Walk Among the Stars

***Honeymoon suite of the Bigalow***

Seeing stars was one thing. Walking among them was another. But Jack was. Walking among the stars, time had no meaning. He saw things. Knew things. Some people and places he recognized. Others he had no idea who they were or why they were revealed to him. He was incredibly cold and burning hot. He was completely focused and not there at all. He was scared but knew it was entirely right.

He heard voices. At first, he thought maybe Abby called to him, but he saw another young couple when he turned. Teens perhaps. He did not know them, though they were vaguely familiar. “Who are you? Where am I?”

“Nowhere. Between worlds.”

Jack wanted to hit the man, shake him and make him tell the truth. But he could not. He realized then that he was frozen. Unable to move. He could see and hear all those things. But they had come to him. Well, more like floated past.

“You will be fine. Mostly. You always wanted a gift like your cousin.”

Could the man read his mind? How did he know about Rex? Jack tried to move again and felt panic rising when he could not.

“Be still. Relax into it.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? This is crazzy!” Jack felt the panic rising up inside of him.

“It is called dreamwalking. Our people, the shamans, have done it for millennia. But yes, it is frightening the first time. Especially if you are not prepared for it. Breath deeply, close your spiritual eyes as your physical ones are, and focus only on that. Until you are calmer, then we will speak.”

Since arguing and fighting whatever physical restraints bound him was not working, Jack figured he had nothing to lose. But this time, he did. He had everything to lose. He just wanted to go back to her. To hold Abby.

“Then call her to you. Summon her.”

Jack had no idea what the man was saying or how to do that. But the moment he thought of her, Abby was beside him. “What happened, Jack? Where are we?”

“Another plane, a place between,” this time the woman spoke.

“But how?” They said at the same time.

“The ancient mysteries. The forgotten ways. The joining of two souls.” She replied, looking at the man.

“I don’t understand. Sex is…”

“…Just sex? Yes, for most people. And most of the time. But for those who are entwined. Two halves of the same soul it is different. It is the only time they feel whole. Complete.”

Jack’s heart pounded if he had one in this place. Those words perfectly described how he had felt. There was always peace around her. Even that little girl, pushing her in the swing, his mind had felt… But it made no sense.

“That is because we have lost our way. There are not just pieces but whole continents of our history, our cultures, and beliefs that are missing. Things that were once understood by all peoples have been polluted, poisoned, and corrupted. That is at the core of this world’s problems,” said the man.

“Eleusinian Mysteries, Isis cult, the Koka Shastra and Ananga Ranga, the oral traditions of the Druids, the Aztecs, lost or only to be found in fragments.” The woman added.

“Because they feared the power. The force of love to heal and enlighten.” The deeper male voice explained.

“I don’t understand,” Abby spoke into the void.

“You do not need to, my child. Not yet. Not this first time….”

“First time? Wait, is this going to keep happening? Every time we…” Jack loved her, and Abby was amazing. Touching her, being with her, making love to her. But damn, this shit was freaking him out.

They laughed, “No, not every time. Rarely. In your long lives together, you will be able to count on your fingers the times you visit this place,” the woman smiled as if it were all some joke.

“With time and study, you may even learn how to call it forth. But sometimes, like now, you will be summoned by the Ones. Because they need you to understand and see things that are to come.”

Jack was not sure if the man’s words reassured him or frightened him more. “Will we remember this? When we go back, I guess?”

“Fragments. Always fragments. Things, people, places will trigger those memories. Like those signs, you asked for, my son.”

Jack looked at the man again. In those features and those eyes, there was recognition. “Grandfather? I don’t understand. Why didn’t you tell me? Any of this?”

“We are forbidden to interfere in the Fates of others.”

“Even those we love the most, Abby Jean,” Jack was not even surprised as the woman spoke. But this only made it worse. Her betrayal. How dare that woman stand beside his grandfather in the afterlife.

“I am sorrier than you will ever know that I could not speak the truth to you. Even now, my son, there are things you must discover for yourself. Answers I cannot give you. All I can tell you is that your path is righteous.”

“And that we love you and will always be with you.”

Jack had visited Misney Land once, been on that roller coaster through the stars with music blaring loudly as you were twisted and turned, looped and thrown about. That was what it was like. Seconds, minutes, hours, he did not know. He could not see her, but he felt her. Abby was by his side the whole time. And that was what got him through.

“What the fuck?” The room was still spinning. The lights too bright. His head pounded in rhythm with his heart. No, her heartbeat. He could hear it like the bass at a Metallix concert. Abby? “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

He struggled to bring his eyes into focus. But when he finally did, she smiled up at him with tears streaming down her cheeks. “Perfect. I’m perfect, Jack.”

He shook his head. Maybe it was all just some freaky dream or trip. An illusion. Perhaps she had never been there? “I was there. And it was real. Perhaps more real than this bed or this world.”

“I don’t understand,” Jack buried his head in her neck and hair that had come loose and curled about her on the pillow.

“I don’t either, Jack. Not completely. Not really. It is just this sense I have. And a few things, I’ve read…” Her hands ran slowly up and down his back. They soothed and centered him. Brought that peace, comfort, and solace he had sought his whole fucking life.

He could not find the strength in his body to lift himself up enough to stare into those eyes, though he wanted to. Knew that he should. But he was too weak to do more than whisper against her ear, “I love you, Abigail.”

She turned her head and smiled through those tears, “I have always loved you. But now I know how true it really is, when I say, I always will.” The kiss she gave was like a seal on some sacred scroll of their lives.

And together, they closed their eyes. Their dreams were, as their grandparents had said, snippets. Things they had seen or would see. But there was no fear, just a sense of knowing, of rightness.