Heart of the Resonant: Book 1: Pulse (Resonant Series)

by B. C. Handler

  The peak came, then so did I. With a strained grunt, I unloaded into Koko’s hand, a thick stream spilling over her fingers and onto her wrist.

  She slowed, but kept going, trying to work everything out as I reeled from the oversensitivity. She pulled her hand away and stared at the considerable mess. She took the handkerchief and cleaned her hand, and then left my side and went over to her dress.

  I watched from the bed while coming down from my high. Koko kept her back to me the entire time as she bent down and pulled her dress up. Once her buttons were fastened, she made for the door.

  “Koko,” I called. She stopped, but didn’t bother sparing a glance. “Koko,” I went on, “is there anything I can do to help?”

  She peeked over her shoulder, then looked back at the door. “Conceal the truth from Mother and leave. That is the only way you can help.”

  Koko opened the door, then quietly closed it behind her.

  I fell back on the mattress and held my forearm over my eyes, letting what just happened sink in. The experience was pleasurable, but the circumstances surrounding it made me feel so wrong; dirty, even.

  Deep down I knew it was wrong, but it was the best and only way to keep Koko out of trouble. From what Neepa and Koko told me, and along with my brief interactions with Charna, I knew just how twisted that woman was.

  The fact to why her gaze was so unnerving became clear: she doesn’t see me as another person, she sees me as a thing.

  Moreover, she is so egotistical that propositioning me directly was below her, leaving the task to her least favorite daughter and throwing her in like a fruit basket. Getting me into the academy was only second to getting me as her breeding stock. It’s so fucked.

  And there’s nothing I can do.

  Confronting Charna directly would rouse problems. But if I do nothing, Koko will continue to live her life as a tool, a slave.

  With a heavy sigh, I pulled my pants up and got out of bed. There hasn’t been any noise in the living room, so the girls were still asleep. Figured I should clean up the broken glass and dump the rest of the wine before they come to, and then figure out how to play this off.

  That also meant figuring out how to break it to Neepa.

  Started the morning with my dick out, and might finish it with a conversation on why it was in another woman’s hand. Grand.

  Chapter 16

  Cleaning up didn’t take long. I loaded the large shards of the broken glassware into a bowl, and used a sheet of paper from my notebook to gather the finer bits. Since there wasn’t a trashcan anywhere, I ended up flushing the glass down the toilet. There was the balcony, but we were so high up that I feared a piece of glass going terminal velocity could kill some unsuspecting person. Next, I flushed the last of the wine.

  It was when I was replacing the bottle on the table that I noticed the empty vile from Neepa’s green juice. My gaze went to the glass vile and the wine bottle several times before I made the connection as to why the sedative didn’t affect me as much.

  That green juice really is a cure-all. Neepa’s skills as a herbalist are astonishing. All the sadder that her brilliance is shadowed by the sins of her family.

  Moments after I finished cleaning and set myself on the couch to unwind, Eva stirred. She sat up with a groan and rubbed her neck till she craned to the right for a solid crack. Dazed minty eyes roamed over the room, stopping at her friend, then settling to me with rekindled heat and focus.

  “What happened?” she asked, her voice groggy.

  “You and Neepa really took to that Corin wine.” I picked up the bottle and upended it. “Koko and I barely got a glass in us.”

  The Corin wine came in a magnum bottle, roughly twice the size of the other bottles we’ve received.

  I worried how believable it sounded as it left my mouth, but there was nothing else I could think of. I came up with the scenario of Eva and Neepa bonking heads when they reached for the bottle to refill, but then I realized that this wasn’t a Three Stooges skit.

  Eva stared at me while she continued to rub the back of her head. The muscles of my face strained to remain steady. Just when I thought she saw through me, she dropped her head between her knees and sighed heavily.

  “Not again,” she groaned.

  Equal parts relief and confusion washed through me.

  What kind of drinking do you girls do together?

