Okay, so I had no idea who or what I was screaming at, but obviously, I wasn’t thinking clearly right now. “He can help you,” a quiet voice whispered into my ear. I spun, but there was nothing beside me. “The Raven can help you. He can get you out of this. He can take you away.”
My heart sank as I realized who this particular voice belonged to and just why I couldn’t see her. “F-flora?” I stammered. “Flora, what are you doing here? How did you get here?”
“The Raven,” Flora answered. “His people got me in, and they can get you out.”
“You’ve got a lot of nerve!” I said through gritted teeth. “You almost killed me!” I swung at the air where I thought she was but, like the last time I tried to fight her, I came up empty. “Merrin might still die!” I swung. Again; nothing. “We lost Weathersby!” I swung again. It’s like she was nowhere. “And the only reason any of this is happening is because of what you did! I hate you!” I screamed, still swinging (and missing). “I hate you!” Suddenly, and to my surprise, I connected. Flora yelled and, as she came into view, tumbled to the ground.
“There are a lot of reasons you are where you are,” Flora said, holding her jaw. “I’m just one of them.”
I reared my fist back again, more than happy to vent every ounce of this frustration on her.
“Wait!” She yelled, blocking her face with her hand. “We can get you out! That’s the point.” Flora’s body curled up, so that she was in the fetal position. She was dressed in a skintight white suit with matching jacket and it looked like she had gotten a pretty severe haircut, since her usually shoulder length red hair was now basically a poufy pixie cut. “You had to be here so you could see it; so that you’d know what kind of people they are. The Council doesn’t care about you. They don’t care about anyone but themselves.”
“And Allister Leeman cares?” I asked with my fist still poised to attack. “He killed my mother, Flora! He tried to get me to kill Casper and Owen! It wouldn’t matter who I had to marry or what life I had to live, I would never trust that bastard!” I narrowed my eyes. “And the fact that you do means I never knew you at all.”
I swung, but Flora went invisible. She must have rolled out of the way, because my fist collided with the ground hard.
“I wish I could explain everything now,” Flora said as I grabbed my pained hand. “But I can’t. The future is moving pieces. You are where you’re supposed to be, and so it the Raven. You can trust that and, even if you don’t believe it, you can trust me too.”
“Get the hell away from me!” I screamed. “I’m going to tell them you’re here! The Council is going to find you and you’re going to pay for what you did!”
“You can trust me, Cresta. go to the Raven. He’ll get you out.” Flora’s voice was far off now, like she was leaving. As soon as I was comfortable that Flora was gone, I crumpled to the ground. My fake best friend had just robbed me of the chance to say goodbye to my real best friend, and I had just gotten into a fistfight in my wedding dress. Fate; she is a bitch.
I wasn’t sure how much time passed before I made it to my feet again, mostly because I was dazed, but the whole ‘no clocks’ thing in the Hourglass didn’t help. I did stand though. I brushed the blades of grass off my dress and started toward the Main section of the Hourglass, where in just a few short minutes, I would become Mrs. Sebastian Lightfoot.
As I marched forward, that strange sense of calm came over me again. I was seven years old, dressed as a rock, and ready to deliver my line. Except, instead of ‘Mind the pebbles’, I would say ‘I do’. If that was even what Breakers said when they got married. I guess I’d figure it out soon enough. And really, wasn’t that all this was; an act. It was like the school play all over again; only this would last for the rest of my life.
My sense of drive faltered as soon as I caught a glimpse of the manic freeway that the Hourglass’ main street had turned into. It seemed that the news of my imminent marriage had turned the somewhat low key area into a bustling metropolis. People rushed back and forth everywhere, bouncing around while they set up chairs, carried platters of rich foods and desserts, and even scrubbed the brick laden road with mops and buckets full of soapy water.
Today’s mandated garments where black pants with a white shirt; which was probably meant to make the crowd viewing the wedding look formal, but only served to make them look like an army or rushing dominos, ready to fall at any moment.
