Light (22 page)

“Andrea!” her mom yelled from the tree.

Andrea sighed. “I guess it’s time for bed.” She got up and smiled at me. “Nice to meet you Chas. Have fun for the both of us.”

“Yeah, sure.” I didn’t know what else to say as I watched her figure retreat.

The conversing went on. A couple of men and women stayed and the booze started to flow. It was served in an old bottle that had deer skin around it. For a world where you could create anything, the people in this village sure like things primitive.

Fox sat down next to me on the log.

“You okay?” I asked.

She nodded. “I’ve known Geoff for a long time.”

“Is that the old man?”

She nodded again. “He used to be one of the best Casters our world has ever seen. One of the famous ones too. He was the reason why so many of us joined. They still follow most of his techniques when it comes to overpowering the Shadow Casters. A really smart mind and look at it now. He doesn’t even know what he’s saying anymore.”

“That is so sad. I can’t imagine seeing someone I admired turning into someone I barely recognize anymore.”

She smiled. “It’s fine, it happens to the best of us.”

She got up and went over to a couple of the men on the other side of the fire. The one that spoke to us earlier, warning me of spending way too much time with Pursuers laughed at something she said, and I smiled. She was a likable person.

I sighed and walked back to Joe’s tree. It was quiet. Henry was sitting on a branch high up near the roof, and a small fire was the only thing that was still awake. I figured the rest must have gone to sleep or were still somewhere enjoying the party.

I climbed the stairs that led to the second level. Joe had shown us the rooms we would be sleeping in earlier tonight and I didn’t mind the idea of Fox sharing one with me. I’d really become fond of her these past few weeks.

The room wasn’t very big, but it was beautiful. It didn’t have lights, at least not in the way I was used to back home.

A lantern shone a bright light filling the entire room. It was hanging from a root that grew through the top of the roof. Light danced over the walls and I really wished that I could see it in color.

Two small wooden beds with a dresser and a bathroom, which only had cold water, was enough for tonight.

It somehow reminded me of the secret cabin Mom had trained me in. Not that it was as primitive as the tree house, but it had the same ambience.

I found myself staring out the window. The stars shined through a couple of branches and I couldn’t believe how much they resembled the ones from back home.

I couldn’t get the old man, or what he’d been saying, out of my head.
The light, the light has shadows
. What did he mean by that? Could he see things none of our eyes could see?

I gasped. What if that warning was about me? I was light, as in Light Caster, and the light has shadows. What if the old man was trying to warn Fox and all the others that they’d transported a Shadow Caster into Revera?

My heart was beating so fast. What if I was really only fooling myself, thinking that I could hide what I really was? If there were people here that could sense I was dark, I was only wasting my time and should just give myself up, come clean and tell Fox who my mom really was. That I wasn’t kidnapped, that it was her.

I rolled over onto my side when Leigh’s voice popped into my head.

You can choose Chastity.

He had seen the black sand inside the mirror, clawing its way out of me. He knew and he still thought I had a choice.

The door opened up and Fox walked in, without making a peep. I turned around and she jumped slightly.

We giggled softly.

“Sorry,” I said. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Not many things do, Chas. Except being snuck up on. You can be glad I didn’t pull out my sword.”

I giggled again.

She disappeared into the bathroom while I just stared at the stars shining through the trees.

Black and white or color. It didn’t matter. It was still breathtaking.

When Fox came out she crawled back into bed.

“You should try to get some sleep Chastity. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

Silence filled the room and I remembered another thing that had been bugging me since I walked through that mirror back in the lighthouse.

“Fox?” I asked.

“Uh-huh.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Shoot,” Fox said sleepy. She’d already lain down in her bed.

“Why is Tom the way he is and Joe’s well you know, not like Tom?”

