The unmistakable sounds of cooking served as ambient noise for Meredith’s idle online reading about psychopharmacology.  She researched the medications David had given her while she still lived with her family – she had knowledge in passing that these drugs were addictive, but she was never made aware of how grave the consequences of that addiction were.  It was a miracle she did not suffer any serious adverse effects.

 

                The noises coming from the kitchen changed to scraping, and then silence.  “Ms. Meredith! Dinner is ready!”

 

                Meredith closed the laptop and rose from the couch.  “Coming.”  As she headed toward the kitchen, she paused in her tracks and looked back at the couch with a squint.  Alina came out of the kitchen.

 

                “Is something wrong, Miss?”

 

                Meredith gazed at her feet.  “It’s nothing.  I just noticed while I was getting up, it felt like there was something under the cushion.”  She tucked a piece of stray hair behind her ear, and then glanced up at the ceiling.  “You lose anything lately, Alina? I know that’s a pretty typical place for random stuff to turn up.  Couch cushions, that is.”

 

                Alina crossed her arms and closed her eyes with a slight scowl, trying to remember if she’d lost anything recently.  Her eyes popped wide open and her mouth dropped slightly. “The notebook,” she whispered in a grave tone that suggested a hint of embarrassment.  “I could kick myself for not looking on my own… I have not seen since the night I went to Richard’s home.  How could I forget so easy?” She muttered nervously to herself as she turned away from Meredith and lowered her head.

 

                Meredith took a few cautious steps toward Alina.  “You’ve got a notebook?  Like a diary? Forgive me, but you didn’t seem like the type…”

 

                Alina turned around sharply and cocked her head.  “Why wouldn’t I?  We must be aware at all times, we must not forget our thoughts, our visions…”  She shuffled up to the couch and pressed her hands against the cushions.  “I am feel something… Ah! There!” She smiled as she pulled a worn-down maroon notebook out from between the cushions and leafed through it.

 

                Meredith leaned towards Alina and attempted to discretely peer at the pages.  “And what exactly is in there that could be so important to you?”

 

                Alina closed the book and turned to face Meredith, clutching the book to her chest. “Remember, the visions I tell you about?  The fear, the … distrust? I still have not given myself the time to explore what it is they could mean.”

 

                Meredith sucked her bottom lip and shuffled her feet.  “I s’pose you could say that’s my fault.  Been keeping you pretty busy,” she mused, wondering if she would ever be more to anyone than a burden – someone others felt obligated to cater to.

 

                Alina shook her head rapidly, clutching the book even closer and running her fingers across the cover. “Oh, no! That is my foremost duty.  But, in order to fulfill it… perhaps it would be best if I spent some time, ah, making sense of these things I have seen,” she said between anxious gasps.

 

                Meredith nodded. “Agreed.  But, let me tell you this – even if I did not fully agree, if you still believed it to be important, you would not need my permission in order to pursue it.  Understood?”  She carefully looked Alina in the eyes and gave her a reassuring smile.

 

                Alina smiled back with her shoulders tightly rounded.  “Yes, Ms. Meredith.  I will work on this later.  For now, can we eat? Please.” She tilted her head down and looked up at Meredith from below her eyelashes.

 

                Meredith smirked, breathing a half-sigh, half-chuckle.  “Yes.  Of course.  Thank you, Alina.”

               

               The two of them sat down at the table to eat their dinner.  Meredith pushed food around on her plate between bites.

 

                “So, what was it you look at on the computer?” Alina asked.

 

                “Oh, nothing super important.  Was reading about medicine.  I knew the stuff they gave me was powerful, but I didn’t know how easy it was to get a hold of.  Apparently people take it for fun, which just confuses me.  There was nothing fun about it,” she scoffed.

 

                Alina sighed.  “These medicines, they are dangerous.  I never like it that they give them to you.”

 

                Meredith tilted her head up and looked at Alina with upturned brows.

