She heard Gabriel ask, “What was that, guys?”
Kerim’s eyes seemed to be shooting accusations into hers while she was trying to process what Harry had told them.
“You were very calm during the whole thing,” he said to her raising one eyebrow.
She stared back, not one to be easily intimidated. She could hear Gabriel moving around behind her.
“She didn’t seem calm to me,” Gabriel said.
Kerim tilted his head towards him.
“Gabriel, you had your eyes closed the whole time.”
She felt her body relax for a moment.
“Well, not the whole time,” Gabriel replied. “Okay, most of it.”
Kerim’s eyes met hers causing her body to tense up again.
“Before you answer, Cristal,” Kerim said, “I want to know, can we trust him?”
He pointed at Gabriel.
“Hey! Wait a minute!” Gabriel cried out.
She shoved her chair back, releasing Kerim’s death grip on the chair, forcing him to stand up. She looked from Gabriel to Kerim. Question is, can I trust either of them?
“If you really want to know…” she said drawing out the words like maple syrup dripping out of a bottle.
She could see Gabriel pleading with his eyes for her to continue. Oh, no, here we go.
“This isn’t the first time this happened to me.”
Gabriel leaned back on the desk, his mouth open in astonishment.
“What do you mean?”
Kerim moved towards her, kneeling down on one knee. He placed his right hand on the armrest. His steel grey eyes searched hers. It felt like he was digging into her mind for answers.
“Do you want to know what I saw, Cristal?” Kerim asked in a low voice.
Her arms felt as if they were paralyzed, her legs stiff.
Kerim continued, “You started the earthquake and the bright light, right?” he asked in a hypnotic tone.
Cristal clenched her fists and struggled to get up. Why can’t I move?
Summoning all her strength and will power, she managed to push Kerim away. She stood up, causing him to stumble backwards onto the desk. This time she leaned in towards him, planting her fists on her hips.
“Is this an interrogation, Kerim?” she hissed.
She could feel her emotions getting out of control.
“I was watching you and there was a beam of light coming out from your chest to the ceiling and it bounced back to the ground. It was like the light was coming through you.”
Kerim took a step forward, approaching her with caution.
What is he talking about?
Her hands fell to her side. Even though every cell in her body wanted to escape from the mindless inquisition, she forced herself to stay put. It was impossible for her to tear her gaze away from him. If he leaned any closer, their noses would have touched.
“I don’t know anything about that,” she admitted, not knowing what else to say.
“When the room was shaking, you were motionless. Your eyes were empty. But I could see things above your head.”
Gabriel threw him a look.
“What things?”
“I don’t know how to explain it,” Kerim continued. “It was like watching a movie from an old projector onto the white screen. Except the screen was the light that was coming out from inside you.”
She blinked in astonishment. That’s impossible. Does he think I’m going to believe this BS? I have to get out of here.
“Cristal, did you feel or see any of that?” Gabriel asked. “Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay. I don’t have to stay here and take this crap.”
She leaped up, bumping Gabriel to the side as she grabbed her laptop and her backpack and headed to the door.
She hurried down the hallway with Kerim and Gabriel tailing her. When she reached the living room, Kerim grabbed her by the shoulder with Gabriel blocking her path.
“Cristal, you can’t leave now. We need to talk about this,” Kerim said.
Who the hell does he think he is?
“No, we don’t. I need to go and find Harry. Let me go.”
She pushed his hand off of her.
“Harry?” Gabriel asked.
She noted the sound of concern in his voice.
“No, I agree with Kerim. We need to figure this out as much as we can before meeting Harry and the rest of the group tonight.”
She couldn’t think properly much less talk about it. Beam of light? Projections above my head? What next?
Just then, her cell phone beeped. She scrambled to get it out of her backpack. New text message from Harry. The sound of Gabriel and Kerim’s cell phone text message ringtones followed soon after.
Zero: Meet me at the GN University, Physics Dept., Room 1130 at 6 pm today. Confirm receipt.
She started to type a text back when her phone started ringing. Harry’s name came up on the screen. She swiped the screen to answer.