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  Gabriel thought to himself, the only thing more beautiful than Vie’s mesmerizing violet eyes was her angelic voice. All of the angels in heaven could not sing one note as lovely as Violet. When she spoke, it was hard not to deliver her requests. When she sang, it was pure heaven. These were among the many special gifts Violet possessed and she always knew how to work them. That is what made her the perfect person for this mission. Simply put, Violet had a warm, mesmeric charm that was irresistible to all. Gabriel knew this well and so did all of the council. She was the most divine Guardian that had ever existed in every way. Gabriel knew that this mission would prove that Violet was a special force with a destiny to unleash.

  Gabriel was happy to see his friend so ecstatic in the moment, but he worried about his decision to convince the council to let her go. A decision he hoped he would not regret. Violet can be overzealous because she is still young and undisciplined, a fact Gabriel was not about to overlook. While he understood this about Violet, Gabriel knew that she was unequivocally the right person to send and this was to be her destiny.

  “Are you ready?” Gabriel looked at Violet with worry lines on his forehead.

  “Do you really have to ask?” she replied with urgency in her eyes.

  “Well then, close your eyes and take my hand” he said.

  “Wait!” Violet paused and turned to face her friend.

  She placed her hand on his cheek and said, “Thank you Gabriel” and hugged him softly. “I know this is happening because of you.” She spoke in a sincere soft tone.

  “You’re welcome Vie.” Gabriel squeezed her tighter.

  He grabbed her hand, looked at her with his gentle eyes and said “see you down there kiddo.” Violet smiled. They stood together holding hands at the Gates and waited for the rainbow to connect the worlds. Violet’s destiny waited for her. She could hardly breathe. Suddenly, the beautiful rainbow appeared, shining brightly as ever. “Vie?” Gabriel looked at her.

  “Yes Gabe?” she smiled with wind blowing fiercely in her hair.

  “JUMP!”

  Chapter Two

  The Awakening

  “I hear their voices but my eyes are unable to open. My lids are so heavy and I keep fighting to pry them open. I try to speak but I can’t give my words a voice. What is happening to me? Where am I? I hear voices talking but I can’t communicate back. I can’t stand this darkness, for darkness is my only fear! Then I hear something that comforts me immediately, but I’m not sure why? It’s a man’s voice; shaken, nervous and clearly frightened. I want to reach out to him but I can’t move my arms. God, what is happening to me? Have I arrived? Who are these voices? Why can’t I open my eyes? Gabriel….where are you?” Then I heard the man speak.

  “Is she going to be okay?” he asked with deep concern.

  “We’ll know more when she wakes up,” a very positive compassionate reply answered him back.

  “Do you think she can hear me?” he spoke again.

  He responded again with great empathy, “I’m sure she can.”

  “It is true you can feel the love in a room?” Violet thought as she lay merged with her vessel known as Vivian. Violet could feel an overwhelming sense of warmth and love all around her. She wanted so desperately to open her eyes to see just what was creating this amazing feeling but couldn’t seem to make herself wake up. She felt groggy and unsteady, which was no doubt from the anesthesia used during Vivian’s surgery.

  The voices began to speak again, more like whispers in the room that were unfamiliar to Violet, which meant she had arrived as planned. Then she felt something, a warm touch on her hand that radiated joy through her entire body. Violet wanted to react; she tried to move her fingers to hold the hand, but couldn’t. Then, while still holding her hand, Violet felt the person shift over her body and place their warm soft lips on her forehead and kiss it gently.

  “Who is this?” she wondered. “Why can’t I open my eyes?”

  Just as they began to pull away from her, she fought against whatever it was keeping her in this paralyzed state and finally opened her eyes. Everything was out of focus. Violet couldn’t see the face of the person leaning over her, but she could hear their heart beating. He looked down and noticed she was waking up and began to yell in a panicked, but excited tone.

  “Dr. Goodwin…get Dr. Goodwin…Vivian is coming to!”

