The Lightsighted are here. “Too late,” Tyler exhaled, the bitterness stinging him, the indignation burning inside towards himself for not being able to save Alexei. He felt less oppressed by the dark now that the silver light lit the square. Stars shooting from the skies inundated Piccadilly Circus with silver brilliance.
As soon as Tyler could twitch his hands, he pushed himself up, still swaying after Pariah’s torture. I’ll kill you, damn parasite!
Even though the Lightsighted outnumbered the Dark Ones, the Energy of the latter prevailed. Without Jason’s help, they had little chance to put up a decent fight.
Pariah stood, watching Tyler, waiting for something, their eyes locked. Tyler heard Debbie shouting. He swiveled on his heels, panic making his guts clench. She stood a few dozen yards away from them, within Pariah’s easy reach.
“Debbie, get away from here!” He couldn’t yet regain as much strength as to return her to the shelter.
His skin prickled as he sensed Pariah’s anger welling. He turned to the Dark One, to stop him from harming the one he loved. He would die, but he would never let anyone hurt Debbie.
It didn’t take long for Pariah to make his move. The charge he sent struck Tyler in the solar plexus and sent him flying for a few yards backwards. Left without any Energy, he still thought of nothing but Debbie’s safety. Despite the ache throughout his body, he raised his head and saw Pariah eyeing Debbie the same way a bird of prey would watch a rabbit.
“The Beholder is not going to help you,” the Dark One snarled.
He thrust his hand forward, and a stream of lethal light jolted from his fingers.
“No!” Tyler bawled, throwing himself in the way of the charge, but only covering part of it. It felt as if bullets pierced and tore his flesh.
He hit the ground; his vision dimmed, suddenly replaced by images that wrapped around him.
The car crash. The wheels screeching as the drivers tried to avoid the collision. Metal grinding against metal, glass breaking. People getting hurt, bleeding and dying. A black-haired man and his wife who looked so much like Emily sat in the front while there was a middle-aged man in the back seat, Emily’s grandfather.
As their car collided with the one that skidded and ran into theirs, there came an explosion and hot red light seared his chest, slicing his chest and neck. Unrelenting pain.
The past he had forgotten now surfaced out of somewhere, after being buried in the dark corner of his mind for so many years. He blinked, and the vision was gone. That’s how I got the scars. I saw Emily’s parents and grandpa die.
The Lightsighted broke through the Dark Ones’ shield and thronged the square within seconds. The blackness was ripped by pillars of bright light, and Tyler could take a breath of fresh air, his hands filling with Energy again. He entered the Sight, and the world burned with vivid colors.
Pariah’s crimson red flared all over the place, a smug smile plastered to his face. Tyler scrambled to his feet and rushed towards where Debbie was supposed to be. He found her a few dozen yards farther on and shook his head in denial.
She lay sprawled on the pavement, writhing in agony. Tyler clutched her shaking body in an awkward embrace. His Energy seeped into her body, but did nothing to alleviate her pain. He hugged her harder, but Debbie didn’t get any better. Tears stung his eyes. He wasn’t good enough to protect her from the Dark.
“You’re gonna pay for this, you son of a bitch!” he bawled, laying Debbie carefully on the ground and getting up.
Pariah had already gotten into another fight against the Lightsighted. Tyler lunged towards him; his feet pattered against the ground, and then he shot up into the air, right towards the one he hated more than anyone else. Pariah tried to veer sideways to dodge Tyler, but there was no way to avoid their collision.
Tyler flung himself forward, punching Pariah in the face first. The image of Debbie lying on the ground and suffering imprinted on Tyler’s mind and spurred him to send numerous blows to Pariah’s chest and head. Pariah counterattacked by kicking him in the temple so hard Tyler’s vision dimmed again, his body devoid of any strength to keep fighting. Pariah’s actions were too precise and cruel.
Sent into a free fall, Tyler closed his eyes and relaxed. A sudden flash of light brightened everything and a second time that day his body was showered with Pariah’s devastating Energy. Though he expected the agony to intensify, it ebbed away, his body no longer responsive to it. When the brightness died out, he thought he was finally dead and his torment over.
