Chapter 17: Who are you?
Never trust a Cardinal. I learned that lesson a very long time ago. I make mistakes once, not twice. I will wait to see what comes of his promise. But just to make sure, I go back and look again at the phone, text and email traffic to the Cardinal. I want to see who, of the bishops, asked for help.
What I find is it was three bishops, as a group, who asked for the intercession. Exactly what they were hoping for after the death of their colleague is unclear, but the three are the ones who called on the Cardinal. I will rattle their cages in a fun way. I have the cellphone number for each of the three. Let’s call them B1, B2, and B3. Using B1’s number I send a text to B2. Your life hangs in the balance for contacting the Cardinal. Then using B2’s number I send the same to B3, and using B3’s number I message B1. And then I watch.
They are going nuts. I can see calls going every which way between the three of them and then calls to the Vatican. And then there is a call from the Cardinal to “my bishop”. It lasts for a good long while.
The call between the Cardinal and the bishop lasts a good forty-five minutes before it ends and a new volley of calls, this time from the Cardinal to the three bishops.
I will wait and see what happens with the bishops. I walk over to Aina’s room and see a curious thing. Amelae is asleep, but Aina is stroking Amelae’s hair and humming a melody that I haven’t heard in millennia. It is disconcerting. Is she insane? Have the remnants of her ordeal left her with fragments of the past lodged in her brain?
I am about to back out of the room, assuming that she does not know of my presence, when Aina speaks. You always said that boy would bring you grief. He certainly has. I will help you with these three. They are good girls. You chose well. Shall we still call me Aina? That was my name. It seems odd now.
Is Amelae sleeping? Can she hear us?
I put her in a deep sleep. She will hear nothing now. You were right, of course. Aina should have left. The pain was great, too much. She was a stubborn fool and she is no more; but you knew that when you gave her those two hours. You know what she did with those hours?
No, what did she do?
She prayed to her Jesus and thought of nothing else. The girls asked her what she wanted them to remember for her. She said, ‘Nothing, Jesus will protect me.’
What do you remember of her?
All, nothing… I remember what she experienced but not how she felt about those things. … Do you want me to call you Master? It will make it easier for the girls I think.
Yes, I guess that is a good idea.
OK, Master! Hey, I’m hungry. How about you? Want to eat?
Yes, that sounds nice. About Amelae…
No problem. I will put the thought in her mind that I awoke and you took me out of the room to eat, and then to your bedroom. She won’t be frightened.
Good.
This female is Aina and then she really is not. She has crossed the Rubicon and is connected to the world in a different way. She is still the human that Aina was. But she no longer sees the world as a human sees it. She sees it much as I do. Not completely, but much the same. She can’t do what I can, but she is not bound by the rules I am bound to obey. This Aina can kill. I cannot. This Aina can enter a mind without being asked and without taking a soul. I cannot. She cannot collect a Soul. But she is dangerous and powerful and my servant.
We exit the back rooms and move toward the dining table. All others are in bed. There are mounds of fruit sitting here, a plate mounded up with puto, a tray of sticky rice, and that is all we need. No words are passed between us. None are needed. We eat, relax, smile, get up, take each other’s hand, and walk back to my bedroom.
I need to shower well before you take me. Do I really need to call you Master when we are alone?
I think it is best, so that there are no slip-ups.
Yes, OK. That makes sense. … Oh!
Yes?
Your wives! You hang the pictures?
No, the girls did it. Don’t call them wives in front of the girls.
OK, but it is good that they did it. These three are good. Mirafe and Erlyn are smart, but Erlyn is the smartest.
And your point?
Sometimes your biggest challenges are your greatest successes!
And the most notable failures too! And are you considering yourself a success? I had to destroy Aina!
Call it even then, and with that comes a big smile.
I smile. She is a success. As unlikely as the outcome was, she is every bit the best I could have hoped for. She jumps up on to the bed, turns her back to me, wiggles her ass, looks over her shoulder at me and asks, Well big boy, are you going to sire a young one? Or are you too shy to give this girl what she needs, a good hard fucking with consequences! Oh! Wait! I still need a shower! Back in a few minutes! And she jumps off the bed and runs into the bathroom.
I am alone and not alone. I am surrounded by images of the women I have spent lives with. Women who lived to love me and care for me and eventually died, with me by their sides. I don’t feel alone. I feel like the room is alive with their presences. I hear them all in my head. I know how each of them thought; these good women.
The portraits do not do them justice. The portraits do not capture the sparks that animated them. But in my mind I make each come alive for me as I move from one of them to the next.
Are they answering you? Aina is standing behind me. I didn’t hear her.
Yes, we were talking, in a way.
What do they think?
It didn’t come up. We were just reliving old times.
She moves around me and starts removing my clothing. I assist. She has my slacks down and I remove my shirt. Quickly enough I am undressed and we are on the bed. Aina’s body is virginal, but this one’s heart is anything but. There is a lust and a passion pulling me on and into her. She is not concerned with a membrane. It is not a consideration. She wants, no needs, me deep inside her. There is nothing sweet or gentle about this. Her teeth have sunk into my shoulder. Her pubic bone is slamming into mine as I pound her relentlessly.
Body fluids soak us and the bed. I squeeze a tit. I bite a lip. I slam her into the mattress. We make a mess of the bed. Her little body is all muscle and sinew. I am fucking someone who knows who she is fucking. She is a committed partner and will be until the day she dies. She knows I am hers for the rest of her life and she knows it in a way that no human could normally know.
I feel her in ways that allow me to feel what she is feeling. There is a feedback loop between us as we both drive toward the completion that must occur. For the child she will bear. This is not an “I hope.” This is a “we know.” She will guide my seed into her egg. It will happen. And then… it does.
Sleep now. We both need to sleep now. Did I say that or did she? Does it matter?
I hear giggling.
I ignore it. The rest is good.
I hear whispering and more giggling.
I open my eyes. What?
You! Master! You! You know what time it is? Aina is rousing now. She grabs on to me and pulls me next to her. I feel her warmth.
No, what time is it?
Noon! It is noon. We not see you this morning. We not see Aina this morning, so we look for you. Both you are sleeping when we look six hours ago. We think, yes, the two of you must be very tired, but you never sleep so long!
Aina has taken advantage of my attention being on the others, to slide down on me and start giving me head. She is doing a masterful job. There is no way that the Aina the girls had known, would have known how to do this. But this is not that Aina. This is the Aina who, now that she has gotten me hard, has removed her mouth and mounted me, then grabbing me by the shoulders and flopping herself down, pulled me into missionary position all while the others were trying to have a meaningful conversation.
As I start fucking her in earnest, she tilts her head sideways and addresses the girls. If you want him to sleep, just keep on fucking him. She laughs, throws her legs up in the air and brings her heels bouncing on my ass. I am fucking her hard and she is laughing and screaming, Harder!
The other three just stand there. They are statues, confused and immobile.
I finally reach the point where I must plant my flag, though this one is in truth already pregnant. I grunt, howl and cum hard. It is time to rest. My eyes close. I can hear them but am pretty well done in.
See? Fuck him like that and he will sleep.
Who are you? I think that is Mirafe. I can’t be sure, but, … yes, it must be.
Aina. Why?
You not Aina! Yes indeed that is Mirafe. Aina speaks like a Filipina. You not do that.
I am the one who was Aina. I am your Master’s servant now. You can call me Aina.
He not your Master?
Excuse me?
The way you say it. He your Master?
Yes we all serve him.
But it different with you! You not like us. Something different. What you call him?
I will call him Master.
You believe in Jesus?
No. There is no real Jesus. The one who was Aina was foolish. I know she thought Jesus was real. I do not. I know there is no Devil. I have seen much. It is good that you do not have to be shown the way Aina was shown. It is very painful and knowing what I learn does not make me happy or better. It just changed me. I will protect the three of you. I will protect your Master. There is nothing I will not do to keep you all safe.
Nothing? This is Erlyn, I am sure of it.
Nothing.
But there are things that Master cannot do. So how can it be ‘nothing?’
