The Wilted Flower District
Page 12
Weylin came up behind me and placed his hand on my arm. Except for the cuts now glued together by the hospital doctors after the attack by Aerial yesterday, Weylin had escaped injury. “I have something I want to say to you. I’ve been afraid my whole life but seeing that video and that strength you possess really inspired me. You did good. None of us would be here without you.” Weylin hugged me and I heard his band beep.
Judging from his reaction, I knew instantly that it was Deena, most likely checking to make sure that he was okay, “You should get that. I know what I said before but I was being selfish and a little angry that neither of you confided in me. She is my best friend, you are my brother and if you two are happy together, then you should be together. This experience has taught me so much but above all, I’ve learned the importance of living life each day on your own terms.”
Weylin tucked his arm around me, “I meant what I said before. I love her and your blessing means a lot to me.” With that, Weylin walked towards the table where Penny was preparing to post the video. Watching the four of them working together, I felt a guarded optimism that I hadn’t felt since this who ordeal began. Maybe my mom was right and family isn’t a lifestyle or a house but being together and doing everything to make sure you survive regardless of the circumstances.
“I’m about to send it out. Are you ready? Do you want to hit the button? You certainly earned it,” Penny said.
“Nah, I’ve had enough excitement for one day.” I responded, “I’m going to get some air. I’ll be right back.” I walked towards the apartment door and exited. The door led out to a cement stairwell leading either towards the roof or down to the street. Since I was only one floor away from the roof, I decided to go up. Reaching the top step, the steel security door was jammed and I was forced to finagle with it before busting it open. Placing a stone to keep the door propped open, I walked across the roof towards the side that overlooked the harbor. In the center of the roof, a glass dome afforded a direct line of sight into Penny’s dining room below where everyone else remained huddled around the table. That’s when my band beeped and I saw that the message had gone viral. Looking down at my mom hugging Weylin and Ophelia, I smiled at Penny celebrating while spinning around in her chair. They looked happy for the first time in a long time.
Studying the pedestrians strolling around the streets and docks that surrounded the moonlit harbor, I debated whether or not people would even believe the video or if it would spark any type of revolution at all. I had some doubts but regardless, my mom was right, we would keep fighting. The cool breeze brushed against my back. I shivered and quickly realized I wasn’t alone; someone or something was behind me.
His breathing was intense, “Don’t be frightened.”
Turning around, I was shocked to see Noah standing a few feet behind me. It struck me that he was wearing white sneakers. I had never seen him wear sneakers before, “What are you doing here?” I asked as my voice quivered.
“I wanted to make sure that you were okay. You looked pretty bad when I found you and brought you back from the Kingdom.”
“Wait, that was you? I thought it was Aiden Rose.”
“Aiden Rose is dead.” Noah smiled, “It was me.”
“But the black flames?” I asked, “I thought that I saw his black flames approaching from the forest before I passed out.”
“No, there weren’t any flames but my preter ability allows me to deflect light so sometimes it appears as though my body is engulfed in blackness.” Noah paused for a moment, “It doesn’t matter now but the video you just launched won’t work.”
“Why not?” “I interjected defiantly, “It exposes your father and Aerial for who they are and what they did.”
“It won’t work because my father’s dead. I killed him,” Noah responded quietly.
“You killed him! What?” I was totally shocked, “Why? I don’t understand.”
“I learned of his role in trafficking preter children and then turning around and selling Elsyn to Cerpen Pharmaceuticals for a huge profit. It made me sick. I always knew that he was engaged in shady business deals and many of his associates were questionable but stealing and trading children was just too much, even for him.”
My mind flashed back to the pictures in Noah’s room of children that he had befriended while volunteering at the hospital.
Visibly upset, Noah continued, “When I confronted him, he became aggressive and I fought back. I didn’t mean to kill him; I just wanted to stop him from hurting children. I lost control when he laughed and told me what he intended to do to you and your whole family.”
Standing there, he looked so sad. He reminded me of Ophelia for although both had taken a life, neither of them were murderers. I stepped closer to him and put my arms around him. Kissing him on the cheek, I told him that it would be okay, we would get through this. He held me in his arms for a moment and then moved away. I noticed the silver chain with three concentric circles hanging from his neck, “I’ve seen this symbol before. What does it mean?”
Holding the pendant in his hand, he responded, “It’s the sign of the Marked. Why?”
Horrified, I took a step back, “My sister, Ophelia, has this same symbol tattooed on her neck.”
“She must have been one of their slaves. They always tattoo their property.”
“My sister is not property!” I shouted indignantly.
“Of course not” Noah responded. “What they did to her and to all of the other preter children that were stolen is horrible. Not all of the Marked are evil but those in control do some very bad things and others are not strong enough to stand up for what they know is right. Some of our people turn a blind eye to injustice and a deaf ear to the cries of the oppressed but many of us are working to change this. We have formed a resistance to change the leadership of our people.”
“Is that why you’re in the Domain?” I asked.
