Into the Dark (The Conjurors)

by Kristen Pham

  “Mena House Oberoi!” the driver shouted.

  Valerie and Thai stared at each other in disbelief, their stunned expressions perfect mirrors of each other. Valerie heard Cyrus laugh. “You Earth-dwellers are so easily impressed.” Thai pulled her off the bus, and she stared at everything in a daze.

  “Is this a mistake?”

  “It’s real, Val. Enjoy it,” Cyrus whispered in her ear.

  The enormous front door of the hotel opened, and they were immediately greeted by a tall man clothed entirely in white except for a blue silk sash elaborately embroidered in gold with symbols that Valerie didn’t recognize. “On behalf of my employer, I welcome you, American guests,” he said with a friendly smile. “I am Chisisi, your personal host here at the Mena House Oberoi. It is my great pleasure to attend to your every need while you are here.”

  Valerie and Thai were so blown away by the magnificence of the hotel and the reception that they were dumbstruck – that is, until they saw Cyrus pretending to make out with a golden statue of the ancient Egyptian god Ra. It was all Valerie could do to keep a straight face.

  “Come, let us get out of the midday sun,” Chisisi said cheerfully. Then, without wasting another minute, he whisked them past check-in so quickly that all the glittering finery became a blur. He stopped before a distinguished dark wood door at the remote end of the thirteenth floor.

  “Enjoy, with our compliments,” Chisisi said as he unlocked the door.

  Valerie entered the room and gasped. The living room of their suite was bigger than any hotel room she had ever seen. It was extravagantly decorated in golden hues, including an enormous gold mirrored circle that adorned an entire wall. Chisisi unloaded their backpacks and looked at the two gravely.

  “Please know that you are most welcome here at Mena House, but I would be remiss if I didn’t warn you that you must be on your guard. Please do not assume there is no danger here or anywhere in Giza. We have many strange guests visiting our landmarks, and not all are friendly. Do not hesitate to call upon me if I can be of service. Simply call Amun at the reception desk and ask for me.”

  “Oh, I’m sure we can take care of ourselves, but thank you for your generous hospitality,” Thai responded.

  “As you wish.”

  Chisisi left, and Thai exclaimed, “I’m pretty sure that Chisisi guy rolled his eyes at me!”

  But Valerie was already out on the balcony, and the view took her breath away in a way that she thought nothing ever could after seeing Stonehenge. In the distance, three tall pyramids were silhouetted against the pink and gold skies of sunset. Even from miles away, their dark, heavy presence was both imposing and intriguing. What secret passages and forgotten stories lay under the weight of those boulders? The thought of unlocking those mysteries sent a shiver of fear and excitement through her body.

  Valerie sensed that she was not alone. She turned around and saw that Thai had stepped out on the balcony, but he looked as if he had totally forgotten his indignation at Chisisi. He was looking at her as if he was seeing her for the first time, and he smiled. It was the first time she had seen him smile, and she suddenly felt several degrees warmer.

  Thai’s eyes turned from Valerie to the scene before them. “This trip keeps getting more and more incredible. The view is like something out of a movie,” he said.

  “It’s beyond any adventure I ever imagined,” Valerie whispered. She turned to look at him and found that he was already staring at her with his intense eyes, though they seemed softer now. She had the overwhelming desire to step closer and see if he really smelled like vanilla and cookies, like she remembered.

  “You were pretty amazing back at Stonehenge, you know,” Thai said.

  Unexpectedly, butterflies erupted in her stomach. “Not what you expected from a 15-year-old kid you had to babysit?”

  “I barely know you, but I’m going to miss you, Valerie.”

  The butterflies in her stomach fluttered harder, as if they were fighting for their freedom. Why was she reacting this way? She needed to get a grip. Her nerves made her feel lightheaded, and she hoped she wouldn’t faint again in front of Thai. Once was more than embarrassing enough. Finally, she managed, “We’ll still be friends. I can come back – just not in person.”

  “Yeah, but from the fighting talent I’ve seen, you’ll be busy!”

  “It won’t be the same as being here for real though,” Valerie said thoughtfully. Thai’s stomach grumbled loudly, and they both laughed. “We’d better get food in you, quick!”

