Chapter 2

Dallas placed the roses on top of the caskets in front of him. He laid his parents to their eternal rest under the bright blue sky. They had waited until after he graduated college to take their dream vacation to Hawaii. Their dream had turned into a nightmare when an unexpected volcanic eruption wiped out one of the islands. The resulting ash cloud had killed every living person on the surrounding islands, including his parents. He had cried for days; there were no tears left to cry. There were many there to mourn their passing as they had been well loved in their lifetime together. His father had been a history teacher at the high school. His mother was a brilliant geneticist who dedicated her life to eliminating Trisomy 21 (a condition in which a child is born with an extra copy of their 21st chromosome also known as Down syndrome) at the genetic level.

A terrible sense of loneliness had taken up residence right beside the grief in his heart. Dallas had few friends. His secrets did not allow for making friends easily. He had no one left in this world who understood him or cared about him in any way. The overwhelming sense of loss filled him with a sense of dread and fear of what his life would look like now. He wasn't worried about money. His parents had left him enough funds to get by and a home to live in. Now that he had graduated, it would not be hard to find work. He had a degree to teach history and planned to teach at the middle school level. No, this was a fear of how empty his life would be without them in it. He would miss his father's kind heart and warm smile. His mother's eyes, bright with her cleverness and twinkling with whatever mischief she had planned next were now forever closed.

As he turned to walk away, he thought back over his life with his adoptive parents. They had given him a warm and loving home, where he never felt out of place or lacking. They had educated him beyond the usual parenting stuff, instilling in him in a deep knowledge of who he was at a soul deep level. He had been taken in by them when he was only a few days old, having been abandoned at a local church on what the hospital had said was the day of his birth. Many babies had been abandoned across the globe on that same day twenty-two years ago. Neither his birth parents, nor the parents of any of the other babies had ever been found. Authorities had chalked it up to a global cult that had done so as a part of some unknown religious ritual. It didn't seem to bother them that the likelihood of that many babies being conceived, born and abandoned simultaneously worldwide was nearly impossible.

No, what bothered the authorities was that all of the babies had the same genetic deformity. All of them were hermaphrodites, having been born neither male, nor female, but rather both. Several attempts had been made to surgically alter the babies, but each effort was met with fatal force for all parties involved. Countless lives of doctors and other medical professionals had been lost in the efforts to change something that nature clearly intended to remain as designed. It was as if there were some unseen force protecting the babies from being surgically altered in any way. Authorities had long since given up on performing any sort of surgery on the infants. As the children grew, they found that the children could undergo any surgery necessary to save or protect them as long as no efforts were made to alter their hermaphrodite status.

His parents had heard about the babies and chose to step forward and adopt him. They chose a non-gender definite name for him but raised Dallas as mostly male. Dallas felt that he was inherently male as he got older and chose to continue as such when they asked him about his feelings on the matter. He had noticed he was attracted to males so had decided he was gay. Though to be honest, he didn't like labels. He thought the whole world would be a better place if mankind simply chose to love whoever they wanted. He frowned on love limited by genitals, race, age, social class, nationality of any other division derived by people. The divisions only formed barriers by which they could judge the choices made by others to make themselves feel superior. Dallas had been taught by his parents that such things were a waste of the gifts given to us by our creator. Such negative emotions were damaging to his internal energy anyway.

Dallas had long since learned to listen to the gentle hum that buzzed inside his body at all times. He liked to think of it as his frequency. When negative things affected that hum, bad things tended to happen around him. He had noticed the changes begin when he turned 18. On the night of his 18th birthday, there had been a lunar eclipse. When he awoke, he found things in his room had been wind-tossed, though the window was closed. He had no explanation for it, but other things had happened since then that led him to believe something was off about himself. He had been too afraid to talk to his parents about the occurrences.

The worst had been the dreams. Since that night he had nightmares, several times each week. While the dreams varied, they all held the same basic theme; the end of the world was coming. When awake, Dallas knew they were only nightmares and tried not to let it affect his daily life. Unfortunately, he was helpless to stop the fear that took hold of him each night when he laid down to sleep. He could not stop the horrors that his dreams would make him live through each night. He had become accustomed to the cycle. Sleep, nightmare, wake up, live through day, insomnia, exhaustion, repeat. So frequent were the nightmares, he ignored the one warning of his parents' deaths. When the news program announced the volcanic eruption in Hawaii, a deep chill has set into his bones that had yet to leave him. Since then, his gentle hum had become an erratic, deep tone that told him he was nearing a dangerous zone.