Fox laughed. “I know Tom is quite intimidating, but you need to understand where it is he came from Chastity. He lost both his parents when he was twelve. They were Light Casters that became Seekers. His father was one of the best to retrieve and his mother was one hell of a clever woman. One night, they were sent to retrieve someone like you, a boy that had no idea what he was and it ended up that the boy was a Shadow Caster, so halfway to Revera they were ambushed by Shadow Casters. His parent’s crew put up an amazing fight, lost their Tulas and when his mother died, his father grew so bitter that he turned dark. Selene chucked his ass straight into the Oblivion. If it hadn’t been for Joe, she’d have done the same with Tom.”

“Why? Because his father turned dark?”

“She believes if one parent has the dark gene, the offspring has the gene too.”

“That’s a bit messed up, don’t you think? I mean no disrespect, but people choose whether to be good or bad.”

I couldn’t see Fox’s face but I could tell that she didn’t have a problem with my comment, otherwise she would’ve been all over my ass.

“Go to bed, Chastity. It’s been a long day and tomorrow is going to be even longer.”

“Okay, sure.” I stared back out the window and saw more bright stars as the forest started to quiet down. I didn’t know how long I stared at those stars but I could swear that after a couple of hours I started to see a trail of light sand swimming through the sky. My eyelids became heavy and before I realized it, I was fast asleep.

I WAS AWOKEN BY A SCREAM. IT WAS SO LOUD AND shrill it echoed through the entire village.

Fox jumped out of bed, and by sheer curiosity, I followed her lead.

I saw the backs of Tom and Joe disappearing through the front door as we reached the stairs.

All of us were wearing what we’d crawled into bed with.

When we exited the house there was a large crowd. There was a woman in the middle of a large circle of people whose screams were now turning into sobs.

“Chas, go back in the house, now,” Fox commanded as she rushed toward the crowd.

I wished I had done what she’d told me to but I had to know what was going on, so I followed her after hanging back a couple of seconds.

When I reached the group I saw a very frail body lying on the ground. Huge men blocked my view and I pushed through gently until the entire scene was unveiled before me.

“Mary, Mary, he’s dead,” Fox said. “I’m so sorry.”

“No, leave me alone,” Mary yelled. I realized that the sobbing woman was Andrea’s mom and the frail body was her grandfather. The blind man who’d given us a warning that night.

I gasped as I saw a huge wound on his torso. If you could call it a wound. It looked like an animal had seen him as an easy meal and had dug its teeth into him.

I immediately thought about the Shadow Hounds and about Fox’s story. What if there were Shadow Casters and they’d come for me? I couldn’t live in the Oblivion. I wouldn’t make it.

I didn’t know what else to do, so I let out a scream. Fox immediately got up from Mary and rushed over to me. “I told you to go back into the house. Why didn’t you listen?” She sounded angry.

“What killed him?” I yelled at her.

“We don’t know. By the looks of it a Shadow Hound.”

“They’re here?”

“We don’t know Chastity. It’s not safe out here.”

“Are they coming for me?”

She stared at me with a huge frown. “Don’t think like that okay? Nothing will harm you while I am here.”

I nodded and Joe folded his arm gently around me, leading me back into the house.

I struggled to sleep after that. Why him? He was so old. He couldn’t even see and his warning was plaguing me now more than ever. What if there were Shadow Casters inside Revera and retrieving me was their mission? It would mean that Fox and Tom, all of their team members were going to die.

THE NEXT MORNING THE SMELL OF BREAFAST WOKE me up. When I’d dozed off in the night, I couldn’t remember. My blissful moment of early morning amnesia soon changed to fear once again. Fear of what I was hiding inside of me, fear of the Shadow Hounds lingering close by, fear of losing the only people I knew inside this new world.

I got up and found a middle aged woman, much younger than Joe but older than Tom, in the kitchen. The woman was making breakfast. Part of the course had been prepared the old fashioned way and another was done through her dust. It was weird to see a whisk beating itself and pouring the white liquid into a pan for pancakes. Small silver specks (which I knew were bright gold) sparkled off the whisk and pan as they prepared my favourite meal. Pancakes and maple syrup.