Suddenly, I felt very hot. My heart raced. My palms became wet and slippery. This wasn’t like the school play at all. People weren’t here to be entertained. They weren’t going to forgive me if I messed up or said the wrong thing and, worst of all, this wasn’t make-believe. This was really happening and, when it was over; when the running dominos had cut all the cake and put away all the chairs, I was going to be married. I’d have to go home with Sevie. I’d have to live with him, as his wife.
“Don’t,” I heard Merrin’s voice beside me. I hadn’t realized it, but at some point while I was watching all of this, I must have receded into an alley, because most of my body was hidden behind a brick wall.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I answered. I caught site of Sevie, and my speeding heart thumped to a near stop. He was standing on a raised platform, looking every bit as kind and innocent as I knew he was, as he straightened the tie on his Council approved coupling guise. Petar stood beside him, whispering God knows what kind of ignorant garbage into his ear.
“Fate’s armpit, you don’t,” Merrin sneered. “I’m inside your head. I know what dark thoughts are brewing in there.”
“Merrin, I-“
“You can’t. That ridiculous redhead is lying to you. And if, even for a second, you think Allister Leeman would do anything other than use you, then you’re stupider than even I gave you credit for.” She crinkled her intangible nose. “And that’s quite the feat I promise you.”
“He’s Sebastian,” I said, staring at him. “He’s lying about something. Wendy told me. I can’t marry someone who isn’t who they say they are. It’s not safe.”
“Do you really believe that?” Merrin asked. “Or are you making excuses so that you can justify not doing something you know you should?”
“You’re in my head,” I turned to Merrin. “You know the answer to that.”
“You can’t do this Cresta. If you don’t want to be couple with Sevie, then don’t. Join the Sisters of the Tower and live a life of service. But don’t go to the Raven. You know what the future holds if you go to him.”
“I don’t know anything,” I answered. “The crone told me that what I did mattered, that my free will was important and that I could make a difference.” I looked forward again. Owen was standing with Sevie now. He had a sling around one arm, and his other was wrapped around his brother’s shoulder. “But if I stay here, I know what life will be. And I can’t live that.”
I turned, bunching the bottom of my dress up so it didn’t drag the ground, and walked away.
“This is very likely a trap,” Merrin said, trailing behind me in whatever ethereal way phantom memories stuck in somebody’s head do.
“Where’s Allister Leeman being held?” I asked.
“The reformatory, I’d imagine,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Where’s that,” I demanded.
“Yeah, I don’t think I’m going to tell you that,” she answered.
“Then I’ll find it myself. Hope you’re ready for an hour or two of hapless wandering around your old stomping grounds. Because I’m not stopping until I find him.”
I heard an audible sigh behind me; which was weird seeing as how I was pretty sure Merrin didn’t have to breathe in this state. “Fine,” she muttered. “This way.”
Merrin took me out of the main area of the Hourglass. I thought we were going back toward the Lightfoot farmhouse; not my favorite prospect in the world. But she made a sharp right before we got to the lake.
“We’re going into the woods,” I said
as Merrin kept going when we neared an unbroken line of trees.
“We’re the most evolved powerful beings in the whole world. Did you really think we’d hold our prisoners in a wooden box in town square?”
We were in a particularly full area when Merrin came to a stop. “Here it is,” she said flatly.
“Is it hidden with anchors, like the holding area back at Weathersby?” I asked, settling beside her.
She panted; which again piqued the ‘does astral Merrin breathe?’ question in my mind, and shook her head. “Move the leaves.” She seemed tired as she pointed to the brown, red, and orange leaves scattered across the ground.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Of course not. I’m dying,” she muttered. “Now move the leaves.”
I bent down, letting the ruffle of my dress bunch up around me. Pushing away the leaves, I found a round brass circle embedded in the ground. Clearing it, I saw anchors etched all over it with a blank black strip in the center.
