The Veil: Corruption (HASEA CHRONICLES BOOK 2)

by Stuart Meczes

  “Breathe, Alex. For god’s sake, breathe!” I tried to scream, but it only came out as a hoarse whisper.

  He still heard me.

  In a strangled gasp that made me burst into tears, he took a rasping breath. I held him close to me, using my tired legs to keep us both above water.

  He tried to speak but couldn’t. He was too exhausted. Too wounded.

  “It’s okay, mia bambino,” I sobbed, kissing his forehead. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”

  PART II

  TRIALS

  12

  Alex

  The harsh whispers filled my head – a vocal static refusing to be silenced.

  How long do you think you can keep us at bay, Alexander? We will take over.

  My eyes snapped open, and I was met with a torrent of pain. It felt like I’d been taken apart piece by piece and reassembled in the wrong order.

  I was lying on one of the cylindrical glass beds in the Recovery Centre. A sheet of tarpaulin had been placed between my body and the bed. A pillow lay propped underneath my head. It was drenched, and it made bubbling sounds with the slightest movement. Around my body was a halo of filthy water, a mixture of grey and red, that smelled like putrid eggs.

  I turned my head to see Gabriella on a chair next to the plastic sheet. She was wearing a pair of shorts and a loose t-shirt. Her hair was damp and draped over the armrest in a fan of loose tresses. She was asleep; one hand nestled underneath her face, and the other entwined with my fingers. I stroked my thumb along her skin. It reminded me of when I’d woken up from my mind merge with Faru, all those months ago. Watching over me, making sure I’m okay.

  But this time it was different. Gabriella was sleeping with so much trouble on her mind. It showed in her face, her slender eyebrows arching downwards and the corners of her mouth turned down in sadness.

  It’s you. She can see that you’re changing. She doesn’t love you anymore.

  Shut up.

  The voice receded into the depths of my mind with a sickening laugh. I felt around for the ampule with my free hand, but my clothes had been replaced by a hospital gown. I lifted my head, which made the room spin like a top, and squinted my eyes until the sensations passed. I scanned the room. My jacket and top were on a table in shredded heaps. They had been removed with scissors. The ampule stood next to them. I tried to stand up, but discovered that my lower body was strapped down with strong-looking material. So I tried to sit up and undo them, but my lower half wouldn’t respond. Panic spread through me.

  I can’t feel my legs.

  A gasp of horror escaped me, and Gabriella woke up, staring around sleepily and rubbing at her eyes. She noticed that I was awake and rushed to her feet.

  “I can’t move my legs!” I blurted, trying to keep the hysteria at bay.

  “Alex, calm down.” Gabriella placed her hands on my shoulders, staring into my frantic eyes until I settled on hers. “Calm down,” she repeated. Our connection worked like morphine, rushing through my body and making everything seem better. My heartbeat slowed.

  “Listen to me, Alex.” She paused. “You’ve broken your back.”

  Dread poured over me like iced water. “What?” I croaked.

  “Don’t freak out. You’ve been checked over. Your body is healing, especially with my amplification. You are going to recover; it’s just going to take a bit longer this time, hun.”

  I let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god.” I suddenly remembered the attack on Obsidian, the hordes of Wendigo attacking from every direction. “Wait, what happened to Sage Faru and the rest of the crew?” I asked.

  “We lost the James, the co-pilot. Everyone else survived. The pilot managed to make an emergency landing in a field.” Gabriella closed her eyes and appeared to be trying to control her emotions. “It could have been so much worse. You fell over fifteen thousand feet. I thought…” She couldn’t finish her words.

  I reached for her hand and squeezed it tightly. “I know. But you saved me…again.”

  Gabriella looked down, shaking her head. “I didn’t…I couldn’t.” She raised her head and her eyes were brimming with tears. “I got there and couldn’t do anything, Alex. I felt so useless. I thought I was going to be forced to watch you die.” Her voice cracked.

