The Gray Institute_Rebels' Hell

by Leanne Pearson

  One of them, a shirtless bald man, seems determined to catch my eye even as he continues his animated conversation with a friend. I consciously avoid looking at him, but after a few minutes of this tiresome game, he excuses himself and heads in my direction. There's nowhere I can go and no-one I can turn to, besides the long drop behind me – and that would be blatantly rude. He stops a foot short of me and I reluctantly acknowledge him, trying not to appear shocked by the sight of his filed teeth as he grins.

  'Welcome,' He speaks in a rasping, accented voice. His eyes are a strange colour; a dirty, yellowish-grey, and his torso is patterned with intricate tattoos, some frightful to behold. 'My name is Jaroslav Zeman, but you may call me Slav.'

  'Gee, thanks.' I raise my eyebrows, but my sarcasm flies right over his shiny head.

  'You are Eve Ryder,' I'm not sure if it's a question or statement but I nod regardless. 'You brought us the human.' He jerks his head back towards the crowd where Lorna is still immersed.

  'I didn't bring her to you,' I stiffen, holding Slav's gaze. His green ball of guilt isn't hard to spot; it burns with a profound energy in the depths of his pupils. 'I helped her escape.'

  'Well done,' Slav grins, revealing his ugly sharp teeth, oblivious to my frosty demeanour. 'She will be invaluable in the wars to come.'

  'Wars to come?' I frown, stepping back and bumping my heel against the iron railing. He grins again, and licks his small lips, but before he can reply, another unfamiliar voice interrupts our conversation.

  'Don't let Slav scare you off,' A girl of about my age steps between us, placing a hand on Slav's bare shoulder. 'He's more a token mascot than anything else,' She grins, not at all put off by the hideous leer Slav awards her. She turns to me, extending a hand which I take, thankful to have a distraction. 'I'm Stacey Bartram.'

  It's not hard to see why Slav feels the need to ogle Stacey Bartram quite so openly; she's possibly the most beautiful girl I've ever seen; long, blonde hair and blue-grey eyes which sparkle like diamonds in the midday sun. She wears a short, white dress with a small slit along her thigh, revealing toned bare legs the colour of bronze. When she smiles, I'm dazzled by the whiteness of her teeth, the height of her perfect cheekbones and the depth of her gaze when it comes to rest on me.

  'Eve Ryder.' I mumble, feeling irrelevant in her presence. She holds my hand just a little longer than strictly necessary, only breaking away as Vlad reappears at my side, his expression intense.

  'Will you join us?' He asks, gesturing to one of the tables on the opposite end of the balcony. Lorna and Vanessa Foxton sit facing one another, talking animately, as if they're old friends.

  'Excuse me.' I mutter in Stacey's direction, relieved to get away from Slav and his drooling, my attention already focussed on Lorna's safety. She barely looks up as I sit down next to her, though she does trail off her sentence, shifting awkwardly in her chair. Vlad takes his seat next to Vanessa and leans forward so that his long, dark hair brushes his hands.

  'We thought it best to talk alone first,' Vanessa turns to me, her expression and tone business-like. 'To straighten things out before the others hear what you have to say.' She jerks her head to the crowd, who grow louder with every passing minute.

  'Straighten things out?' I raise an eyebrow, aiming for intimidation, but Vanessa merely nods.

  'We already knew of your escape,' She explains, sitting upright in her chair, poised with importance. 'I'm a Law Officer.'

  Lorna's faint gasp seems to amuse Vanessa, whose eyes bore into mine, waiting for my reaction.

  'A what?' I frown, deliberately unimpressed.

  'Eve!' Lorna hisses, nudging my arm with her sharp elbow. 'A Law Officer! She works for the Auctoritas, apprehending criminals and overseeing their sentences!'

  'Oh,' I nod, wrinkling my nose. 'That's... interesting,' I try to ignore the uneasy feeling as it continues to grow in my stomach. 'So you're kind of like a... double agent?'

  'That's precisely what I am,' Vanessa nods, looking pleased. 'It has its perks. Namely that I'm privy to all kinds of confidential information – such as your escape. I must admit when I first heard about it, I was confused. In fact,' She laughs; a false, tinkling sound. 'I still am. What exactly are your reasons for breaking out with Sir Alec Gray's human daughter?'

