by A. P. Kensey
26
Elena was waiting for them just outside the room.
“How did she do?” she asked Marius.
“Very good,” he said. “One day she will be stronger than you, I think.”
Marius’s praise made Haven blush. “I lost control,” she admitted.
“We all do, from time to time,” said Elena. She glanced over at Marius, who was trying to make a motion with his hands without Haven seeing him. He pointed to his own shoulder-blades and then fanned out his fingers and traced the outline of invisible wings. Then he nodded at Haven and Elena looked at her, one eyebrow rising higher on her wrinkled forehead. “Is that right?” she said.
“What?” said Haven.
“You have wings.”
“No, I—” Haven stopped and thought for a moment. “Well, in the cafeteria, yeah…sort of. Not really wings, though, just shaped like wings.”
“Oh my,” said Elena softly.
“What are you talking about?” said Haven, hesitant accusation in her voice.
Marius coughed politely. “Time for food,” he said. “Marius is hungry.” He smiled at Haven and hurried away, disappearing down the hallway that led to the dormitories.
“Let’s sit down, Haven,” said Elena.
The older woman led her to the center of the massive domed room. A ring of short chairs surrounded a small, circular rock pit that Haven had not seen before. Softball-sized grey rocks were piled in a small mound in the center of the pit. Haven chose a seat. Elena sat next to her and waved an open palm in the direction of the rock pit. Blue flames ignited on the stones and danced brilliantly in the darkness. Light flickered across their faces and warmed Haven’s skin.
“It’s an issue of balance,” said Elena at last. She stared into the flames, unblinking.
“What kind of balance?” asked Haven.
“The Balance. Nature. The world. Everything. It is my belief that our kind came into existence to repair an imbalance in the fabric of reality. Something shifted too far in the wrong direction and we represent nature’s attempt to solve the problem.”
“The Sources and Conduits, you mean.”
Elena nodded. “You already know that I’m called a Phoenix. The man named Bernam is a Void—the strongest of his kind. We are here to balance the forces that have been given to us, to guide the others down the proper path so that the power does not shift too far to one side. However, one cannot exist without the other. Bernam and myself—we are linked in that way, but in that way alone.”
“He’s not your counterpart?”
Elena shook her head. “He lost his true partner long ago, as did I.” Her eyes glossed over as she remembered. She shook her head again and sighed.
“What happens if one of you dies?” asked Haven.
“That is what we need to talk about. My power is fading, Haven. It has been weakening gradually over the last several months. My guess would be that it started around the same time that you first noticed you were different.”
Haven looked into the blue flames that danced over the rocks. A long strand of fire flicked out from the pit and snapped in the air like a whip.
“You think I’m a Phoenix,” she said.
“I think so, yes. But nothing is certain. There could be others like you in the world—ones with other shades of blue fire that have the potential to become a Phoenix. You and I manifest our excess energy in a very specific way—a way that, until now, I thought was completely unique to myself.”
“The wings,” said Haven.
Elena nodded.
“What are they?”
“I can’t say for sure,” said Elena. “They don’t always appear when I am expending energy. I have only noticed their presence on rare occasions when I was attempting to channel more power than I should have—perhaps half-a-dozen times in my entire life. They are beautiful, but I think they might not serve much purpose beyond that.”
“Have you ever seen them on anyone else?”
Elena shook her head.
“So wait,” said Haven. “If you’re getting weaker, does that mean that I’m killing you?”
Elena laughed—an old, slow laugh full of humor and wisdom. “No, Haven. This would be happening with or without you. It is the way of things.”
Haven sat back in her seat. “How did it happen with you?” she asked.
“When I received my ability, you mean?”
Haven nodded.
“I never met the person who came before me. I like to think that they were able to live a quiet life, far from the worries that plague our kind these days. It was no slow process for me, as I am noticing with you. The energy was practically slapped into me not long after my seventeenth birthday. I always assumed that the one who came before me died suddenly, without the time for a gradual transference like the kind I believe I am experiencing. I was working in a shoe factory at the time, lacing work boots—just one of many girls on a long factory line.” She giggled. “Oh, you should have seen their faces! I lit that place up like a five-story Christmas tree. I had to leave town after that, of course.” She sighed happily. “Those days were just full of adventure.”
“If I’m getting my power from you,” said Haven, “then where do the others get their abilities?”
“You aren’t getting your power from me at all!” said Elena, laughing softly with amusement. “At least, not yet. Besides the few people who were given their powers by other Conduits, each one of us is born already possessing an ability. But those like me and Bernam—and every other Phoenix and Void that came before us—are given something extra.”
“What is it?”
Elena smiled. “There are many theories, and of course I have my own. I think it’s different for each of us. Only you can know for sure.” Her smile faded and a look of worry deepened the shadows on her face.
“What’s wrong?” asked Haven.
Elena shook her head. She smiled but it was a smile intended to hide a truth. “It’s nothing.”
