Authors: Lynnie Purcell
The top of the building was typical; hard concrete and a short ledge separating the top from the long fall down. It was empty, deserted. I scanned the roofline but there was no sign of people on any of the roofs across from us. Reaper moved to the opposite side of the building and looked down. His body language immediately changed. Daniel and I hurried over to see what he saw.
Two groups were in the middle of an alley without windows. One group was larger – better armed than the second group. Seekers. With them, were zombie-Watchers, who looked only barely contained by the Seekers. The other group was Reaper’s people. Despite being outnumbered and outclassed, the Saints were prepared to die fighting. My heart started to beat quicker at the sight of them. Their bravery impressed me. With the raised tempo of my heartbeat came new emotion in my chest. I was angry, I was tired, and I was done letting Marcus bully us. We had spent too long hiding from him. It was time to fight back. It was time to show him his actions would not be tolerated.
Without thinking, I moved to the ledge and let gravity work its magic. I fell swiftly to the hard ground and landed between the two groups just as the Seekers were preparing to attack. The pavement cracked with my hit. Both groups looked at me in shock. Neither had noticed our arrival – they had been too focused on the impending violence.
“Leave now, and I’ll let you live,” I said to the Seekers.
The Seekers looked me over once then laughed at me. Their laughter made rounds in the alley. I was not the sort of threat that worried them. I shrugged once at the laughter and let the anger move through my body. It was more controlled anger – emotion that focused my abilities and talents in a productive way.
“I warned you,” I said.
I pulled the knife out of my boot and moved to the twenty or so Seekers with grace I was still getting used to. I felt the training the historian had pounded in to me work its magic subconsciously. I did not have to think about my movements, they flowed naturally.
I met the first Seeker with a flash of blade against flesh. My knife cut in to him before he could wipe the smirk off his face. The other Seekers lost their mirth as he fell to the earth. I moved on to the next one before the man had even hit the ground. I moved from one Seeker to the next. My attack was swift, to the point. I was beyond fighting fair. Time felt stopped. There was nothing but everything, and the feel of my body dancing through the enemies in front of me. None of the Seekers I faced used their talents. They were young. The shock held them in their place. The zombie-Watchers were the easiest to face. I blasted them out of my way with fire. Their shrieks filled the air. The last living Seeker held up her hands as I reached her; her face was full of terror. I was angry, but my necklace burned a reminder in to my skin. Compassion. She deserved it, even if she would not have returned in kind.
I stopped moving forward, though my whole body trembled with the desire to finish the job. It took all of my willpower to keep my place.
“Go,” I commanded her.
She did not need to be told twice. She ran off down the street without a backwards glance. Her feet took her from our sight before I had time to catch up to the carnage I had caused. For the first time in my life, I felt no guilt at what I had done. The logic in my brain refused to let the emotions have their way. It had been necessary. I had tempered anger with compassion.
I turned back to the others and saw that they were watching me. They were frozen in various forms of aggression. Daniel and Reaper were the only ones not reaching for their weapons, but their faces also suggested their shock. They were still on top of the building, looking down at me.
“What?” I asked Daniel, who could not seem to stop staring.
“Um…” Daniel looked to Reaper for help.
“How about we get out of here, before that girl brings backup,” Reaper suggested, instead of answering.
“Sounds good,” I replied.
Reaper and Daniel exchanged a meaningful look that I had no doubt was about what they had just witnessed and jumped off the building to join us. Their landing was smooth, though it too dented the hard pavement. Reaper pointed at the bodies of the Seekers surrounding me.
“You should burn them,” Reaper said.
“Oh…” I said. “Of course.”
I moved away from the bodies and held out my hand. The fire was not difficult to find. It felt tied in to my anger now – and I had plenty of that to spare. I released the deluge and the bodies, as well as the blood, quickly disappeared from the alley. My task finished, I held out my hand to the group. The Saints who were less familiar with me were hesitant to touch me, fearing what my hands could do, but Reaper nodded encouragingly. It was a nod to remind them that I was on their side. They finally touched my hand, and I felt a whirlwind of their amazement, pride and ultimate fear. Those emotions haunting me, I pulled them in to the world of the in-between, to take them to the city made of vines. To take them home.
The first city was not our only stop. It was not our only rescue mission.
After I dropped the first group off at the vine-made platform, Reaper shared another nameless city with me. We quickly fell in to a pattern of rescue, retrieve and return to the city to drop the survivors off. Some of the Saints were in similar situations when we found them – others were simply waiting with worried expressions; they had been hunted by the Seekers but had fought their own battles and had emerged victorious. Whenever there were Seekers to be fought, I reacted without thought. Many of the Seekers kept zombie-Watchers with them. It was always disturbing to face the dead. Each time it brought shivers to my body.
Daniel and Reaper grew used to my fighting, though the Saints I rescued maintained varying levels of shock and awe. I did not try to explain myself to them, or make them understand, I just did what needed to be done. Reaper and Daniel were my constant allies in the fight. They understood. They did what they could to help.
City after city passed in a blur of rescuing, fighting and reclaiming the Saints Reaper had lost contact with over the course of a day. With each new city, a clearer picture of what was going on the world formed. News followed us. The news was not good.
The Seekers were starting to show themselves in public. They were not shy about the violence they caused or letting the zombie-Watchers be seen. Panic based in confusion and fear was starting to spread among the humans. People were being killed in the streets. Seekers were spreading violence to the world. There was news of riots, of regular people taking advantage of the chaos to loot and hurt. There was more news of Seekers hunting down innocent Watchers and murdering them and their families in the streets. The police were helpless against the force of Seekers. They could not stop them; they did not know how to respond. People slow to keep up with the Seekers. The chaos was spreading. Marcus’ bombings were just the beginning. His mission had been fear – and he was succeeding.
