Me Without You (33 page)

"Hurry!" Aunt Judith instructed. "Go
down now! Go down! Down to the basement!" she was pushing Jonah out
of the room and on to the first floor.

Having just woken up, Jonah could not
quite gather her senses and her bearings yet. So, she just followed
her Aunt Judith's nudging down to the basement.

It was the first time Jonah had ever
been to the basement. And it was nothing like the dungeon she and
her siblings had imagined it to be. Painted in dainty colors of
light blue and pink, the basement was a different world altogether
from the mansion upstairs. It was like a first class executive
hotel suite. For someone, who rarely entertained visitors, Aunt
Judith had a private lounge with an excellent set of mahogany
furniture and granite finishing. She also slept in a king sized bed
with various sizes of pillows all over. And for someone who wore
almost nothing but black, she had a whole wall with what looked
like a built-in spacious wardrobe. But the latest audiovisual
gadget showcasing a huge flat screen TV was almost expected to
explain why Aunt Judith never get tired of staying inside her
room.

Aunt Judith led Jonah towards a double
door which Jonah knew was the other way one can enter the basement.
However, the double door will lead one outside the house instead of
the door where they entered which was from inside the mansion. The
old woman opened the right one of the double doors and pushed Jonah
outside.

"What? You can't seriously make me go
outside in my pajamas!" Jonah complained.

"Since you've been doing it with your
mother in your room, just stand there and listen if you want. If
you think you're in danger, run as fast as you can and hide as best
as you could. But if nothing else occurs, don't let your curiosity
make you wander beyond the stairs even if you're itching to. I will
come and get you later when everything is safe," Aunt Judith said
mysteriously and pushed the door closed.

But Jonah held it open just a crack.
She was totally overwhelmed when not a minute had passed before
Aunt Judith opened the left one of the double door. She could see
the back of a man in a brown robe with a hood like a monk. She
looked back from behind her and there was the stairs from the left
of the mansion which would lead her outside. There was nothing
peculiar to it. And yet she had no idea where the man was coming
from not to have seen him or he her.

The man stuck out a wrinkled hand to
grasp one of Aunt Judith's arms. Then, in a quivering old man's
voice, he said, "How come she who has claimed to be the new one has
been poisoned so easily? Unless of course, she is not the one! Tell
me Jud-ith—where are you hiding the new one?"

"Get your filthy hands off me," Aunt
Judith said angrily. "I am warning all of you to lay off. I have
not exerted any effort on you yet with our dear Rebecca still in
our plane. But when I do, you will be sorry!" At that precise
moment, she shook off from the man's clasp and shut the double
doors closed, catching Jonah's eye and frowning at her.

When the door closed, Jonah backed off
and went up the stairs to wait for the unexpected. Either Aunt
Judith's guest will leave sooner or later then she can go back to
her room or the guest will venture out and find her there. Either
way, she deemed it advantage to put a head start in case there will
be chasing involved. But when she reached the top of the stairs and
was able to get a glimpse of her surroundings, she discovered that
she was totally in a different world.

The double door was a portal
to another world…
Jonah mused.

It was not the expanse of the Blood
mansion that Jonah was seeing. She could see a mountain of white
stones and the clearest blue skies she had ever seen. There was not
a trace of cloud on it.

Despite the clear warning of Aunt
Judith not to wander beyond the stairs ringing loudly in Jonah's
ears, her feet began to lead her towards the mountainous trail. To
her amazement, she saw a clearing with a sparkling pond just
beyond. There were also trees around which was unlike the trees she
had ever seen. The colors were monotone but more vibrant. One tree
was in all shades of purple even the trunk. And she passed another
which boasted a lime green color. And the butterflies were almost
everywhere also in untainted colors.

When Jonah looked back, the trail
leading to the stairs was gone. But she did not feel anxious of not
finding her way back again. She felt ridiculously calm and
peaceful. It must be the air in the environment, dense with so much
serenity. It was like coming home. It was just the kind of reprieve
she needed—away from the hunters, from Hugh, from Xavier, from the
pain of losing Brice and Jenssen…away from everything. The place
was a sanctuary.

But before Jonah could take another
step, a hand pulled her by the elbow. And Aunt Judith's voice
rasped behind her, "Foolish girl! Didn't I tell you not to wander
beyond the stairs? Your curiosity had already killed you too many
times, I can only wonder why you are still alive."

"Aunt Judith!" Jonah gasped. "I
didn't—I was just—"

Aunt Judith dismissed Jonah with her
hand and said, "Don't you know you could be lost here forever and
nobody can find you? Time stands still in here. This place is not
like ours. Now, hurry, take off your clothes and wear them upside
down!"

"What?" Jonah asked skeptically. She
was not sure she heard her Aunt Judith right.

But when the older woman did not answer
and instead began undressing and wearing her clothes upside down,
Jonah reluctantly did the same thing.

"Even your underwear," Aunt Judith
instructed.

"But you didn't—" Jonah started
protesting.

"I am not wearing any!" Aunt Judith
said unabashedly.

After Jonah had turned over everything
she was wearing, she found herself and Aunt Judith back at the top
of the stairs which led to the basement. Even if Jonah was really
flabbergasted with everything she had witnessed, she did not say
anything as she headed back down and entered the double
door.

"Was he after me?" Jonah
asked.

Aunt Judith did not answer Jonah.
Instead, she took hold of Jonah's elbow and pulled her towards the
other door that will lead her upstairs and inside the mansion. When
they had finally reached the ground floor of the house, Aunt Judith
finally broke her silence and said, "They are after everyone else
in this family, has it not sink into your head yet all these
time?"

