OLIVIA…
We made our way down the hallway, and Bethi opened a door, stepping aside so we could enter. Winifred continued walking down the hall with the rest of the group.
“You know they’ll still hear us, right?” Bethi said, closing the door.
Charlene led me to the bed and sat beside me. Bethi sprawled out on the opposite mattress. Gabby and Michelle sat on the edge of the other bed, facing me and Charlene. Isabelle paced near the door.
“Yes,” I said, acknowledging Bethi. “It’s not that I don’t want them to hear. I don’t want them to distract us.”
“From what?” Gabby asked.
“From deciding. I don’t think the Lady will share how to complete the Judgement until we know which race we’re going to Judge in favor of. And we need to complete the Judgement as quickly as possible. We’re running out of time.”
“The only logical choice is the werewolves,” Charlene said.
“What’s going to keep the werewolves from taking over just like the Urbat want to do?” Bethi asked.
“Thomas. The Elders.”
“Bullshit,” Bethi said. “They want what’s best for the werewolves, not for everyone. Look, I love Luke. I think he’s amazing, and I trust him. But that doesn’t mean I trust his whole race. Don’t forget I have lifetimes of history floating around in my head. There’s a reason humans were given the initial Judgement.”
“Yes,” I said. “They were weak and needed protecting. They aren’t weak anymore, and the three races are far out of balance. We cannot rule in favor of the humans again.”
“And we can’t rule in favor of the Urbat,” Michelle said. “That would be suicide for the other two races, giving them what they want.”
“So, we’re saying it has to be the werewolves, then,” Gabby said.
Bethi snorted and rolled to her side.
“I disagree. I don’t think the power of humanity outweighs that of the werewolves. And even if it did, fine. Let them have more power. They need it to keep everything furry from going on a killing spree.”
“I’ll admit I’m on the fence,” Isabelle said. “I know Bethi just acknowledged that all those past lives in her head are clouding her view of the present, but I’ve seen the power in the werewolves. What would stop them from going on a human killing spree if we named them captain of this sinking ship?”
“Please listen,” I said. “We cannot Judge in favor of the humans. The balance is already too far in their favor. A balance must be maintained, or the world will burn.”
Bethi exhaled heavily. “That’s what the Lady told me, too. Showed me even.”
“And she will keep showing you death and devastation until you understand.”
“Fuck that. Fine. Werewolves. Now what?”
“Just like that?” Isabelle asked.
“No,” I said. “I think we all need to truly believe in our choice. I know we cannot Judge for the Urbat or humans. I don’t know what it will mean for this world to Judge in favor of the werewolves. It worries me, but not as much as what will happen if we try to Judge in favor of the other two.”
There was a long moment of silence.
“I honestly had expected you to want us to choose the Urbat after hearing you call Blake Father,” Michelle said. “How did they find you?”
I thought back to my earliest memory. To that moment in the parking garage when Blake approached the woman and me.
“I was young. Maybe four years old. I’d just left a doctor’s office and saw Blake across the street. He stood out from the other people. I don’t know if it was the way I looked or my scent, but he followed us into the parking garage. The woman with me stopped by her car when he called out. He killed her and took me.”
“He killed your mother?” Charlene asked in shock.
“I don’t know if that was my mom. I don’t really remember her. Just him. For a long time, I thought him finding me was by chance,” I said. “But I’m not sure anymore.”
“What do you mean?” Bethi asked.
“You’ve said that I’ve died early in every life, right?” I said.
“Yes. Every time. Most of them you’re not even a year old.”
“I think the Lady let the one person who would keep me alive, find me.”
“Holy shit,” Bethi said softly. “I didn’t really like her before. I like her even less now. She has to be the sickest person on the planet to push this kind of shit on us.”
“I think she’s that desperate. How many times have we been born this cycle?” I asked.
Bethi was quiet a moment. “Just once.”
“She planned this. All of this. Strength, being born first, to fortify the werewolves by giving them sons and a home to protect any future potential mates. One of your Elders finding Gabby before the Urbat could. Gabby, who would have made it so easy to find the rest of us. And, sending me to live with the Urbat so I could tell the rest of you that, as the race they are right now, there is nothing redeemable about them. She knows the Judgement needs to be made, and I think she’s helping influence us to make the right choice the best way she can.”
“If she wants to help us, she should just off Blake and make the Judgement herself.”
I shook my head and thought of the shadow world. “There are rules.”
“What do you mean?”
I hesitated, not sure what to tell them now. What wouldn’t send them running or cause them to dismiss everything I say? I watched the Others swirl around the women in the room, creating my grey view of our world.
“Would you believe me if I told you there aren’t just three races?” I asked.
“Yep,” Bethi said. “Too much crap has come true to not believe something at this point.”
Michelle and Gabby made sounds of agreement.
“There are three races here, but this world touches another where a different race lives. I don’t know what they are. I call them the Others. They kind of float around us, always moving, surrounding people and things. Like brushing up against them. That’s how I can see some things. They outline this world for me. When they stop moving, I’m truly blind.”
“I thought you said they always moved,” Bethi said.
“There have been times they’ve stopped. When something really big happens. Like when you revealed the existence of Urbat and werewolves to the world.”
I focused on Bethi’s shape. “They are the reason we need to maintain balance here. If we don’t, they get to live here.”
“Based on all this world burning crap the Taupe Lady keeps telling me, I’m guessing these ‘Others’ are pretty bad.”
“Yes and no. They want what we have. Real bodies. A way to interact with our surroundings. I think the Lady is one of them. She can control them. Sort of. And they tend to listen to her.”
“This is making my brain hurt. If she’s one of them and they want to live here, why would she want us to maintain the balance? And, that wouldn’t make sense anyway. She showed me how we were created. All of us were in her belly, and she touched different women to put us inside them. That was the very first cycle.”
“I can’t pretend to know our history. That’s for you. I can only tell you about the world I see. The Others are around us. Everywhere. All the time. Whenever someone dies, they try to get inside the body. But they can’t without permission. They can hear me and understand me. They know we’re trying to keep the balance so they can’t have our world, but it doesn’t seem to upset them. They help me see when I ask them.”
“Well, I know I’m not the only one creeped out by the idea of an unseen race moving around us in this room. Tone it down, Michelle,” Isabelle said.
“Sorry,” Michelle answered.
“I feel like we’ve gotten off topic,” Gabby said. “I thought we just needed to decide which race to Judge in favor of.”
“We do,” I said. “I wanted you to understand why you truly need to believe in your choice and what waits for this world if we fail this Judgement.”
“Yeah, we get it,” Isabelle said. “Invisible people who will make the world burn. I think we’re all onboard with Judging for the werewolves. Now what?”
“Now we wait for Bethi to dream the rest,” I said.