  Eva stood and took a few slow steps before she brought a hand to her brow. “Ugh, my head. Stuff must've been good if I can hardly remember it.” She stared at the late afternoon sun from the window, then turned her eyes on Neepa. Eva roused her by shaking her shoulders.

  “Hmm, wha…?” Neepa murmured, slowly coming to.

  “Come on, you drunk,” Eva said, pulling Neepa to her feet. “Let’s go take a bath and get you to bed.”

  “Hmm, ‘kay…” Neepa replied. She caught me through her sleepy gaze and gave me a dopey grin and waved with her fingers, looking tipsy, surprisingly.

  Eva hauled Neepa towards the bathroom and opened the door. Neepa stumbled in first, falling to the floor and erupting if a fit of giggles. Eva shook her head and went to close the door. It swung back open and she targeted me with a glare.

  “You peek on us and—”

  “Yeah, yeah,” I interrupted, picking up a butter knife from our leftover silverware. “Or you’ll castrate me with this, right?”

  Without the slightest fault in her expression, Eva said, “No. I’d use a spoon.” Then promptly shut the door.

  The spoon stared back at me, a horrible image crossing my mind. I gently set the knife back down and waited patiently on the couch.

  ✽✽✽

  Once the girls bathed, they retired to their rooms to sleep off what they thought was a hangover. Neepa was still quite dazed; probably something to do with all the alcohol she had in her system prior to getting drugged. A happy coincidence that worked in my favor.

  I took my turn to bathe and enjoyed a nice soak before I went to my room. Twilight approached while the day drew to its end, far earlier than when I normally retire to sleep. Hardly a day of activity warranted my current state, but I couldn’t deny how wiped I felt.

  Merula dropped one hell of the whammy with Resonants—the lore and information of which has been festering my mind like a bad itch. Even worse was the sound evidence she presented that proved the unusual phenomenon tied to my being. Could it all be an elaborate ruse? But then there was Julika’s words, her plea; begging me to seek out this intangible power. And it’s not like I can claim there was nothing when there was a granule of… something. Just a tingle and warmth, but still something.

  The experience with Koko and the insight to her world also weighted my mind. Shame, remorse, rage, and empathy stirred within the volatile pot of thoughts till it became a mentally draining homologous mess.

  Yet sleep wouldn’t come.

  The bed was exceptionally plush and the view of foreign skies and plethora of stars proved to be a magical and calming sight. But none of it did any good.

  Things have only grown more complicated since my time in this forsaken academy, not only with my current situation, but with how this new world operates. Or I guess how my new home operates.

  Speaking of complications, after tomorrow, then what? Either I adhere to my first choice and leave Lucinia without looking back to live with Neepa and Eva for the foreseeable future, or I accept and Julika’s offer to becoming some sort of great hero to fight monsters in this interdimensional war.

  Both choices have their challenges, as well.

  Before meeting with Merula, I thought I could just live my life quietly with Neepa and move beyond what happened. However, that was just shortsighted thinking. Would my presence in Neepa’s life force a wedge between her and Eva?

  Ignoring the fact that Eva would forever despise me for my cowardice, she and Neepa still fight for the guild. Sure, I may have gotten them some coin for humoring Julika’s offer, but after that runs out, then what? Wh
at would I do if they go on a mission and never come back? They both lost their family to the Null, and Eva has some deep rooted vendetta. This wasn’t simple service, it was personal. The girls wouldn’t change their lives to accommodate me. And if they did, it wouldn’t sit right with me.

  Then there’s the Resonant path. Merula and Julika say there’s great power within me, and they’ve confirmed it, but I still can’t fathom it. From what little I’ve learned about the One, it is basically God, emphasis on the big G. And if I happen to be like the One as a Resonant, then, technically, I would have similar power to it.

  In any other instance, that would sound amazing. Now, however, it’s just scary. But, again, I feel perfectly average. Outside the tingle, which certainly doesn't feellike some divine, sovereign power, nothing leads me to believe anything more.

