Silent Symmetry (The Embodied trilogy) (20 page)

“Absolutely.”

She walked into the living room, her stylish heels making a confident, decisive clunk with every step. I grabbed a long-sleeved tee and jeans, dabbed on deodorant, splashed cold water on my face and retied my hair. Then I slapped myself a couple of times for good measure.

When I entered the living room, she was perusing the CD collection that Mom and I had pointlessly hauled from Wisconsin along with our iPods.

“Music is interesting,” she announced.

It was hard to know what to answer.

“Yeah
... I, um, like it too.”

She stared at me and a bright smile spread across her face. If it was possible for the sun to become even more radiant, this is what it would look like.

“Kari Marriner,” she said as she approached me, still beaming. “Kari Marriner, you are perfection personified.”

I knew I looked better than when I opened the door, but this was pushing it.

“Um, thanks?” I ventured, starting to wonder where all this was heading. “Can I get you anything?”

She ignored my ridiculous question. “I’ve come to take you to the airport.”

My face must have fallen.

“
Noon did tell you that he was forbidden to see you now,” she added, her smile barely fading.

Suddenly I had a lump in my throat. I’d been studiously ignoring reality for almost twenty-four hours and here it was again, standing in front of me, shining like a movie star. But it was a feel-bad movie.

“He told me all about your conversation yesterday. The email you received. We want to help you find your mom, but Noon cannot be a part of it. He has returned to the Dark Universe. Voluntarily, I should add.”

I felt the tears well up in my eyes. Elle seemed to observe me like a laboratory specimen for a moment, then she opened her arms and I fell into them.

“I’m just so scared for Mom and I don’t know what to do!” I sobbed.

“We understand, Kari. But, like I said, we’re going to help you. Now that we
occupy both pyramid rooms, we, the Temple of Truth, are in control.”

“You mean the one here and the one in the roller derby arena?”

“I do. And eventually Aranara and Bob will have to use one or other of the portals to return to the Dark Universe, otherwise their embodied forms will cease to be viable. Besides, they know that harming your mother won’t achieve anything.”

Her embrace was so unnatural (yes, so alien) that it made me feel worse. I pulled away.

“You don’t know that!” I wailed. “They’ve already done... something to her. Some sort of brainwashing. Or drugs, I don’t know...”

“Kari, the
Mom you saw on your phone wasn’t your mother at all. We are the Embodied, remember? And we can choose to embody ourselves in any advanced life-form. We simply need to access its genome. Then, when we pass through the portal, we can organically re-sequence our Dark Matter form into a Light Matter being.”

I shook my head
. “But where would they get her genetic information from?”

Now her smile really faded. “This is partly our fault.”

“Why?”

“Because she works for the
Temple of Truth. You’ve been to her office – it’s a genetics project.”

“So?”

“So we ask every employee to donate DNA to our global database.”

I sat down slowly on the ar
m of the couch, my mind racing.

“Shit. How will I know if it’s her when I see her at the airport then?”

“Talk to her. It’s a purely physical embodiment. You will know very quickly if it really is your mother.”

This would explain how weirdly “Mom” had acted in
Paris. Butterflies started fluttering in my stomach.

“I don’t know
if I can go through with that! What if I freak out?”

“I’ll be there to help you,” she said
in the same calming tone that Noon used on me.

But it was one thing to have
Noon’s calming words right there in my head, and quite another to hear them from this stranger, no matter how hard she was trying to help. Could I really face meeting a Fake Mom and the consequence of what that might mean? Did I even have a choice in the matter? Come to think of it, did I even have a choice in anything in my life anymore?

I picked up my phone from the cluttered coffee table. Oh man – it was already almost
one o’clock!

Elle headed for the door.

“We must leave. Do you have everything you need?”

Need for what? I thought. Every day felt like another step into the unknown.

* * * * *

Elle parked her white SUV at Teterboro airport in front of a low-rise building with a sign above it saying Skyjet Aviation. To say I was apprehensive would be an understatement. I was sick to my stomach.

She strode inside and I followed. I wasn’t expecting LaGuardia or a smaller airport like Mitchell back home, but this didn’t even look like a terminal. It seemed to be a sort of luxury lobby, with tall, leafy plants, a stone-tiled floor and huge paintings hung from the ceiling. Puffy dark leather couches and chairs were artfully arranged in conspiratorial clusters. Three brass bellhop carts like the ones you see at 5-star hotels were lined up neatly near the entrance.

There was an actual red carpet leading from the swooshing glass doors to a mahogany reception desk. I could see
some of the runway and a couple of small planes through a huge glass wall at the back of the terminal (or whatever VIPs called this room). It was the exact opposite of a regular airport where hundreds of travelers mill around and announcements constantly squawk over the PA. Skyjet’s terminal was empty. There wasn’t even anyone behind the reception desk.

Elle took stock of all this and said, “Her plane should be landing in five minutes. Let’s wait over here.”

She sat down stiffly on one of the comfy-looking seats. It bothered me that no one was around. If this was a trap, it was perfectly set up. I sat down on the chair opposite her and took out my phone. As I tapped away at Angry Birds, I thought about how wealthy the Embodied must be. If you’ve been around for thousands of years you probably own your own bank. They’d have so much cash that bribing an airport receptionist to step away from her post for an hour would be a breeze.

Then a Facebook message from Cruz popped up: “
Wanna chill 2gether in Times Square 4 yr 1st NYC New Years Eve?”

Seeing those words made me so happy. Was it because he wanted to see me or because they were my only connection to reality in the nightmare I found myself in? The last few days had been so effed-up I hadn’t realized that it was December 31st.

