Falling from Grace
Episode eight
by HerrBearen - published on August 10, 2000
Chapter two
Grace awoke in the early morning, to find the warm sun shining on her face. It felt good, she thought, surely the designer that was hired had experience with Japanese Metaphysics. The rom was situated in a way that let the morning sun awaken a person instead of alarm. Grace lavished the idea of being a cat, that lies in the sun rolling and sleeping... a solar tranquillizer. She heard the sounds of a bird outside of the window to the South of the room.
"Strange... I haven't heard that bird call before." Grace thoughtfully mumbled to herself. Pushing the sheets back, she gently put her feet on the now warm oak wood floor. "Hmmmm.... so this is why the East window shines so brightly towards the bed. No cold floor to shock you awake. I like this architect."
She picked up her silk robe from the post on the foot of the bed and wrapped it around herself loosely. It too was warm from the sunlight. Dreamily she noticed the intricately carved designs in the posts at the foot of the bed... as the sunlight exposed the nooks and crannies of the carving. "This is hand-carved Teak! This bed is worth thousands! And the carvings are of a skilled woodsmith..." Grace was having visions of kings and emperors sleeping in this bed so fine, surely it belonged to royalty before.
But, there was something strange about the designs that disturbed her a bit. What was it? Was it the way the sun shifted the designs as it coursed across the sky? To put a new shadow on one area and expose another? Feelings of fear deep inside her were stirring... Feelings she felt once before... in München... in the Ritter Schloss. But WHY? Why would something like a richly carved bed disturb her so?
She was startled back towards reality as the songbird sang again... She turned and walked closer to the south window. "Romania isn't so bad..." Grace thought, "despite the horror stories that were born here. Hey, wait a minute... wasn't Victor and Igor in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein novel? And in Romania, too!" as a cold chill ran up her spine causing her shoulders to heave and shake uncontrollably for a few seconds... like the wive's tale of someone walking on your grave.
She glanced by the south window again as the birds calling grew more pronounced and agitated. Grace leaned on the window sill, feeling the cold, damp, dew of morning seep through the silk robe.
"That bird! It's a Nightingale! What's it doing out in the daylight? ...and why is it so..."
"Good Morning, Ms. Nakimura."
Grace turned around half scared out of her skin, from the low baritone of a male voice, from the other side of the room. "EEK! Oh! I'm so sorry... you startled me!" Grace choked out while trying to focus her eyes on the darkened figure in the North side of the room.
"No, I'm to apologise to you, Ms. Nakimura. I should have knocked first. The Nightingale you hear is indigenous to all of Europe and sings his song by day and by night. It is a male of the species... it's call is to warn other males of his... how would you say?....... turf." as the darkened figure started to move into the room a few paces at a time. He seemed strangely familiar... in white Nehru jacket and trousers... white Dashiki on the top of his clean shaven head. A Black man with an accent vaguely familiar. She had heard his voice before... she knew it from somewhere else... but where?
"You look upset, Ms. Nakimura... is there something wrong?" the giant of a man spoke as he stopped in the middle of the room... inches away from the sunbeam on the wood floor.
"Please, allow me to introduce myself. I am Johann Sebastian. My title is Doctorate of Psychology and Paranormal. I have studied in three Universities and have twice been published for my dissertation and thesis on both of my Doctorates. You may call me Doctor Sebastian. I was recommended to escort you about this village, as well as to assist you in any way."
Grace really felt uneasy as this man spoke... like a ghost from the past... where had she heard this name before? And this voice... like thick mollassas poured over every word. Rich and dark... But, that name?? Her head started to ache as Grace tried to remember... that voice... that name... this man...
"I seem to have upset you, Ms. Nakimura. I meant not to startle you, but to make you aware of morning meal. I shall leave you to make ready." Doctor Sebastian said as he began to turn around towards the door.
"No... wait...", Grace quickly spoke to command his attention. "Your accent... where are you from? And why were you sent to help me?" Grace took a couple of quick step towards the Doctor and froze in place after the fifth step... not even noticing that her robe was open, exposing the bright, white Union Suit that she wore for warmth. After all, the Carpathian Mountains are just as cold as the Himalayans... just not as high in elevation.
Grace had ben informed that the vast line of mountain ranges stretched from the Alps to the Himalayans almost unbroken... except for where the Tigris meets the Euphrates... near Ararat, with the Black sea to the north and the Aegean Sea to the South. What was it about this long line of Mountain ranges that attracted the supernatural and the spiritual? Grace wondered.
"I am from an old tribe of Africans, in what was known not too long ago, as Tanganyika. My people were called the Wakaioka of Tanganyika. My GreatGrandfather was Kalola the Mutemi or Emperor of the Tribe. My father was the Mwanangwa or Prince of the people. Both were powerful Mrogi or Sorcerers. My people left Tanganyika after Kalola died in 1935. We had been visited by two Americans... Do you know of Dr. F. G. Carnochan and Hans Christian Adamson from the Smithsonian-Chrysler Expedition of 1935? They wrote a book about our people before we evacuated Tanganyika and watch as political upheaval turned our country into Tanzania and Mosambique."
This time Grace felt an overwhelming fear jolt through the back of her brain... all the way down the spine. It made her lightheaded, nauseous, and made her knees give out. She found herself falling to the floor... but, she couldn't move to stop herself from falling... all from the fear that had her paralyzed. Her head hit the floor with a thud...... and then everything went black.......
"Ms. Nakimura.. are you all right? You took a nasty fall. Why didn't you stop yourself from hitting the floor?" Dr. Sebastian was saying while he bent down to help Grace back to her feet. But, he never would be able to help her back up... she was staring at his eyes. She could feel the darkness of the brown pigment of his eyes. Her mind was racing at 600 miles an hour as she saw visions of snakes, dark huts with magical rituals of voodoo and the belief of the Loa and Limdimi. She saw in his eyes the years pass by in milliseconds of African history and culture of the Tribe of the Wakaioka...
"DOCTOR JOHN!" Grace let out a piercing scream as all of her memories of New Orleans and Malia and the Gedde's Hounfour... hit her all at once. This WAS Dr. John, her mind was telling her... tears started to roll down the sides of her eyes, as her throat was filling with saliva... she could feel the skin next to her eyes grow taut... and drain of blood... the beginnings of "Death by Fright".
"Ms. Nakimura! Stop this! Stop this RIGHT NOW!" Dr. Sebastian yelled at Grace, knowing full well that if he didn't stop her from growing more ridged, she would start to break bones by herself. Eventually, Grace would start first to break fingers, from her hands being clenched so tightly, toes would curl under and break, ribs would start to shatter one by one as they would strain to breathe... leaving no oxygen to be received by the lungs. She would begin to suffocate... forcing the neck to grow so taut and the jaw to drop open for air and lock... with no relief... that mercifully... the neck breaks.
Dr. Sebastian had to slap her face... hard.
"Ms. Nakimura! Stop before you kill yourself!" the Doctor screamed. Grace's body went slack and began to convulse... but, the color was coming back into her face.
"Ah, good! You are breathing again... you could have... wait a minute. Who did you just call me?" Dr. Sebastian was rising to his feet in astonishment and disbelief from being called by a name... from a book of fiction, from some unknown writer from New Orleans. He had read the books of "Blake Backlash" to gain some information to help Grace.
"Did you just call me... Doctor John?", Sebastian was getting very concerned about this woman... and very disturbed.
Last update: October 24, 2007
Delicious 
Digg
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon