The Formation of Team 55

by Neo Nidhi Baghel

  Dawn had asked everyone to sit inside the cottage so that Ace could talk to Vanya and apologize for calling her the cursed one. He had asked Ace to tell Vanya why he had to behave so rudely. The rest of them were resting inside the cottage.

  The backside of the cottage had an amazing view. The sun was beginning to hit the west end of the view, which was right behind the cottage. Ace and Vanya were perched on a huge rock, which marked the edge of the cliff. There was no path to go down the hill; just a clean-edged cliff.

  ‘How do you guys even hide your minds from William?’ Vanya asked Ace.

  Ace had apologized to Vanya and told her everything about why he had to behave that way.

  ‘You see whenever William tries to read our minds, his focus is on the thought that runs in our head at that exact moment.’ Ace began to explain. ‘He doesn't know how to reach our memories and scan our unlimited minds to see if we are hiding something he wants to know.’

  ‘That is true.’ Vanya sat there, hugging her knees and gazing at the sun as it hid behind some patchy clouds. ‘The first time we met he kept answering all those questions I was asking myself mentally, like who was he and what I was doing on this cottage.’ she nodded her head at the backside of the cottage behind her. ‘He never tried to see through those questions running inside my mind. I am glad that he didn't.’

  ‘He was trying to make you realize that he can see what goes inside your head and wanted to generate fear.’ Ace informed her. ‘And, we found a trick to hide the secrets residing in our minds from him.’

  Vanya turned her head sideways to look at him. ‘A trick?’

  ‘Yes,’ he continued. ‘You see, when you didn't show up on your birthday, I received an alert from the guest house that you were about to show up but didn’t. William still has no idea about this. The guest house staff was curious so they asked me to talk to the authorities. But, as I wasn’t enrolled, I was not considered as a novice and was not allowed to meet any person of the high post who could help. Plus, I don’t even know who or what are these authorities everyone keeps talking about. I was told that I will have to wait until I get enrolled.’

  ‘You guys knew it already?’ Vanya frowned at him. ‘You all knew that I was missing and you didn't do anything about it?’ she seemed a little angry now.

  ‘Before you judge me for not telling you this sooner, please hear me out once.’ he requested. ‘When I got to know that you were missing, I knew I had to inform William. But then I remembered that he is the one who gets the first alert about a descendant's arrival. I had no connections with him back then and I didn’t know what to do. I knew that he was hiding something. As a newly arrived descendant, there was very little I could do, you know?’

  ‘What did you do then?’ Vanya asked Ace, resting her head on her knees, still staring at him.

  Although it was for a different reason now, Ace could tell that she was still a little pissed at him.

  ‘First, I found out about his abilities and what he was capable enough to do from some of the novices at the Phrontistery.’ Ace nodded positively. ‘He’s a very talented descendant who has been the Leader of his team in the past and his team was the best in his batch. He is an Enlightener and a Preserver, because of which he became the leader of his team. He began to explore the art of mind-reading, a few years ago and you know it is really difficult for one descendant to read another one’s mind so all he can do is read your thoughts that are running strongly in your head, that too only if he is close enough to you or is looking into your eyes.’

  ‘What is a Preserver or an Enlightener?’ asked Vanya.

  He smiled at her. 'Here at the Phrontistery, there are seven streams. Leaders, Enlighteners, Creators, Preservers, Healers, Protectors, and Warriors. Each team has seven members who get picked by the streams themselves. And, the one member who has great potential is more than one stream, becomes the Leader. Each team gets one member from each stream. That is why every team has seven members.’

  ‘We’re about to be chosen by one of those streams?’ Vanya asked him very politely.

  ‘Yes.’ he nodded. ‘And, the stream that picks you also grants you with a gemstone. It becomes some sort of controller that helps you channel your powers and energy in the direction you want to. It enhances your connection with the Source.’

  Vanya remained quiet for a moment. Ace knew she was trying to understand what he had just told her.

  ‘You will understand it when you see us getting enrolled! Don’t think about it too much for now.’ Ace assured her.

  She gave him a gentle nod.