  When my mom told me stories like “Excalibur,” “Jason and the Argonauts,” “Beowulf,” or any other story of a character rising to the challenge, I would fantasize that I would do the same, fighting valiantly, defeating the bad guys, and getting the girl. But those were stories; this is reality. Between the lines and beyond the main character were the people who died en masse against the evil armies or monsters. People gloss over the wars and destruction depicted in stories and just focus on the shining hero. Suddenly I was going to stand between the people and the evil, all their weary hope resting on my shoulders. The thought made my hands shake.

  Live with Neepa and Eva and be a hindrance on their lives, or stay at Lucinia and become a wizard or whatever and fight evil incarnate.

  I pulled a pillow over my face to separate me from reality.

  I should’ve saved some of that spiked wine…

  ✽✽✽

  My eyes snapped open and the covers exploded forth as I sat up with a start. The moons hung at their zenith—late. A stray cloud creeped in their path, submerging the world, and my room, to the darkest dark.

  I left the bed and stood, listening. Anxiety brewed and bubbled in my gut, the thumping of my heart made my whole body throb. I felt around the floor for my satchel, and once my hand brushed the leather strap, I reached in and pulled out the knife Sigemond gifted. As I slipped the sheathed blade into my pocket and made for the door, I stopped. Staring at me, almost calling, was the sword in its case at the desk, across the room where it remained untouched since its delivery.

  Sitting next to that ominous feeling in my gut was another, something urging me to the wooden case. I tried for the knob, then went still as if doused by liquid nitrogen. For whatever reason, I left the door and went to draw the sword from its case. Only then was I able to bypass the unease that prevented me from opening the door.

  All was dark and mute in the common room, the only noise being my own breathing and feet padding along the floor.

  The door swinging opening from across the room killed the silence, startling me and as I whirled with the sword. A beam of moon light snuck around the clouds and showed Eva. She was dressed in her white sleeping tunic and was hoping into a pair of pants with the aid of one hand while the other clutched her satchel.

  Once her pants were over her hips and with the tongue of her belt pulled secure, she scanned the room, then stalked over to me deliberately.

  “Did you hear it too?” she whispered.

  This world was so quiet that it’s eerie; didn’t realize how much noise cars, airplanes, and the hum of electronics blasted around back home. Since Eva asked, I found it all the more strange that I haven’t heard a peep since getting out of bed.

  “No,” I answered. “Something woke me, just don’t know what.”

  Eva’s eyes seemed to glow once they caught the moon's glamour when she looked out the window, then gave the room another once over. She settled her eyes on the bokken at my side.

  “Why do you have that out, then?” she asked, her voice still hushed.

  “I’m not sure. I… I couldn’t leave my room without it.” I looked around the room too, letting my gaze rest on the doors that led out to the hall. “Something’s giving my gut a bad feeling.” I looked back at her. “What did you hear?”

  After a pause, she said, “I thought I heard a scream.”

  A noise behind Eva startled us. She twirled around like a ballerina, drew and threw a small knife from her belt towards the sound. I had my sword at the ready, but calmed once I saw Neepa standing in the doorway of her room.

  She rubbed her eyes, then yawned.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, still sleep ridden. Neepa blinked at me and Eva, curious as to why we were standing in the dark, then she looked to her right to see a knife embedded in the doorframe.

  “Eva!” Neepa cried, fully awake now. She yanked the blade out then stormed right up to Eva, waving the it in front of her face. “What did I say about throwing knives inside? This is the most prestigious place in all of Scintillion, we could get in trouble!”

  Suddenly feeling very foolish, I tossed the sword onto the couch and sat down heavily. The anxious feeling may just be stress; I did go to sleep with some hefty things on my mind. The noise that spooked us was just the floor groaning under Neepa.

  “Eva,” I said, “maybe what you thought was a scream might’ve been a rafter or something settling.” The only stone structures I saw in this elaborate building were the marble columns in the library. Aside from the exterior, everything seemed to have been painstakingly crafted from wood.

  “Scream? What are you talking about?” asked Neepa.