He landed with a thump, the fall knocking the wind out of him. The fight still raged above and around him. And then he heard that voice again: Pariah’s voice.
“Remember who you are, Tyler. Remember where you belong. Darkness is waiting for you.”
With that, Pariah turned and left.
Tyler gulped the cold air greedily, but it didn’t stop the dizziness from making him sick. He clutched at his stomach, his body locked in the fetal position. The silver light that had always soothed him started irritating his senses, setting his teeth on edge. That was new, and he had no clue what was going on with him.
To stop the light from torturing him, Tyler shielded his eyes with one palm and scratched the paved ground with the other, but the pain only worsened, depriving him of air to breathe.
One of the Lightsighted landed a few dozen yards away from Tyler and ran towards him, peppering him with questions, but Tyler couldn’t find the strength to respond.
All he wanted was to get away from there, from the light that flooded everything before his eyes. It got only worse when another Lightsighted arrived, causing the burning in Tyler’s mouth and limbs to reach its peak.
They grasped him by the hands and legs, and Tyler thought his skin would catch fire. They carried him somewhere, then put him down, and then his body was carried down, away from the blinding light.
Around him more people lay, moaning and twitching. It didn’t matter where he was being taken. Tyler was relieved to be away from the silver shining that still lingered above on the surface. He let out a breath, glad that the light didn’t reach him anymore, and then void embraced him.
Chapter 14
Raindrops lashed at Damien’s face as he came out of the forest and stopped to check Pariah’s estate in the Sight. The lights hanging along the front yard walls made the water falling from the skies sparkle before they hit the ground.
The estate was empty except for elusive silver threads of the people who had lived there years before Pariah.
Even though Damien had to be in Piccadilly Circus together with Pariah and the other Darksighted, he knew perfectly well there’d never be another chance like this to take a look at the vial that Pariah had grown so fond of, so when the opportunity arrived, he mixed with the London crowd and then returned here. Cutting the distance to the front door, he got inside and slowly crept through the estate rooms that were buried in darkness.
He listened for anything unusual but could only hear the rain sheeting and the wind rattling the attic windows. The rain drove faster every minute, pounding hard against the estate roof.
His nerves had been poor lately. Wishing to be done with it, he moved up the stairs. It was strange not to have to knock first. He wrenched at the door knob, rushed to Pariah’s desk, and opened the drawers one by one. The vial wasn’t there.
He didn’t have it on him when we set off for London. He looked around the room. Shelves, an old wardrobe, a mirror, pictures. That would be too obvious. Tapping his foot nervously, he tried to figure out where it could be hidden, then looked at the thick carpet in front of Pariah’s desk. Just as he was going to look if there was anything under it, the entrance door opened slowly and shut with a quiet click.
Damien froze in place. He’d been careful to erase his trace since the moment he arrived there. Taking a step back to the wall, he entered a deeper level of the Sight where he could hide in case he didn’t want to be spotted. He’d found out about it by accident, during one of
his missions, and now it proved very convenient, even though it consumed too much of his Energy and he couldn’t stay there for more than a few minutes.
He listened carefully as the steps got closer. Then the door creaked open, and Catherine came in, her hair soaked wet, her clothes drenched.
Of course it’s you, Damien thought. He even considered revealing himself, but discarded the idea. If she found him, he’d have to kill her, or vice versa. Neither option boded well for him.
Catherine slithered into the room and then brushed the air with her outstretched hand. Her Energy swept over him, but his hiding place didn’t let it affect him in any way. The tips of her fingers nearly got him in the face, but he took another cautious step back. For a moment Catherine stopped and looked Damien in the eye, a glare full of scorn and resentment, then she turned and walked to the window.
“Where’s he gone, that wretched Transcendent?” She scowled, her nostrils flaring.
