by Megan Perry
“You go find survivors and let me know if you need me for extra healing.” Gavin’s eyes seem to darken a bit. “You aren’t coming with us,” he asks. “I can’t I have things left to do here, but I assure he is dead and can’t harm me.” “If you are sure then we’ll go and let you know when we need you.” His eyes were a bit sad, but he seemed to understand that there was more going on then I could say, more than I understood at this point. “I am sure.” With my last word they file out of the room and run down the hall. In the background I hear a lot of shouts and concerned voices. The smell of death surrounds me and I have to close my eyes to focus. “Do you not remember the time we have spent together in your head? I know you better than you know yourself! You were my first and only assignment. I meant you no harm.” Koen wanted me to know something. He knew his face was not protected. He knew I would use everything at my disposal. Koen did know me inside and out, even more than Gavin. In fact he knows everything I know about Gavin, Natasha, and Dominic. He must have been buying us time. I push the pieces of his torso back into place closing his chest and oddly enough it seems to fit back together like a puzzle.
I remove his boots and pants so I can see his entire body. I am looking for his mark. All guardians have marks. His torso arms and legs are clean. I flip him over with a bit of trouble because the floor is slick and he is like six feet tall and easily over two hundred pounds. His back and shoulders are clear. I looked under his fire red hair and then reluctantly I take off his briefs and search both buttocks and groin for anything. I flip him back to his stomach one more time. The marks on his wrists could not be his only marks. They are not true guardian marks at least not according to anything in the journal or according to the memories my mother hid in my head. Something has to be wrong. Did choosing the dark side strip the mark? Did the black worm thing take his power’s place? In a moment of inspiration I jump up and run to a storage closet across the hall and find an old black light wand. I return to the room and turn off all the lights and close the door. I plug in the light and let it illuminate the darkness. Then I run it slowly from his neck moving it down his shoulders and back. I do this three times before I am sure I’m not hallucinating.
I remembered something from being a child and first getting a black light as a present. I remember that I was always very pale and that when I held a black light up to my skin I had always looked so tan. Sometimes scars are very pale and the only way you can see them is if you can see the distinction between the normal skin color and the lighter scar. At least this is what I had experienced. Koen was pale like me and when running the black light along his back I was able to make out a slightly darker design covering his back. So, when you take the dark inside of you it removes your mark and gives you another. You lose your identity, and your willpower, you become a drone. You are trapped inside your own body due to your own selfish desires. But Koen has been in my head as long as I can remember. Can someone so young make such a decision? Was he forced?
Something is still off. I flip the lights on and unplug the black light tossing it into the corner. I grab his gear and search every inch of it. I look in every pocket check every seam and still come up with nothing. What was I missing? I closed my eyes again and replayed the whole scenario again and again in my head. Stopping it and rewinding it. That’s when I saw it. I would not have physically seen it because I was blinded at this time, but he knew I could find it or at least sense it.
I jump up from my seated position on the floor and grab for the door I fling it open and there it is. A small leather tube lies right where it had fallen amongst the dead bodies and debris. It had been tucked into the back of his belt and he knew the electrocution would dislodge it, but in all the chaos no one would notice. I grab the tube before anyone sees me and close the door again. Somehow just holding this tube I know that its contents will forever change me and if I’m lucky shed some light on what the hell is going on. I find a chair and set it up right. I know I’ll have to read fast, but I should be able to look back at the memory again later. I’m going to have to burn this so no one else gets their hands on it.
I dare not write to whom this is for. I know you will find it and once you read it you will destroy it. I have but a few moments to write this so in advance I apologize if it is not detailed. I can only hold off the dark for so long. I was born to two who chose to be dark; my decision was made for me at age three before you were born. When the dark takes over you are stripped of any mark or ability, you are given those you see on my wrists. You exist as a drone and though the power is great the price is high. Once your mission is done whether you succeed or fail you die. I longed to find you, to die and rid myself of my torment. I have left information if you search your memories. I can’t say they are obvious, but I did my best. Please, burn my body the thing I lived as does not deserve burial. Once you find your brother you will understand more. I must go. Burn this please!
I hear footsteps coming down the hall. Quickly I think of the letter burning and it is. The paper must have been coated in something flammable because it goes up in an instant and then it’s gone oddly enough with a sparkle of sorts. I’m going to guess some sort of magical charm. I can’t find the leather tube that held the letter. But I feel it may have gone up with the letter. I close my eyes and hang my head to appear as though I am resting or something as the footsteps stop outside the door.
