Lumen

by Joseph Eastwood

  “You’re going to have to take me to wherever you live one day. No cars or traffic, it sounds like my kind of heaven at the minute,” she said, still leading Daniel down the street.

  They stopped outside a tall building with steps leading to a huge green door with green glass panes, and a silver metal sign hung above it, Berlucci’s Café written in a fancy calligraphy. A bell chimed as they entered, and the sound of soft jazz welcome them. A woman jumped out in front of them. “Hi, I’ll usher you to your seats. Table or booth?”

  “Booth,” Mia said.

  “Okay, right this way,” she said and led them to a free booth. She pulled a menu out from her underarm and handed it them to share.

  “I normally just get the cappuccino,” she said and noted the puzzled look on Daniel’s face, “It’s coffee, but with a layer of frothy goodness. Sometimes I put chocolate dust on top.”

  “Where’s the band,” he said, glancing around.

  “Band? Oh, you mean the music,” she giggled. “It’s played on a CD, through the speakers.”

  “But where’s the music coming from? There are no instruments.”

  “It’s recorded on a CD and that’s played through a CD player and then the speakers,” she explained, grinning at his innocence.

  “That sounds complicated.”

  “No more complicated than you having all that magic,” she said. “So what do you want to order? I’ll pay, but then you can show me something.”

  “It’s still complicated. I’ll have a—one of them, cappa – cuppa – cappuccinos,” he said.

  Mia flicked her hand up in the air to signal one of the waitresses. A woman came to their table and she placed the order. The woman came back minutes later with a rack of condiments; white sugar, brown sugar, cocoa shaker and icing sugar shaker. And then minutes later she came back balancing a metal circle tray on the palm of her hand with two small thick cups of cappuccino, a third of each had been up of froth.

  “Don’t drink it straight away,” Mia said as Daniel picked up a cup. “It’s hot. And, you haven’t shown me your power yet.”

  “I’m not supposed to use it in public,” he whispered.

  “C’mon Daniel, how will they know. Really? They let you off the island didn’t they? So they’ll probably just slap you on your wrists or something,” she laughed.

  “Yeah, probably.” He laughed along, although he knew that wasn’t at all true. “Okay, I know what I can do,” he said eyeing the pots in the spinning rack.

  “Go on then,” she whispered.

  Daniel took the cocoa shaker from the bunch and dropped it. He left a vine of his energy coaxed around the pot, keeping it suspended. He sucked in and his head startle to fuzz and crackle, for seconds he thought that Jac was trying to talk to him, but then his throat dried and his tongue throbbed inside his mouth as something new started to smother him. Glasses on tables started to clacker and drown out the music, while the people in the booths and tables shouted “earthquake!” and “tornado!” as they climbed out of their seats and headed for the exit. Mia and Daniel stayed seated.

  “Is that you?” she asked, and peered around the rest of the room.

  Daniel couldn’t reply, it was intoxicating, and he just kept on taking from the source of it. The cups then started to rattle with an air of impatience and then one had tapped its way to the edge of the table and dropped to the floor, with a crisp clear break.

  The noise broke his concentration and the café stopped shaking. He turned to hear excited mumbles coming from Mia, but something else distracted him. There was a girl, sat at a table with her hood up and brown and blonde locks flicked around her face. She sat, unstirred, dipping a finger into the foam of her drink. Daniel couldn’t help but feel compelled to watch, she glanced up, and looked directly at Daniel.

  “You’re him,” a cool voice spoke. He took a hard gulp and glared into her eyes. It was her. She was speaking to him. He clenched his jaw and blinked. He glanced back over to her, but she’d gone.

  “Was it?” Mia asked, tapping on Daniel’s arm. “It was, wasn’t it?”

  Daniel turned back to look at Mia who was waiting for an answer. “Mm, I think so,” he said, glancing back over to where she’d been.

  She grinned and dipped her finger in the froth and then wiped it on his nose. “You’re super powerful, aren’t you?”

  “I really don’t think I should’ve done that. But I need to go,” he said, rubbing his nose with his sleeve.

