by Frankie Rose
“Like me?” I clutched hold of my glass so tight the liquid inside began to tremble.
Aldan’s focus drifted, and his eyes flickered behind me. I followed his gaze to look back out of the door and was startled to see Daniel sitting on the porch step. He was looking out over the clearing, listening to the story as Aldan recounted it. Being busted reading his diary would have been less embarrassing. A deep blush of shame burnt hotly at my cheeks.
“Daniel’s just like you,” Aldan continued. “A small part of me corrupted him, but for all intents and purposes, he’s like you. Human.”
Daniel stirred on the porch, making my pulse quicken. A desperate urge overwhelmed me—I had to tell Aldan to stop—but he carried on before I could say anything.
“When I saved Daniel, he was on the brink of death. So much so that I only just caught him before the last of the life ran out of him. From then on he was stuck. His body would never grow, but he grew mentally. After a while he really was a man trapped in a boy’s body. That was the hardest thing he had to deal with, I think. It was that way for a long time.
“The others never accepted him. We left the fastness, the Tower, but before long they caught up with us. In our society you don’t really leave the nest. It’s similar to the Mafia in a lot of ways. You never get out until you get out.” He threw back the remainder of his juice like it was a shot of whiskey. “They came in the night and tried to take my head off.” His eyes glinted as he drew his thumb across the thick, warped skin of his scar, and I bit back the urge to gasp. My reaction earned me a bitter laugh. “Don’t worry, love. They didn’t send the right man for the job.”
His words echoed inside my head. It was easy to see how Aldan could have been a dangerous person to know back when he was mobile.
“Daniel found me in a bloody heap on the floor and, without realizing, got too close. I was almost unconscious and I ended up drawing on him, trying to gather energy to heal myself. I came to just in time to realize what was happening. The poor kid was lying on the floor half dead, eyes rolled back in his head, veins popping, the works. I panicked. I pushed so much energy back into him that I knocked myself into this coma. It took Daniel a few weeks to figure out that he could come in here with me. I couldn’t protect myself or look out for him; I relied on him to keep me hidden. As the months rolled by, I noticed that he was growing. After that, well…the rest is history. He just kept on ageing at a normal rate until he hit what we guess to be eighteen, and then that was it. He’s been like that ever since.”
He fell into silence while I mulled over his story, still unsure whether the whole thing was just a really terrible joke. The porch’s wooden steps creaked again. Questions flew around my head, demanding answers. Demanding I go out and ask Daniel everything that was on my mind. He wouldn’t appreciate the interrogation, though. Just because I knew some of his most personal secrets didn’t mean we were friends. Aldan’s low voice broke the quiet, interrupting my thoughts.
“It didn’t take the Reavers long to realize what had happened to me and Daniel. Especially when Daniel went charging into the Tower and killed four Immundus. It seems that when I passed all that energy into him, Daniel got my abilities too, except I could never use them like he can. He has some special aptitude that I never possessed for wielding that much power.”
“What…abilities?” I asked quietly. Daniel knowing how curious I was about him was not a comforting concept.
“He can channel huge surges of power made up of the most basic components, primarily light. I could never do that. Then there’s the fact that the elemental gifts that other Immortals control, like water and fire, have no effect on him. The power he controls isn’t like anything they’ve seen, and I think it’s entirely unique to Daniel. You understand?”
I nodded. I was back on Figueroa, where Daniel had played with blue flames that spread like liquid light over his hands. So that was what had happened: their power didn’t affect him.
“What about the people from the Quarters? What powers do they have?”
Aldan shook his head. “None. Well, none that are very useful in a fight, anyway. Some of them can communicate telepathically. Occasionally, one will be able to conjure up a flame, but it would be about as powerful as one you’d find on a candle. Their small abilities are simply echoes of the Reaver’s blood infecting their ancestry. Just like their longer life spans.
“The Reavers see the people of the Quarters as their subjects, to do with as they please. They believe they own the tiny fragments of power that are scattered amongst the Four Quarters, just as they believe they own the power inside of Daniel. You don’t know much about our family,” Aldan said, “but let me tell you this: they have no idea what Daniel is. They’d rather he were dead than have him stand against them. And that leads us back to you, of course, Farley.”
“Huh?” How can I have anything to do with this?
