by Sharon Sant
Alex tried to be content with this. But even though she had done what she came to do, she knew that it wouldn’t be enough. Makash would find them, no matter where they went. She thought for a moment, and then unclasped her necklace. It was only a cheap thing, a trinket made of coral and wooden beads that she had bought from a beachside vendor at home. Holding it tightly and closing her eyes, she whispered some ancient words; words that she didn’t even know were in her consciousness. Opening her eyes after a few seconds, she handed the man the necklace.
‘It’s a protection. Keep it on the baby. Be careful, though,’ she added, ‘don’t let it break. It’s only wood and string, I’m not sure how the protection will hold if the parts are separated.’
The man took the trinket, staring at her. ‘Why?’
‘Whatever desire I have to be Watcher, I am not my uncle.’ She regarded him with a frank expression, laying her soul bare before him so he could see the truth.
The man nodded and handed the necklace to his wife. ‘I believe we can trust her.’
The woman took it and placed it gently around the baby’s neck, tucking a layer of cloth between the necklace and his skin to prevent irritation from the sharp fragments of bright coral.
‘Sorry I had nothing more suitable.’ Alex grimaced as she noted the action.
The woman looked up, her expression suddenly troubled again. ‘Kya, if you were able to escape your confines to come to us tonight, why don’t you leave your uncle?’
‘I can’t.’ Alex shrugged.
‘But you are here now,’ the man insisted. ‘You can travel without him.’
Alex paused. She thought of the people she had left back on Earth, the closest thing she had to family, whose lives had continued without her as though she had never existed. She thought about Jacob, his doting parents and the love directed his way from everyone around him. She had been sent to Earth in the wrong box. She would always be on the outside looking in.
‘I can travel without him, but what’s the point? I don’t have anywhere else to go.’
‘It is said,’ the man began, his voice softly persuasive, ‘that the Watcher’s loneliness is so great that anyone who comes into contact with him feels it as their own. It is said that he wanders the Council chambers like a restless spirit, neither here nor there.’
‘My heart bleeds for the guy.’ Alex pulled up her hood to leave.
‘Perhaps he would welcome the company of one of his own?’ the man pressed.
Alex turned to him, her expression unreadable. ‘I am not one of his. I belong to no one.’
‘That is a self-imposed state of exile.’
‘Look, get off my case. I saved your damn kid, what do you care what happens now? For your information, the old Watcher is never coming back, so you’d better get used to having me around.’
The man stepped back, shock and sadness etched in his features. He bowed his head slightly. ‘Thank you for coming,’ he said, regaining his formality. ‘We will never forget the kindness you have shown us.’
‘Don’t expect me to do it again,’ she said as she opened the door to leave, ‘if my uncle finds you now, you’re on your own.’
Just like me, she thought, as she took a deep breath and faded into the night.
Alex arrived back in her chambers and heaved a great sigh of relief that she had, once again, managed to arrive at her destination without her entire being collapsing and blowing away on the wind. That Makash had not yet returned from his business was an added bonus. She still hadn’t figured out what she was going to tell him. The decision to visit the family of the new Successor had been made on an impulse, and already she was dreading the consequences. There was no worry for the baby - she felt confident that her protection would hold - but it wouldn’t protect the parents. She didn’t give much for her own chances either once he discovered what she had done. And there was no way she could cover it up; as soon as he went to do the deed and found that he could not harm the child, he would know exactly where to come for an explanation.
She removed her hoodie and smoothed her hair before lying on the bed to try to rest and still her thumping heart. She had to admit, she decided with a small smile, that there had been something oddly satisfying about getting to the baby before Makash, and it wasn’t just to do with saving a life.
She had not been lying down long when he appeared before her.
‘Did your trip go well?’ Alex asked breezily, rising from the bed.
He stared at her, his eyes a terrifying storm of violent emotions. ‘The child has gone from his home.’
‘Really? Well, you shouldn’t have much trouble tracking him down. You are connected, just like we are.’
