Age of Silence - bloodlines

That horrendous sound, a penetrating stream of madness and disturbance of peace. No matter how much inventors tried to deliver a harmonious effect, hearing it in the morning never felt welcoming. The alarm clock finally woke her. Disoriented and groggy, Mari glanced around the room to see where she was. At this moment, she couldn’t recall. The dimensions bled together, more and more…which was which and who was she, and where, and why?

She squinted and spotted the box of magic mushrooms that Zara had given her a few months ago, on her oak nightstand. “Home,” she said with a sense of relief. What time is it? The clock read 10 a.m.

She rubbed her eyes and yawned. Jesus, I’m just now waking up? The owl feather dropped from her bed and floated to the floor.

Mari pushed away the covers and stood up. She decided to invite Zara over. She mind called him.

She turned off the call frequency in her brain and walked up to the kitchen. On this morning the sun was brighter than usual, Mari glanced out the window and saw a crow on their deck. It looked around, then cocked it’s head as it looked at her. As soon as she made eye contact if flew away. Mari walked up the stairs into the kitchen, there was a note on the counter. Sometimes her papa left her a message on paper if he planned on going somewhere when she was still asleep.

“We have your father, if you want to see him again stop looking for who killed your friend.”

Mari gasped, her head was spinning. “Jesus, this can’t be happening.” She stormed through the house looking in every room for her papa, but he really wasn’t there. When she finally got to his bedroom the only sign of disturbance was his bed was not made…something he never left undone. Mari collapsed to the ground and lay there in a fetal position.

Zara came into the house, his DNA code was stored in their system so he could scan his wrist and walked in. “Mari? Mari? Where are you?”

She heard him continue to call out but she still in shock, she didn’t reply. He looked in her room and in the kitchen continuing to yell out her name. Finally she responded. A few moments later he flashed into her father’s room out of breath.

He walked over to her, knelt down and wrapped his arms around her. “What happened?

She pulled away from his arms, her watery eyes glanced at him for a moment and then looked away. “He’s gone.”

“Who’s gone?”

“My papa, they took him.”

His jaw dropped. “What are you talking about?” Zara said as his eyes watered.

Mari bit down on the edge of her thumb. I don’t know, but the note in the kitchen told me that if I don’t stop looking for who killed Justice, that I won’t see him again.”

Zara put his arms around her again. “I’m so sorry.”

She fought the tears but they came anyway. She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight. Mari then pulled away and looked at him, their eyes locked. She wanted to kiss him and leaned in. Just as he went to kiss her she leaped up and walked over to her papa’s safe next to his bed. It was disguised as a bedside table. She lifted up the handle and punched in a code on the keypad beneath it. The door opened; inside it were a few handguns and a knife. She grabbed them and vanished out of the room.

“Wait, where’re you going?” It was no use. She was already out the door. Zara stood there with a blank look on his face.

As she walked to the train station she felt guilty about leaving him there, but she couldn’t get distracted, she had to find who took her papa, and she had to find who killed Justice. As she waited for the train, Mari wondered who the woman was that was chasing her.

Smoke rose from the dusk in the distance. Another bomb attack, more decaying bodies lay in waste. She paced as the tram, approached her thoughts racing and a fiery burning under the surface of her pain. Mari stepped on the train, she worried that she would not be able control her emotions before they erupted. Why can I no longer tell the difference between the waking world and dream world? This is the kind of stuff that happens to people who are clinically insane. She peered of into the woods, worried she was going crazy as the train left the station. Mari rubbed her hands together, trying to warm them. What if there’s no difference between the waking world and dream world? Maybe our perception is warped and they are the same?

She reached into her pocket and caressed the owl feather. I’m awake. Maybe my dream was trying to tell me I would find that old man I talked to in the Kreuzberg. But what if my dreams are reality?

Six stops later the train dropped her off in the heart of the Kreuzberg. Hit again with the tension of the packed streets, she disappeared into the crowd. Frustrated by all the people, she looked for a way to escape them. Mari spotted an entrance for the underground.

Just as she started to walk down the stairs, she saw the woman from her dream last night, and they locked eyes.

Panic strangled her muscles. Mari reached for her father’s gun holstered in the belt of her jeans. Before she could grab it, the woman cocked her fist back and swung at her, the blow landed square on her jaw, and the gun flung out of her grasp.

