by Sharon Sant
‘It needs to be seen by a doctor,’ the woman said, more insistently this time.
‘It needs stitches,’ Luca agreed.
Jacob closed his eyes and the message came through…
Ioh.
I’m safe. Do not concern yourself.
We sensed mortal danger.
I said I’m fine.
He severed the link. His thoughts were too muddled and he was too tired to get into another debate about how unsafe his quest was. He was also anxious to reassure the motel owners that he was faring better than he appeared to be, and an internal dialogue with someone in another galaxy would probably look a bit weird to anyone not involved in it. Hospitalisation would be disastrous for his plans, and he could heal himself if he was left in private to do it.
Taking a deep breath he pushed himself up again, teeth gritted against the pain but pressing on even as he felt the severed flesh beneath the tight dressing tear apart, scoring the bandages in a fresh line of blood. Sitting up on his knees, he drew in rasping breaths, hands gripping his thighs to steady the shaking.
‘Help me off here,’ he said to Luca when the trembling had subsided enough for speech.
Luca dashed over and put a steadying arm underneath his good shoulder while Jacob carefully lowered himself to the ground, every movement an excruciating jolt. His shaking legs almost buckled as Luca continued to support him.
‘I want to go to the room,’ Jacob said.
The motel owner started to speak but Jacob held up a hand to silence him.
‘Please, I’m fine. I just want to sleep.’
The man bowed his head slightly. ‘We cannot force you, of course, but my wife is right, you should seek medical attention. The wound is deep.’
‘Tomorrow,’ Jacob lied. ‘I’d like to sleep tonight.’
The man nodded and sheepishly pulled a plastic sheet from a nearby cupboard, stopping Luca to hand it to him as they made to leave. ‘We would appreciate it if this was used to cover the bed. Blood is very difficult to wash out.’
Luca tucked the sheet under his arm and nodded. They began the slow and painful walk to the room.
‘They’re right,’ Luca said as he closed the door and helped Jacob sit on the bed. ‘You should be in hospital with that. Why do you have to be such a stubborn git?’
‘It’s lucky you didn’t let them call the ambulance when I was unconscious. I can heal myself in seconds, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it under the watch of medical staff. God knows how much damage a long hospital stay would have done to our search – it would have taken valuable time and Mum and Dad would have freaked out. Not to mention how much it would have cost.’
Luca gaped as Jacob reached for his amulet and closed his eyes. Just for a second, Jacob’s entire body was bathed in golden light, and then all was still. Luca cautiously approached as Jacob unwrapped the bandage. There were no signs that the skin had ever been broken.
‘I didn’t know you could do that.’
‘I’ve never had to before. That was stupid,’ Jacob added, frowning, ‘you should have let that guy have what he wanted. You could have been killed and I’m not sure I would have been able to save you.’
Luca paled. ‘It was just a reaction. I can tell you, I felt pretty sick afterwards when I realised how bad it had been.’ Then he blanched further still, seemingly struggling with some powerful emotion. ‘When I dragged you back here, I thought…’
Jacob smiled, rubbing his aching shoulder. ‘I’m tougher than that, mate.’
There was a mutual debt, one they each acknowledged silently with a nod. Jacob fell back onto the bed, kicking off his trainers.
‘I’m knackered.’
‘Me too. I’ve had enough excitement to last me a lifetime.’ Luca crossed the room to lock the door. When he returned, Jacob’s eyes had already closed for sleep.
It was past midday when Jacob woke. He rolled over to see Luca dressed and sitting cross-legged on the opposite bed surrounded by chocolate and cans of coke. Jacob cocked an eyebrow.
‘I didn’t want to leave you,’ Luca explained, ‘and I was starving. The vending machine downstairs was the nearest food source.’
Jacob sat up and mussed his hair. ‘Did you have to buy quite so much?’
Luca shot him a reproachful glance. ‘I had to get a lot; I didn’t know how long you would be asleep.’
