by Rae Else
‘Granted, not the lightest of reads,’ Alex said, catching her look. ‘Especially that molecular one, but it’ll give you an idea of how your powers are part of your genetic makeup and nothing to fear.’
‘Thanks Alex, that means a lot.’ She smiled, slipping the books back into the bag, and slung it over her shoulder, along with her handbag.
She needed to ask Alex about what she’d overheard between him and Anna. A twinge of annoyance shot through her again at the thought that Anna was being so guarded about things, especially after her grandma had already kept so much from her. She needed to know the truth. So far, Alex had answered all her questions, perhaps he would be more open about things than Anna and her grandma were being.
‘Why isn’t Anna telling me everything that’s going on?’
His jaw tensed. A fleeting look of confusion crossed his features. ‘I'm sorry. I promise I’ll have a word with her again – get her to talk to you.’
Frustration bubbled up: at Anna, at him, at her grandma. She thought of Dan, Adam and Tia too. No one was being completely honest with her. They were all lying. The desire to know blazed through her and became concentrated in her gaze, focussing on Alex.
‘Please, tell me.’
He looked like he was about to say something but his mouth slackened with dawning comprehension. ‘You … didn't?’
Shock flitted across her face. What had she done? And why hadn't it worked? Her cheeks burned with shame, and panic started to grow. Why hadn’t it worked? What was going on with her power? Then she remembered the injection: the concealment. It was only supposed to hide her, that’s what Alex had said. She’d been able to control the secretary an hour ago but with this fresh dose of serum her power seemed to be blocked. Alex had said it didn’t work that way. Had he lied about that too?
Alex ran his hands through his hair and turned his back on her. A pang of sickness rocked her stomach. He couldn't bear to look at her it seemed. But how much had he altered her power? Why hadn’t he explained the effect this serum would have? She had a sinking realisation that she couldn’t trust him – couldn’t trust anyone.
She hurried the short distance to the lift; it opened immediately. Ignoring Alex’s shout from behind her, she pressed the close button, relieved as the metal ensconced her. The feeling of disgust consumed her, then hollowness. Her thoughts spiralled. Tears distorted her vision and she wiped at them angrily. As soon as the lift stopped, she stormed towards the stairwell, throwing her visitor’s badge at the receptionist.
The exit brought her out at street level, in front of the concrete building. She set off down the street at a march. She glanced back at the sheen of glass rising into the sky – the arete section she had just been in. It was disconcerting to see the glass building vanishing as she got further away. The squat, concrete block was left unadorned like a tree stump, its trunk newly felled.
El didn’t know, or care, where she was going, but needed to move. She knew she shouldn’t leave the hospital, but couldn’t face Alex after what she’d done. And, after what he’d done. She had been wishing her power away and now – perhaps – it was. She felt strange. Empty.
Alex had told her the serum concealed her power, but it did more. It did suppress it. How buried was it? She remembered the heat flaring upwards and into her eyes in the lab, but it had had no effect on Alex. Could she still feel it? Was the power still there? She caught the eye of a woman walking towards her, and before she knew it, was willing her to stop. She felt the familiar heat rise. Suddenly, as she tried to focus on the command, the heat dissipated. The woman walked on. She’d passed her by. El’s breath caught in her throat and her mouth became dry.
Her gaze shot forward, latching onto a man skateboarding along the pavement. Again, she felt the warmth funnelling into her eyes and then receding; the man rolled past. She started to stride, her eyes darted to every person she passed, willing them to stop.
Just as the panic was starting to gain a foothold, she realised it was working. One man stopped, two, a group of women, a mother and son, a pair of businessmen. Everyone on this side of the street who approached halted and stood like statues. Amidst their immobile features, El’s smile grew as if she was imbibing their emotion. The number of frozen strangers increased as she locked eyes with everyone that came near. The confused expressions melted away, replaced with the same blandness as those of their neighbours.