Slowly the door opens and I lift my head to see who is standing there. I already know, but habits are habits I guess. His eyes are brilliant and oddly glassy and even though I’m used to everything being weird this is just confusing. “What’s happened to your hair and your eyes?” Gavin absent mindedly touches his head and gives me a confused look. I close the space between us and grab him by the shoulder. There is a small mirror over the sink where I point the reflection of his face.
Gavin’s trademark grin spreads from one corner of his mouth to the other. I missed his blonde mess of hair and his golden eyes. In our reflection we look like a pair, a duo. After today I’m not sure what is coming and even with his arms wrapped around me fear begins to grow inside me and I can’t tell even tell him.
“I think I like having my hair back, it doesn’t look so well, I don’t know emo?” I hit Gavin in the shoulder and he pretends to wince. “You are not emo.” We both laugh and turn from the mirror towards the rest of the room. For a moment I was almost able to forget the body on the floor, the practically naked mangled body in the puddle of blood and water. “So, are you going to fill me in on what you figured out from Koen while I was healing the others? Did you really have to strip him to figure it out?” I reach over and poke Gavin in the side and he squirms fearing I will tickle him. “It’s only partial information. It really isn’t much to go on. It really raises more questions than answers for me and yes I did really have to strip him.” I move towards the body and wink at him and then gesture for him to come stand by me “I’ll share what I have maybe a new perspective on it will help.”
Gavin finds his place next to me when I get an idea from somewhere. It’s like I always knew about it but it never occurred to me. I turn to face Gavin and take his hands in mine. I can feel our connection and it was like a surge or power and life flowed between us. I feel myself startle. “You haven’t noticed this change yet,” Gavin asks me. “Well, I guess if I said no it would be a lie. I was pre occupied while I was investigating our friend here, but I felt you pulling from me. I felt a tingling from my head to my feet and a pulling sensation like a powerful vacuum was pulling molecules from me one layer at a time. It didn’t hurt, but it was strange.” That just makes Gavin shake his head and grin at me. “Well, whether or not I’m a supernatural vacuum we don’t have much time for you to tell me what you’ve figured out before the other come looking for us.”
“Ok look me in the eyes and keep a hold of my hands. Try not to blink.” He nods in response and I start to focus. First I focus on the energy flowing between us learning its patterns and motion. Then I think bac
k to the moment in time I want to go to. First there is a bright flash and everything begins to tingle. “Did whatever you intended to happen actually happen?” Gavin’s voice shakes just a bit as he asks and he swallows hard. “I think so,” I reply turning to look around us. We are now surrounded by a shimmering field of energy. I actually did it! “Well, I guess so,” Gavin answers for me. “So, how does this thing work?”
I take a deep breath and try to think. Nothing comes to me. I don’t know how this thing works but maybe.
“Gav, I think I just have to talk to you about what I remember and we can go through the memory, reliving it in a sense.” “Well then, let’s get to remembering ZZ!” With that I go back through the entire time he was gone and everything that happened. When the memory is over the field of energy around us disappears with a crackle. “You have to tell me what that letter said Zoe. I need to know.” He grabs me by the wrists pulling me closer to him his eyes pleading with me. I don’t know if I can tell him. I feel like I’m supposed to keep it to myself. There seems to be something missing. I shouldn’t have shown him this way. I could have just told him my assumptions; he wouldn’t have known I could have locked it away. I can hear gave pleading with me but I can’t think straight. I feel the more he knows the more danger he will be in, but he won’t understand that. I don’t have an option.
“Gavin, no one else can know. I feel like something is missing, the information is dangerous and not everyone should have it. You have to promise me that only you and I know about this and no one else. Please, it’s not safe.” I feel myself shaking waiting for his response. He takes a deep calculated breath and sighs. “Whatever is best, just hurry and tell me they are heading this way.”
About the Author
M. R. P. fills her bookshelves full of novels by great authors and aspiring novelists. She is a bit of an insomniac and her dreams tend to over flow to paper. Every character she creates has a touch of her woven into them and with every page she dreams of breaking all the rules.
Book 1 of Madness or Purpose Part One: Hidden Beginnings
"Arial","sans-serif"">January 2013
Book 2 Madness or Purpose Part Two: Finding the Lost
"Arial","sans-serif"">Coming Soon…
Table of Contents
Copyright
Closet Nightmares
Secrets and Fears
An Incomplete Lifetime of Knowledge
Guardians Good or Evil
Charred Mattresses, Candles, and Liquor
To Love a Friend
Runaway
A False Bottom
Invisible
An Unconscious Cry for Help
Blueprints and Attraction
The Letter
About the Author
