by Amy Marie
Walking over to the antique book, I reach for protective gloves. Uncle Mike stops me. “All of your senses can be connected to memory, use them,” he encourages.
My hand tentatively reaches out to open the book.
The charge that accompanies the reminiscence slightly hums around me.
I turn the page to the story of symbols that Rafe had begun interpreting yesterday. Suddenly, in my mind’s eye, the two symbols in the center of the elements turn into a sun and a moon, and merge together into one.
Realizing I’ve closed my eyes, but still seeing the page, my mind focuses on the four surrounding elements. With each element, countless faces flash through my mind. At once, I recognize four of them from my dream.
The young girl accused of being a fairy… Air.
The middle-aged ifrit man on the volcano… Fire.
The young woman siren dancing in the waves… Water.
The dwarfed man living underground like a gnome… Earth.
The elements – they’re people!
My eyes fly open in shock.
“Uncle Mike!” I exclaim.
“What did you see, dear?” he asks, hopeful.
I point to the symbolic drawing. “You’ve said the light and the dark, they were once souls, and that part of them exist in Darcy and me.”
“Yes,” he says with uncertainty in his voice.
“The elements. They’re the same! The element power exists in real people. If there always must be a light and a dark, then maybe there always must be the four elements. They’re people! They have been hidden among different men and women throughout history! We will have to find them!”
“How can you be sure?” he asks.
“I saw them!” I explain the stories of the four lives from my dream, and the countless faces that flashed of others that have passed over time. I wasn’t able to connect it all together at first, but the ancient drawing sort of helped me interpret my dream.
“My word, I never would have imagined! This is incredible!” he says with the first smile I’ve seen all day. “Do you know what this means?”
“Yes!” I exclaim, and then stop.
No.
My excitement dies with the reality of the day’s deadline.
“Uncle Mike,” I say, my voice growing weak, “There is no way for us to find these people in time to save Char. We have no idea where to begin.”
Uncle Mike’s smile was frozen and now melts away as he remembers our predicament.
After a moment, he slaps the table. “Well! We can still think of something to do for today. Now we have something to fight for. If we can save… or rather, when we do save Char, we now know how to begin our quest.”
Though Uncle Mike is doing his best to sound hopeful, my excitement has drained completely. My energy is drained from the vision, and I’m slumped over in defeat. We work for over an hour more on the text, but we’re not making any more progress. I keep checking the clock, and now my mind is too distracted to concentrate fully.
“This is too much,” I say, not being able to focus on any more as worry overruns my mind.
Darcy and Rafe re-enter the great room and I look up at them, eager for good news.
The look on both their faces fails to reassure me.
In a panic, I glance at the clock on my cell phone. It’s already 5:00 pm.
“It’s getting late, what are we going to do?” I ask with a frown.
“The two of us have discussed it, and we have a plan. We will be going to confront Talbot, alone,” Darcy stresses the last word to me. “Michael will stay here to keep you safe.”
“Not a chance!” I say, looking between the two men. “Number one, Rafe could get killed. Number two, you don’t know how to fight him. If he sees that I don’t come, he’s going to kill Char. I’m going with you.”
“You cannot go!” Darcy says back. “You are the most valuable, and we cannot risk losing you again.”
“But you’ll risk Char? And Rafe?” I ask, wide-eyed.
Rafe speaks up, “Nora, I volunteered to go with Darcy. He made me promise to hang back during the confrontation and try to get Char away when he distracts Talbot. I want to do this to help her, and to help you. If this is my contribution to the fight, then I want to do what I can.”
“So do I!” I say, voice rising. I’m getting pretty worked up.
“You do not have a choice!” Darcy says in an attempt to forbid me. “I told you from day one I will do what I must to keep you safe. I will not let him hurt you again.”
“You can’t stop me!” I shout in stubborn appeal.
“Yes, I can!” His temper snaps, and with those words, he swoops me up kicking and screaming. I struggle in his arms, and he deposits me into my designated room with a big scuffle between the two of us.
Uncle Mike and Rafe both argue with Darcy on the other side, as he locks me into the room once more.
“She will be protected! End of discussion!” he yells to the men on the other side of the door. Their voices all drop to a level that I can no longer hear.
I begin pounding on the door and screaming to be let out. If they’re going to make a stand against Talbot, I deserve to be there to do what I can to help Char.
For nearly forty-five minutes I scream until my voice is hoarse, but the men on the other side of the door take no heed. It seems as if they’ve moved their planning into another room, or possibly up into Uncle Mike’s office. I smack the door one final time in frustration as tears spill from my eyes.
Looking to the clock, my stomach clenches in fear to see that it’s now 6:00 pm. Sundown is just after 7:00 pm, and I need to beat the men to the river to save Char.
I have to escape!
Looking around, a devious plan forms in my brain.
There must be a trap door!
From my conversations with Darcy and his mention of secret passages and tunnels, there must be a way to sneak in and out of the room.
Knowing I already attempted searching this room for an exit, I give my best effort to look around with new eyes. Pushing a part of the wall accesses the exit in the kitchen – maybe it’s the same here?