Your Master is not allowed to kill. I can. And I will. Your Master does not direct minds. He must stay out of human minds. I have no restrictions. I will keep you all safe.
Do you hear prayers?
No. Only your Master does that. But if needed he can send me; if you need help.
Are you a divine?
No, I am human, but I serve your Master. He is a divine. I will die, just like you. I can be killed, just like you. Come let your Master sleep for two hours. He will arise then.
Aren’t you supposed to lie down for a couple of hours to allow his seed to find your egg?
Not needed. I am already pregnant with his son. But I have a question. Who decided to put her picture up there?
It was me. That is Amelae’s voice.
Good, I am very glad you did it. Yes, very glad.
The rest did me good. I look at the clock. It is about two thirty in the afternoon. I dress and go to the work area. There is activity with the bishops and their priests. From what I can see, I will have the army I had hoped for. But I also see some things that worry me. There are face to face meetings being arranged between clergy and the PNP. I need to know why.
A check on Amelae’s mom indicates all is stable.
The bishop has sent me a message that all will proceed as I had demanded. He did not call me Master this time.
There is not one word related to Erlyn or her family in the air.
I am about to leave the room when a Skype request from Francine pops up.
Hi!
Hello to you, Dad! I just had the most interesting Skype session. You want to guess who it was with?
No, there is only one possibility. Is all OK?
Yes. Dad, she’s perfect. She told me what happened. You were right to tell Aina to leave. This one is very lucky she lived. But Dad, you are lucky too. She is great. I think she and I can be good friends.
I suspect you are right. So when are you coming to visit?
Is next week too soon?
The next minute would not be too soon.
Good. Dad, should I really call her Aina. I mean she isn’t…
Yes, call her Aina.
She told me you have Mom’s photo hanging over your bed. She was very happy to see that.
I am sure she was.
Is it true that Erlyn asked if we are lovers?
Yes.
That’s sweet.
That is a weird way to describe it!
Well, I do love you!
As a daughter!
OK… still. I think it is sweet that she had the courage to ask you.
Ah, OK yes, it was sweet.
See? OK, Dad, see you next week.
And the Skype session ends. I walk out of the work area and enter the main part of the house.
I see my original three souls but not Aina. I sit down and ask where the newest of my souls is, only to be told, She say you send her on a mission to learn what happening in a meeting between priests and PNP. We ask if she permitted to leave the house and she laughs. She say that she always could leave. She kiss each of us and leave.
Uh, OK.
Master, you not send her?
Oh, I was going to send her. But she got the message faster than I expected.
She reads your mind?
So it would seem, or maybe I projected it to her and she heard me. I will have to ask her when she gets back.
Master, what happened to Aina? Where did she go? She dead now?
I am not sure I understand. Weren’t we just talking about Aina?
We were talking about the person inside Aina’s body. Where is Aina?
Aina is in that body.
She a prisoner in there? What happen to her?
All Aina’s memories of all she has done, are still there. She is still there. But the personality who spoke before crumbled when confronting the fact that there was no god, no devil and no Jesus. This personality took over.
Who is she?
She is Aina.
No, Master, we listen a bit to the Skype session between Francine and her. She say something to Francine. Francine say, ‘You not Aina. Who are you?’ Then the start speaking another language. We not know it. Who she?
Ask Francine when you see her. I am telling you she is Aina.
How she know Francine?
She must have picked that up from me when I was inside her mind.
How she know that other language?
I guess I need to give you the same answer.
She say she not a divine. That true?
Yes, she is just as human as you are. I’m hungry. And I get up to put a plate together. There is some fried Lumpia1 with Hito2 inside it on a platter. I fill the plate up with it, and add some dipping sauce, and some rice.
There is no way I can explain to the girls who is really inside Aina’s vessel. It just won’t work. Better to leave them frustrated and confused as it is. Hopefully this will settle down. I hear what Aina told them while I was resting. Seeing as how they outed her, she did just fine. There are things you just can’t hide and there is no question that she is not a Filipina, not inside, not completely.
As I work my way through my reasonably high cholesterol meal I start hearing a conversation from afar. It is what Aina is hearing. ‘….not sure. Whoever it is, is watching networks but not face to face. This guy is not a god. He can’t hear this. He can only track things on the network. … be sure? I mean …. know that? … ust me, this guy is just a hacker. You think he is going to strike me dead now? …. HELP… DOCTOR… HELP!!!... … What? … He’s dead? Oh Jesus. OK, no more. I not go against this god! I quit! … You’re not the only one. I want nothing to do with this.’
I think to myself, Aina. Come home. I hear on the other end. I’m coming. But this was on orders from a Cardinal. I read it in a mind. May I go looking? I think back, No. I know who it is. Just come home.
English Novel - Soul by very well aged
Re: English Novel - Soul by very well aged
Chapter 18: Things that endure
Aina walks in as I am enjoying a dessert of a little senorita banana, with a snifter of brandy.
The girls have taken up positions in front of the TV. A local news reporter is relaying the story of a PNP officer who was meeting with two priests. He says that according to one of the priests, they had gone to the PNP as directed by a Bishop. They were asking the help of the police in tracking down a very dangerous man. Some thought that this man was really the Devil, but their bishop was convinced that it was just a hacker.
The priest explains that the PNP officer was agreeing that it was just a hacker like the Bishop had said. He was joking that no god, no Devil, was going to strike him dead by talking about it. And then the young and healthy officer was struck dead. The priest is saying it is the work of the Devil and if his Bishop orders him to do anything further, he will leave the church. He had decided, it is best not to anger the Devil!
The reporter reaches ‘my’ bishop who says he was afraid of what would happen but he was ordered to do this by a Cardinal.
Aina and I listen to this as I finish my brandy and she eats some of the food on the table.
The girls are sneaking glances at Aina and then returning their gaze to the TV. Aina calls to them, You want the tsismis1?
They leave the TV and gather around us. I get a look from Aina that tells me to just let her do this. I will.
Your Master is not allowed to do things here that are outside of what a human can do. The exception is when he cares for you, or a religious person does some things outside the rules. In all other ways he must not, and even with the religious people, he must use human things. He is also not allowed to kill.
Erlyn interrupts, Sige, Sige, we know this!
So this cop would have tracked your Master down via his activity on the Internet. I had to stop him. I could have wiped it out of his mind. That is what I was going to do, but when he began to tell the priests what he found, I decide I need to kill him right away before he could say anything more… and then he did the best thing. He challenged god to strike him down if he was wrong. I may not be a god, but I did strike him down! That told the priests, that he was wrong and ended their inquiry. I wiped the minds of the others in the PNP department where this man worked. No one there now remembers anything about the Master. I don’t think the bishop is a real problem. He is scared of your Master but had to obey the Cardinal. It is the Cardinal who is the problem.
How you kill him? It is Erlyn again.
I give him a heart attack and a stroke at the same time. His brain and his heart stopped.
How?
Friend Erlyn, I told you that I will protect your Master and you. How I did it is not important.
How you do this if you are human?
I am human. I am Aina. But when your Master entered my mind I learned a great deal about this world and one of the things I learned allows me to do this. … Master, what do you want to do about the Cardinal?
I want you to make him a breathing statue.
You know this man?
I think, Look into my mind. I am thinking about him.
She nods. She is seeing him. I hear, Yes, I know who it is now. What do you want me to do? What do you mean a breathing statue?
I think, OK when you are ready do these things. Tell him, You have made the Master angry and so I will punish you. First, I will still your voice. Next I will end your sight. Then I will block your hearing. And then I will stop your ability to move. But that is not all that will happen to you. I will send pain into your body but keep you alive for many years. This is your punishment and no one will know of it but you.
I hear, OK, may I do it now?
I say so all will hear me. Yes, do it now.
There is silence in the room and Aina is both here and not here as she carries out my instructions. But the silence only lasts a few minutes before Aina sits back in her chair and smiles. That was truly creative. I liked that. I think ‘your’ bishop wants to tell you something. He is afraid of what you will do to him.
What you do to the Cardinal?
Erlyn, I did what your Master wanted me to do.
You kill him?
Oh no, Erlyn! I make sure he will live a very long time!
