Carpathian 23 - Dark Storm

at him. She nodded her head, pressing her hands deeper into the
     dirt. She was so numb that the only thing she could feel on her skin was the sensation
     of the earth.
    Mack shuffled over, just as awkward, but well meaning. “I’m so sorry, Riley. There
     are no words. This is terrible.”
    Again she nodded, unable to answer them. Life was pulling her back from the brink
     of disaster. She couldn’t completely lose control. She had to find a way for her brain
     to function, to think of what to do next.
    The four porters picked up the body of their cousin and carried it off into deeper
     brush.
    “What are they doing?” Jubal asked Miguel.
    “They will bury him properly,” Miguel said. “In our way. We will take care of . . .”
    As the three guides stepped closer to Annabel, Riley’s entire body rebelled. Even
     the earth beneath her seemed to violently protest, shuddering in a wave of protest.
     The ground shivered, rose up in two-inch waves and sent vibrations through her body.
     She “felt” the instant protest and with it came a need to act, to move quickly, to do something—she just wasn’t quite certain what.
    “Don’t let them touch her,” Riley pleaded. “Jubal, they can’t touch her.”
    Miguel turned to her, his eyes filled with sorrow. “We didn’t wish for this to happen,
     Riley. We would never want your mother dead. Capa was not himself. He was a gentle
     man with a wife and son. He would never harm someone if he wasn’t out of his mind.
     We need to give your mother a proper burial in the way of your people.”
    She knew the guide was sincere. She heard it in his voice and saw it on his face,
     but a deeper force drove her. Her mother’s body could not be touched. Riley forced
     herself to her feet, shaking her head. Her body felt weak, her legs rubbery, but she had to get up. Beneath her feet, the earth pushed at her, driving her out of her shock.
    “Don’t let anyone touch her,” she repeated, looking past Miguel to Jubal. She forced
     herself to meet the guide’s eyes. “We have our own ways, Miguel, and I must attend
     to her.”
    She found it a little terrifying to approach that horrible site of blood and death
     in front of all of them, but it had to be done, even if she had a complete breakdown.
     She had no idea what she needed to do, but the drive was powerful in her now, pushing
     her to move.
    Weston and Shelton stepped back silently to allow her to walk slowly toward her mother’s
     body. Riley was aware of the hush descending once more on the group. The two students,
     busy disinfecting the wounds on themselves and their professor, halted to watch her
     approach the brush, marred with bloodstains.
    “Tell us what you need, Riley,” Gary said, coming up beside her. “We’ll help you.”
    She wasn’t altogether certain what she needed, but she nodded slightly, waiting a
     moment before she looked at her mother. She approached cautiously, steeling herself
     for the sight of Annabel’s mangled body. It wasn’t her mother, she reminded herself,
     only the shell left behind. Her mother was long gone and once again with the man she
     loved so much for so many years.
    The wind touched her face as she neared the dense underbrush, fingers of comfort tugging
     the tears from her eyes. She held her head high, chin up, took a deep breath and then
     allowed her gaze to move very slowly, one inch at a time, into the darkened brush.
     Her stomach lurched, and she caught her breath, a lump in her throat threatening to
     choke her. The ground moved again, gently urging her forward.
    Deep beneath the thick vegetation, Riley felt the thrum of the earth’s heartbeat.
     Her pulse jumped—matched that steady, comforting rhythm. She felt her veins tingle,
     a network running through her body, connected to the very planet she lived on. The
     flora and fauna around her breathed life into the air, and she took it into her lungs.
     Inside, she felt something stir, awaken, become aware. With each tentative step she
     took toward that place of murder and death, she became more certain of what she needed
     to do.
    Her veins throbbed and burned, an electrical current flashing through her body until
     she felt her blood ran with the very sap in the leaves of the trees, connecting her
     to all of nature. Like a sleeping dragon awakening for the first time, the energy
     arced and spread until it consumed every cell in its wake. Her mind filled with images
     from a life not lived or