Noru 5: Ways Of The Wicked (The Noru Series, Book 5)

by Lola StVil

  “She’s got to be a part of this whole thing. Why else would Lucy send half a dozen Runners after her?”

  “She looked genuinely surprised when they came. This girl has no idea what’s going on.”

  “That doesn’t make sense. The council would never expose a human to that kind of danger.”

  “I’m telling you she knows nothing.”

  “It doesn’t matter if Emerson knows something or not. If Lucy thinks she’s involved, she’s dead.”

  As I listen to the conversation taking place in the living room, I keep my eyes closed. They had carried me into one of the bedrooms when I fell asleep. This is all a dream. This is what I get for falling asleep watching the SyFy Channel. But even as I’m saying it to myself, I know it’s a lie. This is real. And this Lucy person sent a bunch of guys to kill me. What did they call them—“Runners”? What have I done to this Lucy to make her want me dead? I’m gonna lay still and keep my eyes closed. This nightmare has to end.

  “Is she awake?” I think Miku is speaking. Rio answers.

  “She is, but she’s trying to wish this whole thing away.”

  “We don’t have time for this.” I recognize the voice of the girl who pointed the gun at me.

  She sounds irritated and on edge. I open my eyes and scan the room looking for a phone. There isn’t one. I snort at the absurdity of my situation. What would I say to the cops if there had been a phone? “Hi, my name is Emerson Baxter and I’m being kidnapped and held hostage inside, what looks to be, the centerfold of Architectural Digest.”

  Someone knocks on the door of the room. Miku’s voice calls out to me sweetly behind the door, “Emmy, it’s time to get up.” She opens the door and comes over with a tray of food. She sits beside me. On the tray is a small bowl of broth with pieces of a few white squares and a handful of green onions. “It’s miso soup. It’s good. My mom used to make it. Oh, and a turkey sandwich. I got Jay to make it for you. He’s a culinary genius, but he’s a little stingy with his talent.”

  “Who’s Jay?” I question.

  “The driver.”

  “He should have his license revoked.”

  “He did.” She laughs and hands me the tray.

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “Rio says you are.”

  “How does he know what I feel?”

  “It’s a long story. First food then Q&A, okay?”

  I was ready to argue, but the aroma of the soup hit my nose and my stomach growled. I take one spoonful of the soup intending to stop there, but it is so good I end up drinking the whole thing.

  Miku studies me. “Now, try the sandwich.”

  “No, I’m fine. Really.” She looks pleadingly at me.

  I’m such a pushover. I take a bite of the sandwich. It’s the best thing I have ever put in my mouth. It has some kind of spread that gives the turkey a kick. There’s also a light sweetness to it but I can’t figure out from what. I look at Miku in awe.

  “I know. It’s amazing huh? You should try his parmesan potato bread. It’s his specialty. But he really has to like you to make it.”

  I gobbled it up in four quick bites.

  I am making a pig of myself, but Miku doesn’t seem to mind. She hands me a can of soda. I drink it down and wipe my mouth with the napkin she had thoughtfully placed beside the tray. I thank her. She smiles and motions for me to follow her. I take a deep breath and walk after her out of the bedroom, into the living room.

  I must have been asleep for hours, judging by the dark sky. The living room is lit softly by track lights. Someone has cleaned the spot where I’d thrown up; the sour smell is gone. The house now smells of green tea and jasmine. There’s no one in sight.

  “Everyone’s waiting outside,” Miku informs me as she leads the way. We walk up a few flights and through a black gated door onto the roof. Standing there beside Rio is the driver, Jay, and the gun girl.

  It seems impossible but she is somehow even more striking than she was when I first saw her. She walks up to me. Her voice is official and impatient. “I’m Ameana. And this is Jayden.” She motions towards the driver. He says, “It’s cool, call me Jay.”

  Ameana continues without the slightest concern as to whether I respond or not. “You have something in your possession that is vital to me and many others. We need you to hand it over.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I stammer. She looks at the others, then back at me. “You have no idea what I want from you?” she asks again. I try to keep my voice from trembling.

