Path of the Heretic (The Beholder Book 2)

by Ivan Amberlake

  For some reason, he couldn’t get the heretic’s name out of his head. It sounded somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t put a finger on it. Aaron Sloane. Aaron Heretic Sloane. AHS. I’ve seen it somewhere.

  Then it hit him. The mark. The one he’d seen beside Emily’s in a picture over the Internet. It must be Aaron Heretic Sloane, Jason thought.

  Dave was telling him something about how difficult and time-consuming it was to get the people from London to the underground when there came a knock on the door.

  “Come in!” Dave said.

  “Sorry to interrupt you, sir,” a young man with a crew cut stood in the doorway, “but it’s really urgent.”

  “What is it?” Dave asked, reclining in his chair, a bit exasperated.

  “I have some bad news for you.”

  “Go on.” Impatience in his voice.

  “Tyler Woods is reported to have woken up…”

  “What is the bad news then?” Dave asked.

  “He knocked Matthew Allen and Tonia unconscious and is now missing.”

  Chapter 18

  When he opened his eyes everything was ablaze. He thought he would go insane because of the light. Squinting, he shielded his face, but still the searing burned his skin like hot coals.

  He needed to get away from here, the quicker the better. He stirred, and someone close by came up to him, shining with the same detestable light.

  Gawd, I can’t stand it! he thought. He raised his hand to stop whoever was there from approaching.

  “Tyler, are you awake?” a voice said through the brightness.

  So his name was Tyler. How he’d got there and who the voice belonged to he didn’t know.

  Don’t get any closer to me! he yelled in his thoughts. What do you want from me? But the longer the man was there, the more pain his presence caused to Tyler.

  “Tonia, Tyler woke up!” the man yelled.

  Someone hurriedly shuffled in the next room, and to Tyler’s horror, the person’s silhouette exuded so much fiery heat Tyler thought it was going to burn him alive.

  He screamed, clutching so hard at the sheets that they tore at the seams. Blinking, he raised his head to see a woman halt in the doorway, her eyes wide and mouth open.

  “How’s that possible?” she gasped, retreating and grasping Matt’s hand to pull him away. “We have to get away.”

  “What’s with your eyes?” Matt asked, confusion and fear saturating his voice. To Tyler’s relief, both took a cautious step back.

  “Are you one of them?” Tonia whispered.

  Tyler pushed himself up and away from the one lying motionless next to him. “Get out of my way.”

  “Tyler, it’s us,” Matt said, his eyebrows knotted together.

  “I don’t know you. Let me go or I’ll have to hurt you,” he croaked. When they didn’t move, he lunged at Matt, predator instincts waking in him, everything around miraculously slowing in motion. With a calculated movement he struck Matt’s jaw with his fist and watched him drop to the floor like a sack. Not even a challenge, he smirked.

  Tyler noted that slowing time made the light less searing. It pulsed but didn’t hurt him as much as before. His aura contrasted sharply with the surroundings, flaring with blood-red flames against the dominant silver.

  The woman stood in a defensive stance, which only made Tyler angrier. She’d already prepared for his move, sprang to the right of Tyler and sent a wave of searing brightness at him. Tyler pushed himself to the left and ducked not to get hit, but the light grazed his shoulder, stinging so hard he yelled and cursed.

  Tonia waved her hand once more, but Tyler blocked the attack and sprinted towards her. She wasn’t quick enough to get away as he rammed her, flinging her against the wall.

  Tonia toppled to the ground.

  Everything went silent. On the bed, another woman lay. She stirred once and moaned something incoherent, the light around her growing more intense.

  I’ve got to get the hell out of here. He eyed the room, his vision showing it like an X-ray, and he spotted two more silvery shapes huddled in the corner of the next room. Their light made his hair stand on end. He balled his fists, making his way closer towards the two shapes. A little girl whispered something in a hushed tone and a woman responded, trying to soothe her. To his delight, they didn’t have anywhere to run.

  Tyler peeked into the room to see them, a young woman staring at him and a blond-haired girl he’d never seen before hiding behind her back. Their Energy rolled over them in waves, making the hairs on his neck bristle.