I smiled to myself. Okay, stop overthinking, Kari – the message is cute. And you know what, even though Cruz would hate to be labeled cute, he kinda is. And I like how he makes me feel. I was stressing myself about this whole Mom thing and now I’m all relaxed and normal...

I glanced over at Elle. She was elegant, as always, but somehow on edge, her hands intertwined in that typical Embodied pose. I
’d figured out that it had something to do with how they communicated with each other... Noon had explained that they had to be in close proximity to a human to be able to influence their behavior. Maybe this was the same thing. Maybe their embodied forms had to link up physically to focus their “telepathic” energy?

She seemed to be frozen, concentrating. I noticed that every time she blinked she kept her eyes closed far longer than any normal human would. My eyes flicked down to Cruz’s message on my phone, then back up at Elle.

“She’s here,” she announced, and stood up abruptly.

Thoughts of Cruz evaporated. The butterflies came rushing back.
I looked around at the portion of the runway that was visible beyond the glass. Nothing had changed. I was suspicious.

“How do you know?”

Her catwalk composure disintegrated. She looked totally pissed at my question, then blinked another long blink and seemed to pull herself together.

“You didn’t hear the plane?”

“No.”

I really didn’t. And it was deathly quiet in the terminal. Did the Embodied have super hearing? Why would they? Weren’t they just unstable genetic copies of real-life creatures?

Elle turned her back on me, facing the runway. I got up too.

“Maybe Mom’s already turned her phone on. I’ll try calling her.”

“There’s no need. She’ll be here any second,” she countered.

I moved beside her.

“Really? It takes a few minutes for a plane to taxi and get the steps in position.”

She watched as I dialed Mom’s number. It rang and rang, then her message kicked in. I hung up. Elle was following my every move with her laser-like gaze.

“See?” she said, “She hasn’t turned it on yet.”

I walked slowly toward the tinted glass and peered into the low winter sun, trying to make out any kind of movement in the airport.

“Where is everyone?” I asked, as much to myself as to Elle. Then I realized that it was a really good question and turned around to face her. “Like, seriously – where is everyone?”

But Elle wasn’t listening. She was standing like a statue with her eyes closed and her hands entwined.

I felt kinda dizzy. Bizarre...

I tried to gather my thoughts. I heard the automatic doors sliding open behind me. I spun aroun
d and my heart jumped as I saw Mom’s figure strolling into view on the tarmac outside.

I squinted at her backlit form. Could it really be her? I was desperately searching for clues in her movements, her hair. I so wanted it to be her. I longed to look into her eyes and bathe in her smile. But I couldn’t trust the Embodied and I had to repress my longing.

Elle hung back slightly as I walked past the empty reception desk. Mom was grinning at me. It certainly looked like her. Would my distrust disappoint her if all this was actually real?

“Hi pumpkin!” she squealed, and grabbed both my arms.

I had tears in my eyes. I soooo wanted to believe. Then I realized that something was off about the whole situation.

“Where’s Bob? Where are your bags?” I asked her.

She planted a big kiss on my forehead. This was something Mom never did.

“Oh, when you fly in a private jet, you don’t have to worry about carrying your luggage.”

“Uh-huh. Cool,” I answered, my voice faltering.

“Bob is getting the limo. I have so much to tell you about the trip. I’ve had an amazing time. Bob is wonderful.”

I was pretty sure that those were the exact same words she had used with me on Skype.

I motioned toward Elle. “Mom, this is Elle. She drove me here.”

“Hi – pleased to meet you,” said Mom

T
he two women shook hands.
With both hands
. There it was again – the greeting I’d seen Noon and Silas use on my first day at school, then Hannah and Miriam outside The Warrington. I knew now that it was the greeting only two Embodied used when they met. Now the butterflies in my stomach were made of lead.

I quickly looked down at my phone and typed Help with one hand in reply to Cruz’s message. I pressed send and slipped the phone back in
to my jacket pocket, hoping they hadn’t noticed.

Mom flung her arms open. “I missed you so much! Give me a big hug.”

Then everything happened so fast. Mom put her arms around me just as I noticed Aranara emerging from a corridor, marching purposefully toward us.

“You’re not my mother!” I screamed, struggling to free myself. “Who are you?”

She grunted and held me tighter. Then came the reply that made my blood run cold.

“You’re right. I’m Bob. Pumpkin.”

Aranara had something in her hand. Freaking out, I turned to Elle just as she also put her arms around me, linking them with Mom’s/Bob’s. My mental resistance got weaker as they amplified their power.

“Elle?” I pleaded.

Her voice was now harsh, almost masculine. “Elle is in Manhattan. My name is Dragard.”

Aranara moved behind me holding a hypodermic needle. I wanted to hit out at her, but I was trapped between the two Embodied and barely able to think clearly. A deafening sound like a thundering waterfall filled my head. I stamp
ed on their feet, but, like with my head-butt into Cilic’s face, it was totally useless. And this time I was held too tightly between them to be able to strike either of their solar plexuses.

I called out. “HELP!”

I felt a sting in my neck and everything went black.

* * * * *

I woke up and blinked my way to clarity. I was lying on a bed in some kind of operating room or clinic. Right next to me was another bed. I tried to sit up but couldn’t, and that’s when I realized that I was tied down.

There was a strap
running across both my shins, another across my pelvis pinning down my arms too, and another across the top of my chest. There was no way I could get out. I raised my head. The table was... it was – oh man, this was totally effed-up – an operating table. And I was wearing a hospital gown.