Chapter 9: Aaliyah
With no windows in the lab, I felt more trapped. Funny thing is, the walls teased my own mind, making me feel a choking sensation in my throat. My bones crushing the four walls even though they physically didn’t move. It wasn’t the walls that made me feel that way either. The more and more I thought about how we got here, the angrier I became. I trusted Jasmine, but now she seemed a little irrational. I wanted to speak out against her, but there was something about her presence that made me go along with her plans. The walls and Jasmine were the same, and I needed to escape.
The problem? We didn’t know what we were going to face if we did escape from this room. Even with our weapons, we decided to have Omarion teach us the powers of our halos. The four of us wanted to escape and take our chances. Sean felt that we should take Heqet hostage and get information from her. I respected that about him—he was standing by his beliefs. He was standing up to not only the group but to Jasmine. She seemed to respect his decision. She wasn’t the type to dismiss any idea. You could tell when she believed in another’s idea and when she didn’t.
“Calling your powers will be different,” Omarion said, walking behind us. He made us line up to face the wall so our powers wouldn’t hit each other. “When angels use their power, the bond between us and the elements is emotional. Again, the significance of your colors also determines your element. The elements are fire, water, earth, wood, and metal.”
“No air?” Nas asked as he shrugged.
“The Eastern Zodiac,” Sean added. “Japanese culture believed in five elements, replacing air with metal and wood.”
“So, if the colors of our halos match an element, then pink would be what?” I asked.
“Metal,” Omarion replied. “You see, black is usually the color of the metal. Metaphorically speaking, it’s gray. Black is the absence of light, but when in darkness it glows violent pink.”
“So, I have to think of rings and monkey bars to use my powers?”
“In a way, yes. Your halo is the source of your power. Your weapon is the physical manifestation of your will. Your power is a spiritual manifestation. A large part of our personalities comes from these five elements that the Lord created. By understanding your element, you learn about yourself. There is no greater power than understanding oneself. Once you know yourself, your bond with the Lord is stronger.”
“It sounds like you’re saying that our power is greater,” I said. Jasmine and Omarion didn’t say anything.
“Ah, child, you misunderstand. You see, the Lord is the Father. The Creator. Angels and humans exist because of the Lord. To come to Him shows faith, but faith is a difficult concept. Everyone is on their own walk. Everyone has a different level of faith. Those who believe in Him usually have a healthy sense of who they are. They know their purpose.”
“I get it,” Jasmine said. “Moses didn’t become powerful until he understood his mission from God. He knew of God but doubted Him up until his first meeting with Pharaoh.”
“Exactly.” Omarion nodded.
“So, if green is mine, then my element is wood,” Nas said.
“Yes. Omarion is water. Sean is fire, and Jasmine is earth.”
“So, we focus on the elements?” Sean asked. “Is that what you did, Omarion?”
“No, I wanted to be free of the trap, and that’s when the power started working. I do remember feeling a sense of something. It was like the metal was trying to speak to me. I know that sounds weird.”
“No, the elements are also empathic. We are all born from the elements in some fashion. The metal was working against you. Despite humans coming from the earth, you humans have all traces of the elements inside you. Trees create oxygen, which you breathe. Your body maintains 70 percent of water. Electricity is similar to fire. Metal comes from the earth.”
“All right,” Jasmine said. “Let’s do it.”
Everybody closed their eyes and began to focus on their elements. I thought about the room and all the metal that was in it. The steel restraints, the unforgiving metal of the walls, and doors that threatened to close in on me. The trace amounts of metals in the body. I prayed for this to work. I also thought about Omarion’s advice. My personality comes from my element. Understanding that will help me unlock my power. Images of lions kept creeping into my mind as well. Pictures of Egypt, the story of Moses and the curses. Then I felt the energy from around the room. The walls called to me, the restraints, I could feel the metal inside of everyone. Even with my eyes closed, I could see pink auras of metal around me. The energy felt like the force of two magnets.
