Within the Crystal Read online

  “Ok, let's get started then. Can you guys push the couch back against the wall and move the coffee table? Mom, can you do a circle of salt? I will head down stairs and grab some crystals, I have an idea,” once the words have left my mouth, everyone seems to jump into action. I'm still not sure why Mom wants to do this in the apartment, but the faster I can get this done, the faster I can get these guys out of my space. Looking over at Mom from the doorway, I can see a proud smile forming on her lips as I take control of the situation.

  Heading down to the shop I go straight for the crystal display. I don't know if the guys took their crystals home with them. I had meant for them to be gifts, but I don't think I told them that on account of me being unconscious and all. Grabbing a handful of each crystal, I jog back upstairs.

  When I enter the room everything is in its place ready for us to start. Entering the salt circle through the gap Mom left, I place the crystals around the circle. Each spot I have placed a crystal in is an indication of where I want that guy to sit. The crystals are set up in a semicircle and they all match a member of the group, including me.

  “Ok guys, can you sit in a semicircle, making sure you sit directly to the right of your named crystal. The crystals and yourselves will join together to form the semi circle. So Tek you sit over there,” I say pointing to the crystals which have a Tektite sitting in the center of them. “Nunu, over by that one please. Jasper, can you sit there and, last but not least, Cal, you sit there?” I instruct before leaving the circle to grab another crystal ball. I walk over to the shelf they are all lined up on, ready to be cleansed before they are added to the display in the shop. I run my hands over the different orbs. Some are big, some are smaller, and they range from crystal clear to jet black. Closing my eyes, I wait till I can feel the different sensation each ball provides me with.

  “Look, she’s playing with balls,” I hear in a whisper coming from behind me, followed by several deep chuckles and a oomph that sounded just like a punch. But I keep my eyes closed and hand hovering. There, right there. It's like a gentle caress under my palm, which leaves a slight humming sensation running up my arm. Opening my eyes, I glance down at the ball and see that it’s stunning. This one is more of a dark gray with splashes of gold through it. I hope this one doesn't get broken, it's so beautiful. It must be from the new stock Mom got a few weeks ago for the shop.

  Grabbing the crystal ball with both hands I hold it against my chest while whispering “my precious,” like Gollom from Lord of the Rings does. Looking up from the crystal ball, I stop dead in my tracks as every eye in the room is staring at me. “Crap, did I say that out loud?” I say, like a child caught with her fingers in the cookie jar.

  “Yes, honey, you did,” Mom says, coming over and wrapping an arm around my shoulder. Oh shit balls. Only I can geek it out in a room full of hot guys. Where is that big hole the world owes me to fall into when you need it the most?

  Before my embarrassment can take root, Tek laughs. “Don't worry, I think Nunu is sporting a boner from that reference,” he says and another oomph can be heard. I can only assume that Tek has just taken a punch from Nunu. Fuck my life.

  Walking back over to the salt circle, I head in through the opening and take my seat at the north position. The awkwardness I feel is making me not want to look up at any of the guys. I try and keep my eyes downcast towards the floor. Normally I would own my geek, but there is just something about these guys that’s making me feel out of the norm. Plus, the idea of Nunu sporting a boner for my geekness is hot as hell. Well it would be if my mom wasn’t standing next to me. No wonder I'm feeling weird.

  “Circle is closed, honey.” Glancing up, I see Mom is standing off to the side watching me intently. Is she worried I'm going to do something wrong in front of the guys? Or is she worried about what the guys are going to see? She isn't normally worried, her attitude tends to sway towards ‘come what may’, so seeing her anxiousness has me tensing up further.

  Finally taking my eyes off her, I look up and take in the guys. Their eyes are bright and their body language is open. They all look at ease sitting there in the lotus position, shoulders relaxed, palms facing up on their knees. I like looking at them like this. When they are like this, engaging in who I am and what I love doing, I can imagine us being friends and all hanging out together. My heart swells at the thought of having actual friends to hang out with. When you travel around alot like us, it can be really lonely. That is why most of my hobbies are solo ones. Maybe these guys can help introduce me to new hobbies. Honestly, there is just something about each of them that I’m drawn to. I feel like they have to be in my life, any way that I can have them, I will.

