Chloe At Worlds' End
Chapter 12

Onri twisted thelatch and slowly pushed open the door. It noiselessly slid open to moreblackness. He whispered to Grog and Alessandro who were both pressing upon hisback

“The door is open… shall we go inside?” the answer he heardin unison was

“Yes…”

The three of them, as quietly as they could shuffled in as asingle unit and stopped when they were inside a few feet past the door. Theonly thing they could hear was their own nervous breathing. And judging by howtightly all of their sweating palms were gripped together… they were indeednervous. Alessandro whispered

“It’s too dark in here… there’s no way for us to spy onanything…

Just then, thebooming echo of the door slamming behind them sent a rush of panicked adrenalinpainfully shooting to their brains. It was immediately followed by the loud clackof an industrial switch being thrown as dim emergency lighting lit up the largecavernous room which they were in. And they were certainly not alone. Severalof the large tunic adorned wolf-like creatures grabbed and wrestled Grog to thefloor. While two more, one on either side of them, latched onto Onri andAlessandro. Onri called out in his mind to Chloe

“Chloe… Chloe… it was a trap… we’ve been caught!” He thenheard Mothers voice in his head.

“Onri, you will have to be brave and patient… Chloe is currentlyworking on our problems and is indisposed in another dimension… and I am beingprevented from retrieving you… please try to be calm and keep your wits aboutyou”

Onri andAlessandro looked gravely at one another as the claws of the wolves werepainfully puncturing their shoulders… then at Grog as he was being held facedown on the floor. They hadn’t noticed the circular partition of thick blackcurtains in front of them until the portion of it which faced them slowly drewopen. The horror that was Rajeem was sitting there in a lotus position with hislegs crossed upon a large circular purple cushion. He was much larger than theother wolves by twice the size. And his eyes were closed as he sat within apulsing crimson shield of a corona. There was a perpetual violet colored opaquemist which hovered over the corona, and within it and looking out at them washis purple iris ringed eye. When Onri and Alessandro again looked at oneanother, it was with mouths agape in astonishment and horror. When theyreturned their gaze upon him, their eyes were drawn to what they had missed thefirst time… sitting beside him on the floor, inside one of the glass canistersof the type which before had held one of the cloned brains, was his source ofpower. The amethyst colored jewel was aglow… and it looked as though itprobably always was so, as Rajeem had it in constant use. They noticed that itwas a little larger than the one on Chloe’s staff.

There were a fewmoments of nail biting silence… then Rajeem spoke to them

“Hello Onri, Alessandro, and Grog, it’s so very nice to seeyou again. And where may I ask Onri, is your stupid and ignorant sister… shedidn’t care to join our party here again?” Onri tried to control his quakingand cracking voice.

“I’m sure that you will hear from her soon enough… Rajeem”

“Well, that is good… as if I have nothing better to do thanwait around for her, that ugly, skinny little girl… it seems that is all I doof late… wait for the moment where I can destroy her utterly… forever, then Ican finally go about my important business unimpeded”

Onri spoke to Alessandro and Grog in his mind

“Guys… I don’t think he can hear us as we communicate… wemust be at our highest attentiveness, if anything should happen and thesituation changes, we must act quickly. He is only a few feet from us… and thecrystal is there… if we should get the chance to separate him from it, then hewould be powerless”

Chloe felt thatshe now had enough information to proceed with her new plan. She would commenceupon her return journey through evolutional time, and at the proper junctures,she would try to correct and restore any of the genetic coding that Rajeem hadaltered… and if she could, she would also try to omit the defects that humanshad regarding their penchant for selfishness, hatred, and maliciousness.

Grog was growingrestless, he wasn’t accustomed to being overpowered by any other creatures, andhis desire for revenge upon Rajeem for killing his beloved brother Frog wasbeyond palpable. He began struggling more forcefully with his captors. Onricalled out to him mentally

“Grog, you must remain patient… don’t provoke them… you mustpreserve your strength and your life for the right moment should it come! Wecould not hope to prevail against him just now when he is in control of hispowers!”

Chloe reachedthe first juncture in human evolution which she sought, and stopped to exactsome changes for the betterment of her race… she did so with some hope in herheart… then returned to her journey forwards.

Grog had heardOnri’s plea, but just couldn’t contain himself. He mustered all of his sizablestrength and threw off most of his captors with a roar and stood up. Rajeem’seyes opened in surprise as Grog wrestled with two of the remaining wolves.Rajeem laughed in obvious entertainment and said mockingly

“I so enjoyed watching your brother burn… prepare to joinhim now Grog”

The eye above Rajeem spewed its directed plasma, hitting oneof the wolves wrestling Grog in its path. It howled in pain as it burst intoflames, and ran off frantically waving its arms about. Grog then charged atRajeem as he broke free of the last wolf. He took only one step when that wolfdove for his legs and grabbed them. Grog fell to the floor with a loud thump asRajeem smiled a fang toothed grin. The eye again pulsed with a momentaryrecharging… Grog looked up at it in horror…

Chloe arrived atthe second juncture of evolution which she sought. She could tell that this wasit, as it was obvious that simultaneously the genomes of wolves and humans hadchanged dramatically. Without hesitation, she restored them to the way thatthey were just before being altered.