  Eva sighed and snatched her knife, replacing it into her belt next to identical blades. “I heard something.” She walked around a few steps and looked around the room as if she were trying to spot Tinker Bell. “I’m not sure what, but it wasn’t the room settling.”

  “Come now, Eva,” Neepa said, sidling up next to the on-edge blond, “perhaps you just had another bad dream. Or perhaps it’s because you’re feeling restless. I know how you get when you’re still for too long. Al can ask Koko to show us around the gardens or training fields in the morning. Maybe we could have lunch outside, like a picnic. Wouldn’t that be splendid?”

  Eva’s shoulders relaxed. “Maybe."

  Watching the pair brought a small smile, a tiny refuge from the stress and foolish anxiety. Neepa always knew the right words to ease her adopted sister. They have spent most of their lives together, after all.

  The easy atmosphere in the room, along with my smile, faded immediately when a lethargic and piercing groan sounded from all around us. It wasn’t like someone taking a slow step on a squeaky floor. No. The sound was more akin to a giant holding the very room in its hands and squeezing slowly. The whole space around us seemed to compress.

  And just as suddenly as it started, it stopped, leaving the three of us in petrified silence.

  Eva, eyes wide and on full alert, reached into her satchel and fished out some sort of rectangular thing. Neepa pressed into her side and trembled, feeling the same sense of unease ripping through Eva and I. My hand found the hilt of the bokken as I stood to attention.

  Deafening stillness filled our moonlit room.

  A crash and a scream from beyond our door shattered the oppressive silence and sent a collective shock down our spines.

  There was a click and the rectangular thing Eva held snapped into a miniature crossbow. She drew a bolt from her satchel, locked the string back, and then loaded the bolt into the flight channel. Eva took two steps towards the door before Neepa stopped her.

  “Wait,” Neepa whispered. “We’re in Lucinia, the use of weapons is prohibited.”

  Eva clicked her tongue and pulled Neepa’s arm away. “Not if we’re in danger,” Eva whispered back harshly.

  “Danger? B-but… we’re in Lucinia,” Neepa said, sounding unsure of herself. “This is the safest place.”

  I tiptoed over to them while my eyes stayed glued to the door.

  “I’m with Eva on this,” I said. “Something feels off, very off.”

  “Maybe—”

  Neep
a didn’t get a chance to finish when another sharp cry came from the hallway, this one being much clearer. And close. Eva was out through the door faster than a breath.

  “Eva!” I called out, the woman ignoring me.

  Clear or present danger isn’t the issue here; charging headfirst into it is. I looked back and forth between Neepa and the door several times before my gaze fell to the sword at my side.

  Why I have it, I’m unsure. The thought was to have it for protection in case I needed it, not to go out and fight. Still, despite my best efforts, I couldn’t just do nothing.

  “Shit,” I hissed. I turned to Neepa. “Stay here, and close the door, okay?”

  Neepa jerked her head from the door and looked at me. “Wha—Al, no, we should wait for the guard.”

  Another crash, and I heard Eva’s signature war cry.

  Oh, fuck all kinds of duck.

  “No time. Lock the door behind me.”

  I was in the hall before she had a chance to argue, only managing to hear her yell my name as I raced towards where the yell was heard.

  The commotion drew other students from their rooms, and I had to weave around them to get to where all the crashing was.

  The halls were usually illuminated by the crystal lights in the ceiling, but they remained off and devoid of light. The only thing that kept me from ramming into people was the meager glimmer from the rooms spilling into the hall. People I passed moved in slow, lethargic movements, none knowing the heart of all the anarchy breaking the night.

  Just when I was beginning to wonder what the hell Eva was doing, she flew out from a doorway and smashed against the opposite wall.

  “Eva!” I raced over and crouched down. From how it looked, and sounded, she hit the wall hard. Just as I was about to ask what happened, I caught Eva’s gaze.

  There was no pain in her eyes, only blistering rage and razor focus. And it wasn’t directed at me. They focused on something behind me; that something uttering a low, rugged growl that made my mouth go dry. I rose to my feet and slowly turned to face the open doorway into the dark, mysterious interior of the room.