THE 33 KEYS: Key 2 - ANSWER THE CALL "Listen for that Perfect Beat"

CHAPTER 1: TIME THE MACHINE

Sometimes you have to find the courage to detach from a dying world and let your mind soar to random new places, just cast a spell upon yourself and sink deep below this linear existence we call home. That was Lily's solution to all problems.

Drop everything and run!

That is why I am lying here wrapped in mud and plastic, smothered by towels, putting my claustrophobia to the test. I want to visit other worlds, as many as it will take to keep me away from Leer Island and its deafening realities. But the reflection from water bouncing against this cave's walls is beating a silent drum that is in tune with my frequency. So maybe I'll just stay here and let myself go in its reassuring arms.

Oh, if only I could be here, there and everywhere. That would solve all my problems. I close my eyes now and think about it, allowing my thoughts to drift further down that path of no return. Perhaps, if time machines were real Lily would still be here; my mother too. Or maybe I could grab Molly and take her to a future where she would be safe.

What would you do if time machines were real? If one could snatch you away from a rotten place? Molly's nightmare is very real; so real that it has penetrated a graveyard protected by barbed wire and overgrown bushes. It has shaken even me awake to the point where I feel as though my own mother has died all over again.

I can still see happy feet running to Freedom Corner, oblivious that my world was collapsing. I am almost there again as though it is yesterday. Too bad I cannot move or I'd turn my back on this memory. I would dig it out of my mind the way I wish I can cut through this plastic wrapping and scratch my life away. Oh, what is it about trying to remain absolutely still? Your nose itches, then your chin, your arms, legs and hair. But it's a welcomed intrusion this one; anything to keep me safe from that wicked place where my most dangerous memories exist.

Is Molly going to make it? Will she find comfort with her new friends or continue on defenceless in some timeless war? The mere thought of it makes even me cringe. You see, those people are as evil as they come, the types that switch masks out to suit the moment, just to make their family seem real.

For goodness sake, doesn't Molly have other relatives? I know how things are but surely better can be done. Why did her mother have to die? Could she not have waited many more years so Molly could stand a real chance? Like the one I got? Well, maybe not me. I will certainly never be anyone's poster child as an example of survival.

Oh, please just let time machines be real! I want to save Molly from that filthy destiny. And me; I want to save myself too, face my own darkness, ask the shadow what the hell it really wants so that it can stop standing around staring at me all the time.

Surely, we cannot all just drop everything and run.

Sometimes we have to let the darkness cover us, be our beacon along treacherous paths meant to prevent our seeds from bursting forth. Then we can push our way up to the true sun and finally blossom the way we were meant to. Inhale. Exhale. I want to breathe again. Inhale. Exhale. I want to feel again. Inhale. Exhale. I want to become Mary-the-Great.

And as I am thinking it, I catch a glimpse of my elusive friend; then somehow our thoughts become one. I immediately shut my eyes in fear and hope she does not see me. Still, I feel her drop a veil around us so that we two can remain hidden in this dark place where no other creature is allowed. Now it is here that she peers deeper into me until she sees everything I want to keep hidden, forcing me to go inward and pay closer attention to her discovery.

In her mind, I am in some sort of sunken state, making it easier to snatch me up into her darkness and begin a game. But my shadow is of two minds, almost as if it is not her decision to make at all. Or perhaps she wants to be certain about it so that she can avoid facing her mother's wrath if she miscalculates everything. Am I really the one to lead the pack, she wonders? And if so, will I be able to withstand the brutal winds of uncertainty that lay ahead? Never knowing who or where?

On one hand, she is leaning towards waiting a bit longer, just to be sure. For even if she doesn't select me, there are a few other options, each nearing their hour of awakening; and every one of them having my same rhesus null blood. Still, there is no time left for this pussyfooting, the shadow thinks to herself. Because from what she had seen, I am clearly the best of the lot. So all that is left is for her to weed the doubts from her mind, before the next council meeting, or risk losing her mother's greatest weapon because of indecision.

To help herself figure things out, she draws nearer; close enough to walk through me and feel my essence. But suddenly, there is an intrusion. The others have partially broken through whatever barrier she thought she had put up. So the shadow lifts her veil of darkness to allow them to sense her presence, though not her thoughts. Tomorrow! She has decided to find me again tomorrow and put an end to all the waiting.

But then my shadow changes her mind again, convincing herself that it is in everyone's best interest to get the whole thing over and done with right now. And so she looks down upon me with both pity and indifference, as though about to administer some bitter medicine that will save my life. Only thing is, she never asked me if I desire to live.

I mean, I claim to want to breathe again. But do I truly mean it? Perhaps I only want to remain on life support. That way I can be free to slip into oblivion and enjoy a comatose state of inactivity. For sometimes you want to remain that way, undisturbed. But then beings like her seek to draw you out into the light, pull you above ground where the air is purer.

Oh, what other option is there? Her thoughts pierce deeper into my mind now. I squeeze my eyes tighter and do my best to ignore her. But she easily overpowers me. She wants me to know that there is a Great War coming and that the lot of us have to awaken before it begins. More importantly that of them I am the most qualified to draw the others out. Never mind about the pain or the aftereffects. Those things are part of the process anyway. Pain is necessary to shake both you and everyone awake, she says. Then she speaks directly to me.

"Mary," she whispers, sounding like pounding rain. "Open your eyes."

Immediately, my eyes spring open in search of her voice and find my shadow – a black face with red eyes – standing closer to me than ever before. I try to jump off the cot and run but she doesn't allow me to move. Then without warning the shadow blows some of herself upon me and my body relaxes into submission.

Then once her spell is cast, my shadow climbs on top of me and whispers into my ear, letting me know that her name is Kat, that I will soon fall asleep and enter a strange new world where her mother's special Zuka children live, and that I must awaken them all for the Great War to begin. Then when I seem confused about what her words mean, Kat blows more of herself upon me one final time.

"Go back, Mary. Remember."