Dark Nebula (The Chronicles of Kerrigan)

by W. J. May

  Worry filled her. What if something terrible has happened to him in New York? Uncle Argyle and Aunt Linda were the only family she had left. She flew into her room. Flicking the light, she grabbed the receiver and tried to catch her breath.

  “I’m here! It’s me, Rae. Uncle Argyle? Are you there?” she shouted. “Hello,” she tried again in a normal voice.

  Silence greeted her. Rae swore under her breath. Shoot! I reached the phone too late. Yet, she didn’t hear a dial tone. She kept the phone tight against her ear. “Is somebody there?” Walking towards her desk, she squinted and cocked her head, thinking she heard a swirling noise.

  The churning sound grew louder, along with a weird continuous bashing, like something slamming against a wall. Rae switched the phone to her other ear. Her heart pounded against her rib cage and she glanced frantically around. Is someone trying to scare me?

  “Rae?”

  Devon? His voice shouted through the phone, above the noise.

  “It’s crazy noisy here. Can you hear me?”

  “Yeah,” she shouted back in relief, and then lowered her voice, “Everything okay? Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine. The conn—nection here’s terr—ble, and between the wind and crashing waves, even with my tatù, it’s hard to hear.”

  “Do you want me to shout?” she yelled again.

  “Not if everyone there’s going to hear you.” There was laughter in his voice. Hearing that, the tension drained out of her body. He’s okay.

  “Why didn’t you call my cell?”

  “I tried but it kept going to voice mail.”

  She reached in her bag and checked it. The screen was blank. It must’ve bounced around in her bag during or after class and turned itself off. She pressed the power button to let it restart.

  “Hey Rae?” Devon said. “Happy Birthday.”

  It’s not for another two days. As soon as the thought completed itself, she realized that she was wrong. She blinked. How could she have completely forgotten? Who forgets their own birthday? I’m dumb as a stump. Due to a snow storm that had forced her mother to give birth to her at home and kept her from reaching a hospital for two days, in addition to an error made by the doctor, her birth certificate stated she was born on the fifteenth of November, but it was actually the thirteenth. After the awful confrontation with Dean Wardell and missing Devon, she had stopped paying attention to the days as they passed, totally forgetting about her own birthday. Last year she couldn’t forget. This year she couldn’t remember. “Where are you?” I miss you.

  “Most northern part of Scotland. It’s awesome, I wish you were here.” Devon’s voice dropped at the end.

  He’s not alone. “Me, too,” she whispered, not sure if he heard. The longing inside her made her eyes fill. Mimicking a tatù, Rae closed her eyes, focused on the communication lines and cleared all the static away that she could. She heard the swirling wind and water on Devon’s end.

  “The buzzing stopped.” Devon chuckled. “You did that, didn’t you?”

  She imagined him shaking his head and grinning so his dimple appeared. “Yeah, sort of.” She coughed, clearing her throat and holding back the tears that wanted to fall. She stared at the map pinned on the wall by her desk. “What’re you doing in John O’Groats?” She remembered going there with her parents one summer long ago.

  “I’m actually about ten, or eleven miles north of there. If I can find a postcard, I’ll send it to you.” He sounded like an excited little school boy.

  Rae leaned over her desk to get a closer look of Britain. She found John O’Groats and slid her finger up. She saw a little town just to the west. “Dunnet Head? What’re you doing there?” In the recesses of her mind, the place sounded familiar. She tucked the name in the back of her mind, to analyze later.

  “Smartie pants.” He laughed. “Just finished work.”

  “Are you coming home now?” Guilder felt like home—sometimes.

  “No, we’ve got another place to go. Julian’s here with me. He’s mouthing Happy Birthday as well.”

  Rae sighed. She tried to avoid doing it into the receiver, but Devon’s pause proved he had heard it.

