The Love Spirits - The Little Girls who came from the Stars by Marcos Aragao Correia - HTML preview

Chapter 12

f everal days had passed. Now the birds of Praia da Luz were signaling sunrise. Kami and Yania were still sound asleep, and the gentle waves of their beautiful dreams were soothing their anxieties.

Ijyu was preparing breakfast for the three, trying to come up with something similar to their meals in the village. The canned food from the supermarket was torture to both the health and palate of those who had long ago become accustomed to the generous, fresh natural flavors offered by the lush land where they lived. Here in society, there were not many organic products in the supermarkets. Plus, apples and bananas had pesticides, melons and watermelons had chemical fertiliz-ers, and the cabbage, lettuce, and tomatoes had traces of rat poison.

Ijyu felt guilty because it seemed that he was poisoning the girls. It had been several weeks that they had been living in this world, one focused on selfishly making money. They knew it was impossible to form an egalitarian society when there were so many inequalities within the hearts of people.

Finally, in an outburst of anger, Ijyu threw everything into the trash and decided to prepare only a few slices of whole-wheat bread with skimmed milk for Kami and Yania to eat. At least he wouldn’t have a heavy conscience. He had hardly closed the lid on the trash when the insistent sound of the doorbell echoed throughout the house.

“Inspector John!?”

“I need to talk with you. It is about Madeleine.”

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“Then come in!”

The girls rose, still sleepy when they saw who had arrived. Then they shuffled out barefoot and in pajamas to join Ijyu.

“Good morning, Andrea and Anna, or whatever your real names are,” said the inspector, already seated with his hands resting on the newspaper-strewn table.

The girls returned the greeting, but were surprised by the inspector’s apparent discernment. At the same time, they saw that his countenance was different, and for the better. Brighter.

“Don’t worry. I’ve come to help you. I know you are special and that you want a better world. You know... I’m tired of being a monster,”

he said, hanging his head in shame. “Since the day I saw you, I’ve realized why I am so unhappy. Your eyes shone in a way that I had never seen before. Your happiness caused me to be jealous. Yes... you were truly happy. And you were happy to be able to help a girl who’d been violated. I’d never realized this before. That is what you call Love, isn’t it?”

Yania, Kami, and Ijyu were cautious. They knew that all monsters lied and were hypocrites, often pretending to be good people only to gain the confidence of truly good people and that only after they’d obtained what they wanted did they reveal their true intentions.

The inspector perceived their caution. He got up and approached Yania. “Young lady, I want to apologize for grabbing your arm so forcefully, and for having called you a brat. I know that you didn’t deserve it and that you were right to call me a mercenary.” He patted her on the head.

Yania focused on the feelings of the inspector to verify that they truly corresponded to the words that he spoke. There were a few seconds of silence.

“Can I give you a hug?” the inspector asked hesitantly.

Yania looked deeply into his eyes, trying to see inside his Spirit. She concentrated, and the silence continued for a few more seconds. “He is shining from within!” Yania exclaimed at last.

It was then that she realized that he had truly changed. He was truly sorry to be a monster. A tear appeared in the corner of one of Yania’s eyes. She stood up and gave the inspector a hug.

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“I’m sorry that I called you a mercenary!” she said, moved. The two embraced warmly.

Kami and Ijyu felt the same as Yania. The inspector really did not want to continue to be a monster and was deeply sorry for all the evil he had done.

Inspector John returned to his seat and took several papers from the folder that he had brought. “I managed to take this from the desk of the coordinator of the police. Look!” He showed them a large map.

“Here at Praia da Luz are dozens of underground tunnels. When I was investigating the case, along with a colleague, we talked to an architect who knew about these. We were completely unaware that they existed.

It was the same architect who gave us this map, which we added to our case files.”

Ijyu, Kami, and Yania looked at the map.

“By itself, that’s nothing special,” he continued. “There are many locations with underground tunnels. The strange thing was that when I suggested to our boss that we investigate these tunnels, as they could have been used in the abduction of Madeleine, his answer was an immediate no! He justified himself by saying that we didn’t have time to waste on them and prohibited us from entering the tunnels. Later, when I was flipping through our case files, I found that the map had disappeared. Since all the pages of our files are numbered, I found the pages that corresponded to the map were now related to other documents that had not existed before and that were irrelevant to the case. I questioned the chief about the disappearance of the map, and he told me that the map never existed and that I should just return to my work if I didn’t want to have any problems.”

