Age of Silence - bloodlines

Mari had been in bed and didn’t know how long she’d been asleep. Engulfed in a morning daze she looked at the clock and noticed that the numbers were scrambled.

I must be dreaming. Clocks never look like that when I’m awake.

Her experience with lucid dreaming had trained her that to be able to lucid dream, she first had to be aware if she were dreaming. One way to figure that out was to look at a clock. If the numbers were scrambled, it meant she was dreaming. She loved lucid dreaming, because in them she could do whatever she desired, like flying, traveling to other worlds, and surfing on clouds.

Mari stayed calm and focused, diving deeper into dream consciousness. A wall in her room opened up into a vast rolling field filled with lush plants and trees. In the distance there was a mountain range she’d never seen before. The vibrant blue sky warmed by the majestic sun was brighter than she’d ever seen. Mari shook her head. I want to see those mountains up close. She started to think about how cool it would be to fly over them. Mari closed her eyes and felt the weight leave her body. She started floating, chills electrified through her veins as her body sped through the piercingly blue sky.

“Woo hoo!” She was soaring higher and higher, the cool breeze kissing her face as she guided her body to thrust fast toward the mountains.

Overlooking the magical green field was better than she’d imagined. So this is how green it must’ve been when my grandparents were alive… It’s so beautiful.

Faster and faster she swam through the sky. Mari dived down close to the field, then swooped back up through the white fluffy clouds. The exhilaration burst from her body, vibrating off of the rocky mountain tops, echoing through the forest. The deep blue sky was drenched in warm splashes of light from the sun. She looked to her left and saw a bald eagle soaring next to her. Her eyes widened, because she’d seen them only in pictures. The eagle looked at her and belted out a call.

Mari smiled at the eagle, then turned her attention ahead to the fast approaching mountains. Her smile vanished, Mari had to act quickly or she’d fly over it. I want to walk on the peak. Mari decelerated, taking a nose dive toward the peak. “Whoa whoa,” she yelled, scared she was about to crash, but her speed suddenly slowed, and she floated down to a soft landing. “Jesus,” she yelled with joy from the mountaintop.

Mari gazed out into the breathtaking beauty, vibrant green glowing in the valley, and rows of trees stacked in a vast forest for as far as she could see. Birds chirped in the trees, and a gentle breeze tickled her skin. She turned around and made eye contact with a baby deer, and it dashed back into the woods. Just as she turned back around a dark haired woman appeared.

Startled, Mari tripped on a rock and fell to the ground. The woman leaned over and extended her hand to help Mari up. “Don’t worry. I’m not here to harm you.”

She felt a magnetic pulse from the woman’s hand…a comfort like she’d never felt before soothed her nerves.

There was a warmth in her touch that somehow felt familiar. “I’m in a beautiful land I’ve never seen before. Who are you?”

The radiant woman chuckled. “I am you, and you are me.”

Mari laughed with her. “Oh really?”

She smiled. “Yes, really. Humans believe time is linear, but it’s not. We exist in many planes of time and space. I am you right now, and back then is when the world was green.”

Mari looked confused. She’d heard that time was not linear but had never seen any proof. She shook her head. “How is that possible?”

“I can’t explain that to you now. I came here to tell you something.”

“And what is that?”

The woman reached out and touched her hair. “You must trust your inner voice.”

“What voice is that?”

“Whenever you need guidance, quiet your mind and the answers will come. Society things we need a guru, but the answers rest in your consciousness.”

“I do listen to my instincts.”

“But it’s important that you understand the difference between your ego’s desires and desires of the heart.

Mari shook her head. “How will I know the difference?” Just as Mari asked the question she woke up to her alarm clock.

The morning light was piercingly bright as she awoke from the blissful dream with a piercing pain pitted in her stomach. She felt queasy, and her head was still pounding. Mari looked around, but the house was calm and quiet.

“Where’s Zara? Was I dreaming?”

Mari had many nightmares she thought were real. Sometimes she would wake up in a panic thinking something terrible had just happened, only to find out it had been a dream. Maybe it was happening again? Maybe Justice is still alive?

She got up from the couch and started walking around the house to see if anybody else was there.

If last night really happened, then Zara should still be here.

The sun was peeking through the thick clouds, and the morning quiet soothed her as she wandered through the house, but she couldn’t find Zara. She wondered if anyone else had dreams that appeared this real. Why would a dream seem so real? Hope seeped in that perhaps her friend was indeed still alive.

Mari heard a flushing noise.

The tightness in her stomach returned and despair infested her body. Hope turned into a new sensation, a dark cloud of negativity dominating her thoughts. The door opened, and Zara emerged from the bathroom.

Mari was crushed. Her sad eyes gazed into Zara’s deep brown spheres. “It wasn’t just a dream was it?”

Zara walked over and embraced her. “You woke up thinking that? I’m so sorry, but it wasn’t a dream.”