  “We won’t be much longer. Probably back in a week, or so.” He paused before changing the subject. “Hey I know how to make you feel better.” He cleared his throat. “I’m standing on Easter Head, facing west towards Cape Wrath, watching the sun set. It’s amazing. Can you do that tatù thing you did before--you know, when you touched my forehead and saw what I was looking at or thinking?”

  “I don’t know if I can do it through a phone. I’ve only been able to do that through physical contact.” She sniffed and closed her eyes as she spoke, trying to do as Devon requested. He was quiet on the line.

  The first image she had looked like a painting. Then the image changed slightly when Julian walked into view. Rae smiled and squinted as she focused on Julian. He stood near a cliff, his hair blowing in the wind. The rays of a beautiful pink setting sun lay behind him. Pressing her eyes shut tighter, the image changed. She caught glimpses of darkness and then a tiny, dim light. Hands reached for the combination on a box and turned the dial. She felt a weird taste in her mouth—fear—and then relief when the box opened.

  “Devon, what’ve you been doing? Are you okay?” She couldn’t hide the worry in her voice. The flashes were Devon’s thoughts. Something bad or dangerous had happened in Dunnet Head.

  “Rae, it’s cool. Stop worrying.” His neutral tone did little to calm her nerves. “I just wanted you to see the sunset, that’s all.”

  “Tell Julian to put his hair in a ponytail. He looks like a girl with the pink sky behind him.” She tried to change the disappointed tone in her voice. The last thing she wanted was to make Devon feel bad for letting her into his head.

  She managed a smile when she heard him tell Julian what she said. She couldn’t make out Julian’s muffled reply.

  “Were you able to see the view?” Devon sounded amazed.

  “I caught a few glimpses--not much but, between the bits I saw and the noise of nature on this phone, I get a bit of the idea.”

  “Cool. Everything alright at Guilder?”

  Rae shifted the mouth piece away when she sighed. “It’s empty without you.” No need to tell him about the meeting with his dad. If he already knew, he could bring it up himself. If he didn’t know, well—he had bigger things he needed to concentrate on.

  “I’ll be back soon.” The longing in his voice was unmistakable and it soothed her battered emotions a little. “Listen, I’ve got to go. My phone isn’t going to last much longer. The battery’s living on fumes right now. Have a great birthday. It’s—” The phone went silent.

  “Bye, Devon,” she whispered to the dead line and slowly hung up. At least he was safe. What’s he doing for the Privy Council up in Dunnet Head?

  A quiet but firm rap against her door scattered her thoughts. Her friends would say who they were and call out her name. The knock came again, more intense and harder. A hoarse, low voice hissed, “Kerrigan!”

  Chapter 17

  Land’s End

  Rae swallowed and forced her heart to slow its rapid pace. She took the three steps to the door and with her right hand on the doorknob she rubbed her left thumb over her fingers, prepared to send a zap or gust of air at the first sign of danger. She swung the door open as fast as she could, trying to scare the person on the other side.

  Kraigan jumped back and one arm winding back with a fisted hand, prepared to pound the threat. “Why’d you do that? I thought you were going to charge at me.”

  Rae relaxed and almost laughed. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.” She stared at him. “Why’d you rap on the door so mysteriously?”

  “I wasn’t sure if you were in.” He glanced down the empty hall. “Plus I didn’t know who might be listening.”

  “You’re allowed in Aumbry House till curfew. Madame Elpis prefers you call our rooms and meets us downstairs but it’s not o
fficially against the rules.” They just had to keep the doors open if there were any boys in their room.

  He waved his hand. “I know that. However, I don’t exactly want people to know I’m hanging out with you…someone might suspect something.” He winked. “If you know what I mean.” He chuckled. “It would be interesting to see what the school would do if rumors started. Kick us both out? Just me?”

  “I doubt anyone’s going to think anything.” After Dean Wardell’s warning.

  “I don’t trust anyone yet.”

  Join the club. “I kinda know what you mean.”

  “You took off after dinner so fast I didn’t get a chance to talk. Are you busy now?”

  Rae glanced back at the dorm phone and sighed. Not really. Might as well find out something interesting for my birthday. “Give me two minutes and meet me outside where we usually hang out.”

