After Dawn (Book 3 of the Into the Shadows Trilogy) (2 page)

*

“How’s everything going there?” Paivi asked Torsten. She sat in his hotel room late that night. She could get used to this zipping around by astral travel. Each visit she made got easier and easier. It was too simple to just direct the energy and her thoughts where she wanted to go.

She tried to check in with someone every night or two to keep them posted on her situation. Not that much changed in the camp. Tonight she dropped in on her little brother, although she would have rather visited Jason Santos. If it were a normal world, she would maybe call Jason a boyfriend. But their world was far from normal and knowing he was there for her was all she could ask for.

“It’s going well, but I’m getting nervous. We’re all spread out now. Sterling and Seamus went east to work with the groups along the Texas-Mexico border.” He cracked his knuckles. “Christian and Jason went over to Nogales, and I’m working here with General Ortiz with the refugees between here and Tijuana.”

He raised his head and his eyes met Paivi’s. They were ringed with ever-present dark circles. “I don’t know how you do it, day in, day out. I’m freaking out. I’m not nearly as talented as you guys, I only just figured out I had an ability when we were in Nepal. And now I’m supposed to teach people?” he asked.

Paivi stepped around a coffee table, sitting down next to her brother on the couch. She slipped her arm around his shoulder and squeezed, hard. It still amazed her that her sleeping body lay back in the camp and that she could make her energy into a tangible being here in Mexicali.

“You are doing a great job! You’re not even fourteen yet.” She scratched her head. “Or are you? I don’t even know what day it is anymore.”

He smiled, the grin chasing away some of the shadows on his face. “It’s in two weeks. Am I seriously only going to be fourteen? I swear I’m twenty-five.”

“You could probably pass for it.” She laughed.

“Your birthday was yesterday, now that you mention it. Happy birthday, sis.” He turned and pulled her into a hug.

“Yeah, birthdays. Whatever, right? At fifteen I should be all excited about getting my learner’s permit and going to dances with boys. But that didn’t quite work out, did it?” She snorted and wiggled out of his hug.

“I promise that when this is all over, we’ll have a big party just to celebrate everything we’ve missed. A giant birthchristmaseasterhalloween party.” Torsten leaned back into the couch cushions. “You’ll buy me presents, right?”

“Yeah, with all my oodles of cash.” She laughed. “So have they told you yet? How long until we’re ready to launch?” Paivi absently shoved some old pop cans on the coffee table into the middle. “You may want to clean this place up a bit.”

Torsten threw her a dirty look. “No word yet. General Ortiz seems to be on top of the situation. El Presidente was here the other day, checking out the defenses, from what the general said.”

El Presidente. Paivi had yet to meet Juan Ernesto Salinas, but so far the others had only good things to say about him.

“I’m gonna keep working with my group, hopefully Sterling, Christian, or Seamus will come back soon to teach them something more. I’m so not good at this.” Torsten shook his head.

“Look, bro, you’ve got this. Remember, you’re going to be president of the United States someday. Master Song said. Better get your leadership on now. Just work as hard as you can and do your best.” She patted him on the arm and rose from the couch. She still had to try and figure out the mountain. Not that she’d tell Torsten that. He had plenty on his mind as it was.

“All right, thanks for the pep talk.” He held out his hand and Paivi grasped it, squeezing. “See you in a few nights?”

“Yep. You know the drill. Only contact me if it’s an emergency. We can’t be drawing any attention at the camp and too many of the others know how to read what you send from the locket,” she said.

“I know, I know.” He met her eyes again. “Hey sis, I love you. Tell Mom I love her too. Have you seen Dad yet?”

“Not yet. They’ve still got him locked down somewhere. And Tor, I love you too. Don’t worry. We’ll make this work. I promise.”

*

Paivi gasped and sucked in a breath, rolling over in her bed. She tried not to wake Molly. The only problem with astral travel was the feeling of being dumped back into your body when it was over. She worried others in their bunk might notice, but silent nights were not to be had when four women were crammed in each bunk.

Many women around the room tossed and turned in their sleep, some crying out to people they had lost long ago. The room was stuffy, very little air moved through the small windows. Paivi refolded her thin scrap of a blanket into a pillow and fluffed it up as best she could.

She was amazed that the smell of so many unwashed souls crammed in one room no longer bothered her. The first few nights, the stench of unwashed humans nearly choked her. One day she realized it just didn’t bother her like it used to. Probably because she was the smell. They all were.

Camp life was a lot to adjust to. Even though they had showers, it was no more than a trickle of cold water. There was no shampoo and just a communal bar of soap. She longed for a razor, god forbid anyone see her armpits or legs up close.

She smiled as she thought of a nice, hot shower. Sudsy soap and a new razor. That’s all she needed to be happy. And her family and friends. Soon enough, soon enough.

An image of her dad crossed her mind. She’d struggled to find him in the camp over the last couple of weeks, but it was like he had disappeared. Her mom hadn’t seen him in a while. She remembered her last image of him, an old vision of a hulking guard with the gravelly voice was beating him mercilessly in a shack. That was months ago. 

As much as she desperately wanted to travel into the mountain, she felt it was time to find him instead.

