by T. C. Edge
I can see the walls more clearly, make out the shapes of the vines and plant life sprouting from the rocks. I can see the little critters creeping around at our feet, bugs and rats scuttling between stones and hiding in cracks and crevices.
From the ceiling, droplets of condensation gather, dripping down into little puddles and pools. I can see them too, even from a distance, building and falling and splashing into the water.
Minute by minute, my eyesight improves, not only taking in the light but seeking further details in the distance too. Without even knowing it, I’m able to clearly make out the form of the passages a long way into the darkness. And when we emerge into a large cavern once more, details that would otherwise be nothing but a blur stick out, clearly defined as if they’re right before my eyes.
Down here in the darkness is where my eyesight will develop fastest. Without the burden of bright light to deal with, my eyes are now forced to suck in every morsel of illumination they can find. They seek it out, hungry after being held back for so long, barred from achieving their full potential by the drugs that Mrs Carmichael fed me.
No longer.
Now, they’re stretching their legs, testing their limits, evolving into what they should always have been.
The world grows quieter as we continue. The rush of the waterfall fades into nothing, leaving behind the light tapping of our feet and the occasional dripping of water from above. Soon, we’re moving into a place of total silence and calm, a small cave with narrow walls and a low ceiling and two small boulders planted in its centre.
Zander moves towards them, and takes a seat on one.
“Sit down, Brie,” he orders.
I do so, taking a seat on the other right in front of him. Face to face, we sit a few feet from each other, his body no longer just an outline. Now, his features are clear, his expression easy to gauge even in the pitch black of this deep, dark place.
“Why are we here?” I ask him.
He stares at me for a few long moments without answering. I find it oddly unnerving. Then, in the back of my mind, I hear the clouded, blurred sounds of a voice forming once more.
We’re here to train your mind…
His lips don’t move. His eyes stare intensely. His voice seems to come from inside, not out, barely distinct but just about audible.
Then, his lips do move, drawing into a smile.
“You heard me?” he asks.
I nod silently, and in awe.
“Our connection is stronger than I thought it would be,” he muses to himself. “Do you feel it?”
In the quiet darkness of the cave, I lightly shut my eyes, a hum of something, an energy of some kind, buzzing in the depths of my mind. I don’t understand it, I can’t explain it, but it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt.
“I feel…something,” I whisper.
It reminds me somewhat of when Deputy Burns entered my mind. That was invasive, unpleasant. It sent the hairs on my neck standing on end, a shiver climbing up my spine, one vertebra at a time.
This is different. I don’t feel as if there’s someone rooting around my memories, as if they’re searching through books in a library. More like I’m in a dark room with someone, hearing their voice coming from the shadows.
“Good. That’s good. We have a telepathic link, Brie. But this is me, talking to you. I want you to try to do the same. Shut your eyes, close everything off. Think of me, and think hard, and then imagine what you want to say. Think of the words, and fix them firmly in your mind. Let’s see if I can hear them.”
“But, you said before that you needed to look into someone’s eyes to read their thoughts? How can I shut my eyes if…”
“No,” he cuts in, shaking his head. “That isn’t true of this. Yes, if you want to read someone’s thoughts, search their memories, or manipulate them somehow, you need to look into their eyes. But this is different. You can project words from anywhere, and if our bond is strong, I’ll be able to hear them. And vice versa.”
“So, I just think of words, of a question?”
“And me. Think hard about me. Picture my face, and fix the words into your mind. Think of nothing else or the link will become foggy. Go ahead, try it out.”
He shuts his own eyes, leading me to do the same. I fall into darkness behind my eyelids, and quickly wonder what to say, what to ask. I ponder it for a few moments before realising it doesn’t matter.
Just words, Brie. Anything. Think of anything.
The image of our parents comes into my mind. It brings with it a question that’s never far from my thoughts.
Who was our mother? I start to wonder.
My mind begins forming other questions, moving off on tangents. I squeeze my eyes tighter and bring my thoughts back to those simple words. I fix them, as Zander told me, to the front of my mind, lighting them up in big, bold letters.
And as I do, I imagine Zander’s face. His wavy brown hair, his pale skin, his hazel eyes that look so much like our father’s. And mine.
I focus hard. My mind threatens to waver, attempting to veer off again in some other direction, to bring possible answers to the question I’m asking myself. I bring it back each time it deviates, always coming back to the same question.
Who was our mother…
Time skates by, a minute turning to two. Then I lose track of it, always battling to clear my head of all else but the question, and the image of Zander.
Then, from the darkness, I hear him whisper.
“Open your eyes, Brie.”
I wonder for a moment if he was in my head, or if he spoke out loud for real. As I open my eyes, his words echo a little down through the passage, answering my question.
There’s a pensive expression on his face, his mouth opening and closing without making a noise.
Then, he speaks.
“You think about her a lot, don’t you?” he asks me. “I can sense she’s never far from your thoughts.”
“You…you heard me?” I whisper.
“It was blurred, like words through water. But enough.”