  He stepped over the threshold, and the young woman whimpered. The fear imprinted onto her face made the corners of his lips curl upwards. Suddenly, voices boomed down a murky corridor. Someone was coming. Four or five of them. Did they find out that he had woken up? There was no time to contemplate it.

  Killing these two can wait. Ugh, if only I had another minute, he thought.

  He dashed down the corridor, back into the room where the two lay. Though he never expected it, the names of the people he’d had to fight came to his mind: Matt, and the woman on the bed was Debbie. How do I know that? The name struck a chord in his heart, for a second, not more, and then the feeling was gone. She still lay unconscious.

  The woman he’d had to knock out was Tonia. At least that’s what Matt had called her. He didn’t remember her at all. Apparently, his memory was too unstable yet.

  The voices of the people from downstairs grew louder. He looked around. The room had a window facing a huge city cloaked in darkness, but glowing with a multitude of lights. A shudder went through him; the idea of so much light being close repulsed him. Below he spotted two men standing guard. He sprang out of the window, landed with a soft thud, and broke into a run.

  “He’s here!” one of the men shouted. Tyler’s feet pattered against the ground as he ran towards the exit, as far away from the detestable light as possible.

  Chapter 19

  Jason felt dizzy. Not because he and Dave moved too fast, running down the stairwell at full pelt, but because what was happening felt so unreal. He refused to believe it was actually happening.

  When he and Dave burst out of the building, Jason froze at the sight of a massive crimson trail swirling along the street.

  “He’s trying to escape. We can’t let him get away,” Dave said, waving at Jason to follow. “Come on.”

  It took some effort for Jason to start moving, his feet as if made of alabaster.

  No matter how hard he tried to persuade himself that Tyler couldn’t be a Dark One, deep inside Jason already knew the truth. It may allow evil back inside his soul, Emily had said. He is still expecting it to show.

  As he rushed forward, his heart thumped wildly, thoughts whirling in his head. The worst case scenario was coming true.

  Both of them panting, Jason and Dave reached the end of the street and turned the corner, and the next moment Jason glimpsed a silhouette in the distance enveloped by crimson. Long gray hair falling across broad shoulders, his cloak flapping in the wake as he ran towards the platforms. It was Tyler, and yet it wasn’t him.

  “Tyler, wait!” Jason didn’t recognize his own voice, hoarse and hysterical, as he hollered.

  Tyler turned his head to Jason, and then his platform whooshed upwards. Jason broke into a run and in seconds reached the place.

  A few more platforms sat nearby. Those were used to transport Londoners to the underground, but now they were abandoned. Jason jumped onto the nearest one and it shot up with a lurch, nearly catching him off guard. He had already traveled on a similar platform with Emily the previous time he’d been there, and a familiar warm connection passed between his feet, the platform holding him steady. As it picked up speed, they rushed into a mosaic of lights; the platform moved the same way the tunnel spiraled, accelerating all the time.

  The tunnel swerved sharply to the left, and Jason braked a bit not to crash into the wall, then sped after Tyler again. They spun and swerved, going faster and fa
ster. At this rate the two rows of huge lights embedded into the walls turned into a whirlpool of brightness that assailed Jason’s vision.

  All of a sudden, a bright red shot came right at him, and Jason ducked, lucky not to get hit.

  Damn it, he just attacked me!

  Another wave followed, but this time Jason was ready. He swerved aside not to bump into it. Tyler unleashed a hailstorm of rays that caused thousands of sparks to bounce off the tunnel walls. His attacks proved fruitless until one of the rays hit Dave on the shoulder. Jason saw the man fall off the platform. At the last moment he managed to claw at its edge with his fingers. The platform gave a lurch and slipped from Dave’s grasp. He flopped against the wall and slid down, trying to slow his fall by thrusting his hand against the vertical surface, but he was too weak to cling to it.

  Jason flew towards Dave and caught him by the arm, then slowly pulled him onto his platform. “Are you all right?” he asked as both of them were gasping for air.

  Dave clutched at his shoulder. “Yep.” He nodded.