Then what you do?
Your Master wanted the Cardinal to be a human statue. That is what he is. He cannot hear, see, speak or move, but he breathes, and, though in pain, will live a long life.
Did Master want you to kill the Officer?
No, and if I knew his mind better at that moment, and more like I do now, I would have made the PNP officer a statue too. It is far more satisfying. … Master, any instructions about the bishop?
No.
The girls are taking all this in. I can see both fear and a bit of confusion about Aina. I decide to change the subject. Francine is coming to visit next week. She is looking forward to spending time with all of you.
That gets them started on questions about my daughter and what she is like. The somber mood has been lifted and some excitement fills the room with the noise of happy voices.
I also take the opportunity to let Amelae know her mother has responded well to the new drugs and is doing OK. It looks like the TB will be cured. There is nothing I can do about the diabetes. The toll the TB took on her body has not made the matter of the diabetes any better. She will die from this as her liver fails and will soon need dialysis, but it will only prolong the inevitable. Still, for now, she lives. Amelae snuggles against me, crying a little, but I know she is appreciative. Aina sees it and smiles. She especially likes Amelae as it is she who put Francine’s mom’s photo right over the headboard of my bed. Amelae may not be the brightest, but that is hardly worth mentioning. She did what no one else would have done and she was right.
Then Mirafe decides to find out if Aina is really Aina. She starts asking Aina about what went on in the house before I entered her mind. All those memories are actually intact, and Aina answers easily. She may not remember the emotions surrounding the events, but the events are there.
Next Mirafe asks her about the priest and what life was like before we met her. Aina knows all of this and provides the answers.
All three of them are a bit beyond confused. Clearly, only Aina would have all the answers she gave. I had no idea about many of the things that came up between the girls. So most assuredly, this is Aina, and yet most assuredly, this is not Aina.
Erlyn has one final question. How did we feel about you?
At first you wanted me to stay, but later you were not sure and then before your Master entered my mind, you told him I didn’t belong here and you wanted me to go.
Are you angry with us for that?
No! You were all correct. I should have left.
But you have such power now. Why do you think it was wrong for you to stay?
There are things I just cannot explain to you. But much that I was, was lost to me,… to live through what the Master did, great damage to Aina was done.. It would have been better if the Aina you knew had left.
It seems that they will accept this as definitive. For that I am thankful.
It has been a long few days and I have not been with three of them for more than half a week. I ask if they would all like to join me in my bedroom now. I get an enthusiastic response. As we walk toward my bedroom, Aina gives me a kiss and opens the door to the room she had been brought to when I entered her mind. That stops my girls in their tracks. They are just looking at Aina as she enters the room.
Mirafe can’t stand mute. Aina! Why are you going in there? That was just for what Master did to you.
Friend, this is my bedroom for now. I was with your Master twice today. He needs to spend time with you. Do not worry about me. I am fine. She kisses Mirafe on the cheek and closes the door. I proceed to the bedroom.
They are of course naked and I get that way soon enough, but have engaged in sex twice today. My very human body has limits, however, I can be with them and hold them. More than anything else I just want to be close to them. They can’t read my mind like Aina can, but Aina can and she can put it in their heads. Sure I can just tell them, but this is so much better. … But it causes Erlyn to ask, Did you give her special powers when you went into her mind?
No. Yes she has powers now. But no, I didn’t intend for this to happen. I really thought Aina would die. But instead something I didn’t expect happened and she is what we have now. I did not know anything of this until she first spoke to me after awakening. I was surprised. It was a happy surprise, but a surprise never the less.
I know she knows about Aina, but she not Aina. Do not lie to us. Who is she?
It is something that I cannot explain to you easily, but you are right. There is more than Aina inside her. Still she is truly human. She will live and die as a human, her powers notwithstanding.
She know you for a long time, true?
True.
How long?
Aina was right. You are very smart. Erlyn, just know that this Aina knows me well. But what I can’t really explain to you is how those three days in human time, were years, eons of time, more than a human lifetime of time, where we went.
Talaga2? That long you gone from us?
Yes.
So that really Aina?
In a way yes, and in a way, no longer.
We are wrapped up in each other’s arms and legs. Hands caress without looking for reward. Smiles, sighs, giggles, playful jostling, are the ingredients of this bouillabaisse of caring and closeness.
But it doesn’t last more than an hour before Aina comes charging through the door.
Master, there is chaos. They were told to do what you said, but only as far as getting ready. They were told to not proceed unless the Cardinal gave his approval. Just now, word is spreading about what the two priests saw tonight and no one is able to reach the Cardinal. There is rumor about what has happened to the Cardinal but no one knows what to do. The three bishops who you said contacted the Cardinal are telling everyone that nothing can be done without the Cardinal’s orders. They have told the others that ‘your’ bishop has been told he is not to be listened too.
Can you be in three heads at once?
Yes.
Do you know who and where these three bishops are right now?
Yes.
Do to them exactly what you did to the Cardinal.
And we wait as Aina closes her eyes and concentrates on her tasks. A couple of minutes later she is back with us and reporting that it is done. I get up and quite naked, go into my work area. I have all the cell numbers for the bishops. Removing the numbers for those three and the one who died earlier, I send a brief text. Three more of you will never speak again. Your choice is to do as told or join them in a world walled off from the world. Both living and dead. You have until sunrise to act. The Master.
These guys know who the three are and I can see a myriad of attempts to contact the three statues. Calls then go out via secretaries and the word spreads about what has happened.
A text appears on a screen to the dead priest’s phone. I will comply. Spare me, Master.
I do not reply. I see he thinks I am his Master again. This one bends with the wind.
I hope I don’t need to do more and I return to the bedroom and three girls. For some reason I feel rejuvenated and decide it is time to give Amelae a good ride. But before I do, while still standing, I have the girl squat and give me head, and motion for the other two to come close to me. One on either side. I kiss them and play with their breasts as Amelae gives me the head I desire. Erlyn’s and Mirafe’s hands caress my back and chest. Tongues invade mouths as suction below is strong and insistent. I am enjoying this immensely. And then I hear a sigh, inside my head, and a moan. And then she is talking to me, Oh, that is so good. Yes, I like it. I want to know what it feels like when you enter her. Oh!
I think back to her, as I feel passion rising inside of me, Damn you are a horny bitch now.
I pull Amelae up put her on her knees, on the bed and mount her. She is tight, hot and wet. Amelae sighs, Aina sighs. I grunt.
I pound her cunt hard. Amelae is grunting as juices erupt from inside her and are forced out around my pike. Aina is cheering me on with a drumbeat of cum, cum, cum. Erlyn and Mirafe are playing with Amelae’s tits as they hang down.
I think, Give her an orgasm that will blow her mind. I hear back with a giggle, Your wish is my command. And then Amelae goes off the rails. I, in appreciation, give her my seed. I sense something is not over for Amelae. She arches her back, cries out and collapses.
I think, What did you do?
I gave us another child. This one is a girl.
Are you in my mind at all times?
Yes. But then, shouldn’t I be? We are married.
Interesting way to look at it. You were not in my mind before.
Well, hun… You didn’t stop me from dying by pulling me out of the world before. By the way, where is my old body?
I have not returned your vessel to this world. If I had, you would not be here now.
So, do I get to attend my own funeral?
You would get a kick out of that, I think.
Why not? Oh, I forgot to tell you. I liked what you told the girls about how Aina had been gone for Eons. That should quiet things down.
It won’t when I bury you!
She is giggling. OK, so not now. Not yet. … It is time for you to rest. Sleep now.
Not yet. We haven’t talked about this. You know, I didn’t know if I could have you, or if I would lose both Aina and you. I knew that Aina would probably shatter and there was no choice there. But I had no idea that you could thrive in her vessel. Until you woke, I was pretty sure I had lost you forever. I pulled you out, only because I could not bear to see it end. I could not bear to say goodbye. But when Amelae put your photo up, I decided it had to be. I needed to accept that you were gone. And then Aina demanded I take her though she still believed in her god. I knew her mind would shatter. I didn’t think it would work, but decided to try. I was going to lose you anyway.
