“If something was going to happen to Ari, it would have happened already. She’s perfectly safe here. We’re on the same team, Josh. I want her safe just as much as you do.”
Josh opened his mouth to protest again, but I stopped him. “It’s all right. I feel safe here.”
“Excellent,” Hackman said. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, my boy, I need to explain some things to your girlfriend.”
Josh didn’t correct him, and I frowned. There was probably an uncomfortable conversation on the horizon.
Hackman left immediately, and I followed him. We didn’t speak, not until we reached the Apex. He sat on one of the chairs in front of the podium. I turned another around and sat opposite him. Behind him, I noticed two enormous doors I hadn’t seen before. Carved patterns danced across their surfaces. The first time I walked through the Apex, I’d thought they were artwork carved into the wall, but now I saw the enormous bronze hinges.
Hackman saw me looking at them. “Beautiful, aren’t they? The South Wing doors are older than this entire complex.”
“What’s inside?”
“Something very special. One day, you might be lucky enough to enter. It has been decades since the doors were last unlocked. That was a truly momentous day for the Kindred. I do hope that day returns soon.”
I turned my attention back to Hackman. “You’re part of the Kindred, I know that, but I don’t even know what the Kindred is. Where did you come from?”
“The first stories of the Kindred date back beyond ancient times.” His voice echoed off the cold stone walls, sounding grandiose. “There are records of Egyptian soothsayers who could transform the world around them, Roman philosophers with deep insights far beyond their time, alchemists in the Dark Ages conspiring to change the nature of metals, and Eastern mystics who could raise objects with their minds.” He saw the look on my face. “Believe me, or don’t, but until this week, you wouldn’t have thought a man could burn objects with his will. Surely your worldview isn’t so limited that this extra knowledge is too much of a stretch?”
He made a good point.
“The ancestors were a scattered people, individuals emerging in pockets of history, clusters of those who could tune like us. They didn’t understand what their ability was, or even the potential of what they were doing. But whenever they appeared, great upheavals in history were sure to follow. Society moved forward in huge leaps any time our people emerged from the genetic soup. Babylon, Assyria, Rome, India, China, Britain—the United States, they were founded in no small part thanks to people like us.”
He leaned forward in his chair, becoming more animated. “Five hundred years ago, there was an acceleration. More and more people were born with the ability to tune. They found each other, formed groups, appointed leaders. They began to realise the true potential of what it was they knew. Two camps formed, each following radically different philosophies, one of peace and the other chaos, one of order and the other bloodshed. These groups became the Unseen and the Kindred, and we’ve been at war ever since.”
Whoa. This was bigger than I thought. Far bigger. This place, these people, this war, all of it was ancient. My school friends, my neighbours, the world was surrounded by a war they had no idea was being fought. How many had gone missing, taken like my family or murdered like Noah? How many had been caught up in this secret war? How many had been killed in the crossfire? They deserved to know. The world deserved to know.
“You think the world should know.” It was like he read my mind. “It’s a common response, but you’re mistaken. If the world knew what was happening, if they knew what was going on, they would turn against both sides. They would hunt us all down, burn us at the stake like they did in the witch trials. They wouldn’t care who was on what side, who was right or wrong. Their first instinct would be to seek out and destroy every last one of us. We’re different, and that makes us a threat.”
I couldn’t deny his logic. The world always fears what it can’t understand.
“Both sides would be forced to fight back to keep ourselves alive. Many would die, far more than now. The day might come when the world knows the truth, but neither side is ready for that to happen. Not yet.”
As much as I didn’t like it, he made sense. Besides, this wasn’t my war, not really. I wasn’t interested in some cosmic battle being fought for centuries. I couldn’t even really imagine it. The scale of this was insane, and I just wanted my family home.
“If you want your family back, join us.” Again, he seemed to read my mind. “We can assist you, but we need your help to save them. We’re dangerously understaffed at the moment. There have been escalating attacks recently, and we’re struggling to keep ourselves defended. You’re special, Ari. I get the feeling you don’t even yet know how special you are. But you can save us.” He took my hands in his, eyes looking earnestly into mine. “You can save all of us.”
A door slammed open, shattering the silence. There was a scream, and then another. “Get him to med wing, now!”
Three men burst through the door, blackened and bleeding. One of them was holding a child, a boy no more than five or six. He was limp, one side of his face burned. He looked so much like Adam, lying broken in the café. I swallowed the lump in my throat.
Two of the men stormed through the Apex and out the opposite door, taking the boy with them. The other approached us, breathing heavily.
Hackman stood. “What happened?”
“They found the school. They found the kids.”
Hackman dropped back into his chair as if he’d been sucker-punched. “How many?”
“Twelve. Riley here’s the only one we could ...”
“They’re attacking your children?” I swallowed.
“They took your sister,” Hackman snapped. “Do you really think they have boundaries? The schools are where we teach our children to defend themselves, to use their abilities.” He buried his face in his hands. “They look like small private schools, nothing more. We’ve kept them secret. Until now.”
“Sir?” the other man prompted.
There was no response.
“Sir, what do we do?”
