Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2003 4:54 pm
KALILA 39
Well, this was just perfect. She stared with disgust at the now useless spaceship that had decided to die out right as she was entering Earth’s atmosphere. Luckily she had managed to activate the landing boosters and she had landed, with her precious cargo, safely. Only now she was stuck with the hunk of metal.
Serena found herself in the middle of a desert, similar to the one she had grown up in, and completely lost. And to top it all off, she had no idea where on Earth she was. So, she decided to leave the ship where it was. After all, when the time came to go back to Antar, she’d be using the Granolith with her sister and the Royals.
She tucked the vials of essences into the belt strapped around her trim waist and then dragged the child-sized canister housing her growing, back-up Skin out of the ship and hoisted it into her arms. She looked over a few yards to the small cave in one of the numerous scattered rock cliffs and hauled it over, hiding her protection for the time being.
Once the spot was marked, Serena checked the vials again to make sure they were intact and then picked a direction and started walking. Hopefully she’d find some semblance of civilization on this planet.
*~*~*
The year was 1983, and she’d learned from investigating, that there was a supposed UFO crash that occurred in 1947. She was thirty-six years too late. Damn that system malfunction!
But there was nothing she could do about it. She had no doubt that the Paerhnians had already landed on Earth and had already started their search four the Royal Four. She’d just have to find them before their enemies could.
Unfortunately, she had business to take care of first. She had settled down in Roswell, New Mexico, a small town not far from the crash site, under the name of Serena Zion. She had managed to achieve a position at Roswell Memorial Hospital, and was now working on finding suitable vessels for the precious essences, as well as maintaining a search for anyone resembling Zan, Vilandra, Rath, or Ava.
As yet, there had been no sign of any of them and Serena was deathly afraid they had already been born and had grown to adulthood without their true mates. She needed to implant her sister’s soul quickly and then perform a more extensive search. She had to find Zan. She just had to.
*~*~*
October, 1983
The first opportunity presented itself a few months after she had settled. Young Deputy Jim Valenti, and his pretty wife, Michelle, had come in for an ultrasound. Serena could tell by the vibes surrounding the couple that they were worried.
They explained to her, as she set up the equipment, that Michelle had been going into false labor contractions, and she was only in her fifth month. So they had scheduled this appointment in hopes of discovering if something was seriously wrong and finding a way to prevent it.
Serena smiled at them calmly and assured them that there was probably no complications, that false labor often occurred in women with their first child, but that she’d check just to be sure.
She spread the gel across the small woman’s abdomen, ripe with pregnancy, and then started to search out the child within. She stared at the image on screen with a nurse’s intensity, judging the child with both her eyes and her empathic mind.
The parents were also staring with rapt attention at the tiny figure revealed. It was a boy, large, which accounted for the false contractions, but it did not have a strong spirit. She gave a small frown, one that caused Michelle to grab her arm.
“What is it? Is something wrong with my baby?” she demanded.
Serena gave her a reassuring smile and sent out soothing vibes to the woman. “No Mrs. Valenti, nothing is wrong with your son.”
“A son,” Jim whispered, then he grinned, “Ha, told you Michelle.”
His wife rolled his eyes, “Fine, we can name him Kyle James.” But then she gave a little pout.
Jim smiled at her, and then turned to Serena, “She wanted it to be a girl, hand a whole list of names planned out. Finally decided on Kayla. Kyle was the closest I could come up with to suit her.” He gave his wife another smile, and this time she smiled back.
Serena smiled too. “Your contractions are caused by his size, he’s got the makings of a football player.” If he survived, and she was determined he would, as Kayl.
“That’s my boy,” Jim crowed.
“Deputy Valenti, if you could please step out of the room while I get your wife cleaned up…” Serena suggested, “It might be best if you make sure the bathroom down the hall is clear, I’m sure Mrs. Valenti has a full bladder by now that desperately needs relieving…”
Jim looked to his wife, who nodded and he rushed from the room to find the bathroom for her. Michelle gave Serena a grateful look. She returned it with a half smile and took out one of the vials, the one housing Kayl’s essence. She removed the cap and then turned to Michelle, who was trying to sit up.
