Eternal Hope (The Hope Series)

by Rose, Frankie

  “I can’t.” Tess made a choking sound. She was crying. Daniel bit down on his jaw and tried to keep calm.

  “Do it. Now.”

  “I literally can’t give her the phone, Daniel. Her hands are on fire. She’s freaking out!”

  The voices inside him went deathly silent. Daniel stared out of the windscreen, listening to his heart rate race away. It took him a while to blink. “Hold the phone for her, Tess.”

  She sniffed and started mumbling words he couldn’t hear. A second later he heard her voice.

  “Daniel…” Farley sobbed.

  His eyes pricked. She sounded terrified. “Remember what I said. Everything’s going to be okay.”

  “It’s not, though. You don’t understand… Simeon’s dead. I think I… I think…”

  “It will be okay. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Tell me what happened.”

  Farley sobbed some more down the phone, utterly ruined. Daniel pressed his head into the steering wheel and tied to ignore the threads of fire rushing through his veins. “Baby, you have to tell me. Come on.”

  “I killed Simeon…” she wheezed. “I stabbed him! Now my hands are on fire. Tess said I was sleepwalking back at the cabin and they were glowing then, too. She said it wasn’t Oliver that hit her, Daniel. She said it was me!” She grew incoherent at that point and started sobbing again. Tess came back on the line, her voice small and scared.

  “It’s true. I found her walking down the stairs and her hands were glowing. Not like they are now, but similar. I thought she was awake because her eyes were open, but when I tried to talk to her she lashed out.”

  “What?” No way was that true. He would have known. He heard every little sound in that house, knew at every single moment of the day and night where Farley was. If she’d been wandering around in the wee hours of the morning with glowing hands, he would have known about it. He shook his head. “That’s not possible.”

  “I wouldn’t lie,” Tess said quietly. “Oliver’s here now. He was only helping the Immundus because Agatha told him to. He thought they’d kidnapped me.”

  Great. Oliver had somehow shaken the Quorum and was hanging out with Farley and Tess, when Daniel had just promised the freaking Emissary they would all stay the hell away from him. “Put Farley back on.”

  Farley sniffed heavily down the line. “Do you think I took Simeon’s power?”

  “No. No, I don’t. Whatever this is, it’s something else. Don’t worry, it’s all going to be okay.”

  “You can’t… you can’t see what I’m seeing,” she wailed.

  “No,” he replied, “but I can feel it.”

  She went silent for a second. “What do you mean?”

  “I can feel it. Whatever’s happening to you is affecting me. I can barely breathe.”

  “Oh God, Daniel…I’m sorry!”

  He heard Tess trying to soothe her in the background. “It’s okay. Where’s Oliver now?”

  “Right here.”

  Damn. That was going to cause massive problems. “Okay, listen to me,” Daniel said, pausing when a fresh surge of blinding pain tightened around him like a vice. “We’re going to get through this together, right? You need to make the fire go out. You need to calm down.”

  “I can’t!”

  “You have to. I can’t come to you like this, and you…” he bit back the bile in his throat, “you can’t leave the beach until you’re back to normal. Okay? We’ve got this.”

  “How?” she moaned.

  “You’ve just got to breathe, that’s all. You’ve just got to calm down.” The words were easy enough to say but he could hear the terror in her voice. He closed his eyes. “Can you do that? Can you breathe with me?”

  A long pause stretched out down the phone. After what felt like forever, she whispered, “I’ll try.”

  “Good. Close your eyes. Now, ignore your hands. Concentrate on drawing oxygen into you. Think about it travelling into your body, filling your lungs. Feel your chest rise and fall.”

  “It’s not working!” she wept.

  “Shhh…it’s okay. Give it a second. Just concentrate on breathing. In and out, nice and slow. Nice and slow.”

  “I can’t. I can still feel it. It’s too much!”

