by Holly Martin
‘You should have called me,’ he glared at Eli.
‘We had it under control.’
‘I guess we should find somewhere else to practice. Now they know we are here every day, we’re kind of making it easier for them,’ I said.
Caleb nodded. ‘I was just thinking the same thing, but wherever we go, we will have to keep moving on, not stay too long in each place.’
Eli nodded.
My stomach rumbled loudly and I realised that I still hadn’t eaten anything. Lucas looked at me, smiling at the sound. ‘Come on, maybe we should head home, get you some food, you must be tired after today. By all accounts it’s been a busy day.’
Soft white snowflakes had just started to fall, swirling gently between us. Mason had been right about the weather. Everyone looked up at the snowflakes and then looked at me. I grinned. ‘No that wasn’t me, not this time.’
Persia looked at the snow on the floor. ‘There’s certainly enough there to get a day off school tomorrow.’
School. That seemed like another world to me now. School was part of the nice safe world I no longer belonged to. There really was little point in returning now. School was part of the ‘get an education, get a career’ plan. Now that plan was never going to happen, what was the point in continuing. My training was far more important now.
‘I don’t think I’ll go back to school,’ I said quietly. I was always very studious; I never thought I’d hear myself say those words.
‘What tomorrow?’ Seth asked.
‘No, ever.’ I looked at Persia and she understood instantly. She nodded.
‘Really?’ Seth was stunned. ‘What about the big plan, go to university, become a doctor, the house by the beach.’
Of course I’d spoken to him about my plans, my dreams for the future. Of course he would remember. Had I really not seen that he was such a big part of my future as well, well he would have been.
‘Seth, there’s slightly more important things like saving the world that I have to concentrate on.’
‘Yeah but that might not be for years yet, you shouldn’t give up on your dreams.’
I swallowed a huge lump in my throat, because that was exactly what I had given up, I had given up him. ‘Well once the world is saved I can always go back to college or uni then, I’ll be a mature student.’ I smiled cheerily, forcing my voice to sound natural and calm.
He nodded, clearly confused. This was not like me to shirk school.
‘Oh by the way, that was some neat driving earlier,’ Mason nudged me.
‘Yeah my dad, David, taught me years ago. All my life he has been putting me through extensive training. I never realised how much of it would come in handy one day.’ I never realised I’d put my trust in someone and they’d turn out to have an evil twin, I thought wryly.
‘Well it’s not supposed to come in handy, that’s what we are here for. But it’s nice to know that you can look after yourself to an extent, if we should fail you again,’ Alexandria smiled, ruefully.
‘We won’t fail her again,’ Eli muttered, through his teeth.
I sighed. Death literally waited for me at every turn. If I didn’t burn myself out or kill myself by overusing my powers, if the Guardians continued to save me from the Putarians and Reapers, if by some miracle I was there at the end of the world, I would never see the world I had saved. My future was bleak.
Seth took my hand. ‘Let’s go home.’
Part 2
12. Sliding into darkness
I was running. It was dark and I could barely pick out the hill in front of me. I couldn’t run any faster but I knew he was following me in the darkness. I could feel his breath, I could sense his hunger for my death. How had it come to this? I was going to die and there was nothing I could do to stop it. My Guardians were dead, I had lost everyone I had held dear. And still they wouldn’t stop.
I heard laughter. Not just behind me now, but all around me. They knew they had finally won.
I tried to produce my shield, but nothing happened. I tried to produce the lightning but I was quite literally powerless.
The laughing got louder. I ran up the hill, the peak not seeming to get any closer no matter how hard I pushed myself.