Still nothing.
“Sir, we need to move quickly.”
“You’re right.” Hackman’s voice was barely audible. “Evacuate the other school. Do it now. Send a message to the other networks. They’ll need to get their children back inside. Raise our defense level. If the Unseen have identified the schools, I’d bet they know a lot more than that.”
The man nodded and hurried off to complete his orders. There was silence for a long time.
“I’m in,” I finally said.
Hackman raised his head. “What?”
“I’m in. If this is what these guys do, if this is what they’re capable of, they need to be stopped.”
“Are you certain?”
“They killed Noah, they’re killing children, and they’ve taken my family. They have to pay. I’m in. I have no idea what this even means right now, but I’m joining the Kindred.”
SIXTEEN
Rachel poked me awake. It was morning. At least, I assumed it was morning. The lack of natural light made it difficult to follow the passage of time, and I hadn’t had my watch or phone since the attack. But for the sake of sanity, I was prepared to call it a new day. It’s funny the lies we tell ourselves about reality so we can continue maintaining at least some sort of normal.
I hadn’t talked to Josh since my conversation with Hackman. He’d been sleeping when I returned, and I hadn’t had the heart to wake him. He would’ve just pushed me for answers, anyway, and I didn’t really want to tell him what I’d learned. It felt sacred somehow. I knew something special, and it wasn’t meant for everyone. Besides, he probably would have tried to talk me out of joining the Kindred, and he probably would have succeeded.
Today, I was to attend a ceremony where I would be formally adopted into the Kindred. Adopted was the exact word Rachel used. It was comforting, in a
way, although a bit too permanent sounding for my tastes. It didn’t really matter — in the end this felt like the only way to get my family back. Hackman had rushed my approval through, maybe in case I changed my mind.
I was still wearing the clothes Rachel had given me, so got straight up and followed her down the corridor towards the Apex. As we neared the end, I could hear voices seeping through the gap between the door and the ground. There were too many to make out any one speaker, but I got the impression there was a massive crowd on the other side.
“Are you sure about this?” Rachel asked. “Once you commit, there’s no going back.”
My heart danced on my stomach. “I’m sure.”
She cracked open the steel door. It screeched in protest, and the voices in the Apex fell silent. I stopped on the threshold.
People flooded every walkway, every staircase, and the entire perimeter of the cavern. Hundreds of them, all watching me. I squinted into the darkness that cloaked them, trying to make out who they were. Some were dressed in the worn jeans and flannel of farmers, others in business suits, and some wore police and ambulance uniforms. There was a distinctive red dress that appeared to belong to the local reporter, Jane MacArthur. She’d interviewed me about the accident while I was in hospital, but I’d never seen the article. I couldn’t be sure it was Jane, though, because I couldn’t see her face. I couldn’t see anyone’s face. Everyone, save for a few near the central podium, was wearing a grey mask that covered their entire head, right down to their neck, like a sack or bag. Eyes gleamed at me through shoddily cut holes in the masks, but I couldn’t see anyone well enough to make out distinguishing features.
I turned to Rachel and jumped as a masked figure looked back. She had put on her own as we entered the room.
She prodded my back to get me moving, and I trod to the centre of the Apex. The only clear faces in the room were the three figures now in front of me. They didn’t wear everyday clothes that I could see; instead, each of their grey masks was pulled back and attached to a robe that fell all the way down to fold around their feet. They were standing in a triangular formation, with Hackman at the back left corner. Next to him was a bald figure that was neither overtly male nor female. The tall woman at the front wore a coat that was longer than the others’. She was clearly the boss.
Startling blue eyes met mine, so light they were almost white. She looked about forty, with white-blond hair clipped extremely short. A blotchy scar on her neck extended down into her coat. I couldn’t see how big it was, but it looked like she’d been seriously burned at some point, her skin melted into twisting ridges and valleys.
After a moment of dead silence, she spoke. “Maria Carpenter. Ari. Welcome.”
Her voice was warm, which offset her appearance. She smiled, softening her features a little and putting me at ease. I felt my shoulders drop slightly. I hadn’t realised how tight they were.
“Look around you.”
I turned slowly in a circle, looking up at several levels of masked figures surrounding me like ravens perched on a power line.
“From today, these are your brothers, your sisters. You are special, Ari, and so are they. We are a family. We are everywhere. We are here to protect you.” She spoke now to the room. “Kindred, welcome your sister.”
The room let up a short, sharp shout, but I couldn’t make out the word. It hung in the air for a moment before evaporating into the walls.
“We know you, Ari,” the woman went on. “Possibly better than you do. You are different. You have a singular and special ability. This has been a force running through much of your life. An undercurrent towing you out into the deep before you were ever aware of it. You have felt isolated. Alone. You see the world more clearly than others, and that clarity separates you, places you outside the everyday so many others enjoy. You see things no one else can see. You notice things no one else will notice. That makes you special.”
My heart raced. She was describing how I’d felt my entire life, although I’d never put words to it before.
