The Chardon Chronicles: Season One -- The Harvest Festival (39 page)

Matt guffawed, “Owen, what does that even
mean? Be serious.”

Owen’s face became very serious, then became
animated as if his skin enclosed incredible surging energy, “You
will lead us, be our beacon, shine on the
snake
that would
devour us all and we will destroy
it
.” He settled back into
his chair, “I would say it is your choice, but there really is
none.”

Matt was skeptical, “That did not clear it
up, Owen slash Samantha.”

“I have delivered the message, I can do no
more.” Owen said and held his hands out. “Now will you show me
around this wonderful place? I really, truly love watching
birds.”

Robbie stood up, “I’d love to show you
around, Owen, follow me.”

Matt, Telia and Owen met Heather Madher at
the warehouse. Matt was brooding and quiet and manned the
reflectors’ controls while Telia chatted away with Heather and
Owen. Heather wore yoga pants and a skin tight top and a lavender
track jacket. She had her hair up in a tight bun. She had a yoga
class in the morning and was going to pilates later in the
afternoon. Owen was almost impossibly charming around the
women.

“Well, what does this thing do?” Heather
asked.

“It’s almost impossible to explain.” Telia
said bluntly. “You actually would not believe me if I told
you.”

“Oh come on, I’ve seen some weird stuff,
believe me.” Heather said.

“Alright, well take a swig of this.” Telia
gave her the tea. “Don’t smell it, it’s a little stinky.”

Heather took the cup, “Bottom’s up.” she
chugged it down. “Ack…”

“Climb up there and meditate, but instead of
staying focused inside, pretend your mind is inflating, going out,
not like you’re trying to grasp something with your hand, just
expand it.”

Heather clambered up the ladder. Matt pointed
the reflector. Heather laughed as it moved. “This is just like a
movie set!”

“You ok?” Telia asked.

“Yep, let me give this a try.” Heather calmed
herself and meditated.

Owen closed his eyes and took a deep
breath.

Heather was on the shore of Arcadia. The
young Owen was standing there next to her. He had chestnut brown
hair and a very regular face with a square jaw. Samantha and Louis
were sitting on the beach.

“Welcome!” Owen said to her. Samantha stood
up and embraced her. She felt warmth flow through her body.

“Oh my god!” She exclaimed, then returned to
normal consciousness. “Holy shit!” she said. “What was that?” She
climbed down the ladder. She was bewildered and slightly off
balance. Telia helped her to a chair.

Telia was smiling, “That place is called
Arcadia.”

“Is it virtual reality? I swear I was
somewhere else. There was a man there, he said ‘Welcome’! A woman
hugged me. I felt it. I still feel it.”

“It’s amazing, no?” Owen asked.

“Where was I?” Heather asked.

“It’s basically, in lay terms, another
dimension.” Owen said.

“Wow. That’s like sci-fi.” Heather said.
“That was amazing, Tee.”

“You’ll have to try it again. Once you learn
to stay focused in that state, you can see more.” Telia said. She
took a drink of the peyote tea and climbed up in the chair.

When she crossed over, Samantha and Louis
were waiting for her.

Samantha embraced her and kissed her mouth
and neck. Telia stayed close to her and looked deep into her eyes.
Telia could smell her breath. It was like an intoxicating spice.
Samantha said, “I am glad you are back.”

Louis said, “You know what to do?”

Telia nodded. She concentrated on Heather.
Her ghostly form shimmered before them. She felt Samantha flow
through her into Heather. She heard Samantha whispering. The
syllables were barely audible but they caused Telia’s whole body to
tingle.

“OK.” Telia said and shifted her
concentration back to Louis and Samantha.

Samantha brushed her hair away from her face.
“Have you thought of what Owen asked?”

Telia nodded. “Matt is still skeptical,
though.”

Samantha smiled broadly and kissed her again.
“He will come around.” Her hand slipped down Telia’s back to the
base of her spine. Telia felt electricity flow through her entire
body. “It is too important we will have to convince him about the
danger.” Samantha said. “In the mean time, you coax him, but do not
push hard.”

“I will.” Telia breathed.

She returned to normal consciousness. She was
panting and her face was flushed and red and sweat beaded on her
forehead. “Wow.” she said. She slowly climbed down the ladder.

Heather was waiting for her, “Telia that
really
was incredible. I haven’t even started to process
that, but I need to get going to make my class, walk with me?”

Telia put an arm around Heather’s shoulders
and she gripped Telia’s waist. “I told you it was life
changing.”

Heather said, “It was indescribable. I still
feel it. It’s just there, like a taste.”

Telia brushed a few straggling hairs from
Heather’s face and looked at her with appreciation. Her voice was
still a little husky from Samantha’s touch. “I know people tell you
all the time, but you’re radiant.”

“Thanks, you too, Telia. I could just eat you
up.” Heather hugged her and then kissed her cheek.

“Say Hi to Bethany and Charlie.” Telia patted
Heather’s car, then she pulled away. Heather honked the horn as she
turned onto the road. Telia sighed and went back into the
warehouse.

“What a lovely young lady. She looks
familiar.” Owen said.

“She’s an actress.” Matt said. “Maybe you’ve
seen her?”

“Oh yes, maybe.” Owen nodded.

“Are you going?” Telia asked Matt.

“Not today. I think we need to get Owen to
the airport.”

“Quite right, my flight’s in a couple of
hours, and with the security these days, I’ll be lucky to make
it!”

~End of Episode Seven~

Present Day

Demetria looked through the pile of photos of
the Wells house and the family. Judge Ralph kept going over various
aspects of their plan. She didn’t intend to follow any of it.