I know. I know your heart now, just as much as you know it. I know there has never been one such as me before and there will probably never be again. I know how much you love me. I knew it before, but not like this. This is not faith. This is proof. I know it because I am inside you. Nothing is hidden. I know that this time I will die and you will bury me. But I know it will be because I have grown old and it will be my time. Hun, … You know I love you. Always have. But now I have to tell you, I like you. I am happy to be with you. Maybe this body is not like my old one, but I don’t care because when you look at me, you see me, and not her. See? It helps to be inside you. I don’t have to be afraid. Now please, go to sleep. I will watch over the house. Don’t worry. There are two of us watching now.
That tune you were humming. Where?
Your boy. He hums it all the time. Didn‘t you know?
Huh, no. I have stayed away from him as much as I can. You could hear him?
Oh, yes.
Sorry. I didn’t know.
I am sure he didn’t know either. Apology accepted.
I am tired. My head hits the pillow and my three souls cover me and leave the bedroom.
I am awakened by her voice in my head. It is a nice thing to hear. Hun, many of the dioceses are moving forward, but where we have made statues of the local bishop, nothing is occurring. Also in two other dioceses, a bishop and an archbishop are not proceeding.
Are there any reasons for why those last two are not?
They are not going to take orders from you.
Then you know what to do.
OK, but then you will have the same problem as you have with the other three.
I understand. I still need you to do it.
Aina walks in as I am enjoying a dessert of a little senorita banana, with a snifter of brandy.
The girls have taken up positions in front of the TV. A local news reporter is relaying the story of a PNP officer who was meeting with two priests. He says that according to one of the priests, they had gone to the PNP as directed by a Bishop. They were asking the help of the police in tracking down a very dangerous man. Some thought that this man was really the Devil, but their bishop was convinced that it was just a hacker.
The priest explains that the PNP officer was agreeing that it was just a hacker like the Bishop had said. He was joking that no god, no Devil, was going to strike him dead by talking about it. And then the young and healthy officer was struck dead. The priest is saying it is the work of the Devil and if his Bishop orders him to do anything further, he will leave the church. He had decided, it is best not to anger the Devil!
The reporter reaches ‘my’ bishop who says he was afraid of what would happen but he was ordered to do this by a Cardinal.
Aina and I listen to this as I finish my brandy and she eats some of the food on the table.
The girls are sneaking glances at Aina and then returning their gaze to the TV. Aina calls to them, You want the tsismis1?
They leave the TV and gather around us. I get a look from Aina that tells me to just let her do this. I will.
Your Master is not allowed to do things here that are outside of what a human can do. The exception is when he cares for you, or a religious person does some things outside the rules. In all other ways he must not, and even with the religious people, he must use human things. He is also not allowed to kill.
Erlyn interrupts, Sige, Sige, we know this!
So this cop would have tracked your Master down via his activity on the Internet. I had to stop him. I could have wiped it out of his mind. That is what I was going to do, but when he began to tell the priests what he found, I decide I need to kill him right away before he could say anything more… and then he did the best thing. He challenged god to strike him down if he was wrong. I may not be a god, but I did strike him down! That told the priests, that he was wrong and ended their inquiry. I wiped the minds of the others in the PNP department where this man worked. No one there now remembers anything about the Master. I don’t think the bishop is a real problem. He is scared of your Master but had to obey the Cardinal. It is the Cardinal who is the problem.
How you kill him? It is Erlyn again.
I give him a heart attack and a stroke at the same time. His brain and his heart stopped.
How?
Friend Erlyn, I told you that I will protect your Master and you. How I did it is not important.
How you do this if you are human?
I am human. I am Aina. But when your Master entered my mind I learned a great deal about this world and one of the things I learned allows me to do this. … Master, what do you want to do about the Cardinal?
I want you to make him a breathing statue.
You know this man?
I think, Look into my mind. I am thinking about him.
She nods. She is seeing him. I hear, Yes, I know who it is now. What do you want me to do? What do you mean a breathing statue?
I think, OK when you are ready do these things. Tell him, You have made the Master angry and so I will punish you. First, I will still your voice. Next I will end your sight. Then I will block your hearing. And then I will stop your ability to move. But that is not all that will happen to you. I will send pain into your body but keep you alive for many years. This is your punishment and no one will know of it but you.
I hear, OK, may I do it now?
I say so all will hear me. Yes, do it now.
There is silence in the room and Aina is both here and not here as she carries out my instructions. But the silence only lasts a few minutes before Aina sits back in her chair and smiles. That was truly creative. I liked that. I think ‘your’ bishop wants to tell you something. He is afraid of what you will do to him.
What you do to the Cardinal?
Erlyn, I did what your Master wanted me to do.
You kill him?
Oh no, Erlyn! I make sure he will live a very long time!
Then what you do?
Your Master wanted the Cardinal to be a human statue. That is what he is. He cannot hear, see, speak or move, but he breathes, and, though in pain, will live a long life.
Did Master want you to kill the Officer?
No, and if I knew his mind better at that moment, and more like I do now, I would have made the PNP officer a statue too. It is far more satisfying. … Master, any instructions about the bishop?
No.
The girls are taking all this in. I can see both fear and a bit of confusion about Aina. I decide to change the subject. Francine is coming to visit next week. She is looking forward to spending time with all of you.
That gets them started on questions about my daughter and what she is like. The somber mood has been lifted and some excitement fills the room with the noise of happy voices.
I also take the opportunity to let Amelae know her mother has responded well to the new drugs and is doing OK. It looks like the TB will be cured. There is nothing I can do about the diabetes. The toll the TB took on her body has not made the matter of the diabetes any better. She will die from this as her liver fails and will soon need dialysis, but it will only prolong the inevitable. Still, for now, she lives. Amelae snuggles against me, crying a little, but I know she is appreciative. Aina sees it and smiles. She especially likes Amelae as it is she who put Francine’s mom’s photo right over the headboard of my bed. Amelae may not be the brightest, but that is hardly worth mentioning. She did what no one else would have done and she was right.
Then Mirafe decides to find out if Aina is really Aina. She starts asking Aina about what went on in the house before I entered her mind. All those memories are actually intact, and Aina answers easily. She may not remember the emotions surrounding the events, but the events are there.
Next Mirafe asks her about the priest and what life was like before we met her. Aina knows all of this and provides the answers.
All three of them are a bit beyond confused. Clearly, only Aina would have all the answers she gave. I had no idea about many of the things that came up between the girls. So most assuredly, this is Aina, and yet most assuredly, this is not Aina.
Erlyn has one final question. How did we feel about you?
At first you wanted me to stay, but later you were not sure and then before your Master entered my mind, you told him I didn’t belong here and you wanted me to go.
Are you angry with us for that?
No! You were all correct. I should have left.
But you have such power now. Why do you think it was wrong for you to stay?
There are things I just cannot explain to you. But much that I was, was lost to me,… to live through what the Master did, great damage to Aina was done.. It would have been better if the Aina you knew had left.
It seems that they will accept this as definitive. For that I am thankful.
It has been a long few days and I have not been with three of them for more than half a week. I ask if they would all like to join me in my bedroom now. I get an enthusiastic response. As we walk toward my bedroom, Aina gives me a kiss and opens the door to the room she had been brought to when I entered her mind. That stops my girls in their tracks. They are just looking at Aina as she enters the room.
Mirafe can’t stand mute. Aina! Why are you going in there? That was just for what Master did to you.
Friend, this is my bedroom for now. I was with your Master twice today. He needs to spend time with you. Do not worry about me. I am fine. She kisses Mirafe on the cheek and closes the door. I proceed to the bedroom.
They are of course naked and I get that way soon enough, but have engaged in sex twice today. My very human body has limits, however, I can be with them and hold them. More than anything else I just want to be close to them. They can’t read my mind like Aina can, but Aina can and she can put it in their heads. Sure I can just tell them, but this is so much better. … But it causes Erlyn to ask, Did you give her special powers when you went into her mind?
