Breaking Away (The Man in the Shadows) (14 page)

Looking around at each of them, he was overcome with joy. Each of them was so beautiful in their own way, and he knew he had done a great thing by creating them all on this wonderful planet he had dubbed Monde de Lumière. He, being an imperfect human himself, did not see the inherent flaw in his plan. Longing for peace and happiness, he placed all of his trust in each soul; he assumed each person that lived would want to live for the good of all the others. He knew nothing of corruption, greed, or evil. Losing one soul would be detrimental to his plan, and he had no idea how easy it would be for one soul to break away, unknowing...

And thus is the myth of our creation.

***

“So, wish us a ladder.”

“Do you even see a ceiling, or a door, or you know,
anything
?”

“Wish us some climbing gear.”

“I don’t think it’s that simple...”

“Wish us the ability to fly!”

“I simply can’t do that.”

Exasperated, Zareh huffed, “What can you do then??”

“NOT MUCH!” Ethan turned from her, embarrassed that he exploded like he did. He felt funny having told someone about his powers, his deepest and darkest secret, and even worse for not being able to get the both of them out of this dark cellar. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I feel helpless is all.”

Zareh bit the inside of her cheek and replied, “Can you tell me why your power is limited?”

Ethan thought about this for a second before responding. “I’d rather not.”

“Why?” she insisted, cracking her knuckles in frustration. “Why can’t you?” Raising her voice, she shouted, “Why did you even tell me you have magical powers in the first place?”

“You need to quit yelling at me, first of all,” Ethan said, rolling his eyes to himself, hiding how upset he was getting. He rubbed his hand on his cheek, feeling the scruffiness that now resided there. “Fine, Zareh, if you want to know, I’ll tell you. What harm will it do? We’re trapped here; hell, we might even die here!”

“Don’t say that,” she whispered.

“It’s because I need to combine my powers with this... other person’s... in order to do anything significant with them. It’s like when I was given powers, they put a cap on it, sorta like a speed governor on a car.” Sighing, he said, “And I have this sinking feeling that...” Lowering his voice, he scooted close to her, urgently. “...
he
is the one that put us here. Something has been fishy lately, and I have this feeling he’s up to it.”

“What?” Her voice suddenly rose an octave, sounding more upbeat, as if her hope had been temporarily restored. “Why would he be up to something?”

“I’m not sure...” he said, deep in thought.

“Who is...
he
... anyway?” Zareh said, looking around. She suddenly felt like she had eyes on her. Squirming, she felt uncomfortable with this. “Do you think he could be watching us... right now?” Her voice cracked slightly, fear boiling up in her throat.

“He might... he’s mysterious. Even I don’t know much about him.” Zareh thrust her hand over Ethan’s mouth, pushing him back against the wall in a burst. Eyes wide, he glared over at her, and saw the fear evident on her face. “Hrmph?” he muffled through her tense fingers.

“Whoever he is... I think he’s here.”

She stood up, leaving Ethan wordless against the wall. She felt defiant, entitled, proud, and best of all, feisty. “Hey, Mr. Mysterious!” she called into the blank slate before her eyes, tauntingly. “How about you tell us why we’re here?” She looked up, spreading out her arms as if she were a hawk, and laughed. “No. Let me rephrase that. Why the
fuck
are we here? And why do we have strange energies and powers...?”

“
We?
” Ethan inquired in a hum, like what one would hear on a quiet spring day from the overhead power lines. Zareh didn’t hear him, and continued to talk to the person she somehow knew was there.

“I know you’re here,” she said, turning around in a half circle, her arms still spread wide. “I could always feel your eyes on me... like you were waiting for the right time to pounce. All these years you’ve been sucking the life force out of me... Oh, yeah, I know! I fade... my body
fades
from time to time, did you think I would just overlook that little detail?”

As sharply as a thunderclap she thrust her hands up against the stone wall in front of her, then turned around and repeated the action on the wall behind her. All in all, she and Ethan only had about ten square feet at the bottom of this chasm to play with, and she banged and thrust her hands upon the enclosure, one side and then the other, furiously until her fingers and arms throbbed. The rage boiled over, and her eyes almost glowed in the dark. Ethan thought they looked on the brink of turning red in the doom.