“Oh shut up, already.” she said. “I’ll get
these books. If I need help from you, I’ll tell you what you need
to do.”

She stood up and picked up her motorcycle
helmet. She was wearing fitted gold and black leathers. Ralph
attempted to start another sentence but she glared at him, “Not
another word from you.”

She climbed on a black Ducati that was parked
in front of the campaign headquarters, lit the rear tire up and
swung it around in a circle then rode off.

“Well, Yuri, I hope you’re happy.” Ralph
said.

Yuri shrugged. “You don’t think
she
will succeed at this simple task?”

“I think she might get the books, or just
forget about it in five minutes. God knows what else will happen. I
don’t think she’s good at taking orders.” Ralph said.

Chuck nodded, “Yeah, I agree with Ralph. I
guess we need to do our best to back her up, but stay out of her
way.”

Tracy and Chloe drove to school together in
Chloe’s car. It had been repainted a dark bluish black and a faint
white arc of stars splayed from one wheel well to the other. The
old steel wheels had been replaced with new alloy wheels and low
profile tires.

“I love my car.” Chloe hugged the wheel as
they waited at the light.

“How are you so calm?” Tracy asked.

Chloe took her hand, it was clammy. She said,
“Even though I was in danger, I was still in control of the
situation, I took the initiative to act and chose the outcome. I
kicked ass.” She smiled.

“I wish I could be so calm.” Tracy
sighed.

“Girl, you’re doing alright, but as my dad
says, I think ‘you’re wrestling with ghosts.’”

“Huh? What does that mean?”

“It took me a long time to figure that one
out, too. He means, you need to think about these problems in
concrete terms. From my point-of-view, you should be confident,
your family is awesome and you are very intelligent. Put that
intelligence to work. Don’t just wait for this to be resolved.”
Chloe emphasized her words by poking the dashboard.

Tracy nodded curtly, “Yeah, I think I get it.
Still, it’s not easy, right?”

“I didn’t say it would be.”

They pulled into the lot. Berto and Richard
Golden were waiting for them. Richard had a knit hat on over his
curly blond hair and wore ridiculous mirrored aviator glasses and
had a candy cigarette in his mouth.

Berto opened her door and said, “Good morning
ladies.”

“Oh such a gentleman.” Chloe climbed out of
the car.

Richard took his cue and hurried over to
Tracy’s door. “What up Trace?” he said.

She laughed at him, “Oh man, I love those
glasses.”

Berto said, “If you need to do your hair in
them, you probably can.”

Richard said with mock seriousness, “Hey,
quit clowning, Berto, we’re here on business.”

Chloe scrunched up her nose, “What are you
talking about?”

Berto looked around the lot, “We have a
proposition.”

Tracy was intrigued, “OK, well, what is
it?”

“Tracy, how would you like to be homecoming
queen? Chloe you would be on the court.” Richard offered.

Berto added quickly, “We,” he gestured back
and forth between Richard and himself, “thought that was fair,
since Tracy’s been here a while and you’re relatively new… That’s
the only reason.”

Chloe laughed, “How?!”

Tracy said, “Yeah really, I mean, how can you
even make the offer?”

Berto said, “We have our ways.”

Chloe said, “Wait, what’s the catch?”

Berto looked confused, “Catch?”

“I mean what do we need to do in return.”

He laughed, “Oh! Nothing. I mean, we were
also going to ask you two to the dance, but no strings
attached.”

Tracy smiled, “I leave it up to Chloe.”

Chloe nodded, “Sure that sounds good, I
really just want to see if you can do it.”

Berto and Richard high fived then fist
bumped. “It’s already did, well, not quite yet, but by the end of
the day.”

They started toward the school building.
Demetria’s Ducati roared past. Her blond hair was flowing out of
the back of the helmet. She turned into the front drive of the
school and then rode up onto the sidewalk and parked in the front
of the entry way. A vice principal walked out to her waving a
finger.

“You cannot park there.”

She took her helmet off and hung it from the
bars. She fixed the man with her gaze and unzipped the top of the
leathers down to her hips. She was only wearing panties and a tight
white tank top with no bra beneath. A crowd of students was
gathering around like iron filings to a magnet.

The vice principal became completely
confused. She ignored him and pulled out a slip of paper from the
hip strap of her panties. She announced, “Is Steve Polloy here?
Someone go get him.”

A boy sprinted into the building. She sat
down on the bike.

“I’ll just be a minute.” She smiled at the
vice principal. She lounged back and soaked in the morning sun.

Steve walked out the front doors. He was a
slender boy with short blond hair. He dressed like a skater, even
though he wasn’t one. The crowd parted like wheat before the
wind.

“Steve?” She said in a pouty voice. She
brushed her fingers through her hair.

“Yeah, that’s me.” he said. The crowd formed
a half moon around them.

“I’m your cousin, Demetria from the old
country.” she stood up. She was slightly taller than him. She put
her hands on his face and kissed him on the lips and pressed her
body against him.

“What?” he mumbled.

“Does it even matter?” she asked.

“No. It really doesn’t.” He said matter of
factly.

She kissed him again, and put an arm around
him. He saw that her armpits were noticeably hairy, blonde wispy
hairs glowed in the morning sun. He felt disoriented. She handed
him a phone number. “Call me. We will meet later today.”

She put the helmet on again and fired up the
big engine. It rumbled and roared to life. She patted the gas tank
and zipped up her leathers. The crowd instinctively moved out of
her way. She lit up the rear tire until it smoked, then rode off
the sidewalk and roared away like a lightning bolt.

Steve was dazed, he turned around to go back
into the building. Everyone was gawking at him. He noticed the
girls were now eyeing him in a completely new, interested way. He
smiled and nodded at the crowd and walked back into the
building.