‘Throw us one, then,’ Jacob said, stifling a yawn.
Luca tossed a bar over, Jacob catching it neatly and tearing off the wrapper.
‘I squared it with the people downstairs, they said the motel is pretty quiet and we could stay until we’re ready to go on.’ Luca paused to pull the ring on a can. ‘I think they felt sorry for us. After last night, I felt sorry for them,’ he added, ‘they looked worried to death.’
‘To be fair, I think they did try to warn us,’ Jacob said ruefully. ‘And they could have just called the police when you turned up with my big useless lump, so I suppose we should be glad they didn’t.’
‘Hey,’ Luca chided, ‘your lump is never useless. Although, it is bloody heavy.’ He grinned and Jacob returned it before taking a mouthful of chocolate. ‘Are you ok, though?’ Luca asked, his tone more serious.
Jacob nodded, swallowing quickly. ‘I think we should move out today, get to Anaheim and find Alex.’
‘Let’s hope she doesn’t mix with anyone like those two blokes from last night,’ Luca said. ‘We already know she doesn’t keep the best company.’
‘If anyone tries anything from now on, I’ll be ready,’ Jacob replied, trying to sound confident for his friend’s benefit.
‘You did ok last night, you know, whatever it was you did,’ Luca said. ‘Not completely useless after all.’ His quick grin faded. ‘I thought you couldn’t use your powers… to save a life?’ and as he said the words, Luca paled. He fell to quiet reflection for a moment. Jacob noted the drop in his mood.
‘I suppose it just wasn’t your time to meet the Grim Reaper yet.’
Luca glanced up and gave a short nod of thanks. ‘That’s good to know. My mum’s already planning my eighteenth party, she’d be well upset if she didn’t get it now,’ Luca laughed, showing what Jacob knew was false bravado.
‘Come on,’ Jacob said, dropping from his bed and crossing to the bathroom, ‘I don’t know about you, but I could murder some bacon.’
They had breakfast back at the same diner they had eaten in the previous evening, mostly because they already knew its location. Luca was disappointed to find that his waitress was not on duty. Now that it was daylight they felt surprisingly unthreatened considering what had happened to them last time they had taken the walk. They checked out of their motel with promises to go straight to the hospital. Jacob had to feign a lot more pain than he was actually in so that nothing seemed untoward, but not so much that they would refuse to let him leave. It was a weird balancing act to perform. Eventually they left with words of thanks and headed out to find a bus that would take them to Anaheim. The owners of The Lamplight had recommended a good place to stay, run by a distant relative of theirs, and Luca had dutifully committed the location to memory so they could search it out.
‘I wish you could do that fading thing,’ Luca muttered as they waited for the bus, ‘And you could take me with you.’
The reason for his discomfort was the wino slumped across the bench at the bus stop who had, for some reason, taken a shine to Luca. The man insisted on asking, in between swigs from a paper covered bottle and as if he had never asked it before, how well Luca knew the Queen. Luca had tried to be polite, but his patience levels were getting dangerously low.
Jacob grinned. ‘You’re too nice, that’s your problem. See me? Nobody ever wants to chat to me because I look like a weirdo.’
‘You might be on to something there. But you can’t just turn off charm like this, mate, it’s ingrained.’
Jacob rolled his eyes. ‘We all have our crosses to bear.’
Despite his good humou
r, Jacob was tense. His keen eyes homed in on every face that passed them on the street, trying to spot the one face he desperately needed to see. The more he thought about it, the more doomed to failure the venture seemed. He was in one of the most densely populated places in the western world, a place of confusion and chaos where, it seemed, a major miracle would be required for them to survive it in one piece, let alone find a missing girl who probably didn’t want to be found.
‘I suppose it’s useless asking whether we can do a theme park while we’re here,’ Luca said, interrupting his thoughts.
‘You knew what this trip was about before you came. If you wanted a holiday, you should have come with someone else.’
