Warped- Chapter 4: The Hidden Savior

Brit and Julie stayed calm, but only because they didn’t quite understand the effects a black hole could have on them. “Whoa, Sam, chill. First of all, what is a black hole, and second of all, there is nothing here- look around.”

At this point, Sam wanted to tear the hair out of her head. “Okay,” she said, taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself. It didn’t work. “OF COURSE YOU CAN’T SEE IT!!! IT’S CALLED A ‘BLACK’ HOLE!!! IT’S INVISIBLE!!! AND YOU CAN SEE WHAT IT’S DOING TO THE DUST!!! IT’S SUCKING IT IN, AND IF WE GO TOO FAR, WE’LL BE SUCKED IN TOO!!! AND YOU WANT ME TO ‘CHILL,’ RIGHT?!!! DID I MENTION THAT WE WOULD ALL BE RIPPED APART INTO ATOMS AND DIE??!!”

Julie’s mouth dropped open. “Are you serious?”

Sam’s already angry expression turned livid. “Yes, I’m serious. WHY WOULD I BE KIDDING??!!! IF WE GO ANY FURTHER WE ARE GOING TO DIE!!!”

Brit took a deep breath. “Alright, let’s try to think calmly. What can we do?”

Julie glared at her. “Nothing.”

Sam pulled out The Note. “This thing better have something useful this time.”

Julie and Brit instantly exhaled, without realizing that they had been holding their breaths for practically the whole time.

They got a lot more than help.

&*&*&*&

Sam frantically pulled The Note out of her pocket and flipped it open. But instead of finding a letter there, as the three normally did, she found a picture. Of a person.

Julie and Brit crowded in to look. Upon seeing the picture, Julie instantly paled and nearly fell on top of Sam.

“What’s wrong, Julie?” Sam asked.

Julie could barely speak. “That’s the same guy from the portrait.”

Even though Julie was nearly toppling over, Sam pushed her to give them more information. “Was there anything-?”

She never got to the rest of her sentence. The picture was growing. Out of the paper.

&*&*&*&

Five minutes later, the person- or rather, creature- was completely out of The Note and into Sam, Brit and Julie’s world. He proceeded to dust off his pants and say, “Well, look what you have gotten yourselves into,” like it was perfectly normal.

“Excuse me,” Sam said, her eyes on fire, “But may I inquire as to WHO YOU ARE??!”

The man dusted off his pants again, and said, “Call me James.”

The three girls continued staring. Julie ended up as the first one to answer the questions that all three girls wanted to ask. “First, that doesn’t really answer Sam’s question. Second, how did you do that? Third, why is there a hidden portrait of you in The Rock, and fourth, what are you doing here??!!”

James chuckled. “I’d love to answer all of your wonderful questions, but first, I’d like to get us all out of this situation,” he said, gesturing to the black hole and the interstellar dust. With that, he closed his eyes, and all of a sudden, they weren’t there anymore.

They just... weren’t... there... anymore.

All of a sudden, they were sitting on the grass- real grass- on an Earth-like planet. Not exactly though, because instead of a sun, there were two stars. It was a binary pair of stars, commonly found throughout the multiverse. Sam wondered what Brit and Julie were thinking.

James’ voice awakened her from her momentary distraction. “So, where to begin, where to begin...” he trailed off, as Sam took a close look at him. He had brown hair, matted and messy in some places. He looked like any other guy that was the same age as Sam.

“Well... I am the guy who’s been writing The Note, I’ll tell you that much,” he said. “As for the rest of your questions... well, that will take quite a bit of explaining.” He sighed before continuing, and when he did, his voice was quieter and somewhat bitter. “I wasn’t kidding when I said The Almighty One had something to do with this.”

Brit’s eyes widened. “So you mean, you’re...”

James shook his head. “Not quite. Actually, I’m His son.”

Sam’s mouth nearly dropped to the ground. “Are you serious?”

James shifted uncomfortably. “Yes. And I could do what I just did because... well... my powers are unlimited. I basically can do anything.”

“Not basically then,” Sam interrupted. “You can do anything- and everything.”
James nodded. “Yes, you’re right. The hidden portrait was a calling. And I couldn’t have just let you die like that. You are on a mission.”

Sam stomped her foot in childlike frustration. “What do you mean we’re on a mission??!! As far as I know, we were being stupid by jumping through that time warp!”

“Not really. You wanted your parents back.”

Brit’s eyes welled up with tears. “And we haven’t got them!! We’re stuck, and there is nothing we can do!!”