Using my sense of touch to guide me, my hands glide over the texture of the walls pushing various spots. Nothing seems to be working.
After a few minutes, I stop to change my approach. I move over to sit on the bed. I have to think like Darcy if I want to find the way out.
Okay – This is the room he locked me in from the very beginning. So, if there was an exit here, he would have made extra attempts to hide it from me. There’s a reason he put me in here. What does this room have that the others don’t?
I scrutinize the room. The bed, tables, and candles all match the second room. He added some touches of comfort with the tea set, books, clock, and…
The mirror!
He would have put up the mirror to hide the spot in the wall that opens the passage as a safeguard against my escape!
The mirror is fairly easy to lift away from its hanging. Laying my hands on the surface of the wall, I feel around for any trap areas. My hand slides over a slight indentation, and as I apply pressure, the wall pushes inward until I hear a click. Immediately, a small opening near the bedpost reveals a hidden passage.
Grinning in triumph, I open up my purse to grab some money out for a ride to the river. Looking down, I see my pepper spray keychain and I shove it into my pocket, amused at the absurdity of thinking it will protect me in this situation.
My feet come to a halt halfway through the passage opening, and I turn back in guilt. My conscience is giving me pause. Hesitating, in case something terrible should happen, I grab a page from my journal and leave a quick note:
Darcy,
I’m sorry, I have to try.
If anything happens, you’ll always find me by the river.
–Nora
The note is left held down in place by my new favorite book – The French Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. A smile escapes me at the tho
ught of how much Darcy reminds me of the wicked-tempered, cursed creature of the story. I quickly say a prayer that I might return and share that resemblance with him. I’m sure it’ll get a good growl out of him.
With as much nerve as I can muster, I duck away into the passage.
Stumbling my way through the dark tunnels by the light of my phone, I make my way to an alternate exit. I wind up in another building on the Harvard campus.
Finding my way outside to get my bearings, I begin walking towards the Harvard Museum of Natural History. The museum will hold the most tourists on campus, which might help me locate a cab. I only have to walk a minute or two before I’m lucky enough to hail one down.
Getting in, I give the driver directions to Gabriel’s side of the river.
The clock on my phone displays 6:44 pm. I have just over twenty minutes before the sun sets.
Here we go…
Chapter 30
I’m dropped off down the road from Gabriel’s property to proceed on foot through the brush in stealth. A tremor runs through me at the realization that I’ve made no real plan in my head. There’s only one thing in the forefront of my mind – save Char.
Approaching slowly to the clearing from my memory, I duck to the ground to get a read on the situation from afar.
The sun disappeared behind the horizon a few minutes ago. With no light reaching through the trees, I’m unable to make out any signs of life in the dusk. With an idea to make my way towards the river to look around, I move quietly in that direction giving the clearing a wide berth.
Near the river, I scan for any signs of Char from a safe hiding spot. The scene by the river is eerily beautiful in the twilight, and reminds me of the first time I saw Darcy in person. In the moment’s distraction, I nearly miss the faint noise coming from the brush behind me, way back in the clearing.
With slow and careful movements, I make my way back through the trees. Something clatters against a rock, and my body freezes mid-step. After a second I continue to edge forward.
There’s the noise again, and after a few seconds I hear it once more. The next time, the striking click is immediately followed by a small whoosh and a dim light begins to glow through the brush from the clearing.
Frozen to my hiding space in apprehension, I observe the small glow beginning to build, and recognition hits me with paralyzing terror.
Fire.
A dark figure is nursing the small flames, and I recognize Talbot without even seeing him clearly.
The glow builds brighter and brighter, and I begin to make out the slumped form of Char, bound against a tree in a similar manner of execution to Eleanor. The fire hasn’t yet reached a level that would touch her, but the flames are inches away from reaching the toes of her shoes.
My panic for my sister is screaming internally to act quickly, but I’m trapped in my emotions as fear glues me to my hiding spot. I know the pain of those flames, and I’m deathly afraid of re-living it. Reaching deep inside for any and all strength available to me, I fail to come up with the ability to move.
I conjure an image of Eleanor, and it’s as if the memory of her strength and determination double up on my own. I receive the help I was unwittingly praying for.
My quiet movements carry me back and around in an effort to approach Char from behind the tree that binds her.
Creeping my way closer, I hide behind the large trunk of a tree as Talbot steps around, gathering wood to feed the fire. I peek around through the leaves. Char’s hands are bound backwards around the trunk of the tree that her body is slumped against. Her limp legs and feet are stretched out in front of her, unbound since she’s unconscious on the ground.
C’mon Char, wake up and distract him!
My silent plea goes unheard.
My best option is to try to untie the bindings at her wrists while Talbot is distracted with the fire. I slowly sneak around the base of the large tree, and come face to face with the depths of my worst fears. I’m trapped deep in the void of Talbot’s empty eyes.
Every part of my body is tense in primal fear – yet I’m glued in place as the reminiscence floods my head with horrifying scenes. I’m hit with an onslaught of memories, and I re-live all the deaths that the destructor has caused over the years.