 

                “I’m sorry.  If I could have stopped them without being taken away from you, I would have.” She frowned.  “I suppose I did not know what they would do, I only assume, but… I was scared.  I am sorry.  I hope you understand.”  Alina hung her head and rolled a small bundle of hair between her fingers.  She had spent the past ten years weighing the consequences of speaking up against the questionable practices of the Silva family, fearing she would lose contact with Meredith should she protest too much.  Now, she was bearing the consequences of her failure to speak up – Meredith was clearly disappointed.  She was the only person Meredith could trust at this point in time, and her failure meant there would be lapses in that trust.  

 

                Meredith nodded without eye contact as she put a forkful of food into her mouth and swallowed.  “So, what kind of medicines do you trust?”

 

                Alina leaned her cheek into her shoulder and laughed, revealing her crooked teeth.  “Well, not very many.  I was trained somewhat in folk medicines.  Even those are not, ah… They cannot be relied upon.  To use them, you must focus, there must be intention.”

 

                Meredith furrowed her brow and pushed her lips out as she leaned forward.  “Intriguing.  Want to tell me more about that?”

 

                “I am afraid to explain it is beyond my grasp.  Though, there are some things I have taken myself, when I was very young… I don’t know that you would call them medicines.  The others, they call them shortcuts.  Still…I believe they helped me build my immunity,” Alina explained.  Her face flushed, showing embarrassment – she felt immature and impure divulging this. 

 

                “Your immunity to what?  The Zelishem and the visions?”

 

                “Yes.  They make it everything look, sound strange.  I felt crazy, but then calm.  After this, a few times, nothing scared me anymore.  Not even when I hear the Zelishem or seen their shadows as I walked in the woods…”  Alina’s expression became distant, yet pleasant.   “I know it your family does this sort of thing always.  I only did three times,” she intoned before sipping a cup of ginseng tea.  “I think I reacted differently than the usual.”

 

                Meredith shrugged as she swallowed the last bit of her food.  “Well, that’s not so bad.  Heh, I wonder how I would react.  Don’t wanna risk it, though.”

 

                “I would advise you not to, as well,” Alina agreed before finishing her own meal.  “Listen.  I go to my room to read notebook.  There are things I wrote down, I need to think about them, what it is they meant.  You can go on to bed.  Call for me if you need,” Alina said as she stood up, grabbing the book from the center of the table.  She sat down on her bed and studied the notes carefully – the notes that described a man ripping a star from the sky only for it to destroy his hand.  She flipped to a blank page and sketched the vision as best as she could, when she remembered a similar story and muttered to herself.  “Icarus.”  She stared back down at the sketch, adding more detail, particularly to the man’s face and his pained expression as his hand was torn to shreds.  She looked back at her own speculative notes, which were written in Ukrainian.

 

                There is to be a merge between the worlds, but who is the one initiating it? The scriptures have never said it would specifically be the Zelishem.  Could the catalyst for the merge have been human? Why is there a human man in this vision, when the Conduit is a woman, unless a human man put her here? I do not know how such a thing would be possible.  We have always believed the Conduit’s conception would occur through a woman’s psychic encounter with a Zelishem.

 

                She squinted at the pages and then clutched the side of her head.  “Ms. Meredith!” She called out.  Meredith shuffled into the room wearing a teal nightgown.  “Oh, I am sorry, Miss.  Have I disturbed you?” She tapped her fingertips together.

 

                “No. Just got done brushing my teeth, heh,” Meredith replied and sat down across from Alina.

 

                Alina smiled and nodded.  “So, there was something I realize about the visions I had the night before you come here. Remember I tell you about how I saw a man who stole a star from the sky?”

 

                Meredith lowered her head and looked up at Alina’s face.  “And he got burned.”

 

                “Yes, yes.  You know the story, about Icarus?”

 

                Meredith chuckled under her breath, not without wryness.  “Of course I do.  I never got to read much outside of mythologies and various religious scriptures and weird old alternative medicine books as a kid.  Oh, and Carl Jung, but I could never really wrap my head around his writing style.”

