The gong sounded again.
“Release your worries, the problems, and concerns that weigh on you – holding you back from your true potential,” said Jarl.
I could feel my mind emptying as I floated on the smoky wave. I was just a speck in the big ocean. All around me was nothing but endless potential.
Someone took my hand and I felt a pinch, but even that sensation ebbed away as I bobbed along in the vastness of the bliss.
The gong rang out, its echo lasted longer this time. Blood raced up and down my arms, not unlike the feeling I got when my they fell asleep. I blinked sleepily, still not sure what happened.
I looked down and saw the smallest droplet of blood on my finger. I stared at the crimson speck. It mocked me, told me that I was careless. I failed to stay alert when I should have. Someone stole my blood. While, I didn’t think I’d lost much of mine, it had still been taken from me without my consent. Blood was used for a number of nasty spells and there were magic users here at the Institute.
Muffin whined, which drew the attention of everyone.
“Your attention please. Are all of you now ready to begin today’s lesson?” asked Emma Lynn.
People affirmed their readiness, but I doubted whether I was up to it. My calm evaporated with the first sight of my blood and the agitation made me edgy. There is more going on here. As much as I wanted to lash out and demand to know who had taken my blood and why, I couldn’t.
First, I’d find out if this was the same Emma Lynn, who’s disappearance I was investigating. Second, I also owed it to these gullible people to figure out what all this group was involved with. I doubted it was as innocent as some “god loving” group they made themselves out to be.
Palettes of paint were passed around. Emma Lynn reminded us to “free our minds” and paint whatever we felt.
More smoke seeped out of the lamps as I painted. Once my painting was done, I shuddered. It looked like something a serial killer would create – all harsh lines and jagged slashes of red that looked like blood. It was hideous, but Emma Lynn cooed over it encouragingly.
Emma Lynn stared at my painting with the eye of an experienced artist, picking up on nuances I couldn’t see myself.
“So much hidden pain. Thank you for sharing. Don’t fret, showing pain doesn’t make you bad or evil. There’s beauty in darkness. It teaches us to value and appreciate the light,” she said.
The lesson wrapped up and I hurried over to get some time to talk with Emma Lynn. I pushed through the group to where Emma Lynn was, but the girl, the one that tried to pet Muffin earlier, stopped in front of me. By the time, I got around her, Emma Lynn was gone. And, Jarl, the weird preacher or whatever he was, had disappeared.
17
I headed out into the night with Leia, feeling more frustrated and uncertain than when I first came here. We were quiet until we turned the block. Before I could question Leia about the blood and Emma Lynn, she started talking.
“Did you see the stairs leading away from the main room?” she asked in an oddly excited undertone for such a commonplace question.
“Yes, I did.”
“Those lead to a real dungeon.”
I thought back to the stairs I had seen. Then, it clicked. Things like why Merchant’s Row was familiar and why the house seemed like somewhere I’d been before. This was the same house where I was held when I was kidnapped. Anger washed through me, quick and savage, burning through my common sense.
“How do you know there’s a dungeon?” I asked. I really wanted her to be mistaken. I didn’t want to think Emma Lynn, Leia and these religious wackos were tied into my kidnapping.
When she looked at me funny and took a step back, I knew I’d failed to keep the disbelief out of my voice.
“All of us do. We used to hold our sessions in them. There’s something to be said for meditating in the dark. It takes away the distractions caused by the light. We moved the sessions upstairs because it got too cold down there.”
“And the owner is okay with that?”
“I guess. It’s a friend of Jarl and where we always hold our meetings when they aren’t at the Institute.”
Leia stopped walking and was putting off a distinctly frosty vibe. After a short time, she started walking, but now there was enough space between us that two people could fit in between us. Pull it together, Marty.
Leia needed to trust me and interrogating her was a sure fire way to undo her trust and cooperation. I needed more time with Emma Lynn and Leia was my key to that. And, for personal reasons, I wanted to know why the group sessions used blood.
“I’m sorry I came off a bit strong. I’ve never been to something like this before and it’s kinda scary. If you haven’t noticed, I’m not the relax and be Zen type.”
“I could tell that when you first walked into the bakery, but it’s the people, who are guarded that need help the most. Did you relax? Were you able to find your center and connect with the One?”
“You mean the floaty feeling like being in the ocean?”
“Yes, that’s the one! It’s similar for all of us the first few times. It gets to be that whenever we are around the smoke, our souls try to connect with the higher plane. It’s beautiful.”
I wouldn’t say having my soul leave my body was a comfortable or safe thing. “It’s unlike anything I’ve experienced,” I said. And that was true, but it wasn’t an experience I looked forward to repeating. Something told me that I’d have to do it again.
“So you felt it? Not everyone can