“So that’s exactly what you did, right?” Ijyu asked, giving away the answer.

“The police department is controlled by a rigorous hierarchy,” said John, “and the department in Portimão is very small. We only have one supervisor, and he gives absolute trust to the coordinator of the department. The coordinator is the highest ranking officer. I’ve seen some colleagues who have had problems after questioning the supervisor and the coordinator, including being unjustly convicted in trumped-up disci-plinary proceedings.”

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“It seems that this supervisor is a good little minion of the coordinator!” laughed Yania.

“You are absolutely right, young lady! Regardless, I went to talk with the coordinator.”

“And then?” Kami asked. “He straightened you out, as it appears.”

“More than that! He threatened me with death. He knows I have no close family, so he had nothing with which to blackmail me. He simply put his gun on the table and asked if I knew that sometimes accidents happen, that sometimes weapons fire on their own.”

“What an evil monster!” Yania said furiously.

“And that’s not all. At first, the theory that the police went with was that there had been an abduction. We had clear instructions that when we spoke to journalists, either officially or by leaking strategic information—”

Kami interrupted the inspector. “Leaking strategic information?

What do you mean?”

“Well, the police know that the media outlets have a huge influence on garnering public support in relation to our goals. So we use them to influence people, either to think that someone is guilty or that someone is innocent. We secretly contact journalists and give them information that then influences the public, even if it is false. What matters to us is that we can manipulate public opinion according to our interests. We often torture people to more easily achieve our evil objectives, forcing them to sign false confessions after they have been beaten severely, as we did with the mother of Joana Cipriano. The media publishes everything that we say because they think that if it comes from the police, it must be true!”

Ijyu lowered his head. He remembered well Joanna, a beautiful young Love Spirit brutally murdered years earlier. “Another case just like before,” Ijyu exclaimed with anger.

“Yes, and very interesting that in both cases, due to your involvement, the police were required to protect the monsters involved and change the case theory from abduction to murder perpetrated by the parents.” The inspector showed them a document. “Right after you came to see me, I wrote up a report describing your leads to the coordinator and even mentioned the strange electric shock when I grabbed the girl,” he said, pointing to Yania. “May I now know your name?”

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“Of course! It’s Yania! And this is Kami, and this is Ijyu!” she replied with confidence and trust.

“Your names are very beautiful!”

The inspector pulled another document from his folder. “Check this out. It’s an internal memo from the coordinator, signed the day after I delivered my report, that the team should give priority to the theory of murder by Madeleine’s parents and abandon the search for the girl.”

“But why?” Yania asked, outraged.

“In his memo, the explanation was given that the majority of evidence collected clearly points to the involvement of her parents. But it is completely false! I was around the others on the case and knew the main leads and clues that the other detectives had gathered, and everything points to kidnapping.”

“So, why?” Kami insisted.

Inspector Johns took out one more document and showed it to the three.

“This is an internal memo from the Judicial Police, dated May fourth of this year, just one day after Madeleine had disappeared. It says that our agents should recommend to all parents who are worried about the safety of their children to have microchips implanted in them. These high-tech microchips would allow real-time tracking of the whereabouts of their children, using satellites. They would also have a database of information about the child, and when the government allowed, the chips could also be used for payment in stores. Madeleine’s name is even invoked here, saying that her abduction could have been avoided if she’d had the chip implanted!”

“How disgusting!” Yania exclaimed.

“The monsters want to control everyone!” added Kami.

Ijyu gave an ironic smile. “Just what I was waiting for! The brave new monstrous world, where everyone is tracked and followed to the last detail!”

“Exactly! But I’m already imagining the worst... that it is a total lie that the microchip can prevent the abduction of a child. Many criminals know of the existence of this technology, and if they were to abduct a child, they would surely utilize an electromagnetic detector to see whether the child had a chip, and if so, it would be easy enough to take it out because the chips are inserted only superficially, just beneath the 132

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skin. The only way to avoid this is would be to implant the chip somewhere in the body where any attempt to remove it would cause the child’s death—inside the head, for example—and you can be sure that the government will propose this at some point. But the main question, as I think you’ve already perceived—”

“Of course! Who will protect the children from the criminals in the government?” Ijyu said.

“Exactly! If the government now has direct control over all children, they will later have control over all adults, knowing everything about them in real time. That is to say they can kidnap, beat, rape, and murder with impunity, and with the greatest of ease, because the microchip tells you all about the potential victim. And since they are the ones making the chips, only they will have the electronic key, like a remote control that enables or disables the chip whenever they wish, so they could prevent the family from locating the child if they wanted. They can always claim that the chip broke down or was disabled by criminals, if asked why the chip isn’t working in the missing person. And since it is them, the government, that controls the police, they will always remain unpunished.”