  Violet kept fighting to restore the focus of her unusually keen bird’s eye sight. Second by second her vision cleared until she was able to see the person standing over her as clear as crystal.

  “Daddy?” Violet uttered in a soft weakened whisper.

  “Vivian?” he replied, his eyes now filled with tears of relief.

  It was immediate recognition from the vessel Violet was now aboard. The merge seemed to be successful. While Violet seemed to be herself and fully intact, she was also able to connect with the subjects feelings, just as Gabriel said would occur in a successful merge. Well, at least regarding the person standing before her…her father…Vivian’s father…Henry.

  This was good but Violet was not prepared for the flood of human emotions that were about to follow. She immediately felt a rush of fear, love, joy, relief, and worry for the man standing over her. Becoming human was going to be a bit more difficult than she initially thought given the raging emotions that had consumed her entire body within seconds of seeing her human father Henry.

  Violet studied his face for a moment and it was easy to see that Henry, Vivian’s father, was tired. His eyes were beautiful. They were a light shade of blue, sky blue, but covered with tiny red lines from lack of sleep no doubt. The dark puffy circles under them and deep wrinkled lines on his forehead were proof that the worry he had for his daughter was taking a toll on him. He looked at her again and began to weep.

  “Daddy,” Violet said as she grabbed his hand. “Please don’t cry,” she begged. This made her feel so bad. Violet was a special breed. She possessed an exceptional amount of empathy for others, which at times did not help her with the Guardians. Violet’s downfall, as seen by the council, was that she put others needs before what needed to be done. “There are always casualties of war,” they would tell her repeatedly in training. Still Violet had issues with this concept and that made her weak to them.

  “Vivian, I’m sorry. I’m just so happy to see those beautiful eyes of yours open again,” Henry said, trying to explain his tears. “These are tears of joy honey, I promise.” And he kissed her forehead again while trying to compose himself as the Dr. entered the room.

  The Doctor approached her bedside wearing a long white coat with a name tag on it that said Dr. Goodwin. He was an older man with salt and pepper hair and a stark white confident smile. There was a sense of pride and enthusiasm in his demeanor, as there would be because Vivian was waking up. In Dr. Goodwin’s view, this was nothing short of miraculous. Violet knew all too well why the good doctor was excited. Vivian was not supposed to wake up, but she was needed by the Guardians, by Violet. The surgery was an attempt to save her, but all parties were aware that the chances of her surviving the surgery were slim, including Dr. Goodwin. Vivian chose to have it, even knowing the risks. Henry was not happy about this decision, until now.

  Then Dr. Goodwin spoke in a congratulatory manner. “Welcome Back Vivian!” He leaned in and whispered in Violet’s ear. “I told you we would see each other again.” His confidence now turned to a sweet personal sentiment between the two of them. Suddenly, Violet had a flashback to the moment before Vivian’s surgery. She could see the memory as if it had actually been her, not Vivian on the table.

  She was back in the sterile operating room in a blue gown lying on a cold uncomfortable table. Above her was a bright light that was almost blinding to look at. There were machines all around her beeping and pumping. She began trembling in fear and Dr. Goodwin could see she was uneasy. He placed his warm steady hand on hers and asked if she was ready. While Vivian said she was, there was a moment of apprehension before she responded,
“I think so?” Dr. Goodwin smiled and placed a mask on her face instructing her to count backwards from one hundred. Vivian started counting 99, 98… then she suddenly stopped her countdown. She grabbed the mask moving it to the side of her face and exclaimed, “Wait!” Dr. Goodwin quickly turned to face her again.

  “Vivian, what’s the matter?” he asked.

  “I need to say something to you before we do this,” she said.

  “Okay. Anything for you sweetheart,” he said with a big endearing smile in place.

  “If I don’t come out of this. . .” she started with what seemed to be a last goodbye. Dr. Goodwin knew she needed his positive thinking lecture.

  “Vivian”, he scolded her; “You are going to come out of this, just have a little faith in me.” He tried to comfort his patient and good friend’s daughter.

