Madness or Purpose (26 page)

Thank you.” Natasha shakes her head like it’s not a big deal; her aide had nothing to do with it. “I give you something makes you confident so you take care of yourself.” She grins a bit before Gavin and Dominic slip in the door.

Dominic closes it quickly and Gavin starts pushing everything heavy in front of it he can think of. When he and Dominic finish they both look a bit panicked.

Gavin runs to me and throws his arms around me. I can hear tables being flipped over and glass smashing.

His heart is pounding and his body is starting to warm. I guess his drink was for self control, but if I had to pick a time for him to start shoot flames from his hands now would be it. “They are looking for you. They are demanding we give you up or they’ll tear this place down. The building is surrounded. The guys are trying to get them out of the bar, but they can’t keep them out as soon as one falls another takes its place. Dean has contacted the counsel and the warriors have been sent. They are fast but I’m not sure if they are fast enough. Every other staff member is jammed down this hallway to block the way and defend, but it may not be enough.” I caught Natasha in Dominic’s arms out of the corner of my eye as Gavin pulled back from me. “We may have to save ourselves; do you think you are up for it?” Gavin turns to Natasha and Dominic both nod in unison and when he turns back to me my evil grin slips out. “Baby I’m all about some chaos. We got a sink in this place?” All three of them start laughing.

We rig the door so if it opens a large tub of water will douse those who enter and a tiny line of water leads to my feet. Together we move the heavy items around the room and make it so they benefit our abilities best. When we are done we look at one another and realize it is now a waiting game. We continue to hear tables turning over and glass shattering. I can hear Dean’s voice and see flashing coming from under the doorway. The screams get louder and I can feel the rage welling inside of me. Looking to my left I can see Gavin’s skin pulsing red and his eyes flashing colors. Dominic and Natasha are holding hands to amplify their strength on my right and here I stood alone in the center. I am the foretold and I am hiding in a back room letting others defend me, letting them die for me! Lost in my own mind I almost don’t notice the silence. But, there it is silence. The flashes of light have stopped and blood runs under the door slowly as it coagulates and mixes with the line of water it flowing straight to my feet.

The door knob twists from side to side and boots stomp in the bloody puddles outside it. I reach out and slide the lock on the door and quickly snap myself back into my head. My eyes begin to flash and the room fills with the color of only my aura stronger than all the others. I feel Natasha and Gavin take a step closer to me as the door knob turns one more time with a click. The door swings open and slams back against the wall hard enough that it embeds the knob in the dry wall keeping the door wide open. A large man fills the doorway. He is covered in a rubber like armor practically from head to toe. The man grins with three rows of pointed teeth from ear to ear. Natasha and Gavin both grab my hands as the dark guardian steps in the room. The tub of water has already splashed all over him and he begins to laugh. It is a deep dark throated laugh that has a sinister undertone. His voice is gravelly and something in it is so familiar, so soothing it makes the hairs on my arms stand on end. “You think I am not prepared for the foretold? You think I do not know what you are capable of? Do you not remember the time we have spent together in your head? I know you better than you know yourself!” It was the voice from my head. All of my nightmares, all of the hallucinations, it was him! The tiny room flashes with my light and my vision begins to blur. Before it goes completely I notice the dark guardian’s face is not covered and green oozing blood runs from the gashes all over it.

Just as my vision goes white and I lose all sight I kick the bloody water in front of me and send currents of electricity through the stream. His laughter turns to screaming as the water splashes his face and the electrical outlet near his feet is also splashed allowing me to increase the voltage and make the rest of the water jump from the floor. In all of my rage I am able to shield the other three from the electrocution. The dark guardian’s skin begins to sizzle and melt off exposing the decaying flesh beneath it. The stench is foul and I have to hold back the bile rising from my stomach. His body flops around on the ground in front of us and as his head smashes against the cement floor more of the green oozing blood seeps from the corners of his mouth and his nose. His screams eventually cease and I am able to stop the flow of electricity. He is barely breathing and despite the other’s pleas to not go to him I do. I drop to my knees and grab him by the torn rubbery armor he wears. His eyes barely hold any awareness in them but he is still alive. “Tell me your name.” Surprisingly my own voice sounds like a hiss and every syllable is laced with rage and revulsion.