  Daniel knew what she meant, because he was living through it too. This amount of power was something he’d never dreamed of experiencing. It felt like it was tearing him apart. He had absolutely no control over it; the only way this was going to end was if she made it go away. “Shhhh…don’t think about it. Think about us. Think about our reflections in the window that day at Gun Creek. Everything’s normal. It’s just the two of us. Breathe…”

  She continued to cry for a few seconds before he heard her draw in a deep breath down the phone. “That’s it. You’re gonna be fine.” Another jolt stabbed at him and he clenched down on his jaw. “You’re so much stronger than this,” he whispered. “You can do it. I love you. I love you so much, Farley. Come on.”

  “I’m sorry,” she moaned. “I’m trying.”

  “I know.” She really was. Daniel could feel the fierce heat throbbing in his chest dim a little. “It’s working. Just keep focusing.”

  Cassie remained totally silent as he sat there, breathing with Farley. Ten full minutes passed before she stopped hyperventilating and the bands around his ribcage loosened. It was like an impossibly heavy weight disintegrating inside him when he somehow felt the fire had gone out. An exhausted, relieved sigh echoed down the phone.

  “Can you come and get me now?” Farley whispered.

  Daniel straightened himself out and finally leaned back, wiping his hand down his face. “Yes. I’m coming to get you.”

  ******

  The last thing Farley wanted to see when headlights came into view was one headlight. She’d assumed Daniel would bring the Viper, but she’d assumed wrong. He tore up on a mean-looking red motorbike that growled like a demon straight out of hell. Her legs tingled just looking at it. He leapt off the bike and ripped the helmet from his head, running over to where she was collapsed in the sand.

  “Hey… hey are you okay?” His hands were on her face, in her hair, running over her arms, searching for injuries. She leaned into his chest and shut her eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I feel so stupid.”

  Daniel shook his head. His eyes shone a little too bright, like he was on the verge of tears. “I’m never leaving you alone again. What were you thinking?”

  Farley let her gaze fall to her hands; they looked the same as they always did, but they didn’t feel like they were hers anymore. All she could see was the bright blue flame that had engulfed them.

  “I promised him, Daniel. I promised him. I couldn’t go back on that. And now I’ve ruined everything.”

  Daniel gathered her up in his arms and guided her to her feet. He cupped her face in his hands and forced her to look at him. “I’m going to ask you a question, okay? Think about it carefully before you answer.”

  A thunderbolt of panic fired through Farley. What was he going to ask her that made him look like that? He was petrified. She squirmed, shooting a look at Tess. Her best friend was clinging onto Oliver like he might disappear into thin air. She couldn’t remember doing it, but Tess would never lie about something as serious as Farley hitting her. Something really bad was going on. Farley drew herself up straight.

  “Okay. Ask me.”

  “Can you feel Simeon with you? Do you feel like you’re not alone inside your own body anymore?”

  Farley’s heart quickened, but only because she knew this was important. She’d been trying to figure whether she felt any different the whole time they’d been waiting for Daniel to turn up. All she had been able to discern was that her mind would not stop working, panicking over absolutely everything.

  “No. No, I don’t feel anything,” she said. Daniel nodded his head and stared down at his grease stained Converse.

  “That’s good. You’re okay.”
/>
  “So you don’t think…?”

  He shook his head. “No, I don’t. But something’s not right. We have to find out what’s changed. Tonight.”

  Tess spoke up, high pitched and strained. “I really hate to be the voice of reason here, but shouldn’t we go back to the hotel, get our stuff and leave? Like, right now!”

  “We’re not going anywhere until I know this isn’t going to happen again. Something’s wrong with me. I hurt you, Tess. I don’t know how or why, but I’m not going to risk doing it again,” Farley said firmly. Having told Daniel that she was fairly sure Simeon wasn’t with her had made everything shift. She was still scared. Petrified, in fact, but it wasn’t a paralysing fear anymore.

  Daniel gave her a tight smile and took her hand. “We should ask Agatha.”

  The prospect of seeing Agatha right now was bittersweet. On one hand, the forgetful part of Farley wanted nothing more than to throw herself into the tiny woman’s arms so she could make everything better. But that idea was marred by the sour truth- that there was no way Agatha would allow Farley to touch her, let alone make anything better. Farley fixed her jaw and sighed. “Where will she be?”