No. Yes she has powers now. But no, I didn’t intend for this to happen. I really thought Aina would die. But instead something I didn’t expect happened and she is what we have now. I did not know anything of this until she first spoke to me after awakening. I was surprised. It was a happy surprise, but a surprise never the less.
I know she knows about Aina, but she not Aina. Do not lie to us. Who is she?
It is something that I cannot explain to you easily, but you are right. There is more than Aina inside her. Still she is truly human. She will live and die as a human, her powers notwithstanding.
She know you for a long time, true?
True.
How long?
Aina was right. You are very smart. Erlyn, just know that this Aina knows me well. But what I can’t really explain to you is how those three days in human time, were years, eons of time, more than a human lifetime of time, where we went.
Talaga2? That long you gone from us?
Yes.
So that really Aina?
In a way yes, and in a way, no longer.
We are wrapped up in each other’s arms and legs. Hands caress without looking for reward. Smiles, sighs, giggles, playful jostling, are the ingredients of this bouillabaisse of caring and closeness.
But it doesn’t last more than an hour before Aina comes charging through the door.
Master, there is chaos. They were told to do what you said, but only as far as getting ready. They were told to not proceed unless the Cardinal gave his approval. Just now, word is spreading about what the two priests saw tonight and no one is able to reach the Cardinal. There is rumor about what has happened to the Cardinal but no one knows what to do. The three bishops who you said contacted the Cardinal are telling everyone that nothing can be done without the Cardinal’s orders. They have told the others that ‘your’ bishop has been told he is not to be listened too.
Can you be in three heads at once?
Yes.
Do you know who and where these three bishops are right now?
Yes.
Do to them exactly what you did to the Cardinal.
And we wait as Aina closes her eyes and concentrates on her tasks. A couple of minutes later she is back with us and reporting that it is done. I get up and quite naked, go into my work area. I have all the cell numbers for the bishops. Removing the numbers for those three and the one who died earlier, I send a brief text. Three more of you will never speak again. Your choice is to do as told or join them in a world walled off from the world. Both living and dead. You have until sunrise to act. The Master.
These guys know who the three are and I can see a myriad of attempts to contact the three statues. Calls then go out via secretaries and the word spreads about what has happened.
A text appears on a screen to the dead priest’s phone. I will comply. Spare me, Master.
I do not reply. I see he thinks I am his Master again. This one bends with the wind.
I hope I don’t need to do more and I return to the bedroom and three girls. For some reason I feel rejuvenated and decide it is time to give Amelae a good ride. But before I do, while still standing, I have the girl squat and give me head, and motion for the other two to come close to me. One on either side. I kiss them and play with their breasts as Amelae gives me the head I desire. Erlyn’s and Mirafe’s hands caress my back and chest. Tongues invade mouths as suction below is strong and insistent. I am enjoying this immensely. And then I hear a sigh, inside my head, and a moan. And then she is talking to me, Oh, that is so good. Yes, I like it. I want to know what it feels like when you enter her. Oh!
I think back to her, as I feel passion rising inside of me, Damn you are a horny bitch now.
I pull Amelae up put her on her knees, on the bed and mount her. She is tight, hot and wet. Amelae sighs, Aina sighs. I grunt.
I pound her cunt hard. Amelae is grunting as juices erupt from inside her and are forced out around my pike. Aina is cheering me on with a drumbeat of cum, cum, cum. Erlyn and Mirafe are playing with Amelae’s tits as they hang down.
I think, Give her an orgasm that will blow her mind. I hear back with a giggle, Your wish is my command. And then Amelae goes off the rails. I, in appreciation, give her my seed. I sense something is not over for Amelae. She arches her back, cries out and collapses.
I think, What did you do?
I gave us another child. This one is a girl.
Are you in my mind at all times?
Yes. But then, shouldn’t I be? We are married.
Interesting way to look at it. You were not in my mind before.
Well, hun… You didn’t stop me from dying by pulling me out of the world before. By the way, where is my old body?
I have not returned your vessel to this world. If I had, you would not be here now.
So, do I get to attend my own funeral?
You would get a kick out of that, I think.
Why not? Oh, I forgot to tell you. I liked what you told the girls about how Aina had been gone for Eons. That should quiet things down.
It won’t when I bury you!
She is giggling. OK, so not now. Not yet. … It is time for you to rest. Sleep now.
Not yet. We haven’t talked about this. You know, I didn’t know if I could have you, or if I would lose both Aina and you. I knew that Aina would probably shatter and there was no choice there. But I had no idea that you could thrive in her vessel. Until you woke, I was pretty sure I had lost you forever. I pulled you out, only because I could not bear to see it end. I could not bear to say goodbye. But when Amelae put your photo up, I decided it had to be. I needed to accept that you were gone. And then Aina demanded I take her though she still believed in her god. I knew her mind would shatter. I didn’t think it would work, but decided to try. I was going to lose you anyway.
I know. I know your heart now, just as much as you know it. I know there has never been one such as me before and there will probably never be again. I know how much you love me. I knew it before, but not like this. This is not faith. This is proof. I know it because I am inside you. Nothing is hidden. I know that this time I will die and you will bury me. But I know it will be because I have grown old and it will be my time. Hun, … You know I love you. Always have. But now I have to tell you, I like you. I am happy to be with you. Maybe this body is not like my old one, but I don’t care because when you look at me, you see me, and not her. See? It helps to be inside you. I don’t have to be afraid. Now please, go to sleep. I will watch over the house. Don’t worry. There are two of us watching now.
That tune you were humming. Where?
Your boy. He hums it all the time. Didn‘t you know?
Huh, no. I have stayed away from him as much as I can. You could hear him?
Oh, yes.
Sorry. I didn’t know.
I am sure he didn’t know either. Apology accepted.
I am tired. My head hits the pillow and my three souls cover me and leave the bedroom.
I am awakened by her voice in my head. It is a nice thing to hear. Hun, many of the dioceses are moving forward, but where we have made statues of the local bishop, nothing is occurring. Also in two other dioceses, a bishop and an archbishop are not proceeding.
Are there any reasons for why those last two are not?
They are not going to take orders from you.
Then you know what to do.
OK, but then you will have the same problem as you have with the other three.
I understand. I still need you to do it.
Re: English Novel - Soul by very well aged
Chapter 19: International Harvester
What to do about the six vacant bishoprics needed resolution. I ‘think’ a question towards Aina. Can you query the statue bishops and find out what is needed to specifically happen, to initiate the action?
Yes. Wait a bit. … OK I know, do you want me to do it?v
Yes. Then I just need to figure out what to do about the first bishop, - the one who is dead.
No, I am covering that now. His duties were covered by one of the other five.
Thank you… I am having a hard time knowing what to call you. Joana is gone. I will bury her. Aina is right there with you. Her memories are now included with Joana’s.
You are the Master and I am the Master’s wife. But it is best you not call me wife. Keep calling me Aina. That is the name of this vessel.
Yes, good.
Hun, once we take care of this church thing, do things go back to normal? I know why you are doing this to the church and it is not entirely for the reasons of having them follow your orders, at least not these orders.
How could you know? Oh! Of course, you are in my head. Yes, these damned fools took Joana from me. Sure I love Francine, but there were ways to keep both alive. Instead they were allowing Joana to die. They lied to me and I don’t read minds. If Joana hadn’t prayed to me at that very last moment, it would have been too late.
But you brought me back!
Not completely. Part of you is from Joana, but not all. Aina is really part of you. You have her memories, and Joana’s, as you are well aware. I was, briefly, in the vessel you inhabit in some ways. I needed to be in it to stitch the two of you together. That is why you can read my mind, and it is how you know how to do things that Joana did not know anything about. You speak like me now, and not the Filipino English that Joana spoke. You think you are Joana, but think back to the Joana who was.
Oh… Oh! Oh, Master! I never would have called you ‘Hun!’
Uh-huh.
I didn’t know you had a son! … So I think I am Joana, but I am not?
You have Joana’s personality, her love of me. But, no, you are not Joana. Joana is dead.
But I am not Aina. I have her memories but not her feelings. I think Joana loved you but she was frightened by you too. I do not have that fear. Joana stopped her schooling in 8th grade, right? Ha, yes, I can see that she did not know what I know! So whose feelings are these? Is it Joana’s feelings or yours inside me now?