He groans and his muscles twitch with residual effects of the electrocution.

“You didn’t think it’d be that simple did you?” With his words I hear footsteps coming down the hallway, boots lots of boots.

Gavin and Dominic flash into the hallway and Natasha starts chanting something in the corner. The guardian’s eyes show a bit of surprise at the other’s responses. I am all but straddling him now pulling him up off the floor and dropping him back down. I can see the jolts of pain from my actions and the rage continues to well up inside of me. I feel the heat from Gavin and he lets his control go and he bursts into flames.

Dominic is behind him and is flinging dead bodies and debris down the hallway at the approaching dark guardians. I can feel the words from Natasha surround me and then Gavin and Dominic in the hallway. She is creating a shield allowing our abilities to pass through but none to enter back in. Feeling this I concentrate on Gavin’s blazing inferno and lift my right hand up to the bleeding and mangled face of the guardian below me. I can feel his anger and fear as my hand begins to warm and his flesh begins to burn under my touch. He begins to thrash and scream again. I pull my hand away and let him begin to catch his breath before I slam my hand back against his left temple. The body beneath me begins to flail and I remove my hand one more time. I have to be careful he is strong, but I am stronger and I need information.

“One more chance, your name is…” I hiss again and wait. I can see where this type of anger and power can be addicting. I begin to understand those who choose as he has, but something would have to be very broken inside for one to choose all the other things that go with this sort of life. I slam his head back against the floor for effect and wait another moment. “Koen Brackenwater. I am first in command of the eastern forces. You were my first and only assignment. I meant you no harm.”

With his last gurgled words his head fell to the side and his eyes rolled back in his head. My right hand was pressed against his left breast where his heart would be. I felt a violent thrumming under my hand and then his chest exploded.

I flew backwards a few feet and a veil black worm creature slithered out of his body cavity and right before my eyes shriveled into a pile of dust. In my astonishment I barely hear the call for retreat in the hallway. I crawl back to his body and yank off his gloves and rip the rest of his armor from his torso.

As I stare at Koen the green blood turns to red and the twisted appearance of the guardian disappears. His features smooth out and in a few moments the body beneath me no longer resembles a monster, but a young man only a few years older than myself. I can feel the other’s eyes on me but I keep studying his body. His hands have turned from mangled messes to pale skinned long fingered hands just like any other male his size. The only thing that remains the same is a mark on both wrists. It doesn’t resemble anything I have ever seen. It looks like a serpent swallowing a child. The serpent mark is black and looks as though it is a wisp of smoke that will disappear at any moment.

“You go find survivors and let me know if you need me for extra healing.” Gavin’s eyes seem to darken a bit. “You aren’t coming with us,” he asks. “I can’t I have things left to do here, but I assure he is dead and can’t harm me.” “If you are sure then we’ll go and let you know when we need you.” His eyes were a bit sad, but he seemed to understand that there was more going on then I could say, more than I understood at this point. “I am sure.” With my last word they file out of the room and run down the hall. In the background I hear a lot of shouts and concerned voices. The smell of death surrounds me and I have to close my eyes to focus. “Do you not remember the time we have spent together in your head? I know you better than you know yourself! You were my first and only assignment. I meant you no harm.” Koen wanted me to know something. He knew his face was not protected. He knew I would use everything at my disposal. Koen did know me inside and out, even more than Gavin. In fact he knows everything I know about Gavin, Natasha, and Dominic. He must have been buying us time. I push the pieces of his torso back into place closing his chest and oddly enough it seems to fit back together like a puzzle.