Screaming now, she raised her hands straight up in the air, towards the infinite ceiling, her wild hair flying to the sides, her beautiful face transforming into something nasty, bordering on turning into a monster, or a werewolf. “I don’t know who you are, or what you want... But you’ve taken over my life! You’ve taken over Maika’s life! And now I’ve found out that you’ve taken over Ethan’s life! Tell me why! NOW! SHOW YOURSELF!!”

Even before her final scream of rage and contempt dissipated, their surroundings changed. The transformation was like they had been placed in front of a green screen and a technician just pressed a button to change what was reflected on it. They were no longer in a dark, dismal dungeon. They were in a an immeasurable, ample hall.

Rage turned to fear just as quickly in Zareh’s mind, and she turned around, frantically looking for Ethan. Thank God, he was transported with her. Still in the position he was assuming when their surroundings had changed, like he was leaning up against a wall, and he dramatically fell backwards, because there was now nothing to lean against. She knelt beside him, cowering, her flesh creeping. “Are you okay?” she said to him, full of care.

“Yes...” He shook his head shortly, and his eyes darted from one corner of the room to the other. The room was of the likes he had never seen. “What happened?”

On the verge of tears, Zareh answered, “I don’t know.” She linked his arm in the crook of hers, feeling that a physical connection would help them understand this interesting turn of events more. “But... I think I understand why the three of us are connected. We all have... powers...”

“What did you mean that Maika’s life has been taken over by this?”

“She never told you?”

“I guess not...” Ethan’s brain felt scrambled, but he thought he would remember if Maika had told him something of that magnitude. Why did he feel betrayed? He never told her that
he
had powers, either.

“She’s had... visitors. People whisper to her from the darkness. There has been one person who has spoken to her for her entire life, though she’s never seen him. Not long after her dad died, he began talking to her, too.” Zareh smiled, remembering the pleasant feeling she had when she and Maika had had this exchange. She had been relieved, like she wasn’t alone in her plight. “She only told me, because I told her that I... I fade.”

Ethan shook his head, suddenly hit with the feeling that he had been holding his breath too long. He used Zareh’s arm as an anchor and pulled himself up to a full sitting position, looking into her eyes like an infant looks up into his mother’s eyes. “It seems too much a coincidence for...”

“For what, Sir Ethan?”

The voice boomed as if amplified from a 125 decibel megaphone. Cringing, both Zareh and Ethan fell back from the blast, covering their ears, unlocking their arms to do so. They tried to scream, but only silence resonated from their vocal chords. Before them, the floor seemed to pulsate with the beat of an unseen heart. The immeasurable floor was made of marble tile, and each tile was made of a different color, making it appear like dark soil covered with autumn leaves. The ceilings were endlessly high and made of carved stone. Painted on the curved surfaces were scenes featuring vials and urns, water and ghosts.

Enmity and hatred took Ethan over, listening but not truly hearing the blaring voice. “....You!” The word crescendoed from the depths of his lungs, out over his tongue, and rang forth as loud as he could muster, all the way to the far fringe of the great hall. At the far end stood a large throne, a wooden frame covered in velvet adornments. Upon the throne, sat a tall, thin man, with a calm face that was out of place and comical considering the circumstances. After hearing Ethan’s cry, he strummed his fingers on the arm of his chair intolerantly.

“Are you done?” he answered on edge, vehemently. “I’m losing my patience.”

“You? YOU are losing your patience?” Ethan said, jumping to his feet, leaning forward, and dashing towards the shining throne. Without warning, his feet were taken out from beneath him, as if an invisible leg stuck out to trip him, and he was flipped violently to his stomach and chest, the wind knocked out of him instantly. He struggled for breath, gasping, grasping at his rib cage.