“Well, to the prophecy, anyway.” He closed his eyes and began reciting, “‘When the talisman and the fair sovereign borne of the line are found in unity, she will possess the power to destroy our great people forever.’” He opened his eyes. “It’s from an old scroll of prophecies that have been locked up in the Tower libraries for centuries. I remember the seer who wrote them. He was a drunk. Mostly accurate, though. The Reavers never thought a female child was possible, but now that you’re on the scene, they’re doing their best to hunt you down. They also want to prevent us from finding this talisman. Not that we’ve any idea what it looks like, or if the prophecies are even true. They’re just incredibly superstitious.”
“They think I am going to destroy them?” That just made no sense. Daniel had said that I was a game changer, not someone supposed to kill off their whole bloodline. No wonder they wanted me dead. “This is so stupid.” I pushed my chair back and stood up, shaking my head.
“We think so, too. But it doesn’t change the fact that they aim to hurt you. We want to keep you safe until the whole thing blows over.”
This is impossible, I thought. But the fact that I was talking to some guy in an imagined house, in an imagined forest, kept hitting me, and there was no way I was dreaming. My understanding of the word impossible clearly needed redefining. I tugged at my sleeve, thinking hard.
Something had been preying on my mind amongst all the talk of souls and Reavers and prophecies. Asking felt stupid, but at the same time it seemed like a reasonable thing to wonder. I took a deep breath and went for it.
“If we know that we definitely have a soul, then does that mean there’s a Heaven and a Hell?”
Aldan gave me a laden look. “You can give them those names if you like. It’s not quite as cut and dried as Heaven and Hell, though. There used to be a day when something was black or it was white, but now…in this day, everything’s more of a grey-ish color. Sure, we have really dark grey and really light grey, but nothing seems to be solid anymore. Personally, I think it makes for a much more interesting existence. There’s no fun to be had in being all the way good.”
“And is that how the prophecy came about? Did it get passed down by someone in Heaven?” The word seemed reluctant to come out. The idea just raised too many bigger questions.
“The prophecy came from the Quorum. They’re a group of high-ups from both sides. It’s their job to maintain a balance on earth, so we’re working on an even playing field. Of course, that’s a joke. Especially when one side wants to teach people and draw out their inherent goodness to secure their souls, and the other side is willing to just take them.”
“Right,” I said. “And the Quorum, they’re going to help you guys fight against the Reavers?”
Aldan barked out a laugh so bitter I could almost taste the vitriol. “No such luck. They influence. They don’t get directly involved in anything.”
“Typical. Administrators.”
“Exactly.”
“So if the Reavers are on the dark grey side, who’s on the light grey?”
Another strange, curious look. �
�You tell me.”
I couldn’t tell him. I couldn’t tell him anything. My head was hurting too much. Conversations like this took mental preparation and I’d had none. Aldan seemed to understand how close I was edging towards the brink of a nervous collapse.
“Maybe you can think on that,” he said.
Doing everything in my power not to think about that was probably more likely. I was too scared to start trying to slot my new-found friends into boxes they were unlikely to fit into—square pegs, round holes and all that. “Okay. And while I’m figuring that out, what? You want me to stay tucked away underground until they’ve gotten tired of looking for me or I die of old age?” Both prospects felt like the end of the world.
“No. Just until we can figure out how we fix this whole mess.”
“Well, all I can say is you better do it fast. I’m not gonna stick around down there rotting away when school’s supposed to start in two weeks. My friend’s probably going out of her mind with worry.”
This wasn’t the first time I’d thought about poor Tess. I would have called, but cell phone reception in an underground bunker just wasn’t something that happened. Tess would be freaking out about me disappearing overnight, especially since the last time she’d seen me was after Miller’s cryptic, “They’ll be coming for you,” comment. Aldan furrowed his brow.
“Yes, well…I wouldn’t worry about that too much right now.”
His tone of voice made my head snap up. “Is there something I should know?”
He squirmed in his seat and unfolded his hands, then refolded them a second later. “Daniel dealt with the situation.”
“What do you mean dealt with?” Suddenly I couldn’t breathe.
Aldan’s eyes widened. “Well of course not that! I asked Daniel to send a message from your phone when you first got here. He told Tessa you needed some time. He also called your school and informed them there was every chance you wouldn’t be returning after the break. He told them you weren’t coping very well with your mother’s disappearance.”
