Chapter 18: Closure, or Lack Thereof

Deciding to cut to the chase, and not reprimand Elaine for not having decided to supply information sooner, I spoke, "Those things-- those memories, or whatever you'd like to call them-- I just don't understand how one leads to the other," I paused; everything seemed bright and fake to me. I frowned, attempting to process everything that had just happened; the last three memories… Elaine remained silent, "Please answer me now, Elaine-- you did promise," I suddenly snapped, forgetting my manners.

"I know, Beatrice. I knew it would take much--"

I was growing impatient; I did not wish to listen to answers to the questions I had not asked, "The woman who saved my father, Elaine… That's what I need to know. Who was--?"

Elaine's face suddenly reflected the unobvious graveness of my having asked the question, "Her name cannot be spoken here," my fairy godmother whispered, "Why?" I asked, a long suppressed anger now beginning to boil up inside of me, "I can't just sit back here and not get the fucking answers I'm entitled to, Elaine! I've waited long enough for answers, and I want them-- now. So, start from the beginning. My mother and father-- now."

There followed a long moment of awkward silence between the two of us before she began speaking once again, "Well, as you've most likely gathered, Jacqueline came to your mother's New York apartment over twenty years ago to kill the both of you. You were a threat to her the moment you were conceived, and James had been missing in action for almost half a year. However, you miraculously survived the initial attack-- as did your mother. Furious, Quenilecauj and the boy you knew as Travis went into hiding for many years. Always nearby, they waited for the right chance to reenter your lives, and that moment--"

"But that lady-- and my father… How…?" I drifted off, my mind reeling way too much to allow a proper question.

"Your father was separated from his troop, and lost in the desert two and a half days before his scheduled return to America-- there are rumors of a shaska interference (probably true), but other than that, we are unsure as to what could have possibly befallen him there. All we have are skeptical questions and misty answers. They were able to make him untraceable; magic could not help us, so without its aid, it took months for us to finally find him, and when we did, we were unsure if he was still alive; he spoke of a place-- a nonexistent place. A limbo, if you will; it is probable that for most of his 'exile,' he wasn't where he was.

So, he was saved by someone-- the lady that you have seen… you saw her once in a dream, did you not?"

I nodded, "And hers was the voice I heard before I was sent to learn the forgotten fate of Mars."

Elaine merely nodded, and I chose to pose another question, "So, this woman saved my father from the shaskas' decision to leave him for dead in the desert?"

"Yes. She took your father home to you; wiping his memory away. It would have been too dangerous otherwise. Still delirious and confused, he was found by your mother in a gutter at three o'clock in the morning; being the sensible type, she took him home to his waiting infant daughter without consulting the authorities. Exactly seven years would pass before the shaska would have the opportunity to tamper with your lives again."

My lips pursed. I hated the ambiguity of it all; two attempted murders before I even became aware of Jacqueline's intents-- the reasons she had had that façade since the night she showed up at the doorstep in the pouring rain, "What now?" I asked, "Is there anything else…?"

Elaine shook her head, "Beatrice, is there anything you heard that you haven't told me yet…?"

I raked my memory, "Nothing really… Wait. Travis. He said something-- D'Nalge-- Travis hinted that it might be in danger."

"What?" Elaine demanded, suddenly frightened by the news.

"So, every where's in danger… He might as well have said--"

"Don't you know what this means, Beatrice? D'Nalge is in danger… not the earth!"

"But--"

"But you must leave-- now! There is no longer time for us to speak."

"But you said--"

"Hurry… Go to the door!"

And she suddenly disappeared in a flash of white light.

"Fuck," I murmured; there was no time to argue. I was fuming, but there would be time to rant later, I reasoned. I turned to the door, and wrenched it open… I had wanted to ask her about the properties of the stone as well-- oh well, there was always another day for that.