 

                Alina gave a gentle tilt of her head.  “Mythology is most of what I have read as well.  But, it is similar, no? Flying into the sun, it is not much different from stealing a star, is it?  The sun, it is a star.”

 

                Meredith nodded.  “There's definitely a theme of hubris there.  Which is what the Icarus tale is all about.”

 

                “Then who is it, our Icarus?”  Alina asked, leaning forward with intensity.

 

                Meredith gave a melancholy smile and rubbed her foot against the carpet.  “Always kinda thought of David that way.  Hubris could practically be his middle name.  When he sees something captivating, something he believes to be special, he has to have it. He’s a conqueror…”  She turned her face away from Alina and cast her eyes down.  Alina frowned and extended her hand towards Meredith, but withdrew it out of uncertainty regarding the girl’s reaction.  She leaned back and looked at her sketch once again, squinting intently at the man’s contorted face.

 

                “No.  Not David,” Alina spoke abruptly.

 

                Meredith sat up straight.  “Hmm?”

 

                “I am not saying you are wrong… David is conqueror, yes. But… the man’s face,” Alina turned away momentarily and took a deep breath as she squeezed her hands together, reluctant to voice what she had perceived.  “It is your father’s,” she exhaled.

 

                Meredith paled and went silent. She drew her arms inward towards her core and breathed heavily.

 

                “Ms. Meredith?”

 

                Meredith did not respond with anything but a shrill cry as she doubled over, clutching her head. Alina rushed to crouch over her instantly.  “Ms. Meredith, are you all right?  You need to lie down.  I get you water, okay?”

 

                “Okay,” Meredith choked out as Alina helped her to her feet and led her into her bedroom where she curled up in her bed.  Alina brought her a glass of water as promised.  Meredith sat up and took it, taking a few careful sips between ragged breaths when she dropped the glass with a yelp.  Glass shards littered the floor, but that was the least of Alina’s concerns – a trickle of nacreous blood ran down Meredith’s forehead.  Alina took a few wide-eyed steps toward her.

 

                “Ms. Meredith!  This blood.  It is changing,” she clipped.  She paused to catch her breath.  “You change so quickly.  The, ah, antennae have broken through, and your blood, it changes.  Still red, but it shines.”  She spoke softly and gave Meredith time to process this information, as excited and agitated as she felt.  “Soon, it will be no longer red.  You are in pain…”  She looked away in shame and lowered her voice to a whisper as solemn as the sound of rain on gravel.  “I am afraid you change too fast for me to keep up with at this rate.  We must slow it, the process.  It is very fortunate I can do this,” she explained, coaxing hope into her voice for Meredith’s sake.

 

                Meredith nodded as she breathed uneasily with her legs tucked against her chest.  Alina quietly recited an incantation in Russian, in a tone much lower-pitched than her usual voice.  As she chanted, she placed her hand on Meredith’s head as if she were trying to touch a paper-thin sheet of ice without cracking it. She straddled Meredith’s rudimentary antennae with her fingers, applying a bit more pressure despite Meredith’s wincing and stiffening.  Alina’s chanting grew slower and Meredith felt some relief.  She immediately sunk backward onto the bed.  The pearly blood stained her pillows, but its flow was slowing down, so this did not bother her.  She looked up at Alina and noticed she looked preoccupied.  “Is something wrong?” She asked.

 

                She shook her head.  “Do not worry.”  She opened her notebook back up and ran her fingers delicately over her sketch, continuing to contemplate it in the back of her mind.  Without noticing, she chewed her lip.

 

                Meredith grew more concerned in spite of Alina’s reassurance, and she sat back up.  “Seriously, is there something wrong? You keep zoning out,” she urged.

 

                Alina paused and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath.  “No.  But…”

 

                “But what?” She leaned forward, still tense from what was left of the pain.

 

                 Alina huffed.  “May I ask you some questions? About your father, your childhood?”