A man neared the group. He looked around at the motionless inhabitants of the street. El recognised him. The strawberry-blond haired man from Endon. His eyes jumped from person to person – their features became animated and their limbs awoke. They hurried past, on their way again as if nothing had happened. When the throng dispersed, the man gripped El’s arm.
‘Come on,’ he said, his tone low and urgent.
He frog-marched her along the street. El flushed at what she’d done – she was supposed to be lying low and here she was hypnotising a street load of people in central London. She knew the serum hid her from the Order, but after she’d used it on the secretary she’d needed a fresh dose to maintain the concealment. The latest one was meant to last another day but had she disrupted its protection? Was she now visible to the Triad?
Her gaze wandered over the fronts of buildings, trying to still her mind and latch onto something solid. Beige and grey bricks melded together, but she knew none of the structures could be trusted. Which ones were real? Which ones would change when they neared them? Everything seemed insubstantial; the whole world was smoke that might be blown away with one gust of wind.
With a stab of fear, El realised that they were rushing away from Endon. They were going the wrong way. A kerykeion appeared on a stone wall to their left, and she gasped as an archway sprang into existence, widening and stretching as they raced through.
- Chapter Seven -
No Man’s Land
Expecting to find a concrete area through the archway, El was surprised to see what greeted her was far from bare and lacklustre. A downy meadow stretched out before them: the pastel blues of corn flowers, yellow buttercups and red poppies sprinkled the grass. Tall trees surrounded a lake on the far side; shouts and laughter rose from its banks. Other arete.
They’d attached a long fabric line between two trees on either side of the water and were slacklining across. Every now and then one performed an astonishing somersault before landing nimbly back on the narrow webbing. Watching them rise and fall it seemed like they were flying. If they were air manipulators, they were likely controlling the air currents to lift and support them.
The man dropped her arm and scowled. El blinked, startled at the anger etched across his face.
‘You’re one of them,’ he said.
He seemed a different person to the one she’d met in the hospital; the laid-back persona he’d exuded evaporated as his eyes bored into her. She didn’t admire his physique anymore but felt intimidated by his tall, muscular form. What did he mean? One of them? Affronted, she tried to move towards the door. In a flash, he was even closer. She frowned and looked up at him. He may have cleaned up her mistake there but that didn’t give him the right to be a jerk.
‘Leave me alone,’ she said.
A smirk marred his features. ‘After that stunt?’
She flushed. She couldn’t believe what she’d done either. It was reckless. Stupid. It had only been a few hours since she’d found out that the guest she’d put in the hospital was going to recover, and yet, she’d put a crowd of innocent people in harm’s way. She hung her head. He was right. She needed babysitting.
‘Can you walk me back to Endon?’ she asked, feeling deflated.
‘I think it best if we wait for the Order to get here,’ he said.
El paled. The Order? What did he mean? She recalled what her mother had said earlier, about how the Order wouldn’t think anything of her compelling one human but would surely send someone if she used her power on a crowd.
The Triad wouldn
’t have seen her though. They wouldn’t send anyone because she was hidden from them. Doubt crept through her. After the first injection of serum last night, Anna had still warned her not to use her power. Today Alex had been okay about her using it on the secretary a few times but only with a fresh dose of serum at hand. And this time she’d manipulated a crowd. Perhaps the more people she used her manipulation on, the more visible her power became.
Her heart thundered in her ears. Her mother’s warning beat through her too: if the Order had found your grandma, she’d be dead. El bolted towards the doorway, her body flooding with adrenalin, pushing her legs to run full pelt. She wished that she’d never left the lab. She hoped that she wouldn’t pay too great a price for her mistake.
Suddenly, her shoulder was wrenched back and her breath was knocked out of her. She grimaced in pain and opened her eyes to see that the man had pinned her against the wall. He held her wrists securely above her head. Ingrid was into judo – she would have known what to do right now, whereas she was useless. El wished she’d learnt something from her friend about self-defence.
