Coated in gold, her hand extends from the orb, a tiny droplet of it dancing from her finger, making a lazy pathfor me. I attempt to move, to evade, but find I’m paralyzed and completely incapable of protecting myself from this new unknown.
“Promise you’ll find me,” she whispers just as the gold touches me, a sudden heat rushing over me, followed my silence.
Blinking slowly, I respond, “I promise.”
And then, the gold orb vanishes.
And with it, Gemma.
THIRTY-SIX
A SPLINTERED MIND
Zion
This isby far the strangest out-of-body experience I’ve ever had the displeasure of experiencing.
My body stands at the ready, and all of my natural instincts are cued to follow the instructions given.
But my mind, my mind remains on the singular plane of my very existence. Which means, just as Gemma explained, I will know exactly what is going on and be completely incapable of stopping it. And I know this is all part of her master plan. In order to break the bond, she has to fracture it wholly, which in turn fractures that very part of me that keeps me balanced so precariously between good and evil.
Of course, what Gemma hasn’t considered is the fact that if she succeeds in this plan, I will take whatever evil storm grows inside me and throw it at her.
I feel the moment Vivian enters the same realm as me. My head turns in the direction in which she must be, but I remain standing, frozen in place. I poke around within my ownconsciousness, desperate to gain back some kind of control, becoming increasingly frustrated when nothing happens.
Giving up, I settle in, drawing all of my focus on extricating myself from this prison, knowing my only option right now is to get ahead of the trouble.
Vacating your own body is frowned upon, though sometimes ceasing to exist in the mental capacity is the only way to survive. The problem is, in many cases, the mind and the body become so splintered that it becomes nearly impossible to render them whole again.
It also hurts.
Once I’m free, it takes me a few moments to control my nonexistent self. I spin around, wrapping myself in a cocoon of hope and wishful thinking. And then I drift, at first rather haplessly, but then, with a bit more direction.
I can feel her. I don’t need my physical body to see her or to touch her. She’s panicked. Her heartbeat galloping, breath gasping, fire and electricity running through her in pulses.
It only takes me a few moments to locate her. She’s sprawled on her front, her palms braced on the ground beneath her. Retching, she lets loose a pained growl, her torso flexing as liquid gold shoots from her mouth. She scurries back, attempting to stay out of the way as the mess pools as if it’s realigning, seeking out its target.
She repeats the process a few times until she is pressed back into a corner, panting from exertion, and her wild eyes track the mess she left in her wake.
The gold found her, but the gold cannot have two masters at once.
I stop in front of her, wishing I had a physical presence so she could focus on me. She stares vacantly, exhaustion settling over her as the gold slowly seeps toward her. She’s no longer trying to get away, outwardly resigned to whatever her fate may be, and Icurse my lack of voice and my complete inability to help her in any way.
I circle her, hoping she’ll somehow sense a shift in the air, but she remains frozen in place. The gold swirls and becomes an oblong solid shape that rises from the ground until it’s almost eye-level with her, assessing her even.
She blinks, a dull chuckle falling from her lips, and the defeat behind it infuriates me. Circling her one more time, I turn my focus to the gold, seemingly suspended in the air as if it’s waiting for something. It eases closer, moving almost hesitantly. I insert myself between it and her, and it jerks back, stops. Waits.
Suddenly, that gold glitters, that iridescent sheen amplifying on itself. Faint footfalls sound, echoing like thunder as they approach, and Vivian’s head slowly turns toward the sound, though her expression doesn’t change.
The gold attempts to sneak around me, but I cut it off, so it moves to the other side, but again, I move in the way. Once again, it retreats, and we’re at an impasse, both waiting for the other to make a move. Finally, after a moment, I feint one way, and it falls for it, attempting to shoot past, only for me to quickly double back, driving myself forward with such force that we crash into one another.
The gold attempts to dart away, but I follow and force myself through, each particle of my being becoming one with the gold until it eases. Then I’m enrobed, taking a shape that, while not my own, is another version of me.
For a moment, everything is silent, all the air and noise sucked from the room. I stretch out, enjoying the odd sensation of warmth as the gold shifts, at first attempting to escape but then settling around me with a sigh.
“Zion.” Vivian’s whisper draws my attention, and I turn to find her eyes now focused on me, in all my ethereal glory. “What are you?”
I smile, even though I know she can’t see, extending a hand that she should shy away from, but she doesn’t. “I’m yours.”
