Incursion: The Rift - Episode Twenty-Two
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Jeffrey awoke to sunlight and it took him a while to remember that that wasn't possible; he was deep underground. Crawling off the bed -- he hadn't bothered to get undressed or get under the blankets after returning in a daze from his excursion with Timothy the night before -- he stumbled to the window and pulled back the drapes.
Trees, maple and beech mostly, with branches swaying in a gentle breeze. A blue jay flew past his window, alighting on a branch.
"Where the hell am I?" Jeffrey said aloud. Was it possible that this was some sort of 3D projection meant to make extended stays in a subterranean environment easier on the psyche? But it was just too real. He would have opened the window, but there didn't seem to be any way to do that.
Jeffrey continued to gaze out the window for a long time, trying to detect some flaw in the panorama, something that would indicate it was merely an artfully contrived illusion. A repeat performance of the blue jay perhaps, showing that the scene was looping.
Then he saw it. Only, what he saw didn't prove this was a projection; just the opposite. Movement drew his gaze to something he hadn't noticed before. Judging by the height of the trees and his angle relative to them, he guessed he was on the second story of ... of whatever building this was. Almost directly below him was a walkway, mostly obscured by the thick canopy of the trees. The movement that caught his eye was a woman walking along the cobblestone path, toward this building. He supposed she too could have been part of the illusion, except that, just before entering the building, she looked up at him and made eye-contact.
He only saw her for the briefest moment but it was enough to register her stunning beauty. Like the raven-haired Damaris he had met last night, this woman seemed to generate some aura that attracted and enthralled all who saw her. A mere two-second glimpse of her was enough to accelerate his pulse and still the breath in his lungs.
Sirens.
He would willingly -- eagerly and with joy -- hurl himself onto the rocks for her.
Jeffrey pressed his face to the window straining to see her. But it was no use. She was already in the building.
In this building.
In a dash, Jeffrey tore off his clothes, showered and shaved -- the washroom was well-stocked with a complete array of masculine toiletries -- and then dressed. As Scheffer promised, the walk-in closet adjoining the room had a full wardrobe of stylish and apparently brand new clothes. It only briefly occurred to him to question how they had managed to match his size exactly, but he didn't dwell on it.
In a moment he was in the corridor looking for a way downstairs.
His recollection of the night before was hazy at best, at least of everything leading up to what Timothy had shown him, and he couldn't recall seeing any stairs or elevators. Somehow he found his way to a spacious dining room with a single table long enough to seat twenty, but with only four place settings prepared. The opposite wall was all glass windows and a door, leading to a balcony overlooking the forest he had seen earlier. He was about to leave when Damaris entered behind him.
"Jeffrey," Damaris greeted him, smiling. "I hope you slept well." She put a hand on his arm and even through the sleeve of his shirt her touch was electrifying.
"Yes," he answered. "Quite."
"I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to speak much when you arrived," Damaris said, leading him into the room. "I wanted to thank you for all that you've done, returning Timothy to us. He told me what happened. How the Trinity sent people after you. In the condition Timothy was in he was still very vulnerable and I don't think he could have made it without you."
"To be perfectly honest," Jeffrey told her, "I'm not entirely sure what happened, who Trask and his friend were working for, or why they were after us. This Trinity, for instance ... "
"Of course," Damaris said. "Timothy took you through the Revealing?"
Jeffrey gave a short laugh. "If you mean that psychedelic acid trip, yes he did, and it left me with more questions than answers."
Damaris nodded, "That's understandable. It's a lot to absorb -- "
"My whole world has changed," Jeffrey said cutting her off. "Everything I thought I knew, everything I believed, is wrong."
Damaris waited a moment. "No one will fault you if you can't accept it," she said slowly. "And it is not my intention to manipulate you in any way. But you should know that we need you, Timothy needs you, now more than ever. But the decision to stay must be yours."
Jeffrey was about to reply when the woman he had seen on the path entered the room.
"Ah, Vashti," Damaris greeted her. "Allow me to introduce Jeffrey St -- "
"Where's Timothy?" the woman -- Vashti -- interrupted. "I just spoke with
Scheffer and he said Timothy arrived last night."
"Yes," Damaris replied, smiling. "He's here. He's just getting dressed and should be in shortly. This," she motioned again to Jeffrey, "is -- "
"Why wasn't I informed?"
"There wasn't time. The Trinity sent out hunters. Somehow they found out even before we did that the rejuvenation was nearly complete. We had to scramble to locate Timothy before they did. As it was they murdered the first team we sent out."
"Who's this?" Vashti nodded at Jeffrey.
"I was trying to tell you," Damaris said, with just the merest hint that she may have been losing patience. "This is Jeffrey Strand, Lord Timothy's brother."
The change in Vashti's demeanor was instantaneous and Jeffrey was once again enthralled. Beyond reason he felt an overpowering longing for her, was in awe of her exquisite beauty.
"Vashti!" Damaris almost shouted, "No! He must be allowed to exercise his free will."
Ignoring her, Vashti took a step toward Jeffrey, and the longing exploding within him intensified. He would kill for her. Die for her.
"You know Lord Timothy has forbidden it," Damaris said, putting out a hand as if to hold the other woman back.
Immediately Vashti turned away, her arms folded across her chest. "Oh, very well," she said.
Jeffrey felt as if a giant hand had been gripping his chest, squeezing the life from him, and then suddenly let go. He leaned on the table beside him, his legs trembling.
"What ... " Jeffrey panted, slowly recovering. "What the hell was that? What did you do to me?"
Vashti ignored him. "Where's breakfast?" she asked, and strode past him, through a door to an adjoining room.
"Tell me," Jeffrey said to Damaris.
"We have the ability to ... influence ... people and things to a limited degree," Damaris explained.
"It didn't feel limited," Jeffrey told her. "And when you say we?"
"Our kind," Damaris said.
"Meaning?"
Damaris smiled. "That's a little complicated. I think I should let Timothy explain it to you."
"I think he tried," Jeffery said. "During that -- what did you call it? The Revealing? -- I saw images of ... I don't know what ... beings? And does Timothy now have this ability too?"
"And more. He's always had it, although during his rejuvenation he wouldn't have realized it. However, Lord Timothy's power is magnitudes greater than anything Vashti or I could manage.'
Jeffery shook his head. "What have I got myself into?"
"War," Timothy said from the open doorway. He entered and Damaris went to him, sliding easily into his arms. They exchanged a quick kiss.
Damaris started to speak. "Then the Trinity -- "
At that moment Vashti returned from the kitchen. "The chef said -- " And then she saw Timothy. Squealing like a preteen at a Britney Spears concert, she rushed into his arms, pushing Damaris aside, locking her lips on to his.
As the kiss lengthened, Jeffrey watched Damaris' eyes narrow, her arms tighten across her chest, and her jaw set. He looked from Damaris to Timothy and Vashti and back to Damaris, trying to sort out the relationships.
"I have missed you so much," Vashti told the man in her arms. "Don't ever leave me again."
"Not if I can help it," Timothy promised her. He gently disengaged himself from her embrace.
"We're at war," Timothy told them. "What started as a cold war has finally escalated."