I took deep breaths and calmed my heart rate down. I wasn’t sure what I was doing, but I followed Constantine’s instructions. I kept repeating the exercise over and over.
“How do I know if it worked?” For a mind exercise, this was exhausting.
“Open your eyes and look at Bartholomew. Can you still see his aura?”
I followed Constantine’s instructions. “He still has a haze, but it’s not as defined as before.” I was out of breath by now.
“Good. You’re getting there. You need to put more of your willpower into it. Almost like you’re slamming the window shut.”
It was easier said than done. I took another breath and tried again. Around the tenth time, I felt a sensation that ran down my body. The pressure in my head stopped, and my muscles relaxed. I opened my eyes, and Bartholomew was normal.
“Thank the Lord; it worked.” I couldn’t stop smiling.
“Great. It took you only an hour. Now open it back up and close it again.”
My jaw dropped. “In the name of all that is good and great, why would I want to do that again?” This cat had lost his ever-loving mind. I was not going to do that.
“Because you need to control it. Do you want it to fly open in the middle of the mall? Do you know who hangs out at the mall?”
I almost choked on my saliva at that thought.
“I’m glad you see my point, Isis. You need to practice till this becomes second nature. Today we just need to make sure you can close it and open it at will. So go back to the window, and this time, open the curtains. Got it?”
I nodded and went back to work. I had always been good at playing make-believe, but this took concentration. I tried opening the curtain and then opened my eyes to see Bartholomew. No blue haze. Then back to the curtain I went. This time it took me an hour and a half to open it.
“The first time is the hardest. Do it again.” Constantine had very little sympathy for me.
“You’re a little dictator. How old are you?” I was exhausted, and my clothes were covered in sweat from the mental hell.
“He’s been around since the pharaohs,” Bartholomew said from his chair.
My curiosity got the best of me. “Which one?”
“All of them.” Constantine did not seem happy when he said that. “I was glad to leave with Death. All those people always wanting to kill everyone and take them with them to the afterlife. Like I wanted to follow them that far.”
I had to smile at that. He was right. The nerve of humanity, to assume everyone agreed with their way of thinking. I could imagine an indignant Constantine walking out.
“Constantine, another one went missing.”
I had no idea what Bartholomew was doing at the computer station, but he was upset. Constantine jumped off the couch and made his way toward him. With another leap, he was at the monitors.
“Where this time?”
Bartholomew pointed at a monitor on the top right, and Constantine followed his gaze.
“Downtown again.” Bartholomew looked at Constantine.
“What went missing?” I couldn’t help myself. I was curious by nature.
“Nothing. Back to practicing. You have other issues to worry about now.”
I wanted to argue, but my eye was still open, and the headache was kicking in.
Constantine was right. The first time was the hardest. After three hours, I was able to open it and close it in less than ten minutes. At some point during my session, Constantine left for a recon mission. Bartholomew relayed the message from the little dictator that my homework was to practice. I needed to be able to open and close it within seconds. I could barely move. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get home. I tried to get up but fell back on the couch.
“You should really rest before leaving. Your room is the first one on the left on the other side,” Bartholomew said without looking up.
“I don’t live here, and I haven’t agreed to anything.” My words came out slurred.
“OK, Isis. Whatever you say.” That was the only reply I got. Bartholomew came around the computer area and laid me back down on the couch. He grabbed a blanket from somewhere and draped it over me. I was too tired to even argue.
“What are you monitoring?”
“People are disappearing from the area. Mostly homeless, so the reports don’t have a lot of information.” He sounded a lot older than eleven.
“Are you sure your boss isn’t taking them?” Morpheus was pulling me to slumber, but I still tried talking.
“That’s the problem. They’re not dead—just gone. Just like New York…”
I faded to sleep while Bartholomew was talking.
Chapter 6
These late nights were going to kill me. I was used to at least eight to nine hours of sleep a night. Granted, most were Ambien induced, but I was sleeping. Lately I was averaging less than five hours a night—not good. My Sunday alarm was set on my watch for 10:00 a.m. I woke up completely disoriented. It took me a minute to remember where I was. Blessings for the alarm, since I had to head home to shower and get ready for work. My shift at Abuelita’s started at 11:00 a.m. Abuelita’s offered a brunch special on Sundays for the church crowd from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. We were closed for dinner on Sundays.
We didn’t have uniforms at Abuelita’s, but I always wore black pants with a black shirt. Made dressing quick and easy. I made it to Abuelita’s with fifteen minutes to spare. I parked in my favorite spot. Nobody ever took that one—it was the farthest spot from the restaurant. On most days I combat parked, which meant I backed into the spot so the front was facing the entrance and the back bumper was parallel to the line of trees on the left-hand side. I liked to practice my driving skills, and one day I