  Henry and Dr. Goodwin were the same age. They had both lived in the small town of Newcastle, Wyoming together for their entire lives. The good thing about small towns is that everyone is like family. Dr. Goodwin had cared for Vivian from the moment she entered this world and he didn’t want to be the one who was responsible for her leaving it. Worse than that was having this precious young girl afraid of the very thing that the Doctor feared himself. Losing her would kill Henry and Dr. Goodwin knew that all too well.

  “I do have faith in you Dr. Goodwin,” Vivian stated profoundly. “Just not in him,” she said almost disappointed.

  “In whom?” he looked to her for clarification.

  “In God!” she proclaimed. “And we are all at his mercy.”

  “Vivian…don’t say that! I know you haven’t lost your faith in God. You need to keep that faith sweetheart, right here” and he placed her hand on her chest right over her heart. “Here is where he lives in you and your faith in him will always sustain you in your time of need. Hold on to it Vivian…believe in him.” He preached to her so sure of what he was saying. Vivian just looked at him silently, listening with tears in her eyes. She wanted so desperately to believe what he did, to believe once again that she could trust in God as she once did, but she wasn’t convinced. Too much had happened this past year, too much disappointment, too much sadness and definitely too much loss. Vivian believed she was being punished and she was angry with him, with God.

  “Please just let me get this out, I need to say this to you,” Vivian said to the doctor.

  “If I don’t …make it…I just want to say…thank you,” she said to him humbly. “Thank you for trying when no one else would.” Dr. Goodwin nodded his head in acknowledgement of the gratitude Vivian needed to express to him before going under the anesthesia. It was her “just in case speech” and she felt compelled to deliver it to him.

  “Vivian…Viv?” Violet could hear the doctor calling to her almost from a distance.

  “What’s going on doc?” Henry began to panic.

  Violet quickly realized she had been unresponsive in the present while having this flashback of the past. She quickly snapped herself back to the here and now and responded to the panic in the room.

  “I’m here, I’m sorry! I guess I am still a little groggy from all of the anesthesia this guy pumped into me.” Violet pointed toward the good doctor and smiled. Everyone just stared at Violet, surprised by the humor. Vivian, the vessel Violet was in, was a very nice, but very serious girl. Humor was not something she was able to rely on in an awkward moment. For Violet, humor was who she was. Henry noticed this right away and his eyebrow lifted curiously after his daughter delivered her response in joke form.

  “Well,” Dr. Goodwin moved on “being a little dazed is to be expected. You have been out for a while,” he confirmed.

  “I have?” Violet wondered how long she had actually been here and suppressed by the mysterious drug.

  “Three weeks now,” Dr. Goodwin answered.

  “Three weeks!” Violet immediately wondered if the time lost was with her or just Vivian. Surely Gabriel would have been able to wake her if she were really out for three weeks. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if she had been actually lying in this bed for three whole weeks and wasting time or if she just arrived in time for the awakening.

  “I need to ask you some questions Vivian, would that be okay?” he asked for permission.

  “Sure,” she said eager to get on with it.

  “Do you know what day today is?” Dr. Goodwin questioned Violet.

  “Ummm,” she thought to herself, if I knew the answer to that I wouldn’t be so worried.

  “No,” she replied quickly.

  “Do you know what year it is?” question number two was fired.

  “Ummm,” Violet responded with ease, “2012!”

  “Very good Vivian” and he started making notes in his little book.

  All Violet could think about was how strange it was being called Vivian. It didn’t feel right at all. In fact, it was the only part of being here so far that was really uncomfortable. A name is everything she thought, it is who we are, and it is our identity. There wasn’t much she could do about it, but she hated it none the less.

  “Now, how many fingers do I have up?” Dr. Goodwin held up his hand, fingers spread out like a high five.

  “Great, more questions,” she thought to herself. “Bring it on…”

  “Four,” Violet responded, somewhat bored.