Serena helped her up and took a cloth over her belly to clean up the gel, resting the hand containing the vial on the now clean area of skin. The uncapped needle pierced Mrs. Valenti’s abdomen easily and painlessly, puncturing straight into the dying boy’s little body.
Then she took her hand away and handed Michelle her jeans, opened the door and pointed in the direction of the bathroom and anxiously waiting husband, and said good-bye.
One down, three to go.
*~*~*
March, 1984
The second opportunity came a month after Kyle James Valenti, Kayl’s resurrection, was born into the world. It came in the form of one nineteen-year-old, spunky, girl that went by the name of Amy DeLuca.
The auburn-haired young woman had come in for the results of her pregnancy test, and was now fidgeting on the examining table while Serena listened through a stethoscope to her still flat stomach.
She closed her eyes and concentrated. The tiny being just forming in this girl’s body had just began to have its heart start beating, but it had not yet formed its soul. It was still a vessel, waiting to be filled, and Serena suspected Ria would be more than a match for the talkative Amy.
“I can’t believe I’m pregnant. This cannot be happening to me. My mom’s gonna kill me. Oh my God,” she babbled, “And Tom isn’t gonna want to keep the baby…”
“There is the option of an abortion,” Serena put in, hoping Amy wouldn’t take it.
Her mouth dropped open and she stared at Serena with horrified blue-green eyes. “Are you actually suggesting I kill my baby?” she demanded in an unnaturally high, shocked tone of voice.
“It’s just an option,” she pointed out gently.
“Not for me,” Amy declared, “I don’t care what you say, or my mother says, or even what Tom says. This is my baby, and I’m keeping it.” Her voice rose slightly in pitch. “And don’t think I can’t take care of it. I can. I am more than capable of providing for this child.” She nodded decisively. “That’s right, I don’t need Tom, or my parents.” She looked down at her stomach, hidden by the paper apron. “Just you and me baby,” she said.
Serena raised an eyebrow as Amy continued ranting. She took Ria’s essence vial from the remaining three, of which she always kept close at hand, and uncapped the needle, and turned back to Amy, who was still rambling on.
“I hope it’s a girl,” she was saying, “I wouldn’t want to go through all this business of being pregnant for a boy. Boys are trouble, that’s what my mom says. Now, if only I had listened to her. Then I probably wouldn’t even be in this mess. I hate that,” she said crossly, “I hate it when my mother’s right. It’s so annoying, she gets all self-righteous and all, ‘Amy, I told you-’ OW!” she shrieked, jumping away from Serena and rubbing her abdomen. “What was that for?”
“That,” Serena said, smirking, “was to calm you down.”
“Oh.”
Serena smiled, “You’re all set Miss DeLuca. Just put your clothes on and pay at the front desk.” She made her way to the door.
“Nurse…” Serena turned, curious. Amy looked at her, arms full of clothes, “What would you name your baby, if you had a girl?”
Another smile, “Maria.”
*~*~*
June, 1984
Three months after Amy DeLuca had come in, Serena was in a birthing room, assisting a doctor with an older woman’s labor. She looked to be in her mid-forties, not an ideal time to have a child, as it made the birth more difficult.
As was proving the case in this instance. Sarah Whitman was bleeding to death from a hemorrhage, and it was obvious to Serena and the doctor that neither the mother, nor the child were expected to survive.
Charles Whitman was holding onto his wife’s hand as she screamed, helpless tears running down his cheeks. “I love you, Sarah,” he whispered.
Serena felt like crying herself, this man would never hold his wife again, and there was the extreme possibility he’d never be able to hold his newborn son either. Inspiration struck and she moved slightly away from the bloody scene, where the doctor was ordering Mrs. Whitman to push.
She found Lexus’ vial and uncapped it. Mrs. Whitman gave one last shout from the hospital bed and Serena whirled as the woman went limp and lifeless on the bed. The doctor turned to her, eyes solemn, and held out the stillborn body of the child. She took it carefully and turned again, placing it on the cleaning table. She could hear the doctor sighing and talking softly to a sobbing Mr. Whitman.