James shook his head. “Not quite. You can do something. But it involves the mission. You see, when people die, their spirit goes to my father. Unfortunately... well... my father has gotten himself into a bit of a predicament as well. Well... he has been trapped- or rather, captured.”

Sam’s laugh was faked. “What do you mean He was captured? How could He be captured, and who captured Him?”

“The Devil,” James stated frankly. “Satan.”

Julie shook her head. “And where do we come in?”

“You are the ones who have to rescue him, along with all the other souls who have died in the past day.”

“Huh?”

“He has been trapped for the past day, in terms of Earth time.”

“What do you mean in terms of Earth time?” Brit asked.

“Well... In the worlds you’ve been in, it’s been two weeks, but on Earth, only two hours. Why do you think you’re not hungry?”

Sam shook her head disbelievingly. “Are you kidding?”

“Nope,” James replied.

“But why us ??!! Of all the people in the world!”
“That I do not know. Only He decides, and He must think- no, know- that you three are special.”

Brit snorted. “Everyone is special.”

Sam rolled her eyes. “Brit, this isn’t politeness class.”

James continued. “The only way to get to the right world is to use blood.”

Sam, Brit and Julie said the same thing at the same time. “BLOOD?!!”

James sighed. “In these worlds, similar things are so rare that similar things will attract. Therefore, blood will attract blood.”

Sam shook her head. “I must be insane, but I’ll do it.”

“Do what?” Brit asked.

“Cut myself. Or something. Is there anything sharp around?” she replied, looking around.

“No need,” James said. “Just hold still for a second.” With that, a small drop of blood appeared on Sam’s arm. It was painless, and within a minute the blood was safely put into a light, small vial the size of a small marker cap. James handed the vial to Sam. “Here.”

Sam looked at the vial, and then back to James a couple times before saying something. “Umm... What exactly am I supposed to do?”

James laughed. “All you really have to do is go into the cabeli state of mind.”

Brit and Julie looked at James like he was crazy. “What are you talking about?”
Julie asked.

James stared. “Oh!! The cabeli ? What have you been calling it? It’s the state of mind you go in when you need to use your powers!”

Sam nodded. “Okay... but... won’t it drain my energy? Like, really, really quickly?”
“Not really. You’ve been using your powers quite a lot now. I’m going to assume it has been getting easier.”

“It has,” Brit said. “But if you do it for a long period of time, won’t it drain more and more energy out of you?”

“Not really,” James replied, shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter how long you stay in cabeli , it just matters if you stop or not. You see, the powers work in a way that when you’re using them, it’s completely fine. Each of your powers is enabled when you concentrate so hard that your liume is focused on the area of your body where the power is used; eyes for Julie, brain for Sam and ears for Brit.”

“So liume is energy?" Julie asked.

“Yes. When you come out of cabeli , the used energy rushes back to where it came from, creating a sense of overall fatigue or tiredness.”

Sam nodded, understanding. “So what you’re saying is that someone could go into
cabeli for a week and still be fine?”

James shrugged. “If they could somehow get the nutrients and minerals needed for their body to survive, sure.”

“Speaking of nutrients,” Brit said, changing the topic, “We need them too. We’ve been here for roughly two and a half hours Earth time. So could you like, do one of your little magical thingies and get us some food?”

James laughed, shaking his head. “Sorry guys. My powers are for emergencies only.”

Sam crossed her arms. “You don’t call this an emergency? Sorry, but the way I was brought up, starving to death wasn’t exactly unimportant.”

“Firstly, uncross your arms- you have nothing to be upset about. And secondly, I’m not saying that it’s not important- I’m saying that you guys should have enough experience with your powers to find food on your own.”

The three girls stared at him incredulously. “So what you’re saying,” Brit said slowly, “Is that you’re going to let us try and find food, and if we don’t, you’ll let us starve to death.”

“Precisely,” James said. Then, upon seeing the shocked looks on all three girls’ faces, he added, “Oh come on! If you can’t work together and use your powers wisely enough to find food in an unfamiliar world, do you think that you’ll survive a battle against Satan?”

“So this is all a test. If we get through, we fight Satan. If we don’t, we’ll be trapped along with God and all the other souls that have died for the past... ever... Right?” Julie said, making a face.

“Correct.”

Sam sighed, annoyed at James’ bluntness. “Would you stop that??!! Seriously, you would just leave us to starve to death? You’re not the compassionate person the bible says you are, ya know?”