  “N-n-no,” I say weakly. She turns to Rio. He replies, “She’s telling the truth. The Runners haven’t told her anything. She has no idea what’s going on.”

  I don’t know where the anger came from. All I know is that I had had enough of this sci-fi bull. I direct my comment to Ameana. “Look, warrior princess, I don’t know what you are talking about, okay? I was just trying to help some guy I found in the hallway and then all hell broke loose! If you plan on killing me before this Lucy person, then fine, do it. If not, I have to get home.”

  “How do you know Lucy? Has she come to see you?” Ameana turns to Rio.

  He answers her unspoken question. “She has one. I would know if she didn’t.”

  “One what?” I ask.

  “How do you know about Lucy?” Ameana demands again.

  Hoping that if I give her some answers she’ll give me some, I reply, “I overheard you guys talking. So, who is she? Why is she out to kill me?” I look into their faces and see something in them I didn’t see when bullets rang out over our heads—fear.

  “Is she some kind of super bad girl? I mean how many guns can a girl carry?” All my attempts to lighten the mood fail. “Please, tell me what’s going on. I may be able to help. But you guys have to talk to me,” I plead. They confer silently with each other.

  Before anyone can speak, a boy pops out of thin air. Seriously. He came out of nowhere. Startled, I jump back, lose my balance and fall head first down the side of the five story building. I don’t even have time to register that I should scream. I try to prepare myself for the pain. My head will hit the ground first, so maybe death will come swiftly. Please, please come swiftly.

  There is no pain. I feel no pain. Yes! Somehow I must have been knocked unconscious so quickly, the pain never had time to register. I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m dead.

  Then I hear Rio’s voice. “Emmy, open your eyes” I do. I am lying safely on the floor of the roof. I look up at the faces staring back at me; Rio, Jayden, Ameana, Miku and the new pop-up guy. He looks like a J Crew model. He’s wearing a designer military-style jacket, a royal blue stretch pullover that brings out his eyes, and white cargo pants.

  Well, if I am dreaming, at least I’m dreaming about pretty people. Everyone on this roof is hot. Well, aside from regular looking old me. Pop-up guy says to me, “I’m Reason. But you can call me Reese.” He extends his hand. I go to shake it when I see something big and dark like a shadow hovering above. I look up at Reese and gasp. Protruding out of his shoulders blades, are wings! Honest to goodness wings! Huge, disturbing, flapping-in–the-wind wings!

  He sees the freaked out look on my face and then it registers with him. “Oh, sorry, I always forget.” Suddenly the wings disappear.

  “Am I dead?” I choke. I look over at Miku.

  She answers coyly, “No, but we are.” In the hallway shootout earlier I had thought this is as confused as I can get. I was so wrong.

  Reese kneels down on one knee and takes my hand. “I’m sorry to startle you. It’s rude and very ‘un-angel-like.’ I get on Jay for gliding rudely, and here I am doing the exact same thing.” He helps me up.

  I whisper something about it being okay. But I don’t think he buys it.

  Ameana stares out into the dark night. The worry in her voice is obvious. “I thought he’d be back tonight….”

  “You know Marcus; he won’t come back until he’s found out something. In the meantime, check on Emmy for
me,” Miku says.

  Ameana looks at me as if she is scanning me, as if she can see inside my body. “She’ll live,” she says dismissively—wait, can she?

  Miku takes my hand. “Good, let’s all go back downstairs and talk. I’m guessing you have questions.” Um, one or two.

  We all take a seat in the spotless kitchen. It has everything a cook could want, from the top of the line sub-zero refrigerator to the stainless steel eight-burner stove. It looks like no one has ever used it. If they did use it, they were obsessed about cleanliness. To stop myself from hurling all my questions out at them, I occupy myself by counting the tiny flicks of gold embedded in the black marble countertop.

