"But Heidi was wicked. Why would she want to increase such a harvest?"
Paula wipes the water off John's feet and warms them in her lap. "There are two kinds of harvests," she says. "There are two kinds of people. Those who serve others and those who serve themselves. You know thisit is nothing new. Of course, no one is one hundred percent one way or the other. No one is a perfect sinner or a perfect saint. But where there is a dominance of self-interest, a negative harvest will come about for that person. Where there is a dominance of love, a positive harvest will happen."
"You know these things for fact?"
"Yes."
"Suzama... " I begin.
She smiles. "Paula. Please?"
"Paula. When will the harvest occur?"
"The date is not set. But some time in the next twenty-five years the change will occur."
"Will everyone be harvested?"
"Not at all."
"What is the criteria?"
"I knew you would ask that. The criteria, I believe, is the same for both sides, positive and negative. Yet it has nothing to do with religious persuasion, higher learning, physical health or beauty, relative importance in society. None of these qualities will matter."
"Then what will the criteria be?" I repeat.
"It is difficult to describe."
I am frustrated. "Try."
Paula laughs, and so does her child. John is for the most part a happy baby, but he can cry in the middle of the night with the best of them. Many times I have changed his diapers to allow Paula to sleep. Since drinking my daughter's blood, I seldom need to rest. "Life is the criteria," she says finally. "Who is alive, who is not. Remember, those who are negative can be more full of life than the most positive of people." She punches me in the arm. "Take you for example."
I am her naive student, from long ago, and her remark wounds. It strikes me then how much our relationship has changed since we met. Then I was the sole knower of profound secrets. Now I truly feel I am her student and study at her knee. Mystery surrounds her like a halo. I love her so much, but she scares me.
"Am I only fit for the negative side?" I ask quietly.
She laughs more. "Silly vampire. No, don't be ridiculous.Who more than you is ready to give her life for others?"
I gesture helplessly. "But I have killed so many over the years."
She is compassionate. "It doesn't matter, Sita. Really, I know this for a fact."
I have to smile. "I suppose you would since you have such a special child."
"You understand what I am saying. The issue of harvest is separate from the type of harvest. Whether a person will go forward is dependent on his or her life vibration. Whether he or she will enter a positive realm or a negative one depends on the quality of his or her heart."
"Tell me more about this next realm?"
"I cannot."
"But you see it?"
"Yes. But words do not describe it. The next dimension is even beyond the realms souls encounter when they die." She pauses to run her hand through John's silky brown hair. How will the world react, I wonder, to a brown messiah? Of course, no race would satisfy everyone. Paula adds, "The coming harvest will affect heaven and earth."
"Is that why John was born? To increase the positive harvest?"
"Yes. But.. ."She does not finish.
"What?"
Paula frowns and then sighs. "Something is wrong. The plan is off."
"What are you talking about? What plan?"
"God's plan."
"He makes plans? Are you sure about that? I always thought he just rolled the dice when it came to us."
Paula smiles again, but the expression is short-lived. She continues in a serious tone, hugging her baby to her chest. John yawns and closes his eyes, ready for a nap.
"Every individual affects the world, but it is difficult for so many to go forward, the way we would wish them to, when there is so much evil in the world." She pauses. "Yet this evil is there for a reason. It plays its part. You remember Ory?"
"Yes. How could I forget? I just killed him last month. Why do you ask?"
But Paula is evasive, as Suzama often was. "He played his part" is all she says.
"Paula," I say. "I described to you what happened to me that night in the desert, when I confronted Ory. It seemed as if for a time I was not physical, that the very matter of my body had changed into light. Is that related to this harvest you describe?"
"Yes."