Chapter Two:

No Rest for The Not-So-Well Rested

Emma awoke with a start. The loud clangs of pots and pans and forced hissing from the coffee machine had jerked her from a sound sleep. Emma rolled over in her soft and tousled bed and searched the darkness for the violent red glow of her alarm clock. 7:00 am.

"Crap." She plopped back over onto her pillow and pouted. "Silly me I should have sound proofed the room when I covered the windows."

"JIMMY! UNPLUG YOUR SELF FROM THAT BLOODY COMPUTER AND EAT SOMETHING!" It was Layla screeching for Jimmy, as usual, to pull away from his laptop. It seemed that over the last year their relationship had moved from fresh and new stage to the familiar and comfortable stage. Which meant Layla did a lot of screeching and Jimmy was used to it. That is if he lifted his head up from his work bench long enough to hear. It wasn't that they were unhappy, and it wasn't as if they fought all the time. It was just how their personalities were. Jimmy had always been easy going and a workaholic; Layla had always been fiery and opinionated. Although Emma found it a constant source for confusion and amazement, they seemed to like each other that way and whenever together, seemed hopelessly blissful. It was that that Emma envied. That contentment and safety that soaked the air when they we together. When Layla would walk across a room, Emma could feel Jimmy's heart skip a beat and rise up into his throat. It didn't take their unusual twin connection to see that Jimmy was happy with Layla just the way she was.

"JIMMY!" Came another screech. Emma sighed and yanked a pillow over her head trying to mute the madness that was her house in the mornings. "You have to hurry! I don't want to be late for my appointment!"

"Oh for the love of God Jimmy. Just do what the woman says so she'll shut up!" Emma mumbled from underneath the pillow. She had given up on sleeping in. It was a dream she chased every morning; a sort of test. "Let's see how late I can get away with sleeping in this morning!" But like the vivid visions that still woke her in the night from her sound sleeping, her notions were still just dreams. It was always something. If not Layla's constant incapacity to lower her blaring fog horn of a mouth, or Jimmy's projects and experiments going horribly wrong, shaking the house with a loud explosion followed by Jimmy's cries of "Everything's fine! That's what it's supposed to do!" Than it was Emma's traitor of a bladder forcing her weary body to rise from its comfortable state and relieve it. And once she emerged from her inner sanctum there was no going back! As soon as the others knew that she was awake, they would make it impossible for her to go back to bed!

This time it was Layla and her bladder. Emma reached over with her right hand and without removing the pillow from her face, searched the side of the bed for her prosthetic that she had propped up last night. Emma's fingertips had found the sticky surface of the silicone liner that was worn under the actual prosthetic. She had always draped it over the leg to keep it clean and free of dust. But as she moved to pull it up towards her, the liner snagged the leg and knocked it to the ground causing a series of loud hallow taps. The jolt of the sudden reverberating bangs from the leg falling over onto the hardwood floor was like a thousand needles stabbing into her skin all over her body at once.

"Damn it!" She cursed through her teeth. Pushing the pillow and covers back, she sluggishly sat up and picked the liner off of the floor. Dust, hair, and a broken corn chip clung to it and she held it up in disgust. "Great."

"I know you're up Ahab! Maybe you could grace us with your presence and possibly help me convince your brother of the same!" Layla barked her orders from the other side of the bedroom door. Emma rolled her eyes and made a mocking face. Tossing the dirtied liner aside, she reached into the side table and pulled out a fresh one.

Layla stood at the doorway to the basement stairs like the frustrated commander of a battleship. She looked the epitome of grace and beauty in her blue silk, Moroccan tunic belted at her waist. The sun glinted off of the beads and sequins embroidered around the deep v-necked collar and sleeves. Her jet black hair was pulled back in a high ponytail that still reached the middle of her back. It was a rare occasion to catch her jeans let alone such fashionable boot cut low-risers. Normally long gauze skirts were her forte, but today she even forwent the accustomed sandals for an adorable pair of narrow toed black boots. Her crystal chandelier earrings clacked almost musically as she shook her head in aggravation at Jimmy's tardiness. Emma yawned as she walked passed as Layla argued with thin air.