“Since we all know that history teaches us that most of the govern-ments of Earth are generally composed of the worst kind of criminals, this is a terrible idea!” Kami said.

“Of course! We all remember Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Mao Tse-tung, and many others,” added Yania.

“Girls, imagine the chips in the hands of any one of those monsters you mentioned. If they managed to kill millions of innocent people without chips, what if they had access to everyone by means of a chip!” Ijyu noted.

“The danger goes even further. First, they will use propaganda about children who have disappeared. After they have brainwashed everyone, the chip will become mandatory.”

“Just like they already do with dogs! Because for them, people are just like dogs!” Yania said, openly expressing her outrage.

“You are right, Yania! But it’s they who are animals, not us!” Kami added angrily.

“It’s all part of a wider sinister plan of the monsters to prohibit Love on Earth,” said Ijyu, remembering some research he had conducted T H E L O V E S P I R I T S

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while living in society. “Children are always one of the prime targets, since in addition to being more vulnerable, they will also be the future adults of society. One of the greatest perversions of the monsters is to associate the term pedophilia to the rape of children. In fact, ‘pedo’

means child and ‘philia’ means friend, so pedophilia really means ‘friend of children.’ But a true friend of children would not violate them or do any other sort of evil. When they use the term ‘friends of children’ for those that do evil to them, the monsters are trying to covertly instill in people that to be friend of children is a bad thing. The result is that many adults are afraid to express their Love for children, avoiding giving hugs or kisses, for fear of being dubbed pedophiles and being arrested by the police. And if children grow up without affection, without Love, they will become sick and easily manipulated by the monsters.

Then, with the absence of Love becoming the rule in practice and accepted as something normal, the monsters will take the final step of making laws to definitively prohibit love on Earth. This is their great ambition.”

Hearing this, Kami and Yania threw themselves onto Ijyu and began to give him lots of kisses and hugs.

“If they think they’re going to ban Love, they are mistaken!” said Kami, giving him a big hug.

“Try to send the police,” Yania said, giving him a peck on the cheek,

“to arrest,” another peck, “all those who love us.” Another kiss. “They will see what happens to them!” said Yania, giving lots of kisses to Ijyu, who reciprocated, giving her lots of hugs and kisses in return.

John was moved by the display and thought a lot about how much he had missed out on as a monster. Yania and Kami perceived John’s thoughts and went to him and also gave him lots of hugs and kisses.

“You are no longer a monster, and therefore you also deserve some!” Yania said.

But Inspector John was still inhibited and embarrassed because he was still used to the hideous rules of Evil.

“Relax, relax!” Kami said, trying to tickle him under his arms, which finally made him smile.

“Thanks, girls!” he replied and gave each of them a kiss on the forehead. “Let’s return to our conversation,” he said, trying to get out of a somewhat awkward situation.

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The children went back to their seats. They knew they had to sort out some important issues that were still unresolved.

John straightened his shirt. “Yes, it is evident that Evil intends to prohibit all Love. This is what they want in the end. And this means that they will kidnap and murder children.”

“They! Remember ‘they!’ They took her!”

“In fact, that was the phrase used when Kate returned to the restaurant, stating that Madeleine had disappeared!” recalled John.

“It was a very spontaneous phrase, as if ‘they’ was something quite obvious to her,” Ijyu noted.

“But then why did the Judicial Police abandon the abduction theory, if the abduction theory was what ‘they’ wanted?” asked Yania, trying to clarify this point.

“The solution lies in combining all these elements. They wanted to promote the abduction theory. You said it well. Wanted... but from the moment you arrived and spoke of spiritual information regarding Madeleine, everything changed. They must surely have asked for information from the secret services, and they knew who you really were.

Because you are not of this world, right?”

Ijyu smiled.

“It depends what you consider this world.”

“That shock to my hand was certainly not something common in this world.”

“But it can be. Can you imagine the possibility that this world was usurped from its original inhabitants?”

The inspector hadn’t thought of that.

“The whole world and all its stars and planets belong to Love, which is the primary source of all existence!” explained Kami.

“And we are Love Spirits on a mission to return Earth to Love!” Yania continued with great pride.