The man’s gaze felt tingly across her face. Feather soft. Secretly, she enjoyed the sensation, but quickly reproached herself, especially since he had her hands held in an iron grip.
The prickle in his stare distinguished him as an arachnid. They didn’t possess an elemental power, but were the athletes of the arete world: swift moving, with lightning-fast reflexes and great strength. She didn’t have a chance of escaping. However, in the street he’d got those humans moving too and his gaze also possessed a slight coolness. He must be a water serpent, a hydra. Could he be both hydra and arachnid?
‘Someone will be here soon,’ he said. His eyes kept shifting to the door.
‘You said I was one of them. What did you mean?’
A momentary look of confusion crossed his features. ‘Don’t play games.’
‘I’m not,’ she said quickly. ‘I’ve just found out about this world – about arete … I mean, I knew that I was a serpent but I didn’t know there were others. I’m just starting to find out about things. You caught me at a bad moment – I’ve just had a shock…’
He watched her earnestly before suspicion cloaked his features. He still searched the doorway for any sign of someone coming. El peered out at the meadow and the lake instead. This place was like an oasis in the desert. Turning her head a fraction, it was strange to see the grey concrete pavements and road through the archway. Despite the apparent proximity, the rumble and blare of the traffic beyond was veiled. If you looked in at the meadow, all traces of the city and its people were gone.
She frowned as the man continued to look out at the street. ‘Can’t we just go back to Endon?’ she said. ‘I need to see Alex–’
‘Alex?’ he said, letting go of her wrists. ‘You were seeing Alex?’
El nodded, rubbing her wrists and feeling the blood flow returning to them. ‘Do you know him?’
He nodded. ‘He’s been letting me do work experience at the hospital the last few months – to help me with my university application for Med school.’
El was surprised. If he was applying for university, he was likely around her age. Once more she realised how difficult it was to gauge any arete’s true age.
‘But I thought arete didn’t really need doctors?’
‘They don’t, most the time, but I’d like to put my abilities to good use. When I’m not helping arete, I could be treating humans.’
‘Oh, I see. That’s cool,’ she said. ‘My granddad was human. Maybe if he’d had an arete doctor he might have lived longer.’
His lips curled, but he was still alert. The leaflet stated that the mythical hero “swift-footed Achilles” was thought to have been of arachnid descent. Running wasn’t an option. She was going to have to talk her way out of here.
‘I think I need to sit down,’ she said, wrapping her arms around herself.
‘Sure.’ He pointed over to the far side of the meadow. ‘The beach?’ The shadow of a smile rested in the corners of his lips. Except for the lake, he’d chosen the area furthest from the exit.
El examined the far corner – a sandy spot where red and white striped deckchairs were laid out. There was even an artificial eddy of waves, where a few metres of water flowed back and forth, mimicking the motion of the sea. It reminded her of those old movies with painted backdrops, where the actors performed in front of static city or landscapes. Filled with a sense that nothing was real, she looked for something to ground her. The coffee kiosk on the beach enticed her. She nodded. She could murder a cup of tea.
It didn’t take long before they had takeaway cups and were settled in deckchairs.
‘I’m El by the way.’
‘Luke.’
They sat in silence for a few minutes, both at a loss for what to say. Luke seemed stumped that no Order member had shown up and began to scowl at the archway again. She had to get back to the lab but wanted to know what he had meant about her being “one of them”. He clearly thought she’d manipulated all those people deliberately. A wave of guilt surged through her as she thought about the humans she’d manipulated. She had treated them like they were no more than playthings – pawns on a chessboard. She was a monster. Is that what Luke thought of her too?
‘I really didn’t mean to do what I did to those people,’ she said, offering an olive branch.
He shrugged.
‘What did you mean when you said I was one of them?’
He fixed his eyes on her. ‘I still think you know. I think you know more than you say – I mean – why hasn’t the Order sent someone?’
El shrugged, mimicking his gesture and tried to look innocent.
‘Well, I’m calling someone to find out.’