Blocking the painful sounds of his tears, Serena slowly and delicately inserted the needle into the baby’s cold skin. She waited a few moments for Lex’s soul to permeate the tiny body, and then sent a swift prayer to Eros and God alike and raised the baby by the ankles, giving it a light slap.
The cry of a healthy baby boy echoed through the room, and the doctor and Mr. Whitman looked over to where she stood, screaming child in her arms, identical expressions of amazement on their faces.
She walked over to the distraught husband and laid the blanket-swathed little boy in his father’s arms. Charles stared down at him in awe.
“It’s a miracle,” the doctor whispered.
Serena ignored him and gave Mr. Whitman a gentle smile, “What are you going to call him?”
“Alexander,” he replied absently, playing with the baby’s small hands. He looked at his dead wife and tears sprung to his eyes. “Sarah…Sarah wanted to call him Alex.”
*~*~*
December, 1984
It was ten months since Kayl had been born again, six since Lexus, and one since Ria. And yesterday, December 7th, 1984, Elizabeth Parker had been born to Jeff and Nancy Parker.
It was dark in the Intensive Care Unit as Serena stared down at the premature infant. She was so tiny, and yet so exquisitely perfect. She reminded Serena of Kalila when she had first been born, and figured it was no coincidence that this child would die without Kalila’s strong spiritual influence.
Very carefully, she took out the last vial of essence from its hiding place and uncapped the needle. Then she reached her hands into the gloves, the needle piercing through the material, and injected Kalila’s soul into the little girl.
There, she thought, now they’d both live. And she kissed the case keeping the baby safe from outside infections. “Hello, little sister,” she breathed.
*~*~*
Once Serena had made sure the babies would be safe she began preparing to leave. They would grow up human, normal, but with the souls of those who had lived before. She knew where the Parkers, Valentis, Whitmans, and DeLucas lived, and she had little doubt they would be moving from Roswell, so she could check up on the children if the need called for it.
But she couldn’t stay in Roswell. People would notice when she didn’t age, and she did need to look for the Royals. She needed to bring them back to their soulmates. So she safeguarded her Skin in the desert cave and went on her way.
*~*~*
Well, this was just perfect. She stared with disgust at the now useless spaceship that had decided to die out right as she was entering Earth’s atmosphere. Luckily she had managed to activate the landing boosters and she had landed, with her precious cargo, safely. Only now she was stuck with the hunk of metal.
Serena found herself in the middle of a desert, similar to the one she had grown up in, and completely lost. And to top it all off, she had no idea where on Earth she was. So, she decided to leave the ship where it was. After all, when the time came to go back to Antar, she’d be using the Granolith with her sister and the Royals.
She tucked the vials of essences into the belt strapped around her trim waist and then dragged the child-sized canister housing her growing, back-up Skin out of the ship and hoisted it into her arms. She looked over a few yards to the small cave in one of the numerous scattered rock cliffs and hauled it over, hiding her protection for the time being.
Once the spot was marked, Serena checked the vials again to make sure they were intact and then picked a direction and started walking. Hopefully she’d find some semblance of civilization on this planet.
*~*~*
The year was 1983, and she’d learned from investigating, that there was a supposed UFO crash that occurred in 1947. She was thirty-six years too late. Damn that system malfunction!
But there was nothing she could do about it. She had no doubt that the Paerhnians had already landed on Earth and had already started their search four the Royal Four. She’d just have to find them before their enemies could.
Unfortunately, she had business to take care of first. She had settled down in Roswell, New Mexico, a small town not far from the crash site, under the name of Serena Zion. She had managed to achieve a position at Roswell Memorial Hospital, and was now working on finding suitable vessels for the precious essences, as well as maintaining a search for anyone resembling Zan, Vilandra, Rath, or Ava.
As yet, there had been no sign of any of them and Serena was deathly afraid they had already been born and had grown to adulthood without their true mates. She needed to implant her sister’s soul quickly and then perform a more extensive search. She had to find Zan. She just had to.
*~*~*
October, 1983
The first opportunity presented itself a few months after she had settled. Young Deputy Jim Valenti, and his pretty wife, Michelle, had come in for an ultrasound. Serena could tell by the vibes surrounding the couple that they were worried.