The woman hit her square in the jaw, and Mari tumbled down the entrance to the underground, hitting the ground hard. The woman jumped down after her and walked casually toward Mari. Dazed by the blow, she got up and started running as fast as she could. Mari was fast and gained ground as she gracefully weaved by people in the crowded cafe. But the woman was faster, and she was catching up.

Jesus, this is twisted déjà vu, she thought as she darted around the bend. She turned back to see the woman closing in. Her heart pounded faster. I can’t outrun her.

Mari stopped in her tracks, ducking behind a person next to her to obstruct the view. The woman sped toward her. Just as she approached, time flashed forward, the fear tantalized the nerves in her body. There was no time for hesitation. Mari leaped out and kicked the woman in the chin, knocking her to the ground.

An piercing silence spread through the underground. People watched in fear that this might be another blood bath right before their eyes. Too afraid to intervene, they could only hope that death was not waiting at the end of the fight.

The woman sprang to her feet and threw a jab into Mari’s chest, knocking her back into the wall. The jagged rocks stabbed her back, compounding the impact as she buckled and slid down the stones and fell to the ground . As Mari lay there, the woman jumped on top of her and wrapped her hands around her neck. Mari struggled to breathe, she tried to relieve the pressure by pulling the woman’s hands apart. But the woman had a tight hold, making her lightheaded and weak.

Finally a voice from the crowd erupted, “Stop! You’re going to kill her!”

But the woman didn’t budge, she just squeezed harder.

Mari tried to pry the woman’s hands from her neck. She’s to strong…I have to find another way to get her off.

Mari let go of the woman’s arms. She felt her throat caving in. Struggling to stay conscious she accessed the last ounce of energy inside, and with all of her strength she punched the woman in the ribs. The blow loosened her grip just enough to attack again. Mari punched her in the ribs. Then again. And again. The woman’s grip slipped just enough to enable Mari to pry her hands away from her neck.

Then Mari punched the woman square in the nose, and blood dripped out of her nose onto the ground. Her eyes watered blurring the woman’s vision as she cupped her nose. While the blonde woman was still on her knees, Mari took two steps back then thrust a kick to forehead as hard as she could.

A loud thud reverberated off the walls as her body tumbled backward to the ground. Dust smoke scattered. She was motionless, lying on the ground in a puddle of her own blood.

Silence filled the hallway. Mari was panting, her stare cold and blank, she was in shock. . The onlookers began, shouting and pushing each other. A woman from the crowd shouted at Mari. “You killed her.”

A man rushed up to her. “Are you all right?”

Mari stood there, still trying to catch her breath. Then she walked off, and the man grabbed her arm. “Wait,” he pleaded.

Mari shoved his arm away, and shot him a stare and thought about decking him. “Don’t touch me again,”

“Please take this.” He handed her a small piece of paper. “Someone is waiting for you. It’s important that you go here now.”

She opened up the piece of paper, and on it was a name and address: White Light Tattoo. Tattooing, Skalitzerstr. 78

“Who are you?” Mari asked.

“You need to hurry. The police will be here any minute.”

Mari rubbed her jaw “How can I trust you?”

“Let’s just say I’m a friend of Justice’s, now go I don’t have time to explain, Ask for Janey when you get there.”

They were already here, sirens echoed down into the underground. Mari looked at the man one more time, then vanished down a hallway. Moments later she emerged at the opposite end of the street from where a few police officers were surveying the area, looking around, making their way down into the underground.

Mari fled down the street toward the nearest UBahn station. She hurried down the stairs and caught the next train to Skalitzerstr, just two stops away. As she exited the station and crossed the street onto Skalitzerstr rain spit down from the dark sky. Mari walked down the busy street and as she approached the parlor at the back corner of the dead end street, she saw a black sign above a door on the old building.

White Light Tattoo

Mari walked up to the the door, and felt a familiar dark presence behind her. A chilling breath on her neck. Jesus, again? Her eyes widened and she looked out of the corner of her eye. She quickly opened the door and stepped down the stairs into the shop. The sound of a needle buzzing filled the air. The shadow dweller didn’t follow her inside, but she could feel it watching her from outside the window. Where there more shadow people following her these days? Or was she just more aware of their presence? Mari pushed open another door and in front of her was a long white wood booth. Behind it was a young man wearing a red and black flannel shirt, his rolled up his sleeves, showed off his tattoos on both arms. The walls of the shop were covered with tattoo designs and past clients. Dragons, skulls, sacred geometry shapes, seemed to be a theme, the clerk listened to heavy metal while he sketched his next tattoo.