  Kraigan nodded and turned back to the stairs.

  She grabbed her coat, keys and backpack. If anyone saw her she could say she was heading out to study. She counted to sixty twice and took her time walking down the stairs. Feeling a little like a spy, she had to suppress a wild giggle as she tried to stealthily exit the doors. I probably look ridiculous. When she rounded the corner of the building she picked up her pace and jogged down the length of the building.

  Where is he? He wasn’t standing on the path or leaning against the wall. She squinted against the growing dark and finally found his outline near the trees. Halfway to where he stood she paused and waited for him to come the rest of the way to her. Something’s off tonight.

  Kraigan must have realized her hesitation as he finally came towards her. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you since the other night, I’ve just been busy with school work and—you know—” He lifted his arm and pointed to his sleeved forearm.

  She stared at his arm. Man I wish I could just touch him and figure out what his tatù is.

  “Ask me anything.” Rae tried to gauge his mood, but it was impossible. What her eyes saw didn’t mesh with what her gut was telling her.

  He started walking along the tree line without stepping into it.

  She followed. “Have you figured out your tatù yet?”

  “I think I’m getting an idea. It seems to be some kind of camouflage. I was hoping it might be something unique like yours, but when I saw the picture of what yours looks like, I knew it definitely couldn’t be.” He rubbed the material over his tatù. “How long did it take you to figure yours out?”

  “It took a while. I’m still learning. It didn’t happen overnight and it wasn’t until the end of the school year that I actually figured it out.” She smiled at his frustrated sigh. She might be feeling all bond-y but there was no way she was going to tell him she didn’t learn what hers could do until her life was in danger. Everybody has secrets, right? “It’ll come. Just keep working on it.”

  “I am! Between the dean and the head master, I just want to smack someone. They don’t let up! It’s like they want me to figure it out more than I want to myself. If they could crawl up inside me and pick it apart themselves, I think they would.”

  Rae laughed. “You’ve got nothing on me. Last year Carter had me in the Infirmary hooked up to wires and all this crap the night af--of my birthday.” She tried not to pause. Only five people in the entire world knew her real birth date and she wanted it to stay that way. Molly knew, but had probably forgotten. She might have mad skills with fashion, hair and makeup, but her mind isn’t exactly the proverbial steel trap. So here I stand, in the dark, with a new friend, a boyfriend at the other end of the country, a best friend who forgot my special day, and no call from Uncle Argyle or Aunt Linda. Happy freakin’ birthday to me.

  “Being Simon Kerrigan’s daughter, I got the entire lab-rat treatment.” She straightened, realizing he had leaned forward and so had she. The proximity made her uncomfortable for reasons unknown.

  “So you’re saying I have it easy?” Kraigan grinned as one of his eyebrows went up.

  “If you want to look at it that way.” She didn’t really care at the moment. She just wanted the rather disappointingly lack-luster day to be over.

  “Listen, I don’t like owing anyone favors.” His brow furrowed as he appeared to think hard for a solution. “I got it! You know Carter’s tatù?”

  “Yeah,” she said. Where are you going with this?

  “You can stop it, you know,” Kraigan said his face serious.

  “Stop what?” Rae had no idea what he meant.

  “Carter.”

  “Stop Carter?” Can I sound any more like a parrot?

  Kraigan shook his head, his frustration with her lack of understanding evident. “No! I meant, there’s a way to stop his tatù from digging inside your head, into your past.”

  Rae blinked in surprise. There is? How does he know?

  “Did you also know he can dig into your past by touching you and you won’t know it?”

  “What?” Rae’s heart set off at a galloping rhythm. “That’s impossible.” Oh crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! All the seemingly random times Carter had touched her shoulder or arm came flooding back. If true, this news was truly catastrophic. “That just can’t be true.”