Mostly Joana’s but they are informed by the awareness that comes from me. You are not me, but you have a vast amount of knowledge that comes from me.
So we are not really married?
Legally in this world, no, as I am not married to Aina. Joana is dead and Aina lives. But, in your heart, we are, and so yes, we are married.
Good. You know it was strange to experience sex from your side of the mattress.
I imagine it was. I gather you enjoyed it.
Wow, yes. It is very different. Maybe if I was not in your mind I would be jealous of those three. But when you make love to them, I do too. They don’t feel like competitors.
Good. They are scared of you.
Yes I know. … Master?
Yes?
All dioceses are in motion now. I do not think there is anything more you need to do with them.
Good. Why did you call me Master and not Hun?
You asked me to think back to how it was with Joana. She called you Master. That is what I will call you. … Master, Francine is beautiful, just like Joana. Did you make that happen?
No, it is just how she is.
I have been listening to her. She is a good girl. You did a good job raising her.
Thank you.
Master, may I change the minds of those three souls so they are not frightened of me?
No. I want you to not alter anyone’s mind unless I ask you to do it. I won’t be asking often. I will join them. Where are you?
I am with them. We are watching a teleserye. There is food on the table. Please eat something. We will join you when the show ends.
What time is it?
A little after one in the afternoon. You slept a long time. The girls were worrying again. I told them that it was OK. You needed the rest. I am not sure they believed me.
I haven’t slept more than three hours at a stretch since I lost Joana.
I take it as a good sign that you can now! Come eat.
If I ever thought about putting in an intercom system, there is no need for it now! I approach the table to find a place set for me, with plate, utensils, a glass, and food in dishes surrounding the setting. I have to admit, it takes me back many years. This is Joana in action. My now dead Joana has set my place at this table.
I am halfway through and enjoying a bowl of lomi1 when Erlyn sits down cattycorner from me as I am sitting at one end of the table.
Master, I know she know what Aina know. But she not Aina. Who is she?
Erlyn, why do you say that?
How she know you like lomi? You like it, true? How she know where you keep that spoon you using? We not see it before. She goes for it, finds it in first place she looks, smiles and puts it out for you. I see it and I think, that is not a normal spoon. I will put a tablespoon out for you too. But you use the weird spoon she finds. I grab a glass for you, but she says, use this one, he will want beer with the lomi. I never see you drink beer, and I say this to her. She smiles and says, yes, but he will have it with his lomi. How that? That not from being somewhere else for millennia. She know this house! Who is she?
Aina has not been making this easy with that type of strutting. Is this because I told her not to change any minds? Well, Aina is it? Are you trying to teach me a lesson?
No, Master, I think I am just too happy. I am not being good. I am being silly and foolish and, Master, I am very, very happy. It is just something I am not really able to hide.
OK well come out here and sit with Erlyn and me.
Erlyn, Aina is really Aina in many ways. Her memories are still intact. Her brain is still her brain and her body is still her body. At this point as I go on talking Aina has joined us and sits down next to Erlyn. Aina as you knew her was unable to accept that Jesus was not real. When I showed her what I had to show her, her personality, that which made her Aina as you knew her, collapsed and disappeared. If I didn’t do something she would have died. I didn’t want to kill her.
So what you do?
You know that photo above my bed?
Yes, the one who died? Francine’s mother? Yes. Her name I not know, but yes. Bakit?2
Her name was Joana. She was pregnant with Francine. There were complications.
She die giving birth?
Yes,… and no.
Hala! What happen?
The doctors were letting her die, Joana knew she was slipping away and she prayed. I heard it. Her pleas pierced my mind and I panicked. With all the power I have, I sent her to another place, out of your world. She was frozen in time, not dead and not alive.
Oh! That why there is no burial record? You broke the rules! You not supposed to do that. True?
Yes, that is why there is no burial record and yes I broke the rules. But she was mine and I am allowed to save her. I am just not supposed to do it in that way. But the Church is supposed to stay away from those souls who are mine. That’s part of the rules. But those doctors did that to her, because they stop being doctors when their catholic beliefs get in the way. The church teaches that women are dispensable. They are there to make babies, souls. Once they have made one, it’s perfectly ok to let them die, the church will harvest that soul and will have the baby’s soul to harvest later. They don’t want the babies to die because if they die before they are baptized, they come to me. Catholic doctors who follow the church are no better than mercenaries. I know that now, and I knew that then. It is why I wanted to keep her safe, but she said don’t interfere!
Why you tell me about… Oh! This Joana. Her body no good, di ba? Aina’s mind no good but her body is good! Ganun3?
Yes.
Erlyn turns to Aina with eyes that are opened in amazement. You are Joana!
Partly, Erlyn, only partly. Aina’s personality is gone, but her life’s memories are not. They are part of me. Also, I was not as frozen as Master says. I learned much. And when Master, put what he could inside Aina, some things were left behind, and somethings about Master were added. But this is Aina’s body. I am Aina. Joana is dead now. Truly dead. Master needs to bury her.
Oh! What? You to see yourself buried? That is very weird. I not like that. Master, that really to happen?
At some point, yes. Erlyn, Aina is your friend. You do not need to be frightened of her. She was to me then, in the past, as you are to me now. She knows the love and the fear you have inside of you. No one in this world will be more kind and honest to you than Aina.
Master, I not think you can tell this to the others. They not understand. But I need to tell them something. They all know she not the Aina they knew.
Ok, I agree. But, Aina, you are going to have to curb your enthusiasm.
Yes, Master. But at least Erlyn and I can be closer. And with that Aina reaches out and takes one of Erlyn’s hands in her. Erlyn squeezes Aina’s hand but addresses me. You saved my life and you did all you could to save Joana’s. You say you do not love. I say, all you do is about love. Yes you get angry if some rule is not followed. I not understand this, but we are here because you need love. It OK if you call it caring. I not care. I know it is love.
Erlyn, Master thinks he failed to protect Joana. He blames his love of her, for not being careful. Joana told him to trust the doctors and allow nature to be nature. If he had not listened to Joana, if he did not allow love to cloud his judgment, Joana would have lived. That is what he believes. Maybe that is why he tells you he doesn’t love you.
Oo.
Master does not lie. So I understand this. I agree, he loved Joana. I think he must be afraid to love you.
Yes, maybe he think it hurt too much to love if you lose that person, like he lose Joana. If Joana not die, they still be together. Di ba?
Yes.
Oh my gee. OK, yes, I see why he not love. I think he still love Joana. But maybe that change now?
Erlyn, that was true. But he told me, when Amelae put Joana’s picture up on the wall, he knew he needed to let go. If that did not happen, I am not sure he would have risked what he risked with Aina. Maybe he would have allowed Aina to die and leave Joana outside the world. He said, he thought Joana would be gone completely if he tried to do what he did with Aina, once the girl’s brain collapsed. Until I spoke to him, he thought he had failed completely.
But he didn’t. You are really Joana!
No Erlyn, I am not. I know how Joana thought and felt. I am not her. I have her personality, but I am not her. Joana has died. Aina lives because of what Master did, grafting Joana’s personality on Aina’s mind. Master needed to accept that Joana needed to die. He has.
Master, maybe you will love now?
Erlyn, is your teleserye over?
Sige, sige, I go.
Both of them get up, still holding hands as they leave the room. My lomi has been consumed.
I have kept it buried for all these years. I didn’t want Francine to be burdened by this anger, anger I feel now rising up. Just as Joana was frozen in time and out of reach, so I put my feelings of anger and rage. I swallowed it and kept it deep within me. Never letting it out. Never acknowledging its presence. But it abided, unreleased and unresolved.
The church solicitors were not part of that, at least not consciously. But as the doctors were mercenaries for the catholic church, those kids were unwitting but compliant mercenaries for their church. Stealing money, rather than souls from the unsuspecting. Is it a lesser crime? Surely. But it must have been why it bothered me so deeply. It was being fueled by that which I had kept buried for so long.