“I know you because I was you,” she continued. “I stood where you stood. I asked the questions that are burning in your mind. I too was on the outside, and I too have the ability that is beginning to awaken inside you. Everyone here is just like you. We felt alone because of that ability, even when we did not know it existed inside of us.” She nodded at the others. “They came here, as did I. Now I belong and have the privilege of being mother to these Kindred. We are going to change the world.”
The room barked in enthusiastic agreement. The whole ceremony had a ritualistic tone, as if this had been run many, many times before. It was a liturgy.
On cue, Hackman spoke. “We have been a family since the beginning of history. We trace our ancestry from before the written word. We have always been, and we will always be. For countless generations, we have used and developed our skills to keep the world on track. In war, in peace, through the rise and fall of civilisation, the great leaps forward that mankind has taken, we have overseen that change. We are the guardians of the plan. In time, you will become a guardian yourself.”
The figure on the right spoke now. “We exist for the betterment of humanity. We move the world along without its knowledge, clandestine philanthropists for a greater and unified world. There are those who have tried to destroy us. Many times, over many centuries, we have found ourselves at war. At times, we have been at the brink of extinction, but we rise, and we rebuild. Despite opposition, despite the hatred and bigotry of our enemies, we remain, and we will always remain. Let it be so.”
The room chorused an echoing “Let it be so.”
The woman spoke again, this time only to me. “Do you accept adoption into the Kindred?”
I coughed. It felt like a big moment, so I paused before answering, “Yes, I do.”
“Then bring forth the shade!”
Hackman stepped forward holding a mask the same as the others were wearing. He winked and went to place it on my head, but I stepped back.
The room chuckled, and the woman smiled. “Do not fear the Shade, Ari. It is both for protection and posterity. For all the trappings and rites of our organisation, we are just everyday people. We are teachers, doctors, businessmen, students, factory workers, and unemployed people. Most of us have ordinary lives doing ordinary things. The Shades date back hundreds of years, to a time of a great oppression. We have always been besieged, of course, but there was a season we did not know who to trust. The Shades at our gatherings protected the identity of Kindred, allowing us to meet without fear of being identified by traitors and enemies.
“That threat is past, long past, but you know what they say about old habits. We all have our rituals. Humanity craves routine and procedure. It is what makes us belong. While the masks may be unusual to a new initiate, in time, you will embrace the anonymity and safety it represents.”
I relaxed a bit. She was right—I had my own little rituals, even down to which shoe I put on first every morning. I nodded at Hackman, and he placed the Shade on my head. It was rough and smelled of hay. The eye holes restricted my vision a bit, but I could see well enough. The crowd cheered, and the woman smiled gently.
“Upon your acceptance, then, I welcome you into the Kindred. We pledge your protection, as you now pledge to protect us.”
Rachel nudged me. Apparently, I was supposed to say something.
“Uh, I pledge to protect you,” I offered weakly.
“We pledge to serve you, as you now pledge to serve us.”
Realizing the routine here, I pledged to serve.
The woman smiled again. “And we commit now, together, in the sight of the Apex and the gathering of the Kindred, to act in the betterment of mankind and towards the destruction of our enemies. Let it be so.”
The crowd echoed, and this time I joined in. “Let it be so.”
I couldn’t help but smile. There were still a lot of unanswered questions, but these people had my back. I felt safe, a lot sa
fer than I had in a long time, even before the accident. Someone was watching out for me now. I didn’t have to fight the world on my own.
The crowd began to file out of the Apex, and when I turned back to ask the woman more questions, she had disappeared, along with Hackman and the third figure. Soon, I was alone with Rachel. It was a relief to have the crowd gone. I was unnerved by the attention, used to disappearing in crowds rather than being the focus. Rachel removed her Shade mask, and I followed suit.
“They’ve assigned me to train you,” she said. “They want us to start immediately.”
She walked to a staircase on the edge of the Apex, on the opposite side from where I came in. Two flights up, we stopped outside a door marked Training Room. Rachel opened it, and we stepped inside.
It was a long, thin room with a table at the other end. Objects were scattered along it: cups, pens, lightweight stuff, as well as some heavier things on the floor like barbells and tyres. There was even a large mannequin with a target scrawled on its front. Scorch marks and dents scarred the grey foam panels that lined the walls, and in places, the foam was burned right through to a shiny metal backing.
“All recruits start here, then move to the training ground.” Rachel closed the door behind us and led me to one corner of the room. “We can sit around and talk about resonance all day, but you’ll pick it up faster if you’re learning as we go. This room is shielded, so it doesn’t matter if you make mistakes.”
“You really think I can do this stuff?”
“You’d be a pretty bad Kindred member if you couldn’t. Weren’t you listening before? Anyway, everyone on the planet can to one degree or another, but some are more naturally skilled than most. The room is soundproofed, which should make it easier to focus on the resonance around you.”
The room had no echo. The foam deadened the acoustics so every word disappeared as soon as it was spoken, sucked up by the walls. The low hum present in other rooms of the complex wasn’t here. It was strange being surrounded by this much silence, like the world outside the door had just stopped existing. Rachel was still talking, but my mind had been wandering. I tried to catch up.
The Fire Unseen Page 10