"I really don't have time for this today." Layla reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose in a massaging motion. "All of you! Shut up!"

Emma chuckled as she watched Layla struggle with her other worldly pests.

"Ok, Woman with the barmy hat that loots like a dead bird, you come back in three hours, say about eleven. You sir with the eye… thing, you come back an hour after that at noon. And YOU, the arsehole that won't stop screaming in my bloody ear about: 'Oh boo hoo I'm late for my big game!' Your Dead genius! You missed it, they lost, go away! I however AM late for an appointment and I still have the corporeal-ality to be there. Was it not making sense to you that I'm the only one who can see you and that you haven't needed to go to the bathroom is , oh say, A COUPLE OF YEARS! You fly on up there to grandma who is no doubt waiting for you with a big plate of yummy cookies. Now everyone go poof!" Layla waved them off like a swarm of flies and went back to glaring down the stairs.

Emma sat down at the table and stuffed a spoonful of cereal into her mouth. "This appointment must be important. You took it awfully easy on those spooks."

"Yeah well, I would rather waste my energies on getting your brother to drop me at the Grove Café." Layla brushed the bangs from her eyes and leaned against the door frame.

"Why don't you just take the truck and drive yourself?" Emma mumbled spitting some milk onto her chin.

"Well, first of all I lack a license, and secondly, he won't let me." Layla stomped down on the floor and yelled Jimmy's name once more.

"Hey, are those my boots?" Emma asked with a tinge of disapproval.

"Oh please, you taste isn't this good."

Emma scowled and slurped her cereal. The adjustment into this new family life with Layla had been smoother than she would have expected. Maybe it had something to do with the situation that encircled her sudden arrival in their lives. With her help, they discovered the true origins of Emma's abilities, the secret past of the Hogan family, rescued Jimmy from a psychotic vampire god; destroying the Inanna's power source in the process, and not to mention Layla banishing a very unstable Goddess of Balance all by herself while bleeding to death. The Hogan twins knew they couldn't have done it without her. Even though the medium still tried her patience at least once a day, Emma conceded her opposition and now considered Layla Fellows a member of the family.

Emma looked down at the new pictures that hung on the wall. Picture they never would have hung up before all that happened last year. Pictures of the newly formed threesome smiling happily through the glass of three dollar frames hung here and there next to the ones of the family that they were once afraid to remember. When first Layla suggested hanging the new ones, Emma objected. She was afraid of changing anything. She was afraid that it would somehow belittle of lessen the importance of the ones that already hung in hallowed positions. Hanging up new ones would mean that she had truly moved on and it was her inner voice that tormented her telling her that that meant she was forgetting them. It took some time, but slowly Jimmy would sneak one up. First it was a small one o Emma and Layla at Six Flags wearing floppy Rasta hats hidden between old family picnic collages. And then the pictures slowly became larger and in plain view. By then Emma had become used to the idea and saw it more as adding to what already existed instead of replacing what had passed on.

Foot falls on the stairs signaled that Jimmy was finally making his way up to the rest of the house.

"It's bloody well time!" Layla turned her back to the weary Jimmy and grabbed her canvas bag from the blue easy chair by the door.

"Pulled an all nighter again Jimbo. What was it this time?" Emma asked looking up from her bowl.

"I was working on the grenade launcher. I think I almost have it." Jimmy removed his glasses and wiped them with his grey shirt. Layla turned and tousled his hair as he replaced his worn out frames. He smiled pleasantly and bent to kiss her.

"Yes, yes, love you too. Can we go now? Please? I promise to be nice later."

"Interesting! How nice exactly are we talking here?" Jimmy smiled and winked as he grabbed her hips and pulled her towards him suggestively.

Emma gagged and took her bowl to the sink. "Oh gross. I don't need to hear this! Can't you wait until I am out of the room?" Emma pushed passed the lustful eyed couple and made for her room. "And please find a way to sound proof your room! Geez Layla, I thought Brits were supposed to be all repressed and proper! I'm going to have nightmares for a week!"

