by T R Tells
Agent Newman rubbed his chin and hummed as he looked at me.
“I see. Have you found anything?”
I shook my head and continued looking through the different missing reports. The faces ranged from those as young as three years old to adults in their 40s. It angered me that this cult didn’t care that they were taking loved ones from their families. They might have corrupted or had been charismatic to trick people into giving their lives away to demons.
I touched my heart and thought about what my uncle had said, what I’d learned in church. We were all flawed heroes, and flawed heroes without anything or anyone to guide us on the right path. . I couldn’t be mad at these people for being led astray any more than I could be mad at this cult. They were once humans, too, that had gone through something traumatic and had no one to turn to.
I skimmed through the photos, not having luck finding a guy with gray hair or a girl with short green hair. I was about to tell Agent Newman I didn’t find anything when I noticed a picture of an eight-year-old girl. Instinctively, I picked up the paper e, and I peered at the pigtailed, brown-haired girl with gray eyes.
I read the name on the missing report: Veronica Avarice, responds to the name ‘Ronnie.’
I think my face might have portrayed something because Agent Newman asked me, “You know one of them?”
“I think so. Her name is Veronica Troy, though, but I have a gut feeling that says that this is the same person. She started to come into my boyfriend’s life awhile back. Even he can tell you that he doesn’t even know anything about Veronica. She lived with some woman before this her mom didn’t even have photos of her as a kid, and they both were always distant from everyone else. The only other thing my boyfriend remembered was a man dressed like a priest.”
The wide-eye look in Agent Newman’s face was one I hadn’t seen before, and he leaned forward in his chair. I leaned forward too.
“Did you happen to meet this man as well?”
I frowned. The grave tone in his voice sent a chill through my body..
“No. And that occurrence happened to my boyfriend when he was eight, and the two cult members only mentioned someone named ‘Father’, could that be—”
“Yes,” Agent Newman said, gravely. “Father Elijah Ludas, the leader of the Dark Ordinance. And other than brief information about his past, the Bureau knows nothing about him or his powers.”
My heart dropped in my chest and my stomach, this time, did more than a flip.
Well, shit.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The first week of November brought freezing cold weather and 3 to 5 inches of snow, cancelling school for the time being. It left me at home, curled under the covers and staring at the standby screen on Netflix. I didn’t know what to do with the information concerning Veronica, or how I would handle ‘Father’ Elijah and the Dark Ordinance. I needed to wrap my head around getting rid of Alina Mulgrave and shutting down the Alexandria Genesis Project.
Helene and I were already getting ready.
Me: Did you hear anything back from Wally? Is he still with us?
Helene: He is still with us, don’t worry your pretty little head about it. How are you feeling? I know the threat of the cult watching us on top of Alina’s blackmailing must have you on edge.
I gripped my phone, bringing up Snapchat, and brought my legs to my chest as I thought about how I wanted to respond. I had been a nervous wreck lately (and even threw up after I met up with Agent Newman), but I had to keep myself together if we were going to bring down the enemy.
Me: I’m scared, I’ll admit, but we have to do this. For everyone who’s been subjugated to Omega’s torture. They don’t deserve to be used by their negativity and Umbra Shades, and they definitely don’t deserve to be slaves to Alina Mulgrave.
Helene: And the cult? The Dark Ordinance? You also found out that Veronica was kidnapped by them, right? What will you do with that information? Have you told Alessander yet?
Me: We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. And by the way, Alessander is actually meeting with Prodi-Jay now, and he said an hour ago that he was in the recording studio.
Helene’s response came quickly after that.
Helene: OMG, that is amazing! Congrats to him.
I was about to text back when a message icon appeared on the right-hand corner of the screen. I frowned, wondering who it could’ve been.
My heart dropped when I saw the person’s name lighting up in bold letters: Mahogany King.