  I’m not sure if it’s the thoughts of the guys or just that I’m anxious about the situation, but something is stopping me from getting comfortable. Shifting my uncomfortable ass around on the floor, I’m trying to find the easiest way to sit. If I had known I was going to be sitting on the floor, and not at the table downstairs, I would have worn a long flowing skirt. Jeans tend to dig in and pinch, even more so when they’re skinny jeans. Like the pinching I'm currently experiencing around my thighs. Once I'm happy with my position I place the crystal ball on the floor in front of me, I take one last glance around and see that everything is in place.

  “Ok, as you can see I have placed each one of your named crystals in a semicircle in front of each of you. These crystals will help stabilize the energy inside this circle and within each of you,” I say with the hope that I can keep these guys as informed as possible. Though I'm not really worried about their assignment anymore. It feels bigger than that, like maybe the information I provide them with will help with their futures.

  “Why is your crystal in the center of each semicircle?” Nunu asks with a thoughtful look on his face. Shit, how do I explain to these guys that somehow all our energies are linked and that I have seen our futures together?

  “I thought it was better,” I stammer, “that um, each of your energies can help stabilize mine,” I finish with a shrug. “There is no direct science to this, I work more on feelings and intuition.” He nods as though he accepts my argument and I breathe a sigh of relief. Closing my eyes and finding my center, I pull on my power and let it spread, heating up my body as it travels. After a few steadying breaths I open my eyes, while placing my hands on the crystal ball I selected earlier. Releasing the power from my fingertips, I channel it into the crystal and watch as the gold bands start moving. The more I watch the bands shifting around, the more entranced I feel.

  I hear a gasp to the side of me, but I'm too enthralled to glance over and see which of the guys it came from. As I push more energy into the crystal, I can feel its own energy push back inside of me. It's as if the crystal is trying to fill up the void that pushing out my energy has caused.

  “OH SHIT!” I hear. The voice sounds to me like a loud whisper, coming from across the circle, but to everyone else I'm sure it’s like a shout. If I had to guess the voice, I would say Tektite. He sounds like cool whisky over ice normally, but right now his voice sounds panicked, like he is actually worried for me.

  “It's ok, your crystals are just funneling the energy that Alex is pouring into the bigger crystal ball. The more energy she uses, the more the crystals will glow. When it's one-on-one we don't need to use as much power, but because she is seeing four, maybe five futures, it will take more power,” Mom explains in a soothing tone. Closing my eyes from all the sensations I'm starting to feel, visions start pouring into my mind.

  Chapter Seven

  Within the blink of an eye I'm sitting in a rich green forest, surrounded by trees. Well this is different, I’ve never been dragged into a vision before. Uncurling my legs, I rise to my feet. This place feels light and airy. Looking over my body, I look the same as I did before, with jeans and a t-shirt on. I try to take a tentative step towards a small yellow flower. It's like a miniature version of a sunflower. Reaching my hand out, I run my fingers over the brightly colored p
etals. I can feel the silky smooth texture under my fingers. This is definitely strange. I’ve never been able to interact with my visions before. The feel of the soft damp moss nestled under my toes is calming.

  Releasing a breath I hadn't even realized I’d been holding, I feel all the tension leave my body. This is only a vision, my body is safe back at the house in a salt circle, nothing can hurt me here. When the birds in the trees stop chirping though, my defenses go back up. I'm not a fighter, but I can hold my own when it comes down to it. Looking up towards the sky and the tops of the trees, I see a ball of golden light just hovering there. My guess is that this is going to get a lot weirder before it becomes normal again. I just hope the guys are not freaking out too much. I know my mom will be as calm as a cucumber and will hopefully help the guys keep their cool too. I could really do without them breaking the salt circle, as I'm not one hundred percent sure where I am right now, and as nice as this place is, I don't want to be trapped here.

