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“Mom, hit the gong three times.”
She listened and did as instructed.
As expected, we found ourselves in the midst of the time continuum. My parents almost lost their ability to speak. Almost. In a matter of minutes, they began blabbering about this magical portal and possible rejuvenating effects. Mom and her obsession with living forever. Gabriel had a recipe, but I doubted she was interested.
“Hit the gong three times again, Mom,” I yelled through the wind currents.
Then we found ourselves back in the living room.
“That was the best experience in my life,” Mom said. ‘What is it? Suddenly, I feel healthier. Costi, do I look healthier?”
“Mom, the time continuum is not meant to rejuvenate you. You’re still the same.”
“How can you know that?” Mom asked dejectedly.
“Because I’ve been through it many times now. The only thing it does is transport you from one time to another. Like how I got to live in medieval times. Now you believe me?”
“Is the gong magical? I never knew such power resided in our home. The woman I bought it from at the thrift shop said it belonged to Japanese royalty.”
When were these people going to let me speak? “It’s not the gong, Mom. It’s Athena.”
“What? But how?” Both parents exclaimed in unison.
“I was pregnant with her while I time-traveled. She doesn’t need a stone to time travel. Her powers are within.” I looked at the miracle I held in my arms.
Suddenly, both my parents remained silent and decided to listen to me. Finally. “When I traveled in time by accident, I met Gabriel. We got married there.”
I knew Mom wanted to say something, but Dad elbowed her, so she held her tongue.
“We lived together for two years. But an unfortunate event led to my stone getting cracked. Through many trials, we found a way to return. But Gabriel didn’t make it in time.” I paused and exhaled a deep breath.
“I’ve been meaning to ask. Where is Gabriel? You didn’t mention him once,” Mom asked.
“I killed him,” I whispered as I glanced at Athena.
“You did what?” They both interjected.
“Did you do a good job at covering up? Is this why you were so depressed? You had trouble disposing of the body? Costi, grab the shovel from the garage. Where’s the body, Petra?” Mom asked while mentally preparing the next steps in our murder mystery.
“Stop. It’s more complicated than that,” I said, and they took a seat back on the couch.
“Remember when I told you Gabriel didn’t make it? Well, he found a way. He became a vampire.”
“Now that’s the biggest nonsense I’ve ever heard. If we took into account everything written about vampires, Washington state would be brimming with them. I haven’t seen one ever.” Mom looked at her own collection of vampire romances.
“Yeah, vampires are not real.” Dad agreed.
“Think about it. How could Gabriel be so young and so rich without a wealthy family to support him?”
“Yeah, that makes sense. Him being a vampire makes sense now,” Dad said and began nodding fervently.
“The thing is, he had been cursed by a witch.”
“Are we going to believe the witch story too?” Dad whispered to Mom.
“At this point, anything goes.” Mom capitulated.
“Though he didn’t know at first, in order for him to live this long, he had to sacrifice his firstborn. Our precious Athena. Only by the powers of the witch’s spell could he stay with us. But after defeating the witch, our hopes of becoming a happy family didn’t come true. Instead, the only thing stopping him from fulfilling his sacrificial promise got vanquished, so I had to make the difficult decision to kill him.” Tears began trickling down my face. “Of course, without Gabriel’s consent, it wouldn’t have been possible. But you can leave the shovel in the garage. His body disintegrated straightaway into ash.”
