Navigator – Chapter 8 – A Sunday Short Story

Posted bySuzette BenjaminPosted inSunday Short Story
Image credit: © lovepik.com

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7

Chapter 8

“Where am I, exactly?”

Thought Isabella to herself suddenly realizing that she was no longer in the Jumeirah Al Naseem Southeby’s hotel room on the king-size bed watching the being that called himself: “I am Legion, for we are many,” rise to “life” out of a paisley Persian rug in the center of the hotel room.

Something or someone had transported her to…

…to the sliver of time and space over which she had control…the nether realm portal around reality as we know it.

Off in the distance, a light flickered. It was a buzzing old neon sign that read –

“Enter here…“

Suddenly, a familiar voice spoke:

“Hurry Isabella, come in little one, there isn’t much time!”

Said Clemora, Isabella’s recently departed grandmother.

Encouraged by the familiar voice, Isabella walked towards the “Enter here” neon sign.

As she drew closer to the neon sign, oddly the neon sign’s buzz changed to a thumping sound…pulsing like heartbeats…

…which to Isabella’s dismay, she realized…was her own heartbeat.

But how was that possible?

Isabella reasoned that the being calling himself: Legion somehow had accidentally triggered her ability to transport herself through a brief sliver of time/space.

Or was it intentional. Was she being tricked? She was not certain of anything at the moment…

Nonetheless, Isabella walked into the darkness under the “Enter Here” neon sign, tentatively curious.

Suddenly, she was in a room of sorts, with no walls that she could see, but the energy of walls seemed to enclose the area.

Up ahead in “the room” was a solid crystal table; its legs were crystal as well. The dim lighting over the table shone a circle of light around the peculiar scene.

A young woman sat at the crystal table crying. Her sobs filled the room with sorrow. Isabella could not hear any of the words spoken as the young woman began to speak…but her voice seemed familiar.

As Isabella took one more step towards the sobbing young woman…

…suddenly a person in a hooded cloak who had apparently been in the room all along, somewhere in the shadows, for Isabella did not see him until he brushed past her making contact with her shoulder. He held her gaze calmly for a moment, and then he vanished.

Isabella could not shake the fact that the hooded cloak man looked very familiar.

Frantically, she searched her mental Rolodex, her mind’s Rogue’s gallery of spies and hoodlums she had encountered over the past five years. But she could not place him either as a friend, a foe, or an acquaintance.

Isabella turned sharply, to see if she could catch another glimpse of the strange figure in the hooded cloak who had vanished. Suddenly instead of the cloaked figure, the neon sign had changed!

The neon sign still buzzing and flickering, now read:

“There is only ONE and you are not.” Speak this!

Isabella puzzled, blurted out:

“What the heck does that even mean?”

Her voice startled her as the words she had just spoken thundered echoing in the strange room, like an 80’s boombox carried on someone’s shoulder playing an 8-track cassette tape.

Isabella turned from the neon sign to discover that the young woman who was sobbing was gone.

In the next instant, which seemed like hours, standing close enough to touch her was her late grandmother, Clemora. Isabella began to weep.

Then, as suddenly as she appeared, her grandmother Clemora’s image vanished.

Instantly flames erupted where Isabella stood in the strange room. Instinctively, she lifted both her arms to protect her face…and then…

…Isabella awoke in the king-size bed back in Dubai’s Jumeirah Al Naseem Southeby’s Hotel room!

Her espionage skills kicked in. Isabella stayed prone on the king-sized bed pretending that she was still “out” cold.

“Is she unconscious, or dead?” Asked the head that the otherwise headless being calling himself, “I am Legion for we are many,” carried tenderly in his left hand.

“She was not here for a moment, but she is back now trying to fool us.” Replied the headless full-body-tattooed being called Legion, to his intact but severed head in his left hand.

Realizing that her rouse had failed, Isabella leaped out of the bed three meters into the air and delivered a well-timed 360-degree kick.

Harnessing her judoka skills, Isabella timed the 360-degree kick so that her right leg high kick-out of her spin, would deliver a blow to the being calling himself Legion‘s severed head in his left hand.

But her move had no effect.

Surprised, Isabella slipped through the being calling himself Legion’s form landing behind him on the paisley Persian rug, breaking her fall alertly, with a tuck and roll move.

The headless being calling himself Legion spoke to his severed head in his left hand:

In unison, the headless one who called himself Legion, and his head which he carried in his left hand said: “Arise!”

Suddenly, six winged beings, the same height as the lavish hotel room appeared in a flash of dark lightning. Their massive combined girth almost filled the room on all sides.

Moreover, from somewhere inside the room inexplicably thunder rumbled. Isabella assumed correctly that this was another of the being calling himself, Legion‘s parlor tricks.

Remembering her grandmother Clemora’s clue as to what to do and “speak!” Isabella ignored the conjured-up cast of characters threatening, and advancing towards her.

She leaned forward and grabbed the gold-tassled edge of the Persian rug that still lay on the ground. Pulling with all her strength, which to her surprise, was suddenly greater than she remembered, Isabella gathered up enough of the Persian area rug to start rolling herself into its weighty fabric.