“Can I help you?”

Mari was staring at the artwork on the walls. “Is Janey here?”

“She’s working. What’s your name?”

“Mari.”

“I’ll be right back.”

He climbed up a ladder behind him and a few minutes later he returned. “She is ready for you. Come with me.” Mari followed him up the ladder that led them up to a room on the second floor, the walls covered with sacred geometry tattoos. He pointed down the hallway. “Last door on the right.”

Mari walked down the hall, wondering if the stranger set her up. And how did he know Justice? But she didn’t get the feeling that was the case. Mari stopped at the room, the door was open. Janey was inside and invited her in.

Mari walked in the room but she wasn’t present, she stared off into space, the weight of what happened starting to settle. I recognized that woman in the cave. I think she was the one following us…she was the one who killed Justice. But her vengeance had done nothing to soothe the pain, the hate.

Janey interrupted her thoughts by coming over to Mari and giving her a hug. The woman had blonde dreadlocks, huge earrings, deep blue eyes and was covered in tattoos, Janey had a similar glow to Veleda, vibrant, strong, wise, and compassionate. Mari didn’t know her but felt comfortable around her already.

“Hi, Mari, I’ve been expecting you. “There, sit.”

Mari just stood there.

Don’t worry, I’m not giving you a tattoo,” She said while laughing. We can do another time if you like.”

Janey sat down in the chair next to her. Her eyes were glossy. “I’m sorry to hear about Justice.”

“How do you know about that?”

Janey pushed her dreadlocks over her shoulder. “Your papa came to me some years ago and he me watch you and make sure you are safe. I’m work indirectly with Alliance.”

“What do you mean, indirectly.”

“Your papa comes to me for help, but the Alliance doesn’t believe in what I do, so he keeps it quiet when I work for him..”

Mari frowned. “What do you do?”

“I connect people to other realms. After your mum was killed your papa came in to get a tattoo. I saw his desire to explore other realms, and we formed our connection.”

Mari scowled. “What do you mean other realms? Who are you?”

Janey smiled. “I am a realm bender. I help people like your papa travel to other dimensions.”

“I don’t understand.” Then a news hologram alert flashed into the room.

UNDERWORLD ASSSIN KILLED BY YOUNG GIRL. IF YOU’VE SEEN HER CONTACT POLICE IMMEDIATELY. An image of Mari caught on film from the underground flashed onto the screen.

Mari’s muscles tensed, and her eyes quickly shifted to Janey. Their eyes locked and Mari started to get up. But the woman gently put her hand on Mari’s shoulder.

“I’m don’t report you. I’ve been waiting for you, but you don’t have much time. The police they come looking for you, and they probably already know you are here.”

Mari rubbed her neck. “You’ve been waiting for me?”

“Your papa want me to help you like I helped him. Come, I show you.” Janey stood up and walked out the door. Mari followed her down the tiny hallway they walked down a short flight of creaky wood stairs down to a pathway made of stone that led into the back of the building. The tattoo artist came to the end, she tapped on the wall, and it opened up into a dimly lit room that was filled with candles and plants. A big mandala rug draped from the back wall. In front of it was a chair that looked like an ancient throne.

Janey pointed to the chair. “This take you to where you need to go. There are others out there like you and your papa and they need your help.”

For a moment she thought about telling the woman her father was captured, but she didn’t know if she could trust the woman. “Am I dreaming right now? Mari reached into her pocket and felt the owl feather.

“Your papa wanted me to show you another world. Sit on the throne, or you wait here for police.”

“What happens if I sit on the throne?”

“It’ll read where you need to go then it takes you there when you push the button.”

Mari’s jaw dropped. “It’s a teleporter?”

Janey smiled. “Something like that,”

They could hear sirens and they sounded close. Then they stopped. The sound of slamming doors bounced off the concrete walls in the alley. Mari heard two muted voices talking to one another.

Janey put her hand on Mari’s shoulder. “What will you do?”

The bell clanked as the door shut behind the officers. They could her the police talking to the man at the front desk. Mari was sweating. “Screwe it.” She sat on the chair, a greenish white light washed over her skin, then in front of her a hologram of a red planet appeared. Mari’s eyes widened as she pushed the amber button on the chair.