His eyes draw in with a painful memory. It’s as if he’s always been trying to keep thoughts of our mother, and father, from his mind.
“I told you before, Brie,” he continues. “You shouldn’t let your thoughts linger on our parents. It won’t change what happened. It won’t bring them back. All it will do is bring you pain.”
Pain, perhaps, that he can feel through me. Pain that he’s been blocking out his entire life, now re-opened.
“I can’t help it, Zander,” I tell him. “It’s not something I can control.”
“Well, you’ll have to learn to. You have no idea how powerful your mind is. It will destroy you if you don’t tame it. There are people in Inner Haven who will quickly figure out just what you are if you aren’t able to control and, when needed, suppress your powers. And if that happens, there’ll be no going back. You’ll become an outlaw like the rest of us, forced to live in the shadows.”
“Then teach me,” I utter, my words bounding loudly off the walls. “Teach me to control my powers.”
He sits up straighter on the boulder, and sets his eyes firmly to mine. And, more clearly this time, I hear his words beginning to form in the depths of my mind.
I will, Brie, I hear him say. We’re only just getting started…
13
The night is long and draining.
My mind, like my body, feels sore in a way it never has before. In the darkness of the cave, Zander picks and probes at me, guiding my consciousness to places I never knew existed.
Prodding, probing, testing. He reads my thoughts and tries to get me to read his. It’s more invasive than our telepathy, and much more uncomfortable. Even though he’s my brother, I don’t enjoy having him in my head.
I have little success as the hours pass by. As he enters my mind, I find it impossible to stop him from rooting around. When I try to enter his, I find myself doing little but blankly staring into his eyes, only mu
rky and indistinct thoughts and memories materialising before being washed away.
My other abilities have been quick to develop. It appears that being a Mind-Manipulator, however, is far more demanding.
It goes on for hours, and when he finally relents, and guides me back up towards the surface, his parting words leave me in no doubt that there’s a hell of a lot more to come.
“Oh, we’re just getting started, sis,” he tells me. “Your powers are only just awakening. They’ve got a long way to go yet.”
We reach the secret door to the shelter in district 6, my ability to track the time having long since abandoned me. For a moment, he stops at the door and listens intently. I wonder for a brief moment if he has some Bat powers, such is the intensity with which he sets his ear to the rock.
“The world is waking,” he says. “Be careful when you sneak onto the streets.”
He opens the door to the shelter, and I step out. It’s empty, the exit to the street above, up a short flight of steps, shut tight. Beyond, however, the sounds of the city fill my ears. We must have been down in the underlands all night.
Before he shuts the door, he offers some final words of guidance.
“I’d get some sleep when you return to the academy, Brie,” he says.
“Yeah, I’d planned on it,” I say wearily.
“Good. Because tonight, you’re going back into Inner Haven...”
“What!” I grimace. “How do you know?”
“Adryan will have sent a postal drone overnight, inviting you to the first stage of your courtship. I don’t know the precise details, but they’ll be in the letter. It’ll be a good chance for you to meet him properly this time, and learn more about his world.”
“But…tonight? Why not tomorrow?”
“It’s not up to me. This is the official process, and you must keep to it. Don’t worry, Lady Orlando isn’t expecting anything of you yet. Not until you’re ready. Get some rest, Brie. As I told you, time is of the essence…”
He winks at me, perhaps finding some partial enjoyment in my pain, and pulls the door shut. Almost immediately after he’s done so, the door at the top of the stairs grinds open, sending a blast of bright sunlight down into the gloomy shelter.
A silhouette appears at the top, peering down.
“Who’s that down there?” comes the voice.
I shield my eyes from the burning light. After spending so long in the dark, and with my eyes quickly growing more sensitive, it’s almost sufficient to knock me off my feet. The fact that I’m about ready to collapse through sheer exhaustion doesn’t help much either.
“I’m just a girl,” I croak, my arm in front of my eyes.
The man at the top of the stairs appears to notice my discomfort. He pulls the door shut a little, blocking out some of the sunlight. Still, he remains nothing more than a silhouette.
“What are you doing down there. It hasn’t rained for days…”
“I just…I left a book down here a few weeks back. I got caught during a storm, you see. I was just checking if it was still here.”
“Hmmmm. Well, you’re unlikely to find it in the dark…”
Damn. Busted.
“I, um…the light must have flicked itself off.”
The figure doesn’t move. He merely stares from above as my eyes continue to clear. There’s something familiar about his shape and outline. And the tone of his voice.
Slowly, he steps forward and begins descending into the shelter. My eyes clear as he comes, and his body and face come into view. There’s a smile upon it, warm and kind, and piercing eyes above that I have a far better understanding of now.
“Rycard,” I whisper, relief flooding me. “What are you doing here?! I thought you were a Con-Cop or something…”
“And lucky for you it wasn’t,” he says, reaching the bottom step. “You don’t want another run-in with them. Not while they’re on such high alert.”
