Leaning forward, he dropped his palms to the floor and tried to pick himself up. His right hand landed on something unusual. He looked down through his tear-blurred eyes, and his fingers grabbed onto a latch. He had bought the house fully furnished from a researching physician who moved his family to western Narwine after the Balanced War so many years ago. Since then, Jensen had found compartments all over, but he never thought to check underneath his lab table. He had never cleaned underneath it, especially since Vanessa had handled that type of upkeep.
The latch was locked with a sliding bolt. He pulled it back, and the metal squeaked, the sound scraping the insides of his ears. The door didn’t flip open, but it slid into the floorboard. Inside was a smooth, brown leather box with a polished finish. Where did this come from? He pulled the box out of the hole, dusted it off, and loosened the leather tie that sealed it shut. The box smelled like it had been stored for years even though the compartment was rather clean with only a few cobwebs lining the inside.
Opening the box, he set the lid aside. It was filled to the top with papers. His emblem pulsed casting its orange rays on the sheets with each heartbeat. Diagrams and designs covered the sheets of paper within the box. He flipped through them in awe. What is all this? And who is it from?
The etchings were diagrams of emblems and writings with plans. The Breathless Bramble seemed to be the center of it all. This was the plant from which the Anaerobia was created, the viscous solution that had given the Pioneers their competitive edge, the solution that Jensen’s wife Vanessa formulated.
Searching through the papers, Jensen looked for more clues. Where did these notes come from, and what did they all mean? He rustled through the designs, and at the back he came across a note. It was a letter addressed to him. His name was at the top, and next to it were the words, “I love you more than you will ever know.” The letter was from her! It was a note from Vanessa!
Jensen’s heart raced, and the pulses from his emblem increased as he could not contain his excitement. His fury melted into adoration for his beloved. She was alive for just a moment. For just a few more seconds, he would be able to read her words, and to him, she would be alive again in his heart. Her death had been so abrupt. Her last words had ended so mechanically. There was no affection in them whatsoever. But here and now was a note from her addressed to him, and he could hear her voice once again.
Tears caressed his cheeks, and he touched his emblem to comfort himself. The words on the note were written quickly, like she was rushing to get her thoughts out. There were no signs of any formatting to her letter accept that everything was written as list. She must have been in a hurry to write down her thoughts. But why? He flipped the page over, and the list trickled down the back of note. Turning it back to the front, he delved into Vanessa’s thoughts.
THE PAST: EIGHT YEARS BEFORE EXTRACTION
The distant mountains of Narwine watched over the territory while the ridged rocks underfoot stood at attention listening to their conversation. The early morning fog hovered around the two of them, and a few distant birds chirped nearby. The streets were empty except for a few stragglers who made their early morning market runs.
“I don’t wanna’ do this,” said Vanessa. Her accent was thick, but she was not as lively as she typically was. “I’ll have you know that if you’re gonna’ keep threatening me, then I don’t think that I can rightly give you any more respect than what you deserve. Which in my opinion puts you at less than nothing.”
Wex looked at her with his stern gaze. He was charming simply because of his poise. “It’s not your respect that I’m after. I need that brain of yours to figure some things out for me.” A few spirits swirled around him, but then they retreated back into the spiritual plane.
She cocked her head to the side. “Well this brain of mine ain’t responding to your threats anymore. I’m done with this. I can’t keep doing whatever it is you want, just because you want it done. I’m not an animal to be trained, and I will not be manipulated by you.” She leaned in towards him and wiggled her fingers like spider legs to emphasize her words.
Wex rubbed his brow. His emblem pulsed, and he directed his gaze at her with a sigh. “Let us not forget about that husband of…”
She ran at him and pushed his backwards. “You leave him outta’ this I told ya’!” Electricity surrounded her as she snatched the electrons from the life forms around her. She rushed at him with lightning encircling her.
Wex stumbled back and caught his balance. He fixed his cloak, reestablishing himself. The spirits surfaced, and they remained. Their groans turned to growls. Their formidable faces peered through the dense fog. As the life forms became more invigorated from Vanessa’s interaction with them, the spirits surfaced even more fully. They reached for her and held her in place, and one of the spirits grabbed a chunk of her hair and snatched her head back so that she had to stare into Wex's eyes.
“Do not let your anger get you killed, little lady.” When he spoke, his words echoed in her chest, and she winced at the power of his voice. “We Spiritualists Dominate you Materialists, and if you ever put your hands on me again, Jensen will suffer the consequences.”
The spirits snarled at her, and she could feel their breath on her face. She stopped connecting with the life forms so that the spirits could not surface so powerfully. Their hold on her got weaker, but they still kept their grasp on her because of her fear. She could barely speak, but she coughed out her words. “Don’t hurt my Jensen. Please, don’t hurt him.”
Wex looked away and motioned to the spirits to release her. She held her throat and gasped for air. “Vanessa,” he said sympathetically. “Do not beg for my mercies. I’m not a savage as you so think that I am. I offer my mercies to you freely. But in return, I ask for only one more thing.”