I could feel these energies taking over me, trying to possess me. I wanted to scream and stop, but something wouldn’t let me. The walls. The walls wouldn’t let me go. The restraints. The metal wasn’t calling me anymore; it was trying to rule me. I could still see the images of Egypt, lions, metals, my bow. I couldn’t breathe now, the metal winning the fight over my body. How was I like metal? I could be stubborn, but that is about it. Metal seems like it should belong to Jasmine or Omarion. The grip tightened around my throat. I thought about my dad and mom now. My family. I thought about how I was mad about not speaking out against helping Omarion. I thought about Sean and Nas, who did their best to protect me.
My dad’s words came to mind from when I first started karate. He wanted me to protect myself. I did as he wanted because he was my protector. I wanted to please him. After all, that was my responsibility. Make my dad and mom proud. Both of them were proud of me when I made nationals in high school. Then I stopped. I stopped training because I had others to rely on. I tired of making others happy and rebelled. I decided I would always do what would make me happy. Even if it meant relying on others. My parents didn’t approve of my actions after I made that declaration, but it was mine and mine alone. In that sense, I was unmoving, unforgiving, and resilient. I had suffered many women calling me names out of jealousy. I was resilient when I needed to be. I was crafty when I had to be. Metal could be useful for different purposes, and so could I.
The grip started to soften the more I thought about my own strengths. The walls, restraints, the trace metals started backing off. The magnetic energy poured away from me. I understood that I was resilient like metal and could feel the energy ooze like sweat. I opened my eyes, and my bow glowed pink. The wall started humming and exploded in flames. The sound deafened my ears, and the shockwave pushed us backward.
“Well, Omarion can make clothes, Aaliyah can make bombs. What a day,” Nas said, standing.
“Sorry,” I mustered, standing up with his help.
“Aaliyah, you could have killed us.” Jasmine’s voice was higher than normal. She sounded like she wanted to yell at me.
“Yeah, well, you already did that to us already,” I snapped.
“What do you mean by that?” she snapped back.
“You know what I mean!” I yelled. “We wouldn’t be here if we had ignored his cry. This is not our fight. Now we could die, and for what?”
“If we die, it’s because it’s God’s will. That isn’t the endgame. I can feel it. We did the right thing. This is part of God’s plan, and we will see it to the end. If that means dying, then it is what it is.”
I started to focus my energy on her but stopped. “You can’t admit when you’re wrong. Everything has to be about you. You’re not the only one who can talk to God, you know?”
“I like a good fight as much as the next guy, but we need to calm down,” Nas said with a smile on his face. He grabbed me and helped to the opposite corner. Omarion took Jasmine while Sean sat in the middle and started to meditate again.
“That was some destructive power there,” Nas said. I couldn’t speak. If I did, it wouldn’t be anything nice. “Listen, I know you’re scared. Me too. There is a part of me that is mad for going along with Jasmine. The only thing wrong with that is,” he paused, “if something happened to her and everyone else, we would never forgive ourselves. If something happened to Omarion and we read it in the papers, we would feel guilty. Then there is a simple fact that we chose to follow her. We chose to help her. She didn’t make us.”
He was right. I knew that. “I guess I’m mad that I did go along with it. You’re right, though. I would feel guilty, at least I would be alive. I have always been jealous of her, you know? Her complete faith in God. Now we know He’s real. That means all my sins…”
“I know,” he said, cutting me off. Without any more words, we both knew what we were feeling. This is one of the differences between him and Sean. Empathy. I could tell he knew I felt like a failure. To God, to Jasmine. Now I could die without having that chance to redeem myself. To make up for my mistakes.
“I don’t want to die. Not here.”
“And we won’t. You blew up that wall, and now there’s a crater. You are strong. We’re going to get out of this. I promise.”
“Because of faith?”
“God will only help those who help themselves. We are here for a reason. I don’t feel that reason is to die. We are a team. We will make it. We have to trust each other and God.”
I couldn’t hold it anymore and hugged Nas tight enough to break a rib. Tears escaped my eyes. His heartbeat pumped as if it would jump out of his chest.
“Thank you,” I said as he hugged me back.
“Now, how about you help me figure my power out?”