Tom and Joe were in a deep discussion, probably about last night’s events. The ambience inside the tree was thick and smothering. The only one who didn’t seem bothered about any of this was Henry, who was digging into a live mouse and sitting on a root that was way above our heads.

My stomach turned as I saw white fur with blood inside Henry’s claws and his beak pulled away flesh. I didn’t know how he could eat that.

“Morning, Chastity. I wish it was a good one, but after last night.” Joe shook his head. “I hope you got some rest.”

I nodded with a soft, unsure smile. “Do any of you know where Fox is?”

“She had to leave early this morning with John. Selene’s orders. She heard about last night and wanted answers as soon as possible, so I’ll be escorting you back to Atlas,” Tom explained.

Just great.
I nodded once and immediately wasn’t looking forward to experiencing the rest of the journey with only Tom and Henry as my companions.

“Come, eat,” Joe said and mustered the warmest smile he could while pointing at a chair right next to Tom.

I took it and the lady that was still preparing breakfast plopped a pancake with a bowl of fresh berries and cream right in front of me.

I really wasn’t a berry type of person but I remembered my manners and smiled. “Thank you.”

“You are welcome. My name is Trinity, you must be Chastity.”

I nodded.

“It must be so horrible being taken from your home not even knowing who you are. That is what you said, right Tom?” She tried to desperately change the subject.

“Trinity,” Joe said softly. “Let’s give Chastity some space to eat her meal.”

“Oh, sorry. I sometimes don’t think before I speak. Forgive me, Chastity.”

“It’s fine, really.”

I gave a soft smile. I hated that lie, I hadn’t been taken at night and that horrible woman wasn’t as horrible as they all thought. She was my mom and a damn good one too.

I devoured the pancakes as if I hadn’t had breakfast in ages.

Well, if you didn’t count the horse food with yoghurt every morning then I technically hadn’t had breakfast for a long time.

Around ten we had to go say goodbye to everybody and it was sad to leave in a crisis like this one.

Tom went to Mary’s house while I was still packing. Probably promising her that he would find whoever did this to her father and make them pay.

When he came back, it was time to leave.

“Take care of my grandson on the way back home and try to rub off on him as much as you can,” Joe said as he gave me a hug.

I giggled knowing that Tom would probably gag me with a bandage or something for being a smart mouth.

“I’ll try my best not to work too much on his nerves.”

Joe smiled. “It was such a pleasure to have met you Chastity Blake and I’ve got a pretty good feeling that we are going to see you again real soon.”

“That would be nice. Thank you for letting us crash here last night.”

“It was my pleasure.”

Henry was hooting already and I knew it was probably at Tom’s foul mood because I’d made him wait.

“Got to go, your grandson isn’t anything like his old Pappy.”

“No, he’s not the most patient peanut in the bag.”

I giggled as I walked with Joe to the front door. I bent down and scratched Abby’s head softly as we passed. The fox was a pure delight and I couldn’t believe how fond I’d become of her. It wasn’t like I could’ve just gone up to a fox back home and scratched their fur, not unless I had some sort of a death wish or something. Abby was just like Joe, where Henry pulled at Tom’s patience with every hoot he gave whenever the man seemed like he wanted to chip a tooth. Abby was relaxed and followed Joe wherever he went.

The crowd outside was somber.

“When are you coming back?” a big guy asked Tom.

“I’ll be back before the funeral. Again, I will find whoever did this Chris.”

“I don’t want to think that it’s a Shadow Caster, as you know what that would mean, Tom.”

I knew they were referring to me, but pretended that I didn’t know what the two men were talking about.

“You sure you don’t want me to come with?”

“No, watching out for this one is more than enough.”

“You wouldn’t need to watch out for us. Have you forgotten? I used to be one of you guys not so long ago, cousin.”