His nightmares always included natural disasters. The day of his parents' death confirmed two things for him. First, the dreams were a portent of the future. It was time he began accepting their importance and dealing with it. Second, the world might really be coming to an end. He would begin writing them down each morning in a dream journal. If he could piece together the events in his dreams, perhaps he could get a timeline.

As he closed the car door and drove himself back to his parents' home, Dallas understood that things would never be the same for him. Regardless of what the dreams showed him or what the future held; his life was irrevocably altered. He turned into his parents' subdivision. As he drove past the rows of identical two-story houses, he briefly wondered how long it would take to sell the home. He had no desire to live in the cookie cutter style home he grew up in. He could not imagine living for long among the sadness invoked by the memories held within the walls of his childhood home. As he pulled into the drive, he began to make a mental list of what was needed to sell it.

Dallas parked the car in the garage and entered the home. He wandered aimlessly through the kitchen into the living room and stopped in front of the mantle where his mother kept a row of photos proudly displayed. Each photo was like a dagger to his heart. He was so raw from grief, each memory pierced the shell he had begun to build around himself. Though he had been sure he had no more tears left to cry, Dallas felt the tracks of his tears as they made their way down his face once again. His heart felt utterly desolate and broken.

He had once hated the open floor plan of this house. He could never sneak about and get away with anything because his parents had a clear view of the entire downstairs from most anywhere on the first floor. As a child, this had been a major point against the home. He shuffled his way to the kitchen, took a glass from the cabinet, filled it with water, and sat down at the dining room table nearby. He could not remember the house ever being so quiet before. He noticed the remote on the table in front of him and aimed it over his shoulder to turn on the TV in the living room behind him. He needed a distraction from the deafening silence in the house. The channel was set to his father's favorite news station. They were currently wrapping up a discussion on the United Nations delegation summit set to begin tomorrow. Dallas tuned the TV out and returned to the kitchen. Reaching in a drawer, he pulled out a notepad and began making lists. He made out a short grocery list. Once he felt reasonably certain he had that under control, he moved on to the list of things to do to sell the home. He finished up that list and slid it off to the side of the table. He would start making calls tomorrow to begin the process.

A wave of exhaustion overcame him. He turned toward the living room TV just in time to hear them wrap up a conversation about a solar eclipse expected in two days. Dallas dragged himself up the stairs and collapsed on his old bed. His suitcase sat, unopened, on the floor nearby. He reached over to the nightstand and plugged his cell phone into the charger he knew his mother kept in every room of the house. She had always like to be prepared. He laid his head down on the pillow and fell into a deep, dream filled sleep.

Dallas felt as though his acceptance of the reality of his dreams earlier in the day had opened a gate in his dream world. The dreams felt so much more real this night than in the past. He stood in a room full of people in suits. No one seemed to notice him and walked by as if he was invisible to them. A young girl stood at a podium in the center of the room giving a speech on global warming. The people in the suits appeared politely disinterested at best. Only a very few seemed to be paying any attention to the young lady.

Suddenly, the lights went out. A soft light came from directly in front of the podium, illuminating the room. It was as if time stood still for a moment. A small group of women appeared in the light. These women were clearly powerful. Dallas could feel the energy pouring off them in waves so strong it nearly knocked him over. Dallas sank to his knees to keep from falling over in their presence. Slowly, the world leaders were unfrozen. Each expressed outrage at the interruption. With a wave of her hand, one of the women put a stop to that. Their mouths were forcibly closed, and they were glued to their seats.

