Vulnerable

Kendrietta walked down a dim lit hallway, leading Ally to her new room. Feeling sluggish from the night’s excitement and her two unworldly excursions, a nice deep sleep sounded like heaven to her. Ally had no clue to what time it was, her body told her it was very late. Coming to another old and worn door, Kendrietta opened it and stepped inside assuming that Ally would follow. Ally entered the dwelling and smiled. “Cozy,” she said. Candlelight flickered casting a warm light across the room. A small round table and two chairs where to her left with three candles as the centerpiece. In the far back left corner was a bed covered with quilts and pillows, it looked so inviting to her. There sat another small table on one side of the bed that held more candles. To her right was a small wood-burning stove with pipes burrowing into the top of the stonewall. Beside it sat a pile of cut wood and a bucket of water. The walls in this room seemed to be cut and smooth. A part from a few fur rugs, the floor was bare stone that had been smoothed and polished.
“Can I get you anything before I leave?” Kendrietta asked.
“Not really,” Ally answered. “I think I am just going to sleep for the rest of the night. I am exhausted.”
“Oh, I am sure of it,” She smiled. “I remember when I journeyed through my first regression of my past lives, it was draining.” With that she moved to the door,” until tomorrow then?”
“Yeah, good night,” Ally smiled at her as Kendrietta closed the door. Walking straight to the bed, she began stripping off her clothes leaving a small trail behind her. Only wearing her panties, she flung the blankets back, arranged the pillows how she liked them, and climb in bed letting out a relaxing sigh. She was asleep almost instantly.
She opened her eyes in what seemed like mere minutes, and sat up in bed. She could not see anything…no candlelight or the soft red glow from the stove. She sat quietly on the bed, with most of her body still under the covers…listening. Nothing. Goosebumps covered the exposed skin not protected by the quilts. She shivered. “Damn it is cold in here…” she thought. She uncovered herself and moved towards the area where she remembered the stove to be. She walked…and walked…and walked…what the hell? Where was the stove? It should have taken her less than ten steps to reach the damn stove. She stood still, listening again. Nothing. Just the darkness and cold accompanied her. “Brrrrrrr,” she rubbed her arms. Her feet were freezing! She turned around and started to walk back in the direction from where she came from. She was naked and needed those blankets before she froze to death! After about five steps she stopped again…. she made fists with her toes. Grass?…she was walking in grass? “How the hell did I get outside?” she thought. She was trembling now.
“Don’t be scared,” said several wispy voices. The voice seemed to echo all around her and overlap one another. The voices were so soft she could barely hear them.
“Who’s there?” she demanded. As if to answer her, seven silver orbs appeared out of nowhere. They were about the size of marbles and they were floating in a circle surrounding her at about eye level. Slowly each one began to give off a soft colored glow, giving each one a halo. She squinted her eyes from the sudden source of light. The orbs were now silver in the center and had a colorful hue around them, each a different color. With the light the orbs were producing, Ally looked around at her surroundings…. nothing but blackness as far as her eye would see. She just stood in the middle of these bulbs of light not knowing what to do. She was about to shout out, when she noticed a mist building around her feet. It was warm. It started to raise and fill the area around her. She could see the rainbow of colors mixing with each other and reflecting in the small droplets of moisture within the mist. “How beautiful,” she thought. Then without warning each orb exploded and instantly reformed, each one capturing portions of the mist. Ally hit the ground covering her head and closing her eyes; the sound was deafening and sounded like glass shattering. Silence.
She opened her eyes and her mouth dropped open in astonishment. “Oh my…” she whispered as she stood. Each orb was now a ghostly figure. None of them had feet; they were apparitions floating in the air, all with a globe of colored light where their heart would have been. She studied the seven ghosts and noticed that six of them were women and one was a man. Each of them was dressed in clothes from different time periods. She stood in the middle of these seven ghosts unafraid…. for she knew each one of them. They were all smiling at her… the same exact smile. Overwhelmed with emotion, she beamed. It was Ally, all seven of them, just from different lives past, they looked different from her present appearance, but the all had the same slightly crooked smile.
“I am glad to see that you are not afraid of ghosts Ally,” came a pleased voice from the darkness.
She stopped smiling and looked around. “Who’s there?”
“A friend ma’ lady…do not fear. I am here to help you.” A figure was slowly becoming visible through the array of lights. She could only see one side of his face due to the shadows caused by the light, but the side she did see was a pleasant one. She immediately looked down at her nude body. Shit…
“How do I know you tell the truth?” she questioned the distant figure.
“You don’t.” he said, smiling showing off his dimples in his cheeks. She couldn’t help grinning back at him. She started to walk out of the circle to try and hide her nakedness from the stranger.
“STOP!” he yelled holding his palm up. She stopped mid stride, startled.
“What?” she asked. “What’s the matter!”