“Still, I’d hate to be the one to tell Sue that her husband died because I couldn’t save him. I’ll be fine Chris.”

“Okay,” the guy said and looked at me. “Take care of yourself Chastity. And be careful, okay. It’s still a couple of miles until you reach the Inkas.”

The Inkas?

“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.” Tom eased his fears. “Besides, they need you here.”

Chris nodded as he grabbed Tom around the neck and slapped him hard on the back.

THE TRIP TO THE INKAS, WHEREVER THAT WAS, FELT like it was taking forever. My nerves were tied up into a bundle and I wished I hadn’t asked Fox what the deal was with Tom and his sparkling personality.

I couldn’t help but scan the woods constantly. A small snap of a twig made me jump and then I would stop and stare in that direction which only annoyed Tom more.

We walked past a gazillion trees and the only thing I saw was a snowy owl sitting on the branches of a huge oak. All the oaks looked the same and I took off my jacket again as the suns were streaming down on my skin, baking me as if I was a bun in an oven.

You need to calm down Chastity, I told myself after the fifteenth deep breath and I started to do the only thing that calmed me down. By the chorus, Tom stopped and I walked past him.

I came to a stop a few paces in front of him and saw the annoyed expression on his face. “What, I can’t sing either?”

Tom huffed, shook his head and walked past me. “Teenagers.”

The rest of the trip was extra torturous but to my surprise nothing happened. There were no Shadow Casters anywhere, no Shadow Hounds that were going to rip through Tom’s flesh like they had through the old man’s. I was certain that it would only be Tom’s life they’d take as I knew they were going to take me to the Oblivion.

The trees still looked the same and when we passed the same tree with the same snow owl three times, I knew Tom was walking in circles, but I really didn’t want to say anything, afraid that he would bite my head off, literally.

Small noises escaped my lips as I pondered whether or not to tell him.

Tom stopped again. “What is it Chastity?”

I rolled my eyes at the bark and walked fast again. “Nothing, just that we’ve passed the same snowy owl three times now.”

“It’s not the same one.”

“I’m sure it is,” I snapped and decided I wasn’t going to walk another hour to prove that to Tom.

“It’s not, they just look the same,” Tom grunted. “It is not even alive to be honest with you, it was made to look like that.”

“Made by whom? What’s it doing…”

“Enough Chas. Just keep walking. We are almost there.”

I zipped it, but couldn’t stop thinking about the owls. Why would someone put it there if it wasn’t even a real owl to begin with? What was its purpose?

I found another owl that looked pretty real but we didn’t pass it this time. Tom stopped in front of another oak tree. It was nothing special but we stood there as a soft whisper left his mouth, so soft that I couldn’t quite make out what he was saying.

A knob appeared out of nowhere and some of the veins that spiraled around the tree moved away from one another, forming what appeared to be a door.

I just gaped in awe and stared at it, guessing I would never get used to this world.

Tom opened the door when all was in place, and gestured with his head for me to walk inside.

I looked at him, scared about what was waiting on the other side and then glanced back at the door.

“For heaven’s sake, it’s a portal, unless you really would like to walk the entire way?”

“No, shortcuts are fine.” I walked to the door and took a sigh. “Shortcuts are perfect.”

“Just remember to hold your breath,” Tom said and gently pushed me forward.

Not again.

Once inside, the air was extremely thin and I held the breath I’d taken when he’d asked me to. Then the twirling started, this time it wasn’t me, but it was everywhere around me. As if the tree had started to spin around me faster and faster. I stood in one place with Tom opposite me with Henry on his arm. Different shades of white and grey appeared and I knew it was colorful again but that my eyes weren’t ready to take all of it in.

This sucks so much.

My hair started to blow around my face and when my head swirled so much that my stomach started to turn, I closed my eyes.

My hair fell back over my shoulders and I opened my eyes. We were in some sort of closet. My legs felt weak and I fell to the ground, sitting on my bum.