Twirling in the rolling Persian rug, Isabella said out loud repeatedly:

“There is only ONE and you are not!‘

On Isabella’s third repetition of the words…

The hotel room erupted into a localized fire just like in her vision.

The flames were swift and hot. The paint on the walls of the hotel room suddenly melted rolling down the now bare concrete, like acrylic rain.

The once lavish furniture pieces folded into their melting frames from the cauldron-like heat and incinerated to ash in seconds. The six winged minions the being calling himself, Legion had summoned, now screamed in agony as they vanished.

At the same time, the being calling himself Legion also disappeared.

Isabella was not convinced he was gone for good.

“This was all too easy,” she thought to herself.

Meanwhile, the carpet that protected Isabella from the room-consuming blaze quickly began to heat up.

Wasting no time, and coughing violently from the putrid smoke, Isabella half jumped and half twirled her body out the now exploding window with a cacophonous sound shattering the molten glass and metal frame fragments still left precariously dangling, as her body pelted through the burning window.

Suddenly as she spun, the Persian rug unwrapped as she plummeted from the fifth floor into the hotel’s newly installed Olympic-sized infinity pool…

As her body plunged into the pool, Isabella realized who the hooded cloaked figure in her vision was…

He was a much younger version of none other than the man in the Jeep who had tried to take her out earlier at the front entrance to this very hotel (Maatu).

****

Meanwhile far far away from Dubai…

An invisible army assembled in the dark realm. Its Commander, Setho Zang queen of the harpies, spoke to the primordial being who called himself, Legion:

“Did it work? Did you get it?”

“No, someone intervened and warned her!”

“Has she closed ‘The Door’?”

“No, our distraction worked in that regard, at least..”

****To Be Continued Next Sunday****

Published by Suzette Benjamin

Positive thinker, inspirational, writer, faith

104 thoughts on “Navigator – Chapter 8 – A Sunday Short Story”

    1. Thank you Sadje. So happy to hear that you enjoyed it.
      Many blessings to you.
      Today the clocks are turned back one hour on this side of The Meridian so sorry for any late replies today. My schedule is a bit relaxed today😊

      Liked by 1 person

  3. ⏳sliver of time⏳

    A brilliant summons
    For the reader’s undivided attention

    I felt that piece of time
    Slipping through the hourglass
    Into the nether world

    Liked by 1 person

  4. ⏳Hurry Isabella, come in little one, there isn’t much time!”

    Said Clemora, Isabella’s recently departed grandmother.⏳

    How old is Isabella when her grandmother died?

    Like

  6. ⏳Legion somehow had accidentally triggered her ability to transport herself through a brief sliver of time/space.⏳

    Fascinating the power of the spoken word and that it influences her ability to go back and forward

    Liked by 1 person

  7. ⏳Nonetheless, Isabella walked into the darkness under the “Enter Here” neon sign, tentatively curious.⏳

    Ah, she enters the den of the dragons

    Hey this woman

    Liked by 1 person

  8. ⏳Up ahead in “the room” was a solid crystal table; its legs were crystal as well. The dim lighting over the table shone a circle of light around the peculiar scene.⏳

    Crystal systems are fascinating to look through

    Liked by 1 person

  9. ⏳A young woman sat at the crystal table crying. Her sobs filled the room with sorrow. Isabella could not hear any of the words spoken as the young woman began to speak…but her voice seemed familiar.⏳

    This is her younger self right.
    Imagine meeting her face to face
    We can only do that through our archetypes; the wounded child, the abandoned or the magical child.. etc

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Well said and well spotted…You are amazing. And your point about the meeting of our inner self is remarkable. Yes, often it is easier, more comforting to come to terms (meet oneself) through archetypes…
      Brilliant observation. Thank you.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you 🙂
        I just drifted off a bit there 😊
        And quite enjoyed pausing there for a while.
        It is all we have really
        Unless we are schooled in the line of Isabella.

        Liked by 1 person

  10. ⏳He held her gaze calmly for a moment, and then he vanished.⏳

    Wow, if not for the hooded cloak
    It felt like a Zorro moment for me 😊
    He wore a mask and a hat.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. ⏳Frantically, she searched her mental Rolodex, her mind’s Rogue’s gallery of spies and hoodlums she had encountered over the past five years⏳

    I am on awe of her male mind. Intriguing, Im not even sure if that’s what I mean.
    The range or scope of her training. Enviable qualities.

    ⏳But she could not place him either as a friend, a foe, or an acquaintance.⏳

    Exasperating, there must be a better word.
    This is one helluva foe
    Or is he neither hoodlum nor gentleman

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes Isabella’s enigmatic abilities defy description. Totally hard to find one word to describe her gutsy chutzpah.

      Yes, as we discover later in this chapter the hooded figure is Maatu (son of Seth Zang). And, indeed he is a complicated person…more to come 😊

      Liked by 1 person

  13. ⏳There is only ONE and you are not.” Speak this⏳

    This is a decoy or a trap!!!

    ⏳What the heck does that even mean?”⏳

    Exactly, in these circumstances, I wonder too.