A voice rang out through the room. "We are the Jewel Empresses. It is our power that supports this realm. Your species has wreaked considerable havoc on this planet. Your lack of concern for your world and one another has reached a point of no return. The magic that supports this realm is now breaking down. You refer to this as global warming. Your world, as well as that of many others, will soon come to an end. Your species has only one chance for survival. We have come to give you that chance now. The people of your planet have the option to soul bond with the inhabitants of the other realms. Once they are bonded, they will be relocated to a new realm where they will have a chance to begin anew. There will be no place in the new realm for the type of governance you have set up in this world. Any attempts to set up such a government, will be met with fatal force. We ask that you deliver this message to your people in the manner which you believe will best serve your citizens. In two weeks, natural disasters will begin destroying your world. When this begins, the portals will open. Any who enter the portals with ill intentions will not arrive in the new world. Time is of the essence. You have one hour to make your decision."

Dallas watched as the leaders argued about their decision. As promised, exactly one hour later, the Empresses once again brought the room to silence. "What is your decision? Will you cooperate or must we use other means?"

The voices of the world leaders were restored to them. They continued arguing, tossing out questions to the Empresses, making pathetic attempts to negotiate as if they had any power to do so.

"Make no mistake, this will happen. It is not a question of if, or even when. The only question is what part you will play in the events to come. Will you do what is necessary to inform your people of what is happening in their world, or will you choose to keep them in the dark until it is too late?"

One by one, the leaders chose to reject her warning. The women turned towards one another, joined their hands together in the center and disappeared. Time restarted, picking up exactly where it left off. The leaders looked at one another, wide eyed and considerably paler. Dallas could nearly feel their fear.

Dallas awoke from his dream. For the first time since his 18th birthday, Dallas felt a calm resolve upon his awakening. Dallas knew what his dream was for, why he'd been having them, and what he was to do. It should have come as no surprise to him that the greedy leaders of the world had chosen to disregard such a dire warning. After living in this world for twenty-two years, he had never seen any indication that the world's leaders actually cared about the world. This incident had clearly been no exception to that rule. It never ceased to amaze him that people in a position of power were more interested in keeping that power than they were in completing the responsibilities the power was given to them to uphold. Dallas had never heard of a Jewel Empress, but he had no doubt that those women held a power unheard of in his world. A tiny part of him was glad his parents would not have to be here to see the end that would come. A much larger part of him wished his parents were still around to guide him. In a way, it was their voices that we're currently urging him to do something about this dream. His parents had always taught him to pursue his beliefs, wholeheartedly.

Dallas got up and got dressed. He made his way downstairs, ate a quick breakfast in the kitchen, and got straight to work. Starting today he would document each of the dreams. His most recent dream, in conjunction with the recent news broadcast, gave him the timeline he had been looking for. Now he just had to decide what to do with that information. If the world's leaders had no intention of informing their people, he would do it himself.

He grabbed his car keys as he headed out the door. Dallas drove to the local electronics store, strode through the doors, and walked directly to the web-camera equipment. When those portals started appearing, Dallas would be ready.

Dallas returned to his parents' house. He no longer felt it necessary to sell the home. Dallas prepared for the end of the world as he knew it. Dallas took out a pen and paper and began writing out his script. Even if it was the end of the world, he wanted his video to seem professional and well planned. After practicing it in a mirror several times, Dallas felt confident enough to begin. He carefully recorded a video announcement. Once the video was complete, Dallas began the process of editing his video to include subtitles. Using online translation software, he added the text scrolling across the screen in every known language. After eighteen grueling hours, he had a video ready that he would upload to the Internet when the time came.

After completing his task, Dallas felt a sense of accomplishment. His thoughts returned to his parents. He decided to spend some time in his father's library. He went to his father's mahogany desk and eased himself down into his father's favorite leather chair. His mother used this room sometimes, but everyone knew the library was his father's domain. He noticed a box of folders on the corner of the desk. He reached in and took out one of the folders. A brief scan of the contents of the folder revealed it was one of his mother's genetics research projects. While he understood the basics of his mother's profession, genetic mapping was beyond his understanding. He carefully replaced the folder in the box. Thoughtfully he swiveled the chair to his father's bookcase. He ran his finger along the spines of the books briefly considering each one before moving on to the next. It appears his father's most recent obsession would have been evil creatures of mythology. Having no particular plans for the next few days, Dallas decided to spend his last few days on earth in the same way his father had spent his time just before their fateful vacation. Dallas randomly selected one of the books, settled comfortably into the chair and began to read.