“I was born here, just like you but my mother wasn’t. She was born a Marked. She met Griffen on one of his business trips to the Kingdom. He kept her far away from his business dealing and she had no idea of what he was up to until today when I told her. After Aerial was arrested yesterday, she called my father. He was livid with Aerial and I overheard the conversation when he lit into her accusing her of damaging his business relationships and his Elsyn supply. I didn’t know how bad it was until I confronted him. He told me about the preter for Elsyn arrangement he had with the Marked and you know how that ended.”
Noah seemed sincere but I wasn’t sure if I believed him. “What do the Marked want with these preters? They’re only kids.”
“I don’t know,” Noah answered, shaking his head.
We hadn’t noticed that mom was now standing several yards away until she said, “You take kids so that you can train them to use their powers for your benefit and there’s only one reason why you need soldiers – for battle. But first things first, if what you’re saying is true, we need to get out of here fast.”
“I have a boat ready to leave. My mom is there now, waiting for us. We’re ready to set sail. I was hoping that you would come with us,” Noah replied.
Mom looked at Noah with a menacing scowl. “If this is a trap, make no mistake about it, I will kill you in ways that you do not want to imagine.”
“I swear this is no trap.” Nervously waving his hands, he responded, “I would never harm your daughter.”
“In that case,” mom replied, “we need to get the hell out of here. It won’t be long until someone realizes that Griffen is dead.”
Back in Penny’s apartment, mom caught everyone up on the details. Noah made it clear that there was plenty of room on the yacht and that all of us were welcomed. Penny elected to come as well since she had no family to stay behind to protect and realized that she too was in great danger if she remained in Fairhaven. “If it’s okay I’d like to come with you. My cover here has been compromised and I might be useful to you as I have connections all over the Domain.”
“A member of the High Council was concerned about the disappearance of so many preter children and petitioned the VIB, the Vashus Investigative Bureau, to look into the matter. I assumed that they wanted to use somebody outside of Fairhaven. Anyway, I was assigned the case. There were reports that some of these children were seen near Woodburn Forest before their disappearance; however, we had no concrete evidence. It wasn’t until the murder of Claude Cole that I realized that somehow these children were being taken away from Fairhaven by way of the Northern Shore.”
Leaving the apartment, Weylin stopped and asked, “Do we really need to go to all of this trouble? Ophelia, can’t you just portal us to another part of the Domain?”
“It doesn’t work that way,” Ophelia smiled. “I can only move between different realms like the Domain and the Kingdom. Even if I could move around in the Domain, I have to know where I’m jumping to or we could land anywhere. Unless you want to take a chance on arriving in the middle of an erupting volcano or at the bottom of the ocean, I think we should go with the yacht option,” replied Ophelia.
As we approached the vessel, I noticed that mom was not wearing her usual business attire, rather she wore a sweater, slacks and boots that did not appear new but I had never seen them before. I also detected the bulge in Penny’s waistband and realized that Penny must have brought her gun. Seeing the yacht, I knew that with the possible exception of Noah, none of us was dressed well enough to board the boat.
Diana Griffen greeted us when we first boarded The Escape, a luxurious 67-foot yacht. It was three levels and appeared to have multiple staterooms. After a quick embrace with Noah, she turned her attention to me, “I’m glad that you decided to come with us. I knew there was something about you that I always liked. We should be getting underway; we can talk later. For now, go inside and make yourselves comfortable. There’s food in the upper level vista lounge and the bar is fully stocked. Noah, could you cast off and then help me pilot the yacht out of the harbor?”
Weylin, Ophelia and Penny entered the cabin while mom walked to the outdoor lounge area at the back of the boat.
“Hey, Violet, you should see this place, it’s great,” Weylin called.
“I’ll be right in. I just need a minute.” I could feel my mom lurking behind me.
“Are you okay?” mom asked as I turned around.
“Yeah, I guess but I wanted to ask you something.”
“Sure, shoot,” Mom replied.
“If one of your parents is preter and the other is mortal is it possible for their child to have two preter abilities?”
“No, in order to have the chance to inherit two abilities, you have to have two preter parents and even then there is no guarantee that the child will inherit abilities from both parents. But if one of the parents is mortal, there is absolutely no chance that the child would have two abilities. That’s a strange question. Why do you ask?”
“Something strange happened to me when I was in the Kingdom. You know, I always could heal and I inherited that from Meadow.” Rubbing my gold locket between my thumb and index finger, I felt the metal growing warmer.
“Yes, that’s right,” Mom agreed.
“In the Kingdom, I got very angry with Aerial and a second destructive ability manifested itself.”
“Yes, I saw that on Penny’s video,” Mom looked down as she took my hand.
“I always thought that Parker, my father, was a mortal.”
“Yes and no.” Mom hesitated for a moment before continuing, “He was mortal but although he loved you very much, I always suspected that he was not your biological father.”
“But if Parker wasn’t my father, who was?” I asked.
“I’m sorry, honey, but I really don’t know. Your mother had many secrets and she often went off on her own for weeks at a time. I never knew where she went or whom she met. Then one day she announced that she and Parker were to be married and that they were expecting a baby. The trips stopped and Parker, Meadow and their baby girl were a happy and very ordinary family.”
