Family Business Part 11: Connection

 The finale in Em De Mone saga (for now)...

Photo credit: Thank you, Free-Vector-Images / 29539 📸

Connection

Was I hungry? Yes, of course, I was always hungry, but was he kidding right now? I couldn’t comprehend anything else but the issue at the forefront of my mind, “You just gambled with me being able to stop that bullet with my mind? You’ve never even met me. And you have no idea what kind of power I have, and you’re thinking about food?”

“Well, yes,” my dad said with a wry smile, “And I can think about food because I always knew you’d be fine.”

“How could you know that?” I screamed. “That lunatic pointed a gun at my face and fired!”

My dad’s gaze sharpened as he walked toward me. He pushed up his sleeve and pointed to the tattoo on his inner forearm, “Because of this.”

There, on his arm, were three swirls connected at the center, forming a circle of sorts with thick black borders. One of the spirals was gray and the other two were flesh-colored.

But I recognized the symbol, “Is that a Celtic Triskele? The Spiral of Life?”

"Yes," Surprise followed by pride shot through his eyes,  “That is exactly what that is.”

I stood a little taller.

 Crossing his arms, he leaned against the counter and started talking, “A long time ago, before your mom, I hung out with a woman named Astrid, her daughter, and an odd little feline familiar. Astrid very powerful Celtic witch and a descendant of the Arianrod, the goddess of fertility, rebirth, and the weaving of cosmic time and fate. Big stuff," He paused to make sure I was following.

I gave a nod. I was. A little.

"As you can imagine, she had a long list of enemies and there was one time I saved her family from a terrible fate. Astrid was grateful and practical. She knew her enemies were now my enemies, and they would come for me and maybe one day my kin. So she rewarded and protected me with three lives. One for each life I saved.”

“So…” was all I got out as I followed his line of thinking. If I were his daughter, then I would have three lives also. But that was crazy. And untrue. “I don’t…” I rolled up my sleeves and held out my arms. “See?”

That symbol appeared nowhere on my arms or anywhere else, which means…I’m not his kin. My world jiggled and teetered for a moment. So I didn’t belong here either? My lungs tightened. I was going to hyperventilate. 

“Slow down and breathe. Of course, you belong here. Jeez, you’re gonna have to work on containing your stressors,” My dad pulled a knife out of his pocket, “The Spiral has to be activated.”

Before I could ask questions, he was in front of me with the sharp blade open and ready, “I'm not gonna lie; I’ve been looking forward to this.”

“Um…” I exhaled. Everything was happening so fast. I wanted to take a step back, but I didn’t want to miss one thing, “H-how do we activate it?”

“Usually death,” he said without hesitation. 

My stomach fell to the floor. Was my father about to kill me?

“Relax,” the corners of his mouth turned up.

Was he messing with me?

“My blood also activates it,” he said as he ran the blade along the palm of his hand and squeezed three droplets of blood onto the center of my left forearm. He smeared it with his thumb and held my arm taut, “Brace yourself. This is gonna hurt.” 

“OOWWW,” came rushing out of my mouth as a burning blazed at the center of my arm. Deep inside. It was thick and dense, but it moved and changed. Then I could feel them, swirls and whirls formed at the bone and searing their way outward. Then they were inscribed into my flesh. The thick black border sizzled blue and blackened as a new power surged from the tips of my toes to the top of my skull. All of my curvy tendrils were flesh-colored. Then the pain stopped as suddenly as it began. 

I grabbed a towel off the counter, wiped the blood away, and stared at it. Holy hells. There was a Spiral of Life etched on my arm. 

“So you see,” said my dad, “I knew that even if he did shoot you, while not at all ideal, your time on earth would not have ended. Because of our… connection.”

“Uh-huh,” I said, looking at him. Not sure where to go after learning I had a Celtic blessing embedded in my life, um lives, now.  “I took a deep breath and focused on the facts, “And how is it you knew for sure I was yours?”

I think he wanted to roll his eyes at me, but he didn’t. “For one, I’d say it’s more than obvious. Not only is our resemblance striking, and you’re a mirror image of my twin sister. But Granny checked. And I wouldn’t have played that card hadn’t I been sure.”

“Hmmm,” I looked at him, “Okay, so what about Danny Wellman?”

This time he did roll his eyes like a salty teenager, “Who is Danny Wellman?”

“The spirit with the missing eyeball? Where this whole thing started?” 

“Right…the spirit…tortured soul…missing gift of sight… my bad. They found a way to release his soul to the next life, so he’s at peace, but the eyeball is still in the wind.”

“That’s gross,” I looked at him and narrowed my eyes, “So are you sticking around?”

 “Look,” my dad cleared his throat, “I know we have a lot of things to talk about, but if I don’t get food like soon, things could…will,” he took a deep breath, “get bad. Horrid. Terrible.”

“Pancakes?” I asked, rubbing my arm. 

“Anything you want, kid,” he said and rested his hand on my shoulder as we walked out of my apartment. 

The End

I hope you enjoyed this Em De Mone short story, and I would love to hear your thoughts about the final installment of Family Business!
 
There will be more Em at some point, but next, I have a little tale of a god, a voracious siren, and an entrance to the Underworld. 
A Deception coming soon.

THANK YOU for your continued support!
Regards, Aspen ✌️

👇Need more Em De Mone?👇

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Family Business Part 1: Mystics and Mechanics

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Secret Life of Em  De Mone: Part 1: The Intro