They explained to her, as she set up the equipment, that Michelle had been going into false labor contractions, and she was only in her fifth month. So they had scheduled this appointment in hopes of discovering if something was seriously wrong and finding a way to prevent it.
Serena smiled at them calmly and assured them that there was probably no complications, that false labor often occurred in women with their first child, but that she’d check just to be sure.
She spread the gel across the small woman’s abdomen, ripe with pregnancy, and then started to search out the child within. She stared at the image on screen with a nurse’s intensity, judging the child with both her eyes and her empathic mind.
The parents were also staring with rapt attention at the tiny figure revealed. It was a boy, large, which accounted for the false contractions, but it did not have a strong spirit. She gave a small frown, one that caused Michelle to grab her arm.
“What is it? Is something wrong with my baby?” she demanded.
Serena gave her a reassuring smile and sent out soothing vibes to the woman. “No Mrs. Valenti, nothing is wrong with your son.”
“A son,” Jim whispered, then he grinned, “Ha, told you Michelle.”
His wife rolled his eyes, “Fine, we can name him Kyle James.” But then she gave a little pout.
Jim smiled at her, and then turned to Serena, “She wanted it to be a girl, hand a whole list of names planned out. Finally decided on Kayla. Kyle was the closest I could come up with to suit her.” He gave his wife another smile, and this time she smiled back.
Serena smiled too. “Your contractions are caused by his size, he’s got the makings of a football player.” If he survived, and she was determined he would, as Kayl.
“That’s my boy,” Jim crowed.
“Deputy Valenti, if you could please step out of the room while I get your wife cleaned up…” Serena suggested, “It might be best if you make sure the bathroom down the hall is clear, I’m sure Mrs. Valenti has a full bladder by now that desperately needs relieving…”
Jim looked to his wife, who nodded and he rushed from the room to find the bathroom for her. Michelle gave Serena a grateful look. She returned it with a half smile and took out one of the vials, the one housing Kayl’s essence. She removed the cap and then turned to Michelle, who was trying to sit up.
Serena helped her up and took a cloth over her belly to clean up the gel, resting the hand containing the vial on the now clean area of skin. The uncapped needle pierced Mrs. Valenti’s abdomen easily and painlessly, puncturing straight into the dying boy’s little body.
Then she took her hand away and handed Michelle her jeans, opened the door and pointed in the direction of the bathroom and anxiously waiting husband, and said good-bye.
One down, three to go.
*~*~*
March, 1984
The second opportunity came a month after Kyle James Valenti, Kayl’s resurrection, was born into the world. It came in the form of one nineteen-year-old, spunky, girl that went by the name of Amy DeLuca.
The auburn-haired young woman had come in for the results of her pregnancy test, and was now fidgeting on the examining table while Serena listened through a stethoscope to her still flat stomach.
She closed her eyes and concentrated. The tiny being just forming in this girl’s body had just began to have its heart start beating, but it had not yet formed its soul. It was still a vessel, waiting to be filled, and Serena suspected Ria would be more than a match for the talkative Amy.
“I can’t believe I’m pregnant. This cannot be happening to me. My mom’s gonna kill me. Oh my God,” she babbled, “And Tom isn’t gonna want to keep the baby…”
“There is the option of an abortion,” Serena put in, hoping Amy wouldn’t take it.
Her mouth dropped open and she stared at Serena with horrified blue-green eyes. “Are you actually suggesting I kill my baby?” she demanded in an unnaturally high, shocked tone of voice.
“It’s just an option,” she pointed out gently.
“Not for me,” Amy declared, “I don’t care what you say, or my mother says, or even what Tom says. This is my baby, and I’m keeping it.” Her voice rose slightly in pitch. “And don’t think I can’t take care of it. I can. I am more than capable of providing for this child.” She nodded decisively. “That’s right, I don’t need Tom, or my parents.” She looked down at her stomach, hidden by the paper apron. “Just you and me baby,” she said.
Serena raised an eyebrow as Amy continued ranting. She took Ria’s essence vial from the remaining three, of which she always kept close at hand, and uncapped the needle, and turned back to Amy, who was still rambling on.