  The human subconscious is a very delicate thing and even something small can break it, turning the person crazy. We get reports all the time from Seers who have been out of their depths and tried to see too far into the future, or even the past, and their minds have just cracked from it. They were never the same again. I really don't want that to happen to me. The small snippets of the vision I got the other day, with me wrapped around the guys - I want that. I want to see many, many orgasms in my future, and see different crystal eyes obliging. But mostly I want to be sane enough to get to know each of the guys and maybe one day even fall in love. I don’t think people who have lost their marbles are all that capable of falling in love and I want to.

  Deciding I have been standing here too long, I start striding forward, heading between the two trees I see ahead. I need to find out where I am, to look around. As soon as I pass the trees, I'm in another type of clearing. Glancing up, I see the ball is in the same spot. Wait... hold on, that’s strange. Turning back around, I follow my footprints from before and end up back in the original clearing with the sunflower. Walking over to it I say, “Thank you sunflower for your light and brightness,” before picking it. Placing it into my hair, I walk back towards the two trees again. When I pass by them and into the clearing, I release a sigh. “This is some weird Alice in Wonderland bullshit,” I mumble to myself before it occurs to me that talking to myself is the first sign of madness. I decide to keep walking in silence. The stem from the sunflower is in the centre of the new clearing, meaning there is only one set of trees. I have been walking in circles. Placing my ass down on the moss filled grass, I assume the lotus position again and find my zen. It's ok, I will sit here and meditate till something decides to happen. Deep breath in, calming breath out. Deep breath in, calming breath out. I have always been very good at calming my thoughts, since not much is already going on up there. Well, there wasn’t until four strange, hot, sexy men walked into it. Now my mind seems to be travelling a mile a minute.

  After several moments have passed, the birds take up their chatter again. Opening my eyes a small gasp leaves my mouth. The gold ball is now hovering directly in front of me. I lean forward and bring my head closer, hoping to see some images inside, but nothing. Raising my hand, I push my index finger towards it, hoping to touch it. Before my finger can make contact, the ball moves back a few spaces on the grass. Watching the ball for any signs of movement, I see cracks forming on the surface. What the hell? If something is trying to get out to eat me, I'm fucked. I have no weapon on me. I don't think I could do much damage with this sunflower. Unless the creature is allergic to pollen, then yay me.

  Watching as the cracks get bigger, I take up a crouched position, getting ready to either attack or run. Flight or fight has never been a strong point for me. Remember my spirit animal is a sloth, all this involves too much effort. When all the cracks are finally joined together a bright light shines from the orb, forcing me to close my eyes and raise my hand up to cover them. Damn, it's like trying to look at the sun during an eclipse.

  The light finally begins to dim and when I'm able to focus again without dots dancing in my vision, I see standing before me a beautiful woman, naked as the day she was born. “Fuck, you’re naked,” is the only response my brain is able to create right now. My brain could have come up with something like, who are you, where are we, why am I here? But no, not my brain, it says shit like that to a complete stranger.

  “Yes, daughter, I am. Would you like me to cover up? Does my being naked make you feel uncomfortable?” Her voice is like the twinkling of wind chimes. When I feel ready to open my eyes again, I see that she has wrapped a golden shimmering light around herself, like a toga.

  “Thank you,” I responded kindly as she took my feelings into consideration.

  “You’re welcome,” she says, while taking a step closer. My body tenses again. Just because she put some clothes on doesn't mean she isn't a threat. “I'm sorry, daughter of mine, where are my manners... I am Mother Earth,” she says in her whimsical voice.

  “You're what now?” I spluttered back to her. “Did one of those jackasses spike my coffee, because I feel like I'm tripping on acid right now!” I mutter. This is like the time Mom took me to meet some Native Americans and I decided I needed to go for a spirit walk. I ended up talking to a wild coyote who was carrying around an anvil. It was all a bit too strange, just like this. When the tripping is over, I'm going to be kicking some major sexy ass.