Onri andAlessandro, watching with frozen horror stricken faces, endured that millisecondas an hour, as the eye was about to finish their friend when somehow theimpossible happened… Rajeem and the rest of the wolves, in the blink of an eye,reverted to just plain looking wolves standing on all fours… and the mistshrouded eye disappeared as the glowing jewel became lifeless in its case.Rajeem screamed “NO!” as he looked at it. Onri and Alessandro lunged towardsthe jewel. It began to start glowing again as Rajeem tried to regain control ofit. Onri kicked the glass case… it shattered as it flew from his foot… with thejewel skidding across the floor into the distant darkness. As Onri chased afterit, Alessandro dove onto Rajeem as he in return snapped his snarling jaws intohis throat. As Alessandro wrestled painfully and messily on the slippery bloodsplattered floor with Rajeem, Grog appeared, towering over them both. Hegrabbed Rajeem by the scruffy fur of his neck and with one powerful arm, pulledhim off Alessandro and raised him high and writhing above his head.

With Rajeem snarlingand snapping his blood frenzied fangs, Grog spied some humming electricaltransformers not far away and behind low chain link fencing, which had highvoltage hazard warning signs upon it. Rajeem saw where Grog was looking… hebegan writhing and snapping more excitedly at Grog as they both locked eyes…then Grog spoke loudly to him, the last words he would ever hear again… “Thisis for my brother… FROG!” Grog threw him into the air, flipping and yelping ashe arced over the distance to fence. He landed in the midst of the transformerpit accompanied with zaps of starry sparks, cracks of popping shocks, and wailsof deserved deliverance.

Onri had racedback to the scene with the jewel in hand just in time to see the demise of thesecond Rajeem. He rushed to Alessandro’s aid as the poor boy lay there holdingclosed the gash in his throat. Just then Chloe appeared, walking through aviolet mist portal. She screamed

“Alessandro! Everyone, I can help… step away!” She had justspent the last hour repairing genetic splices, so mending a little torn fleshnow seemed almost juvenile. She held the glowing jewel of the staff over hisneck… and before all their eyes as if by magic, it was again perfect under themessy smears of blood. Alessandro stood up and felt his neck, saying

“Oh thank you Chloe… I thought I was done for!”

“Don’t mention it Alessandro, of course you’re welcome”

They lookedamongst themselves and they were now alone, as the rest of the wolves had runaway. Onri said

“Chloe, whatever you did it worked… and without a moment tospare, your timing was perfect!”

“Well, on the aspect of timing I think we can be thankfulthat some luck was on our side. Shall we go outside? I think that we may havesome nice surprises in store”

They hastily made their way out of the building, for justbeing inside of it still made them all feel quite ill from all of theirnegative associations with it. When they walked outside into the light of adusky late afternoon, they found a very large throng of a crowd had gatheredthere… seemingly waiting for them. And when they appeared it erupted intojubilant celebration. People… real people… not apes, jumped for joy. Theycrowded around their heroes and hoisted all of them, including somehow the bulkof Grog, above their heads… passing them around. There were chants of praise,giddy laughter, and also the popping open of many bottles of champagne forquite a while before the melee even hinted at being concluded. Chloe said toher friends as they finally had a second to themselves

“I think we may excuse ourselves finally… we could use somerest back at the house in Oregon…” Onri replied

“Yes… ha ha, hurry before we are grabbed again!”

Before they knewit, the mist was clearing and Chloe, Onri, Alessandro, and Grog were standingin the center of the attic, and they were surrounded by all their friends.Charlie… the human one, Sissy, Colin, Ms. Aggie and her pups, all of theirfurniture friends, and of course not least of all, Mother. She said

“Welcome home to us… our hero’s! I took the liberty ofgathering the rest of us here to celebrate our victory… hooray!”

Needless to say, Chloe and her fellow victors enjoyedanother victory celebration which lasted into the late evening. When theirhoopla finally wore down and all food and drink that was hastily gathered wasconsumed, the party ended quite abruptly, as everyone realized how completelyspent they were. Chloe went to the second floor guest bedroom, which was stilldecorated as it was many centuries before, when her ancestor Chloe had stayedthere. She closed the door, flung her exhausted self onto the bed, and fellinto an almost coma like sleep.

It was late thenext morning before any stirrings in the house began. When Chloe finally wokeup around midmorning, she made her way to the downstairs kitchen. Mother wasthere, looking quite odd as a tortoise standing upon the booth behind thekitchen table, with the bulk of her shell resting upon the edge of it. AndColin was there as well upon the table, while Onri and Alessandro were seatedalongside it. Mother looked her way, saying

“Good morning Chloe… have you any plans today besides awell-deserved rest?” She answered

“Good morning everyone… gosh I haven’t had a chance yet tothink what I may have a need to do today” Actually she had thought ofsomething… she felt a strong pull on her heart to visit the last place that shewas with Mr. Carpet. But she would keep that to herself for the moment, as shewanted to go there alone when the time came. Alessandro said

“I am so happy that all the people of Sanctum are humanagain… do you think they have already cleared the rocky rubble away and aremaking their way out into the real world yet?”

