***
Ethan Laurent had been hired six months previously by a private contractor to protect the facility. He had only been in the upper quarters once, where he had seen young people, most in their late teens, freely walking about. He found it bizarre, but he had already signed a nondisclosure agreement. Still, nothing at all had happened in the six months since his contracted started, and he was already one-sixth of the way through its term.
He came to find the job almost relaxing. He did virtually nothing, nothing was actually asked of him, and nothing ever really happened. Every morning, a bunch of people he knew nothing about would arrive, and every night, the same people—mostly—would leave. He did not know what he was protecting them from, but they were paying for the best by hiring from his firm. One restless night, after a few beers, he had phoned a distant but familiar, well-liked colleague and asked her to take a look at his nondisclosure contract. He was told by this person that the contract implied links to various world governments, but also to a more veiled organization—known simply as “the Committee”—and that she wanted nothing to do with it. She had insisted that he shouldn’t look into it any further and that doing so could endanger him. She then refused to discuss the issue anymore and had cut off contact with him after that, deleting him from her personal cloud.
As he saw the lights go out, he immediately knew that today was the day he would pay for the last six months of receiving huge sums of money to do almost nothing. He and the two other guards behind him drew their weapons immediately. They had been standing near the back of the entrance hallway, and he had been glancing out the curved glass window at the decreasing daylight just above the wall that encased the building.
The front door was forty feet directly ahead, past the check-in desk on the left. On his immediate left, there was a wall that separated them from the elevator, and its entrance was about fifteen feet away, just out of their sight. On his right, the large curved glass windows lined the entire right side of the ground floor. As he did a quick scan of the interior hallway, the very next thing he did was a scan of the exterior perimeter. He looked out, checking the walls that lined the outside of the facility, and with his trained eye, he determined within two seconds that the grounds there were empty.
“Ground unit to control, come in,” he said into his earpiece. The only contact he had was with security control on the upper floors of the building, and he felt his pulse quicken when only a brief burst of static in his ear greeted his request. After a moment, it rose to a crescendo and he grimaced, reaching into his ear and dragging the small device free. He threw it to the ground.
At that moment, he heard the elevator doors open above. He raised his weapon, as did his subordinates, and the three of them backed into the corner, moving further out of view of the doorway. As he listened to it descend, he felt a bead of sweat fall from his brow. Briefly, he wondered how the elevator was working without power.
Trey. Trey. Trey. The name repeated in his mind. Trey.
Who they hell is Trey? he wondered, frowning.
And then other words came, like a terribly crossed line on an old cell phone he remembered from his youth.
Other. The Other. I can’t get out. HELP ME—
The voice came from a terrified young man.
Get out. Get out. Get away. He’s coming! Why aren’t you listening to me?! Leave! Right now!
The doors opened. Slowly, a young man stepped forward and came into view from behind the wall that lined the side of the elevator. Ethan gasped, knowing immediately that there was something seriously wrong. He watched as the man turned his head toward them, and he backed away a full step when he saw the light reflecting off the black eyes. So empty. I should have backed off this job. What the hell was I thinking? They didn’t even tell me what it was—
They backed further into the corner as the young man proceeded toward them.
Screw it. Ethan fired a shot.
A transparent bubble rose around the young man, and the shot impacted it, creating a blue shower of energy. Light filled the hallway for a moment, and then the sparks—and the shield—disappeared. Three more shots came from behind him, fired by his coworkers, and the same thing happened.
The man—whose name Ethan could only presume was Trey—turned toward the glass that lined the side of the ground floor. A second later, the entire frame of each window shattered, and the volley of sound that came over them was horrific.
Ethan fell to his knees and placed his hands over his ears immediately. He looked up just in time to see a thousand fragments of glass move toward him as a flowing mass, like a sparkling liquid. As they swirled around him, there was a blaze of light. He shut his eyes and screamed.
***
“I’ve managed to restore partial power, Miss Delahunt. You have access to the emergency doorway down the corridor on your left. You can access the staircase from there, but you will have to use your weapon to cut through the lock when you reach the ground floor,” Lucy said.
Zoe’s eyes were wide as she listened to the AI’s instructions. The second they came through, she began to move. “Come on, Noah!” she yelled, and they both ran toward the door at the end of the corridor, just twenty feet away. She ran her hand over the security panel that was once again illuminated, and it beeped. The lock opened, and she ran into the corridor with Noah close behind her. They raced down the stairs—just two flights—and then Noah proceeded to use the weapon on the door there. He fired two bolts: one at the lock, the other at the security panel, and the lock fell from the door.
They both stopped. After a motionless second, during which they merely stared at each other in the dark, Zoe nodded at him, and then she opened the door just an inch, staring out into the silent, dark hallway.
The first thing she noticed was the gust of wind that blew over her as she opened the door. Taking a step forward, she felt her hair blow back over her shoulders. To her right was the check-in desk, and just ten feet beyond that, the secured elevator door. It was open. The light in there was on, but then it flickered a few times and went out.