  “We don’t have time to play twenty questions. We only have time for one. So make it good,” Ameana instructed.

  “What? I can only ask one question? Are you serious?” She looks at me and glares. “Fine” I paused. There is so much I don’t know. I have no idea where to even start. I think for a moment and ask the most important question.

  “Did the man in the closet get help? Is he okay?” Miku grins as if she’s just she won the lotto. Rio shares her joy, as does Reese and Jayden. They all look at me strangely. Like I revealed something important but didn’t realize it.

  “That’s what you want to know?” Ameana says incredulously.

  “Well, there are lots more, but you said I could only ask one,” I say bitterly.

  “He’s been taken to the hospital. He’s critical but stable. There’s a good chance he’ll make it.”

  “Thank you,” I say curtly, matching her tone.

  She gets up to leave the room. As she is almost out the door she says, “Fill her in. Tell her what she needs to know.” And nothing more, I think, reading between the lines. Then she walks out.

  I can’t hold it anymore. “Are you angels? Who’s Lucy? Why did she send those guys after me?”

  Miku gets up and pours me a glass of water. “Here, you’ll need this.”

  I take it from her and drink it. I’m not thirsty, but I have a feeling she won’t take no for an answer. She sits back down and Jay prepares to addresses me. But before he can get started, Rio tells him to hold on. Then out of nowhere he says loudly, “Emmy’s cold, bring her a sweater, please.”

  How did he know I was cold? I didn’t make any gestures to indicate being cold, but he’s right. I’ve been getting goose bumps for 10 minutes. I just didn’t want to stop them now that they’re finally talking.

  Rio points to something next to me. I follow his gaze. I don’t see anything. He points up and there right above my head, hanging in the air is a rust colored wool sweater. It’s just hanging there in thin air. Miku nudges me to take it, and so I do.

  Then she shouts towards the entry way, “Thanks Mina.”

  “Wait, how did she—”

  “She can move objects and people. Cool, huh?” Miku explains.

  If I ever did drugs, I would stop today. But since I’ve never done them, I can’t explain what has just taken place in the past few hours.

  “Miku, please! What’s going on?” I beg.

  Jay comes to my rescue. His voice is steady, but he seems very far away.

  “In the beginning there was the creator; the highest measure of good. Over time, this entity has been given many different names. But its original name was Omnis, which is Latin for All. Omnis created nature and with it, a law that no one element can exist without an opposing element. This is known as the law of opposites. This concept encompasses all things, except for Omnis himself.

  “Omnis then created humanity. Everything had been perfect. So perfect, in fact, that humanity began to doubt the need for Omnis, and, over time, their connection to him all but disappeared.

  “Omnis concluded that, like nature, humanity needed the law of opposites to keep it balanced. If humanity never felt despair, it could not seek out the hope he provided. If they never experienced sickness, they would not marvel at the grace of good health.

  “And after seeing how wasteful humans were with the life he had given them, he knew that the only way for them to appreciate their own existence was to make it ephemeral. But because he loved humanity far more than anything he had ever created, it was difficult for him to be objective.

  “So he created a council of impartial judges that would look at the complicated design of humanity and do what was necessary to keep it in balance. Omnis created three council members: Death, Time and Fate. Although the council honors and respects him, it operates independent of Omnis, to assure that balance is maintained.

  “In addition to the council, Omnis decided he needed the opposite energy of himself. He is grace, forgiveness and goodness, so he wanted a force filled with rage, bitterness and evil. This force of evil would serve as an incentive for humanity to strive to be good and follow in the path that led to Omnis’ welcoming arms, or they would suffer at the hands of evil.

  “He called on his favorite and most cherished angel, Atourum, and told him what he needed done. The angel readily offered to serve, but Omnis cautioned that in order to become the personification of evil, there had to be hate in one’s heart. Not just for humans but for Omnis himself. But Atourum could never imagine hating his creator.