  “Let’s go back. You need help.”

  “No, I’ll be fine.” Dave winced and then shook his head. “You should go get him.”

  “At least let me take a look first.” Sucking in a sharp breath, Dave let go of his wounded shoulder. The clothes were torn to shreds where Tyler had hit it; the rest was just ripped flesh with oozing blood.

  “It doesn’t look good,” Jason said.

  “I said I’ll be fine,” Dave wheezed. “Now help me get back onto my platform.”

  It hovered not far from them, just a few dozen yards, so they soared, and when it was close enough Dave scrambled onto it and lay down.

  “Thanks,” he panted. “Now go. Don’t let him get away.”

  “I’ll be back soon,” Jason said then swiveled to resume the chase.

  Even though Tyler was nowhere in sight, his Energy dispersed in the silvery shining like a blood trail in the water, so Jason knew where to go. He arrived at a spot where the tunnel divided in several smaller corridors. It had rows of doors to the left and right of him. Tyler’s trail turned to the right, and Jason followed suit, plunging in and finding himself in a blinding brightness. Squinting, he realized he’d been in this tunnel before. It seemed ages since he’d been here with Emily.

  Jason whizzed along the tunnel towards a circle of blackness that stared at him like a dilated pupil.

  The barrier.

  He spotted Tyler’s platform placed in front of the barrier. There was a rupture in the tunnel leading onto the other side, to the world of the Sighted. To get there he had to walk through the barrier.

  Jason hopped onto Tyler’s platform first, then paced forward. He was about to step over the rupture when he stopped, his heart thumping wildly. He listened into the silence and heard a low humming coming from the other side. The sound was fading away.

  He’s going up.

  Jason took a cautious step through the black veil. It felt as if he was walking through a waterfall, his body doused by icy water. Luckily, his foot found steady ground. There is another platform then. He jumped onto the other side and looked upwards to see Tyler’s platform moving higher and higher.

  Damn it! He’s gonna get away! Tyler was about to reach the underground hatch. The platform he stood on jerked and began its slow ascent through the misty haze. Come on. Hurry up! The higher and closer to the surface he got, the darker the shaft was, with numerous levels on both sides gaping at him. The bluish light below was soon no more than the light of a stray firefly in the night.

  The place smelled of mildew, and Jason took big, labored breaths to get enough air and steady his nerves. After a couple of minutes the platform stopped and he scrambled out of the hatch, which closed abruptly right after him.

  “Shoot!” I should’ve thought this through. If the entrance moved to another place, he’d never find it.

  The tiny wound on his right hand tingled again. He could clearly hear his rasping breath in the utter silence. He recognized the place even though he’d never been there. It was Piccadilly Circus. Pools of blood marked the place here and there, scorch signs showing on the pavement. He knelt and placed his palm above one of them, goosebumps popping over his arms as darkness blinded him for a moment. Wincing, he took his hand away from the mark and straightened.

  “Tyler!” he shouted, then whipped around and walked to the fountain with a mangled statue of Eros. “I know you’re there!”

  Something whizzed at him. Instinctively, Jason tilted his head aside and an object flew past. It landed on the ground, tinkling, and Jason turned to look what it was. Part of Eros’ wing. He turned to where it was flung from. A shadow cloaked in swirling smoke peered from behind the remains of the statue.

  Jason had seen such shadows in his nightmares, but they’d never terrified him as much as this one.

  “What the hell?” he croaked, his throat too dry.

  Swirling smoke dissipated instantaneously to bare something Jason thought he’d never forget for the rest of his life. Tyler’s lanky hair partly concealed his face, falling like seaweed down his shoulders, his eyes boring into Jason—two black pits, venomous and remorseless.

  “Who are you? Why d’you keep chasing me?” he snarled.

  “Tyler, it’s me,” Jason replied. “Don’t you remember?”

  “That light around you. It hurts me.” Smoke enveloped him and he vanished, to reappear the next moment a bit farther, next to one of the scorch marks. He knelt and applied his hand to the blackened surface, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

  By the red shimmer sprawling around Tyler, Jason could tell that touching the burnt mark caused him to feel relief and … pleasure.