The news of the attacks and riots were frustrating. There was little we could do in the face of these reports. We could not track down every Seeker in every city in the world and expect to make it out alive every time. Dividing our forces only made us vulnerable. The Seekers outnumbered us; that number would only grow if we tried to fight back with split forces. We could only save the Saints and hope that killing Marcus would end the attacks.
I lost track of the number of people we saved and the cities we visited. They were all the same. They were all filled with bad news and fear. It was day when Reaper finally spoke of King and Preacher again.
“This is the last of my people,” Reaper said, as a group of fifteen stepped out from the shadows of a building to meet us.
Some of them looked scared; they were the Watchers the Saints had saved from the Seekers’ wrath. The Saints who had rescued them looked angry. They had seen the damage of the Seekers firsthand. They were all too aware of the darkness that was spreading around the world.
“Let’s take them back to camp then go see about King and Preacher,” Reaper commanded.
“Sounds good to me,” I replied.
“We should be cautious,” Daniel added. “Marcus will have people watching the terrain.”
“It might be best to bring Serenity along,” Reaper admitted grudgingly. “She can keep us from being noticed.”
“If she’s healed,” I said.
“She should be,” Daniel replied.
“Fine,” I replied.
I stuck out my hands, in what was becoming a habitual gesture, and felt the pull of the darkness. When we appeared on the platform, it was surrounded by curious Watchers waiting to hear more of the outside world. Daylight was gently streaming in through the cracks in the vines, but even it was not enough truly to brighten the vine city that had been created under the canopy. The gentle light was enough for my advanced eyes.
It was enough light to see Alex and Eli walking up the long winding stairs together. It was enough to see Reaper’s consequent reaction when he saw Alex’s hand tucked around Eli’s arm. It was enough to see her happy expression. Reaper’s eyes hardened and I felt a swift, hurt anger surround his senses. He turned away from the sight and focused on the room Serenity had been taken to heal. I stared at Alex, wondering if she had made her choice. Her eyes widened when she saw Reaper’s reaction, and she pulled her hand away from Eli’s arm. She had not expected to be caught being affectionate with him. She finally looked at me. Her blue eyes were full of fear that she had made a mistake. My eyes narrowed as I looked at her, but I could not tell what mistake she had made.
Reaper knocked on the outside of Serenity’s room harder than was warranted. The whole platform shook with his aggression. Serenity did not take long to step out. Her face unscarred, her body completely healed from the fight, she walked outside with her normal, casual swish of her hips.
“Yes, darling?” Serenity asked Reaper.
“I need a favor,” Reaper replied in a grouchy voice.
“Yes?” Serenity asked.
“We’re going to get Preacher and King from Israel,” Reaper said. “I was wondering if you could help us with your talent. I am uncertain who will be watching.”
“Of course,” Serenity replied. “I can get some of the nine’s warriors to come with us, if you need a fighting force.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Reaper said. “We have Clare.”
Serenity frowned at me but did not argue with Reaper’s words. She accepted his choice easily. She stepped closer to me. Reaper followed her. His eyes turned cold as they switched back to Alex. I had never seen Reaper look more like a human man. There was no leader of Watchers – there was just a man consumed by anger and hurt.
Deciding an argument was close, I held out my hands to Serenity, Reaper and Daniel. They took them swiftly, and I pulled us back in the world of darkness. As I did, I felt Alex’s stare trail after us as much as the fire from the explosion in New York. It was hard not to feel the full weight of her x-ray stare, even over the distance we were traveling. The weight of Reaper on my hand as we moved was heavy – it was as if he was fighting the pull onward. His mind remained on the platform, with Alex.
Chapter 17
The mountains of Israel were fully lit with the bright sun that was hanging overhead. It was farther along here than in the rainforest, brightening our task, but making it easier for others to see us as well.
Serenity pulled her gift around us as we landed. I did not feel any different, but I could sense the change. When I looked down, there was nothing but cracked rock and dry, dusty sand. My body was missing. I allowed a moment to deal with the strangeness of the sight then I took stock of the feel of the others touch against mine. They were all still holding on to my hand.
Do we need to stay touching to keep up the illusion?
I asked Serenity.
No,
she replied.
But it is best if we stay close to one another.
Fine,
I replied.
Which way?
I asked Reaper.
Straight ahead,
he replied.
They should be somewhere near that mountain.
Okay.
I let go of their hands, all except Daniel, who kept his hand in mine. I could tell he felt more comfortable knowing for sure that I was nearby. I felt the same comfort.
We walked across the landscape, our eyes peeled for any sign of Preacher or King. As I walked, I felt a strange feeling in my gut. It was the feeling of familiarity. I knew the mountain range and the feeling of the sun against my skin. The landscape was not as foreign as I had always imagined. It was almost…home.
My eyes searched the horizon for some sign of my friends. I knew that Preacher could have any number of illusions up to keep us from finding them, ones that could lead us in to any number of dangerous situations. I hoped he would see us before the illusions caught up with us.
We walked to the mountain. A harsh wind followed us as we walked. It filled the air with sound, making it impossible to hear very far in the distance, even with our super hearing abilities. Daniel kept an eye on the future as we walked – he tried to see everything that would happen. The weight of his mind searching time was not as strong as it had been when I was human. Part of my brain watched with him. The other part kept an eye on the present, expecting the details surrounding us to tell me where King and Preacher were hiding…if they were hiding at all.