  “Oh,” she said, pouting.

  “I’m sorry. I wish I could stay and show you more.”

  “You can.”

  “No, I really do need to go,” he said. “Sorry.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Daniel found himself standing around, daydreaming, her voice, her face, etched inside his head. Chey clicked her fingers in front of his face. “Sorry, Daniel,” she kept on repeating.

  “For what?” he asked.

  “You can’t attend this class any longer. Not until the rest of the class has reached your stage.” She handed him a wry smile.

  He nodded for several seconds while he walked back out of the room and the door slammed in his face. He turned around and saw Reuben standing at the top of the stairs with a hand on his walking aide.

  “Daniel,” Reuben said.

  “Yes.”

  “It was my idea that you’d be withdrawn from that lesson. And now that you have, would you mind doing me a favour?” he asked.

  “Um. What do you need?”

  “It’s prep for tomorrow’s lesson. All I need you to do is go out by the woods and collect some wood and some stones, at random, or where you feel the most power coming from.”

  “Okay,” he said, and Reuben turned to walk back up the stairs to his office. “Is there anything else?”

  “Nope. That’s it,” his voice echoed down.

  For a moment, after being overwhelmed and underwhelmed within the same small part of time he had wanted to go back and see Mia, perhaps explore a little more, and try to find the girl from the café, just wanting to do something that made him feel real. That’s how Daniel pictured it, over there, with Mia, energy was flowing and free, but while here he was scratching at the same spot and waiting for a burst of energy, even if the bursts had been quite regular so far.

  “Jac, where the hell are you?” Daniel said to himself.

  “I’m not talking to you. You pushed me. I still have a ringing in my ear. It’s still ringing!” he said.

  “I did what? I thought you were being moody because I didn’t ask Reuben if you could visit,” he said quietly, walking out of the main building.

  “Well no. That’s not what happened at all. And I had a headache for hours, and then when I tried to contact it was like walking into an ivory wall and then getting up and doing it again. Did I forget to mention the ringing?” he whined.

  “You know I went off the island,” he covered and his mouth and whispered.

  “You went to see her. What happened? They haven’t killed you yet? Or are they going to?” Jac panicked.

  “No, no, no. Well not that I know of. And yes, I did go and see Mia. It was amazing. I was so powerful, think of the Divides, but without any rules or restrictions.”

  “As if. The only reason we have rules here is to keep us in check.”

  “Probably why nobody else can use it there. It’s addictive.”

  “Have the even taught you about the Luminaries? Heck, didn’t Erik or Roan not tell you about them?” Jac asked.

  “Of course I know about the Luminaries, my teacher is obsessed with them. But they didn’t say that you’re not allowed off the island,” Daniel said, walking down the path where he would to Animal class.

  “Two thousand years ago when pure energy was founded on the island there was this 400 year era of people enslaved and we had such little power, if any, the people on the island took over and drove them away,” Jac explained.

  “How do you know that? And what does that
have to do with the rules?” he asked pushing stray branches out of his face.

  “It was a shock to them, they hadn’t aged the 400 years that they’d been here and the cursed the land, saying that if anyone was to go off the island then they would be killed, killed by the Divides because that’s what governs us. And nobody can ever stumble upon us, and we can’t venture out,” Jac continued to explain.

  “Who’s been teaching you then?” Daniel chuckled to himself.

  “Well I did go to the library with you, quite a bit.”

  Daniel’s stopped silent, and something become clear to him as he stood in the middle of the forest. One of the trees phased body cold. “One sec, Jac. I think I might have to push you away. I’m just doing something,” his said in a monotonous tone.

  “No. I’ll just” – and it was too late Daniel had pushed and cleared his mind.

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then opened them again, looking around the forestry and staring straight ahead at an ash coloured oak tree. Daniel walked closer to it, his fingers tingling at his side and his palms sweaty. He reached out with both hands and touched the cool skin of the tree. A whooshing sound passed him and filled him with the same cool hardness of the wood inside the tree, the twisted roots diving in and out of the fertile soil. His heart took a dive and a couple of extra jumps in places they shouldn’t.

