Ertifferrah Written By: Elay Understood CHAPTER 31 ERICA'S HOUSE...Elay TV Content Creator
“It’s okay. It’s okay!” said Octavious. “I’ve come to notice that whatever that light is that brought us here, it always seems to allow me enough time to recoup so that nobody even notices me falling.”
Helping her up to her feet, he continued “We better get out of here, just in case though.”
Walking along the sidewalk slowly, having agreed to take a back road to her house, Erica complained about her shoulder hurting.
Let me take a look at it, Octavious said and lifted up her sleeve.
“Oow!!” she yelled when some of her flesh that had begun to fuse with the open wound that was trying to form a scab came ripping off.
Sucking in air through his teeth, Octavious cringed, seeing the messy wound as it oozed thick blood down her arm. Shaking his head, he continued “Mmm…baby girl, that doesn’t look too good. How much longer is it until we get to your house?”
Answering in a drag; “About eleven more blocks”
-“Eleven BLOCKS! Oh, no, that’s too long. Wait! I we can take my car! He said.
“That’s right, but we better take mine so mom won’t freak if she sees that it’s missing from the garage.”
Rubbing out a kink in his neck, Octavious talked “I think sometimes when I make the transition between worlds; I forget exactly all that went on in which. It usually takes me a little while to remember details like how we both drove to school today.
“I agree.”
“How about you sit right here and I go back and get the car?” He suggested.
“No, no, I really don’t want to be left alone. We can go back for it together besides; you can’t handle a whip as fresh as mine.” She said with a smile.
Approaching her house this time around felt way more real than the times before. Maybe she knew that, in fact, this wasn’t a dream but rather a new portion of a chapter of her life.
Unaware exactly what time it was when they landed, she felt wary, not knowing if her mother had arrived from work.
“Uhh, I’m going to have to sneak you in through the back door, okay?”
“Hey, you already know, that’s so fine by me!” He said with a filling smile.
The door back here needs to be fixed, so all I need is a screwdriver to pop open the lock. Over there, in the shed is where we’ll find one,” Erica said pointing to a room affixed to the back of the garage.
“Whew, this place can sure use some fixing up!” he joked, “but I guess this will have to do for the operation... Nurse, quick! Hand me the gas, we have to heavily sedate our patient so that I can sew up her shoulder!”
“Oh, shut up!” she laughed.
Both treading lightly as to not raise mothers suspicions, just in case she was home, Erica spotted a note taped to the refrigerator:
Erica, Principal phoned and said she'd bring you home. Hope you feel better, honey. Your vitamins are in your room. If you need anything, call. I'll be working late tonight. I put money by the phone, order dinner. no going to school tomorrow.
“Principal Veedra didn't bring us here.” Stated Octavious.”
“Yeah, I know, for now, let's not worry about it. My mom won't be here any time soon, until then, your hanging here with me!”
“And what makes you think I'd want to hang out with you?” He smiled.
“Because I’m ordering pizza!” She declared.
“Huh, what about your shoulder?”
“It hurts, but not as much as my stomach does, these hunger pangs are killing me.”
“Well, we better get started on something then. What do you want on your pizza?” he asked, reaching for the phone.
“Lots of pineapples, green peppers, and ham!” she answered energetically.
“Cool, it sounds right to me. Do you mind if we add sausage, bacon, green and red peppers, oh, and extra-extra cheese?!”
“Sure, why not...” she said cringing a little. “That’s a lot of meat, don’t you think?”
“Aw, girl, you’re not living until you’ve had this pizza! Now, you go call in the food while I find something to clean up your shoulder.”
“But you don’t know where anything is.”
“Duh, but I can manage to find where the bathroom is, so I know that’s where your mother keeps the antiseptics right?”
“Don’t be a wise ass.”
“Hey, Erica, while you’re at it, will it be any trouble if you ordered two pizzas?”
“I was going to do that anyways…” she mumbled, thinking about all the extra unnecessary toppings he wanted on the pizza.
“What was that?” he asked, knowing that she had said something not intended for him to hear.
“Nothing at all, um, yeah, I’ll order two. Do you really think that I was going to split one large pizza with you with this appetite?”
**
Resting against the sofa, the two wolfed down pizza, soda, and ice cream. Music videos were on TV; Octavious reached over Erica for the remote and turned it down.
Changing the mood, Octavious opened up to Erica.