“You guys clearly don’t understand. You see, you guys are just pawns in the fight between good and evil.”

Sam laughed bitterly. “Well, you know what? I never wanted to be part of this battle, okay? I want to be at home right now, with mom and dad, leading a normal life in a normal world. Julie and Brit are way too young to be going through this, and Brit is eight and knows M-theory. That is just not something that eight year olds know!”

“I’m sorry,” James said. “But when my dad does something, He does it for a reason.”

Sam retorted fiercely, while the other two girls sat, watching the battle. “No, you’re not sorry,” Sam said. “And your father- I don’t care who he is- clearly does not realize that he has rocketed our lives into emotional havoc.”

James just stood there, looking at Sam. Finally, he said quietly, “I’m not going to do what I want to do to you right now, because your sisters are here right now. But believe me, I was sent to get you out of that predicament for a reason- why do you think I didn’t just leave you there to die, knowing that you would’ve failed the test?”

Sam was ready to blow. “Listen,” she said, venom smoking in her voice, “I don’t care why you rescued us. I don’t understand why we’re the ones who have to save your father, and as far as I’m concerned, you guys are just torturing us for your entertainment.”

James glared at Sam with just as much fury. “Oh really. You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about.”

An evil grin crept across Sam’s face, as her sisters shivered. Both of them thought that Sam had finally gone insane from the event. “Do it then,” she said, smirking.

James looked confused. “Do what?”

“Do what you wanted to do to me, but couldn’t before my sisters were here. Do it. I won’t believe you unless you do it. As far as I know, you’re bluffing to get us to keep going.”

James raised his eyebrows.

Sam continued. “How bout you find someone else to rescue your dad. How about you just reverse time and let us go back to planet Earth. Why can’t you just kill Satan yourself?”

“Because,” James said, advancing closer to Sam with each word he
spoke. “Because Satan is inviolable by any supreme being.”

“And why’s that?” Sam demanded, still standing firm in her spot even as James advanced.

“When good and evil collide, everything is obliterated.”

“Then why did- I mean- how did your father get trapped?”

“He was tricked.”

Sam raised her eyebrows. “Tricked? The great ‘God’ tricked?”

“You are forgetting that my father sees compassion in everyone. He saw compassion in Satan, took the chance and was trapped.”

Sam laughed, again, sending shivers down her sisters’ spines. This wasn’t they Sam they knew- or rather, thought they knew. “Don’t try to fool me James. I’m not that gullible.”

“What led you believe that I was trying to fool you?”

“Please,” Sam said, “You expect me to believe that junk? I know that God and M-theory can’t both be right, you know. I’m fifteen.”

“How do you know that they can’t be combined? That your dear scientists are right?”

Sam ground her teeth together, as James got even closer. “I’m not going to deal with this ANY LONGER!!! JEEZ!”

Sam spun around on her heel, but before she could march away, James grabbed her arm, restraining her. “WHAT DO YOU WANT??!!!” she screamed, flailing wildly. She was on the verge of tears, nearly breaking down. “JUST LET ME GO!!! I DON’T CARE, I DON’T CARE, I DON’T CARE, I DON’T CARE!!! I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR STUPID DAD, YOUR STUPID FA-”

“Do you care about your parents then?” James said calmly and quietly.

It was the last straw. Before James could go on, Sam had broken down sobbing.

Even Brit and Julie had gotten up to see what had happened.

James shook his head. ‘This is exactly what I was afraid of happening.

&*&*&*&

A cup of tea and a nap later, Sam was back to her calm, over-rational self. Well, actually, she was almost back to her calm, over-rational self.

Every time James- or Brit, or Julie- mentioned her parents, she broke down in tears.
Brit and Julie were used to seeing Sam under pressure, and knew exactly what was happening. James, however, was a bit uncertain at approaching Sam. “Is she going to be okay?” he whispered to Brit and Julie, seeing Sam break down for the fifth time.

Julie and Brit rolled their eyes. “She’ll be fine,” Brit said. “Just give her some time.”

James nodded slowly. “How long does that take?”

Julie shrugged. “Eh... just about an hour.”

James’ mouth dropped open. “AN HOUR??!!”

Brit nodded. “Umm... yeah... is that too long?”

James sighed, resting his head on his shoulders. “Never mind. You wouldn’t
understand.”

Julie laughed. “Are you sure about that? James, listen to me. We might be a lot younger than Sam and you, and we might not know what string theory is, but that doesn’t make Sam any better. In fact, we’re a lot more... calm than she is when she gets like this.”

