r had been constantly enhancing4, and the monks could feel that too.
There were three steps in his process of achieving Control, where the power of his thought could make things move and bend5 other people’s ability to think and overpower6 their emotions. Before getting to Control, however, there were Calmness and Detachment7. He was in the process of getting calm when a bright lightning of a sharp emotion pierced8 through his mind. He saw the image of his father. He frowned9 at this unexpected occurrence10 and opened his eyes.
“He’s dead,” he whispered.
He sat in silence for another minute. His face relaxed and a smile appeared.
“At last.”
Chapter 1
Back to Business
“Look at the moon,” Lizzy said, pointing to the bright big blueish11 circle in the sky.
“It looks lonely,” Marco said.
They were sitting outside a country cottage that used to belong to Lizzy’s late mother. There was no way for her to go back to the apartment she had shared with her dead boyfriend. The police were still looking for her in connection with the dead body that her neighbors started to smell and called the authorities to investigate. Her cousin Anastasia, her closest friend and next of kin12, put away some of her stuff in storage after the police had cleared the crime scene. When Lizzy reached out to Anastasia, it took a lot of effort to convince her cousin that she was fine and not brainwashed by some cult. She explained to her that there was a reason she could not contact the police just yet. Lizzy also could not reveal13 why she was absent for more than two months and tried not to see any other friends to avoid interrogation14. Everything had to be done discreetly15. The less people knew she was back the better. Anastasia arranged for them to move into the cottage only after the police searched the place.
“It’s not lonely, it has the Earth,” she said and put her head on Marco’s shoulder. “Tonight, it’s called a blue moon.”
It was a bit cold outside, and they were wrapped in a quilt16 that Lizzy’s mother had bought in some mountain village in Thailand where she went with her father, Peter, before they got married.
“Is it always blue here?” he asked.
“It’s not blue at all. It’s just a name for the second full moon in a month, I think.”
“How many full moons do you usually get?”
“I think there are twelve, but occasionally you get a thirteenth. That’s a blue moon.”
“I don’t think our moons get to be called anything. They’re just moons. Boring. I like your blue moon, even though it still looks lonely to me.”
“Tell me more about your world,” she said, getting cozier by his side.
“I need to learn more about yours to know the differences better, don’t I?”
“True.”
“Will we have time to do that?”
“I hope we will.”
She kissed him on the lips and stood up.
“We have a long day tomorrow,” she said, offering him her hand and pulling him to his feet.
***
The next day they were supposed to meet with their contact person – Peter’s acquaintance17 – who had promised to introduce them to a group called the Committee. The group was secretly working on eliminating the threat that was coming from the late Dolion’s supporters. There were three ladies – the group’s leaders – who held high positions in the medical research industry in three different countries, the US, Russia, and China. They knew about Lizzy’s role in eradicating18 Dolion and about the unique qualities of her blood. They were eager19 to meet her. The man – whom they were meeting – had called the cottage landline two days ago and introduced himself as Aaron. Marco was the one who talked to him and agreed on the details for the meeting.
Lizzy woke up early and watched Marco sleeping for a few minutes before jumping in the shower and starting breakfast. He walked in the kitchen, still slumberous20, while she was making eggs, and hugged her from behind.
“Good morning,” he said and kissed her on the neck.
“Hi, sleepyhead21.”
“How’d you sleep?”
She had not been sleeping well ever since she was violently introduced to the other world. She did not want to bother Marco with her insomnia22 and never woke him up. She could fall asleep for a brief time, but that didn’t bring much relaxation. She would wake up and silently lie in bed, trying not to think about the dead people she knew or was about to get to know – Mark, Peter, and Beth. Despite the horrendous images of what she had witnessed or what her imagination had created in those nightmares, there was one more thing that bothered her. After they came back, among the flashbacks of the past two months, she started to see a person who stood at a distance looking at her. He was present in almost all her dreams. The image was not clear, just a male silhouette wearing a long coat.
“Ok, let’s eat and be on our way23. What time are we meeting the man?” Lizzy asked.
“Ten a.m. sharp, so we still have some time.”
She placed the pan with the eggs on a wooden cutting board that was already on the kitchen table, next to a watermelon they had bought at the farmer’s market the day before.
“Could you get the forks, please?” she asked Marco. “I’ll cut Mr. Watermelon here.”
“No plates?”
“Let’s just eat from the pan. It’s faster that way and no need to wash dishes.”
“Practical.”
She sliced the fruit in half, took one half and sliced it again into two equal parts. Then she took one of the quarters and cut it quickly into five triangles. After that she put each of the triangles on its side and cut the red flesh out, tossing the green rinds in the waste basket. The pulp triangles were also cut into cubes. She used her knife to scoop up the cubes and throw them into a large blue china bowl. She did the same with the other quarter, the entire process took two minutes.
“Where did you learn how to do that?” Marco asked, watching her cutting method in fascination24.
Lizzy smiled. “My mother learned that somewhere in Asia and always cut fruit that way. I guess I picked it up from her.”
“It’s fast,” Marco said and sat down at the table ready to eat.
***
Aaron – a short, bolding overweight man in his 50’s–was standing on the side of the road next to the gas station two miles away from the cottage.