    ⏳an 80’s boombox carried on someone’s shoulder playing an 8-track cassette tape.⏳

    Lol, love this image. So many pictures of characters form in my mind …lol

    ⏳Isabella turned from the neon sign to discover that the young woman who was sobbing was gone.⏳

    They are decoding her past, or come to write a new one?

    Liked by 1 person

  14. ⏳In the next instant, which seemed like hours, standing close enough to touch her was her late grandmother, Clemora. Isabella began to weep.⏳

    Oh I love how Clemora comes through, a guardian angel, not to do the work, but there in close range.

    ⏳Then, as suddenly as she appeared, her grandmother Clemora’s image vanished.⏳

    Yes, support given, she must return to her other priorities for earth

    Liked by 1 person

  15. ⏳Her espionage skills kicked in. Isabella stayed prone on the king-sized bed pretending that she was still “out” cold.⏳

    Ah, yes, the best she could do in that moment

    ⏳Is she unconscious, or dead?” Asked the head that the otherwise headless being calling himself, “I am Legion for we are many,” carried tenderly in his left hand.⏳

    Scary 😨 , vrek scary I tell you
    That word tenderly though, in this wet your pants moment

    ⏳She was not here for a moment, but she is back now trying to fool us.” Replied the headless full-body-tattooed being called Legion, to his intact but severed head in his left hand.⏳

    I’m gone numb !!!!
    For this macabre conversation between severed head and body

    ⏳

    Liked by 1 person

  16. ⏳Harnessing her judoka skills, Isabella timed the 360-degree kick so that her right leg high kick-out of her spin, would deliver a blow to the being calling himself Legion’s severed head in his left hand.⏳

    Yassssss here we go, bring out the judoka dragon

    ⏳But her move had no effect⏳

    Oh nooooooo, this foe!!!!

    ⏳Surprised, Isabella slipped through the being calling himself Legion’s form landing behind him on the paisley Persian rug, breaking her fall alertly, with a tuck and roll move.⏳

    She did that, she passed through him just like that?
    Changing something inside of him?

    Liked by 1 person

  17. ⏳Suddenly, six winged beings, the same height as the lavish hotel room appeared in a flash of dark lightning. Their massive combined girth almost filled the room on all sides.⏳

    The battle is on.
    Muscling up an Armageddon

    ⏳Moreover, from somewhere inside the room inexplicably thunder rumbled. Isabella assumed correctly that this was another of the being calling himself, Legion’s parlor tricks.⏳

    I felt this rumble, as you were writing
    The earth shook

    Liked by 1 person

  18. ⏳Twirling in the rolling Persian rug, Isabella said out loud repeatedly:⏳

    Only a well trained martial arts body has the strength to do that with a Persian rug….
    Fantastic imagery

    ⏳There is only ONE and you are not!’⏳

    Speak about timing and knowing when to speak the word, is mind-blowing. What a controlled and disciplined, strong mind and tongue

    ⏳On Isabella’s third repetition of the words…

    The hotel room erupted into a localized fire just like in her vision.⏳

    Oh, which vision, I just lost track

    ⏳like acrylic rain.⏳

    Marvelous description

    ⏳Isabella half jumped and half twirled her body out the now exploding window with a cacophonous sound shattering the molten glass and metal frame fragments still left precariously dangling, as her body pelted through the burning window.⏳

    Was the cacophonous sound coming from her mouth?

    ⏳The six winged minions the being calling himself, Legion had summoned, now screamed in agony as they vanished.⏳

    The effects of her powerful word??

    ⏳As her body plunged into the pool, Isabella realized who the hooded cloaked figure in her vision was…

    He was a much younger version of none other than the man in the Jeep who had tried to take her out earlier at the front entrance to this very hotel (Maatu).⏳

    Her frozen recollection thaws
    Wonderful

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Regarding: Oh, which vision, I just lost track?”

      The vision/dream out of body experience where Isabella in “the room” with the crystal table” when the flames erupted…just before she ended back in the king-sized bed in the hotel room.

      Regarding: “Was the cacophonous sound coming from her mouth?”
      The burning window and all its bits and bombs melting dangling, falling and then her body smashing through the whole lot of it in the Persian rug…all those sound rolled up…

      Ah, well said “her frozen recollection thaws”

      Liked by 1 person

  19. ⏳invisible army assembled in the dark realm. Its Commander, Setho Zang queen of the harpies, spoke to the primordial being who called himself, Legion:⏳

    Oh my word
    Foreboding card on the table
    Mother and Son reunion

    ⏳”Has she closed ‘The Door’?”

    “No, our distraction worked in that regard, at least..”⏳

    Oh noooo she left the door open
    They will go back to deal with Clemora???

    Oh Isabella 😪

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Re your profound comment:
      “Oh my word
      Foreboding card on the table
      Mother and Son reunion”
      —-More to come on this one…well spotted!

      More to come on “The Door” and the apparent great interest in whether it is still open…”

      Our heroine is of strong stuff…

      Like

  20. You had me capture in the nether realm
    The return of Isabella to time as I know it was spectacular

    Spin you magic literary master
    We count the days for the next chapter
    In the meantime, happy writing.

    ⏳👏⏳👏⏳👏

    Liked by 1 person

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