James raised his eyebrows. “You make a good point. Alright. Well, we need to get out soon. I know an hour isn’t that long of a time, but I don’t think I can last that long.”

Julie’s eyes widened. “Waddaya mean last that long?”

James sighed. “Satan is in control of my father. That means that unless I use my powers to keep the universe stable, Satan can just collapse it then and there. I’ve been holding this for a while now- and well, you guys have little powers that don’t use to much of your energy. Me? Having to do this is like trying to lift one billion trillion weights.”

Brit shook her head. “But you’re... His son,” she said, for lack of better words. You can do anything, remember?”

James laughed bitterly. “Sure, I can do anything, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a price- in this case, the price is my energy- and possibly my life.”

“In that case... I’ll go wake Sam up right now,” Julie said, walking toward Sam.”

“No!” James cried, grabbing her arm. “You don’t understand. If Sam’s not on full energy, there is no way you guys will be able to defeat Satan!”

“That’s another thing I don’t get,” Brit interrupted. “How can we defeat Satan? If he’s so powerful, couldn’t he just kill us now?”
“Not quite. You see, the reason Satan hasn’t killed anyone and everyone on Earth yet is because one thing prevents him- an impenetrable wall.”

“What’s that?” Brit asked.

“Innocence. Love. Those two things can stop the greatest power of all.”

“In that case... we’re not exactly innocent anymore, though, are we?”

James sighed. “It’s complicated,” he said. “No, you’re not innocent, but you would be had it not been for divine intervention. Therefore, do you remain innocent, or do you not?”

Julie shrugged. “Why are you asking me? You’re the one who knows everything.”

“Do not say that.”

“Why not? It is true, isn’t it?”

“Well...yes... but if I use my powers too much, I won’t last as long.”

Brit’s eyes widened. “We really need Sam to wake up, don’t we?”

James sighed again. It was really beginning to get to Brit- if someone as powerful as James was sighing miserably, that made the whole situation worse by tenfold.
'This,' Brit thought frankly, 'sucks.'

&*&*&*&

The sky was filled with blazing stars as night fell upon the group. James had lifted his power spell for a while, saying that it wouldn’t hurt at night to get some rest.
Sam had woken up for a brief period, drinking some tea and then going back to sleep.

And now, everyone was asleep. Everyone except Brit.

As the other three lie peacefully on the grass, Brit sat there, looking at the night sky. She recognized the Big Dipper, which Sam was always talking about, and saw the brilliant North Star.

Even when the group was in a different world, the North Star still stayed the same- brilliant, bright and always in the same position.

Brit wished more could be like the North Star, consistent and without changing. ‘Yeah right,’ Brit thought. ‘And instead you get yourself rocketed into a set of different worlds. And then, you find out that you are needed to defeat evil, and use a drop of blood to locate The Almighty One. Great.’

And then there was the fact that Brit was eight and knew M-theory. ‘Jeez!’ she thought, ‘Eight year olds are not supposed to know M-theory. I mean really, there has to be some kind of law against that! I’m eight and I know that antimatter repels matter, which is why the universe- or, multiverse- doesn’t collapse in on itself. And then there’s the fact that I know what a multiverse is! It just doesn’t work that way!’

Brit sighed and shook her head. There was no way she was every going to get used to this. Even if they did get out alive, Brit- and the other three’s- lives would never, ever, ever be the same ever again. 'Then again,' Brit thought, trying to be optimistic, They’ll be a ton of stuff that’s good, too. Like, you’ll be so smart! You’ll know what M-theory is!

But I don’t want to know what M-theory is!’ the other side of her retorted. ‘I’m eight! Most adults don’t even know what M-theory is!

Okay then... but you’ll be tougher!

Oh yeah. Mom and dad die, we go on an interworldly journey, fight the ultimate battle, and become tougher. Wow. What a great reward.’

Brit shook her head desperately, as tears started falling down her face, looking for something to hang on to amidst the swirling pool of uncertainty that surrounded her. 'The North Star,’ she thought, ‘There has to be another North Star.’

Brit thought about her parents, Sam, Julie, James. She thought about all her friends from school that she might never get to see again. She thought of all those poor souls- including her parents’- that were stuck with the ultimate evil.

Brit couldn’t take it anymore. She lay down, and caught up on three days of crying.