 

                Meredith leaned back against the pillows and shrugged.  “I don’t see why not.  I can’t guarantee my answers will be the most accurate at the moment, though.  All this stuff happening to my head is pretty distracting, as you might imagine.”

 

                Alina smirked.  As quickly as her slight smile appeared, her expression snapped back to one of gravity.  “Do you remember how early it was he spoke of you being something special?”

 

                Meredith glanced downward.  “It was right before he took me to Europe.  Shortly before I met you for the first time.  No mention of it before then.”  She rubbed her temple and turned over onto her side.  “He said something about how all little girls are special, but how he thought I was the most special of all.  He said he was taking me to someone who would make sure of it.”

 

                Alina narrowed her eyes and folded her hands together. “I see… And your mother.  What was she like before your abilities emerged?”

 

               “She’s always been physically weak, and she’s never really had it completely together, mentally. Very disorganized. She always seemed a bit intoxicated or something… just never had any serious problems until I began to mature,” Meredith explained.

 

               Alina nodded.  “Ms. Meredith… I remember you say, you do not know if you came by your status honestly.  I believe you may be right.  Your father, he may have forced it somehow.”  She watched Meredith’s expression contort into one of disgust as she spoke, but she continued.  “I do not know… However, that does not need to change anything!  No matter how you became the Conduit, you are the Conduit,” she reassured.

 

               Meredith sighed.  “Well, that’s just great,” she griped as she rolled over, facing away from Alina. Her teeth had begun to chatter with rage and fear as the possibility sunk in to her mind, but she tried her best to conceal it. She shut her eyes as tightly as they would close.  “Whatever.  We don’t have any concrete evidence yet that he forced it…”

 

               Alina cocked her head to the side.  “How can you doubt the visions your own kind have sent me? Besides, you suggest it yourself!” She immediately blanched and covered her mouth at her own irreverence, realizing Meredith was in too vulnerable a state to hear what she was suggesting.  “I am sorry, Miss, that was… that was too much, over the line…”  She looked down, overcome with shame.

 

              Meredith forced a smile to try and alleviate Alina’s guilt.  “No worries.  Have you checked the mail lately? I sent a letter out to my cousin the day after I got here, but I haven’t gotten anything back.  I’m sure it’s gotten where it was supposed to go already, it doesn’t take more than a few days to get a letter from Pennsylvania to Maryland.”

 

              Alina paused.  “I have, but I have seen nothing for you.  I keep look for it.”

 

              “All right, thank you.”

 

              Alina turned to leave the room. “You are most welcome.  Goodnight.”  She slipped out of the room, taking care to make as little noise as possible.

Meredith buried her face into her pillow.  “Goodnight,” she mumbled.

                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                           *****

 

              David stood in front of the mirror in Meredith’s old bedroom.  He pulled back the skin around his eyes, examining them.  He breathed heavily as he noticed greenish stripes running through his irises, and when he moved closer to the mirror, he noticed how these stripes shimmered.  With his face pale and his mouth dry, he sat down on the bed and pulled his phone from his pocket to dial Richard’s number.  He dialed six times – each time, the call transferred directly to Richard’s voicemail.  He clutched his head, wondering who else he could call. In desperation, he called Brian and closed his eyes with relief when he heard a ring.

 

            “’Ello. David?”

 

            “Oh, thank God,” David sputtered.

 

            “What’s goin’ on, somethin’ wrong?” Brian asked.

 

             David got up and paced.  “Meredith’s rebelling.  She called me last night, telling me I need to die for her… Brenda said it wasn’t her, but she doesn’t know anything. It sounded like her, just like her… She’s turned against us, the Zelishem will overtake our world and she will lead them, oh, dear God… I knew it, I fucking knew it…”  He took a deep breath.  “Are you with Richard? Let me talk to him.”

 

            “No, ‘m not with ‘im.  I just got back to the city.  He’s on his way over to Alina’s cottage with that Morgenstern woman he met with.”

 

             David pressed his hand against his forehead.  “Oh, God damn it!  This is spiraling out of control.”