“Tell her,” someone said behind Haven. She turned to see Dormer standing a few feet away, just at the edge of the blue firelight. “Tell her about the process—about what really happened to you in the shoe factory. Tell her there’s a chance she could burn up just like a—”
“Don’t!” shouted Elena. She stood and held up a warning finger at Dormer. “Don’t you say anything. She doesn’t need to worry about that for a long time.”
“Maybe not so long,” he said.
“Tell me what?” said Haven. She stood slowly, looking between the two of them.
“It’s nothing,” said Elena.
“You may as well,” said Dormer, clearly enjoying Elena’s frustration. “She needs to know.”
Elena sighed and sat down in her seat wearily.
“I didn’t want to add to your burden,” she said.
“Tell me,” said Haven. She stood next to the fire, her mind in a suspended state of expectation.
After a long minute, Elena spoke at last. “There is a chance that your body will be incapable of holding the Phoenix energy and that it will instead go to someone else.”
“So…what? I don’t even have it yet, from what you’re telling me. I’ll still keep what I already have, right? Nothing would change.”
Elena shook her head.
“This is the good part,” said Dormer.
“The energy does not simply pass over you like a disembodied spirit looking for a different body,” said Elena. “The process of change—the process that determines whether or not you are capable of wielding such power—could destroy you completely if you are not the right person.”
Haven stumbled over her words as her brain struggled to process the information. “Well—what if—how do I know if I’m the right person?”
“You don’t,” said Dormer. “Not until it’s too late.” He turned and walked away, toward the black sedan near the entrance to the dormitories.
“Well, screw that!” said Haven, shaking her head. “I p
ass. I forfeit. Whatever you do to make it go to the next person and not me, do that, because I don’t want it.”
“I wish it worked like that, Haven,” said Elena. “I really do. It is a cycle. There will be a brief time where you experience increased power, but afterward it will fade until the moment comes when it abandons you completely. Once that happens—if it happens at all—you will either receive the Phoenix energy or it will destroy you and go to another.”
“But how do you even know if that’s true?” said Haven quickly, getting defensive. “You don’t even know where you got your own ability!”
“There are others in this world who have shared such things with me,” said Elena. “I was going to wait to tell you until the pain from the loss of your parents had passed.”
“Thanks for reminding me,” said Haven, instantly regretting her words. Her sadness wasn’t Elena’s fault, but she was still angry at the world for letting her parents die. She turned to look at the fire. “When will it happen?”
“It is impossible to say. Maybe never.”
“Great,” said Haven flatly. “At least I have something to look forward to.”
Across the room, a metal cup hit the floor and bounced loudly on the concrete. A small boy wearing glasses stood on a chair next to Corva’s computer, waving his arms and bouncing up and down excitedly.
“Who’s that?” asked Haven. “I didn’t even know he was in here.”
“That’s Micah,” said Elena. She stood up and hurried toward the boy.
Haven followed her over to the dark area of the dome floor that was scattered with all sorts of electronic equipment. There were several work stations. The table next to Corva’s computer was topped with a bulky radio receiver and what looked to Haven like monitoring equipment. Large knobs and small switches covered the rectangular units stacked on both sides of the table.
Micah plopped down into his seat when Elena and Haven approached and pulled on an oversized set of earphones. A long, spiraled cable ran from the headset to one of the monitoring boxes on the table. When Dormer walked up, Micah pulled the cable plug out of the monitor and turned up a volume dial.
The monitor was tuned in to a police scanner. A conversation between an officer and his dispatcher was just wrapping up.
“Copy, four-one-seven,” said the dispatcher. “Fire department on the way. We’ll send some backup for you just in case. Confirmed two identical suspects, multiple red fires in the Four Corners area at Shepherd Trail. Unit on-scene unresponsive. Advise extreme caution. Over.”
“Copy that, dispatch. Unit four-one-seven out.”
The line went silent, replaced with soft, clicking static.
“Red fire?” said Haven. She couldn’t believe she heard those exact words.
“That’s just outside Bozeman,” said Dormer. “Less than thirty minutes away.”
Marius and Corva ran to the table, breathing heavily. Marius held a chunk of bread in one hand and chewed loudly. “What happened?” he said.
“The twins are out starting fires,” said Dormer. He turned and went back to his work station.
“Who are the twins?” asked Haven. She remembered her own house burning to the ground, consumed by rising, bright red flames. She swallowed thickly as her stomach tightened.
“Some of Bernam’s henchmen,” said Corva. She squeezed Micah’s shoulder and he smiled up at her.
Haven thought the boy could be no older than twelve or thirteen at the most. He had light brown skin and pale eyes that were comically large behind his thick glasses. His baggy clothes hung loosely on his thin frame, and his heavy shoes clomped loudly on the floor as his feet bounced up and down energetically.
“Good work, Micah,” said Elena.
“So what we do?” said Marius.
Elena didn’t answer him. She turned and looked up at the roof of the dome. Haven followed her eye-line, tracing an antenna wire that ran out of the back of the radio equipment and straight up the wall of the dome to the slow-spinning fan at the very top.
