Skye shuddered and wondered why it felt so easy
and natural for her to believe a story still yet unfinished and that normally
she would consider complete bullshit and at the same time fight her logical side
not to believe it at all. It felt like a patient mother waiting for her child’s
screaming temper tantrum to stop as she had done on more than one occasion and also
feel all wrapped up inside of her like a tornado completely destroying what she
felt like she had always known and never had to question.
She could feel the pull towards the box so
strongly that she could barely keep her eyes off of it. She would sneak side
long glances at it while Dom and Maury conversed beside her, and like she had an
extra heartbeat that was pulsating from deep within her, she could feel calling,
the urge…to touch it…to open it and place her hands upon the smooth stone. The
thought that it was working so hard to get free didn’t occur to her until now
and maybe because only now she had some knowledge of what it really was.
The bank, the house, looking back on
everything in the day from when she came in contact with it at the flea market up
until now played in her mind over and over again. She realized that she had heard it before at some point but again,
somehow in the back of her mind fought it for control over her thoughts. She knew
without the warning from Dominic that if she gave into the feeling and touched
it whether it was the right way or the wrong one, she really didn’t think it
would matter how and that it would take her away from everything she knew and
loved. At the same time she was curious to see if she would just be a voice
inside this other’s beings head or cease to exist all together.
“Oh my god, what am I thinking?” she said
out loud and all the men turned to look at her. Chase was the only one who had
been watching her already as he was reclined as much as possible in the wooden
chair with his long legs out stretched and his arms crossed over his broad
chest trying to gauge where her thoughts were. Skye paid no attention to it
seeing as she was off in her own world trying to make heads or tails of what
had been dumped in her lap.
The other
was almost forgotten, surprising because Skye was so deep in thought mostly
about her and feeling and like it knew what was going on. Almost as soon as the
though crossed her mind, the voice spoke up again. “Call me Georgia…not the Other.” it said softly. Skye must have made
a face because the men in the room had gone silent and were all staring at her
with concern. None of them looked shocked by it though and simply waited for
more as Skye thought back at it “That’s an odd name for a Goddess, isn’t it?”
“I like
it…” Georgia mused “it seems so much more…me…my real name is so…long and unnecessary.” Skye
stifled a small burst of hysterical laughter. Even though they were all watching her Chase’s
attention became more focused, he looked at her curiously and noticed a small
change in her eyes that flashed like someone walking in front of a projector.
He said nothing and instead made a note of it in his head before he turned his
attention to Dominic. He could see on Dominic’s face that he had seen the same
thing in her eyes that he had and knew they didn’t have much time.
Skye began to feel lightheaded again and this
time sick to her stomach. She felt disoriented and wavered slightly in her
chair as she thought “What exactly are you?”
Chase was still watching her and trying to
assess the situation when he leaned into Dominic’s ear and whispered something.
Dom acknowledged with a nod just as Maury decided it was time to pour something
into those glasses. When he saw Skye face he stopped dead with the bottle
hovered over her glass. They knew Skye was conversing with their trapped
Goddess, her lack of attention to her surroundings and knew that they would
lose Skye soon unless they prepared her. While Maury’s face showed worry and
Chase was guarded only Dom looked somewhat relaxed and leaned forward onto the
box with his forearms and smiled.
A smile crossed Skye’s lips but she was paying
no attention to what was going on around her being that she was so deep inside
her own head. Maury looked at Dom and he motioned for Maury to pour bourbon
into her glass while she stayed withdrawn. He didn’t say a word, just looked at
the woman in front of him as her face changed from the beautiful young mother
he knew to something for just a second that was beautiful and yet threatening. As
he lifted the glass and took a sip he slid the box over to Chase a little
harder than necessary.
The movement of the box snapped Skye out of it
because Georgia felt like she had left her suddenly and she had control of herself
again. Her hand moved to her temple and rubbed absently. Just as she was about
to ask Dominic exactly who or what Georgia was,
Cyrus shuffled in head and shoulders down and his hands stuffed in his
pockets scuffing the floor with a booted foot as he made his way towards his
mother. He didn’t look at anyone in the room until he reached her.
Extending his arm, arm he rested his hand
on her shoulder briefly as if to reassure Skye that he was there for her but
said nothing. He was still upset about being run out of the room and couldn’t
stand to sit and wait any longer. He pulled a stool over from the center island
until it was right behind her. Then he took a seat.
He sat back on the stool and leaned over to rest
his forearms on his thighs and still be able to touch his mother, he looked
hard at Dominic but spoke respectfully. “I know that you all think I’m too
young for this because I’m only 15 and maybe I am too young but want to know
how my dad fits into everything.” His voice was shaky but he managed calm tone,
“I need to know and if we can then I
want to know how we stop this from happening so my sisters and I don’t lose our
mom… we’ve already lost our dad.”
Dominic was still smiling and Chase merely
shrugged. “Well Cyrus…you’re more like your dad than I thought.” He reached in
front of Chase and pulled the box back over in front of him. Cyrus whose temper
had seemed more easily ramped up these days began to get defensive feeling like
he wasn’t being taken seriously. Dom lifted his nose to the boy and inhaled
sharply, “Sit down pup…I think things will be different this time around.”