  'Ask her.' I bark, knowing Vanessa already has.

  'I asked for Eve's help,' Lorna chips in, her tone friendly and overly calm, like a mother explaining to a fellow parent why her child has been naughty. 'Alec permitted Eve to spend time with me, to try and change my mind about my transformation. We grew close over a period of time. I knew she would help me.'

  I frown at Lorna, feeling a sense of irritation sweep over me. She didn't know I would help her. She only hoped. In fact, she had to beg, and even then I only said I'd think about it. Lorna ignores my glare, focussing on Vanessa as though she's the only person here.

  'I had to leave,' I speak loudly. 'My only other option was to stay and be punished for failing to change Lorna's mind. I felt sorry for her,' I spit the words, hoping to make Lorna feel as inferior as she's clearly trying to make me. 'For the situation she was in. So I helped her.'

  'I see,' Vanessa nods, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. 'I'm aware of your history, Miss Gray,' She turns her attention to Lorna. 'I was a Law Officer when your mother was Confined. Am I right in thinking that your escape has something to do with her?'

  'Absolutely,' Lorna nods sincerely. 'I want to free my mother. I want to free all of the wrongly Confined. Sir Alec destroyed what was left of my family, he turned my mother and I into prisoners, and the Auctoritas allowed him to do it. My feelings towards Immortals are well-known to many,’ She adds hesitantly. ‘But I’m willing to work with them, with you, to put an end to the people who did this to me. To my mother. I want to be part of the Rebellion.'

  'And so you will be,' Vanessa regards her with approval, to which Lorna practically jumps for joy. 'We were so pleased when we learned you were heading for us. We've never had a human root for our cause before; it will give us an unexpected edge.'

  'I want to do whatever I can to help.' Lorna nods eagerly. I wait for her to launch into her spiel about using herself as bait, but she doesn't, clearly impressed – but also intimidated – by Vanessa.

  'We do plan to attack the Confine,' Vlad cuts in smoothly. 'But our first priority is numbers. Most of our recruits are here,' He gestures to the crowd. 'There are many more who are loyal to us in their hearts, but don't have the courage to step forward and join us. In order to take action, we need more bodies.'

  'But – ' Lorna hesitates. 'But that could take years.'

  'Precisely,' Vanessa nods, eyeing Lorna intently. 'However, there is a large group of Immortals, loyal to our cause, who would join without a moment's hesitation. They have already dedicated their lives to this.'

  'The old Rebels.' I murmur, more to myself than anyone else but Vanessa nods regardless.

  'The old Rebels.' She concurs.

  'But they're imprisoned aren't they?' Lorna frowns. 'In their own confine? Somewhere here in Thailand?'

  'They are,' Vlad nods. 'And we plan to break them out.'

  'You're insane,' I shake my head, scoffing loudly. All three pairs of eyes come to rest on me. Vanessa and Lorna are incensed and confused, but Vlad looks vaguely amused. 'You're insane,' I reassert myself loudly. 'How the hell are you going to break hundreds of Rebels out of a confine built specifically to hold them? Built specifically as a deterrent for any future Rebels?'

  'Perhaps you didn't hear me,' Vanessa replies coldly. 'I'm a Law Officer. Part of one of the most trusted groups of Immortals, employed by the Auctoritas themselves. I have all kinds of privileges, Miss Ryder, and special permissions. Gaining access to the Thailand confine won't be an issue, I assure you.'

  'Then why haven't you done it before now?' I fold my arms, leaning back in my seat. Vanessa purses her lips, plainly irritated by me. I notice the little sideways glances she gives Vlad, as though asking hi
m when he's going to step in for her. But he doesn't appear to notice; he's too busy staring at me.

  'We have been planning the break out for years,' Vanessa replies curtly. 'A feat such as this can not be rushed. As it happens, we are now ready to free the old Rebels, and your escape was most fortunate in its timing. Sirus and the other Auctoritas will be distracted, focussed on finding Miss Gray. Their attentions will be elsewhere.'