  ‘So, William can’t read your memories and thoughts that are hidden behind the thoughts running strongly in your head?’ Vanya got back to the topic.

  ‘Yes!’ he agreed with her. ‘You’re getting it now. What we do is, whenever one of us sees him around us or approaching us, we activate a code that only our team can understand.’

  ‘What is that code?’ Vanya sat straight, facing him with her legs crossed.

  For a moment, Ace kept staring at her. How could he explain to her what the code was? They were sitting on a rock, at the edge of the cliff. Was he simply supposed to push her off the cliff? Only if Justin or Brent were here, he could have simply pushed one of them off and said, that is the code. He cleared his throat and shook his head.

  ‘You saw me pushing Dawn, right?’ He asked her.

  ‘Oh, you threw him away!’ Vanya corrected him. She had a big smile on her face.

  ‘Well, that is the code.’ Ace knew it might seem stupid, but then again, Brent had come up with the idea of pushing a teammate. ‘We push someone close to us very hard or just-’

  ‘Yeah, throw them around?’ she laughed softly looking away.

  Ace felt slightly embarrassed. ‘I wasn’t throwing Dawn away, alright? I had to show William that I believed you were cursed and that I was scared of you and for the team.’

  ‘So, you don’t believe that I am cursed?’ she tilted her head, looking at him innocently.

  Ace wanted to tell her the truth. He didn't want to lie to her now and then apologize again later for doing so. Somewhere in his heart, he could feel something was wrong with her but was she cursed?

  ‘Vanya,’ said Ace, ‘We can’t believe anything right now. William is hiding something and I don’t know why. He’s a really good man, but something is bugging him and he can’t tell anyone about it. The man is acting weird and creepy.’

  ‘Does it have anything to do with me?’ She kept staring at him.

  ‘It has everything to do with you.’ He told her. ‘But, as much as I have observed him since you went missing, he got busy somewhere. Today, his behavior was even more unusual than the last time I saw him. So, I can’t tell if it is really about you or something else. Maybe it is something that has to do with you, but it might involve something bigger and troubling too. That is why he is trying to keep you away from the people at the Phrontistery for most of the time by keeping you here.’

  ‘I understand that.’ she smiled at him.

  They sat there very quietly. It was getting slightly awkward. They hadn't talked before this and now, all of a sudden, the two of them were alone. Ace heard a distant roar that echoed. It reminded him of the saber he had seen in the morning. He wondered if it was the same saber.

  ‘I met a saber today.’ Ace told her. He had only told Dawn about it so far. ‘Things are being very unusual since you have arrived, Vanya. We all are just trying to be careful.’

  Vanya didn’t say a word. Ace wasn’t feeling comfortable now. He wanted to ask her to get up so they could go back to the cottage and join the others. But, for some reason, the look on Vanya’s face wasn't letting him say that.

  They sat there in silence. Ace looked at Vanya sideways. Her hairs were long and shiny, flowing with the wind. Her eyes glittered with a glimpse of the sun in them. How could she be cursed, he thought?

  ‘I remember where I was.’ she mumbled.

  ‘What?’ Ace was
n’t sure if he was hearing her correctly. ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘The tunnel is not just a tunnel. It has hidden stops within it, like an underground rail system. I woke up there and someone was trying to hold me back from reaching here.’ she said it so fast, but he heard every single word very clearly.

  His heart dropped. Vanya remembered it? How could she remember it? Ace waited for her to talk more. He knew if he interrupted her in between, she might forget something important and he wasn't willing to miss any details.

  ‘I’m listening.’ he encouraged her to continue.

  ‘Someone brought me here, but I don’t know who it was. He had tried to block my way while I was in the tunnel and I woke up there only. It felt like a dream. I was hiding from him for a long time and then he found me and brought me here. And then, I saw that saber you mentioned.’ her head turned to look at him. Vanya looked horrified.

  Her eyes were watery and her lips quivered. Was she crying? She was scared for sure, wasn’t she? Ace shifted closer to her and put an arm around her shoulders.

  ‘I don’t think that the saber hurts anyone.’ Ace assured her.

