Immortal Beauty (30 page)

“So what happens here?” He listened for Celine’s reply but it never came. Instead there was a long and he could hear the faint sound of footsteps in the background and the sound of breathing. His voice came on again after a while. “So this is your cure for aging? A superior protein? It is fascinating to say the least.” Again his voice was followed by a long silence. Celine’s voice was not on the recording! He listened for a while and all he heard was his own questions and again long pauses where Celine had spoken. Still there were the background noises so it wasn’t just empty space. It’s like her voice could not be captured by his recorder and wondered what she did to remove it from his device. She had the kind of money needed to acquire that kind of technology. He had heard about some new technology that bounced sound waves back to negate noise and thought she must have had something like that on her person so that she couldn’t be recorded. For some reason everything she had told him about her research was not there as if she had never spoken at all. His brows knit tightly together as yet another mystery was placed before him. If he didn’t get some answers soon he would go crazy. He still felt amazingly good for all that he had been through and when he got a glimpse of himself in the bathroom mirror he looked alert and refreshed. Whatever the seizure had been it was clearly over and he was none the worse for the experience and almost felt better in spite of it. He felt strong and thought of how he had climbed down the side of the building and still couldn’t figure out how he had done it with such grace and ease like a professional tightrope walker. He thought it was probably nothing more than an adrenaline surge when he knew he had to flee. Some primitive chemical response triggered the monkey in him and he climbed out of the dangerous tree. Yet it had felt so familiar as if he had done such a thing thousands of times before. The hallucnations he had experienced were nothing more than a blur to him now. The only thing he really remembered was a circle of Indians chanting to the sky and some primitive vision of Celine as some kind of witch yelling and cursing in a foreign tongue that he had never heard before. Taylor was beginning to think of Celine as a witch and that probably was the fuel for that particular imagining. He knew that Celine was not a witch but just another person on the planet and like all people she had her weaknesses. He simply had to find out what her weakness was. He thought of the pretty female driver of the limo. He knew he was beginning to get through her tough exterior over the past few days and once or twice she actually laughed at one of his awful jokes. Maybe he could find out something from her without risking Celine knowing his whereabouts. Maybe Sasha could get the car for some made up reason but then he thought better about that idea. There was no need to involve Sasha any further. If anything was to be done he would have to find a way to do it alone. It was enough that Sasha worked at Celgen so she could keep an eye out and listen for anything that might be of interest without creating any threat to herself. In fact it would look very suspicious if she did not return to work immediately and resume her duties. It was true that he had only known her for a few days but when he saw her standing out there in the lavender fields something inside him melted; some hard coating that had protected him all these years against the horror and terror involved in recording the human race in its natural habitat. No matter what happened to his story he knew he wanted to continue to see her. Hell, he would even move to Paris if that’s what she wanted. It’s not every girl that would come to his rescue. As a matter of fact he could not remember a girl ever care enough to stick herself out on a limb for him. Sasha had seemed so familiar to him the minute he had met her and the fact that she was in his dreams was just a sign to him that they were meant to be together. He lay down on the bed after eating part of a sandwich with ham and thick crusty bread and closed his eyes trying to calm the thoughts that would not stop spinning in his mind without much success. Before too long he began drifting off into the land that exists between the waking world and the sleeping one. Somewhere between dreams and reality the visions claimed him.

He was standing on the vast plains again with the wind whipping all around. He was in a circle with a group of Indians he knew very well. They were his people, his family and they were all connected and gathering their collective power. Their lips were moving as they chanted incantations over and over again. They were trying to make it rain. Little by little the vision became more clear and he could feel the raindrops begin to land on his head and the back of his hands. Thunder rolled in the distance and his concentration became even more focused. He directed all his energy upwards and felt it surging though his body to the clouds above. Lighting began to strike which broke the concentration of some of the men but it only spurned him on more. He wanted to direct the fire from the sky and focused on a tree al little off to the left. After a minute or two a strong blast of white heat struck the tree with a loud crack and the e tree split in two. He felt elated but only saw fear and anger in the faces of his peers. They had all stopped chanting now and watched him in awe as he kept his eyes rolled upwards toward the heavens. They were pleading with him to stop. He had gone too far and was abusing the power of the rain gods. Many bad things would happen to the tribe. Many bad things would happen to the land for such arrogance. They were wiser than the young warrior with his special gifts. He was harnessing power that belonged only to the higher beings and this was taboo. He begrudgingly backed off and let the surging power leave his body. He felt small and empty and looking around at the sadness and disappointment he knew that his days as a Shaman were over. He had surpassed his teachers and now they were afraid of him. He would make it easy for his beloved people and make leave himself without any fuss. He had felt the urge to leave for some years now and this opportunity was the perfect way for him to leave everything he ever knew for something far stronger than himself. He called it ‘the thirst’ and it dominated his every waking thought. Something inside him was dying of thirst and he couldn’t find anything to make it go away. He knew that the answer to his horrible condition lie in the land of the sunrise where the white men spread like flies cutting their towns out of the belly of the Mother. It was beyond even the white men and far beyond the water which brought them from a faraway land called Europe. The stories were becoming more and more common as more and more of them departed from their great wooden ships bringing with them strange beasts and flowers and superior weapons. He wanted to see these weapons and wonder if he could direct the sky fire onto such a small target. He did not know where he had to go but inside him was a compass that told him when he was heading in the right direction. For a little while the spiritual thirst disappeared and he listened to hear the faint hum of something no one else could ever hear. He had dreamed of the destination of this long journey ever since he was a boy. It was a long sweeping hill that led down to a big and glorious river. He had to find this hill and he knew that he would also find there the woman who haunted him. She was white skinned like his enemies but her lovely eyes looked upon him with adoration in these ghostly visitations. She loved him and was waiting for his return. He would never stop looking for her.