I couldn’t do anything but stare at the notification before clicking it:
Mahogany: Hey, Hir...Long time, huh? I’m sorry I couldn’t talk much at the party, but I wanted to know if I could see you one last time. I’m at my house.
I couldn’t be sure what I was more confused about. The fact that Mahogany was at her house or that she said ‘one last time.’ Where was she going? Why was she at her home? Did she have an Umbra Shade? Was Trey with her? My brain was reeling with questions. The sharp prickles of a headache started to form.
I jumped out of bed and threw on my warmest clothes. I didn’t want the weather slowing me down. I’d spent enough time ‘waiting until the last minute’ to help people. If I was going to reach people through their hearts and understand them past their flaws, I would take immediate action.
Once I had on a hoodie, jeans, and my fur boots, I texted Mahogany back:
I’m on my way.
***
I sat in the backseat of the Lyft and thought about what I’d say to Mahogany. She had been practically dead when I last saw her, and if Trey was with her, who knew if he was still angry with me.
We hadn’t left on the best of terms.
“Take care of yourself,” the Lyft driver said when he stopped in front of Mahogany’s house. “These streets have been dangerous lately with all the kidnappings going on.”
My throat tightened, knowing that the Dark Ordinance had been behind the scenes all along.
I didn’t sense or see an Apathy Current, which was a good thing, and there wasn’t a red trail either. It meant, for the most part, that there was no Umbra Shade present, and I would be speaking to Mahogany herself.
I reached the doorknob, but hesitated. The cold wind rushed across the back of my neck, but I was too distracted to pull my coat closer. My vision doubled from staring too long at the doorknob.. My mind was swimming for answers, and the anxiety that had been building up came at me full force. I didn’t know what to say to Mahogany and saying, ‘I’m sorry for not being there sooner’ was a weak-ass excuse.
You can do this. It’s Mahogany. Moa. She knows you, and she knows that you love her. Just be yourself.
I took a deep breath and grabbed the doorknob. I stepped inside of the house, and the first thing I was greeted with was Mahogany in the living-room, but she wasn’t alone. She was sitting on the couch with Trey seated on the arm of the sofa, his arms crossed. Her parents were lying on the couch, too, but they looked like they were sleeping. Mahogany gently stroked their heads, and her brother was on the floor by her leg.
“Mahogany?”
The back of my neck prickled, looking between my friends, and confirming that they were both now Awakeners.
They looked the same, except there was a darkness in Trey. His shoulders were slumped, and there was a scowl on his face. The look in his eyes was the same distant and angry expression he’d given me at the hospital.
My eyes burned, seeing the hatred on my friend’s faces destroyed me.
“Hira, you made it.”
I snapped out of my thoughts and turned to see a cheery Mahogany. It was shocking. I’d seen Mahogany smile occasionally, but this was a different sensation—I couldn’t sense any the darkness that she once harbored.
“Trey thought you weren’t going to show up, but I knew. You were always there, even until the end.”
Trey scoffed and mumbled something under his breath.
Mahogany got up from the couch, and her parents’ hea
ds slumped on the sofa. They didn’t react to being moved, and their complexions were pale. Then, I noticed something that connected from Mahogany to Trey, like a golden thread.
What the hell is that?
Mahogany threw her arms around my neck, catching me off guard, and all I could do was wrap my arms around her waist. I squeezed her tightly into me and buried my face into her neck. I didn’t know why I didn’t believe it, but holding her right now was real. I could even feel her heartbeat beating against my chest.
We pulled apart, and for a moment, I looked at her. She seemed happier, and her eyes looked lively, but the only thing different was her eye color.
“How?” was the only thing that I could muster from my lips.
Trey sighed and stood up from his seat. “We don’t have time for this. Mahogany we should be going, I don’t want any law enforcement to track me down, and then someone finds you.”
Mahogany turned to look at Trey. I couldn’t see her face, but I assumed she was pouting at him; it was what she used to do to get him to do something. It must’ve worked because he rolled his eyes and shook his head, sitting back down.