  ‘I can’t be sure about that.’ she wiped her eyes with the sleeves of her sweatshirt.

  Then she shifted a little, turning to face him. ‘I was asleep when we crashed the surface and dropped on the hilltop. It was the saber’s growls and roars that woke me up. I thought it was all a dream when I woke up here. And, I was lost. I had no idea what was going on. I was awake when the man brought me here, but it was so dark that I couldn’t even see what was around. I just… ran and clashed with the door of the cottage and went inside. The saber was outside and I’m pretty sure that there was a man. I could hear a voice as if he was trying to calm the saber. I hid in the bed, covering myself. I cried myself to sleep hoping it was all a dream and that the saber wouldn’t hurt me. Now that it is getting dark again and that you mentioned the saber, I have a feeling that this is the same place.’ she exhaled shaking her head slowly. ‘Actually, when I woke up I remembered it, but then I thought how could a dream be real so I kept yelling that all this was still a dream, running around like a maniac. When I stepped outside the cottage there was nobody there. There was no sign of that man or the saber. It gave me hope that it was all a dream and that I could still wake up.’

  Ace didn’t know what to think. ‘Are you sure that the saber was there? Because he never harmed me even though he could. Maybe whoever brought you here was chased out of the surface by him.’

  ‘That man was about to kill me.’ Vanya said softly. ‘I am not the one he is after, Ace. Maybe he just wanted to enter Bridging with me, I don’t know why. I think he had a plan to get along with me on the way and reach here. But that didn’t go as he planned because I got stuck at one of the stops at the tunnel and I ended up being in a whole another place, just like Bridging. They protected me and tried to hide me from him. They knew about Bridging and that I was supposed to be here. I was injured badly and they took care of me. They even promised to bring me here by contacting the authorities. But then he showed up there. And, I think he wanted to bring me here because the man knew that when I would enter the surface, the Phrontistery would have to open up the protective layers to let me in. And, he just wanted to tag along.’

  ‘That's why William got a breach alert?’ Ace couldn't believe what he was hearing.

  ‘Yes!’ she covered her face with her palms. ‘I was hoping, that it was all a dream, not because it all seemed so different. But, because I feel like I knew what he wanted. At first, I thought the tunnel was a dream and it faded. Then I was at Nexus, the Land of the Old Souls that gave me shelter to hide from him, but then it faded away as well. Now I am here. I don’t know what to believe, Ace. That man who brought me here was sent by someone… someone really powerful and evil. They wanted to get past the surface and reach here. They have cursed me and can find me no matter wherever I am. And, I know they will find me sooner or later.’

  Maybe the man wanted to crash the Phrontistery’s surface with Vanya to enter the protected campus. But Ace had a weird feeling that he wanted Vanya for a reason. Or else why would he have found her again? He could have simply tagged along with some other new descendants. Ace felt the blood rushing through his veins. Was he scared? His face was heating up and his forehead was sweating. What was this land of Old Souls? He had never heard anything about it before. What did she have to be cursed? Why?

  ‘I didn't know who was good enough to trust or talk.’ Vanya kept talking to him. ‘William kept reading the thoughts in my head which I kept thinking about, you know. I kept hoping all this wasn’t the truth and that I just might wake up at my home with my family. Maybe that’s why he wasn’t able to read whatever happened to me. Dawn kept telling me about how amazing Bridging was. Justin kept messing with me and Kathy seemed so strict that I was scared to tell her anything.’

  Ace exhaled feeling crazy. What was he going to do now? Somebody who was not authorized to enter Bridging had crashed in with Vanya. The saber had killed the man. But, there was something still going on, which William was trying to hide. What was happening?

  ‘Ace,’ Vanya called his name, snapping him out of his thoughts.

  He simply looked at her and remained quiet.

  ‘I didn’t mean to let him in. He used me as a key to get in here-’

  ‘Shhhh!!’ Ace pulled her into a hug. ‘Quiet!’

  He was trying to calm her down. Vanya had been shivering with fear and regret. ‘Don't tell anyone about this, alright? You have told me and that is enough. The team won't be able to stop thinking about this and it might be easy for William to access their minds then.’ he told Vanya.