  “Why? Because you think he’ll share everything with you? He’s just like the rest of them. They’re only after one thing, and trust me, it’s not you.” He grunted. “They want to be the hero who finally defeats Simon Kerrigan’s legacy, for good. How do you think he found me?”

  The revelation was mind-blowing. The first time Carter had touched her, she saw everything he saw. She knew what he had discovered. Could he have touched her again and figured out her secret relationship with Devon? Nah, he’d have forced us apart, told the dean or even the Privy Council, right? Or maybe he had his own reasons and methods for accomplishing his goals. “How do you stop it? Stop him?”

  Kraigan grinned slyly. “Got some skeletons in the closet you don’t want to share, Kerrigan?”

  Rae played with a slightly lose string on the hem of her coat. Lie. Better safe than sorry. “Not really,” she said shrugging. “Just figure some memories are my business, not Carter’s, the schools, or the Privy Councils.”

  “Kudos. I totally get it.”

  “Has Carter used his tatù on you?”

  “A couple of times. First time was when he met me at the orphanage. When we were alone he showed me what he could do.”

  “So how do you know he can do it without you knowing?”

  “Cause another time he talked to me about stuff he shouldn’t know about. Like a silly time I got in trouble from the sisters. When he had touched me the first time, that had not been one of the memories he went through, and I’d never told anyone about the incident. I put two and two together after that.” He shrugged. “I felt invaded, you know? So, I figured a way to block certain things he didn’t need to know.” He tilted his head to the side. “Haven’t you ever tried his tatù?”

  “Of cour – wait, no…” She thought about it. “Last year I figured Carter had it in for me. I didn’t check him off as the good guy till the end of the year. The way he acted made me never want to try his tatù. He played the bad guy to protect me and I…I guess I forgot I even had his tatù.”

  Kraigan stopped walking and held his arm out. “Try it on me. Look for something easy. He stared off into the distance. “See if you can see what I had for breakfast.”

  Rae hesitated. “I’m not sure I can even bring the tatù power out.” Should she tell him that she went off their hums and inner feelings to find what she needed? Some came easy without thinking, but others she had to search through and try to remember how they worked. “I don’t know how to use it.” I could pick up his tatù though and add it to the collection.

  “Whatever.” He dropped his arm. “You just need to know how to block him. This is what I did: think of a memory you don’t want him to know. Go through the memory and then use something imaginary like a filing cabinet or a room with a door. Something to s
tore it in safely. You own the memory and if you can build a wall around it, you can stop him – or anyone – from seeing it.”

  Wow. That’s something really big to share. “You’re sure?”

  “Positive.” He grinned. “One day you’ll thank me for it.”

  “Bugger.” He might not be too bad.

  He reached inside his pocket and pulled out his cell. “Shit. I gotta go.” He started texting, not bothering to look at her as he began walking away. “I’ll see you around tomorrow.”

  And good-bye to you too. Rae watched his retreating back. Happy freakin’ birthday, Rae. She thought about Carter’s tatù. She definitely needed to figure out how much he knew and learn how to block him. And other tatùs with similar abilities. She wrapped her coat tighter around her and quickened her pace back to her dorm room, deep in thought as she brought up memories and carefully hid them in a safe that needed a four-digit PIN. She would use eleven-thirteen -- her real birthdate .

  Devon didn’t come back in a week as he had promised. Work for the Privy Council kept him away longer than expected. Rae went from plain lonely to desolate. The days crawled by at a snail’s pace. She hung out with her friends, smiled and commented when necessary, but her thoughts were constantly on Devon’s safety and worry about whether or not his absence had something to do with his father, the dean. To her relief, he e-mailed ten days later and apologized for not contacting her sooner. He was coming home soon, but there were issues that needed taking care of first.

  Her fake birthday came and went. Seventeen didn’t seem as big as a deal after receiving her tatù the previous year. Trying to keep busy, Rae asked Molly to go Christmas shopping.

  “Reece and I are getting pretty serious.” Molly chatted as they strolled through the downtown festively-lit streets, past shops decorated for Christmas. “I think he’s the one.”