“I hope it’s a girl,” she was saying, “I wouldn’t want to go through all this business of being pregnant for a boy. Boys are trouble, that’s what my mom says. Now, if only I had listened to her. Then I probably wouldn’t even be in this mess. I hate that,” she said crossly, “I hate it when my mother’s right. It’s so annoying, she gets all self-righteous and all, ‘Amy, I told you-’ OW!” she shrieked, jumping away from Serena and rubbing her abdomen. “What was that for?”
“That,” Serena said, smirking, “was to calm you down.”
“Oh.”
Serena smiled, “You’re all set Miss DeLuca. Just put your clothes on and pay at the front desk.” She made her way to the door.
“Nurse…” Serena turned, curious. Amy looked at her, arms full of clothes, “What would you name your baby, if you had a girl?”
Another smile, “Maria.”
*~*~*
June, 1984
Three months after Amy DeLuca had come in, Serena was in a birthing room, assisting a doctor with an older woman’s labor. She looked to be in her mid-forties, not an ideal time to have a child, as it made the birth more difficult.
As was proving the case in this instance. Sarah Whitman was bleeding to death from a hemorrhage, and it was obvious to Serena and the doctor that neither the mother, nor the child were expected to survive.
Charles Whitman was holding onto his wife’s hand as she screamed, helpless tears running down his cheeks. “I love you, Sarah,” he whispered.
Serena felt like crying herself, this man would never hold his wife again, and there was the extreme possibility he’d never be able to hold his newborn son either. Inspiration struck and she moved slightly away from the bloody scene, where the doctor was ordering Mrs. Whitman to push.
She found Lexus’ vial and uncapped it. Mrs. Whitman gave one last shout from the hospital bed and Serena whirled as the woman went limp and lifeless on the bed. The doctor turned to her, eyes solemn, and held out the stillborn body of the child. She took it carefully and turned again, placing it on the cleaning table. She could hear the doctor sighing and talking softly to a sobbing Mr. Whitman.
Blocking the painful sounds of his tears, Serena slowly and delicately inserted the needle into the baby’s cold skin. She waited a few moments for Lex’s soul to permeate the tiny body, and then sent a swift prayer to Eros and God alike and raised the baby by the ankles, giving it a light slap.
The cry of a healthy baby boy echoed through the room, and the doctor and Mr. Whitman looked over to where she stood, screaming child in her arms, identical expressions of amazement on their faces.
She walked over to the distraught husband and laid the blanket-swathed little boy in his father’s arms. Charles stared down at him in awe.
“It’s a miracle,” the doctor whispered.
Serena ignored him and gave Mr. Whitman a gentle smile, “What are you going to call him?”
“Alexander,” he replied absently, playing with the baby’s small hands. He looked at his dead wife and tears sprung to his eyes. “Sarah…Sarah wanted to call him Alex.”
*~*~*
December, 1984
It was ten months since Kayl had been born again, six since Lexus, and one since Ria. And yesterday, December 7th, 1984, Elizabeth Parker had been born to Jeff and Nancy Parker.
It was dark in the Intensive Care Unit as Serena stared down at the premature infant. She was so tiny, and yet so exquisitely perfect. She reminded Serena of Kalila when she had first been born, and figured it was no coincidence that this child would die without Kalila’s strong spiritual influence.
Very carefully, she took out the last vial of essence from its hiding place and uncapped the needle. Then she reached her hands into the gloves, the needle piercing through the material, and injected Kalila’s soul into the little girl.
There, she thought, now they’d both live. And she kissed the case keeping the baby safe from outside infections. “Hello, little sister,” she breathed.
*~*~*
Once Serena had made sure the babies would be safe she began preparing to leave. They would grow up human, normal, but with the souls of those who had lived before. She knew where the Parkers, Valentis, Whitmans, and DeLucas lived, and she had little doubt they would be moving from Roswell, so she could check up on the children if the need called for it.
But she couldn’t stay in Roswell. People would notice when she didn’t age, and she did need to look for the Royals. She needed to bring them back to their soulmates. So she safeguarded her Skin in the desert cave and went on her way.
*~*~*