  He knew what he said was mean at the moment. But, it was only to protect Vanya from what had happened. He felt her sobbing quietly in his embrace.

  ‘This evil and powerful person behind your abductor you’re talking about,’ he asked Vanya. ‘Do you have any idea who it is?’

  ‘I don't know.’ breathed Vanya. ‘But if that man was powerful enough to crash through the tunnel, I think the man behind him is much more powerful than him.’

  Ace gazed into the green ocean of trees in front of his eyes. It was being taken over by mist. The sun was setting and the sky had turned purple. ‘It is cold out here. We have to go inside now, alright? Don’t tell anybody about this. Team fifty-five will deal with this, I promise.’ he told Vanya.

  Vanya pulled herself away from him. She wiped her tears properly and stood up as if nothing happened. ‘Yeah.’

  ∞∞∞

  Ace was sitting on the cold floor, close to the fireplace. He kept rubbing the temples of his forehead as his eyes remained fixed at the fire. What if the saber had killed the man who brought Vanya here? This had happened last night. But, William had told him that Vanya arrived in the morning and that he reached here as soon as he could. Why was he lying about Vanya? What was he hiding?

  Brent and Kathy were sitting on the couch, sipping tiny shots of something which Ace had no idea about.

  ‘You want a drink?’

  Ace heard Justin’s voice from behind. He didn't even care to turn and look at him right now. Justin had always been the one who could sense discomfort and attempted to calm the source of that discomfort. Right now, it was Ace.

  ‘Not now, man.’ He mumbled. ‘My head hurts.’

  Justin sighed and pulled the wooden chair next to the study table closer to Ace. He sat on the chair and remained quiet for some time.

  ‘I want to put your mind at ease, but I don’t know how to, man.’

  Ace turned to look at him and saw a bottle of Evil Rose in his hands. ‘It’s nothing.’ he smiled at him.

  ‘Alright.’ Justin got up looking disappointed.

  Ace felt bad. He felt like he was abandoning him. ‘Justin?’

  ‘What?’ Justin was about to head towards the couch, but he sat back on the chair looking slightly concerned.

  ‘I have a job for you
.’ Ace gave him a very serious look.

  ‘Sure man, say it.’ Justin kept aside the bottle of Evil Rose he was holding in his hands.

  Dawn was sitting on the other side of the fireplace. Ace had told him everything about his conversation with Vanya already and he was trying to absorb the fact that the new girl was cursed for real. He was sipping from a glass full of Evil Rose to drown his tension.

  ‘You are very interested in herbs and medicines, right?’ Ace asked Justin. ‘You know about the region that is full of those magical and powerful herbs?’

  ‘Yes, I’m hoping to become the Healer for team fifty-five.’ Justin nodded at him.

  ‘Do you know any medicine or exercise or meditation… or anything, that might-’

  ‘Ace!’ Dawn glared at him. ‘Not yet. William is about to show up at any moment for the enrollment. At least, let him leave and then we can tell everyone.’

  ‘I know it already.’ Justin had opened up the bottle he had kept aside a few moments ago and was now gulping it down. ‘It’s Vanya, isn’t it?’

  Ace glanced back at the bed where Vanya was lying, resting her head on Victoria’s lap. She had lied about missing her family to everyone when they asked why she had been crying.

  ‘Did she tell you?’ Dawn asked Justin.

  ‘Nope!’ Justin shook his head. ‘I can sense it, man. I know something is wrong with her and when you said that she was cursed, even though it was only to misguide William, I knew that was the truth. But, nobody takes me seriously so… I chose to remain silent. You guys were going to find it out someday. I’m just happy that it happened today only.’

  Ace and Dawn looked at each other.

  ‘I might be the douche of this team, but I know it instantly when someone is in mental, spiritual or physical distress around me.’ he winked at them.

  ‘So?’ Dawn asked him eagerly. ‘Do you know anything that can help her?’

  Justin took a sip from the bottle and then bit his lip thoughtfully.