She was bending over still trying to catch her breath. “One more thing!” she screamed, pointing at him. “You said one more thing the last time. When I first told you what I made for the Pioneers, the way that they were using the emblems and all. You said that’s all you wanted.”
Wex bent down to face her. The fog encompassed them both. “I didn’t lie to you. That was all that I wanted…at the time. But I know that you’re working on something else, and I need to know what it is.”
She stood up, holding her stomach. Wex stood up also. “Why don’t you just read my thoughts, and then you’d figure it out?” she asked as she rolled her eyes.
“Mind reading is a Naturalist trait and one reserved for the Alpha Domains at that. I only read the emotions of your spirit, and your spirit doesn’t give the details of science. I don’t want to sound ungrateful. I’m glad that you told me about your findings with the emblems. Because of it, I have started a little research of my own.”
“What kinda’ research?” she asked.
Wex looked out into the horizon where the green tipped trees climbed the unending mountains of Narwine as he rubbed his aging chin. “I hesitate to say, but I think after my connection with you…”
“This ain’t no connection,” she interrupted. “You have taken control of my spirit, and you threaten to kill me if I even feel like betraying you. How is that a connection?”
“After my connection with you,” Wex continued. “I’m sure that betrayal will be the last thing on your mind. Or at least it should be…for your sake. So I’ll tell you what I’m working on. You might even have some suggestions.”
“Or I might not.”
Wex ignored her defiance. “I’ve been collecting stones from the other provinces ever since Arthur was the general of Broughtonhaven. I was trying to figure out what else they could do besides what we knew of them. However, it wasn’t until I ran into you that I figured it out.”
“You didn’t figure it out. I did.”
“Details that don’t matter at this juncture,” Wex replied, waving her off. “I wanted to see if the stones could be used to create life.”
“No,” she said hesitantly.
&nbs
p; “What’s that you’re feeling?” he asked suspiciously, shaking his finger at her.
“It doesn’t concern you.”
“But it does.” He raised his hand towards her and tugged at her spirit. She sputtered for her breath as Wex threatened to snatch it out of her.
“Okay,” she pleaded. “But I thought you only wanted to know what the Pioneers were doing with the Anaerobia?”
“That stuff? From the way that you described it to me, it’s unstable. You can’t control it like the way that I control spirits. No. I was thinking of something better. I want to bring spirits to life. Can it be done?” Vanessa tossed her glance to the ground not wanting to answer him. “Good. Now how do I do it?” he asked. “Remember Jensen before you respond.”
She grunted and proceeded to tell him. “Only Spiritualists can do it from what I’ve seen. When the spirits surface from the Spiritualist Anaerobia, they are unbridled like an untamed horse. So for a spirit to be controlled, a Spiritualist would have to command it, I reckon. The connection with that spirit would have to be an extremely powerful connection, since the spirit would need to be touched so that it could unite the other emblems to bring the spirit to life.”
Wex rubbed his chin, and then he shook his finger swiftly to ask another question. “Would I even need to use a Spiritualist emblem? Because if I can make the spirt surface, then I can certainly keep it surfaced.”
“You’d need all the stones to make it work. The Polarist stone would Dominate the spirit without the Spiritualist emblem, and the spirit couldn’t remain in the physical plane.”
“How can I keep the Naturalists from controlling the spirit once it has been brought to life?” he asked, smiling, wrinkles bunching together.
“I don’t wanna’ say.”
“But you will...won’t you?” asked Wex as he reached towards her.
She briefly held up her hands to protect her face and sighed. “The refined Spiritualist emblem must be larger than the Naturalist one.”
“How much larger?”
“I don’t know. Maybe twice as large? At least big enough to keep from being Balanced, I suppose.”
“I was certain that I could count on you, and I was right. These past few months working with you have been nothing aside from beneficial.”
“For you! Not for me. I can’t keep living like this. I feel like I’m lying to my husband, and Arthur, and the Pioneers. This just ain’t right.”
“Don’t feel that way.”
“That’s all you have to say? You threaten me and my husband, and this is all you have to say?”
“I’m not much for words, so...don’t feel that way,” he said again. The fog was starting to clear, and the day was coming alive as the streets busied with people.
“I can’t be seen with you out here. Too many people know me, and if word gets back that I was talking to you...well...I could be in a lot of trouble.”
“I’m not ready for you to go yet,” said Wex. His voice was direct, and he spoke into her. “I know that you’ve been working on something new. I can’t figure out what it is, but I can feel it. I sense that you are getting close to the answer, but you’re missing something. And I sense that the something that you are working on has to do with the connection that I have made with you. Am I right so far?”
Vanessa shifted her weight back and forth, fidgeting her hands and looking around at the passersby. “I can’t say either way.”
“But, of course, you will say one way or the other,” he said, looking at her from the corner of his eye.
She sighed again after stuttering over her words. “I’ve been...it’s a...it’s a serum.”
“A serum? What kind and what for?”
“So people like you won’t have power over people like me,” she whispered in a stern voice.
