The Heiress

PART TWO: DOUBT

Aisha watched wearily as the two strangers whom she had very strong reason to believe meant to cause her harm approached her. They paused for a little while and had a verbal and non-verbal conversation in English between themselves which she did not understand very well. The female dressed in all white approached her cautiously so as not to increase her fear. Aisha prepared herself to fight physically if need be and using her natural abilities to fend off her attacker.

“Good morning, Aisha. Are you feeling better?” asked the stranger in fluent French which Aisha could understand. The pronouncement of her name disarmed Aisha and caused her to lose her confidence in fighting and winning the projected battle. Furthermore, waves of tranquility began to flood her mind and with them, a feeling that she could trust the woman before her with her life. Without warning, the words, “I feel a lot better, thank you,” poured out of Aisha’s mouth.

“That is so lovely to hear. My name is Sybil. I promise you, we both mean you no harm. We both just want you to get better, okay?” asked the mysterious woman with more reassuring waves of tranquility washing over Aisha. Sybil smiled warmly and her smile seemed to permeate and spread to every surface of the room, making it feel warmer. The crystals by the bedside glowed ever so pleasantly, the herbs burning on the ashtray smelled sweeter than ever and the candles burnt peacefully, calming Aisha the more. She stared around the room and everything felt right with the world. She looked at the strangers and felt a sense of unity and camaraderie with them as if they were old friends. It didn’t take long for Aisha to deduce that all these feelings and sensations were not naturally occurring and that the woman was somehow unduly influencing the environment and Aisha’s emotions.

“You’re- you’re using some kind of- of- juju against me,” Aisha deduced.

Sybil smiled and nodded. “You are very perspective. I am sorry. It’s an occupational habit. You see I find it easier to put fears at ease before I can help my patients, so to speak,”

“I am not sick,”

“No, you aren’t. You are a very healthy woman in the prime of her life who has just had a lot of bad things happen to you,”

“How do you know? Can you read minds too? How did you even know my name?” Aisha asked terrified.

Sybil smiled yet again and Aisha found herself smiling back at her even though she knew the woman was influencing her emotions.

“Forgive me, Aisha but yes, I can read minds. It was never my intention to intrude on your private thoughts- I was merely searching for the cause of your distress and  searching though your memories to find what I was looking for was the easiest, least painful way,”

“There was no need for you to read my thoughts. I am not distressed nor in need of your help,”

“If that is the case then Aisha, tell me this- what led you to the rooftop early this morning?”

“That is none of your business,” Aisha responded defensively.

“I am afraid I must insist that you answer this question,” she said and Aisha suddenly felt the urge to spill all her guts but somehow found the strength in her to resist such strong emotional manipulation.

“Let me go this instant. You are both holding me against my will,” she said and muttered a prayer to her Angel to help her.

“We have strong reason to believe that you will harm yourself if we release you and as such, cannot do so unless we know for sure that you pose no such threat to yourself or to others,”

“My health and safety are my concern alone. This constitutes kidnap and false imprisonment and I am certain that you would not wish that to reflect on your diplomatic records,” Aisha said firmly still muttering her prayers to the Angel.

“She will not come for she is not really your Angel,” Flint spoke delicately approaching the two women cautiously looking very concerned and worried for Aisha.

“What?” Aisha asked confusedly.

“Your Angel is a fraud and is actually the true cause of your distress,” Flint responded with a bit more conviction.

“How dare you- I- I want to leave! Let me go or I’ll scream!” Aisha said looking from Sybil to Flint.

“We cannot, for your own safety, do such a thing. And I assure you, we have good reason to do so. First of all, your so called Angel is actually a devil in disguise and second of all, if we release you, the police will arrest and charge you for attempted suicide. Do you really want to be prosecuted for that when it is not your fault?” reasoned Sybil.

“My life belongs to me and the Goddess! My choice to part with it is mine alone to make!”

“If that is the case, then why have you let the Angel make your choice for you?”

“My Angel simply supports my choice. She has shown me the joy of the Great Haven- she has shown me what I stand to gain by shedding away this life for the next. Anyway, I don’t expect you both to understand. It is my own life and only I can decide my own fate,”

“You and the Goddess can determine your fate, you mean?”

“Yes!”

“And according to you, the Goddess wants you to die?”

“She wants me to be happy… My happiness lies not here but in the next life with my family,”

“Then why would the Goddess allow you to live in this plain of existence for all your life? Why not just make you an Angel?”

“It is not my place to ask the Goddess for why she would do such a thing. I only know that she wants me to be happy and she knows- she knows my happiness lies with my family,”

“What about your family here on Earth?”

“I have no family here. I have no friends. I have nothing left for me in this cruel world. I- I must die so I may be happy,”

“If you cannot find happiness in this life, what makes you think you’ll find any in the other life?”

“My faith tells me so,”

“Interesting faith you’ve got there, Aisha. A faith which teaches you that there is no value of life, which is, created by the Goddess yet which is not worth living according to you. A faith that inspires you to end life by your own hands and expects that you will enter the afterlife peacefully and suffer no repercussions for your deeds. A faith that believes in an Angel of Death that is eager for your passing rather than eager to give  a reason to live a happier life or at the very least an attempt to start living,”

“You have no right to criticize my faith! I am free to believe in whatever I want!”

“Yes, Aisha, you are but as a Mystai Priestess, it is my sacred duty to point out the flaws in your so called faith and to inform you that everything you believe about your Angel- is a lie. In fact, I can prove it,”

“My Angel-”

“Has yet to rescue you even as you beg for her help. Haven’t you been curious as to why she only appears to you during dreams? Are you not surprised that the protections in this room alone are enough to keep her, a Heavenly being, at bay? Isn’t it curious that you have not heard from her since your suicide attempt? Allow yourself the luxury of doubt because from it, the truth emerges or better yet, put your Angel to the test. Call out to her, ask her for divine justice against us whom you perceive persecute you,”

Aisha folded her hands into fists determined to prove her captors wrong. “She will come and there shall be a reckoning. She is present as we speak and she will avenge me. Oh most blessed Angel, most revered of Mother Selene’s creatures, hear my plea! Oh Sacred Host, I summon thee! Avenge me, free me from my captors! Strike them down with thy mighty hand and punish their wicked deeds!” Aisha prayed reverently as she fell to her knees. She began to chant and rock back and forth calling out for her Angel.

The room fell into silence and after several moments had passed, there was still no sign of the Divine host. Flint and Sybil were unharmed and no matter how much Aisha prayed, her Angel did not come to her aid. Was what the strangers were telling her true? Was there really no Angel? If she existed, why did she not come to her? She did everything she could think of to summon her Angel but she did not come. She was in a crisis then- what was real and what was fake? Who was Sybil and what did she mean by being a Mystai Priestess? What of Flint? Was he a Mystai Priest in addition to being a diplomat and Healer? Could she truly believe these two strangers if she was then starting to doubt her very faith?

 

END OF PART TWO

TO BE CONTINUED…

 

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