I sat there, unwilling to open my mouth. There was no guarantee what would come out. A growing rage bubbled up inside my chest. How dare they just interfere in my life! “You shouldn’t have done that,” I growled.
“I’m sorry that we acted without your consent, but please try to understand what we’re dealing with here.”
I clenched my jaw. “And what about Tess? What if they know she’s my best friend? I don’t even know if she’s safe.”
“They probably do know you’re friends, you’re right. She’s been safe this far, though. We have reason to believe they won’t hurt her.”
“Reason to believe?” What reason could possibly be protecting Tess? Aldan just stared at me, stony faced. “You could at least tell me you’ll check on her every few days,” I said.
“We already do. That’s a given. And if you want to talk more tomorrow about anything, Farley, then I’m obviously not going anywhere, but for now I’m sure you’ve got enough to think about.”
It was true. There was so much bouncing around inside my head I couldn’t concentrate on any one thing. The thought of Daniel being that old was almost more than I could handle, let alone how much he’d suffered during his life. It certainly didn’t earn him a hall pass, but I suddenly understood why he was so surly all the time. I gave Aldan an unhappy look, but said, “And all I need to do is touch you on the hand?”
“Right here.” He gestured, pressing his finger firmly down onto the heel of his palm clearly for me to see. “I’m sure you’ll be careful. You’ve had first-hand experience of what’ll happen if you’re not.”
I glanced at his throat, the thick, ridged scar that I had tried to touch, rising and falling as he spoke. The thought of someone trying to slice his head off made me shudder. I looked away before he could notice the reaction.
The kitchen didn’t seem quite as warm as it had before. I shivered and pulled my jacket tight, turning as the screen door complained stiffly. It clattered shut again as Daniel entered the room. His hair curled slightly at the nape of his neck, mussed like some dark angelic halo. He didn’t quite meet my eye as I looked at him, unable to shake the feeling that I knew him so much better than before.
“It’s time we left,” he said.
“Right on cue there, Daniel. I’ll see you in the morning? We have things to discuss.” Aldan turned and placed both his hands on my shoulders. “And you’re under a lot of pressure at the moment. But really, you have nothing to worry about. No one’s asking you to do anything. All you have to do is be patient whilst we work out the best plan of action. It’ll all be over soon, okay?”
His words were reassuring, but something told me it wouldn’t be that simple. At some point I would be asked to do something, and it would probably cost me a lot more than they were letting on.
Coming out of Aldan’s mind was about as uncomfortable as going in. Daniel trudged silently back into the opening, and I followed a few paces behind, heading towards the shadowy tree line, which stood like the ominous silhouette of some battle-ready army in the fading light. Before we’d made it halfway I began to feel like I was slipping. A strange sense of vertigo washed over me, and I scrambled mentally, as if trying to get off the roller coaster just before it plunged down the huge drop. My stomach lurched as the forest twisted and fell away, and then I was regurgitated unpleasantly back into my body.
Agatha sat in the lone chair by the bed, reading with the blanket thrown across her legs. She looked up lazily, yawning as she registered that we’d rejoined her in the room.
I blinked, trying to focus my eyes. They felt gritty and burned like I’d been crying for hours, and my body ached from standing for so long. Discovering my arm strapped up in the sling once more made me groan.
“So? How did it go?” Agatha asked, lowering the book in her lap.
“Aldan told me what I wanted to know. I think.” I couldn’t help but feel as though there were some seriously big pieces of the puzzle that he was holding out on, but maybe he was right. There was only so much I could handle in one go.
Daniel seemed sad. His gruff, impenetrable exterior slipped a little as he walked out and pulled the door closed without saying a word.
“You hungry, kiddo?” Agatha asked in her motherly, fussing voice, ignoring Daniel’s exit.
“I kinda just want to go to bed,” I told her, wishing I could teleport directly there. That way I could skip out on physically going through the pain of moving stiff joint after stiff joint.
“Yeah, the whole experience wipes you out the first few times. You get used it, though.”
I didn’t really plan on getting used to it. I couldn’t muster any further conversation, so excused myself and made my way out into the black corridor, running my hand along the wall in the dark so I could follow the route back to my room. As soon as the door closed, I threw myself down on the bed and slipped the silk sheets over me. It didn’t matter that I was fully dressed. As soon as my head hit the pillow I fell into a fitful sleep, troubled by undefined, chilling images that jumped at random into my head.