  “Think about Debbie,” Jason said. “How can you leave her?”

  “Who’s Debbie?” Tyler tilted his head, his eyes narrowed to slits.

  “You … don’t remember her?”

  Tyler swished to another mark and the remnants of silver Energy trickled through his palm.

  “Stop doing that!” Jason said, angered, taking a few steps closer to Tyler.

  “You trying to scare me?” Tyler bolted up to Jason and sent punch after punch at his body from all directions. Jason dodged them, foreshadowing most of Tyler’s movements. He blocked and ducked in time not to get struck and hurt. Their two auras amalgamated in a silver-red firework, Jason’s aura prevailing over Tyler’s. Tyler snarled, obviously displeased at not being fast enough to hurt Jason. He vanished to emerge the next moment behind Jason and sent a crushing blow at Jason’s neck. Jason wasn’t fast enough, and only managed to turn his torso to Tyler and raise his arm in self-defense. Tyler’s fist grazed Jason’s shoulder blade, sending sparks of pain down his spine, then he kicked again. Jason blocked that one and, infuriated, he gripped Tyler’s hand, doing his best to ignore the escalating pain in his hand and back. With a quick, efficient movement he sent Tyler to the ground. Although panic rose in those black evil eyes, it wasn’t the time to underestimate his enemy.

  Jason raised his foot, aiming for Tyler’s skull, but Tyler vanished from sight again, then reappeared a dozen yards away, and slashed a rupture in space not far away from himself. Jason lunged for Tyler who dashed towards the rupture.

  Tyler moved fast, but Jason caught up with him, got hold of his cloak collar and pulled him back just as Tyler was about to leap into the blackness.

  Tyler wriggled out of Jason’s grasp, kicking and punching, and broke into a run. For a few seconds Jason pursued his ex-friend, then slowed and finally stopped, listening to Tyler’s retreating steps echoing in the distance.

  It hurt to be thinking that Tyler wasn’t one of them any longer, but the truth was better than groundless hopes.

  Tyler soon vanished in the dark, and Jason squatted down, too exhausted to stand. He still clutched a piece of Tyler’s collar. Disgusted, he let it drop to the ground then sucked in a deep breath, his bruised lip throbbing, the pain in his hand still reminding him of Tyler’s presen
ce. Something in his chest ached. It wasn’t so much the physical pain that racked him. It was the look in his friend’s eyes. He knew he’d be haunted by the darkness and hatred in Tyler’s eyes every time he looked at Debbie.

  Chapter 20

  Catherine hated it when Pariah ignored her. Like she was a toy he could play with and throw away. Like she was trash. He often made her feel dirty. But she had an ace she hadn’t played yet.

  She’d warned Pariah of Damien so many times. Sneaky Transcendent. He didn’t hurt a soul among the Piccadilly Circus crowd. Not a single one. Filthy traitor.

  In a fury, she pounded on the door to Pariah’s office, but no one answered. Narrowing her eyes, she entered the Sight and blinked at a massive bundle of Energy beyond. There was a Darksighted inside, but whoever it was didn’t say a word or move. Must be the new one, she thought.

  She turned the doorknob and entered. A blond-haired man was sitting in a chair next to Pariah’s desk. He acknowledged her presence by jerking his head in her direction then turning away from her. Catherine passed him by, her lips curved in a sly smile as she looked at him askew.

  “What are you staring at?” he growled, sending her an icy stare.

  “Your name’s Björn, right? Björn Iwers.”

  “Why do you care?” he snapped.

  Catherine’s smile widened into an evil grin. “Cocky.” She came over to the window, acting with the grace of a panther that was about to pounce on her prey, but still giving it hope to get away.

  “D’you know where Pariah is?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “No.”

  Catherine raised her eyebrows. “Did you enjoy tonight’s show?” she purred.

  The man’s nostrils flared. “It made no sense. You didn’t let me kill anyone. You didn’t kill anyone. What the hell was that?”

  “You’re hungry.” She smiled. “I can see it in your eyes. You’re going to be a great Dark One.”