  I kissed the back of her hand and held it against my cheek. “I’m still alive,” I said, as much to myself as to her. “But if it wasn’t you, who was it?”

  “Danny.”

  I gave an incredulous laugh. “Our new recruit? He saved me? After what I did to him?”

  Gabriella smoothed a hand over my arm. “He did. Climbed Tower Bridge and levitated out to get you.” Her face broke into the hint of a smile that I loved. “It was pretty cool.”

  I tried to laugh, but it hurt – a lot. “Remind me to ply him with kisses when I see him.”

  “I think I’ll join you…when he comes around.”

  “Wait…what? Is he okay?”

  Gabriella looked away and cleared her throat. “He’s in pretty bad shape. A shattered skull, broken jaw, smashed pelvis, broken arms, a ruptured spleen, and about seven fractured ribs. Danny took the brunt of your fall. He’s unconscious at the moment, and Boosters haven’t done much for him. But he should be okay…we hope.”

  “Take me to him,” I said.

  “Alex, no. You need to rest.”

  “I don’t care. Ella, he risked his life to save me. I don’t care if you have to carry me over your shoulder like a child. Take me to him so I can help him.”

  “If I move you, I could end up doing more damage.”

  I stared directly at my girlfriend. She stared back, arms folded – no doubt assessing if she could win the argument or not. No chance.

  Gabriella sighed. “I love you, Alexander Eden, but sometimes you’re a complete idiot.”

  She disappeared from the room and returned a few minutes later with a wheelchair. With a great amount of effort, we managed to inch me out of the bed and lower me into the seat. My back shrieked with pain, which made the darkness inside bristle with happiness.

  Once I was strapped in, I pointed to the ampule on the table, grimacing through the internal chatter. “Can you pass me that, please?

  Gabriella gave me a sideways glance, but picked up the elixir. She handed it to me, and I pinched a few drops onto my tongue, sighing as I felt it smother the darkness under its liquid blanket. After the voice was gone, it was just physical pain, which I could cope with.

  “What is that?” she asked as she wheeled me out of the room.

  The darkness tried to stop me talking, but it was weak – subdued. “It’s something Faru gave me to slow the progression,” I answered without much hindrance.

  Gabriella nodded. She didn’t need further explanation. She knew me better than I knew myself. The darkness had been a fool to think it could keep what was happening to me from her.

  The final dregs of the Thames River spilled from my sheet-covered body as we navigated our way down the white corridors. It formed a grey trail, shimmering like oil in the harsh lighting. Gabriella had to push at an angle to stop it from dripping onto her feet.

  “I appear to be leaking.”

  “Must be your brain,” she replied, leaning over and kissing my check. The skin buzzed where her lips had been.

  “Shouldn’t be much left then.”

  We both chuckled, and then we were at Danny’s hospital room. Gabriella pushed it open and wheeled me into the dimly-lit room. It was exactly the same as all the others. Glass semicircle bed, a few side tables and chairs. There were decidedly fewer machines than normal, and the only one he was linked up to was a cardiogram – which I took as a good sign.

  Regardless, Danny looked in a bad way.

  He had a metallic contraption attached around the bandages that lined his head and face. It had a number of pins set into it, which sunk into his jaw. His bandaged arms were hanging on supports above his body, making him appear like a mummy rising from a coffin. The rest of his
body was hidden under a blanket, which was also stained with river water. It was like the stuff was in our pores.

  Gabriella walked over to Danny and took his hand in hers. She held out the other and looked at me. “Ready?”

  I took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s do this.” I leaned out and closed my hand around hers. As soon as our skin connected, a searing bolt of energy ripped from my chest, racing down my arm and into Gabriella, who arched her back as though electrocuted. It severed our connection and sent the wheelchair rolling backwards into the wall. My thoughts blurred over, and I felt myself lose consciousness.

