Free Eye of Flame by Pamela Sargent Page A

to sense the world dissolving around her, leaving only a mind impaled on despair.
     
    The shuttle bus was to pick her up in front of the building. Jacqueline glanced at her watch as she waited on the sidewalk. The bright sunlight hurt her eyes; she squinted as she glanced toward the Strand.
    She had escaped Tad; he had lost his power over her. It might have been easier to leave had there been someone to return to, but she had lived alone before; she wondered if, after Tad, she could ever be satisfied with another man. It didn’t matter. She still had her work; she could lose herself in it, become the scholar she had pretended to be. She had learned for herself how fleeting physical pleasures were without having to consult Plato’s writings; the fate of her cousin and friends had demonstrated that all too vividly.
    She had called her mother, had promised to drive down to see her; she had left a message on Joe’s machine. Her eyelids felt gritty; she had not slept well. Her old nightmare had returned the night before, the one in which she was alone, abandoned, her body aged and riddled with illness.
    A jogger was running along the Strand, racing in the futile battle to preserve his youth. She thought of Tad and how alive she had felt with him. A shadow suddenly appeared near her feet; she had not heard anyone approach. She looked up.
    “Jackie.” Tad touched her arm gently. “You can’t leave me now.”
    She wanted to run. The street was silent; no one was near. If she called for help, nobody would hear her.
    “You’ve had your revenge,” she said. “You’ve more than evened the score with the others, but you’re not going to get me.
    “Is that what you think? I’m past that. What I told you is true—I want you with me forever.”
    She turned toward him. For a moment his features were blurred; she seemed to see the boy she had known. He smiled, showing his even white teeth. “I have Louise,” he said. “Patti and Dena will be with me soon. You’re the only one left, the one who means the most to me. I can’t let you go.”
    “What are you?” she whispered.
    “You know. I was in that realm of eternal truth, of forms, of mathematical possibilities. I passed through the barrier, apprehended that world fully at last. Other souls are trapped there for a time and forget that world when they’re reborn into this one again, but I was able to become what I am now. I was able to step through the barrier again and keep the knowledge of the truth I saw there. Time and space no longer exist for me. I can step from here to another time and place as easily as you would step from this curb. I’ve run you on fast forward, to age you past death. I’ve demonstrated the reality that lies out here, the change, decay, and death that await all physical things.”
    “No,” she said.
    “You drew me here, Jackie. You glimpsed that other world, however dimly, but this one still held you. Part of your soul called to me, and I reached out.”
    “No.”
    “What do you have now? This is all an illusion, nothing but shadows inside a cave. You can come with me now, or you can live out this illusion, but I’ll still be waiting for you when it’s past. Give it up. You’ll never have to return to it again. I’ll always be with you.”
    She was still, unable to move. He picked up her bags, carried them into the lobby, then closed the door as he came outside.
    He held out his hand as he moved closer to her. “Come with me,” he said. Love and gentleness were in his eyes, but his voice was hard, promising an eternity bound by his will. “This body’s already weaker—you have to cast it off. Come.”
    His hand was cold. A madman, she thought; I’m going to die. His grip was crushing her fingers; she thought of his mind crushing her soul. “You may be lying,” she said. “How can I know?”
    He shook his head and smiled as he led her toward the ocean.
     
     

 
    Ringer
     
     
    Cheryl saw the telephone ring. The chirping