  “No, you are not hallucinating. I have very important information for you that will change the course of you and your men's lives, and possibly the future of the world,” she responds with a chuckle.

  Chapter Eight

  Talk about dropping a bomb in my lap. Can I go back to the wild coyote dream, that wasn't as life changing as this. “Ok, for this, I think you're going to have to start at the beginning,” I plead.

  “We don't have much time. Your men are already getting restless and want you back,” she says with a sigh. “It's a long story that takes part over centuries. I cannot give you all the details via speech, I have to show you. You have to experience it for yourself, to understand the true depth of it all.”

  “Okay,” I sigh wearily. Why do I not like the sound of this, at all? “So, will you show me via a crystal, or maybe some water?” I ask glancing around, looking for a pool of water she can use. Only there’s nothing but trees and grass.

  “No, I will show you with true visions. Everything I have seen, you shall see too.” Before she finishes speaking, she has already placed both of her hands on either side of my head. What begins as a low pressure building behind my eyes soon starts to burn. Within a few seconds my eyes feel like they are on fire. I'm sure if I was to look in a mirror, my eyes would be swimming with lava straight from the pits of hell. When the pain shifts from my eyes to my brain, I want to scream out in agony. The visions I'm seeing are moving too fast, as if I'm watching a movie but in fast forward times ten. They’re moving so fast, it's just a blur of colours.

  When I start to think I'm going to pass out from the pain of my skull breaking open and turning to mush, I feel myself being lowered to the floor. “Sit now, rest, but we do not have much time before the guys are going to start to panic and you will need to return to them. When you awaken from this you will need to sleep for twelve hours, after that everything I have shown you will be crystal clear. Your human brain needs time to catch up with everything I have shown you. Just remember, you are not in this fight alone. However, I would like to send you back with a guide, she will help you in times of need. She is connected to me, and can pass messages along.” My brain really has well and truly turned to mush because I'm sure that when she brings her arm forward from behind her back, there in her palm sits a dainty little sugar glider. It is the cutest thing I have ever seen. She has a long body and tiny ears. The easiest way to describe her is a squirrel cross bush baby with wings. As I'm staring at the little bundle of white and grey fur, she turns and starts to run up Mother Nature's arm and
onto her shoulders. She perches there and begins to play with Mother Nature’s flowing red hair.

  “What is her name?” I ask in awe, still transfixed by the cuteness unfolding before me.

  “Ask her, she will tell you,” Mother Nature answers. Looking at the sugar glider, I hold out my hand with my palm facing up. I smile and allow my body to take on a calming presence. The last thing I want to do is scare her. Watching the marsupial, she takes a jump and glides effortlessly directly on to my palm.

  “So, little one, what should I call you?” I question while looking into her black eyes. As the words leave my mouth an image appears in my head of a long dark blue crystal with a deep purple center. “Tanzanite?” I ask. She lets out a little rumble, kind of like the sound of a lawnmower, but far cuter. Glancing up, I see that Mother Nature is nodding her head back to me, as if to give confirmation to my question.

  Tanzanite runs up my shoulder towards my hair. She plucks the sunflower out and offers it back to Mother Nature, who takes it and nods her head in thanks. She carefully takes the flower and gracefully walks back to the spot where I picked it earlier. Watching her with raptured attention, she leans down and places the flower back on its stem. After some whispered words, I watch as the gold magic pours from her hands in gentle wisps, gliding into the flower to reattach it to its stalk again. Once satisfied, she turns and walks back towards us.

  “I'm so sorry for plucking your flower,'' I say, embarrassed. I can feel my cheeks and ears starting to get red. I want to try and make it up to her, but I just don't know how, or even where to start.

  “My child, do not feel sorry, for the flower served its purpose for you. However, I still see great things in its future,” she responds with a wink and a smile. Her eyes glisten like someone who holds thousands of secrets. “In fact, you two may meet again.”