  He cooed to himself as he polished his hands across the wood, and a piece of bark flaked off between his fingers, he caught it before it fell and pressed it hard in his palm, letting it crunch and crumble. “You feel that? Energy?” he asked himself.

  He closed his eyes. He could see as he gripped hold of the piece of bark. He felt the heat of his breath tingle on his tongue as he knew he was about to breathe his last. He rested his back against the oak and slid down until he was sat with the upturned roots.

  “Next time you push someone, push them properly!” Jac said in a pseudo-angry voice. It jolted Daniel and he jump upright and sucked in enough air to pop his lungs. He coughed and fell to the floor, dropping the bark. He rushed off out of the forest, shaking his head and holding himself.

  Daniel rushed, staring down at his legs and trying not to trip over his feet. He walked straight into Enek. “Oh, sorry, sir. I didn’t see you there.” And then he rushed off.

  “Oi, hold up. Have you just come from the forest?” Enek asked.

  Daniel froze and turned around to see Enek tapping his foot for an answer. “It’s a project for R—R—Mr Croft,” he said.

  “I’m surprised you got out so quick, or out alive,” he chuckled, “some students have gone missing and don’t turn up for days, or weeks, but now we’ve got access to the field, well Reuben does, but we can still find missing students easier, and it’s also handy for people cutting their classes, so don’t cut class,” Enek began to digress. “I’ve never been in there, so I don’t know what it is scaring those kids half to death, seriously, like this close.” He made a small gap between two fingers to show Daniel what he meant, but he wasn’t listening.

  “I’m gonna go,” he replied and rushed off.

  “Who was that?” Jac asked several times, each time stressing different words until he ended up shouting.

  “Something happened,” Daniel muttered, “it was an amazing feeling, but it wasn’t real. I want to go back in there…but I know better. The tree wanted me to just attach myself to it. It wanted me to just take—or give it my energy.”

  “Yeah, you’re not making any sense.”

  Daniel stopped, looking left and right, one way lead to his dorm and the other to the main hall. He stumbled over his confused feet and fell into the bush at the side. He pushed himself up and wavered around on his legs. He gripped the wall and clung to it. He pushed a hand up against his chest and then moved it to massage his neck and collarbone. His breakfast tickled his stomach and within seconds it had made its way up through his throat and out of his mouth.

  “I can hear that. Really?! You’re being sick…or are people poisoning you? Shit!” Jac boomed down Daniel’s nervous system, causing his jaw to clench. “I’m coming!”

  “No, no you can’t,” Daniel said as someone passed him and frowned. “For all I know, it could be because I went off the island,” he said, cupping a hand around his mouth.

  “That sounds about right; there are forces bigger than us, so you can’t see her again. Okay!” Jac said.

  Daniel nodded to himself, but he couldn’t just give up like that, he’d seen her again today, and that wasn’t a one-off thing. “I’ll try being less active,” he said.

  “Daniel? Are you okay?” Reuben asked, tapping him with a stick.

  “No,” he turned around, still crouched over. He straightened up and wiped his mouth sloppily. “Think I ate something.”

  “Who were you speaking to?” he asked, tipping his chin up.

  “Oh, just myself, trying to figure out why I could be ill,” he explained.

  “So you haven’t been in the forest yet then?” Reuben shrugged his collars and tightened his overcoat.

  “Yeah, but I came back out because I felt a little ill.”

  “Okay. Just get some rest and I’ll see you in the morning. Don’t forget. And if you’re still ill we might be able to test some new methods to reduce it or remove it from your system full stop,” Reuben said and shooed Daniel.

  Daniel nodded. “I’m sorry for being sick in your garden.” He crouched over and teleported back to his room, the whoosh of the energy he invoked sent his head spinning again, and he went off to the sink in his room to throw up.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Daniel had left the window open all night and he’d slept on top of his duvet. His skin was white and silvery blue when he woke, he didn’t shiver and his teeth didn’t clatter. He flicked the sleep from his eyes and he rolled his shoulders, letting them click and crack. Since nobody would speak to him, it was in his interests to skate by almost late to most things. He got a shower and dressed then teleported out to the cafeteria before it closed.