&*&*&*&

An hour later, Brit awoke. Her face was sticky with tears, and her hands were covered in dirt. She rubbed her eyes tiredly. Then, she realized the whole reason why her sisters and she were here- to save all those poor souls who were trapped with Satan- and most importantly, God.

Brit forced her face into a determined look and wiped the tears off of her face. This is it,' she thought, 'This is it.'

&*&*&*&

By the time Julie and the others awoke, Brit had packed up on all the things James had said they would need. There wasn’t that much; Sam’s blood, another small jar, and, most importantly, James had said, a small ring. But it wasn’t any ordinary ring that you could buy at a jewelry store.

In fact, it wasn’t ordinary at all.

The Ring was heavy, grey, think, and covered in ancient symbols that none of the three sisters could understand. When Sam asked James about The Ring, he had turned pale and refused to answer.

The way Brit figured it out, if James was so concerned with The Ring, she didn’t really want to know what it could do. Whether it could save her life or obliterate it, she wasn’t going to be concerned.

Or, at least, she had hoped so.

Unfortunately, The Ring had stayed on her mind, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that James was hiding something very important about this “battle” they were supposed to have to fight against Satan. Brit had, several times, tried to shake the feeling off, but it wasn’t working.

Every time she looked at the stuff she had collected, The Ring caught her eye.
Every time The Ring caught her eye, a whole other set of possibilities concerning what it could be or do crossed her mind. As much as she urged herself to just forget about The Ring, she couldn’t. She just couldn’t.

“What time is it?” Julie asked, yawning, awakening Brit from her deep thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, I don’t know. But anyway, we have to get up. Tell Sam so.”
Sam however, was no where to be found. She wasn’t in the place she had been sleeping in last night, and she wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity. Unfortunately, James was also gone.

Julie and Brit were alone.

And Julie and Brit weren’t exactly the best at agreeing with each other. Actually, they stunk at it.

“Where could they be?” Brit asked anxiously.

“I don’t know,” Julie said. “But I think it’s because James lifted the spell last night.”

“I don’t care about that, I just want to know where they are!”

“Well excuse me for trying to be worried about them!”

“Oh my god Julie! Why do you always have to be like this?!!!”

“Excuse me?! Do you hear yourself? Do you?”

Brit’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. “I’m sorry, but last time I checked I was the one who saved YOUR LIFE!!!”

“Jeez, Brit! You don’t have to be such a brat you know!”

“ME??!!! NOW YOU’RE JUST BEING HYPOCRITIC!!!”

“Yeah??!! WELL NOW YOU’RE JUST BEING STUPID!!”

“STUPID- HOW DARE YOU-”

Sam and James suddenly walked in on the two screaming at each other. “Brit? Julie? Oh my god, James, I knew we shouldn’t have left them here alone!”
Brit and Julie suddenly turned to face the two. “Oh. Well, there you are. Pardon me, but don’t you think next time you might want to tell us before you decide to leave us alone, worried to death.”

Sam rolled her eyes. “Puh-lease. It’s not my fault you guys can’t agree on anything together.”

“Excuse me, but isn’t it your fault for leaving us here alone?”

James cut in. “Wow! You guys ARE sisters! Leave each other alone, okay? This isn’t about your little prissy fights anymore, it’s about saving the world, here!”
Sam put her hands on her hips. “Oh, now we are talking nonsense. You are not superman, and will never be.”

James closed his eyes, and then opened them again. “Oh come on guys, please cooperate!”

Julie and Brit raised their eyebrows. The exchanged glances, and Brit finally spoke up. “Well... since you’re begging...”

Sam burst out laughing. When James and the other girls turned to look at her, she just said, “Well, it’s not everyday you get the son of God to beg you to cooperate!”

James rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay, I’m at your mercy, but we NEED to get going!”

Sam sighed. “Alright, but I’m starving, and we need food you know.”

“Guys it’s been three days, and you are not starving, you liar. I have a spell over you guys, you’re not going to get hungry for quite a while.”

Sam reddened. “Well, then,” she said briskly, “I’m assuming we should leave now?”

James nodded. “Quite right. Julie, grab the blood jar, Brit take the small jar. Sam, go get The Ring.”

Sam nodded, her face set in grim determination- and, Brit wondered, was there a bit of understanding? When James and Sam were out... could James possibly have shared with Sam what was so important about The Ring without telling the other two?

Sam had gathered The Ring now, and presented it to James. “Here.”
“Alright,” James said, opening a portal. “And now, the journey begins.”

&*&*&*&