She burst out of the room, then ripped a hole down the end of the corridor and plunged into the blackness. As soon as she was gone, Damien let himself back and heaved a sigh of relief. If she’d stayed a little longer, he could have exposed himself to her, but luck was on his side.
He had to hurry though. He didn’t want to give Catherine the pleasure of telling Pariah he was elsewhere. Find the vial and get the hell out of here, Damien told himself.
Quickly he rolled the carpet and brushed the floorboards with his hand. Nothing. Damn it!
He stood up, and a board beneath his left foot came a bit loose. He crouched to take another look at it. There was a small piece that looked new in contrast to the other floorboards. He knocked at it. Hollow, Damien thought. There must be something there. He scraped at it with his fingers and finally it gave way. There was nothing in there except for a small box. He took it cautiously, turning it in his hands. Then he opened it just a little bit, and bright light burst through the crack, stinging his eyes.
“Ouch!” Damien yelled, shutting the box. “Damn it, that hurts!”
He rubbed his eyes frantically, afraid that the brightness might have ruined his vision. He blinked a few times, waiting a few moments before the room came into view again.
He’d been away from Piccadilly Circus for too long, but he had to give the box another try. Narrowing his eyes to slits, he turned his head away from the box as his fingers pried it open.
Light gushed out of the box, but this time Damien was ready for it. His eyes grew accustomed to the silver light, and when he looked into the box, he realized the light was coming from the vial that rested inside.
“Oh my God, no!” he muttered, shaking his head.
Damien gawked at the vial, his hands trembling. The light in the vial emitted waves of warmth and hope. There was not a trace of darkness or evil about it. To Damien, there was only one explanation of what that could possibly mean: the light belonged to a Lightsighted.
Disgusted at his find, he shut the box and returned it where it belonged, pushing the floorboard in its place, then he spread the carpet the way it was before. As soon as he made sure everything was back, he hurried out of the room and he threw himself forward along the corridor. Listening to the sound of his feet pattering against the floor, steadily gaining speed, he cut a rupture in space and flung himself into the blackness. It pressed around him, nearly crushing his bones and skull, blocking his ears. Traveling long distances using this way was never a good solution, but he had to make it to Piccadilly Circus fast.
The next moment he found himself back in the square that was drowned by people screaming, glass breaking, and peals of thunder rolling over the skies.
No one seemed to have paid any attention to his appearance. No one except her. Catherine had already arrived there. A hundred yards away from him, on the other side of Piccadilly Circus, she stood watching him, her lips curved in a mocking smile.
Chapter 15
Jason stared at Unsighted pouring into the city and heading for their new homes. In the Sight, they were glimmering lights slowly advancing and sprawling in all directions.
“The Darksighted arrived there before we did,” Dave said. “There weren’t many of them, but they used some new kind of vicious Energy that clung to the Unsighted, torturing them and spreading around. As the Darksighted left, we started evacuating the area around Piccadilly Circus. We’ll probably have to evacuate central London.”
“What? What do you mean, ‘evacuate central London’? How’s that even possible?”
“It’s not easy, I know, but people’s lives are at stake. The Dark Ones will start killing them, and we can’t let that happen, so we decided to start bringing people here while also driving others to the suburbs.”
Jason’s heart sank. “My friends were there. They must be somewhere here.” If they’re still alive.
“I may be able to help you find them,” Dave said.
“That would be great,” Jason replied.
Jason picked up Alice who yawned, tired after their journey, and they followed Dave. The people they passed by didn’t act surprised, but rather calm and unconcerned by what was going on around them.
“How can they be so calm?” Jason asked. “After what they’ve gone through?”
Dave turned around. “We had to feed them Fraud memories to prevent panic. They don’t know where they are and what just happened to them. We’ll have to keep them this way for a few days.”
“Where exactly is this place?” Jason asked.
Dave raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know? We’re about a mile underground. I thought Emily had brought you here before.”
“No,” Jason responded.