  “Cass and I just saw her in the Tower. We could try there.” He turned to Tess and Oliver, and a worried frown formed between his eyebrows. “Cassie’s on her way with the Viper. She’s going to take you guys to Grayson and the four of you are going to pack up and go. We won’t be far behind you. Oliver, you should know…Agatha seems to have plans for you. She’s going to be furious that you’re with us.”

  “I’m not leaving Tess,” he said firmly.

  “Of course not. I’m…I’m sorry we thought you’d abandoned her in the first place.”

  Sorry we thought you’d gone to the other side- that you were a full blown Reaver, Farley added in her head. Oliver just shrugged.

  “I don’t blame you. I’m struggling. I do need help. I’ll get it, one way or another.”

  Tess’ face was made of stone. Farley couldn’t read what she was thinking until she caught sight of her wobbling lip. “I’ll wait for you guys,” she said.

  “Don’t be stupid. Daniel’s just told you, we’re going to be right behind you.”

  Farley’s words didn’t seem to make much of a difference to Tess. Her shoulders were stiff as they left the beach and trudged silently to wait by Daniel’s bike. It was exactly the same as his other one, a Ducati Monster, except for the cherry red tank.

  “Should I ask where you got this from?” Farley asked.

  He squinted off into the distance, creasing his brow. “I have a few of them. I keep a couple at the hotel.”

  “A few?” Now really wasn’t the time to be probing Daniel about how many vehicles he had secreted across LA, but she needed to think about something other than how it had felt when she her hands had been encased in those shimmering, ethereal flames. Daniel just gave her a tense look and pressed his lips to her forehead.

  It didn’t take Cassie long to turn up. The Viper’s fender was scuffed and hung free on one side, but Daniel didn’t seem to notice, or maybe he just didn’t care. Cassie hopped out of the driver’s side, holding a bike helmet in her hand. She gave Farley a small smile and held it out to her. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she told her.

  Farley was too exhausted to say anything other than thank you. She took the helmet and rushed at Tess, locking her in a bear hug. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Listen to Cassie,” Daniel said.

  “Are you kidding?” Tess growled. “I trust her about as far as I can throw her.”

  “Fine. Listen to Grayson, then.”

  Cassie pretended not to notice Tess’ remark. She shot Daniel a sad look and then made her way back around to the Viper, firing the engine up so the sound of its revs roared out into the night. Tess just blinked at Daniel and chewed on her lip. “Please look after her,” she said quietly, before turning and jumping into the car, pulling Oliver behind her.

  “Of course,” Daniel replied, but they were already gone. Farley looked down at the bike, feeling her stomach twist nervously.

  “Are you sure about this?” She’d never been on the back of a bike before, and tonight was not the best night to be testing her nerves.

  “I’ll be careful, I promise.” And he was.

  For about ten minutes.

  They ripped through the night traffic of Los Angeles, with Farley clinging onto Daniel’s waist for dear life. She had no idea which entrance he was heading to, but she was seriously looking forward to getting off the bike and being back on her own two feet. Daniel weaved dangerously in between the traffic, earning them angry horn blasts from other motorists. It didn’t feel right, not having anything strapping her in or holding her down. Everything lit up and whipped past them so, so fast. Daniel barely paid any attention to traffic lights and stop signs. He seemed to pre-empt each red light, taking side streets and slinging the bike into low corners. So low it felt like her kneecaps might end up brushing the concrete.

  The first few miles were nerve-wracking, but after the events of the evening, Farley realized speeding through the night on the back of a bike with Daniel was nothing. Really nothing. The bike felt like it was an extension of him, responding to his slightest command.

  By the time they reached the eroded, industrial district out past the city’s eastern downtown limits, Farley was almost okay with the Ducati. Until she saw the disused rail yards, that was. The two yards sat neatly side by side, overrun with abandoned boxcars that had been tagged and spray-painted in a multicolored nightmare of graffiti. A narrow alleyway ran between the two of them, and Farley knew without having to ask that they were headed straight down it. A storm drain.

  She dug her hands into the front of Daniel’s thin hoodie, praying she was wrong. Praying he wasn’t going to do what she thought he was going to do. The Ducati’s engine snarled even louder when the concrete sides of the storm drain rose up around them. This had to be the haunt of a million teenage guys, posing and showing off their souped up cars in drag races along the two hundred foot stretch of concrete. But not tonight. Tonight, it was just the Ducati, heading straight for the pitch-black tunnel at the very end of the runway.

