Saira - TI5 (9 page)

"You ladies sure you want to go to this place? You don't look the type to be watching this kind of stuff," the cabbie said.

"Just goes to show how looks are deceiving, doesn't it?" Mari said. "Besides, we're on vacation so we've decided to live large." She gave Maopa a questioning look. "That's the right phrase isn't it?"

"That be it alrighty."

"Okay. It's your money."

Ten minutes after the movie began, Mari and Maopa walked out of the building shaking their heads.

"That were the most disgustin' thang I ever seen."

"Definitely. We can mark this place off our list. I can't even imagine why anyone would come to a place like this. Yemaya ought to report the owners to the authorities for allowing such disgusting behavior on the premises."

"I knowed folks gotta take a piss now and then... but ta do it in front of ladies ain't fittin'. And yah was right ta tell him so."

"It's a good thing I'm not in my true form. That young man would learn a few things about talking to a spirit like that. I may just pay him a little visit later when I'm my normal self."

"Sounds good ta me. I'll help."

I
NTUNECAT FELT the ripple as the intruder entered his realm. Only one person had yet been able to penetrate the barrier between the light and darkness. This was not that person.

He remembered the day Lilith had arrived unannounced and uninvited. The revelation that his once impregnable world was vulnerable was disconcerting, but he soon forgot about that after getting to know his new guest. Afterward, he looked forward to her visits. Not only was she mentally stimulating, but he felt an inexplicable attraction to her. Her voice, her touch, her presence brought a warmth and light to his world that he would have thought impossible.

"Do you always go where you're not invited?" he asked, unable to see what he knew was there.

"Would you have invited me if I hadn't come unasked?" a voice answered.

"You're female." He sighed melodramatically. "Why is it I can't keep women from barging in on my space?"

"Do you wish me to answer your question?"

"Would the answer prevent you from coming in the future?"

"No. Only satisfying my curiosity will do that."

"Then by all means, show yourself. The sooner I give you what you want, the sooner you'll be gone."

A luminescent white cloud appeared in the darkness, its shape shimmering slightly before becoming a transparent haziness.

"Who are you?" Intunecat asked.

"I am Saira, a simple Traveler."

"Simple? I doubt that. You've traveled to an unusual place. Do you always intrude where you're not welcome?"

"I go where I must. To be welcomed is not important."

"I see. How did you manage to find your way here?"

"I followed a thread from Mari. It guided me to you."

"Mari told you about me?" he asked, surprised the Earth Mother would reveal anything about him, let alone a way into his solitary sanctuary.

"No. She keeps her secrets well. She hasn't betrayed you."

"But you said she guided you here."

"Not her. Her thread. You're a part of her past and her present, so your lives are forever joined."

"And this thread has to do with our joining?"

"Of course. Those you meet in your life and those they have met are forever connected to you, as you are to them. Existence creates many strands in lives and time, like a spider's web. In the beginning, only a few threads are woven but they quickly grow larger and more abundant, trapping everything that comes in contact with the web. It's very complex in its simplicity."

Motioning for Saira to sit, Intunecat offered her a drink. Although it wasn't something he required, he was fond of the ritual. Saira politely refused the drink but sat down.

"Why follow a strand to me now? I assume you've been doing this for a very long time."

"Longer than even you can imagine. Still, it's what I do. You are a First Born, one of five. It's rare that I have the chance to meet you or your siblings. I must go where I'm pulled."

"Siblings? I have no siblings," the Dark One said indignantly. "Those you speak of are not of my essence."

Intunecat believed himself to be the creator of light and therefore the oldest living being. He didn't accept that Dis or the Twin were in any way connected to him.... And Mari, well, his interest
 
wasn't in any way sexual. He had no need of such things. The mind was the attraction, and the Earth Mother had the sharpest mind of any entity he had ever met.

"So you have no control over what you do or where you go?" he asked.

"Not exactly. I can choose not to follow if I wish, but curiosity compels me to seek the source of my questions."

"Meaning you don't have a choice."

"I'm no different than you. I always have choices. Just because I follow my compulsion doesn't mean I'm not in control of my life."

"So you say."

"So I say."

Feeling slightly disgruntled at his inability to get the desired reaction from her, Intunecat changed tactics. "This conversation is going nowhere. What do you want from me?"

"It's what I wanted before I met you. I now have my answer."

"To what? You haven't asked me anything."

"I never intended to ask you anything. You wouldn't know the answer to my question."

Intunecat grumbled something unintelligible. He wasn't used to being thwarted, and frustration only added to his irritability. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because I have the answer now."

"Must you be so evasive? Do you do this to everyone you meet?"

"Do what?"

"Forget it. Since you have your answer, perhaps you'll share it with me. Then at least I'll know why you came here."

"Like I said —"

"I know. To find an answer. So what is it?"