  The room grew silent and Henry’s forehead crinkled again with worry. Violet saw Henry’s expression immediately and wondered what the problem was. The doctor switched hands, holding it up in the same high five position like before and asked the question again.

  “How many fingers now?” he repeated the same question to her.

  Again Violet responded four. Dr. Goodwin appeared bewildered and continued writing in his note pad. Next he held up a peace sign and repeated the question of how many now?

  “Seriously?” she looked annoyed at the repetition.

  “Two,” Violet stated again with complete certainty wondering where all of this silliness was going.

  The doctor seemed confused by her answer to the new scenario and reverted back to the original first question and position of hand.

  “Now how many?” he asked Violet. “Again with the high five?” she thought to herself.

  Violet decided it was time to put an end to these shenanigans since she had really important things to do here and these questions were just plain ridiculous!

  “Ummm….didn’t I just answer that question…twice in fact?” she tried not to show how annoyed she was getting.

  “Yes, you did and twice you were incorrect,” he fired back.

  “How so?” Violet challenged them to prove her wrong.

  “This is four,” the doctor held up four fingers. “And this is five” he then held up the high five hand again that he had tested her with twice.

  “I see” she said. “Well, you asked me how many fingers you had up and I said four. I didn’t know you wanted me to include thumbs or my answer would have been five,” Violet said.

  At first there was complete silence and then laughter filled the room. Dr. Goodwin had a half cracked smile on his semi-relieved face. He then addressed Henry and asked him, “Has your daughter always been this sarcastic?”

  “No,” Henry responded, not quite sure what to make of this change in his daughter. “But I can get used to it,” he added happily and they all continued with a light hearted laughter.

  “It’s good to have you back Vivian Thorne!” said Dr. Goodwin.

  “Now Henry if it’s ok with you, we need to run some tests on the patient of the hour so if you wouldn’t mind waiting outside, we shouldn’t be too long.”

  “No problem doc,” Henry responded as he headed to the door.

  He put his hand on the handle of the door and then slowly turned around to look back at his daughter. Henry felt as if he was looking at her for the very first time and Violet felt it too. Violet could almost read Henry’s thoughts simply by looking into his eyes. She understood what humans ignored
, that the eyes are the keys to one’s soul. Henry just smiled at her and continued to open the door to exit the room.

  In the second before the door closed, Violet could see someone waiting anxiously right outside her door. She only saw him for a split second but something powerful was ignited inside of her. She felt a force so strong it rippled through her entire body and then unleashed itself through her voice as it called out the name Jeremy. Surprised by the uncontrollable exclamation from her mouth, she sat silent for a moment and waited to see what the boy would do. Jeremy put his hand on the door before it shut, closing him off from Vivian. Jeremy’s body was now wedged like a doorstop to her room. Then he spoke in a soft, loving way back to her. “Vivian?” It was like he couldn’t believe she was calling for him, but so glad she did. Dr. Goodwin stopped for a moment and watched as Jeremy hesitated in the doorway waiting for permission to enter.

  “It’s okay son,” Doc turned to him, “Come on in Jeremy. We’ve waited three weeks for this lucky young lady to wake up. We can certainly wait a few more minutes and let you two kids visit. I’ll be right outside. Take your time.” Doc excused himself.

  Violet had no idea what had just happened. Truth is she was scared more than she was willing to admit. She figured it must be what she remembered Gabriel saying to her about complications and merging. She played back his words in her head, “Sometimes the soul of the vessel fights to maintain control, but it is never able to hold on very long before it surrenders to the dominance that would be you.” You can do this Violet, just stay focused,” she repeated over and over in her mind. Whatever force was present in Violet’s new vessel was gone now. She was definitely back in control.

  “Now what do I do?” she thought as she looked at Jeremy sitting right beside her waiting for her to speak to him. All she knew from Vivian’s dossier was that Jeremy was her longtime friend, turned love of her life. She didn’t spend much time reading about his life because her focus was Carter Stone, so she was again left a bit in the dark. “What to say?” she fretted with herself. “Just do small talk Violet…say something…anything!”