Any woman that had the potential to carry the light soul was extinguished by this man’s hand, and the details of their gruesome deaths carry over to me as I face the emptiness in his eyes. The choking, the drowning, the burying alive, he’s killed innocent women over and over in his mission to extinguish the light.
And now, he knows that I’ve come farther than any of them. The necessity to subdue me once again is evident. “It took me longer than normal to catch you this time.”
His voice is even more frightening than the last time. There’s no game left to play, we recognize each other for what we really are.
Mustering courage for my sister, I find my own voice, saying, “Let her go, she has nothing to do with the balance.”
“Everything is part of the balance; everything will eventually be destroyed into nothing.” His words are hollow, as if there isn’t even breath from his mouth to accompany them.
“The elements are coming, the balance will be restored,” I say with a bluff, grasping to anything I can from the book and hoping to buy some time.
His head cocks to one side in reaction to my words. “Your light is brighter than before, you must be doused this time, I think.” He grabs hold of my arms and we begin our struggle as he drags me toward the river.
When we move past the fire, I make my best attempt to kick dirt over the flames, but my efforts are in vain. At least if Talbot is occupied with me, he can’t feed the fire.
Suddenly Talbot’s words register into my realm of understanding.
Doused! In the river!
Kicking and screaming the entire way, I’m dragged to the riverbank. In seconds, I’m on the ground bent over with my head inches away from the water.
Before he puts me under, he makes sure to have the final word. “You have come to know too much this time, but it is nearly too late. You can feel it coming, I am sure. The ultimate shift will happen soon. Evil has been cloaked in ignorance, and has been slowly overtaking your world these past few centuries. Soon it will be too late. Remember this to carry over next time in your soul: It is too late. There is no hope.”
At those last words, he plunges my head under the water with force. He holds my shoulders down in place no matter how hard I struggle.
My thoughts are shockingly clear and calm in the panic of being drowned. A small voice in my head is telling me not to struggle anymore because I’ll lose my breath faster. Flashes of my family, Char, Rafe, Uncle Mike, and Darcy all whisk through my thoughts in a final salute of goodbye.
I’m sorry, I failed you all.
The thought goes out to all of them, but ends with a final thought to Eleanor. I failed her most of all. Now I must prepare my mind for the next woman who will remember.
But he said it would be too late! I can’t fail now!
My mind argues, and I cling to consciousness for a moment more in stubbornness.
I’m praying for a miracle, but the steel arms hold me resolute under the water.
My prayers aren’t answered.
Hopelessness devours me as my faith escapes out of me in one last choked bubble, and I feel myself go empty.
Chapter 31
In darkness, I’m lifted up. I must be lighter now somehow.
Faintly, I’m picking up the muffled echo of men yelling and a girl screaming. It seems my death will not be as peaceful as I might have hoped.
In seconds, I’m being gripped, shaken, pulled back from the void.
“Nora! Breathe, please!”
Something compresses a rhythm on my chest and my lungs expel the water they were holding in a coughing fit. Air burns on the way in with each gasping breath. I sit up on the ground, muddled in the commotion.
Am I still here?
> I can’t even answer my own thought before I’m hoisted up into Rafe’s arms.
“We have to go, now!” he’s yelling at me.
“AAAARRRRRRGGGGHHH!” Char’s scream hauls me back to reality.
Oh no!
They wasted the element of surprise on rescuing me.
I writhe in Rafe’s arms, struggling to be put down.
“No Nora, you almost just drowned!” Rafe says, short of breath.
“We’re not going without Char!” I say.
Rafe hesitates for a moment looking between me and the clearing, where there’s a struggle ensuing. Darcy must be fighting Talbot. He sets me down and helps steady me.
“I’ll distract them. Untie Char and meet me by the road,” I say with a hoarse voice, after taking a moment to process the situation.
“But–,” he starts to say.
“Just go!” I yell, turning towards the clearing.
There are two battling shadows in the clearing, one of them protectively standing in front of Char. She’s pressed back as far as she can against the tree. The firelight is glowing so close to her, I can see the flame reflected in her eyes. Witnessing her fear, my instincts kick in – I’ve got to protect my family.
Rafe circles safely around to the tree at Char’s back, and I see him bend to untie her bonds in his rescue attempt. In an effort to distract any attention away from them, I step to the edge of the clearing to make my survival known to Talbot.
“You’ve failed, Talbot,” I say picking up a thick tree branch the size of a baseball bat. “Maybe this light can’t be doused after the fires you’ve started.”
His machine-like reaction slowly and deliberately moves his empty eyes from Darcy to me. But just seconds later he attacks me with such speed, it’s not even registered until his body crashes into mine.
I’m knocked down, but I roll quickly, gasping for breath. I scramble to grab the branch I dropped in the scuffle. A blur of darkness shoots past my side as Darcy collides against Talbot.
In the struggle, I glance back – Char’s got one of her hands free. She’s reaching around to help Rafe free her second arm. The distraction’s working!