"I can't say. Now isn't the time for you to know. Telling you could drastically alter the future. Even the First Born isn't immune to the damages tampering with the unknown can bring."

"Then your work is done. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, you've done more than you'll ever know. You gave me the answer to one of my greatest questions. Thank you."

"Does this mean you won't be coming back?" Intunecat asked, his voice full of hope.

Saira grinned broadly. "Unfortunately, I can't answer that either. It will depend on those you meet in the future. Already you seek something from someone that raises new questions, but the tugging isn't very strong for now. One day, though, my curiosity will pull me here if the relationship prospers. The daughter of a First Born, who became the wife of a First Born eons ago, will make the future interesting if she should fulfill the desires of the First Born."

Frowning, Intunecat understood the human impulse to stomp a foot. He was about to ask her for an explanation when she vanished. Perhaps it was intentional or merely an oversight, but Saira had given him enough information to know what had drawn her to him. Now he had questions as to what she meant before she left.

"Females," he growled unhappily. "They can be so frustrating."

Immediately, his thoughts turned to Lilith.

T
HE CHILD WAS relaxing in her chair, staring at the fire in the hearth. She had just spent the night conversing with several demons about her plans for the future — her future, and theirs, if they remained loyal to her. Now she was wondering when the apparition would return, not realizing Saira was about to appear at the precise moment she had left. Soon, Caelene would remember the past differently, and Saira would leave, not realizing she had directly altered the future one more time.

Although aware of the Child's ambitions, Saira had no interest in them. Instead, she wanted to know more about the past, and so she continued their conversation as if she had never left and listened to the demoness' thoughts closely.

Humans. Believers. Dreamers. Hypocrites,
the Child thought.
If only they knew what I know. My plan has been more successful than even I had imagined, but I'm jumping ahead of myself. I was telling of my involvement with humanity.
She continued telling her story.

"The Twin was furious at Adam and Eve's betrayal. He had forbidden them to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge and they had ignored his orders. Now they knew too much to be happy in Paradise. They would no longer be satisfied with their simple existence. The experiment had gone wrong, and he blamed himself for not monitoring the situation more closely.

"The presence of the small serpent should have raised his suspicions, but he had no reason to believe it anything more than one of the many insignificant by-products of his vast collection of creations. When he realized it was actually his own twin's child, he felt a profound sadness and perhaps a sense of failure. Already, too many lives had been lost in the Great Battle over my mother. Now Eve was displaying the same independent qualities as she, something he knew would happen eventually, just not so soon. I remember watching Adam and Eve from the Netherworld. I actually felt sorry for them as they knelt before their 'God,' fearing his wrath."

Saira listened to Caelene's narration as she searched for the thread that would give her the pathway to the answer she was seeking. Once she located the right one, she followed it to its beginning, unbeknownst to the Child, and watched as the past released its long-held secrets about the demoness' role in the evolution of mankind.

*
 
*
 
*"You have betrayed me," the Voice said with great sadness.

"Forgive us, Father," Adam replied, trembling in fear.

"Was it so wrong to want what you already have?" Eve asked, glancing upward at the dark cloud hanging over their head.

The Twin thought about her question for a few minutes. It was a fair question and deserved an answer.

"No. I knew there would come a day when you would question your existence. I had hoped it wouldn't be this soon."

"Then why are you angry?" she said.

Only his brother, Dis, had the audacity to challenge him. The habit was irritating, but on some level, he enjoyed the stimulating debates.

"I am not angry with you, my children, only saddened," he said. "I cannot allow you to remain in Paradise now that you know the things you do. You will no longer be happy here."

"Where will we go?" Adam looked up for the first time.

"I have prepared a place. Your lives will be hard, but you now have all you need to survive."

Before they could ask anything else, they found themselves standing on barren soil in a land devoid of animal or plant life as far as the eye could see. On the horizon were the dark shadows of objects unfamiliar to them. A small white bird suddenly appeared above the stunned couple. When Eve glanced up, it swooped down toward her and then flew away, only to return when they didn't follow. After a few unproductive attempts, it seemed to give up and moved toward the horizon.

"We have no choice but to follow," Eve said.

A slight nod of his head was the only indication Adam gave. Neither knew how long they had walked, but for the first time, they experienced thirst, hunger, and pain. Their feet became swollen and blistered. Had they not stumbled into a small oasis, they would have perished.

For several nights and days, they stayed by the small pool of water, waiting for their injuries to heal and discussing their situation. Unfamiliar with catching and cleaning fish, they subsisted on the fruits and berries growing on the small trees around them. Both knew, however, the limited sustenance wouldn't maintain them for long. By the fourth day, early in the evening, they left the small sanctuary. Shortly afterward, the oasis vanished, and nothing remained to show it ever existed.