Finally I broke the peak and the hills behind me went silent. There was an eerie orange glow that lit up the sky in front of me. As I approached the edge of the cliff, I looked down at the scene below me. The land, the houses, the trees, everything as far as I could see in every direction was on fire, great flames licked the sky, hungrily consuming everything it touched. The end of the world was upon us and there was nothing I could do. Two little children were scrabbling up the hill towards me to escape the flames. The flames were chasing them, so close on their heels I could almost smell their skin singeing. I ran down the hill to help them but I knew I wouldn’t get to them in time. I stopped and concentrated on pulling them to me with telekinesis. I held out my hand to direct my power and a great beam of fire shot out and ripped through their bodies leaving nothing but ash. I screamed so loud that it echoed round the flickering sky, and the laughter started again.
*
I jerked awake and immediately as I registered where I was my dreams faded away. My heart slowed and I knew I was safe. The muted greys of the early morning filled the room. It was cold outside, but I was toasty in my bed. I quickly closed my eyes again, hoping that sleep would take me for another few hours, a dreamless sleep.
It had been nearly two weeks since I had been introduced to the strange new world of having powers, of Guardians and Shape Shifters sent to protect me. Nearly two weeks since I had started my training. I hadn’t been back to school. That part of my life seemed redundant somehow. The end of the world was coming and I had to be ready to face it. Going to school and learning algebra didn’t seem like a priority anymore.
Although my training had started badly, I was a fast learner. In the last two weeks I had mastered talking telepathically; I could have entire conversations in my head with Persia, Quinn and my Guardians. Rather annoyingly, since I had opened my mind to the Guardians, I now had a permanent hum in my brain, which was the thoughts of the hundreds of Guardians pledged to me. Seemingly I could pick out the mind of the Guardian I wanted and talk to them exclusively, though I had only tried this with my Personal Guard. I had tried to shut out this hum and inadvertently blocked the signal my Guardians needed to pull themselves to me. It hadn’t gone down well.
I could move objects and people using the power of telekinesis. My shield was particularly effective, well at least against snowballs and soft beanbags. Eli had not been keen to try it against bricks and stones. I could control the weather at will. The news was filled with reports of freakish weather; on one day alone our part of England had experienced a range of high winds, blizzards, fog, rain, burning sun and at one point a triple rainbow. I could pull my Guardians to me now, though I was still having a bit of difficulty with it. Seth was easy, there was no thought involved at all. It was like picking an apple from a tree. Lucas was quite easy as well, I got on with him and he made me laugh. The others were harder. Though I don’t think I would ever get used to seeing them appear as if the air had simply spat them out.
After every day of training, I always felt like I’d run a marathon. My body ached, I was constantly hungry and I was exhausted beyond belief. Although I hadn’t blacked out again like I had that first day, my exhaustion was obviously a concern for my Guardians, charged with my protection.
I had a new family now. My Personal Guard rarely left my side, my only reprieve was in the bathroom or bedroom. Lucas was stationed outside my room most nights and the others were nearby. They never left or seemingly had any other hobbies or occupations. Occasionally I caught them reading, but they never seemed whole heartedly into it. Whenever I was with them they would watch me, their continual gaze had been almost oppressive, at first. I had grown very attached to my Personal Guard now and would spend hours talking to them. They weren’t just my body guards t
hey were my friends. Though Eli was one of the strictest friends I’d ever had, I still cared about him. The Outer Guard maintained a constant presence. Though they tried to be discrete, the population of huge dog walkers that walked up and down our road had increased significantly. Abe had been demoted from being in charge of the Outer Guard but he was still actively present. He was in the house most days, talking to Eli. I liked him and I could see Eli did too.
And then there was Quinn. He had loyally, doggedly been by my side throughout. Encouraging me when I got it wrong, cheering me on when I got it right. And he gave the best hugs; big bear hugs that made me feel incredibly safe and loved. He loved me, I knew that, though not in the way that Seth loved me. Quinn’s love was a love built on years of companionship, though I still hadn’t figured out why he wanted to be a part of my life in the first place. He had been eight years old when he had pledged to me at the age of two. Why at the age of eight would he promise his whole life to me? Why would he spend fifteen years of his life as a dog just so he could be with me?