‘I know that, it’s just… well, I might never get a chance to come back,’ Luca said, slightly stung by Jacob’s tone.
‘Even if we had enough time, I don’t have enough money.’
‘I could pay…’ Luca said hopefully.
Jacob shook his head. ‘If you really want to, I’m not stopping you from going on your own.’
‘It’s not the same on your own.’
‘I’ve got to search. Sorry.’
Luca fell silent, squinting up the gleaming sidewalk for a sign of the bus. ‘What’s your plan, then?’ he asked finally.
Jacob exhaled slowly and rubbed a hand through his unruly hair. He lowered his voice. ‘I think I’m going to have to search telepathically. It would be the quickest way, but it’s risky and takes a lot of concentration.’
‘How will you do that, exactly?’
‘I thought I might sit myself somewhere busy, try and tune in to passers-by, see if anyone gives me any clues.’
‘You can’t listen to everyone at once!’ Luca gaped.
‘When you’re connected like Astraens are, that’s the easy bit. I can open myself up to everyone, not filter them out as I normally do. The difficult bit is sorting what comes through into useful and rubbish… and,’ he added darkly, ‘making sure nobody else can sense me…’
‘Makash?’
‘He’s my biggest worry. But there’s Alex herself, as well. If she is tuned in already and gets wind of me she might make herself very difficult to find. And there might be others who can sense me, like Ellen can. I don’t think that would be a problem, but I’m just being cautious, I suppose. There’s so much at stake, I feel like…’
‘I know,’ Luca said. ‘And for what it’s worth, I’ll do what I can to help.’ He paused as he saw a bus approaching on the shimmering tarmac and nodded towards it. ‘Let’s hope this is ours.’ He glanced back at the man now snoring on the bench behind them. ‘The sooner we get away from this stinking nutter the better.’
The hotel in Anaheim was much the same in layout as the one they had spent the previous night in: long, interconnecting balconies fronted a square, flat-roofed building. But it was in a better condition and much bigger to accommodate the visitors that flocked to the wealth of nearby theme parks. Families lounged around the white-paved pool area where music played, children screaming and splashing in the sunshine. From their accents, Jacob could tell that a good many were English and this small reminder of home seemed to make them both feel more relaxed than they had done so far. And with so many holidaymakers around, they felt safer. They checked into their basic but comfortable twin room on a night-to-night basis, unsure how long their stay would be.
‘I shouldn’t be, but I’m still tired,’ Luca announced, flopping onto a bed.
Jacob’s demeanour was anything but tired, instead, he felt tense, focused on the task he had now set himself. The sooner he started the better. He stowed his suitcase under a coat rack and announced his intentions.
‘I’m going to take a walk, see what I can find out.’
‘Want me to come,’ Luca asked, giving every impression that a walk out was the last thing he wanted.
‘It’s alright, I won’t be long,’ Jacob said, heading out the door.
Obviously torn, Luca seemed for a moment as though he would argue the wisdom of Jacob going out alone.
‘I can look after myself,’ Jacob said, guessing Luca’s reservations.
‘I know. Just be careful. I’m not going to explain to your mum which bits of you are which when I take your pieces home in a box.’
Jacob grinned as he left.
Luca kicked off his shoes, turned on his side, and closed his eyes.
Jacob found a café with outside tables and decided to get a drink. It seemed as good a place as any to settle down and begin sifting through the endless internal voices that passed by. It was more complicated than he had made it sound to Luca. It was easy to open his mind fully and let the consciousnesses of virtually everyone in existence wash over him in a tidal wave of thoughts, but narrowing down the filters - wide enough to let him work quickly and constricted enough to home in on the ones that would help - would take a great deal of concentration. And he would only have snapshots of thoughts - everyone was moving by so quickly, their minds jumbled with a myriad of unimportant trivialities - that it might be just as easy to miss something crucial, even if he did hear it.