"You're just jealous you're not getting any!" Jimmy retorted.

"Just because I don't make sure the entire town can here me, doesn't mean I'm not getting any!" Emma rolled her eyes as she scrambled for her answer.

"No mate, I think the fact that no one ever sees you with anyone other than your brother and your shadow means that you aren't getting any nookie." Layla smiled and winked and Emma who just rolled her eyes and pushed her door open.

"I thought you had an appointment Layla!" She called from her bedroom.

Layla jumped and patted Jimmy's shoulders. "Oo! Let's go tall, pale, and handsome! You hypnotize me with those brilliant green orbs later!" She grabbed his hand and started to lead him through the living room to the front door.

"Hey! Don't forget that I am coming right back and we have training! After what happened with the Pul'lar demon I think you need to work on your reflexes!" Jimmy yelled out to his sister as he was being dragged away.

"He threw YOU at me! Maybe you should have NOT gotten grabbed… AGAIN!" She answered from the other side of the wall.

As the front door shut, Emma plopped back down onto her bed and shoved her face into her soft pillow. Using her left, she pushed down on her rubber foot and the prosthetic slid off with a very loud and rude sound. "Ah, leg farts!" She mused with her eyes closed. Flopping around, she snuggled her pillow and yawned deeply. "Can't someone else be the super-hero today so I can sleep in?"

London, England

Martin Kessler sat in his very large office and sipped his tea. The dust from all of the ancient books he had been tearing through had dried out his nostrils and he spent every ten minutes pouring saline down his nose. This was not how he imagined being Kor Tant Yul would be like. Being a leader meant delegating tasks and choosing young, blonde and busty women to answer the phones and bring him the tea that he has been making himself. But, the events of the last two years have prohibited Martin from having the cushy position many in the Brotherhood had sought. So for now, he spent his days and nights going through all of the ancient texts and scrolls from Abgal Da passed in this massive, mahogany filled, glass tower.. He would handle menial tasks to make sure they were done precisely. And he would make his own tea answer his own phones because Virginia, his forty-ish, short, rotund secretary, always seemed to hang up on who ever she is trying to transfer and as it were, hadn't the foggiest on how to make a decent cup of English tea.

Suddenly, the office's large oak doors flung open and Virginia came bounding in as usual, bellowing loudly scaring the frighteners out of Martin which made him spill his boiling hot tea onto his lap. Her blue polyester skirt suit worked against her large thighs and she hurried along with urgency.

"Mr. Kessler! Mr. Kessler!"

"Confound it Woman! This isn't a bleeding amusement park! This is an office! People are trying to work here!" He stood and did his best to dry his slacks with his handkerchief as Virginia made her apologies. "Why didn't you use the intercom? You know, the little box that says 'intercom' on it!"

"Oh dear me. I'm sorry sir. Shall I fetch you a towel? Maybe some ice for your… um.."

"Damn it Virginia, never mind my need for ice or not. Why don't you tell me why you came running in here shrieking like you were caught on fire." Martin whipped off his leather chair and sat back down. He put his reading glasses back on and searched the scroll on his desk to find where he had left off.

"Oh quite, sorry… again. Um, there's an Aiden MacAlister on the phone for you. He says it's urgent. Has to do with something about dancing flowers." Virginia wrung her hands together and blew a soft brown curl out of her face. Her cheeks were flushed from her short sprint and she tried to hide the fact that she was severely out of breath.

Martin shook his head. "Just trans… never mind. I'll get it." Martin marched across the office while Virginia jogged along behind him. When they reached her desk there was the phone receiver laying on the desk. She hadn't even figured out how to put the thing on hold! Martin furrowed his brow and put the phone to his ear.

"Aiden, what do you have for me?"

The voice on the other end was young and Irish. He spoke clearly with deep respect for the Head of the Congress. "Mr. Kessler, I hope I haven't caught you at a bad time?"