“So you just gave the answer to the question of why the premise of the police suddenly changed! They could not let those whom they hate the most, in other words, you, be responsible for locating the body of Madeleine! Can you imagine? Television, radio, magazines, and newspapers around the world announcing that the Love Spirits had discovered, through the spiritual means of Love, what had happened to Madeleine? They crafted and executed this case with one sole intention: T H E L O V E S P I R I T S

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to foster worldwide fear of kidnapping so that all children would be implanted with a microchip. Everyone is watching the details of Madeleine’s case. And then you three come and say, ‘We are Love Spirits, and we have accurate information about what happened to Madeleine via spiritual means!’ So then people go to the lake, as you describe it, and find that the girl’s body is there, and that everything happened exactly as you said! Everything! The description of the killer and everything else, all correct! This would make all the people want to know more about Love, the Love that found Madeleine and her killer! All media from around the world talking about you and even with you! All the media talking about Love and teaching the truth about Love! That would be what they call ‘turning the spell on the sorcerer!’”

“Yes, John, it makes sense. We understand now the ‘why’ of all this.” Ijyu looked at a photograph of the Spirits of Madeleine, Joana, and Francesca in an embrace. “Poor little girls! Innocent victims of such awful monstrosities!” He held the photo to his heart and closed his eyes.

“We will not let your memories also be stolen. We are going to stop what they intended when they brought upon you this terrible evil. We are by your side. Unconditionally by your side. We love you.”

Yania and Kami embraced Ijyu.

The inspector folded the map and put it in his pocket. He then threw his wallet with his police badge to the floor. He pulled four flashlights from a sack he had brought and stood up, determined. He prepared his gun.

“Ijyu and my dear girls, it’s time to settle the score with them.”

About an hour later, they found themselves located at one of the four entrances to the underground tunnels of Praia da Luz. There was a small cave hidden under some rocky mountains that graced the small beach. To access the cave, the tide had to be out, which was the situation at the time.

John, Ijyu, Yania, and Kami entered the dark cave. It was wet and dark and had a nauseating smell mitigated only a little by the pleasant fragrance from the crashing waves. The flashlight that each of them carried shone brightly through the tiny space that they marched through determinedly and without hesitation. As they worked their way forward, the tunnel descended deeper and deeper into the earth. They came to a long stairway that plunged into the bowels of the underground. At the 136

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end of the stairs was a large tunnel, constructed both wide and high.

The only thing heard, other than silence, were their breaths. They continued forward, driven by warm thoughts of Madeleine.

“This tunnel seems to have no end,” Kami whispered.

“According to this map, we have to continue until we reach a cross-roads where six tunnels converge,” John replied.

They walked about another half hour.

Finally, they came to the spot. There were now two tunnels on the right, two in front, and two on the left.

“And now?” asked Yania.

John looked intently at the map.

“The leftmost goes underneath the Church of Praia da Luz. The other goes to a courtyard of the Ocean Club. The rightmost goes toward Lagos. As for the other three, they are not marked, except for a question mark on the map.”

“If this map is correct, we are interested in following the unidentified tunnels,” said Ijyu, looking toward the three unknown alternatives.

“Everything indicates that it is correct. In fact, if we compare the map with the direction that each one follows, you can see it. If we go to our left, we head west, where the church is. A little further up, we will find the Ocean Club. And if we follow this way, we will arrive in Lagos,” John noted.

“Looks like it’s time to focus on our intuition!” said Kami.

“I’m not very good at that,” said John.

“Don’t worry, leave it to us!” Kami told him. “Yania, Ijyu, shall we do this?”

The three looked alternately at each of the tunnels, including those identified on the map.

Shortly after, Yania, Kami, and Ijyu glanced around at each other to ensure they had all finished.

“That one,” said Yania, “right next to the Lagos tunnel. I feel a horrible force coming from within.”

“Yes, Yania, that was the only one about which I felt that way,” confirmed Kami. “And you, Ijyu?”

“You said it, girls. I feel the same way. Let’s go!”

They walk a few feet inside and for the first time heard strange sounds coming from deep within. It could have been bats, but they were not sure.

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Suddenly, the sounds traveled through the tunnel toward them at an enormous speed. Then they begin to hear the thoughts of others within their own heads.

“Obsessor spirits!” shouted Ijyu. “Take cover, girls!” He immediately radiated positive psychic energy toward John, trying to protect him from the evil influences.

Ijyu, Yania, and Kami covered their ears, but only as a reflex. Their real defense was to concentrate on the beauty of Love, thus increasing their vibrations of Love, which naturally repelled any spirit that did not like Love.