‘I have no sense of him at all. Something is masking him.’ he took a step towards her. ‘I wonder how that is…’
Alex shrugged. ‘You’re the mentor, you should be explaining it to me.’
He threw a bolt of energy that knocked her across the room and her skull hit the wall with a sickening crack. Dazed, she hauled herself to her feet and gripped her head, trying to focus as the room spun.
‘If I find that you have been involved…’
‘How? I’m stuck here in this dumb tower,’ she cried, her chambers still swimming.
His eyes narrowed to dark slits. ‘Who else would have the power to hide this child from me?’
‘Jacob?’ she replied, staggering towards the bed to sit down. It was a pathetic and desperate answer and they both knew it.
He moved towards her, stopping her in her tracks, and began to pace in slow circles around her. ‘You realise that I will find the infant eventually. I might even torture his parents before I kill him, just to teach whoever did this a lesson.’ Alex jutted her chin out and looked to the ceiling, fighting to control the change she could feel in her eyes. ‘You must kill Ioh now,’ he hissed. ‘We will move on Astrae and take it by force.’
‘I can’t kill him now… not from this distance.’ She felt for her brother’s consciousness and found that the spark had become a flame. ‘He’s already too strong.’
‘Then we will go to Earth.’
Fourteen: At the Epicentre
Ellen cradled her lukewarm mug of tea and watched Jacob, still in the grip of his fever. It seemed to be getting worse - his cheeks now burning and sweat running onto his pillow in glistening rivulets from his neck and face. Maggie had tried to argue but eventually Ellen had persuaded her to go back to bed, promising she would call her the moment there was any change. Phil had gone off to a local builders’ yard to get some materials to repair the roof. As she watched him get into the car and leave, Ellen had wondered silently of the wisdom of climbing onto their roof in the current circumstances. It occurred to her again now, sitting with her drink, that even holding a mug of tea next to Jacob at the moment was a risky business. With this in mind, she hastily drained the cup and set it down on the floor next to her chair.
Half an hour passed and he continued to be quiet, at least, there were no lumps of masonry flying at Ellen’s head. The fever finally seemed easier too. Ellen reached over to towel him down again. Once she had cleaned him up and dried his hair as best she could she settled herself in an armchair in the corner of the room; Phil had thoughtfully moved it in for her that morning, guessing that she would be staying in the spare room most of the day. It had been a long, tiring night and an even more tiring morning. Tucking her legs beneath her and resting her head on the arm of the chair, she closed her eyes…
She tore up the path towards the lighthouse with Luca at her side. The lashing rain stung her bare skin where it hit. A cold, suffocating panic gripped her as she urged Luca to run faster. They circled the grounds of the lighthouse but it was deserted. To their right lay rocks and gravel, a strange, lunar landscape. To their left a grassy cliff top stretching along the coast.
‘Which way?’ Luca shouted over the wind.
Ellen swivelled her head both ways, and then turned left without knowing why. They sprinte
d along the path that followed the cliff edge. Beyond a collection of wooden huts, they came upon three figures: one a girl with short blonde hair, the next a tall man that she instantly recognised, and Jacob, lying on the ground. The girl was standing above Jacob, his amulet swinging by its chain from her fist. How had she got it? The girl was shivering - Ellen could see it even from a distance. The girl looked at Makash and he smiled but she didn’t return it. Ellen felt the girl’s emotions as if they were her own; there was bitterness and fear… and something else buried so deep that she didn’t think even the girl herself knew it was there.
Makash moved his lips to the girl’s ear and whispered something. The girl wavered, and then held out a shaking hand. Slowly, so slowly, she extended her palm and raised it, Makash close to her, whispering, goading all the time. Jacob lay still and calm, never taking his eyes from the girl’s face. Why doesn’t he fight back?
Ellen shook off Luca’s restraining grip and ran towards them, screaming for them to stop…
‘Jacob!’ she gasped, bolting up in the chair.
The jolt of realisation hit her; this was the same dream that had been haunting her sleep for weeks. This time the images stayed with her, branded behind her eyes. She hugged herself. What did it mean? Her mind returned to the times she had dreamed things before and they had come true. Was she being shown a vision now? Was this how he was going to die?