Taylor sat up in the bed with a start. The woman was Sasha. These visions were definitely more like memories that had been long hidden in his mind. Reincarnation did not seem so far fetched to him now. In his dream and in this latest vision he had the ability to create thunderstorms. Maybe it was time for a little experiment. He got up and went to the window and opened the old windows outward onto the lively street below. The sky was dotted with a few clouds but looked fairly clear. He closed his eyes and held his hands out in some sort of awkward supplication. He focused. Moments passed and he began to feel a surge of energy and for a second thought maybe he was being electrocuted somehow. The feeling began to build up from his feet and rush to the top of his head and upward. He rolled his eyes back in his head and imagined the energy flying high into the Paris night. Then he heard it, the sound of thunder was everywhere. It rippled in the sky which was beginning to darken and his heart was beating faster now as the excitement was rising within him. Now for the lightning. He looked to the top of the building across the street and saw an old metal chimney that dotted the buildings of Paris. He felt electricity in his limbs and for a second he almost stopped but was far too curious to turn back now. He let the electricity go and the blast from the lighting knocked him across the room where his back hit the wall with a sounding thud. He couldn’t believe it. He had done it! He got up and looked across the street to see the chimney was smoking from the blast of power that had just hit it. He couldn’t even begin to think about what he had just done. He could control the lighting. This was definitely new in his experience. He suddenly felt exhausted and crawled back to the bed and listened to the sound of the rain while he waited for Sasha to return. He had no idea how he was going to tell her this new development without sounding absolutely mad. He was just going to have to demonstrate this new found ability because nobody would believe it without seeing it. He smiled at himself despite everything. It should have been shocking and weird but the weirdest thing of all was that it all felt so right. It felt like something he should have been able to do all along like skipping stones across the surface of a pond. The strangest thing was that is wasn’t strange at all. He fell asleep presently and dreamed of riding his horse across great distances to get to the woman he had never met but loved with all of his heart.

ATTACK

Sasha left the hotel on the Champs Elysees with Taylor’s bags. It was amazing how lightly he had packed for this journey. Every time she saw him he was dressed impeccably in a different outfit. He probably did some shopping here in the city. She found it almost too easy to gain access to his room and get his things. She was suddenly suspicious that she was being followed and decided to take a long and seemingly random walk to where Taylor was now staying. She headed away from the madness that was the Champs Elysees and zigzagged down toward the Seine and strolled leisurely while checking to see if she were being followed. She realized after a while that she had gone farther than she intended and found herself in Passy. She would have to cross the river soon to get back to the Left Bank or she would have to find a metro or a taxi. She rarely came to this neighborhood and forgot how trendy and chic it was. There were the cutest little stores dotted all along the sidewalk with cafes and bars filled with noisy people exhausted from shopping. It was getting late now and Sasha had a lot of ground to cover. She thought she remembered the whereabouts of the Passy Metro station and headed in that direction. She walked quickly past all of the many distractions and one shoe store in particular held her fascination for a good five minutes before she was able to tear herself away. She finally walked away after debating about a darling pair of pink pumps that would go perfectly with her silver dress she bought a few weeks ago. She could always come back. She had to remind herself that she was currently involved in something far bigger than shoe shopping and tried to focus on getting back. She walked a little faster when she realized she had no idea where she was anymore. She turned left thinking that she had gone down too far and didn’t think she should be that close to the water yet. This street definitely looked familiar and it was much less crowded as it lead her away from the shopping district. The houses and apartments were very nice in this part of town. Maybe someday she would be able to afford to live here but for now she could dream. She continued on her way absolutely sure that she had been here before and that the metro must just be another block or two away. She came upon a large wide stairway made of stone leading down the vast hill. This was definitely something she remembered. She walked down the stairs and stopped in the middle to take in the view. It was beautiful there was no doubt about it. She could see into the back of many of the large houses on the street and her eyes rested upon a magnificent garden in the middle of Paris. It was gorgeous with its neatly lined paths and it looked like there was a small forest of trees as the park moved closer to the river. Out of the blue she had the sense that she knew this garden well. Of course! It was like the garden in her dream. It was remarkably similar and she felt a sense of relief as she must have seen this garden when she first moved to Paris in those crazy months and it had found its way into her subconscious. She wanted to stay longer but had to get back to Taylor. An image flashed in her mind. It was the house, grand and impossible with a pink marble staircase descending into the heart of the home. She wondered if this garden had such a beautiful house attached to it. She glanced around from side to side sensing that someone was watching her. A single figure was coming down the stairs from the top of the hill. He was in a dark suit that was obviously expensive and cut to reveal a fine physique underneath and he had dark hair to match. The setting sun was sending rays that shielded his face. Sasha felt a tug at the center of her chest. It was a warning and she had the distinct feeling that this man represented danger. She turned to continue her walk and find a more populated spot. For now it was just her and this stranger and she did not like it. Dizziness swept over her and her feet seemed unable to move as if she were suffering from stage fright. She recovered quickly as her flight instinct threw her heels into running mode. She was gliding down the stairs her brown hair waving chaotically all around her face. Once at the bottom she looked around her before picking up the pace again. There was a small magasin and café on the corner of the Rue Rivoli. There would be lights and people and wonderful, powerful coffee which would shake off the weirdness and the visions and the strong feeling that the house of her dreams was calling to her. She looked up into the trees. They were lined with enormous black birds. They stared at her and unexpectedly one began to caw loudly casing Sasha’s heart to slam against the front of her ribcage.