  When I re-opened my eyes, Gabriella was removing Danny’s arms from the hooks they were attached to. The moment she did, he jerked his hands up and wrenched the contraption from his face, howling in pain as it unpinned from his jaw. He cast the unit onto the floor and shot into a sitting position, rubbing and exercising his jaw. Then he shook his head as if walking from a dream – which technically he was – and seemed to notice us for the first time.

  “Gabriella, Alex.”

  “Danny, how are you feeling?” asked Gabriella.

  “Groggy, but otherwise fine. What happened?”

  I wheeled myself over and patted the only part of him I could reach from my position, which was his leg. “You were in a bad way, but we fixed you up.”

  He nodded. “Thanks.”

  “No, it’s you that deserves to be thanked. What you did...” I was lost for words.

  Danny looked confused for a moment, and then he seemed to understand. “You were falling. I caught you.”

  Gabriella nodded. “It was one of the most selfless and brave things I have ever seen a recruit do. It didn’t go unnoticed, either. Everyone in the base knows what you did.” She gave his arm a gentle prod. “Apparently some of the female Guardians are keen to meet you.”

  He gave a chuckle.

  “Danny, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you did,” I continued, rolling the chair further up the side of the bed. “Risking your life for me like that. And after what I did to you during training.” I lowered my head in shame. “I am so, so sorry about that.”

  “It’s okay,” Danny replied. “I know you didn’t mean to do it. You’ve been really cool to me since I came here – you all have. No hard feelings.”

  “Thank you.” I offered him my hand. “And I promise that I will have your back now, no matter what.”

  Danny didn’t hesitate to shake my hand. “No problems. Teammates have to look after each other right?”

  “They do.”

  “Then I figure it won’t be the first time we save each other’s arses.”

  “True.”

  “Although if you keep the falling out of planes to a minimum, that would be appreciated.”

  We all laughed, and for a moment, everything felt normal. Now that I was free from the twisted grip of the darkness, I could tell Danny was a good, genuine person. I was looking forward to having him in Orion. I turned to Gabriella. “How soon can we make Danny a Guardian?”

  Gabriella rested a hand on the back of my wheelchair. “He’s still got a bit more training to go through. Mainly combat.” She gave an awkward pause. “I think I’ll get Delagio to finish that one if it’s cool with you.”

  In case I end up throttling him again with some kind of demonic strength, you mean. “Sure,” I said out loud.

  “Great. This month’s Trial of the Chosen is on Tuesday, and I signed Danny up. Then the joining ceremony will be that evening. So, all going well, no more than four days.”

  “Oh crap, I forgot about the trial!” Danny looked alarmed.

  All the recruits had to undergo a final test before they were allowed to become a Guardian. I’d had to face Bargheist – a vicious Skinshifter who had attempted to kill me soon after my Awakening – in a brutal one on one battle. I’d beaten him…but only just.

  Originally, to fail meant to be cast from the Alliance. More recently however, with the threat of Hades looming large from Pandemonia and the SOS hiding in every shadow, as well as the influx of new chosen – a broader and more lenient form of tests had been revived. The Trials of the Chosen had evolved into a two-day event held once a month, during which recruits from around the world came to compete. Day one was nationals and day two internationals. It was essentially an extended set of challenges designed to test all aspects of a recruit’s skill in the form of a tournament.

  The Trials themselves took place in a dedicated arena called the Prolesium, which for many years had been falling into disrepair at the bottom of the Warren gardens, but had now been restored to its former glory and beyond.

  According to Gabriella, the Trials had once been a celebrated event – as much a spectacle of entertainment as they were a test for the new recruits. In the glory days, the stadium’s ten thousand seats had all been occupied. The turnout these days was ten percent of that at best, but the trials were starting to get popular again, with more and more bases allowing their recruits to take part. If the Awakenings kept increasing at the rate they were, it wouldn’t be long before the Prolesium saw full capacity once more.