She swallowed her tears and unfolded herself from the chair. Stealing past the closed door of Maggie’s room, she went to the bathroom to wash. Breathing deeply she stared at the mess of her face in the mirror, silently chiding herself for being overdramatic. It was just a dream, probably a product of her constant worry for Jacob - how could it be anything more?
Back in the spare room and feeling brighter, Ellen took up the towel to mop Jacob once again. As she smoothed the hair away from his forehead, she found herself talking to him. It was nothing, oddments of thoughts and feelings, but somehow it made her feel better. A few moments passed in this way until, as if in answer, he gasped and twitched, almost a convulsion in its magnitude. She drew back for a moment and stared, expectant pleasure lighting her face.
But he didn’t wake. Instead, there was a pulse of white light. Then the room shook. Ellen’s eyes widened as she clutched at the headboard of the bed.
‘Please, Jacob, you have to stop this,’ she cried. The shuddering of the room grew more violent still and she called out again. ‘Jacob! Wake up!’
Clouds of dust fell from the ceiling and every fixture and fitting rattled in a deafening cacophony. The floor seemed to rise and fall in waves. She lost her grip on the bed and was pitched across the room. She squealed and grabbed for the armchair as she was thrown towards it, but it toppled over and she landed in a heap, striking her head on the wall as she went down.
When she opened her eyes, she knew by the stiff coldness in her joints and the aching of her head that she had been unconscious for some time. Maggie and Phil were bent over her, worried frowns marking their features. As she focused, she saw that she was in the sitting room, lying on the sofa. She wanted to sit up, but as soon as she lifted her head the effort caused it to throb. Dropping back to the cushion again, she spoke in a weak voice.
‘How long have I been out?’
‘Maggie smoothed a hair away from her forehead. ‘About ten minutes.’
‘It feels like longer,’ Ellen murmured, gazing up at the large flowers on the wallpaper across the chimney breast. Usually she liked them. Now they were making her feel nauseous.
‘What happened?’ Phil asked.
Ellen licked her dry lips. Everything was still hazy. ‘The room was shaking… like an earthquake…’ she began slowly.
‘It woke me,’ Maggie said, ‘it was only a few minutes, though, thank goodness. When I managed to get across the landing you were out cold on the floor.’
‘Jacob…’ Ellen tried to sit again. This time she pushed herself up, clutching her head.
‘Whoa there…’ Phil put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Lie down for a minute; you’ve had a nasty fall.’
‘But –’
‘He’s alright,’ Maggie cut in. ‘In fact, it looks as though his fever has broken.’
Ellen stared at them. ‘Are you sure?’
‘He’s asleep still, but he’s not sweating any more and the shivering has stopped.’
Ellen thought back to the state of limbo he had occupied before the fever gripped. ‘Is that actually good, though?’ she asked.
‘Only time will tell,’ Phil replied, his smile not quite hiding the sadness and fear in his eyes.
Ellen laid her head back on the cushions and closed her eyes, trying to stop the spinning.
‘We should get you checked over.’ Maggie’s voice caused Ellen to return to her surroundings.
‘I’m fine. I mean, I will be, when I’ve had a lie down.’
‘You might be concussed. Phil can run you down to the hospital or I can phone your mum?’
‘No, not Mum,’ Ellen cut in quickly. ‘Can I have a drink?’
Maggie and Phil exchanged anxious glances.
‘I’ll get you some water,’ Maggie said, leaving the room.
Phil fetched some more cushions to prop Ellen up. ‘Better?’ he asked, arranging them under her. She gave a small nod.
Maggie returned with a tumbler and raised it to Ellen’s mouth.
‘I can do it,’ Ellen said, taking the glass from her. ‘Really, I’m ok now.’
‘It would be no trouble at all to get you checked over and –’
‘I’m fine. I just need five minutes to pull myself together.’ She took a small sip of water. ‘Shouldn’t someone be with Jacob?’