He ordered a coke and a sandwich from the waitress and took a seat at a tiny chrome table. The glare of the sun reflected from its polished surface and Jacob wondered vaguely what sort of restaurant owner would buy furniture so obviously intended to blind his patrons.
Shortly afterwards, his order arrived and he was just about to take a bite of his sandwich when he was stopped by a voice in his head.
There are developments. The Council have decided that you must return.
Now? Jacob dropped his sandwich, startled by the contact and nature of the message.
Immediately.
What sort of developments?
An ancient scroll has been uncovered. You must return.
But you said I could have six Earth months.
It is no longer possible to let you remain there.
What if I don’t want to come back yet? You can’t make me.
The voice was heavy in its reply. It was someone Jacob didn’t recognise. He tried to place it, to give it a name, wondering why Trego had not contacted him as he normally did.
We cannot. But we fear for you and would ask you to return.
Tell me why. What’s so special about this scroll?
We are still trying to decipher its true meaning.
Can you give me a clue? Jacob replied. He would never get used to Astraens’ cryptic messages, no matter how long he spent with them. What does it actually say? Maybe I can decipher for myself.
There was a long pause.
It is a prophecy, Watcher. And it foretells your destruction.
Eight: The Young Moon
Jacob sat in stunned silence. Of all the things he had considered, this was not one of them.
If it has not been deciphered, then you could be mistaken? he finally managed to return.
It is possible. But not likely.
But it is possible, he pressed. Jacob considered the likelihood of it being a ploy, a way of getting him back to Astrae. But he had been granted his time, which was not yet up, and this sort of underhand behaviour was not usual for Astraens. He decided quickly that the request was an honest one, borne of fear for him. He sensed the truth of it in the speaker’s voice. But what could this prophecy say that was so bad it would make them this afraid for his safety? It was not something he was sure he wanted to hear, but he had to ask. Tell me exactly what it says. I want to judge for myself.
I have not seen the scroll. It is in the care of the Council.
But you know what’s in it?
Some…
Tell me what you know.
There was silence.
Tell me.
It is a series of images depicting two halves of a young moon. The powers of darkness will tear the two halves asunder and plunge one half into shadow. The moon turns upon itself. The light will fall and then both halves will succumb to the darkness.
How can you be so sure t
hat this concerns me? That could be Dae and Makash.
Tell me, Ioh, has the light fallen yet? You know in your heart that it speaks of you and the one you seek.
You said you haven’t seen it.
Please, we beg you to relinquish this foolish quest and return. For the sake of your people.
Jacob tensed. My people? My people are here, where you sent me seventeen years ago with no knowledge of my true name or where I came from. Here are the people who cared for me… I wonder whether a human child would have received the same courtesy on Astrae…
Watcher? You know the reasons you were sent to Earth.
All I know is what Dae told me. And I still don’t know whether I trust the things he said. There is another like me and he chose to hide her existence, he denied his own daughter. And like me she will have grown up feeling like an outsider. Whether the outcome is, good or bad, she needs to know who she is.
He denied her because he knew of the prophecy.
Do you know this for sure? And if it’s true, how do you know he had the right twin? I was chosen on a whim, maybe. For all you know, I could be the darkness.
There was a brief silence. So you do not intend to abdicate and send her in your place?
Jacob hesitated. That was exactly what he was hoping for, despite his noble sentiments. But now there was a new desire. Everything he learned about his sister made him realise that she was more lost than he had ever been; he owed it to her to help her understand who she was. And the Councillor’s words had confirmed something else for him - they had known she was the other Successor all along when they had said they did not. It made his decision easier.
I’m sorry, but I must continue to search for her. And if you want me to return on the back of some silly prophecy, then you’ll have to do it by force.
I will inform the Council of your decision.
Wait…
Watcher?
Jacob was suddenly gripped by uncertainty. Is there anything else? In the prophecy, I mean? You said the light will fall… is that me?
We believe so.
Prophecies don’t always come true, do they? The future is in flux. We can change it by the decisions we make.