I remove his boots and pants so I can see his entire body. I am looking for his mark. All guardians have marks. His torso arms and legs are clean. I flip him over with a bit of trouble because the floor is slick and he is like six feet tall and easily over two hundred pounds. His back and shoulders are clear. I looked under his fire red hair and then reluctantly I take off his briefs and search both buttocks and groin for anything. I flip him back to his stomach one more time. The marks on his wrists could not be his only marks. They are not true guardian marks at least not according to anything in the journal or according to the memories my mother hid in my head. Something has to be wrong. Did choosing the dark side strip the mark? Did the black worm thing take his power’s place? In a moment of inspiration I jump up and run to a storage closet across the hall and find an old black light wand. I return to the room and turn off all the lights and close the door. I plug in the light and let it illuminate the darkness. Then I run it slowly from his neck moving it down his shoulders and back. I do this three times before I am sure I’m not hallucinating.

I remembered something from being a child and first getting a black light as a present. I remember that I was always very pale and that when I held a black light up to my skin I had always looked so tan. Sometimes scars are very pale and the only way you can see them is if you can see the distinction between the normal skin color and the lighter scar. At least this is what I had experienced. Koen was pale like me and when running the black light along his back I was able to make out a slightly darker design covering his back. So, when you take the dark inside of you it removes your mark and gives you another. You lose your identity, and your willpower, you become a drone. You are trapped inside your own body due to your own selfish desires. But Koen has been in my head as long as I can remember. Can someone so young make such a decision? Was he forced?

Something is still off. I flip the lights on and unplug the black light tossing it into the corner. I grab his gear and search every inch of it. I look in every pocket check every seam and still come up with nothing. What was I missing? I closed my eyes again and replayed the whole scenario again and again in my head. Stopping it and rewinding it. That’s when I saw it. I would not have physically seen it because I was blinded at this time, but he knew I could find it or at least sense it.

I jump up from my seated position on the floor and grab for the door I fling it open and there it is. A small leather tube lies right where it had fallen amongst the dead bodies and debris. It had been tucked into the back of his belt and he knew the electrocution would dislodge it, but in all the chaos no one would notice. I grab the tube before anyone sees me and close the door again. Somehow just holding this tube I know that its contents will forever change me and if I’m lucky shed some light on what the hell is going on. I find a chair and set it up right. I know I’ll have to read fast, but I should be able to look back at the memory again later. I’m going to have to burn this so no one else gets their hands on it.

I dare not write to whom this is for. I know you will find it and once you read it you will destroy it. I have but a few moments to write this so in advance I apologize if it is not detailed. I can only hold off the dark for so long. I was born to two who chose to be dark; my decision was made for me at age three before you were born. When the dark takes over you are stripped of any mark or ability, you are given those you see on my wrists. You exist as a drone and though the power is great the price is high. Once your mission is done whether you succeed or fail you die. I longed to find you, to die and rid myself of my torment. I have left information if you search your memories. I can’t say they are obvious, but I did my best. Please, burn my body the thing I lived as does not deserve burial. Once you find your brother you will understand more. I must go. Burn this please!

I hear footsteps coming down the hall. Quickly I think of the letter burning and it is. The paper must have been coated in something flammable because it goes up in an instant and then it’s gone oddly enough with a sparkle of sorts. I’m going to guess some sort of magical charm. I can’t find the leather tube that held the letter. But I feel it may have gone up with the letter. I close my eyes and hang my head to appear as though I am resting or something as the footsteps stop outside the door.

Slowly the door opens and I lift my head to see who is standing there. I already know, but habits are habits I guess. His eyes are brilliant and oddly glassy and even though I’m used to everything being weird this is just confusing. “What’s happened to your hair and your eyes?” Gavin absent mindedly touches his head and gives me a confused look. I close the space between us and grab him by the shoulder. There is a small mirror over the sink where I point the reflection of his face.