‘We’re more worried about you right now.’ Phil scratched at his beard as he watched her carefully.
‘He might wake up.’
‘He’s not going to wake up, Ellen. Not just like that after all this time.’
‘But he is; I can feel it…’
‘You’re confused, sweetheart. You’ve just had a nasty knock to the head.’ Phil glanced at Maggie. ‘Perhaps you should go and check on him.’ She nodded shortly and left them. ‘I could easily take you to the hospital, you know,’ he pressed.
‘There’s no need, really. I feel better already.’
Phil sighed. ‘I have to go out to the builders’ yard… again. Are you going to be alright if I leave you with Mags?’
‘As long as we don’t disappear into a black hole,’ Ellen quipped, but then shuddered as the realisation hit her that the idea wasn’t completely inconceivable.
He got to his feet. ‘Good girl. I won’t be long. Try not to fall into that black hole while I’m gone.’
She forced a feeble smile as he shrugged on his coat and left.
Ellen leaned back onto the cushions and closed her eyes. Although she had done her best to hide it from Maggie and Phil, she didn’t feel quite right. She wasn’t sure whether to put it down to her bump or the whispers that had been in her head when it happened. She had just decided to attempt the climb upstairs to see Jacob’s state for herself when Maggie returned.
‘He’s still quiet; no more shivering and no more bits of house falling off.’ She gave Ellen a tight smile.
‘One of us should be up there…’ Ellen began, not entirely convinced that she was capable of going to sit with him at all.
‘It certainly isn’t going to be you,’ Maggie replied. ‘And I’m not leaving you alone in this state, so he’ll have to manage.’
‘But what if he wakes?’
‘We’ll worry about that when it happens.’
Ellen held her gaze. ‘You don’t think he will, do you?’
Maggie sighed and sat next to Ellen. ‘I don’t know what to think. Except, right now, I’m wondering whether we can cope with him at home for much longer.’
‘Where else would he go?’ Ellen twisted round so she could look at Maggie. ‘Can you imagine what would happen if you sent him to hospital with al
l this going on around him?’
‘I know what you’re saying is right. But it’s becoming dangerous having him here. I mean, look at what happened to you today… it could have been so much worse. I can’t allow you to stay with him again, if anything were to happen –’
‘It’s not his fault, you know. He doesn’t mean to hurt us.’
‘I’m sure he doesn’t. I just wish I understood it.’ Maggie turned her gaze to the window.
‘I think I do,’ Ellen said. Maggie threw her a questioning glance. ‘I think he’s like a pressure cooker or a bottle of pop in the freezer,’ Ellen continued. ‘He’s full of this pent up energy and it needs to go somewhere but it’s trapped because he can’t exercise his powers. Does that make sense?’
Maggie frowned. ‘I’m not sure. I think so. But it feels like he’s angry with us - it’s all directed at the people who are closest to him.’
‘No,’ corrected Ellen. ‘Not directed at us, just centred around us because we’re significant. It’s like we’re at the epicentre of an earthquake.’
Maggie twisted her fingers together as she pondered Ellen’s words. ‘Just suppose you’re right about all this. What happens if he doesn’t wake? Will things just keep getting worse?’
‘He’s fighting that battle now, to come back to us. And he will, we just have to be patient.’
Maggie stared at her. ‘I wish I had your confidence. How do you know so much about it?’
Ellen shifted slightly, tucking her legs underneath her. ‘I just do.’
They lapsed into silence, each with their own thoughts until Maggie shook herself and stood up.
‘Tea, that’s what we need,’ she said with forced brightness.
Ellen gave a small smile. If nothing else, you could always rely on tea to make everything seem better.
‘Do you still feel woozy?’ Maggie asked as she returned from clearing the empty mugs away.
‘Not so much now. In fact…’ She started to uncurl herself from the nest of cushions on the sofa, ‘I think I’ll just go and check on Jacob.’
‘No way.’ Maggie folded her arms and stood at the doorway to the stairs. ‘I told you, it’s too dangerous.’