He shook his head letting out a deep chuckle and lowered his hand, “Forgive me, but you must not leave the center.”
“Oh,” she said looking around. “Why not?”
“You will undo everything we worked for tonight,” he said coming closer to her. “Trust me, it was not easy to get here.” He was now at the edge of the circle right in front of Ally, she could finally see him clearly. He had dark brown hair with hints of lighter brown. His hair was long enough that it hung in his eyes a bit, but the rest was neatly trimmed and styled. He was staring straight down at the ground, slipping out of his jacket.
“Here,” he said handing her his jacket.
“Thanks,” she blushed. She slung the leather jacket around her quickly, pushing her arms through the long sleeves. The jacket was warm from the body heat of its last owner. It felt so good. It covered all of her private areas nicely because the jacket was way to large for her.
“Okay, you can look now.” She said as she finished zipping it up. He lifted his head and met her eyes with his and smiled. “Looks a little big on you,” he said with a grin. He had kind, confident eyes. They were chocolate brown with flecks of gold in them, she felt as if they were seeing through her, right into her soul. His face was squared shape and clean-shaven. He had another dimple in the middle of his chin. He was much taller than her, she guessed him to be about six foot. He was wearing a black long sleeved shirt that hugged his body at just the right places. Bringing her attention to a thick chest and broad shoulders. Even against the black of his shirt his skin was bronzed.
“Sorry, I am not following you…. what do you mean ‘I’ll undo everything’?” Ally said frowning. “No offense, but I have no idea who you are, where I am, how I got here, what’s going on, or how to escape.” She was flustered now.
He tilted his head a bit and looked at her from the side looking as if he was trying to decide something. He put one of his hands in his jean pocket and the other came to up to his chin not really to rub it, just to hold it while he thought.
“Well, there is much you do not know then…” he said playfully. “Which question would you like to answer for you first Ally? By the way, I am Ethan.” He nodded to her.
“Nice to meet you.” She said. She looked around, “where am I? I mean, one minute I am in bed and the next I am here. Is this a dream or something?”
“Yeah, something like that.” He said.
“If this is my dream, why are you here? Are you real or just someone I conjured up?” she pried. He started to pace a bit and a crease had formed on his brow.
“Well, Ally that is a little bit more difficult to explain,” he admitted. “First off, I am real and I am here to help you. This dream is your dream, but I helped to manifest it into a dream that would help you discover yourself. As you have already noticed, these,” he motioned to the floating mists, “represent past lives. These were the most crucial lives in developing your overall being. What you need to do is to embrace them. Absorb their experiences and knowledge. Right now you are not tapped into them, they are not one with you. So far all you have done is trigger some memories, which is good, but you need to bridge all these lives into one. Then when you wake up, then you have armed yourself with most of the weapons needed to fulfill your tasks ahead.”
“And you can help me do that?” she asked looking back at him.
“Yes, if you let me,” he said seriously.
“How?” she was scared and excited at the possibilities.
“It is one of my gifts,” he replied. “Though, in order for me to help you, you have to give me control of your dream.”
“You’re not in control now?” Ally asked.
He chuckled that deep, warm chuckle again. “Are you kidding, it took me forever to get in here. You have a very strong mind, even in your sleep.”
“Thank you, but why do I have to give you control of my dream? I do not like giving up control,” she admitted.
“I know,” he said softly. “But as it is now, I can only manifest parts of this vision. I can only manipulate your ideas or memories to what you need to see. In a weaker mind I would already have gained control, but in yours…I need you to give it to me. If you would trust me, I can make what happens in this dream very real and it would benefit you immensely. Do you understand?”
“Not really….” She said.
Ethan patted down his pockets finding nothing; he reached up and undid the leather necklace that hung around his neck. “Ok, in a normal dream, if I gave you this,” he placed the necklace in her hands. “When you woke, would not have the necklace because this is not real. On the other hand, when I am in control, you would wake with that necklace physically in your hands if I wished it.”
Ally’s eyed widened, “You can do that?” she whistled out loud. “That is kind freaky. Do you invade peoples dreams often?”
“Most of the time, only when need be or if it is requested of me,” he said like it was no big deal. “Other times it is for fun,” he admitted. He gave her a sly grin. She shook her head.
“What?” he asked innocently.
“So, we need to do something in this dream that needs to be real…correct?”
“Indeed,” replied Ethan.
She took a deep breath and let it out. “Okay,” she said sounding very timid, “how do I do this?”
He got very serious all of the sudden. “You sure?”
“No, but I am going to use my intuition and trust you,” she added, “please do not disappoint me, if you do I will hunt you down.” She smiled.
He didn’t smile, “I believe you.” Ethan continued, “Unfortunately, if I wanted to I could make sure that you never woke up, or I could simple kill you.”
“Ummm…why would you tell me that? That is not the best way to gain my confidence.” She was a little scared now.