I sighed, “Would you mind if I took a minute alone?”
“I understand but if you feel like talking, I’ll be just inside.” With that mom released my hand, kissed me on the forehead and headed for the cabin.
Tapping my A2B band to call Deena, I was forwarded into her voicemail. I decided to leave a message. “Hi Deena, Weylin probably already told you that we’re leaving. I wanted to say goodbye and that I’m sorry. You’re my best friend and I love you so much. I learned that life is unpredictable and I’m sure that someday we will be meet again.” I realized that this was probably not true. Deena and my life in Fairhaven were my past, not my future. Choking back tears, my voice was just above a murmur, “You’ll always be with me.”
Alone with my thoughts floating somewhere between the azure sea and the silver stars, I watched Fairhaven’s glittering skyline fade as my former life receded into the darkness. Removing my A2B band, I dropped it overboard, severing my last connection with Fairhaven. When the city’s outline was all but gone, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Without turning around, I knew that it was Noah even before he sat down beside me and offered me an Elsyn.
I sat holding the fruit for a while thinking of all the pain that it has cost so many people. Looking down on it, the Elsyn no longer held any attraction for me. Handing the Elsyn back to Noah I responded,” No thanks, this is no panacea, it’s a poison.” Noah smiled and kissed me before hurling the Elsyn into the sea. Closing my eyes we sat in silence as the timeless sea slapped softly against the sides of our boat.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Outside the sea and the sky were pitch black as we floated unseen and undisturbed by the rest of the Domain. Unable to sleep, I decided to go down to the lower deck where I found Ophelia in the cabin lounge. She was asleep hunched over a wooden table with her head resting uncomfortably on her folded arms while moaning softly as though in pain. Concerned, I reached to tap my A2B band to switch on the light before remembering that I had thrown it overboard. Searching for the light switch, I realized that I hadn’t manually turned a light on or off in a long time.
The cabin was beautiful and massive with a teak finishes, alabaster fixtures and white furniture. At the far end, there was a spiral staircase that led to the upper deck. Across from the stairs was a state of the art entertainment center complete with sofas and recliners. A library nook was tucked between the fully stocked bar and wooden table where Ophelia had fallen asleep. Walking towards her, I saw that she was having a bad dream. Nudging her, I asked, “Are you okay? You should go back to bed.”
Initially startled, Ophelia wiped her hair from her eyes, “I’m sorry. I had a nightmare that everything went terribly wrong and they captured us.”
She appeared so fragile and small sitting there at the table. Trying to reassure her I placed my hand on her back, “You don’t have to worry because no one is going to let anything happen to you. Especially me.”
Touching my forearm, “I know. There’s something I’ve wanted to tell you but with all that’s been happening, I haven’t had a chance.”
“Yeah, what’s that?” I asked.
“Thank you. If you hadn’t come back for me, I would still be in the Kingdom with those awful people.” The tears in her eyes were evident and I could feel the pain inside of her.
Taking a seat beside her, I took her hand in mine, “You don’t ever have to thank me, we’re family.”
“Family,” she repeated softly. Leaning back away from me, I could see from her expression that something was wrong. I wondered if she was debating whether to tell me something. “There is still a lot that you don’t know.”
“How so?” I replied.
A creak on the bottom rung of the spiral staircase attracted my attention and I saw mom standing there, staring at Ophelia. “That’s enough. We’ve had an exhausting few days. Let’s get you back to bed.�
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“You’re right, mom. Good night,” she said. Ophelia squeezed my hand as she stood and left the room.
Intending to follow her, I stood as well but mom held up her hand, indicating that I should stay. “Take a seat, we should talk.”
Mom sat beside me, “You’re upset. What’s the matter?”
I had no idea how mom always knew if something was bothering me no matter how hard I tried to hide it. She was right, the emergence of my destructive ability and the death of Aerial weighted heavily on my mind. “Mom, it was horrible. It’s bad enough that I killed someone but Aerial died a terrible death. I know that what she did was awful but nobody deserved to die like that, no matter how evil they are.”
“Aerial did terrible things to thousands of people. Her death was well deserved; however, we all need to be responsible with our preter powers, especially the destructive ones. They need to be controlled. You will learn to control yours, just as I learned to control mine.”
“I promise, mom, I will.”
“I know that you will.” She paused for a minute before adding, “How are you doing with everything else?”
“You mean about finding out that Parker wasn’t my father?”
“Yes, I know that must have been a shock.”
Inhaling, I nodded my head, twisting my locket, “Yes, it was upsetting and sad but somehow I feel he’ll always be my dad. I think that he loved me, even if I wasn’t his biological daughter.”
“Of course he did. He would have given his life for you.”
“Do you have any idea of who my father was?”
“I always assumed that he was some high powered preter. He had to have had sufficient strength to threaten Griffen into leaving us alone but this whole incident has made me question that assumption. What if he isn’t a preter at all but one of the Marked?”
“Is that even possible?” I asked.
“It appears so. Noah’s mother is a Marked, remember?”