  'And after you break them out? What then?' I raise an eyebrow. 'They've been imprisoned for two hundred years, what makes you think they would leap to your aid just like that?' I snap my fingers.

  'Breaking out the old Rebels is merely a stepping stone,' Vlad chimes in, his tone warmer and more patient than Vanessa's, though it infuriates me no less. 'Our Rebellion is aimed much higher than merely freeing a few convicts.'

  'What do you mean?' I frown, feeling that stirring sense of unease in my stomach again.

  'We're planning an overthrow,' He replies seriously, his gaze intense. 'The majority of the Immortal population despise Sirus. They don't agree with his methods, nor did they agree with Caruso's before him. For more than six hundred years we've sat back and allowed our world to be dictated and run like a medieval circus. The old Rebels tried and failed to make a change. We're picking up where they left off, except our dreams are bigger. Freeing the Confined, though a noble cause – and indeed, a necessary one – isn't enough. Nor is burning the Institutes to the ground.'

  'It isn't?' Lorna frowns.

  'No,' Vlad shakes his head. 'What will it achieve? Mayhem, damage to the system, a whole lot of trouble for the Auctoritas. But once the pandemonium has died and a solution has been found, the fact remains that Sirus will still be Auctorita. It will still be he who governs our world, its laws and its people.'

  'You plan to take Sirus off the throne?' I breathe, unable to believe my own ears.

  'That's right,' Vanessa nods, full of herself again. 'We're ten times as organised as the old Rebels were. We have more than just one insider infiltrating the government. And we have a strict plan to be executed.'

  'But it's madness,' I shake my head. 'You'll never win. Sirus has an entire army at his command. The Auctoritas are the most powerful Immortals in the world. It's impossible!'

  'Thank you for your extensive first year knowledge of the Immortal world.' Vanessa drawls, reminding me once again of Lucrezia Beighley. The thought of Lucrezia sends with it a stabbing sense of panic. What will happen to Malachy?

  'And if you do succeed?' I ask carefully. 'Then what? Who will take charge once Sirus is gone?'

  Vanessa and Vlad once again exchange glances, communicating without words. Vanessa turns to me, her tone final and authoritative. 'That's classified information for the time being.'

  I snort loudly, folding my arms with contempt. Vlad leans forward, lowering his voice so that even I have to strain to hear it.

  'It probably seems insane to you at the moment,' He regards me with both interest and sympathy as he speaks. 'But it's not all that far-fetched. We've been planning this for years, like Vanessa said. The time is now, Eve,' The heat of his gaze sears me with its intensity. 'Sirus won't step down until he's forced to, and not until he's implemented a strict regime for his son to follow in his wake. Even then, he'll still sit on The Board. He'll still have a large say in politics. Our world isn't secure until Sirus is completely removed from it. And Caruso, for good measure.'

  'I think it's a great plan,' Lorna smiles, folding her arms as if the matter is settled. 'I can't wait for Sirus to get what's coming to him. I've said all along he's little more than a barbarian.'

  I glare at Lorna. So typical of her to think of no one but herself. Has she stopped to wonder what will become of Malachy, the man who led us to the Rebels in the first place, without whom we'd still be wandering around Bangkok, or worse captured?

  Of course not.

  'Well, fortunately, the fate of the Immortal world doesn't rest in your hands.' I snap, ignoring the look of contempt she gives me. What does she care about the fate of our world, anyhow? She's not even Immortal. All she wants is to free her mother. It's all she ever wanted.

  'No, Eve,' Vlad stares at me. 'It rests in ours. Yours. Mine. Theirs,' He nods to the bustling crowd. 'You've only been part of this world for a short time. You haven't witnessed the horrors we have. You haven't yet seen what Sirus is truly capable of – what he's about. Sirus is no leader. He's a narcissist. It's what he was raised by his father to be.'

  'I'm not suggesting that Sirus is the boy next door,' I huff, irritated that Vlad feels the need to educate me. I've been with Malachy, Sirus' son; I probably know things about Sirus that even Vlad doesn't. 'I just – ' I trail off, not sure what it is I want to say.

  'We need to know, Eve,' Vlad leans forward, speaking only to me. 'Are you with us or not?'