Her shoulders slouched, and she dropped to the couch and stared out the window. “When I woke up I didn’t hear anyone. And I don’t remember much before going to sleep, so I thought I had a nightmare. ”

“I can’t believe you just went through all that. This situation is fucked up. I didn’t want to wake you, so I was being quiet.”

“I’m glad you were still here, or I would’ve thought it was just a bad dream.”

“I’ve been thinking all morning about what happened last night, and I can’t help but think that Justice was murdered?”

Mari stared off into the trees in the back yard. “Do you really believe the police will find the killer?”

Rage filled Mari’s body. Never before had she felt anger this deep. She couldn’t control it. She grabbed the lamp next to her and threw it across the room, smashing it into the wall.

Zara was startled by Mari’s outburst. “I’m with you. I don’t think they’ll find the killer, either. But what can we do?”

She paused for a moment, and then an idea came to her. “Help me find who did this to him.”

“You want me to help you look for a murderer? We’d be asking for the same fate as Justice.”

“I have to find out who did this to Justice.”

“It’s too dangerous.”

The dark pain festered inside her the more they talked. “I feel like this is the right thing to do.”

Zara took a deep breath and exhaled. “I’m in. But I’m not doing anything illegal.”

“First I’m going to go see the future teller, Veleda. After that I’m gonna head over to the Kreuzberg to find some lost souls to talk to. Somebody has to know something.”

Zara’s eyes widened. “Should we meet here after you get back?”

Mari ran down the hallway into the hovercraft hanger. She opened the door, sat in the hovercraft and started it. She yelled back into the house. “I’ll mind call you later.”

Wind swirled into the bunker as Mari opened the gate. Slanted rain splashed onto the concrete as a chill came over her. The climate in Berlin had become more extreme than in years past. Even still, this kind of wind wasn’t common in these parts. Something felt wrong to her, but she couldn’t think about that now.

Zara shielded his eyes from the wind and shouted so she could hear him. “Be careful.”

Four of Nero’s soldiers hurried into a hovercraft. The machine took off and chased after the one in black who had interrupted their assassination plan. The passenger looked at the tracking map on the dashboard. “He’s heading west on Torstrasse.” The driver sped the hovercraft past the other machines on the airway.

The agent in the back spotted their target and pointed. “On the Greenway.”

The driver gripped the steering wheel with two hands and slammed down on the accelerator. “Perfect, the Greenway is secluded.”

They swooped down onto the path, surrounded by hazel trees and an open meadow. The Greenway was constructed after the last major terrorist attacks. Berliners had wanted something in the city to symbolize their affinity with nature.

Boris looked behind him and saw Nero’s soldiers in the hover-craft getting close. “Drop me off ahead.”

The driver scrunched his nose and forehead as he looked at him. “Sir, that’s insane. I can get you back to the base.”

“They’re too fast, and I can’t risk them finding our base, drop me off and get back to the base safely.”

“But you can’t jump at this speed.”

Boris looked out the window at the ground, and raised his voice. “Slow down a bit; the grass will soften the blow.”

“Yes, sir.”

Raindrops splashed on the windshield as the driver eased off the accelerator, Boris looked at the driver. “Keep this pace.” He pressed the button on the door and the hatch opened. Boris jumped out, tumbling hard to the ground. He rolled and twisted over the rocky ground and then smashed into a tree.

The landing knocked the wind out of him, and blood seeped from cuts on his body. But there wasn’t time to feel the pain. Nero’s men pulled up and parked the machine. Boris struggled to get up as a bald solider in a dark grey jump suit stepped out of the passenger side of the machine.

“You’re lucky Nero wants you alive, or we’d kill you right now.”

Boris wiped the blood from his eyebrow, and stood up. “I’m not going with you.”

All three soldiers were outside the machine now. The bald soldier laughed. He motioned to the others. “Bring him here..” They charged at Boris, pulling their guns, setting them to stun. Boris dove behind a tree, dodging shots that ricocheted off its trunk. One of the men rushed toward Borisand just as he peered around the tree, Boris leaped around and kicked the soldier in the forehead, the blow knocking him out cold.

The two others charged Boris. He leaped in the air kicking one in the chest. The last one standing took another shot at Boris. He spun around and dodged the shot, sprinted toward the shooter and jump kicked her in the chin. The blow broke her jaw, and sent her to the ground. Boris hovered above her, lifting up his leg and smashing her skull in with two violent kicks. He hurried over to the man knocked out on the ground, took a step back and kicked him as hard as he could in the nose, pushing the bones into his brain. Boris took the knife out of the holster on the shoulder and jammed it into his throat.

The bald brute Boris knocked out, woke up and scrambled for his gun, but Boris was faster. He pulled the dagger from the man’s throat and launched it at the man. The knife stuck in his chest. Boris ran over to him, leaped into the air and kicked him in his nose. Blood spilled onto the grass. The man’s knees buckled and he fell to the ground. Boris grabbed his hovercraft code out of the mans’s pocket and sprinted to their machine and started it up. Just as he got in, he noticed another one of Nero’s machines coming onto the Greenway. Boris started the machine and sped away.