“It’s underground?” I asked.
“It is,” Merrin huffed breathlessly. “But it won’t matter. There’s a sequence you’ll need to enter to gain access; a sequence that you don’t have. It’s changed twelve times daily and delivered directly into the brains of repository representatives. So, unless you have access to their minds…”
But I wasn’t listening. The shade around the brass circle was speaking to me; flashing numbers, letters, and symbols that I vaguely remembered from Dr. Static’s class in front of my eyes. One by one, they clicked into place, settling in their proper position in the sequence.
“Got it,” I said as the last symbol clicked and the brass circle retracted into itself.
“Of course you do,” Merrin sighed, kneeling beside me. The circle had receded, leaving a hole in the earth that seemed filled with nothing but gaping darkness. “How do you-“
“You jump,” Merrin cut me off. “But I’m going to ask you one more time not to do this. I know that things look bleak now, but life is a long time. Perhaps what you think you can’t live with today will become the thing you can’t live without tomorrow.”
“That’s not gonna happen,” I answered, as sure as I had ever been about anything.
“I suppose that’s it then,” Merrin said, leaning over the hole and looking into the dark. “It’s time for Alice to go down the rabbit hole.”
Chapter 19
You Can Still Wear White
I didn’t remember jumping, but obviously I did; because I was falling. Surrounded by darkness, I held my breath as my wedding dress flew up around my neck and face. I had done so much crap today that you are absolutely never supposed to do in a wedding dress. My mom would have said that was because I was ‘a unique little snowflake; you know, if my mom wasn’t dead. There was a bit of irony about that though, seeing as how I was about to come face to face with the son of a bitch who murdered her. The worst part about that irony: I was gonna ask for his help.
I landed hard against the floor. Pain shot up my legs as I wondered why I hadn’t been smart enough to take my heels off before I jumped. My eyes adjusted to the light and the sudden rush of warmth that was around me now.
I was in a room; small and lit with orange heating lamps. I blustered. For some reason, I assumed that, when I landed, it would be directly into Allister Leeman’s cell; like he was being kept in a super-secret well or something. Instead, I found myself standing in what looked like an abandoned dorm room in the middle of Siberia. Food wrappers were strewn across the floor. That was weird. Even in Owen’s house, I had never seen prepackaged food inside the Hourglass. A bed sat messy and unmade in a corner with a television beside it that played white static loudly.
This was depressing. It was like a-Wait, was this Allister Leeman’s cell?
“I’m flattered,” a foreign voice sounded from behind me. I turned to find a boy, close to my age, slumped against the wall. He had auburn hair and a slick smile on his face. “But you’re gonna have to buy me dinner first.”
“W-what are you talking about?” I stammered.
He looked me up and down, the smile widening. “The dress. It’s not the sort of thing you wear without a purpose.” He spoke differently than anyone else I had met in the Hourglass. His voice was a low rumble. He spoke slowly, like syrup pouring from its container; patient and thick.
“I had other plans,” I admitted shakily.
“Didn’t we all,” boy grinned. His eyes, green with flicks of brown in them, made me uncomfortable. Whoever he was, he looked at me like he knew everything about me; like he had seen me naked or something.
God, I hope that’s not his ability.
“If it’s not a husband hunt, I’m gonna have to ask what brings you here.” He slumped even more. He wasn’t threatened by me at all. For some reason, that really pissed me off.
“I need to see someone,” I answered, folding my arms in front of me.
He chuckled, laughing at me like, not only had he seen me naked, but what he saw under there was funny as hell.
“What?!” I huffed.
“Well, there’s only two people down here, sweetheart. And you definitely ain’t here to see me.”
I had never heard a Breaker use incorrect grammar before but, judging by the empty Cheetos wrappers on the floor, this guy wasn’t an ordinary Breaker.
“So?” I asked.