Every time I come into close contact with a Con-Cop the same result follows: me getting in trouble, and having to be bailed out. First, it was down at Culture Corner, when Deputy Burns saved me from getting zapped. Then, it was Rycard himself who prevented me from suffering the same fate.
That was the last time I saw him. A lot’s happened since then.
“How are you, Brie?” he asks.
“I’m great.” My words aren’t convincing, even to me. They’re exhausted, that’s what they are.
“And, this book?” he offers with a smirk.
I shrug. “It was all I could think of.”
“Well, you’re going to have to get better at lying, Brie. One day, it’ll get you in trouble.”
There’s a hint, a minor suggestion to his words that he knows I’m up to something. Perhaps it’s just finding me here in such a weary state. Or maybe it’s more. Maybe he knows a little more than he’s willing to let on.
I don’t quite know what to make of him. A question rises in my mind: is he friend, or foe?
Being a member of the City Guard would suggest the latter. Yet there’s a warmth to him, and an honesty, that makes me think he tows the line somehow. That were he to find out what I’m up to, and what I am, he’d be sure to keep it to himself.
Standing in front of me, he turns his body sideways, leaving a path open towards the stairs.
“I think it’s time you got yourself home. Come on, I’ll walk you.”
I drag my body past him and up the stairs. The sunlight attacks me relentlessly, bursting from above. I keep my eyes narrow to let only shards in. And though the slits, my vision brings the world to life in a whole new way.
I stand motionless for a second, just taking it all in. The wide streets, filled with pedestrians and cars and lined with tall apartment blocks and shops. The sky, buzzing with postal drones, moving along in rigid formations as they follow predetermined paths towards their destinations.
The advertising displays, just beginning to come to life as the city wakes, glow less brightly in the sunlight. And yet, still, they appear so crisp and clean and vibrant to my new vision. I look down the street, far into the distance, my eyes now capable of some truly wondrous things, and a glowing smile arches at the corners of my mouth.
When I finally regain my faculties, I turn to Rycard, who looks upon me with a sprinkle of curiosity.
“Are you...OK?”
“Just tired,” I say, perhaps a bit too quickly.
“Well, that’s not surprising after the week you’ve had. So, what exactly were you doing down in the shelter?”
He asks the question as we begin moving down the street. All the while I struggle to maintain a regular focus, my eyes seeking more now, wanting to find a clear spot in the city, and take it all in at once.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I say.
“Try me.”
I fall silent.
“OK, you keep your secrets. I won’t pry. It’s just an interesting place to find you in such a big city. Now don’t go spreading this about, but apparently the Nameless have been using the shelters to get around the city in secret. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you Brie?”
“Er, what? No, of course not…”
Too much, Brie. Act calm. Act casual. Remember what Zander told you, stay in control.
“Anyway, how can they use shelters? It makes no sense…”
“Well, there are tunnel networks beneath the city. Many of the shelters have secret doors into them. If I were the Nameless, I’d be careful which ones they use…”
He glances at me as we walk. I see it through my newly powered peripheral vision. I refuse to glance back.
“Well, you know much more than I do about it.”
“Of course I do. I wouldn’t be very good at my job if you knew more than me. Anyway, let’s change the subject. It’s a bright day and so let’s talk of brighter things. I suppose I should start by saying congratulations.”
Now I do glance at him.
“Huh?”
“I was as surprised as Sophie when she told me you were attending a bachelor ball. It didn’t really seem you. It went well, though, I understand?”
“Pretty well. Until I collapsed.”
“Ah yes, the classic affliction. Before I met Sophie, I attended a couple of balls myself. I had a couple of girls collapse on me too.”
He offers a chuckle at the memory.
“I didn’t collapse because of an Enhanced. What sort of girl do you think I am?”
“I’m well aware of that, Brie. I was only teasing. So, you’re to court a Savant. I’d call that an odd pairing.”
So would I.
“Um, why? He’s handsome, and I’ll get to live in Inner Haven…” I begin, spluttering through my rehearsed spiel with no conviction at all.
“Yes, yes, and you’ll have lovely, beautiful Savant children, and all of the people of Outer Haven will look up to you with such respect and envy.”
I turn to him, and my eyes flatten.
“You don’t have to be so sarcastic, Rycard.”
“And you don’t have to lie. Not to me. Save that stuff for Sophie, and those who really matter. I’m not buying it.”
“And I’m not selling it. I don’t have to explain myself to you. You have no idea how I feel.”
“No, you’re right. I’m not trying to offend you, Brie. I’m just intrigued, that’s all.”
“Well, I’m too tired to spar with you right now. So maybe I’ll just make my own way home. It’s not far from here.”
A wry smile emerges on his face.
“OK. Not a problem. Just be careful next time you’re caught somewhere you shouldn’t be. It won’t always be me who finds you…”
With those words, he twists his walk off in another direction, and fades into the early morning crowd.
I let out a breath of tired air, and fill my lungs with a fresh intake of smog. I haven’t even got to Inner Haven yet, and already I’m being grilled.
I yearn for my bed, and make an immediate beeline for it. I’m simply too tired to deal with any more rubbish right now.