Chapter 3

Paivi’s heavy eyelids fell, but she didn’t drift off to sleep. Instead she entered the in-between, the space in her mind where she could access her visions. Months ago she struggled to hold on to her sanity as the universe threatened to overwhelm her with visions she couldn’t control. But after Nepal and meeting Master Gendun in Lhasa, she was in complete control of them.

She slipped across the large warehouse space in her mind, outfitted with boxes in which she hid images she didn’t need. There was one door, of heavy wood, carved with intricate Tibetan designs that stood directly in front of her.

The door had evolved as she had. Once, it had been non-descript. Just a door. But now it represented her time in Nepal and all she had learned there. It had left its mark in more ways than one.

Paivi’s fingers traced the white design on the door. Iron bars framed the delicate Tibetan diamonds, made of tiny twisted squares. Golden images of the Buddha and a prayer wheel graced some of the other squares. Her hand found the golden ring of a doorknob that was held in the mouth of a lion’s head. It was time to find him. She just hoped he was out there to find.

She pushed the door open and it flew outward as if caught by a gust of wind. Her feet rested precariously on the edge of the doorway. The inky black universe spread out before her, sprinkled with the light of stars. Milky solar systems swirled in the distance.

She pictured her dad in her mind as she had known him, tall, strong, and blond. In her memory he wore his navy blue St. Andrew’s police uniform. With a deep breath, she jumped. Her feet hit the floor with a whisper. This was nowhere in the camp that she had seen before.

The room around her was spotless and empty. If anyone could have seen her, she’d look like a giant smudge of dirt on a pristine floor. The linoleum floors were so polished the shine hurt her eyes. The fluorescent lights threw silver shadows on stainless steel instruments that hung from one wall. Paivi stepped forward to investigate, running a ghostly finger across a jagged piece. Each edge so sharp that she could hardly believe it didn’t cut the air around her finger.

She wheeled around. A gurney graced the middle of the room, straps on it waiting for its next prisoner. A series of computer equipment and machines graced the opposite wall.

The door clicked and someone shoved it open.

“Come now, JA110838. This should be very simple this time. Any resistance and you will get the taser again.” A tall orderly dressed all in white led a man through the door.

Or the husk of a man.

Covered in a white smock, his arms and legs stuck out like twigs. His skin wrapped around his bones so tightly it looked painted on. Frail wisps of gray hair clung to the top of his head. His jaw was slack, ragged breath slipping through his lips. Eyes wide and unblinking, he shuffled through the door on bare feet and followed the orderly obediently to the gurney.

“Daddy,” Paivi whispered to no one.

Her agony was so immense she could hardly keep on her feet. Her heart exploded into a hundred pieces as she recognized the graying shadow of a face that she had looked into for so many years. She pressed her hands to her chest, fighting to keep the energy at bay that boiled beneath the surface.

She needed to go to him, to help him.

To save him.

Paivi’s dad sat on the gurney and allowed the orderly to swing his legs up. He lay on the table and the orderly clicked the restraints into place. His wide eyes stared at the ceiling into the white surgical light above him.

“Dr. Todesengel will be in shortly.” The orderly pushed the door open and disappeared into the hallway.

Paivi stepped toward the gurney, running her transparent fingers along her dad’s arm. His head tilted slightly in her direction and he stared at something past her head. With sunken eyes and protruding cheekbones, her dad’s face was no more than skin stretched over a hideous skeleton.

The door flew open, and Paivi jumped and eased back from the gurney. A short man with dark hair and thick eyebrows pushed in, followed by two younger men and a young woman. They all wore white lab coats over blue scrubs.

The short man said nothing to her dad and spoke only to the other lab coats. “Today’s experiment will involve some electric shock.” His words were coated in a thick accent.

Paivi couldn’t place it.

“Dr. Todesengel, it appears the machine is warmed up. Would you like me to hook up the experiment?” the young woman asked.

“Yes, Sylvia, please do. And be sure to turn the amp up to the highest setting. This brain has shown the most resistance. But I will see what is inside, if I have to carve it open myself and have a look.” Dr. Todesengel smiled, his toothy grin more like a grimace.

A chill trickled down Paivi’s spine. She mentally photographed his face, down to the gap in his teeth. She would never forget him. And she was going to make certain he would never forget her.

The two young men attached electrodes to her dad’s head, as well as two patches hooked to wires that were placed at his temples.

“We’ve been able to access visions from the previous subjects’ minds before their brains gave out. But this one, well it’s certainly a tough nut to crack.” Dr. Todesengel chuckled.

Paivi backed away and almost stepped through the computer screen next to her. Multiple screens jumped to life, one showing the electrical current at zero. On the other, a black line raced across the bottom and showed very little activity, only a minor bump here or there.

Dr. Todesengel took a metal cage that looked like a helmet and affixed it over the head of Paivi’s dad. It was connected to one of the computers. He tightened some of the screws and loosened others. Dusting off his hands, he admired his work. “Now let’s see if we can get some pictures, finally.” He pushed the button on a monitor and the screen glowed blue.

“I’m starting him on the low setting and slowly increasing it, doctor,” Sylvia said from the controls in the corner of the room.