She pulled her gaze away and looked toward the opposite side of the corridor. There was something there, but she couldn’t quite understand what it was at first glance. After a moment, she realized what was different: The windows that lined the entire far side of the hallway were gone, and she was looking out directly into the empty car park—that was where the breeze was coming from. She walked toward the open windows. As she did, she passed by the wall that cut the hallway in half just aside the elevator. She looked to her right and just managed to stifle a scream as she cupped her hand to her mouth.
There was a giant sphere made entirely of glass on the floor. The three security guards had been trapped inside it and were now unconscious. She walked toward it, her mouth gaping open, and reached her hand up tentatively to run her fingers over it. It was perfect in every way, and light reflected off its gleaming surface in a cluster of blistering, white stars. She looked down at the men who lay unconscious on its curved underside. They were trapped, but still breathing.
“Lucy?” she said, almost whispering.
“Yes.”
“There are three men trapped in a glass sphere on the ground floor. The sphere is composed of the entirety of the curved surface near the entrance. By your calculations, how much air would they have, given that the sphere was constructed only moments ago?”
“Based on the blueprints I have of the facility, three hours. Accurate to within ninety-five percent.”
Zoe sighed in relief. “That’s enough for now.” She turned to Noah, and he nodded in agreement. He was holding the weapon diagonally across his chest with both hands. “Try to notify the other staff of their situation—try to get them help.” she instructed Lucy.
“Yes, Miss Delahunt. Should I notify the Committee of what’s happened?”
“No, absol
utely not. I want you operating only from the secure network we made. No communication with the Committee at all. Is that understood?”
“Yes. We’re operating in the dark.”
“OK. Good.”
Zoe and Noah proceeded slowly toward the curved area from where the glass had come. Zoe stepped toward the thick wooden frame and glanced briefly at the gap where the glass had been housed. It was almost a full inch thick.
She looked toward the car park and took in her first view of the world out there. On the right, the sun was still visible in the sky, though it was descending, and a single, dim, pink cloud drifted low on the horizon just beyond the stone wall. She turned and glanced to her left, where she saw Trey walking away toward the direction of the single pedestrian entrance. This was covered with an extremely advanced security system and a huge wrought-iron gate, which was virtually impenetrable.
She watched as he passed a final car and turned to his right toward the gate, which was then only ten feet away. Her breath caught in her throat, and despite her intention to remain silent, she found words rising up. “Trey!” she yelled into the night.
He stopped walking and jerked his head toward her.
At his mere glance, Zoe was startled, and she backed away, hitting the other side of the wooden frame. Her teeth clacked together. Once again, she’d had the opportunity to glance into Trey’s eyes and saw that they were black like obsidian. Gathering her courage, she lowered her right foot down onto the pavement outside the facility. Stepping out completely, she watched as he turned back to the gate and walked a few feet toward it.
Noah was beside her now, and he reached his head around the far side of the wooden frame and looked at Trey. He glanced at Zoe and held his weapon up.
Zoe shook her head. “No,” she whispered. “Don’t fire. We don’t know what could happen, and we could harm Trey himself.”
Noah nodded in agreement and lowered the weapon.
Glancing away from Noah, she turned her attention back to Trey. She walked in his direction, and the wind blew her auburn hair back over her shoulders. She watched as Trey reached out his hands and, knowing what was coming, her breathing quickened. There was a loud sound—the sound of grinding, bending metal. This lasted a mere two seconds before the entire gate—and blocks of the thick concrete that housed it—exploded out onto the street. Zoe was knocked backward as a small shockwave hit her. She raised her arms immediately, blunting the force of the impact. At the same time, she heard the gate clanking end over end across the street beyond. Horns honked in the distance, and the sound of screeching tires filled the air.
Trey was already walking through the exposed gap in the concrete now, even as the noise of his destruction still resounded beyond the wall.
Zoe began to run. She reached the newly opened gap where the thick gate had stood and ran up the steps, looking out beyond it. People had stepped out of their cars and were looking around in confusion. Some were looking at the open gap in the concrete, and some had gathered around the broken gate, which had come to rest sixty feet away, having impacted the front of a red car, leaving a three-foot-hole at its front end.
“Trey!” she yelled out, looking around her. At first, there was nothing—no sign of him. Then she spotted a lone figure at the end of the adjoining street across the road and a few degrees to her left. If he turned, he would soon pass out of their sight.
“Noah! Come on!” She ran out into the traffic, ignoring it and dodging her way through swerving cars and trucks. She didn’t need to look behind to know that Noah was right behind her.
They reached the street as just ahead of them, Trey rounded the corner and went out of sight.
***
Zoe had been walking for ten minutes, with Noah right beside her. She was acutely aware of the fact that she was not holding a weapon. She had never held one during her tenure at the facility, nor did she ever think she would need one in the future. It frightened her that she had nothing to protect herself with. Why hadn’t she listened to Trey when he spoke of the dangers he was being exposed to in the previous days? What had caused her to hesitate? Had it been fear? It didn’t matter much now. She felt as though the edges of her mind were touching on a black, dark ocean, and she tried desperately to keep thoughts of it at bay.