 

             “You needa calm down, Dave.  Take some deep breaths. Take a nap or somethin’. You got any of those pills you were givin’ Meredith left over?” Brian suggested.

 

            “As if that’ll help.  Come over here and get a good look at me! This isn’t something a little alprazolam will fix!”

 

           “No offense, but you really sound like you’re in bad shape.”  Brian tried to remain calm and reassuring in spite of his confusion.

 

           “I AM!”

 

           Brian arched his brow and moved the phone away from his ear. “All right, all right.  I’ll come over, see what I can do.  No promises.”

 

          “We’ll figure something out.  We have got to figure something out.”

 

          “Look, buddy, I don’t know you all that well, but ya sound desperate and I’m not one to turn away someone in desperation.  But you’ve gotta be honest with me.”

 

          “I will. I swear, I will.  Just get over here as fast as you can.”

 

          “I’m on it. I’ll see you soon.”  Brian hung up.  David fell back onto the bed and wrung his big, bony hands.

 

                                                                                                                                *****

          Richard rapped on Alina’s door as Tabitha stood slightly behind him.  Alina cracked the door open.

 

          “Hello, Richard.  What is it the occasion? Something wrong?”

 

          “Yes, but we can get to that later.  Open the door all the way, Alina.”

 

          Alina complied.  Her arms were crossed and she wore a petulant expression. “So, what is it?”

 

          Richard put on a shallow smile.  “I’d like to introduce you to somebody.  Rather, I would like to introduce her to Meredith.”

 

          Alina’s eyelids drooped.  “Ms. Meredith is not feeling well.  What is this about?”

 

          Richard stepped closer to Alina and looked down at her.  “This is very important.  This woman here has agreed to help me with a very important project – a private school based around the Zelishemite tradition, for children who may be influenced by the Zelishem - but she needs to be convinced of Meredith’s nature.  She isn’t a believer yet.”

 

         Tabitha cleared her throat and stepped forward slightly.  “I’ve not believed in anything for a long time and I don’t expect to.”  Richard turned her head toward her and glowered.

 

           Alina stiffened to hold back from expressing her impatience with Richard.  She wondered many times, and in how many ways, was the man going to attempt to monetize the tradition she grew up in.  She coughed.  “This project, it sounds like good idea, but will only be good if is done correctly,” she said, overemphasizing the last word with a staccato tone.  “Come in,” she breathed.  “Just the woman, if you do not mind, sir.”

 

           Richard flung his hands into the air.  “Very well, whatever it takes.  You seem to be in a bit of a mood today, Alina.  I can appreciate it.  I’ll be waiting out here.”

 

                Alina nodded and motioned toward Tabitha with a hospitable smile.  “Come, come inside ma’am.”  She led Tabitha down the hallway to Meredith’s room, where she was half-asleep.  The crystalline antennae had grown slightly more, despite Alina’s process-slowing spell.  Tabitha squinted as she noticed four of them protruding through Meredith’s hair and was tempted to touch them until she saw a violet fluid on them.  She then noticed the same fluid staining Meredith’s temples.  Her eyes widened and her shoulders trembled. 

 

             “What on Earth,” she whispered.  She had never seen anything like this before.  What she witnessed contradicted everything she had ever known about the human body, and a profound, aching dizziness came over her.  “I’m sorry, I think I need to sit down.  What is going on?”

 

            Alina pulled a desk chair out for Tabitha and motioned for her to take a seat, which Tabitha did without any hesitation.

 

           “There are many people on Earth influenced by Zelishem race.  This girl, however, she has not only their influence, but their blood, their…” She paused and tapped her temple.  “Genes.  She was born under unusual circumstances, as was written in our prophecies…”

 

           Tabitha took a deep breath and tilted her head.  “So, those blue horns and the purple blood are what, a feature of this alien race?”  Alina nodded.  “So, what’s happening to her? She looks human otherwise.  A transmutation?”  Tabitha grew impatient for answers.  She regretting coming with Richard and wished she’d taken the risk of him exposing her past.  For all she knew, he could have been bluffing.