“I am not meaning to scare you, I just want you to be fully aware of what you are deciding.” He said gently. “If you do not want to go through with it… nothing happens…. if you are still willing, then I need to you to think of a visual image of your shields, like a wall, tower, whatever you see as your mental protection. Then…tear them down, that shall grant me passage and your mind will allow me to take over.”
She looked at him for a few seconds. Then she closed her eyes and did as he told her. Ethan closed his eyes as well, waiting for the ideal moment. Her stonewall was impossibly tall and impenetrable. Then by her command, the stones fell apart one by one. As the wall came dangerously close to being destroyed, she panicked and the wall began to rebuild itself.
“Shit…” exclaimed Ethan. A sharp pain shot through her head, she grabbed her forehead with her left hand and collapsed to her knees…screaming in agony. As fast as the pain started, it was over.
Ethan was also on the floor on the all fours. Panting between each word he asked, “Are… you …. okay?”
Ally was now in the fetal position now; she rolled to where she could see him. He looked like he was in pain too. “Yeah, I guess,” she groaned. “Was that my fault?” She couldn’t help but laugh.
“Yeah…that was definitely your fault.” He answered. “Whew…” Ethan stood up. “I thought you were going to kill me there for a second.” He laughed, his voice a tad shaky from the adrenalin. “I had to act fast and force my way through there at the end, that is why there was a small amount of pain. You began to resist me.”
“I am so sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen.” She said. “So did it work?”
“Yes it worked, a little painful, but it’s done.” He said. “When you are ready, I need you to go back to the center, okay?”
“Sure.” Ally got to her feet and stood in the center. “Now what?”
He looked at her for a moment, his face grim. He sighed and said, “Please forgive me Ally.” He backed away from the circle and closed his eyes.
Immediately, the seven orbs erupted into a rainbow of blinding lights. A furious wind picked up and blew all around her. She shielded her eyes and screamed. Above her she heard thunder, she looked up to see swirling clouds it looked like a small hurricane and in the center, another larger globe spinning tremendously fast. Lightning hit one the seven orbs and started a chain reaction, lightning leaped from orb to orb, traveling the circle in seconds. The moment the lightning came full circle the orbs exploded and she felt them hit her body like a gunshot. Her terrified scream echoed everywhere, her body bowed backwards. The orbs embedded themselves into her body in a straight vertical line, like they were trying to cut her in half from head to toe. At exact same time, the globe sent down a flood of fiery light and then came crashing onto her. The impact of the globe, created a dome of white power that started where Ally stood and expanded out around her, illuminating everything and growing in size. It built up speed as it traveled just a tad slower than the speed of sound. Ethan heard it coming and then felt it hit him. Ethan was blown off his feet in the wake of the powerful dome and thrown several yards.

Ally sat straight up in bed screaming at the top of her lungs. She threw her covers off kicking her legs wildly, “I’m burning!! I’m burning!! HELP ME!!” She thrashed so wildly; she fell onto the cold floor.
The door burst open and people seemed to pour into her room. Someone immediately scooped her up and cradled her in his or her arms telling her that it was just a dream. “You’re not on fire,” someone reassured her soothingly. Ally’s heart was about to pound its way out of her chest. She was breathing so hard her lungs felt like they were burning. Voices of the people in the room were all talking at the same time.
“What happened to her?”
“Look at her skin!”
“What are those marks?”
“Why is her skin glowing like that?”
“She is burning up! Someone get some ice and cool rags!”
Then a very calm voice silenced everyone. A cool hand felt her forehead, “Ally, can you hear me?” Thor carefully took her from the others arms; he cradled her against his chest as he lifted her off the ground.
“Yes,” she whispered.
He sat her back on the bed and kneeled in front of her. He raised his hand to her forehead where one of the seven marks were, it was emitting heat, and rubbed his thumb over it. “Don’t worry, they are not permanent. They will fade in a short time.”
She looked at his eyes knowing that her could not see her, “I felt my body burn,” she whimpered and a tear trailed down her cheek. Thana was there curled up on the bed beside her, holding her. Pain showed on her face. She hugged her close.
“No my dear, it wasn’t your body burning per say, it was the melding of your past lives into one being. Each one governed a particular chakra and each chakra resembles a color of light, all that knowledge and power is now in one body and soul.” Thor paused and turned to the others in the room. “Ally is once again traveled down an exhausting path, we should let her rest.” Without farther explanation, everyone left the room. Thana kissed Ally on the head before leaving.
Ally laid on her bed with one candle burning in the room for light. She lifted her right hand, which was clutched shut. She opened her hand and there in the dim light she saw the leather necklace Ethan had given her. She smiled.
“It was real,” she thought to herself. “You were right Ethan, I did need your help. There is no way I would have had the strength to do that myself....I owe you one,” she said to know one.