"No no my boy. I have been awaiting your ring."

"It seems that the dying power is affecting the incarnates in the same domino manner that it was initialized. Across the globe they are weakening."

Martin Kessler lowered his eyes and tried not to chuckle when he realized what Virginia had meant. "Oh Virginia."

"What was that sir?" Aiden asked.

"Hmm, nothing, nothing now again with the dancing flowers, I mean dying power, you're saying that it's like the rings in water. You drop a pebbled and rings go outward, each one reaching a larger circumference than the previous."

"Yes sir, that's exactly it. It has affected all of Europe and should reach Asia and the Americas by next week." Aiden's voice cracked. His nerves were beginning to show through.

"It's gaining speed."

"I'm afraid so sir. What says the Congress of Elders?"

"Well, so far mostly that something must be done, but, they are all torn as to what! None of them can even agree on what's causing it! Some say that it's an unbalance that was caused by the creation of an army of Ba Musal; others think that maybe this is actually an attack. Either way, I may have to force their hands. Time is running out."

"And you sir, what do you think it is?" Aiden asked like a child asking his father if the boogie man truly existed.

"I'm not sure my boy. At times I am certain of both. Who knows, it could very well be a symptom of both theories. At any note, we will need people on all fronts handling damage control. We need to start collecting all of the incarnates and bringing them back here. They deserve to know what is happening to them. I will contact other Abgal Da and direct them to key locations. I want you to head up the United States. Howard Finch is the head of the Indiana Motherhouse. I will let him know that you and a circle of Brothers will be coming tonight. He will make sure you have all that you need. Collect all that you can and bring them back here by the end of next week. I hope by then it won't be too late."

"I will sir. Good luck in your studies. Blessings Brother."

"Blessing to you as well Brother." Martin hung up the phone and ran all ten digits through his curly salt and pepper hair. What was he going to do? He couldn't get the Congress of Elders to even agree on what the cause was. How was he going to find a cure? The pressure in his chest was growing. He felt the sickness in his abdomen and desperately wished he could vomit if only it meant that that was the cure. "That would be great!" He thought to himself. "The vomit of Martin Kessler saves the waning power of the Ba Musal keeping humanity safe from the vile armies of the dead!" He turned and headed back to his office to pour over the texts and scrolls again. As he shuffled with this hands in this trouser pockets, he noticed his reflection in an ornate Victorian mirror. Robust cherubs with page boy hair held up olive branches and flanked the sides of the well maintained antique. Martin studied the bags under his grey eyes and the crow's feet that branched out from their corners. He imagined that the wrinkles in his forehead were so deep that they collected dust and that instead of ruining perfectly good tea and screwing up the phones, he should have Virginia dust out his wrinkles.

"Oh, when did you get so old, old chap?" He mumbled to himself.

"You're only fifty-five years old Mr. Kessler. I would hardly consider that old!" Virginia, all be it not very bright, was very sweet natured and could cheer a rabid dog in a bear trap.

"Thank you Virginia. Why don't you take your lunch? You have been working very hard this morning, I, I mean, YOU could probably use a break." Martin smiled at her and winked. This made her blush and she thanked him heartily.

"I'll be back in an hour Mr. Kessler. If you need anything, I have one of those cellular telephones. Just call." She picked up her pocket book and waved goodbye.

Martin waved as well and thought to himself: "If by the act of God I have the need to call that woman, she wouldn't even know how to turn the thing on!"

For now there was silence and Martin could get back to his translations. He ran his finger down the page looking for the spot were he had been interrupted. He mumbled aloud to himself unconsciously. "Beast…Returning From…Many Have Found…Creation of.." Martin stopped and looked again. He checked his legend to make sure that he had translated the passage correctly. There was no mistake to what was written on that scroll. "Creation of a child!" Martin's mouth fell agape. "I can't believe this was forgotten!" Martin thought for a moment as he made his notes. A strange realization came to him. He almost cursed himself for thinking such sacrilege. "Forgotten, or hidden?"