“And you owe Hira an apology too. She’s still your friend, and you acted way out of line.”
Trey glared at me and narrowed his eyes. I shrunk backward, suddenly feeling small. I could fight Umbra Shades until I was blue in the face, but I couldn’t stand up to my best friend.
“He doesn’t have to, Moa. He has every right to be mad at me. I should have come to your aid sooner and screwed all the other pointless things going around because none of that will matter if I don’t have people I love beside me.”
Trey scoffed. “A little too late for that, don’t you think? That ship has sailed. Mahogany died, and if it wasn’t for me, she would’ve been ditched wherever her no-good parents would have dumped her body.”
If it wasn’t thanks to him? What did he mean by that?
“Trey!” Mahogany shouted and stomped over to him. She stood in front of him with her arms on her hips and glared at him. The gold thread that I saw connecting to them was there, and it moved as Mahogany did.“Moa, what happened to you?” I asked, interrupting her. She turned to look at me and crossed her arms behind her back. Her cheeks turned red, and she looked off to the side.
“...Well, I died, and Trey brought me back,” she said, and her gaze looked back at me again.
I stared at her with my mouth agape.
“D-Died?” I asked. I looked over at Trey. “You brought her back?”
Trey glared at me and shrugged.
“I did something when you failed to. We don’t need you, and frankly, never needed you. It was always you and Alessander, anyway.”
“Trey, this isn’t how I wanted our last goodbye to be,” Mahogany said, frowning. The thread that connected them to one another waivered, but it didn’t break.
“What is there really to remember here, Mahogany? You hated it and your parents; at least, they will finally be of use.”
I furrowed my brows, not understanding what he meant by that, and looked over at her adoptive sleeping family. There was something off about the way they soundlessly stayed in the same position.
“Moa, what did you do?”
“Hm? I didn’t do anything. Not really. I only absorbed their pain and negativity so they could finally stop being jackasses—can’t you see how peaceful they look?” she exclaimed with a broad smile on her face. “Now, they can actually help by fueling me however I desire.”
And that’s when it hit me. I should’ve realized when I noticed the first time that this Mahogany didn’t seem right.
She wasn’t happy, she just didn’t care.
What if Trey only brought her physical body back and the essence that made Mahogany no longer existed because she no longer existed?
I stepped backward. My body went rigid and cold. I stared dead-eyed at the two of them. Mahogany smiled, but it wasn’t at me. The door opened, and the chill brought me out of my dazed state.
I turned around to see Alessander stepping through the door, and his eyes widened as he saw Mahogany. He then looked at Trey and to the possibly dead family on the floor before speaking,
“...Mahogany? You’re alive?”
Mahogany beamed. “In the flesh. How are you, Alessander?” she said with her arms stretched out to hug him, but I blocked her path. She furrowed her brows and pursed her lips.
“D-Don’t come near him,” I said. I wasn’t sure what I was doing or why I was nervous. This wasn’t Mahogany, not really, it wasn’t my Moa; it only had her face.
“And you see? She discards you again, like always. Okay, enough is enough,” Trey said and got up. He walked over to Mahogany and grabbed her hand. “We’re leaving, and we aren’t coming back, so you don’t have to be scared of us.”
For a moment, Trey’s eyes cast down as if hurt. The burning sensation from guilt built in my chest, but his expression quickly disappeared. Trey shouldered past Alessander and dragged Mahogany outside, leaving Alessander and me alone.
“Hira, what the hell is going on? I thought I might have been crazy seeing her at the party. Is she really dead?”
“She is, I think. They’re both Awakeners and Trey managed to bring her back, I’m guessing that’s his ability, but I don’t think that’s her. All of her, anyway.”
Alessander blinked several times, but didn’t say anything. I’m guessing he was probably trying to process what I told him.
“And what happened to her family?”
I frowned and looked over at them, still motionless.