  The two highest-scoring participants in the Trials were toasted as Guardians of honour at the joining ceremony and given the choice of which hunter squad they wanted to join in any participating base. Unless the Huntmaster objected, that was where they stayed. The rest were chosen by other squads, and it was easy to predict which squads would choose which recruit. It was always the ones that had been involved in their infiltration.

  That was why Orion barely had any new members. We’d been too busy to go on many infiltration missions. Grey had been the only one in the six months before Danny, assuming he didn’t score lowest on the trial – which was unlikely. The recruit who scored lowest effectively failed the trial and was sent to an Outpost to continue intense training. If they failed a second time, they were given the choice of joining one of the logistical support teams or trying one final time. Only if they failed then were they asked to leave the Alliance. It was an effective method. So far no one had been rejected.

  “Don’t worry; you’re going to have no problems with your trial,” I assured Danny. “Not with that combat skill you showed when we sparred.” I felt my stomach wrench when I thought back to what I’d done to him.

  “Not to mention what you did a few hours ago,” Gabriella added.

  “Thanks, guys,” Danny said with a smile. He settled back down into the pillow. “Are you okay?” he asked, pointing a bandaged hand at the wheelchair.

  “I’ll mend,” I replied with a smile.

  “And how’s your brother?”

  Gabriella shot him a look, but it was too late.

  “Mikey? Why, what’s wrong with him?”

  Danny’s face went slack. He swallowed nervously and glanced away from me. “Shit, I thought you knew.”

  “What’s wrong with him?” I repeated, my voice rising with panic.

  Gabriella turned towards me, her face suddenly pale. She lifted her hands in a placating gesture and stepped towards me. “Alex, I was going to speak to you about it, but you didn’t give me a chance. There was an attack yesterday evening. Mikey…” She couldn’t finish.

  Oh my god, something’s happened to him.

  The walls seemed to be edging in, crushing me. Consciousness became slippery. I felt like I was going to be sick. When I spoke, my voice was splintered and sounded separate from me.

  “Tell me.”

  She told me about the restaurant, about Mikey getting caught in the middle of the attack and bitten. Each word was a knife twisting into my guts. Her words began to blur together, becoming nonsensical. Bile rose into my throat, burning like acid. Danny had shrunk into himself and was staring down at his entangled fingers. I manage to force out some words, interrupting her mid-sentence.

  “I’m going to see him.”

  I tried to roll the wheelchair away, but my hands were shaking too much to grip the rails. Instead, I scrambled at the str
aps and started to clamber out of the chair.

  “Alex, don’t!” Gabriella cried out. She rushed over and pushed me back into the seat. I slapped her hands away and glared at her. “I am getting to my brother if I have to crawl there.”

  She placed a hand on my chest. “I understand, Alex. But please, just let me take you to him.”

  “Take me then,” I hissed.

  As we left, Danny’s voice floated out from the room behind us. “I think I might go get Del and the others.”

  He sounded concerned, but I had far more important things to worry about.

  Gabriella navigated us down the corridor, half running behind the chair, as I placed my head in my hands, the halogen lighting suddenly too bright for my eyes. She tapped my shoulder after a moment. “Alex, we’re here.”

  I lifted my head and waited for her to push open the door and wheel me in. The light was dim. Scarlett was slumped in a chair near the back, staring at the wall. She barely seemed to notice us. This room was full of machines; all of them hooked up to a body lying on the glass bed in the centre.

  My brother.

  My hands were still shaking, so Gabriella had to push me to the bed so I could see. When I looked, I felt a howl rise in my chest and rip from my throat.

  “Mikey!”

  He looked so pale – so close to death. It was unbearable. I climbed out of the chair and slumped to the floor. Gabriella tried to help me up, but I swatted her away. I heaved my top half up onto the bed, legs hanging uselessly under me. Mikey’s face had taken on the grey pallor of the dead. He had puss-marked wounds all over his body. They haven’t even bothered to clean his wounds. I could feel a racking sob tearing through me. I clambered closer to him, placing a palm against the side of his face.