14
3:02 a.m.
Bloodred subterranean sky. Searing-hot wind. Dark clouds churn, their speed surreal.
Below, an alien lake smolders, its mirrorlike surface lapping upon an ominous shoreline.
Jacob approaches the alabaster tree, its trunk as wide as a sequoia’s.
An icy fog announces the Abomination. The mist swirls about the trunk of the tree, and then a pair of bright azure-blue eyes twinkle back at him through the haze.
‘Come closer, Cousin. Let me lick your wounds.’
With a bloodcurdling scream, Jacob Gabriel launches from his bed and darts into the hallway.
Dominique yanks open her bedroom door. ‘Oh, Jesus, another night terror?’
The door across from Jacob’s bedroom opens. Immanuel stares at his brother. Shakes his head. ‘Again?’
Jacob pants, trying to find his voice. ‘Just wait… you’ll go through the same thing someday.’
‘I doubt it. But until then, why don’t you move your bed into the training center.’
Dominique turns to the dark-haired twin. ‘Manny, go back to sleep.’
Immanuel slams the door, bolting it from the inside.
Dominique moves to comfort Jacob, but he pushes her away.
‘Jake-’
‘No. I need to stay strong… for all of us.’
‘Who told you that?’
‘It doesn’t matter. I’m going for a walk to clear my head.’
‘It’s three in the morning. Jacob Gabriel, don’t you ignore me.’
The back door opens and slams shut.
Dominique’s eyes tear up, her heart aching for the son who has refused to hug her since he was seven years old.
A tropical gust greets Jacob as he races down to the beach. Lunar light from the three-quarter moon dances across the Gulf, illuminating the breaking crests.
Jacob kneels in the cool sand. Closes his eyes. Tries to meditate, desperate to communicate again with his father.
For a brief moment he breathes quietly, then his chest constricts and his body is overtaken by sobs, the tears pouring from his eyes as he collapses facefirst against the wet sand.
Stop it! You need to stay strong!
The wind dies down, yielding to a haunting echo.
Jacob wipes his face, then looks around, searching for the source of the sound.
The high-pitched moan leads him north. He follows the shoreline another quarter mile, and then he sees them.
The animals are everywhere, lined up along the beach like giant logs. Grays and humpbacks, right whales and blues, adults and calves… the dead and the dying.
Jacob approaches the largest of the beached mammals. The blue whale’s head, as big as a tractor trailer, is half-covered in sand, the remains of its 105-ton girth disappearing behind it into the Gulf.
The teenager reaches up and brushes sand from the female’s eye, then jumps back when it opens.
A thunderous snort as the dying whale gasps a breath through its blowhole.
A moment passes between them as beast and boy contemplate one another. It’s like it wants to communicate. Maybe it can? Jacob Gabriel closes his eyes, entering the nexus.
The night dawns olive green in his vision. Every muscle in his six-foot, 183-pound muscular frame seems to come alive, every vessel in his body pulsating with blood and adrenaline, every sensation magnified. Looking up, he sees stars racing across the heavens, the cosmos coming alive.
The whale moans, its dying gasp echoing in his brain.
Leaning forward, Jacob places both palms against the blubbery torso, registering deep, intense reverberations as his hands become a living stethoscope. The mammal’s pulse draws him closer, as a white haze envelops his mind – yielding to another vision.
An ominous scarlet sky casts its surreal light upon a man-made reservoir, its waters resembling liquid mercury.
The exotic waters churn. Emerging from the surface is the viperous upper torso of a serpentlike creature, as wide and as long as a train. The horrible being’s eyes regard Jacob through vertical slits of gold, surrounded by incandescent crimson corneas more cybernetic than organic. The jowls part, revealing rows of ebony, scalpel- sharp teeth.
A thunderous snort causes Jacob to jump backward as the serpent expels a stench-laden breath through its synthetic nostrils.
Jacob opens his eyes. The vision is over.
The blue whale is dead.
Belle Glade, Florida October 28, 2027
Fourteen-year-old Lilith Eve Robinson’s high cheekbones and brilliant Hunahpu blue eyes are accentuated by cocoa skin and waist-length wavy black hair. Her athletic figure is long and supple, her shapely breasts firm and far more developed than those of most girls in her class.
The adolescent beauty always rides home alone on the bus, occupying the same aisle seat. Every heterosexual teenage boy imagines himself with Lilith, still none ask her out-too freaked-out about her animated conversations with her invisible friends.
Facing the window, Lilith shrugs at Brandy. ‘It’s Jacob’s stupid mother. If she or Jacob ever found out when I was really born, he’d never speak to me again.’
That’s just silly, girl. You love Jacob, and Jacob loves you. Do you believe it’s your destiny to be together?
‘Yes.’
Then forget about Jacob’s mother and make it happen. Here’s your stop. I’ll see you tomorrow.
The school activity bus pulls over to the curb and stops.
Lilith climbs down the bus steps, then heads for Quenton’s house. She is not involved in after-school activities, but she is never in any hurry to return home to her guardian.
Regina Johnson chases after her. ‘Hey, Robinson, wait!’
Lilith continues walking.
Regina catches up. ‘Who were you talking to on the bus?’
‘Brandy.’
‘Brandy who?’
Lilith walks faster.
‘Hey, wait. I’ve got some killer weed. Wanna get high?’
‘What is it you want, Regina Johnson?’
‘Lighten up, girl, I just wanna get to know you better.’
‘Why?’
The strawberry blonde smiles. ‘You goin’ to Brett’s party with anyone?’
‘No.’
‘Why don’t you come with me?’ Gina’s fingertips slide across Lilith’s moving buttocks.
Lilith stops dead in her tracks. ‘I’m not into girls.’
‘That’s not what I heard.’
‘Yeah? And what have you heard?’
‘I dunno. It’s just… you know-you’re so pretty, and I never see you with any boys.’
‘Don’t believe everything you hear. I have a boyfriend, he just doesn’t live around here.’