“Sir Ethan, you know that you cannot talk to me in such a manner.” The man on the throne stood, his long hair falling to his back in waves like the ocean, his eyes narrowed to slits, his lips pressed together so hard they almost vanished. Raising his staff, a blue lightning bolt flew out of it with the speed of a thousand horses, paralyzing Ethan so he couldn’t talk or move. “There. You shall not speak or move unless you’re told explicitly to do so.” His evil face showed a hint of pleasure at this. “Remember our agreement.” Slowly turning his eyes in Zareh’s direction, she crawled backward, cowering at his gaze, his eyes as frightening as an oncoming semi truck.

“Don’t be afraid, dear girl,” he cooed, uncharacteristically gentle and kind. “I do not want to hurt you.”

“You don’t want to,” she muttered, her voice wavering with fear. “But w, will you?”

“No... no, dear girl,” he said, taking one step forward, carefully followed by another. In a flash of bright light, he was in front of her on the third step, teleported over 1500 feet. She jumped. His voice clearer now, he said, “I know you did not ask for this.”

“This?” She didn’t want to talk, for fear of what he might say in response, but she couldn’t stop her mouth from vocalizing the thoughts nagging at her brain. “I don’t even know what
this
is.”

“And you don’t have to,” he panted, softly. His expression lightened at the sight of her, and his eyes looked her over briefly, as one looks over cuts of meat at the market. “You can know this one bit of information. I have a name, and you should know it. High Lord Jamlamin Tarmikos, at your service. You, my pretty girl, can call me Lamin.”

Still cowering backward, and trying to subtly inch further away, Zareh studied his face. He looked to be in about his sixties, but it was hard to tell, as his hair and eyebrows were still a deep black. His eyes were a peculiar color, as she hadn’t met anyone with eyes quite like his: they were violet, with flecks of blue. The face that surrounded them was thin, too thin, like he was verging on unhealthy. Creased and leathery skin sat firmly on his cheeks; it was a flat shade of tan-grey, with spots scattered every so often on the surface, as if he spent too much time in the sun in his younger years. His cheek bones protruded sharply high on his face, and it tapered off in a triangular chin. Thick eyebrows outlined his lovely eyes, they seemed to naturally have an upward angle, making him look intrinsically evil. But now, as he gazed down at her, timidly offering her his hand, he looked kind, almost appealing, like her mere presence in front of him changed him into a different person entirely.

“Lamin...” Zareh croaked, her jaw chattering nervously. Instinctually, her gaze was drawn up to the staff he held in his left hand. It was made of a hearty, dark wood that looked like polished granite. At the top, the wood wrapped around a clear crystal, so flawless it looked like a fake stone made of plastic that one would find in a gag shop at the mall. As she stared at this crystal, it called to her, like the universe was kept in that stone and it begged at her soul to come fly away, to become one with the stars and vast blanket of black. Something came over her, forgetting altogether about Ethan paralyzed on the floor before her, and she let out a sigh. Her muscles relaxed, and she took Lamin’s hand.

Chapter Six

They sat in silence, staring out at the swirling, morphing sky. Slowly, the clouds drifted by the window in their endless pursuit of infinity, as the sun made its daily journey closer and closer to kiss the horizon. He and she were completely still as if they were in a painted portrait, expressions glazed over, the sun and clouds reflecting in their eyes like polished marbles. James sat on the floor, his back leaning against his sturdy work desk, and Maika was sitting cross-legged in his desk chair.

“There’s only one explanation,” James muttered to himself after an expanse of time passed. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

Maika came out of her daze at the sound of his voice, and turned her head to look at him. The dim purple light cast his face in violet and blue, like a filtered lens on a camera, and the bent light made him look like he was a character taken out of a silent movie. His body didn’t move an inch, but his lips did, as he continued, “The door. It’s not what it seems.”

“What?” Maika asked, her throat dry from not speaking for so long, and her voice cracked. She cleared her throat and repeated louder, “What?”

“The door,” he said, becoming conscious of what he was saying, blinking a couple of times. “I’ve been told my entire life, by my parents and by political leaders and by my military leaders, that the door is magic and controlled by the souls that don’t have a body yet. I was told that if you went through the door from our side and it shut, that you couldn’t return.” His eyes pierced hers, his pupils tiny from staring into the light. He looked troubled by this, yet declared, “It’s all been a lie. The door isn’t controlled by souls. Or the High Lord. Or anyone else.”