Her eyes darted from left to right, looking for him, but somehow, Zoe knew she would not see him. She knew he had managed to get well ahead of them.
“He’s not here,” Noah said.
She turned to see him glance up at the old buildings that lined the streets. They had walked from the outskirts of the nineteenth arrondissement and were now approaching the center of the city. Zoe trembled, and now and then, a single tear threatened to fall from her eye. On instinct, without actually seeing Trey, they had managed to follow him for about three miles across the city, and now, they were approaching one of its most famous monuments, which stood at the center of place de l’Étoile: the Arc de Triomphe.
She slowed down as they approached the end of the street. There was only one more block between them and the area where the great monument stood.
Noah placed his hand on her shoulder. “Where are we going? We can’t even see him anymore, Zoe. We should go back and get help.”
She looked down but kept her eyes on the road in front. “No. I know where he’s going.”
“How?” he asked.
She could feel his breath on her, warm and sweet. “I… I had a dream.” She began walking again, and she felt his hand slip away. Still, she heard him follow quickly behind as they walked across the road toward the final street. As they neared the top, Zoe could feel her heart quicken, and she slowed down. Somehow, it seemed that Noah could sense the danger too, and as she glanced over her shoulder, she saw him raise the weapon up to his chest behind her. Reaching her hand back, she found his open palm and gripped it, drawing strength from his touch as the wind grew cold and the sun sunk lower. Thankfully, dusk was still far off.
They stopped just at the top of the street. From beyond the corner of the building that stood there, they could see the edge of place de l’Étoile. Zoe knew that just to the left was the monument. It seemed silly that she should come here at the behest of a dream, but something else was drawing her to this location inexorably; she couldn’t help but follow the signal that was pulling her toward it like a pool of gravity.
She made her way forward, moving out past the corner of the last building, and the cold wind brushed her face, sweeping her hair to the side. First, the sound became apparent: a distant, piercing ringing. It was unpleasant, though not unbearably so. She squinted and looked toward the monument. After a moment, she saw Trey. He was wearing a hooded jacket and blue jeans, standing on the outskirts of the circular platform that surrounded the Arc de Triomphe, just a hundred feet from the monument itself. She stared at him.
The next thing she noticed was that the streets here were empty; she looked around and was shocked to find that in every direction, the roads that led away from the monument were deserted. Even the Champs-Élysées—famous the world over—was entirely empty for as far as she could see. Only the sound of rustling leaves in a gentle breeze came back to her.
She was now fully exposed just beyond Avenue de Wagram. She stopped, and her breath caught in her throat as she began to hear a voice in her mind. It was the clear voice of a woman, but beneath it, as it grew in volume, she detected a terribly malign presence. Trey had been telling the truth: The female voice—the woman—was just a mask. Zoe knew immediately that this was the entity he had referred to, the one he had seen in his dreams. She also knew that this was the same presence she had detected in her own apartment that night—that had indeed, somehow, invaded her own dreams. Now, she could hear it speaking to him.
Do it, Trey. Do it. Open the final lock. Do it now. DO IT NOW!
Zoe stared at Trey and tried to breathe steadily while listening to the voice that ha
d invaded her mind. She knew now why the streets were empty: The people had run from this presence.
“Do you hear that?” Noah asked from behind her, his voice filled with astonishment.
Zoe nodded. “Yes,” she replied, still staring at Trey. A second voice superimposed the first one, coming stronger through the veil of psychic power that until that moment, she had never had access to.
You’re almost there, Trey—just a little more.
Zoe squinted as the air in front of the monument began to ripple. A shape was taking form there. After only a few seconds, she could see that it was a cube, and she gasped when she saw its dimensions, for she had seen this object before. The massive shape appeared out of thin air and became more visible with each passing second.
The words she spoke seemed to come from a secret knowing within her, for she had not planned to say them. “He’s drawing it into our reality.”
The cube solidified further, and now it was difficult to see through it. It was almost exactly as Zoe remembered from her dream. Incredibly complex indentations lined its surface, and these shone with the most tremendous colors, appearing to transition frequently through magenta. The lettering, what she could only presume was lettering of some sort—some kind of writing well in advance of any earth language—swirled and shifted, as though it was rewriting itself constantly.
You’re almost there, Trey. The final locks. Open them.
“Oh no,” Zoe gasped, and then a steely resolve came over her. She bolted from where she stood, running across the street straight toward the circular platform that surrounded the monument. As she ran, she began to hear noises from the rotating cube above as one series of indentations along its surface began to move. She heard them clank once, twice, three times, and it sounded like two metal surfaces grinding over each other.
“TREY!” she screamed as she ran. “TREY, STOP!”
Now Trey turned toward her, and she could see, even from this distance, that his eyes were just as black and empty as before. She didn’t stop running and had almost reached the edge of the monument when she heard a final loud clank from above. She stopped and threw her hands up to break the momentum she had built.
Rise (The Ethereal Vision Book 2) Page 16