Those kids will, within days, be liberated, against their own wishes, from that duty. But what am I to do with the anger I feel rising up? I will soon bury my Joana. The interregnum is about to end. I have been cruel to a few in the church, but it is not enough. No, it is not nearly enough.
MASTER!
Aina?
What are you going to do?! Enough!
Just because you are in my head, does not give you the right to play the role of conscience. I am my conscience, or did you not get that message when you learned about me?
Yes, Master, you are right, but I am with you. Yes you will bury Joana, but not all is lost!
And I am pleased you are here. But there must be a reckoning.
Please, before anything else happens, spend time with Francine. Allow us to all be together without your reckoning of others hanging in front of our eyes.
You are a dangerous woman!
Master? Why do you say that to me?
Because now I must wait. With what you have said, there is no other option. I did not appoint you to the role of censor, but you have taken it and done it effectively. You have your wish, Aina. I will wait.
Thank you, husband.
You are welcome, wife.
I am sending Mirafe to you when this show is over.
I see. I gather you think she needs some attention. Anything else?
Please allow Amelae to visit her mother.
OK. Next?
I will take Erlyn with me and we will arrange for a casket and burial plot for Joana. I want to see Joana buried while Francine is here.
Does that complete the list, Aina?
Yes, husband, that completes the list.
Very well.
My meal over, I wander back to my work area. There is nothing in particular I am looking for. I am just reviewing all that has been before me. Amelae’s mother is being treated properly. There is not a single bit of chatter related to Erlyn. Mirafe’s father has caused a ruckus and her mother let him back into the house. His brothers have gotten wind of it and there is about to be some ugliness. But Mirafe is not part of it. She did all she can do and what is about to play out, is just not anything she can control. From our discussions, she has expected this to happen. There is no need to burden her with the news.
The church-on-church conflict I have stirred up is beginning to become big news across the country. There have been some physical altercations. Restaurants have started kicking the kids out, if they show up. The restaurants can’t afford to tick off the church. Members of the church have been standing as observers at many restaurants, waiting and watching.
News crews are now doing the same thing. One kid approached a patron at a Jollibee, claiming to be mute. He got chased out into the street and started calling for the police to protect him. What the kid didn’t know was that he was on a hidden camera the entire time he was making his silent pitch, and still later again, as he was calling for the cops.
When a cop arrived on the scene, the video, conveniently was made available to the cop. The kid, being threatened with arrest by the cop, gave a detailed confession, also on video. It made for great TV and even better social media posts via Youtube.
There are now calls to arrest church leaders, with others saying the government should not get involved in this religious dispute.
I lit the match and am watching all this unfurling as a voyeur. I am enjoying it.
Master? Aina said you wanted to spend time with me?
Yes, Mirafe, I do. And I get up and walk back to my bedroom with her, hand in hand. Things must be a little unsettling to you, now.
Maybe a little. Erlyn say that Aina really part Aina, and part Francine’s mother. Aina say that only partially true. We are confused, but both Erlyn and Aina say it is a good thing and you are happy. Is that true?
Yes.
Erlyn say we all stay here. That true?
Yes.
Aina say you love us. That true?
AINA!
What to do about the six vacant bishoprics needed resolution. I ‘think’ a question towards Aina. Can you query the statue bishops and find out what is needed to specifically happen, to initiate the action?
Yes. Wait a bit. … OK I know, do you want me to do it?v
Yes. Then I just need to figure out what to do about the first bishop, - the one who is dead.
No, I am covering that now. His duties were covered by one of the other five.
Thank you… I am having a hard time knowing what to call you. Joana is gone. I will bury her. Aina is right there with you. Her memories are now included with Joana’s.
You are the Master and I am the Master’s wife. But it is best you not call me wife. Keep calling me Aina. That is the name of this vessel.
Yes, good.
Hun, once we take care of this church thing, do things go back to normal? I know why you are doing this to the church and it is not entirely for the reasons of having them follow your orders, at least not these orders.
How could you know? Oh! Of course, you are in my head. Yes, these damned fools took Joana from me. Sure I love Francine, but there were ways to keep both alive. Instead they were allowing Joana to die. They lied to me and I don’t read minds. If Joana hadn’t prayed to me at that very last moment, it would have been too late.
But you brought me back!
Not completely. Part of you is from Joana, but not all. Aina is really part of you. You have her memories, and Joana’s, as you are well aware. I was, briefly, in the vessel you inhabit in some ways. I needed to be in it to stitch the two of you together. That is why you can read my mind, and it is how you know how to do things that Joana did not know anything about. You speak like me now, and not the Filipino English that Joana spoke. You think you are Joana, but think back to the Joana who was.
Oh… Oh! Oh, Master! I never would have called you ‘Hun!’
Uh-huh.
I didn’t know you had a son! … So I think I am Joana, but I am not?
You have Joana’s personality, her love of me. But, no, you are not Joana. Joana is dead.
But I am not Aina. I have her memories but not her feelings. I think Joana loved you but she was frightened by you too. I do not have that fear. Joana stopped her schooling in 8th grade, right? Ha, yes, I can see that she did not know what I know! So whose feelings are these? Is it Joana’s feelings or yours inside me now?
Mostly Joana’s but they are informed by the awareness that comes from me. You are not me, but you have a vast amount of knowledge that comes from me.
So we are not really married?
Legally in this world, no, as I am not married to Aina. Joana is dead and Aina lives. But, in your heart, we are, and so yes, we are married.
Good. You know it was strange to experience sex from your side of the mattress.
I imagine it was. I gather you enjoyed it.
Wow, yes. It is very different. Maybe if I was not in your mind I would be jealous of those three. But when you make love to them, I do too. They don’t feel like competitors.
Good. They are scared of you.
Yes I know. … Master?
Yes?
All dioceses are in motion now. I do not think there is anything more you need to do with them.
Good. Why did you call me Master and not Hun?
You asked me to think back to how it was with Joana. She called you Master. That is what I will call you. … Master, Francine is beautiful, just like Joana. Did you make that happen?
No, it is just how she is.
I have been listening to her. She is a good girl. You did a good job raising her.
Thank you.
Master, may I change the minds of those three souls so they are not frightened of me?
No. I want you to not alter anyone’s mind unless I ask you to do it. I won’t be asking often. I will join them. Where are you?
I am with them. We are watching a teleserye. There is food on the table. Please eat something. We will join you when the show ends.
What time is it?
A little after one in the afternoon. You slept a long time. The girls were worrying again. I told them that it was OK. You needed the rest. I am not sure they believed me.
I haven’t slept more than three hours at a stretch since I lost Joana.
I take it as a good sign that you can now! Come eat.
If I ever thought about putting in an intercom system, there is no need for it now! I approach the table to find a place set for me, with plate, utensils, a glass, and food in dishes surrounding the setting. I have to admit, it takes me back many years. This is Joana in action. My now dead Joana has set my place at this table.
I am halfway through and enjoying a bowl of lomi1 when Erlyn sits down cattycorner from me as I am sitting at one end of the table.
Master, I know she know what Aina know. But she not Aina. Who is she?
Erlyn, why do you say that?
How she know you like lomi? You like it, true? How she know where you keep that spoon you using? We not see it before. She goes for it, finds it in first place she looks, smiles and puts it out for you. I see it and I think, that is not a normal spoon. I will put a tablespoon out for you too. But you use the weird spoon she finds. I grab a glass for you, but she says, use this one, he will want beer with the lomi. I never see you drink beer, and I say this to her. She smiles and says, yes, but he will have it with his lomi. How that? That not from being somewhere else for millennia. She know this house! Who is she?
Aina has not been making this easy with that type of strutting. Is this because I told her not to change any minds? Well, Aina is it? Are you trying to teach me a lesson?
No, Master, I think I am just too happy. I am not being good. I am being silly and foolish and, Master, I am very, very happy. It is just something I am not really able to hide.
OK well come out here and sit with Erlyn and me.