  “I think we can arrange that!” Cyrus said loudly, startling them both. They turned around, and saw him staring that them with a strange look on his face. Valerie wondered how long he had been watching them.

  Someone knocked loudly on the door, and Thai answered. Chisisi greeted them with a quick nod. “Come with me. A feast has been specially prepared for you!”

  “Chisisi, it’s too much! We can’t possibly accept,” Valerie said.

  “Nonsense, your benefactor would be insulted if you refused his hospitality.”

  “At least let us say thank you to him or her, then.”

  “No, his identity is confidential. Enjoy it. Now stay by me and we’ll avoid all the tourists. No one will bother you.”

  Chisisi gave them a mini tour on the way to the restaurant, pointing out certain pieces of art and explaining their significance. The restaurant was as grand as the rest of the hotel, complete with high arches, beautifully painted screens, and lanterns that cast a golden glow over the restaurant. Chisisi led them to a secluded booth with crimson velvet draperies surrounding three sides of it.

  Valerie and Thai didn’t even have to order. Chisisi oversaw the entire meal, selecting each dish personally. Most of them were exotic. Valerie had never tasted food so delicious, her tongue reveling in the many-flavored delicacies. Her favorite was a delicate mint tea that made her tongue tingle, and something Chisisi called bamia, which was a vegetable that tasted sweet and sour at the same time. Sometime during the feast they heard the lilting sounds of a flute and the low percussion of a drum, adding to the enchantment.

  Cyrus, Valerie, and Thai talked excitedly, discussing their theories about who had sent Venu to attack Valerie. They barely noticed the curious looks of the other patrons of the restaurant until Chisisi stopped by their table. “It would be wise to keep your conversation quiet. You never know who might be listening,” he warned.

  The hours flew by, and finally Thai and Valerie were exhausted and stuffed. Totally satisfied, they let Chisisi lead them back to their room. For some reason, he did not lead them back through the breathtaking lobby to the elevators that would take them to their room. Instead, he led them to the end of the hallway to the emergency staircase.

  “Thirteen flights of stairs? You’ve got to be kidding me. Why don’t we take the elevator?” Thai asked.

  “You are less likely to be noticed if you take the stairs. We have many guests tonight, and all of their intentions may not be honorable. I must insist.”

  Thai started to contradict him, but Valerie jumped in before he could speak. “Thank you so much, Chisisi. Good night,” she said.

  “Be vigilant, young ones,” he replied, and watched them from below until they made it, exhausted, to their floor.

  Thai collapsed, out of breath, on the sofa. He was already asleep by the time Valerie tugged off her shoes. After she grabbed a blanket to cover him up, she thought how different he looked tonight. Not anxious and sullen, but happy and peaceful. “Sleep well, O Protector. Tomorrow is a big day,” she whispered with a smile.

  Valerie went into the enormous bedroom and snuggled into the middle of the king-size bed.

  “Sweet dreams for your last night on Earth, Val,” Cyrus whispered in her ear.

  “Night, Cy. See you tomorrow,” she murmured before falling asleep.

  Valerie awoke later in the night to the sounds of mumbled conversation coming from the balcony. She assumed that Cyrus and Thai were talking,
but when she looked out at the balcony from the living room, she saw that Thai was alone. Behind him, the moonlight turned the sand and pyramids silver, deepening the mystery that surrounded them. Valerie heard him chuckle and say something softly.

  At that moment, Thai looked up and saw that Valerie was awake. He jumped slightly, as if she had startled him. She joined him on the balcony and stared out at the view.

  “You doing okay?” Thai asked.

  “Yeah. I’m nervous, but I’m ready to go to the Globe. I wish you were coming with me,” she said, and then felt the blood rush to her cheeks. She hoped he couldn’t see her blush in the darkness. “But maybe you have people you wouldn’t want to leave behind.”

  “Yeah, that’s part of it. I’m close with my brothers and sisters – there are six of us. And since I’m the oldest, my parents rely on me to help take care of them.”

  “That explains why you’re used to giving orders,” Valerie teased, nudging him slightly. “But how did you ever become involved with the Conjurors in the first place?”