“Mahogany absorbed their pain and negativity, but I have a feeling she absorbed an extension of their life, as well. They’re tethered together, so all of the pain and negativity gets split into her—”
“—And Trey,” Alessander finished my sentence. “And if he can bring back Mahogany from the dead, he could probably kill things too.”
I frowned. I knew that there was now a strain between Trey and me that probably would never lessen, but I didn’t want to think that my friend could be a murderer.
“Don’t give me that look, Hira. I love Mahogany as much as you do, but what both of them are doing is wrong.”
Alessander went outside, I followed after them. Trey and Mahogany were standing at the corner, possibly waiting for a cab.
“Trey!” Alessander shouted at the top of his lungs. He stepped off the porch and around the corner to meet him. “You need to stop this, now.”
I rushed over to Alessander’s side. I could see he was heated, but we didn’t know the extent of Trey’s powers.
Trey sighed and met Alessander’s gaze. “What do you want?”
“You know what I want. What you’re doing? It’s not right. I miss Mahogany too, but bringing her back to life won’t actually bring her back. Whatever you did bring back is putting something dark inside of you, can’t you see that?”
Trey gritted his teeth and clutched Mahogany’s hand. She grabbed onto his shoulder.
“Don’t fucking lecture me, Alessander, because you know damn well that you would give anything to bring back the person that you love. Wouldn’t you bring back Benny? Or your dad?” He then looked at me, and it was like someone punctured my lungs, making it hard to breathe.
“Mahogany is all I have. I don’t have any family like you do. My own brother was only waiting for me to get out of his house.” His eyes were watery with pain and anguish. “The world is sick and unfair. You can try to make it through this godforsaken planet, but for me, for most people, what is the point of being here if you don’t have someone that makes this shitty life bearable?”
Alessander and I were quiet. Trey laughed and shook his head.
“I told you before, Hira, and I’m telling you again—If I can make the world pay for its unjust ways, I will, and spare those who want a second chance; the living and the dead.”
I stepped forward and said, “Trey, you don’t know what you’re messing with. There’s this—�
��
He held up his hand, cutting me off. “Save it.”
My heart fell in its chest as my words fell on deaf ears. A van stopped in front of us and four SWAT members jumped out of the door.
“What the—”
I didn’t see where it had come from, but a shockwave shot out toward Trey and Mahogany. Trey screamed in agony before dropping into the snow, but Mahogany was unfazed. However, one of the men grabbed Trey and the other secured Mahogany by the arms, dragging them to the van.
“Hey!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, but before I could reach the vehicle one of the men grabbed me by the arm.
“Hira!” Alessander called, but he was silenced when one of the SWAT men butted him on the side of the head with the gun. Alessander collapsed on the ground.
My eyes widened and stared at Alessander, thankful that he was still breathing. I turned to the SWAT guy that held my wrist.
“Let me go!” I shouted, but he didn’t listen, keeping hold of me until a familiar woman’s voice rang through my ears.
Alina Mulgrave stepped out of the van, her hand pulsating with static electricity.
“B-But how? I didn’t sense you,” I said, befuddled to see she wielded powers.
“Oh, surprised?” Alina said, smiling. “I no longer need my research, or even that of my ex-husband’s. I’ve taken into consideration this idea of people gaining abilities because of their ‘deepest desires’ and, what do you know, it wasn’t such a farce after all. I can now extract the powers from every Awakener I have acquired in my lab, conscious or not. Who needs a cure when you can have all the power at your fingertips? I no longer need you, Hira, but you and your little boyfriend will be the Dark Ordinance’s problem when they find you.”
I gritted my teeth. “You’re sick!” But those were the last words I said, because with a swipe of Alina’s hand I was flung backward into the pavement. Dazed and confused, I struggled to get up, and could only watch as Alina got in the vehicle with her SWAT team. She smiled and waved to me as the doors closed.