 

          “I believe that is the word.  Soon, the blood will be the color of the sea,”  Alina said with a gentle smile.

 

          Tabitha raised an eyebrow and curled her lip.  She did not notice, but her hands shook visibly.

 

          Alina walked up to her and placed her hands on Tabitha’s.  “I understand this is unusual.  I forget, most of this world is not used to this.”

 

          Tabitha looked down at Alina’s hands on top of her own.  “To say the least.  So, how did this happen to her? Genes are passed down from parents, they don’t just appear. At least in my understanding, which, I admit, is limited as a psychologist.”

 

          Alina turned her eyes to the ceiling and let go of Tabitha’s hands.  “That, we do not know.  As I said, unusual circumstances.”

 

          “Sounds fishy.  All of this is fishy.  Well, I suppose I can’t deny that the aliens are real now, but… Come on, do you really think this happened due to divine intervention? It could have just as well been through human design,” Tabitha suggested.

 

          Alina frowned.  “…Ah, what does fish have to do with anything?” She rolled a piece of her hair between her fingers.

 

          Tabitha choked out a laugh.  “It means suspicious.”

 

           Alina covered her mouth and laughed as well.  “Ah! I see.  Well… regardless of how it has happened, the prophecy is being fulfilled.  I tell Ms. Meredith this before.”

 

           Tabitha squeezed her eyes shut. “Listen, I’ve got a lot of questions that I don’t think you can answer reliably. It’s nothing personal, but I think I’ve seen enough for now.  I’m going to talk to Richard.”  She moved to get up from her seat, when Alina put her hand up.

 

           “But I can answer! Believe me, I know more of this than he does,” she said.

 

            Tabitha furrowed her brow and sat back down.  “All right, then.  First off, what planet are these aliens from? Where, and how, would Richard Silva get their genetic material?”

 

           “They are not from another planet.  They are from another universe altogether.”

 

           Tabitha rolled her eyes.  “Curiouser and curiouser.  I apologize, Ms. Galenko.  I have trouble taking much of this at face value as everything you say is filtered heavily through the lenses of your faith.”

 

            Alina paused and cast her eyes to the floor.  “Richard Silva knows a man.  His name is Brian Frederick.  He has written a loose translation of the Zelishemite scriptures.  Ask Richard for him.”

 

           “Again, these are scriptures. I need something more-“

 

            Alina looked down at Tabitha and stared her in the eye.  “They were written from the experiences of those who made direct contact with these beings.  Spoke to them, touched them.  Please, ask for it, the text. Read it.”

 

            Tabitha sucked a tooth and gave a bitter smirk.  “Well, I guess since I’m already here…  Thank you.  I’ll see you later?”

 

            “I hope so.  Goodbye, ah…”

 

            “Tabitha.”

 

            Alina nodded and put a hand on Tabitha’s shoulder. “Ah, one more thing, Tabitha… Please be careful, working with Richard. This thing he wants to do, it is good, but he… I do not know.  Please keep him under control, if you can.”

 

            Tabitha took a deep breath and gritted her teeth.  “...Right, got it. Goodbye, Alina.”

 

            “Goodbye.”

 

            Tabitha left the house on her own, at least partially relieved to see that Richard was still waiting for her. 

 

             “So…?” Richard asked with his arms folded against his broad chest.

 

             “Well, your daughter didn’t really do much of anything, like you said she would.  She was asleep and couldn’t exactly give me a magic show.  However, she is mutating, which was enough to show me you’re possibly not entirely full of shit.  I still need some convincing in terms of the connection between these beings and atypical humans, though.  Alina said something about someone who works with you named Brian having translated some scriptures. I’d, ah…” She sighed.  “I’d like to take a look, I guess.”

 

            Richard cracked a smile. “Excellent!  I actually have a copy of them in my home.  Let’s go.”  The two of them got into Richard’s car and headed back towards his home.