Before Jonah could make a retort, which
she was burning to do, Jervais cried from behind them, "Jonah,
where have you been? I've been looking all over for you." She
ignored Aunt Judith who was standing beside Jonah and continued to
appraise her younger sister in her inverted pajamas. "You've been
in bed all day long? Don't tell me you'd be back in bed in a short
while?"

Jonah caught a glimpse of the window.
Her eyes were huge and rounded. She couldn't quite believe that
dusk had already settled in. It seemed like minutes ago that she
was dragged out of her bed and it was almost night time. Time
really did stand still in the world behind the double
door.

Without giving Jonah the chance to
reply, Aunt Judith said, "How did the meeting with the coroner
go?"

"Jane is fine by the way," Jervais
continued to address Jonah. Sighing heavily and without
acknowledging Aunt Judith, she added, "The coroner is ruling the
death of your mother as self-inflicted. According to the report
Rebecca Blood had full knowledge of the poison she was taking in.
They were quite positive about it. The fingerprints they took from
the vials containing the poison were your mother's. They will be
preparing the toxicology reports and other document to close the
investigation earlier than expected."

"I can't believe it!" Aunt Judith
remarked. She placed her fingers on her temple as if she had
developed a sudden headache. "This is rarely done by a healer. It
can't be!" She rocked a little on her heels that Jonah was thinking
she was going to collapse.

Jervais, on the other hand, continued
to ignore Aunt Judith and linked her arms on Jonah's arms. She
pulled Jonah, who kept on turning back to see how Aunt Judith was.
But Jervais kept on chattering all the way to the
stairs.

"Let's get you dressed and
bring you to your boyfriend! He has been looking for you the whole
day too," Jervais said. "He says it's urgent! He said something
about the
habak
.
Although, he sounded more concerned about not finding where you
were when I told him you were quite fine!"

"X called?" Jonah asked.

"No silly, the back-up!" Jervais
answered. "Isn't he your new boyfriend?"

"You mean Hugh! But he's not—" Jonah
stopped speaking. She could not continue her sentence without
explaining things to Jervais and to herself. Maybe, it was easier
if she just allowed people to think what they thought about her and
Hugh or her and Xavier.

"Jonah!" Aunt Judith called out in a
clear voice which made the sisters stopped walking. As she
connected with Jonah's eyes, she held them long enough to search
her face. With small hurried steps towards the sisters and her
finger pointing at Jonah, she said, "It's you! You are the new
one!"

"Oh, please, Aunt Judith!" Jervais
cried out. She looked more annoyed than she sounded."Here we go
again. I just told you it was self-inflicted. Jonah couldn't be the
new healer because she did not kill Rebecca Blood. The witch hunt
is over. And we might as well start another rumor this time. There
is no new healer. Rebecca Blood took her own life and the stupid
power in her grave." She pulled on to Jonah's sleeve and prodded
her to continue towards the stairs. In hushed tone, she whispered,
"Will you please hurry and let's get out of here!"

However, Jonah felt different. Since
the hunt for the next greatest healer had begun and she witnessed
bizarre things happening, it was the first time she felt the
certainty that she was it. And she had never felt more comfortable
about the reality of being the greatest healer than she did at the
moment.

The only dilemma she was facing was
about sealing it. Will she or will she not?

The Tale of Two
Sisters

As if the experience Jonah had that day
was not enough of a shock to last her a lifetime, the moment she
stepped out of Jervais' car at the Lively's mansion, more surprises
came her way.

Hugh was almost leaping out of the
front porch steps meeting Jonah and Jervais. "Why are you here?"
Hugh demanded. "You shouldn't be here."

"Wow, nice to see you too!" Jervais
said, her eyes narrowing on Hugh. "When you were so annoying and
calling me about Jonah every other minute, I thought you wanted us
here."

"No!" Hugh said. "I thought I said she
has the belly chain and knew you were faking it!"

"Oh!" Jervais replied simply. "So,
let's go back home, Jonah!"

"There's no need to hurry home!" It was
Xavier. He was leaning at the door, his hands to his pockets and he
was sporting out a brilliant smile on his face. He looked fresh and
fit.

"X," Jonah cried out pleasantly and ran
up to him. But she stopped just a foot away from him. She extended
her hand towards Xavier, who also put out his hand to meet hers.
With just a fraction of a millimeter separating their fingertips,
they resumed to just stare at each other. Jonah felt both hurt and
glad at the same time, she was on the brink of tears. Even Xavier's
eyes were misty.

Jonah pushed her fingers forward a
little until they were both connecting. Xavier jerked back
hesitantly, but Jonah told him, "It's okay! I can handle it." She
stepped a little closer towards him. With just both their
fingertips touching, she closed her eyes, took in some air through
her nose and blew him a breath of happiness.

Xavier had also closed his eyes and
took in Jonah's warm breath. He could hear his own laughter deep
inside. As if he were made of light, he felt his body expanding and
feeling weightless. It was like he was being carried by the air and
floating with joy. A tear he was holding back, ran down his cheek.
He had never felt so happy before.

Jonah withdrew her fingers and caressed
her stomach up and down, feeling the slight discomfort and
rumbling. She could hear Xavier laughing from the inside and seeing
his smiling face from within her head. She also smiled a
little.

Hugh and Jervais came up from behind
them. It was Jervais who first broke the magical stillness, "You
okay, Jonah?" she asked.

"I will be," Jonah said and pressed on
stroking her tummy.

In front of everyone else, Hugh took
Jonah's hand. He pressed each of her fingers and her palm. And as
much as Jonah was already feeling relieved, she was also feeling
conscious of Hugh's hand and Xavier watching them both.

"I feel much better now!" Jonah
announced snatching her hand away from Hugh and tucking them on the
back pockets of her jeans.

"Good!" Xavier said joyfully. "Stay for
dinner, both of you. We are having a celebration!"