Cristal(14)

Stop thinking about it and it will go away.

She sank down on the chair and closed her eyes. She took in a deep breath and then let out a long exhale just as her father had taught her.

“Be careful, Cristal,” her father’s voice hummed in her head.

After a few minutes of deep breathing, the shaking stopped.

“Are you okay?”

She opened her eyes and saw Gabriel and Kerim standing in the doorway looking like repentant little boys begging forgiveness from their mother.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she replied. “Did you guys make peace?”

Gabriel lips curled into a smile.

He turned to Kerim and said, “Hey, how did you learn those cool self-defense moves?”

“I was in the Turkish Army for four years for mandatory service,” Kerim said.

“Could you teach me some of that? I’m really good at fighting in the game, but man, it would be really cool to be able to do it for real.”

Gabriel threw him a fake punch to his stomach.

Kerim doubled over. They began fake wrestling together, bumping into the doorframe.

“Okay, boys. Are you guys done yet?” Cristal said, relieved that they were no longer at each other’s throats.

Suddenly, a high-pitched sound blasted into the room knocking the action figures off the shelf. The floor began shaking beneath her feet. She paused for a moment, wondering if she was causing this. She looked at her hands. They were steady and she noticed too that her breathing was even. But I stopped shaking. This shouldn’t be happening.

She glanced up to see Gabriel’s hand on the doorframe and the other one holding onto Kerim’s chest, his eyes closed tight. Kerim’s arms were outstretched, his hands holding onto the doorframe. His eyes were staring at her, wide open; his face pale.

Her multiple experiences with the room shaking, minus the high-pitched sound, made her relatively calm despite what was happening. As if in a dream, she watched in slow motion her laptop slide off the desk along with her mouse, the jar of pens and other miscellaneous office supplies.





Her chair seemed to sway with the waves of turbulence, almost as if the legs had shock absorbers attached. Although the shaking seemed to be in slow motion for her, she knew that it wasn’t the same for Kerim and Gabriel. She could see the doorframe shaking violently, the wall almost seeming like it was going to implode. For brief instances, it seemed that Kerim and Gabriel disappeared into thin air. Freak, I’m seeing things now.

She opened her mouth to call out to them but the thunderous roar around them muted her voice. It seemed like hours but really was only seconds later when the floor stopped shaking. She noticed that the high-pitched sound had also vanished. Everything grew eerily still.

Kerim let go of the doorframe, his arms falling down to his sides. Gabriel was still clutching to him; his eyes closed.

“Oh!” Gabriel whimpered.

After a few seconds, he opened one eye and looked around the room. He glanced up at Kerim who was glaring down at him. He half-smiled, letting go of Kerim.

“I mean, wow that was really friggin’ amazing, huh?” Gabriel said.

Kerim pushed Gabriel aside and rushed towards Cristal.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She gave him a thumbs up but was still unsure if she were the cause of what seemed to be a mini earthquake.

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

What just happened here? Was it an earthquake or was the shaking isolated to the room? So many thoughts were filling her mind.

Kerim bent down to pick up her laptop. The light from the screen was still on—a good sign that all her work was not lost.

“Looks like your laptop is just as tough as you,” Kerim said, while placing the computer back on top of the desk.

On the screen, the video chat window was open, and Harry and Joanna were watching them.

Joanna’s mouth was wide open, her eyes wide with shock. Harry was grinning from ear to ear. He was speaking, but there was no sound. Behind them, people were picking up things off the ground. From what Cristal could make of it, they were mostly cups, cutlery, and overturned chairs.

Cristal reached over and pressed the volume button until Harry’s voice was audible. Gabriel came over and stood behind her while Kerim moved to the other side.

“…that was spectacular, guys. Dr. Saeed and I were working on some tests. We believe we are closer to proving my father’s theory. We want to talk to all of you in person tonight. I will text you the details.”





Chapter 8


Questions That Need Answers


CRISTAL STARED AT HER monitor in disbelief. The video chat window went black.

“Were you in on this?” Gabriel asked, turning to her.

Cristal said, “No,” and sat back.

Suddenly Kerim leaned towards her, grabbed the chair’s armrests with both hands and spun her chair towards him. With his hands still on the armrests, he leaned over and looked directly into her eyes.