Onri answered him

“Wow, I would love to see that. We must go check on thatsoon if it is possible, they may need our help” Chloe said

“Yes, it is certainly possible for us to go there and help…if not a downright requirement for us…” Mother then weighed in

“Yes, it appears you all have everything well in hand. Andit is definitely past the time for me to be getting back to my actual, realexistence in my realm where I belong. In fact, I can delay no longer… I bid youall good bye, I will miss you” They all responded with a

“Good bye mother, we shall miss you as well!” With that, shedisappeared into a puff of violet mist… and she was gone. Chloe then said tothe rest of them there

“Before we decide when we are going back to help Sanctum, Ifirst need a little time today for myself to do something… I will see you all alittle later”

Chloe arrived at the saddest place that nowexisted for her… the remnants of her old home and life. She had dressed insomewhat of a disguise by wearing a concealing, floppy hat and largesunglasses. Luckily there weren’t too many people around. Mostly she walkedslowly through the debris of the house more in thought than actually lookingfor anything. She was replaceing it very difficult to be here now… much more thanshe thought it would be as tears streamed under her glasses. Then, somethingmetallic and spherical in shape caught her eye under the dust… why, it was theLeviloop orb! She bent to pick it up as her nose ran a little through hertears… and laughed in flabbergasted surrender as she held it up in the light…then placed it into her pocket. She hadbrought a small empty wooden box that she hoped she would be able to use… forthe remains of Mr. Carpet. She dearly hoped that she would replace some.

She thought ofwhere that spot could be while she had rode her last ride upon him, and walkedin that direction. Why… she couldn’t replace a thing as she circled and circledthe area for quite a long time. She was starting to feel panicked and frantic…she had to replace something! She would not leave here until she had foundsomething! Her feelings were getting the better of her now as she became weakkneed while circling yet again, looking, crying, looking, crying… looking…wait… did she hear something? There it was again… a teeny tiny little voice,saying… “Chloe… Chloe…” Her heart caught in her throat… it couldn’t be! “Chloe…down here!” She ripped off her sun glasses and peered into the dirt… it wasbarely visible to the naked eye, but there it was… a single solitary fiber of athread… of Mr. Carpet! It somehow escaped the flames!

She screamed andscreamed “Mr. Carpet… Mr. Carpet… it’s you! I can’t believe it… Oh my god… Ican’t believe it!” “Hold on Mr. Carpet, I see you… oh thank heaven! Thank you,thank you…!” She knelt closer… crying hysterically, but tears now of joy. Sheplucked the little fiber out of the dirt… it was less than a piece of thread,truly only a hairs width of a single cotton fiber. She said “Oh Mr. Carpet, Ihadn’t expected to replace anything of you that was still alive! I have an idea…hold on!”

With the fibermore than firmly pressed between her thumb and fore finger, she raised herstaff high with her other arm as if in triumph. A crowd had gathered around herin curiosity from all her screaming and theatrics… but they hadn’t the foggiestidea what was going on… other than recognizing that she was obviously their oneand only Chloe. Violet mist swirled from the jewel, then around her entirely.The crowd stepped back but kept watching… their eyes followed the wisps as theycleared, and Chloe was gone.

Onri and theentire party happened to be in the attic when Chloe reappeared. When the mistcleared, she observed the surprised and confused looks upon all their faces asshe was excitedly and too quickly trying to speak, but she was just not yetintelligible… she stopped speaking and took a couple calming breaths… but couldstill barely contain her excitement. She said to Onri

“Onri, please go get a needle and thread… I saw some in thekitchen drawer… in the service porch!” He answered tepidly

“Ah, okay…” and sprinted down stairs. Chloe set down herstaff and ran over to a pile of bric-a-brac in the corner, and startedrummaging around in it with one hand, saying

“I know there is one here… I saw it…” then;

“Here it is!”

Many pairs ofcurious eyes silently watched her… and waited to see what could possiblyhappen. Chloe dragged a large rolled up carpet to the center of the room whereMr. Carpet had always lay, and quickly rolled it out onto the floor. As Onricame back into the room and saw some other carpet there in that sanctifiedspot, he was shocked beyond words… how could Chloe do this? She said to him

“Have you the needle and thread?”

“… yes… here you go”

Chloe was glad to see that the needle was still threaded asshe remembered it was.

“Thank you Onri” She said, and continued speaking toeveryone as she hastily started sewing.

“I’m sorry to keepyou all in suspense… but I am now finished!” She then stood up.

Alessandro asked

“Finished what… what have you finished Chloe?” The edge ofone corner of the carpet flapped

“Hello… can anyone hear me?” The room erupted with shouts ofglee to say the least. Mr. Piano played enthusiastically loud merry music, andthere was much celebration and dancing through the afternoon hours.