Chapter 100: Ileana, Vickie, and Adriana Make Their Decision

Thursday, June 10, 1971

“Michael?” Mikeya said softly.

I awoke with a start. I was still in the booth and my neck ached from the way I had been sitting, leaning my head against the window.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with Ileana, she wouldn’t tell me. But she’s lying there in her berth, crying. Did you guys have a fight?” she asked me.

I quickly scanned and saw Nicky, Adriana, and Vickie were still in my stateroom talking. I looked at my watch, it was ten after three.

“No, not a fight. I did tell her about my past. I guess she’s not very happy with me right now,” I said.

“I don’t think that’s it. I’ve known her all her life and it’s not that kind of upset. Can you do that thing and just look inside her?” Mikeya asked.

“I promised I wouldn’t. Let’s go see if she’ll talk to me,” I suggested.

Mikeya looked at me strangely for a moment, then turned towards the front of the train. I followed her up to the next car, the one with all the bedrooms. When she went in one, I simply followed.

“Ilie?” Mikeya called her sister.

Ileana didn’t answer.

“Ileana? He’s here,” she said. “Will you speak to him? I know you’re not asleep.”

Ileana finally turned in the bed to face me. I could see that she had been crying.

“Oh, Michael, I’m so confused. You are not who I thought you were. You’re ... you’re old!” she cried.

Mikeya had disappeared into the bathroom when she saw her sister turn over.

I sensed that this was not the time for logic, and since she had spoken to me, I assumed it was now okay to scan her, so I did.

I was right, logic would have done no good. What I discovered is that she was dealing with a complex set of emotions that stemmed from her new perception of me. On one hand, I appeared to be her age, and on the other, I was statistically old enough to be her grandfather. And she was having trouble rectifying the two thoughts.

“Ileana,” I said, sitting down on the edge of the berth. “Please look at me, and tell me what you see.”

“I see an old man!” she spat out hurriedly.

“What is it with teenage girls and a guy’s age?” I thought to myself.

“I have been called many things in my life, usually with more respect than that,” I said somewhat sternly. “Is this how your mother taught you to address the Pele Solakanali?”

Ileana blinked twice, and raised her hand to her mouth in shock. She had forgotten.

“I’m sorry,” she cried reflexively.

“Of course I’m old! All of the gods are old. But we can also be young if we chose. We’re gods. We can be whatever we choose to be,” I told her.

“Of course,” she replied, as if what I was saying actually made sense. When she thought it through clearly, she would know better. But she was mired in her own emotional rut and I just wanted to nudge her out of it.

“Ileana, you have been chosen,” I told her. “You have been chosen for me. To help me with a great task. A mission that the gods have given to me. But they know that to do it, I must have you with me.”

“Oh!” was all she could say. But I could sense she was responding. This was a concept she could grasp.

“Will you deny what the gods have chosen you for? Do you cast me off so casually?” I asked her.

“Oh, no, Michael. I’m sorry. I was confused. All I could see was you dying of old age while I was still young,” she cried.

She really was confused. Technically, her body was older than mine by a few months. She would turn seventeen before I did.

I held her as she struggled with the morass of embattled emotions.

Suddenly, it occurred to me that I might be able to ‘heal’ her confusion. I wasn’t sure of what I was doing, but it couldn’t hurt.

I took a deep breath and focused as I had been taught, as I began bathing her in the white and golden lights of healing. I wasn’t sure which parts of her emotional makeup to address, so it was a general sort of approach, at first. But the more I did it, the more focused and specific I became. I actually got so caught up in what I was doing, I lost track of everything else for a moment, totally amazed by what I was seeing.

“I don’t know what you are doing, but I’m feeling much better. Thank you, my husband,” she said in an almost sultry voice.

Coming out of the healing mode, I was finding out, was like coming out of a trance. While I heard what she was saying, I was not totally coherent enough to verbally respond at first.

Ileana must have sensed this, because she pulled me to her as she lay there, enveloping me in her love.

“How can she go from depressed to horny that fast?” I remember wondering. It was my last conscious thought as my long day finally came to an end, and I fell asleep in her arms.

“Good morning, my husband,” Ileana said cheerfully.

I immediately sensed that the train was no longer moving, and that the sun was pouring through the window. I looked at my watch; it was a couple of minutes past ten.

“Good morning,” I grunted. After my seemingly endless day yesterday, I was grateful for the few hours of sleep I had gotten, but it really wasn’t enough.

“Vickie said to wake you around nine so you would have time to get ready for your meeting with the architects,” she told me. Ileana’s reference to the time reminded me that my watch was still on eastern time. But if we were in New Orleans, then it was a few minutes past nine, central time.

“Thanks,” I replied sleepily, as set my watch back an hour and tried to get my mind in gear. Back in 2011, they had discovered that young men’s minds didn’t fully mature until they were in their early to mid-twenties. I wondered if that applied to my mind now, because I felt very immature and under-developed this morning for some reason.

“I think your mind is marvelous. I felt so mixed up last night, but you were wonderful, and you made me feel so much better. I’m sorry I dumped all that on you. I realize now it couldn’t have made any sense. It was probably just because it’s my time of the month. Mikeya says I always get a little crazy when I’m on my monthlies,” she explained.

She kissed me before I could reply.

“I started taking the pills the doctor gave me to keep from getting pregnant and I should be through with my period in a couple of days. Then, I plan to thank you properly! For everything!” she said, grinning at me.

“Everything?” I asked.

“I have a handsome prince for a husband and the chance to see the world. I have been chosen, as you reminded me last night, and I am thankful that you chose me. Thank you for being so understanding. Like I said, I’ll really show you my appreciation in a few days!” she said passionately.

I was not sure who had chosen whom, but I wasn’t going to argue. I pulled her to me to kiss her, and she gave me a quick peck, before jumping up.

“Hurry, they’re waiting on you in the Dining Car!” she exclaimed.

Her words sobered me quickly. They must have reached a verdict.

I dragged myself from the bed. I was still in the clothes I had fallen asleep in. I’d need to change before we went to meet the architects. I made a quick stop in Ileana’s bathroom before following her back towards the Dining Car, my heart heavy with fears of their rejection now that they knew. I mentally cursed myself for promising not to scan them.

Vickie was alone in a booth, obviously waiting on me. She smiled when I sat down across from her. Reaching across the table, she grabbed both my hands in both of hers.

“You know I love you, right?” she asked.

“I do now. I promised myself I wouldn’t scan you while you made up your minds, so I didn’t know until you told me,” I explained.

“Well, you can scan me if you’d like, but the only thing that has changed for me is that I admire you more today than I did yesterday. It must have taken a lot of courage for you to go through what you did and be the person I know you are inside now. I’m sorry for all the misery you lived through the first time. It must have been awful if it caused you to end your own life that way. I can tell you that if I have anything to say about it, you’ll never feel that alone again!” Vickie told me determinedly.

Tears filled my eyes as relief flooded my soul. Vickie loved me! And so I shared my love for her back to her.