Seth shifted under me, sensing I was awake.
That was another thing that had changed. Since downloading his thoughts and feelings, my dreams had been filled with him. Sometimes the dreams were my own, sometimes they were his, the ones I had inadvertently stolen from him. It was like I hadn’t had time to analyse or register them when they were flashing through my head the first time and my subconscious was giving me the chance to see them again, more slowly this time. I felt guilty about seeing them again, I knew Seth hadn’t wanted me to see them in the first place but as with most of my dreams I was an unwilling participant, I had no control. Well in actual fact, in the dreams where Seth was kissing me, I wasn’t unwilling at all. But in sleep, I had pulled Seth to me every night. He had given up going back to his own home and had started sleeping in one of the other bedrooms in my house. Though regardless where he started the night, every morning we would both wake clinging to each other like ivy.
Eli and Quinn had been less than enthusiastic about this new sleeping arrangement to start with. Seth had been quite respectful about the whole thing. He knew it was somewhat inappropriate for him to be in my bed and had left immediately after I had pulled him, but I would subconsciously pull him straight back. Then the nightmares had started, my fear of not being able to save the world or that I would actually be the one to destroy it. The nightmares where I was chased constantly by those that wanted me dead. But with Seth there, with his arms tightly wrapped around me, the nightmares faded, my demons chased away. But whether consciously or subconsciously, it was clear I needed Seth with me.
Eli now quite liked that a Guardian was posted inside my room. Though Quinn, to my embarrassment, had categorically stated that if Seth was to do anything other than hug me, he would break every bone in Seth’s body.
Seth and I hadn’t spoken about what I had seen that day when I accessed all his feelings, that he loved me unequivocally. I knew now that I loved him too, but I hadn’t told him yet. I wasn’t sure if I could ever tell him knowing I was going to die.
Seth kissed the top of my head, sleepily and I scrunched up my eyes tighter, not willing for it to be morning yet. His hands wandered down my back and my heart leapt.
‘So this is new.’
I opened one eye to look at him.
‘You, here,’ he explained.
‘In your arms? That’s more of a daily occurrence than a new thing. I still don’t know how I’m doing it. I’m sorry that…’
‘No, I meant you being in my room.’
I blinked in confusion and looked around. Sure enough I was lying in Seth’s bed in the room he had claimed at the front of the house.
I looked back at him. ‘Did you pull me to you?’
‘Our connection doesn’t work like that. You can pull me and the other Guardians to you, or we can pull ourselves to you. It doesn’t work both ways. You are the magnet pulling in the paperclips, the paperclips can’t pull the magnet.’
I looked around again as my brain became slowly awake. ‘Then how did I get here?’
He shrugged. ‘Did you sleepwalk?’
‘I’ve never sleepwalked before, I doubt I would start now.’
‘You could never move things with your mind before or control the weather, but now you are quite proficient at it. Sleepwalking could be a side effect of the exhaustion.’
There was suddenly a lot of noise outside Seth’s door and we both tensed at the panic that was in my Guardian’s voices.
Seth relaxed. ‘They’re looking for you.’
He must have communicated with them telepathically because suddenly Lucas burst through the door. He sagged with relief when he saw me.
‘She’s here,’ he called to the Guardians outside the room.
‘As I said.’ Seth rolled his eyes.
‘How did you get in here?’ Lucas asked, coming closer to the bed as the voices dispersed.
‘We were just debating that, we think she slept walked.’
I shifted to look at Lucas and realised for the first time that my hand was under Seth’s t-shirt, resting on his bare chest. Seth suddenly seemed to realise this as well. I quickly rambled on to distract from this.
‘Seth thinks I slept walked, I don’t. You guys would have seen me. You’re normally posted outside my bedroom door overnight so you wouldn’t be looking for me if you had seen me come in here.’