  “Mr Satoria,” a man with white gloves and a black suit, Reuben’s butler, tapped him on his shoulder. Daniel turned, cramming the rest of the bacon sandwich into his mouth. “Mr Croft and his class are waiting for you in the foyer, and the cafeteria is closing now.”

  “Thank you,” Daniel said after he finished chewing and had swallowed his food. The butler ushered him out of the cafeteria and into the foyer.

  Everyone turned around to see Daniel walking out of the cafeteria, and it wasn’t just Jasper in the class, Mark and Carlie had places as well, and a few others who he’d seen around but never spoken to before. They all stood behind Reuben. Carlie winked at Daniel and then bit her lip, Jasper watched and Daniel rolled his eyes but watched as Jasper took a hold of her hand.

  “We’re all here now. I’m going to be taking you to a secret locale, some place very close to nature, some place where we can call a Luminary…get one in the flesh,” Reuben grinned. “Follow me.”

  There was chatter between friends, and an ear-splitting boom from Jac, “how can he get one of them here? Oh, shit, Daniel. What’s he doing this for? I think for everyone’s safety you should tell them all not to…tell them to do something else.”

  Reuben led the way; he opened a door beneath the stairs, a plain cupboard with two brooms, a mop and bucket and a shelf with dirty glass vials. He pushed the wall in front of him and the stone door swung from its hinges, sending a cloud of dust their way. “Not been used in a while. We all usually just ‘port in and out,” Reuben said, walking into the tunnel.

  “I can’t, nobody will listen, especially not to me,” Daniel said quietly, following the crowd right at the end.

  When Daniel walked into the passage the door slammed shut behind him, and for a moment they all stopped and stood in the darkness. Another moment later and orange lights broke out on the walls.

  They walked for about five minutes before all the lights died out again and another light shone t
hrough from a door Reuben had opened at the end.

  “You need to mind your heads and watch your steps, some drops are larger than others, also remember that you’re going around in a circle,” Reuben called out along the line, he headed down first.

  There was a natural glow from the rock, and the smell of damp was already sticking to the fabric of their clothes. Daniel let his hand ride the smooth rock column as he walked down and around it. He admired how clean it had been kept and how there were little green moss patches in places.

  “Now that you’re all here, you can ‘port here for lesson, and only then,” Reuben said, as everyone reached the opening at the bottom of the stairs.

  “What if you can’t teleport?” a boy asked from the front of the crowd.

  “It’s a shame, Ven, but you’re talented in other ways. It’s your earthly affinity which got you in this group, so don’t let the fact that you’re less than mobile get in the way,” Reuben said.

  Ven nodded, it was still a compliment to be in the group.

  “Are you listening to me?” Jac asked.

  “Sorry, what?” Daniel blurted, louder than expected.

  “Oh, nothing for you, Daniel,” Reuben said.

  “I think you should call the Divides now. I think that you should do something to stop him from calling a Luminary, for all you know it could take all your energy away from you and then what? No, Mia. Ever again!” Jac pleaded.

  Daniel glanced around the room, he didn’t have a clue of what Jac was going on about, and he clocked eyes with Ven and felt sorry for him, not being able to teleport. Daniel butted his lips and kept quiet, making note of how lived in the room felt; crates stacked up on the floor and folded rags beside them, with a bunch of candles sat around in different spots.

  “Gather round,” Reuben called, whacking his staff on the stone floor.

  Everyone fell silent and came to a regimented circle. Daniel stood beside Mark, and across from Carlie and Jasper. He turned to look at Mark’s face, grinning like a child, looking over at Jasper who was also grinning. Teeth nipped at the nape of Daniel’s neck, sharp prongs pulled on the sleeve of his energy store. Jasper started giggling and Daniel shook his head, trying to pull away from the pain. But it was Mark, his hands at his side, strumming the air, Daniel glanced down to see the faint glow on Mark’s fingertips. Daniel gripped Mark’s hand and his fingers cracked.