Cristal - Novella by Anne-Rae Vasquez Page A

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.
    “Yes?” Cristal asked.
    “Cristal, checking to see if you’re
okay.”
    Harry’s voice seemed serious, but she could
hear a hint of excitement. His phone call should have calmed her,
but she was feeling more anxious than ever.
    “No, not really. What were you talking about
earlier? What tests?” she said.
    Should I tell Harry about the light that
Kerim saw? No. Don’t tell him anything until I figure out what he
is up to.
    “I’ll meet you back at GN and we can talk
then,” he said.
    Before she could say anything, he ended the
call.

Chapter 9
Who to Trust
    CRISTAL’S THOUGHTS WERE rattling in her head
like a pinball machine, each one banging into the other.
    “I have to go,” she said still staring at
her phone.
    “Okay, I’ll drop you off,” Kerim
replied.
    He went into the living room grabbing his
helmet off the couch.
    “No, I’m taking a cab back to the
office.”
    Kerim appeared startled by her response.
    “Okay, then. See you tonight,” Kerim said
slowly.
    Gabriel stared at her with a look of
concern.
    “We should talk about this some more, but
that’s just what I think,” he mumbled to himself.
    Maybe Gabriel is right . She paused for a moment but then shook her doubts
from her head and walked out the door.
    ***
    Outside the building, she welcomed the fresh
air. She stood still for a moment, taking in deep breaths, hoping
to relax. She looked around. People were scattering on the streets
like the fire ants that used to seek safety from the garden hose
she used to wield on in the backyard of her childhood home.
    “There is no signal,” a young man said to
her. He was waving his cell phone. “Do you have a signal?”
    She shook her head, knowing full well that
her cell phone was working fine. It was connected to a satellite
and not on a regular cellular network. Harry had made sure that all
the Truth Seekers were able to communicate with each other at all
times.
    She glanced down at her phone and noticed
there was a text message from Serena.
    Lioness: We just had a small
earthquake here in Manila. No physical damage but lots of people
are saying they saw weird things. Like visions… Will send you pics
soon.

    What? An earthquake in the Philippines too?
She began typing a response when she noticed some commotion on the
corner of the intersection.
    A group of teenagers on the corner were
pointing towards the sky. She tilted her head to see what the big
deal was. Something was very different. Angry strokes of crimson
red with charcoal rain clouds hung above them. Streaks of lightning
were crisscrossing each other like an intricate woven rug. If she
squinted, she could make out an image, almost like a painting. The
image of a middle aged woman was becoming more vivid and clear.
    I must be seeing things. Have to get out of
here.
    She scurried down West 34 th Street praying to find a cab that could take her out of the chaos
but abandoned cars were making the normally traffic congested
street even more difficult for cabs to get through. She started
picking up her pace, half walking, half running. She had to get to
GN, which was on Lexington and East 33 rd Avenue,
probably a good twenty-five-minute walk.
    Pockets of people passed her by, their eyes
opened wide, blinking fast as she raced past them. A woman with
snow-white hair and clear blue eyes caught her gaze. She