“So, that and the wedding dress; I just figured out who you are.” He straightened up, walking toward me in a manner that could only be described as moseying. “The Breaker who’s not a Breaker. I wanted to meet you. People were talking about you like you’re the second coming.” He looked me up and down again with those infuriating eyes. “Though I can’t imagine why.”
Heat rose in my face, coloring my cheeks.
“Look at that, brides do blush,” he said, and I noticed a bit of twang in his voice. It reminded me of Casper actually, except really douchey.
“Where is Allister Leeman?” I demanded.
“He’s through that door,” the boy pointed straight ahead. I hadn’t noticed it before, but there was a discolored square in the center of the back wall. “But you’re gonna need my little piggies to get it open. Foot pad sensors, don’t you know.” He wiggled his toes.
Of course he’s barefoot.
“Am I gonna have to convince you to do that?” I asked, with steel in my eyes and voice.
“I don’t know.” He cocked his head. “Giving me a peek of what’s under that skirt might do the trick.” He grinned wide. “Come on, looking ain’t doing. You can still wear white.”
“How’s about I break your teeth instead,” I answered.
“I’m just joking, sweetheart,” he said, making his way to the far wall. “No convincing is necessary. I heard about what happened.” He plopped his foot down hard in front of the etched out door. Something glowed across the floor, scanning his foot from top to bottom. “If somebody did that to my mom, I’d want a minute alone with the cocksucker too.” The door dematerialized, scattering like broken glass until there was nothing left but a break in the wall that lead to a long walkway. The boy shot me a wink. “You take your time.”
I shook my head. “How the hell did you get a job here?”
He smiled again. “Fate’s got a plan for all of us, I guess.” He gave me a hard pat on the back. “I’m Royce. Be seeing you around, I guess.”
“Whatever,” I muttered, and advanced into the walkway. It was dark, so dark that I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face; not that it was there or anything. As I advanced though, lights began to turn on overhead, revealing a long metal hallway; not unlike where I found myself back in Weathersby when I found out Owen had been captured. With each light, the hall grew in size. One light; a hundred yards. Two lights; three hundred yards. Five lights; half a mile. How long was this hall anyway?
Suddenly, the lights started to race ahead of me. They flicked on must faster than I could walk (especially in heels). The hall stretched out for what
looked like forever. This place must have run under the entirety of the Hourglass. It was gonna take me a month to walk this thing. But then, as suddenly as they flicked on ahead of me, they started turning off, running back toward me. Piece by piece, the endless hall disappeared, until the only light on, either in front of or behind me, was the one directly overhead. I stopped in my tracks. Obviously that’s what the hall wanted me to do.
Only in the Hourglass would I have to worry about what a hall wants from me.
The white light above me flicker and shifted to orange, like the glow in Royce’s messy living quarters. As my eyes adjusted to the new hue, I found that I wasn’t in the hall anymore. I was in a room; a cell. The walls were blocks of metal. A mattress lay on the floor, ratty without even a sheet to cover it, and a toilet sat in the open middle of the room. My heart leapt and then died as I caught sight of the room’s other occupant.
Allister Leeman sat crouched in a ball on the bare metal floor. His hair was mess of knots and his face; bare the last time I saw it, sported a beard that Casper would have killed for back in the day. His eyes looked glazed and the raven tattoo on his throat; flapping wilding the last time I saw it, was limp and lifeless. He looked dead, or rather, liked he wished he was dead.
Being the subject of a world shattering prophecy aside, I had never really thought of myself as a violent person. I was even keel and tame; normal if you didn’t count the fact that I came from super powered cult members. But the instant I saw the pathetic heap that Allister Leeman had turned into, I wanted to finish what I started the night he killed my mother. I wanted to wrap my hands around that stupid raven on his neck and choke the life right out of him. But that wasn’t why I was here. I was here because I had been promised that he could get me out. I was here for help, and that thought made me sick to my stomach.
The Breaker's Promise (YA Urban Fantasy) (Fixed Points Book 2) Page 21