  I hesitate, glancing at Lorna who steadily avoids my gaze. Vanessa stares at me just as intently as Vlad, waiting on my next words. 'If I tell you I am,' I speak slowly. 'What's the next stage of the plan?'

  Vlad visibly breathes a sigh of relief, leaning back in his chair. It does cross my mind briefly that our joining the Rebels seems to be far more important to him than it really should, but I don't have time to dwell on it. 'Like Vanessa said, your timing is most fortunate. We're ready to break the old Rebels out. Everything is arranged.'

  'We travel to Ko Phai the day after tomorrow. The island where the makeshift confine is.' Vanessa explains.

  'Oh, that's perfect!' Lorna gushes, hugging herself with glee. 'Tomorrow is my eighteenth birthday. What better way to celebrate than liberating the Rebels!'

  I cringe at Lorna's overly passionate theatrics. It briefly occurs to me that my plan to save her from her fate as an Immortal has succeeded. Not that I much feel like celebrating it.

  'Won't the Auctoritas eventually notice that the Rebels have been freed?' I frown.

  'Of course they will,' Vanessa snaps impatiently. 'It's all under control. If you join this Rebellion, Miss Ryder, your job won't be to ask questions. Your job will be to follow orders and leave the planning to the more experienced Immortals – '

  'Excuse me,' I interrupt. 'If I plan to lay down my life – my freedom – for this cause, then I deserve to know every last detail. As does anyone else involved.' I gesture to the group behind me.

  'That's not how we run things.' Vanessa replies bluntly. I open my mouth to reply but Vlad cuts me off.

  'You'll be given more details in due time, Eve,' He says calmly. 'But for now, let's just focus on the next stage of the plan. Take things step by step, what do you say?'

  I glare at him beneath the fringe of my auburn wig. 'Fine,' I grit my teeth, ignoring Lorna's triumphant smile in the corner of my eye. 'But I want to know everything in due course. I'm not entering into this blind.'

  'Don't worry, Miss Ryder,' Vlad flashes me a dazzling smile. 'I'll fill you in myself.'

  *

  After the meeting, when it becomes clear that I won't be getting any more information out of Vlad or Vanessa right now, Vlad suggests that Lorna and I go with Asil to a nearby safe house. 'He's not one of us,' Vlad explains when Lorna pouts sulkily and I seem apprehensive. 'He'll keep you safe. It's just until tomorrow evening.'

  'Don't you think we should stay a while?' Lorna asks, staring eagerly at the nearby crowd of Rebels. 'Meet people?'

  'There'll be plenty of time for that tomorrow,' Vlad smiles. 'Go with Asil and get some rest. You'll need it.' We follow Asil down to his car and make the ten minute journey in silence. In the back seat, Lorna and I try to ignore the crackling tension between us, neither of us acknowledging what happened during the meeting. I'm angry at her for a number of things – her blatant adulation of Vanessa, her half-truths about what happened at the Institute, her desperation to make herself a part of something that, on the whole, doesn't really concern her – but mostly I'm angry at her for treating me as if I'm nobody. I'd always known that Lorna's main concern when it came to me was securing my help, b
ut I wasn't aware that I meant so little. After everything I've done for her.

  Asil pulls up outside an unsuspecting grey brick house. The garden wall is crumbling and there are weeds poking through the cracks in the pathway, but the door is a bright shade of blue and it looks safe and secure. Inside it's immaculate, the paint pristine and expertly applied, the carpets springy and new, but it has an altogether un-lived in feel to it.

  I cross over to sit on the powder blue couch, resisting the urge to shift along when Lorna slumps down next to me. Asil smiles warmly, placing his keys on the mantel.

  'Make yourselves at home.' He throws out his arms in a welcoming gesture and I nod, trying to appear relaxed. There's no TV in the room, nothing to focus my attention on, so I sit mutely, studying the blank wall opposite.

  'Do you have anything to drink?' Lorna asks suddenly. 'Some of us still need to do that, you know.'

  'Ah, yes,' Asil smiles, positively overjoyed at the idea of making someone a drink. 'There's tea? Coffee?'