  Daniel sped up, bringing the urban murals of the graffitied walls into focus as they charged towards the two-meter square hole in the wall. There were probably a thousand rats down there, and a bunch of homeless crack addicts, too. There was nothing she could do to stop Daniel from heading straight for it, though. She couldn’t even speak to him. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath as they burned into the blackness. With the ceiling and the walls pressing in, the noise of the engine was deafening. The headlight, lancing fifteen feet into the darkness, revealed rotten cardboard boxes and crushed soda cans, fast food wrappers and a glittering carpet of broken glass.

  A scrawny dog with bloodshot eyes and matted fur froze against the side of the wall as they ripped past, paralysed by the fear of the noise rushing towards it. Before they had travelled too far, the tunnel started sloping downwards. It was only slight inclination, but Farley was immediately wary. Daniel leaned flat against the tank, and Farley clung on tighter.

  After a few minutes and what seemed like hundreds of meters, the bike slowed. In the projected yellow nimbus of the headlight, a huge metal roller shutter loomed ahead of them. Daniel tapped Farley’s thigh, signalling she should get off. He followed right after her and killed the engine.

  Farley tugged her helmet off, feeling slightly dizzy as she did so. Her legs felt rubbery and unreliable. “Where are we?”

  Daniel removed his helmet and set it on the ground in front of the roller shutter, flexing his hands. “It’s the main entrance to the West Quarters- the architects.” His eyes flashed as Farley stared at the door and then glanced over her shoulder into the penetrating dark that pressed behind her. She swallowed and turned back to face him. Looking back had been a bad idea. “I’m not feeling so great about this,” she said shakily.

&n
bsp; Daniel reached out and took her hand. His fingers were freezing. “Just stick close to me, okay? Do not leave my side. The Immundus are- well, you’ll see. I wish you didn’t have to, but this is important.”

  “I know.” No one on the face of the planet knew more than Farley how important finding Agatha was right now. She pulled her shoulders back. “Just don’t get into a fight or anything.”

  Daniel’s face was blank. His eyes shone a bright jade in the brightness reflected back by the dingy, scratched shutter. “I’ll do my best. Things have gotten a little crazy down here, though.”

  There was no sense in arguing. They were here now, and his best was going to have to do. Daniel shifted over a blackened keypad at the side of the door and stared at it for a moment. Red and green wires hung down from the bottom of the twisted white plastic, exposing frayed copper at the ends. It definitely didn’t look like it functioned.

  “What are you doing?” Farley asked, nervous.

  “Trying to remember.” He extended his index finger and cautiously prodded at the keys. Each time he pressed, he tensed. On the sixth button, a loud grinding rattle broke the deafening silence, and the shutter started to rise. Daniel was a pasty white colour when he turned around. Farley eyed his expression with disbelief.

  “I wouldn’t have thought they had electronic keypads when you lived down here.”

  He shrugged one shoulder, walking back to the bike. “They didn’t.”

  “Then how were you ‘remembering’ the code?

  He shot her a rueful look and swung his leg over the bike. “Remembering… guessing… they’re pretty similar.”

  “They’re not actually. Do I want to know what would have happened if you guessed wrong?”

  “Probably not.”

  Farley shook her head and went to retrieve Daniel’s helmet for him. He made a tsking sound. “Don’t bother. I need to be able to see down here. You should leave yours, too.”

  Farley did as he suggested. She slipped onto the back of the bike, and Daniel inched forward slowly-

  -into the biggest hangar Farley had ever seen. The ceiling was so high she felt dizzy looking up at it. Slabbed concrete lined the floor, but the walls were bare rock, unfinished and rough in comparison to the other areas of the Tower she had visited. Electric lamps were bolted to the walls, casting a cold white light over everything- over the numerous shining black SUVs that were parked in neat, orderly lines. Beyond them- there had to be at least thirty- sat a whole gathering of excavation machinery. They looked like ferocious yellow dinosaurs with their pronged bucket teeth and chunky tread tires.