Both girls had had training in the village on defending against obsessor spirits. These were a class of evil spirits that used telepathy to transmit wicked ideas to their victims while at the same time hiding the fact that these ideas were emanated by them. However, any attentive person could easily distinguish his own thoughts from a truly telepathic communication, since the latter clearly comes from outside his or her own Spirit.

Yania and Kami finally managed to free themselves from the attack of the obsessor spirits.

In turn, Ijyu lowered his hands, hoping that John was okay, although they all felt that there were still evil presences around.

“You sons of vipers!” said Ijyu, a bit angrily. “How long will we have to endure these villains?”

“Calm down, Ijyu! Don’t get upset, because that’s what they also want!” advised Yania.

Kami gave a pat to Ijyu’s back. Meanwhile, they noted that John was breathing heavily.

“Are you all right, John?” asked Ijyu.

“Yes. . . thank you,” John said, wiping the sweat from his face.

“Okay, let’s keep moving!” suggested Kami.

They let John lead the way. That way, if he needed help, any one of the three could see and help him.

“He’s not well,” Yania whispered into Kami’s ear.

“Hopefully, he is strong!” Kami replied quietly. No sooner had she said this than John took a few hasty steps forward and turned, pulling out his gun and pointing it at Yania.

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“Stop!” he cried. Even more sweat was pouring from John, from all over his body. His countenance looked maniacal. “You will all die now!”

Ijyu prepared to raise his hands in order to immobilize John through an intense beam of energy, but Yania noticed the movement of his hands and stopped Ijyu.

John’s finger was now putting pressure on the trigger of the gun, but it seemed he really did not want to do it.

Yania moved closer to him. “John, you do not want to be a monster!

Remember what you told us? I felt that it came from your heart!”

John extended his arm with the hand holding the gun, bringing it even closer to Yania.

“Look me in the eyes, John!” said Yania, looking deeply into his eyes. “I felt your Love when we embraced. Let me hold you again.”

John said nothing, but his hands were trembling more than ever.

“I love you, John!” Saying this, Yania jumped toward him, hugging him tightly.

John received the warm and vigorous embrace of Yania, keeping the gun in the exact same position. Now he felt in his soul all the wonder of what it is to be loved by a child. Overcoming the obsession, he put his gun back in the holster. Then he returned Yania’s embrace.

“Little one. . . please forgive my weakness,” he said, emotional and disappointed in himself.

“John, I know you’re still learning. You don’t have to apologize. I love you!”

“Okay, let’s go get them!” John said, wiping a tear that now stood out clearly among the beads of sweat.

The four continued forward along the chilling journey through the dark tunnel.

Some time later, after several turns, they came to what seemed the end of the tunnel. Rock and more rock. No visible exit.

Ijyu ran his hands along the walls, trying to find some crack.

“This is very strange. This isn’t a mine. Why would they make such a long tunnel with no destination?” John wondered aloud.

They all groped around the walls.

“Here!” Kami shouted. “It looks like two rocks have been placed together!”

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John pulled out a pen, trying to clean out the crack. “This is a door!”

he said a few seconds later. “The problem is, how do we open a door made of stone?”

“That’s not a problem for us!” replied Yania, pulling John back.

“Careful, Yania! They know we’re here! We do not know what is waiting for us behind this door!” Kami advised very quickly.

“That is exactly why, Kami, we have nothing to lose! Everyone behind me!” said Yania, not wanting to wait any longer.

Ijyu put himself ahead of John and Kami, right behind Yania, hoping to protect the three.

Putting both hands on the rock, Yania concentrated. She focused on opening the door. She touched only lightly on the huge cold stone that blocked their passage. She wished, wished, wished. She wished in the name of Love. I can do this, she said to herself. We must help Madeleine.

The rock began moving abruptly, opening inward. John pulled his gun, and the four entered.

It was a home, a normal house, just like one that could be above the ground. On the wooden floor were items of antique furniture that had been consumed by time and eaten away by white ants.

Squeaking with each step that the loving visitors took, the floor gradually revealed several pieces of torn clothing, some of which were strewn about on the old, worn furniture.

A large grandfather clock ticked back and forth as its pendulum swung from side to side. Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock. It seemed indifferent to the presence of newcomers.

The house had the appearance of being abandoned, if not for the fact that some of the lights were on in place of the sun that could not reach the house. Most importantly, they all knew that if a grandfather clock was not wound regularly, it would stop.