  “Omnis explained, ‘The only way for them to believe in me, Atourum, is for them to believe in you. Go, be merciless. Be savage and cruel. All the world will say your name with fear and contempt. Then, and only then, will they seek out salvation from me.’ Atourum bowed to his master and vowed to do as told.

  “In order to become evil, Omnis sent Atourum to Earth several times for him to witness firsthand the flaws of man. Each trip to Earth made Atourum more and more susceptible to human influence and less connected to Omnis. The more affected Atourum was by humanity’s shortcomings, the harder it was to get back into heaven. Eventually Atourum gave in to the savage ways of man and committed murder. This caused Omnis to ban him from heaven forever.

  “Atourum said to Omnis ‘I am now your opposing force, just as you wanted. Humanity will recognize your light by measuring it against my darkness. You take souls and put them in your mansion in the light. But humans will not appreciate this gift until you create an opposing space to the light. The only way to measure the beauty of your house is to measure it against the horror of mine.’ And so it was Atourum was granted Ren, meaning ‘house of fire.’

  “They also came to an arrangement: Omnis would take all children and Atourum would take all the adults who had committed unspeakable acts. But they could not agree on who would get the souls that died as teenagers, souls that had yet to choose either the path of darkness or the path of light.

  “They left it up to the council. The council decided to put souls that died between the ages of 13 and 19 on a bridge. The bridge is halfway between the light and the House of Fire. The souls would linger there until they choose the path to which they felt more connected. They would not know which is which. They would only follow the path that felt right to them.

  “Neither side was allowed to guide the souls; they had to find their own way. It was called ‘The Walk.’ Each soul lingers for as long as it is undecided and then once it accepted either the light or the dark, it would go in that direction.

  “Omnis and Atourum were each allowed to choose six souls from the bridge to be Watchers. A Watcher’s job is to keep an eye on the bridge and ensure that neither side intervenes in ‘The Walk.’

  “Omnis chose six of the purist souls. He called them “The Guardians.” Atourum chose six of the darkest souls on the bridge and named them “Akon” meaning “chaos.”

  “There were only two rules both sides had to abide by: neither side could tell a soul which way to go, and neither Omnis nor Atourum could know the location of the bridge.

  “Centuries passed, the bridge would fill up, and the souls would take ‘The Walk’ and go on into the light or the darkness. Each time the bridge was empty, The Guardians and Akons would go to the light or to Ren and be promoted.

>   “On the first cycle of the bridge, the soul chosen to be first Guardian was a soul named Julian. He watched vigilantly and made sure that nothing interfered with ‘The Walk.’ All the souls were left to choose their own path.

  “One day he took notice of a soul on the bridge that seemed to be having more trouble than the rest. It seems this soul wanted to follow the light but was drawn to the darkness. Julian watched it waver back and forth. It couldn’t decide which path to follow.

  “Julian talked to the soul. Her name was Femi. She lived in a small village in Nigeria. Her whole family was killed when her village was raided. She was subsequently beaten to death for standing up to the men who did it.

  “She told him that she was drawn to the darkness because of what it offered her: power, strength, and control. Since her life on Earth had lacked those things, she ached to have them. The other side offered her peace, happiness and hope, but she had seen those things on Earth and they were easily taken away.

  “When Julian was on the bridge just as a soul, it never appealed to him to follow any direction but the light. But as he talked to Femi, he began to understand her and sympathize with her dilemma.

  “She was hopeful and filled with peace, but when violence came this last time it had stripped her of those things. ‘Why run to happiness if it can get taken away?’ she asked. Julian understood for the first time that ‘The Walk’ was easier for some than others; there were souls that could not feel the inferno of hell or the glory of heaven. That would have made it too easy for them. They’d have to decide what they wanted most: peace or power. That was the only question that stood between heaven and hell.

  “Julian couldn’t stop watching Femi go back and forth on the bridge. He thought about her constantly. He spoke to the other Guardians. They encouraged him to keep a distance and not interfere. They were certain she would follow whatever path she was destined to take.