“We have to stop them,” said Corva.
“Don’t bother,” said Dormer loudly from across the room. “You know something isn’t right. Multiple fires in the same neighborhood? It’s too flashy, even for Bernam.”
“There could be families inside,” said Haven suddenly. Everyone turned to look at her, surprised at the conviction in her voice. “We have to go! What if they were the ones who killed my parents?”
Elena nodded. “We will go. Haven, it is too dangerous. You will remain here with Micah. Monitor the police scanner—”
“I’m going with you!” shouted Haven. “There’s no way I’m staying! Red fire, didn’t you hear? My parents…” Her voice trailed off until all she could do was stand there with her mouth half-open, ready to form another argument but unable to find the words.
“It’s not safe,” said Elena. “Marius, Corva, Dormer, and I will—”
“I’m staying,” said Dormer. His eyes met with Elena’s for a long moment, shining with defiance.
She looked away sadly. “Very well. Dormer will stay with Micah. Haven…” She sighed and shook her head.
“Elena, she needs answers,” said Corva.
Elena hesitated a moment longer, then said, “Haven, you come with us. But you are to remain by the vehicles as a lookout, do you understand?”
“I understand.” She would have agreed to anything if it meant knowing more about those who killed her parents.
“Everybody ready?” asked Elena. “Let’s go topside.”
27
Marius stood before a section of plain concrete wall. A few feet away was the entrance to the room full of metal tanks that Haven had been taken to when she first arrived at the dome—a miniature water recycling plant for the entire underground complex.
She waited as Marius ran his palm over the gritty concrete wall until the tip of his index finger dipped into a shallow depression. He pushed in lightly and the faint depression became a deep hole. There was a soft click and a small square of concrete next to Marius’s finger swung out to reveal a black LED panel. He tapped a series of hieroglyphic symbols on the screen and a long sequence of encrypted numbers rapidly cycled across the bottom until a small red light on the panel turned green.
The faint outline of a wide door appeared in the wall next to the panel and darkened as the large, thick piece of metal swung silently inward, sweeping in a wide arc to reveal a long hallway that stretched away from the dome. The heavy door was about as wide as a car and Haven realized that was how the black sedan had been brought into the facility.
She walked down the long hallway after Marius and Elena; Corva followed close behind. Caged light bulbs protruded from the ceiling every twenty feet, casting bright circles of light onto the dull grey floor and walls. Haven turned to look back and Corva gave a slight nod and a comforting smile.
The hallway led to a single, massive elevator with a heavy black door that Marius slid to the side with a grunt. After they were all inside, he pulled the door back into place and pressed the only button on the small panel set into the wall.
The elevator rattled softly as it ascended.
Haven looked down at her clothes and couldn’t help but feel that something was missing. Corva had tossed her a beige jacket that fit well enough, but could have gone down an inch farther at the waist. She felt naked somehow, and she realized it was because her hands were empty.
Corva held the same strange machine gun that Marius had used in the car during Haven’s rescue from the medical center. The body of the weapon was chromed metal; the two pistol-grips—one at the back of the gun and the other halfway down the sleek, elongated barrel—were covered with a black rubberized material. The gun hung from a worn green strap looped over Corva’s shoulder.
Neither Marius nor Elena carried any kind of weapon that Haven could see. She assumed that they didn’t need one since they could make their own energy, but from what Marius had told her in the training room, it sounded l
ike even a Source could not maintain constant output. Any conflict would need to be resolved quickly or they would have to resort to regular weapons.
Haven opened and closed her hands, knowing that having some kind of weapon would have made her feel more confident. She was only supposed to stay by the car, but she forced herself to believe that if she got the chance to hurt the people who killed her parents, then—
Then what?
What would I do? thought Haven. She remembered the red flames that consumed her house and the cracking and crunching of wood as it exploded and collapsed. The fire danced in her eyes and she felt Kayla’s arms around her, holding her back from the fire.
Kayla.
A wave of sadness swept over Haven and she felt like a small child curled up in a ball in the corner of a massive, empty room. She longed to be back in school—a desire which surprised her more than she would have expected—and for things to be like they were before the night of the fire. She had felt betrayed by Kayla after her parents’ funeral. The truth was that thinking of Kayla and Jason being together hurt deeply, even though Haven knew he was a worthless jerk.
She tried to think what she would have done if their roles were reversed and she had been in Kayla’s position. Haven hoped she would have put their friendship before anything else and told Jason to take a hike.
As the elevator slowly ascended, Haven wondered how anything in her life could ever be like it was before the night of that stupid party.
Was going back to school still an option after all she had learned? Could she go back to math class and pretend that blue fire didn’t occasionally burst from her skin? After the event in the cafeteria, she definitely couldn’t go back to George Walker High School. She would have to move to a new state or even a new country to get away from the memory of that freak show.
There was also the dark thought that the people who took Noah wouldn’t let her live a normal life ever again. They would find her wherever she went, no matter how far away she ran and no matter how careful she was to cover her tracks.
