when she looked
over her shoulder to see the slimeball gaining on her. Damn. She
could see him better now and he was as bad as she feared. He really
was another of those reptilian, aura infected individuals, just
like Mr Fishwyck.

He grinned inanely as he gained on her.
Coming into range he pulled some futuristic looking gun from
beneath his jacket and took aim at her.

But it was the impact of a man, not any
bullet that hit her. Two strong arms wrapped around her, using
forward momentum to roll her almost into a somersault, out of
harm’s way, just as the gun discharged. Stunned she stared at where
she’d been standing moments before, only to realise the trash can
there was now solid, crystalline stone. What the...?

Before she could think any more of it she
was swung like a sack of potatoes over her rescuer’s shoulders. The
whole world went briefly white then the next minute she was at the
end of the alley. He lowered her to the ground and they were
running for it.

“
Thank the all-spirit. I didn’t know
if I’d get away with that. Usually only the meta beings can
teleport others.”

All-spirit? Meta beings? Teleportation? Her
rescuer was a tad on the strange side but at the moment she wasn’t
going to stop and question him about it. She was just glad when he
let her down. Ahead she saw a little shop she hadn’t ever noticed
before. The sign on the door said simply Ke-ru-ri, whatever that
was. Strange as she’d come to know the area around the club quite
well. However the shop called to her gut and she had a habit of
listening to her gut. “This way.”

Hideo looked for a moment that he might
argue with her but then he too peered at the shop. As if seeing
something she hadn’t he nodded in agreement. “I think you’re
right.”

In the distance the sound of running feet
alerted them to the fact that their pursuer was gaining on them
again. Shit he was fast. Maybe it had something to do with the ugly
thing in his aura. Running she almost didn’t notice the chalk line
on the ground but she sure as hell felt it as they crossed it. That
wasn’t all. On the other side of the chalk there was no Oxford St.
Yes the shop she hoped was their refuge was still there but now it
appeared to be in a high Himalayan village, god knows where.

Their pursuer swore as he ran straight into
an invisible wall that shimmered and then was gone. He picked up
his phone and made the call he knew would spell an untimely death
for his host body. “Sorry Boss, lost her.”

Sathi looked to her rescuer for some
explanation but he seemed as much a loss for words. “Well I guess
we still go to the shop.”

Hideo shrugged his shoulders in some
bemusement. “I guess so. There’s a good light coming from it. It
feels safe.”

Light? Sathi looked again at the shop. Yeah,
well, maybe. Could shops have auras. This one did.

Inside it was like many Tibetan importer
shops she’d been in, all beads and strange brass objects, statues,
a few wall hangings and some carpets. The guy at the counter, a
young caucasian looking man looked up, apparently not startled by
their sudden entrance. “You made it I see. Silwa will be pleased.
I’m Thomas by the way.”

Hideo looked at the man in amazement. “I
remember you.”

Sathi wasn’t sure by the tone Hideo used
whether that meant Thomas was good or bad.

“
Actually I’m neither.” Thomas
answered. “And before you ask yes I can hear your thoughts. So can
that man with you. Long time no see sensei. How’s the Aikido going?
You look about forty years younger than the last time I saw you.
Did you do the dirty with a Malakim or something?”