“You mean how we Spiritualists Dominate the Materialists? And what does this serum do?” He paused and gasped as he answered his own question. “You intend to prevent the Domination, don’t you?” She looked around and nodded quickly as if she had been discovered. “You want to stop me from controlling you? I thought you were wiser than that. Connecting with a person’s spirit has nothing to do with Dominating them. It wouldn’t matter which province you were from, once you agreed to the connection, then it…”
“I didn’t agree to this! You forced it on me!”
“Let’s get one thing straight,” Wex said through his teeth. “When Governor Dorian Lamberts sent you to Broughtonhaven to spy on me, you forced this on yourself. I had my people follow you back to your wretched little home in Thiden, and that’s when they found that sweetheart of yours. So when you moseyed back down here, I caught you and threatened his life if you didn’t accept. Isn’t that how it happened? You and the Alpha Council assumed that you could just come into my province without my permission. This is what happens to those who disregard my territory.”
“You could have never taken Jensen by yourself. You had to get the Triage involved, and I wasn’t going to let them lay a finger on him.”
“Wrong again. Jensen would have begged for his life as helplessly as you did if I had ever run into him. The Triage would have just made sure that I had no part in it all. A governor can’t be seen doing those kinds of dealings. And lucky for Jensen, you have always been cooperative, so I didn’t have to send the Triage after him. Once again, how foolish of you to think that you could stop me from having a connection with your spirit by using a serum to prevent Domination,” he chuckled. “That’s absurd.”
She stopped fidgeting, and she looked up at him slowly. Her eyes were like fire, and a few sparks skipped off her skin. “I wasn’t going to stop the connection with the serum. I was going stop you.”
Wex’s laughter eased, and a chill went through him. He had never felt words in his chest before, but something about the hatred from the connection with her spirit made him feel her wrath. He stared at her and retorted back. “Don’t let your anger get you and your family killed.”
“I’ll just tell the Alpha Council what you’re doing.”
“And I’ll just make sure that Jensen doesn’t live to see another day,” he said as he leaned in towards her. “And trust me when I tell you that the Triage will not hold back.”
She started fidgeting again, dwelling on Wex’s words.
“Don’t let that hatred inside of you turn into disobedience. You should be satisfied with what I’m about to say.” Wex stepped towards her, smiling. His emblem cast its violet rays over her torso. “You can keep working on the Domination serum. But it will be for me now. The Polarists will no longer be able to force my people into submission. We will be strong enough to fight them back, and I’ll have you to thank for that.”
He rubbed the side of her face with the back of his hand, and she jerked away from him. Her hair swung over her cheek.
“I’m not doing this for you! I’m doing this for my Jensen and for me, so we can live peaceably without you moping around!” she said as she pushed him away.
He stepped back, but he wasn’t annoyed this time. “I don’t care who you do it for. Just get it done,” he replied smoothly. “Oh. And there’s one more thing.”
“One more? How many one-mores are you going to have?”
“As many as I need.”
She sighed and stepped away from him. “What is it this time, you snake!”
“I want to test out your idea about bringing spirits to life. I have some Polarist emblems because of one of my connections there, and I have a few Materialist emblems, thanks to you.”
“Thanks to me! I didn’t get any emblems for you.”
“In a way you did. When you spied on my people, and I sent the Triage to stalk you, they had to protect themselves from some of your savage, mountain comrades.”
“You are twisted.”
“I disagree. But, as I was saying, I have everything that I need except for one small little thing.” Wex cut his eyes away and then looked back at her, face as solid as stone. “I nee
d a Naturalist emblem.”
“I don’t know what you’re asking me for,” she said, shaking her head and looking around. The people roaming the streets seemed to be watching their conversation, and she turned her face from them so that they would not recognize her.
“Because I need you to get one for me.”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
“I’m glad you asked. There’s a woman from Kyhelm coming to Narwine, for what reason I'm unsure. She’s one of Dena’s best trained soldiers. I need you to extract her.”
“I’m not a killer,” she replied, still shaking her head and stepping back even farther.
“So keep her alive. But you will extract her. That is nonnegotiable.”
“I’m not doin’ it! This is not what I agreed to.”
“It’s not,” Wex said sadly. Then he smiled at her, speaking slyly. “You agreed to serve me for the rest of your life for the sake of you and your Jensen.”
“This is wrong. Why not just make the Triage do it for you? This is their kinda’ treachery.”
“Because you’re blind.”
“I can see just fine,” she said, staring at him up and down.
“Wrong again. You need to know that you cannot defy me.”
“You can’t do this to me....”
“You did this to yourself,” he said. “The Naturalist will be in Narwine in a few days. If I don’t have the stone in two weeks, I will accept that as your resignation from life.” With that, the spirits growled at her, and Wex headed south back to Broughtonhaven.
THE PRESENT: TWO YEARS POST EXTRACTION
The laboratory was a mess, and glass shards jutted from the floor where Jensen had destroyed them. He held the letter in his hands weeping. He cried for her, and he cried for himself. She had always taken burdens on herself, but this was too much for anyone to bear. What had she been holding back for the past ten years? Beneath all of their conversations, her heart was doused in the fear that she could lose him at any time. How could a woman endure all that?
Infused (Book 2 of The Pioneers Saga) Page 21