Good rambling. Seth and Lucas definitely seemed distracted. They were now arguing over how I had gotten in here. Seth’s skin was so warm to the touch. And soft like velvet. As they talked I couldn’t help move my finger in a tiny circle to stroke it. It was such a miniscule movement I was sure Seth hadn’t felt it. But as he talked to Lucas he shifted me closer to him, his hand grazing my own back for a second just above my pyjama bottoms.
‘So she slid to me? Impossible,’ Seth said.
‘Slid?’ I asked, trying desperately to ignore my pounding heart.
‘It’s what we call it when we come to you,’ Lucas explained. ‘And it’s not impossible. The Oraculum do it. Slide anywhere in the world at will. She has Oraculum DNA in her, it wouldn’t be completely implausible for her to have inherited that particular power too.’
‘I have Oraculum DNA in me?’
‘I suppose,’ Seth said, ignoring my question. ‘But why, when she can slide anywhere in the world, would she slide to me?’
‘You certainly wouldn’t be my first choice, but I would think in her case, the answer is obvious.’
I blushed as Seth looked at me intently.
‘But regardless of any of that Quinn is on his way up so get your hands off each other before he kills you both.’
*
The general consensus, when I met up with Persia and her sisters later that morning, was that I had slid. Something Eli was very keen for me to practice again. His idea was that if we were under attack then I could just simply slide to a different continent. Obviously sliding a few hundred yards out of harm’s way was not enough for Eli when I could put entire oceans between me and my attackers.
We were practising in a field at the back of a disused farm. We hadn’t been back to the church and had moved around quite a bit over the last few weeks but we had been here for about three days now. A small wood lined the edge of the field screening us from view on two sides.
‘I’m not sure how to teach you to do this as it’s obviously not something I can do myself,’ said Persia. ‘I think though, from what I understand about how The Oraculum do it, is you picture the place you want to go to, visualize the sights, sounds, smells and then just step through.’
As simple as that.
She smiled at me encouragingly.
I closed my eyes to block out the distractions of everyone staring at me.
‘Don’t go too far though, just into the trees or by the fence,’ said Eli.
I nodded, though kept my eyes closed so I could focus.
‘And come straight back.’
I
breathed out deeply.
‘Or call us to you as soon as you get there. You’re getting quite good at that now.’
I breathed in, trying to clear my mind.
‘Or at least call Seth to you.’
My eyes snapped open as I glared at him.
Lucas let out a laugh. ‘Eli, maybe you should shut up for a minute.’
I smiled at Lucas’s enthusiasm. He seemed to find everything amusing. I tried to block out the look that Eli gave Lucas and I closed my eyes again.
Doing as I was told, I pictured the fence in my head. I could see it in my mind but the image was blurry. I opened my eyes again and looked at the fence, taking in the finer details. This time when I closed my eyes I could see it in much clearer detail. The picture was so real I could reach out and touch it. So I did. I reached out for the fence and in my mind I imagined stepping through.
I was surprised when my shins clunked against something solid. I opened my eyes and nearly shrieked when I saw I was standing next to the fence. I whirled around to face my Guardians standing about twenty metres away from where I was now.
I didn’t need to ask if I’d done it, their shocked faces said it all. Even Lucas, who had been so adamant that I had slid to Seth the night before, looked stunned at my achievement.
‘Try to come back,’ called Seth.
There was nothing of any description near them for me to focus on so I did the easy thing. I focussed on Seth. I knew exactly what he looked like, I knew the length of his lashes, the tiny mole on his neck, his dark eyes. I could see him in glorious high definition in my mind. I stepped through and knew immediately when I felt his warm breath on my face that I had managed to slide to him again. I opened my eyes and he was smiling down at me.
‘Try somewhere else,’ Persia said, her eyes shining excitedly.
‘Somewhere close,’ said Eli.
‘In the trees,’ I suggested. We had practised in the trees the day before, using beanbags to perfect my skills of telekinesis as I skilfully avoided the trees moving the beanbags at speed in different directions.