Mari rubbed her eyes and peered out her window into the back yard. The wind rattled the iron frame of her window. A dusting of snow fell from the sky. The worst of the bitter Winter had arrived. The black nights would last longer now; more murders would happen in the dark, more people would go missing. What time is it? She looked at the clock and was surprised to see it was still nighttime. 9:30? That’s strange. I usually don’t take naps at night. Mari decided to take a walk to get some air. She had to make sense of her last dream.

“Papa,” she yelled. “I’m going out for a walk.”

“Okay, honey,” her father responded from upstairs. “Don’t go far.”

Mari opened the back door of her room on the ground floor, which took her into their back yard. She thought about her mother and she would sit sunbathing in out here in the summer months. Pine trees lined the perimeter, the grass was sparse and the soil depleted. Mari looked up at the moon hiding behind the clouds as she walked across the grounds. It was as red as Mars. These red moons are happening more often lately…I usually hear about a mysterious murder the morning after I see one. She opened up the iron hatch to an underground tunnel that was right outside their house. Can’t let my papa see me go there. She peeked at the windows in the house. He wasn’t in sight so she climbed down a couple steps on the latter and jumped to the ground.

The cave was damp, and dark. Gentle water drops dripped into a puddle under hear feet. This place scared her at night, but from time to time she felt compelled to come down here. Sometimes she would sit for hours thinking about her mother, while wondering about what her purpose was in this shattered world. She pulled the torch off the wall and lit it. Mari loved holding natural light over a man made source—the flame had a mystical quality to it that the human device lacked. There were three different tunnels in the cave, all stretching to various points in the city. The secret tunnels had been created years ago as a safe shelter from terrorists, but they were no longer secret, nor safe.

She walked slowly down the damp mushy path, struggling to see what was ahead in the black cave. She waved the torch slowly in front of her, shining light in her path. A screeching noise pierced her eardrums. Mari stopped in her tracks. “Shit,” she said under her breath. She looked down and saw several mice scurry in front of her feet. Her heart was beating faster as she continued on down the dark path. . Ugh, I those things. As she continued down the cave, she thought about her dream where she had met the dark haired woman.

If time were an illusion like the woman had said, maybe Mari could project herself into the future and find out what her purpose was. And she could go back in time to see what life on earth used to be like. The time where adults spoke of it being a beautiful and peaceful time. But she doubted that the world was so much better back then, because Mari felt adults knew that passed generations caused the problems of the world today.

A chilling sensation crawled up the back of her neck. Prickly goose bumps pushed the hair up on her arms. Mari tensed and stopped. The chill she felt was familiar. She spun around and shined the torch in front of her. All she could see was the shadows flickering off of the rock walls. Then she felt the piercing chill on her neck. She turned around again…nothing was there. Mari was scared and turned around to get out of the cave, but a force grabbed her leg and yanked her to the ground.

Mari dropped the torch as she hit the ground. “Shit!” Mari got the air knocked out of her, she gasped for air as she tried to get up, but something was holding her down. She could feel the chilling breeze breathing on her face. Yuck., what is that? The stench of it was unbearable.

Mari swiped her hand toward the smell and was startled when she hit a scaly surface.

It groaned, and then she felt a fleshy pressure on her chest. She knew it was a shadow person, although until now she’d never actually touched one. Terror gripped her body. Mari couldn’t see the hand or whatever it was pressing down on her, but she chopped right above her chest, trying to release herself from the pressure.

The grip released for a moment but returned instantly. It grunted and applied more pressure. As Mari gasped for air, she saw the torch out of the corner of her eye. The flame was out, but the embers were still burning. She reached out but her fingertips barely touched it. The beast pushed down harder on her chest. Mari struggled to breathe, her eyes locked onto the torch. She lunged and rolled closer to the torch. She lunged once more and grabbed the handle. Mari secured it and thrust the torch above her chest. The creature screamed, as the flame burned into its skin.

The shadow person lost its grip on her, and Mari jumped up and stumbled down the hallway. She couldn’t see well, but she had to move. Mari panted as she sprinted down the cave, her feet splashing water with every step. A few moments later she saw a dim light around the bend of the pathway. The breath on her neck returned. Shit, just a few more steps, I’m almost there.

Just as she grabbed onto a ladder rung, it held her down and whispered in her ear with a slithering voice. “I know who you are, Mari, and I know what you are looking for. But I won’t let you live long enough to find out what you seek.”

Her panic shifted to rage. She pushed its arm off of her, spun around, and punched toward the voice. But she connected only with the air around her. She couldn’t feel its presence any longer. It was gone.

She stormed up the steps and slammed the door shut. In flash she swung up on her bed, wide awake. What? I know that wasn’t a dream because it felt real. What was that? Jesus, maybe I should finally go see that future teller?