Erlyn, Aina is really Aina in many ways. Her memories are still intact. Her brain is still her brain and her body is still her body. At this point as I go on talking Aina has joined us and sits down next to Erlyn. Aina as you knew her was unable to accept that Jesus was not real. When I showed her what I had to show her, her personality, that which made her Aina as you knew her, collapsed and disappeared. If I didn’t do something she would have died. I didn’t want to kill her.
So what you do?
You know that photo above my bed?
Yes, the one who died? Francine’s mother? Yes. Her name I not know, but yes. Bakit?2
Her name was Joana. She was pregnant with Francine. There were complications.
She die giving birth?
Yes,… and no.
Hala! What happen?
The doctors were letting her die, Joana knew she was slipping away and she prayed. I heard it. Her pleas pierced my mind and I panicked. With all the power I have, I sent her to another place, out of your world. She was frozen in time, not dead and not alive.
Oh! That why there is no burial record? You broke the rules! You not supposed to do that. True?
Yes, that is why there is no burial record and yes I broke the rules. But she was mine and I am allowed to save her. I am just not supposed to do it in that way. But the Church is supposed to stay away from those souls who are mine. That’s part of the rules. But those doctors did that to her, because they stop being doctors when their catholic beliefs get in the way. The church teaches that women are dispensable. They are there to make babies, souls. Once they have made one, it’s perfectly ok to let them die, the church will harvest that soul and will have the baby’s soul to harvest later. They don’t want the babies to die because if they die before they are baptized, they come to me. Catholic doctors who follow the church are no better than mercenaries. I know that now, and I knew that then. It is why I wanted to keep her safe, but she said don’t interfere!
Why you tell me about… Oh! This Joana. Her body no good, di ba? Aina’s mind no good but her body is good! Ganun3?
Yes.
Erlyn turns to Aina with eyes that are opened in amazement. You are Joana!
Partly, Erlyn, only partly. Aina’s personality is gone, but her life’s memories are not. They are part of me. Also, I was not as frozen as Master says. I learned much. And when Master, put what he could inside Aina, some things were left behind, and somethings about Master were added. But this is Aina’s body. I am Aina. Joana is dead now. Truly dead. Master needs to bury her.
Oh! What? You to see yourself buried? That is very weird. I not like that. Master, that really to happen?
At some point, yes. Erlyn, Aina is your friend. You do not need to be frightened of her. She was to me then, in the past, as you are to me now. She knows the love and the fear you have inside of you. No one in this world will be more kind and honest to you than Aina.
Master, I not think you can tell this to the others. They not understand. But I need to tell them something. They all know she not the Aina they knew.
Ok, I agree. But, Aina, you are going to have to curb your enthusiasm.
Yes, Master. But at least Erlyn and I can be closer. And with that Aina reaches out and takes one of Erlyn’s hands in her. Erlyn squeezes Aina’s hand but addresses me. You saved my life and you did all you could to save Joana’s. You say you do not love. I say, all you do is about love. Yes you get angry if some rule is not followed. I not understand this, but we are here because you need love. It OK if you call it caring. I not care. I know it is love.
Erlyn, Master thinks he failed to protect Joana. He blames his love of her, for not being careful. Joana told him to trust the doctors and allow nature to be nature. If he had not listened to Joana, if he did not allow love to cloud his judgment, Joana would have lived. That is what he believes. Maybe that is why he tells you he doesn’t love you.
Oo.
Master does not lie. So I understand this. I agree, he loved Joana. I think he must be afraid to love you.
Yes, maybe he think it hurt too much to love if you lose that person, like he lose Joana. If Joana not die, they still be together. Di ba?
Yes.
Oh my gee. OK, yes, I see why he not love. I think he still love Joana. But maybe that change now?
Erlyn, that was true. But he told me, when Amelae put Joana’s picture up on the wall, he knew he needed to let go. If that did not happen, I am not sure he would have risked what he risked with Aina. Maybe he would have allowed Aina to die and leave Joana outside the world. He said, he thought Joana would be gone completely if he tried to do what he did with Aina, once the girl’s brain collapsed. Until I spoke to him, he thought he had failed completely.
But he didn’t. You are really Joana!
No Erlyn, I am not. I know how Joana thought and felt. I am not her. I have her personality, but I am not her. Joana has died. Aina lives because of what Master did, grafting Joana’s personality on Aina’s mind. Master needed to accept that Joana needed to die. He has.
Master, maybe you will love now?
Erlyn, is your teleserye over?
Sige, sige, I go.
Both of them get up, still holding hands as they leave the room. My lomi has been consumed.
I have kept it buried for all these years. I didn’t want Francine to be burdened by this anger, anger I feel now rising up. Just as Joana was frozen in time and out of reach, so I put my feelings of anger and rage. I swallowed it and kept it deep within me. Never letting it out. Never acknowledging its presence. But it abided, unreleased and unresolved.
The church solicitors were not part of that, at least not consciously. But as the doctors were mercenaries for the catholic church, those kids were unwitting but compliant mercenaries for their church. Stealing money, rather than souls from the unsuspecting. Is it a lesser crime? Surely. But it must have been why it bothered me so deeply. It was being fueled by that which I had kept buried for so long.
Those kids will, within days, be liberated, against their own wishes, from that duty. But what am I to do with the anger I feel rising up? I will soon bury my Joana. The interregnum is about to end. I have been cruel to a few in the church, but it is not enough. No, it is not nearly enough.
MASTER!
Aina?
What are you going to do?! Enough!
Just because you are in my head, does not give you the right to play the role of conscience. I am my conscience, or did you not get that message when you learned about me?
Yes, Master, you are right, but I am with you. Yes you will bury Joana, but not all is lost!
And I am pleased you are here. But there must be a reckoning.
Please, before anything else happens, spend time with Francine. Allow us to all be together without your reckoning of others hanging in front of our eyes.
You are a dangerous woman!
Master? Why do you say that to me?
Because now I must wait. With what you have said, there is no other option. I did not appoint you to the role of censor, but you have taken it and done it effectively. You have your wish, Aina. I will wait.
Thank you, husband.
You are welcome, wife.
I am sending Mirafe to you when this show is over.
I see. I gather you think she needs some attention. Anything else?
Please allow Amelae to visit her mother.
OK. Next?
I will take Erlyn with me and we will arrange for a casket and burial plot for Joana. I want to see Joana buried while Francine is here.
Does that complete the list, Aina?
Yes, husband, that completes the list.
Very well.
My meal over, I wander back to my work area. There is nothing in particular I am looking for. I am just reviewing all that has been before me. Amelae’s mother is being treated properly. There is not a single bit of chatter related to Erlyn. Mirafe’s father has caused a ruckus and her mother let him back into the house. His brothers have gotten wind of it and there is about to be some ugliness. But Mirafe is not part of it. She did all she can do and what is about to play out, is just not anything she can control. From our discussions, she has expected this to happen. There is no need to burden her with the news.
The church-on-church conflict I have stirred up is beginning to become big news across the country. There have been some physical altercations. Restaurants have started kicking the kids out, if they show up. The restaurants can’t afford to tick off the church. Members of the church have been standing as observers at many restaurants, waiting and watching.
News crews are now doing the same thing. One kid approached a patron at a Jollibee, claiming to be mute. He got chased out into the street and started calling for the police to protect him. What the kid didn’t know was that he was on a hidden camera the entire time he was making his silent pitch, and still later again, as he was calling for the cops.
When a cop arrived on the scene, the video, conveniently was made available to the cop. The kid, being threatened with arrest by the cop, gave a detailed confession, also on video. It made for great TV and even better social media posts via Youtube.
There are now calls to arrest church leaders, with others saying the government should not get involved in this religious dispute.
I lit the match and am watching all this unfurling as a voyeur. I am enjoying it.
Master? Aina said you wanted to spend time with me?
Yes, Mirafe, I do. And I get up and walk back to my bedroom with her, hand in hand. Things must be a little unsettling to you, now.
Maybe a little. Erlyn say that Aina really part Aina, and part Francine’s mother. Aina say that only partially true. We are confused, but both Erlyn and Aina say it is a good thing and you are happy. Is that true?
Yes.
Erlyn say we all stay here. That true?
Yes.
Aina say you love us. That true?
AINA!