  Thai hesitated, and then replied, “I never thought I would want to tell my story to anyone – it’s too weird. But now that I’ve gotten to know you, I've changed my mind. I think you have the right to know.”

  “I didn’t mean to pry. You don’t owe me anything. We’ve helped each other. I couldn’t have made it this far without you.”

  “Valerie, I want to tell you,” Thai said earnestly, and she nodded. “I was born in a small town in Vietnam where most people knew each other. Growing up, I did well for myself. I’ve got a talent for sports, and always did well in school. I was even accepted early admission into an American college with a full scholarship. That’s where my parents think I am now. They’re so proud,” he said with a wistful shake of his head, and Valerie could see how deeply he missed them. She felt a pang of envy for his big family who loved him, missed him, and depended on him. If he left Earth, they’d never forget him.

  “But a month before I was supposed to leave, I started to feel really sick. I had a fever all the time, and my entire body felt achy. The weirdest thing was that I kept hearing these strange sounds inside my head. I didn’t know what was happening to me, and I was terrified. I didn’t want my parents or anyone to find out because they would stop me from going to college. So I hid what was happening to me. I kept hoping that maybe it was some kind of weird virus that eventually I’d fight off. Some days I felt almost normal and I would convince myself that I was getting better.

  “Then one night, I fell asleep and was having these crazy dreams. The sound of crying woke me up. I looked around, but I couldn’t see anyone in my room or outside. And then my whole body started convulsing, and I realized that the crying was coming from me. I have never felt so confused, and terrified, in my entire life. It was as if my body wasn’t under my own control, like there was something foreign was inside me, trying to break out. Now, Valerie, please stay calm, or you’ll freak him out.”

  Before she could ask any questions, Thai closed his eyes. His entire body shuddered, and his facial expression changed from an intense stare to wide-eyed confusion. He opened his eyes, which had changed from dark brown to a soft gold. Thai had disappeared inside of himself, and the owner of these wide eyes blinked at Valerie.

  Then he spoke, and his voice sounded subtly different from Thai’s – more gravelly, like it hadn’t been used in awhile. “W-w-who are you?”

  “Um, nice to meet you. I’m Valerie,” she squeaked, trying to keep the shock out of her voice. A shudder passed through Thai’s body again, and when he opened his eyes, she saw that the Thai she knew had returned. She breathed a sigh of relief as he examined her face. Then he nodded, as if he was satisfied that she wasn’t going to start screaming.

  “His name is Tan. The night I got so sick, a Conjuror named Midnight appeared out of nowhere, and after explaining about magic and the Globe, she described what was happening to me. I’m an amoebiate. What I’m going through are processes called mitosis and cytokinesis. Basically, I’m splitting into two people. I’m making an exact copy of myself, like an amoeba. First, all of Tan’s genes are created inside of me, which is what is happening now. Right now we’re sharing my body, and sometimes he takes me over, like you just saw. But in a couple years, he’ll physically split apart from me too, and we’ll have two separate bodies.

  “There are a couple of others like me on the Globe, but no one on Earth for hundreds of years. When we’re fully separated, Tan will have the exact same genes as me – like a clone.”

  Valerie shook her head in amazement. “What’s it like when he takes over?”

  Thai gave her a small smile. “Weirder than anything you can imagine. It’s like being paralyzed inside my own body, which is really scary. But it takes a lot of energy for him to completely take over, so he doesn’t do it very often. When his genes are completely copied, we’ll physically separate into two people.”

  “Will that hurt?” she asked hesitantly.

  A fleeting look fear crossed Thai’s face that he quickly tried to hide. “Yes. But it’s quick – the physical separation only takes a couple of hours. He’ll look exactly like me, and he’ll probably act a lot like me too. The separation isn’t the part the worries me the most, anyway. It’s that as he gets stronger he’ll be able to take control of the body we share, and it will be hard to hide what we are. We’ll have to live almost in isolation. Not even my family will be with me. I can’t imagine being totally alone for months,” Thai said, and Valerie understood the dread in his eyes. She knew how empty and desperate being alone could make you feel.