Some of the stronger men in the crowd helped carry the wounded in stretchers. Men, women, kids. Bruised, still bleeding, most of them hadn’t been tended to, probably because everyone was in a hurry to get away from the Dark Ones. It was hard for Jason to restrain himself from coming to the wounded and giving away his Energy to them.
“We’ll help them later,” Dave said, as if reading his thoughts. “The Dark Ones made sure the wounds don’t heal fast. You’ll just waste your Energy and you need it right now.”
Jason couldn’t bear the sight of those people lying helpless and miserable, but it also disturbed him that Debbie, Matt, Tyler, and Alexei weren’t there. With so many Sighted nearby, it wasn’t easy to focus and find them in the Sight.
Dave asked a few Lightsighted if they’d seen Tyler, and one of them pointed to the entrance where more and more people thronged. “He was there. Didn’t look good when I saw him, poor man.”
Jason ran where the man pointed, pushing his way through the crowd, hoping the man was wrong and it wasn’t Tyler. When he saw them, Tyler—his face covered with blood and scratched all over, his clothes in tatters—and Alexei lying motionless with his head tilted at an unnatural angle, Jason broke down inside. Matt sat on the ground cradling Debbie in his hands, stroking her and staring ahead without blinking, his eyes so hollow they scared Jason.
Violet joined them, followed by a few men with stretchers. Dave took Alice from Jason. Violet cut the distance between them, and Jason noticed streaks of tears gone dry on her cheeks.
“Thank God you’re alive,” she breathed, giving him a hug and digging her fingers into his back.
Matt looked up at him, his lips crooked, but no words coming out of them.
The men put Tyler and Alexei onto the stretchers.
“What happened? Where are they taking them?” he asked.
Violet didn’t say anything at first. Jason let go of her, her eyes glistening with new tears. Heaving a sigh, she said in a low voice, “Alexei’s dead and they don’t know if Tyler’s going to recover. He doesn’t look good.”
Jason shook his head. “Debbie?”
“She’s alive,” Violet added.
“That lady owes Tyler,” one of the men tilted his head at Debbie. “She’d be dead if Tyler hadn’t interfered. Both lucky to have got only part of Pariah’s charge.”
Jason sat in front of Matt who kept staring at Debbie lying unconscious in his lap. Jason laid his hand on Debbie’s forehead. Cold and clammy. At his touch, her body convulsed and she winced.
“She’s been like this ever since Pariah attacked her,” Matt croaked. “I swear I asked her not to go there, but she didn’t listen to me.”
Jason blinked a few times, trying not to let the tears flow.
“I think I may try and help her,” Jason said.
Matt raised his head, hope flickering in his eyes.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Jason,” Dave said.
“She’s our friend. I have to try.” He applied one hand to Debbie’s hands resting on her stomach and the other to her forehead. Currents of silver radiance flowed from his hands to Debbie, their auras slowly welding and becoming one. Bit by bit, Debbie’s paper-white skin turned pinkish.
“It seems to be working,” Matt exclaimed, a weak smile playing over his face.
Jason smiled when suddenly his fingers went cold and numb, his Energy rushing from his body to Debbie faster.
Jason sucked in a sharp breath.
“What’s wrong?” Matt asked.
“She’s taking too much Energy from me.”
“We have to stop it,” Violet said.
“How?” Matt panicked.
Jason’s skin cracked at his wrists, blood gushing and staining his and Debbie’s clothes.
“Jeez! Stop it!” Matt yelled.
Suddenly giddy, Jason tried letting go of Debbie.
“I can’t!” he yelled.
“Damn it!” Dave cursed, getting hold of him and pushing him away whereas Matt pulled Debbie to free her from Jason’s grasp, but it only hurt Jason more. He and Debbie seemed to have formed a connection that couldn’t be severed.
“Come on, guys!” Jason urged.
Dave and Matt pulled them apart, and finally Jason was able to let go of Debbie’s hands. They toppled to the ground, panting. The slits on Jason’s hands healed momentarily, but he still felt sick to his stomach, gulping air greedily.
Path of the Heretic (The Beholder Book 2) Page 10