Her façade crumbled as he reached for his mobile. Was the Order the equivalent of the emergency services? Could you just dial a number and have them here in the blink of an eye?
‘No, don’t,’ she said.
‘Why?’
What could she say? She sat frozen for a few seconds. ‘They’re already looking for me.’
He nodded as if unsurprised.
Her voice grew louder. ‘They’re looking for me because they want to kill me.’
Incredulity flitted across his face. He stared at her for a moment, before frowning.
‘El,’ he said more softly. ‘The Order doesn’t kill people. How could you say that? But … if you just found out about arete, whoever told you that the Order wants to kill you, is lying. When I said you were one of them, I meant that you were a rebel – someone who works against the Order.’
El frowned and shook her head. What was he saying? That the people who were tracking her weren’t dangerous. But Anna never would have come for her if it hadn’t been necessary. She’d never bothered to come to see her before. She thought of her grandma too. She’d cut her eyes out to escape the Order. Now Luke claimed they weren’t dangerous. He didn’t know what he was talking about. Unease knotted itself in her stomach. She had to go.
‘Hear me out,’ Luke said, seeing her restlessness, ‘I just want you to hear both sides, okay?’
His concern made her hesitate. She felt a gnawing sense of doubt come over her. Anna didn’t look at her like that. She was cold and business-like. El nodded.
‘The Order governs the arete world. It’s mostly made up of serpents.’ He paused and looked at her searchingly. ‘Arete who are like you and me–’
‘But I thought you were an arachnid?’ El blurted out.
‘I am … on my mother’s side, but mostly hydra.’
The flicker of a smile crossed her lips and she nodded. She knew what serpents and hydra were. Then again, up until last night she hadn’t known that she was a drakon.
He smiled bashfully. ‘Okay – well – Order members are responsible for shielding the arete world from humans. It’s how we can live side by side as you’ve seen. In peace.’
&nbs
p; ‘Because of the kerykeion,’ she said.
‘Exactly. But that’s what the rebels are against. They’ve found a way to dissolve the kerykeion. They want to destroy the glue that holds our world together–’
‘But the Triad? They saw me. They’re after me.’
‘That’s nothing to fear. It’s a great honour.’
When she looked suspicious, he held up his hands. ‘Okay. Full disclosure – my father’s an Order member.’
Her breath caught in her throat. Should she run?
‘Hey, I won’t hold it against you if you don’t add me on Facebook.’
El let out a laugh. Some of the tension eased. ‘Okay … go on.’
‘Well, I’ve been training the last year and a half and still haven’t got into the Olympia yet. You have to do well enough in trials to qualify for elemental matches in an Olympia. Then, once through all three arenas, you can join the Order. But being seen by the Triad means being fast tracked to an Olympia – fast tracked to the elemental matches.’
She shook her head. ‘Look, I don’t know anything about any Olympia or matches, but just tell me straight, why should I care about the Order?’
He fell silent and regarded her seriously. ‘Because the Order keeps both arete and humans safe. If you’re not with the Order, you’re with the rebels and they don’t care about anything. They’re responsible for dissolving the kerykeion in hundreds of places, for attacks, for the countless deaths of both humans and arete.’
She could tell he believed strongly in what he was saying. She hesitated as unease took hold of her. Luke had said that he knew Alex. That’s when he’d let her go.
El tried to frame her question carefully. ‘You said you worked for Alex. Why choose him? There must be other doctors? Even some arete ones that you could work for.’
‘Alex is one of the only people trying to research arete biology to help humans. It was a no-brainer to work for him.’
El nodded. Luke was helping with Alex’s arete molecular research but that didn’t mean that he knew everything about the doctor. Until she found out the truth about the Order and the rebels, she had to keep it that way. She hadn’t said anything to implicate that it was Alex who was keeping her hidden from the Order. Yet Luke was already suspicious. She had to choose her words carefully. Did he suspect that she had the concealment in her blood? And if he suspected that, it wasn’t much of a leap to incorporate Alex into the equation.