  “Then you should both come with me to the Globe! You could always come back and visit your family.”

  “We can’t. At this stage, the Conjurors don’t know if Tan would survive the trip. And I could never let anything happen to him,” Thai said, and Valerie heard the tenderness in his voice, almost like a father for his son.

  “You care about him a lot,” she said.

  “Yeah. At first I hated what was happening to me, but I’m growing to like him. He seems more like a person every day. One who’s even more scared than I am of everything that’s happening.”

  “Can I talk to, um, Tan?”

  “Not right now. He doesn’t have the energy to take over again.”

  “Where will you go when he starts being able to take over your body more?”

  “The Conjurors found a place for me in some remote part of South America.”

  “That sounds so lonely.”

  “It will only be for a year or two.”

  “I’ll visit you both – all the time.”

  Thai smiled and then yawned. “I’m counting on that. Now that Tan’s resting, I’m going to try to get some sleep. And Valerie? Thanks.”

  “For what?”

  “For not freaking out about this. You’re the first person I’ve told. It feels good not to be by myself in all this.”

  “I know what it’s like to carry a secret alone, Thai. I’m glad that neither of us has to do that anymore. ’Night.”

  The next day, Valerie and Thai decided to explore the Giza Plateau, where they could go inside the three huge pyramids that they could see from the window of their hotel room, as well as see the Sphinx, a giant statue that was half-lion, half-man.

  As they were about to leave, Thai paused. “Hey, Tan. You have something to say?”

  “H-h-hi,” Tan’s gravelly voice said with obvious effort. Valerie almost jumped in surprise.

  “Your eyes didn’t change!”

  “Yeah, that happens sometimes. It takes less effort for him just to speak without taking over completely,” Thai explained.

  It was going to be strange to talking to two people in one body. It would take some getting used to. She took a deep breath. “Hi Tan. Do you want to see inside the pyramids?” she asked.

  “Y-yes. Thai told me a l-l-lot about them.”

  Valerie smiled. “You’ll have to tell me what you’ve learned. I
t’s all new to me.”

  “Ready to go?” Thai asked, in control of his voice again.

  “Definitely,” she said eagerly, excited to visit the site that would launch her to the Globe that night. Chisisi was waiting at the entrance of the hotel as they left.

  “Good morning to you both.”

  “’Morning, Chisisi,” Valerie replied.

  “I caution you to stay alert today, young ones,” he added.

  “Thanks, we will,” she said, waving goodbye.

  Once they were out of his earshot, Thai whispered, “Who does Chisisi think he is, calling me young? I’m a grown man!”

  “Not much fun being treated like a kid, huh?” she said with a little snicker. “But Chisisi’s cool. He’s looking out for us.”

  “I know. I wish he would tell us who his employer is. Maybe he would know more about Venu.”

  Valerie shrugged. She didn’t want to dwell on the battle at Stonehenge. It was her last day on Earth, and she wanted to relish every second. The Giza Plateau was a 10-minute walk from their hotel, and she stared as the pyramids grew even larger the closer they came.

  After getting their tickets, she hurried over to the base of Great Pyramid, Thai trailing behind her. As she stood in line waiting to enter, she looked up at the thousands of golden brown stones that made up the Great Pyramid. It towered above her, hundreds of feet high, its ragged edges standing out in sharp relief against the cloudless blue sky. “So what do you know about this place?”

  “I know it was the first of the pyramids built here. It was ordered to be created by a Pharaoh named Khufu a long, long time ago – around 2500 BC, I think. It was supposed to be where he would be buried when he died, but they never found his body inside,” Thai said.

  They reached the entrance to the pyramid, and Valerie squinted, staring into the dark opening and trying to see what was in store for them. The second she stepped inside, an oppressive, humid heat hit her like a punch in the face and instantly made her start to sweat. The hall was dark and narrow, and she felt as if the space around her was shrinking and would soon crush her. A bead of sweat trickled down her back, making the hair on her neck rise. As they walked deeper into the heart of the pyramid, she felt the same vibrating inside of her that she felt at Stonehenge. It was so strong that it almost overwhelmed her.