“I’ve never shared my gift with anyone before because a part of me wanted to be selfish, knowing that maybe only I possessed such ability and, on the other hand, the other part of me wanted this gift to be shared with someone special, someone who wouldn’t take advantage of it and me…That’s when you came along…you came along, unexpectedly too. I actually lost hope that a girl would walk into my life and change my destiny, and the destiny of the world, but the prophecy held true…”
Shaking his head, he laughed, “You know, all these years, my mother and father dwelled on this so-called prophecy that would happen and change the fate of our nation. I’m referring to our birth land, the land of Akasha, Erica. As a kid, I believed them, but after a while, I figured they were just dreaming because nothing ever happened. I got tired of them saying “someday this and someday that, and someday when…” I lost hope in that day coming when everything they harped on would happen.
“And what is that?” she asked.
“The return of the old order.”
“The old order…?”
“Yeah, a time that was, for the most part, both peaceful and prosperous.”
“But I thought the land of Akasha was okay…like the way it is now.”
“Come on, get real, now you had to know that something isn’t right there. Although it is a safe place to live, I mean inside the fortresses of Lady Governess, there were rumors of her stepping down on the day of the annual gala.”
“I heard of this from my parents, one night,” said Erica. “They were speaking of it when they thought I was asleep but I had gotten up to get a glass of warm milk because I had a nightmare and thought that the milk would soothe me back to sleep.”
“Don’t you think it to be odd for her to just up and leave without there being any physical reason, any logical reason for that matter? How long ago was it when we went off to war?” Questioned Octavious.
“Long enough to lose count, long enough to forget we even went to war,” Erica replied.
“Exactly!”
“Denouncing one’s throne without proper cause is a move not to be taken lightly.”
“I wonder if someone threatened her?”
“Who in their right mind would be stupid enough to do such a thing?!” Octavious questioned. “Even if that is the case, then why hasn’t Lady Governess set a date yet and confirmed to her people whether or not the rumors hold merit like she has always done before?”
“I knew all along something wasn’t right, but not what you were thinking though. Octavious, have you ever thought, back in Akasha, that there was more to Integrity, the Sun, than we’ve been taught…like maybe Integrity was like a real person or something?”
“What makes you think that?”
“Well, first off, he feels real; like he’s more than the counselor who arranges night and day. The way he warmly greets us in the morning, giving off the radiance of abundance and promise, then slowly drifts away to shine somewhere else so that he may share his glory with whomever, but when Integrity leaves, or sets, which is what my mother calls it, this is selfish of me to say, but I get envious.
“Envious?! You’re a stingy girl too, huh? I like that though,” Octavious said in a joking manner though he was more serious than he realized.
“Octavious, it’s like when a part of him leaves, a part of me leaves too! It’s like I get zapped of my energy and, in a way, become kind of mentally impaired, like I took some type of hallucinogen. Now, it’s gotten to the point that I can’t—I don’t know how to function without him! What’s wrong with me?! It’s like I’ve become almost obsessed with trying to find proof that Integrity is real. I think that maybe wanting to discover the truth has affected my sleeping habits as well.”
“Aw, you don’t sound one bit loony, girl, in fact, I know this is destiny. You are the first female I’ve ever, and I mean ever, met who doesn’t take Integrity so lightly like everyone else does in Akasha and here too, on Earth, although the sun is seen way differently here and the teachers speak of him more or less as a planet that’s too hot to approach. He’s thought of as more of a science lesson than a god. But you know that there’s something not right, and so do I. It’s like a conviction to find the truth and it’s as if Integrity is purposely taunting you and me, but in different ways so that we won’t ever totally reach a place of true rest and peace until the truth, whatever that is, is revealed. I know girl, I know…”
Holding back the tears as his voice faded, Octavious was warmed with relief, knowing that someone else shared his burden. Somehow he knew that things were going to be okay, even though he also realized that the troubles were far from being over. He knew that when he searched for the truth, dark storms would arise in an effort to detour him from reaching a new horizon.
Suddenly, emotions got the best of Erica, and she began crying large tears of both sorrow and relief, for this was the first time in her life that she felt so cleansed—finally, she felt as though she had found someone who not only listened but actually understood where she was coming from, and with Octavious, honestly, it felt like more than that.
**
Recalling what her great grandmother had told her about sharing her dreams with a trusted someone, Erica felt ready more than ever to try and see if what she thought to be a myth held true. She felt a strong desire to share her dreams, deepest secrets, goals, and fears with Octavious—to have a true confessional! He was the one whom she wanted to have this experience, and there was no better time than now. His warm embrace wrapped around her as he held her close. She too knew that this was a part of the fabric that had been created by the hands of destiny.
Pulling away, Erica turned to face him. “Can I tell you something?”
“Anything.”
“Have you ever heard of sharing your dreams with someone whom you cared about and having something like magical happening to the both of them…?” she wondered if she had lost him.
“I’ve heard of magical things like…Deities.”
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