Authors: Suzi Davis
“You make it all sound so easy,” I muttered.
He laughed and raised my hand to his lips, lightly kissing my knuckle just above my ring.
“It’s going to be okay, Gracelynn,” he reassured me. “It has to be.”
I tried to smile back, accepting his arm around my shoulders happily enough and leaning against him. I closed my eyes and waited for the bus to finish boarding, trying desperately to believe that we were riding north to our destiny, and not to our doom.
I couldn’t sleep anymore even if I had wanted to, and so I stayed awake for the whole bus ride, staring out the window with unseeing eyes. The sights we passed were beautiful – cities, fields, glens, rolling hills and the occasional church or castle ruin. I couldn’t appreciate it though, my mind was so preoccupied with what we were about to do, with who we were certain to face. I couldn’t forget Caoilinn’s words from my dream;
There will be no going back.
She hadn’t thought it possible to take away someone’s powers once granted to them, and though I wasn’t certain Caoilinn had been entirely forth-coming with Sebastian, I was certain that she believed this. So even if I could find the key to controlling my magic in the next few hours, if there was no way to strip the Others of their powers, then how would it help? This was a puzzle with no solution. We should be fleeing in fear or thinking of ways to beg the Others for mercy… what were we going to do?
While my thoughts became darker and more complex, Sebastian’s breathing became slower and deeper and more peaceful. He slept for the entire two hour drive back through Belfast and north along the stunning coastline. Just as we approached our destination, he began to toss and turn, muttering darkly to himself and causing the bus driver to glance in concern at us over his shoulder.
“Sebastian, wake up,” I hissed, shaking him roughly. He moaned loudly in response, causing a few of the nearby passengers to glance our way. My mind flashed back to the bus ride into Toronto just days ago, when we had been thrown off the bus. “Wake up,” I whispered urgently, right into his ear. “Seamus Coghlan! Wake up!”
His eyes snapped open with a start. I expected and dreaded for him to face the usual confusion upon waking from one of his nightmares. Instead, he roughly grabbed my hand, staring straight and urgently into my eyes with a focus that was both relieving and terrifying all at once.
“The Others, they’re here,” he pronounced, his eyes wide with horror.
My hand automatically flew to my necklace, squeezing it so tightly it felt almost as if it might cut into my hand.
“Where?” I asked in a surprisingly calm and even voice.
“They’ve arrived in Ireland and they’re close. We don’t have much time.”
Our roles had strangely been reversed. As the bus slowed down and pulled into the parking lot, it was Sebastian who was panicking and I who was suddenly calm and in control.
“We need to get off the bus.”
Sebastian nodded his agreement. I could almost see him drawing strength from my steady tone, a glimmer of fear melting from his eyes. He saw something within me that reassured him, and that in turn, reassured me too.
Almost as soon as I spoke, the bus came to a stop, parking at the side of the large lot along the cliff tops. The driver looked surprised as we both jumped up, barely sparing a minute to thank him as we hurried for the doors.
“Car sick,” I explained, knowing it was believable with our pale faces and wide eyes.
“Ah. Glad you made it then! Enjoy some fresh salt air,” the driver called after us as we practically leapt off the bus and began jogging across the parking lot.
For a moment I was disoriented. The sun was hot and bright, the salty wind gusting about with a surprisingly chilly blast and the noise of the nearby ocean and crashing waves already filling my ears. The parking lot was nearly full, despite it being barely mid-morning, and many tourists milled about the visitor centre and restaurant at its edge, snapping photos and buying souvenirs. Nearby a small shuttle bus was loading up at the top of a narrow, paved road that led down the cliff and towards the ocean and the causeway below. I looked to Sebastian questioningly, the wind whipping my hair into my face and mouth.
“Shall we climb aboard?” I asked but almost before I’d finished speaking, the shuttle bus closed its doors and began heading down towards the ocean shore with a quick honk of its horn.
“I don’t think so. I think we should stick to the cliff-top walk – less crowded and it’ll give us a better view.”
“Of what?”
“The Giant’s Causeway of course,” Sebastian answered. We clasped hands and began walking rapidly towards the sign that pronounced the start of the path that wound along the cliff tops, high above the foamy, blue ocean below.
We half-walked, half-jogged along the path, wanting to put as much distance between ourselves and the crowds in the parking lot as possible. The path was wide enough that we could walk side-by-side in most places, a small white, wooden fence erected in areas where the drop-off was more steep. The rocky shoreline rose and fell like most of Ireland seemed to do, heaving with its own rhythm of life. The cliffs jutted out alongside the ocean, covered by an emerald green moss and short, wispy grasses that peeked through the rocky face. The waves crashed below us, splashing up between the columns of the causeway that were so perfectly formed. I was stunned by the appearance of these hexagonal pillars that rose and fell to different heights all along the shoreline, forming a complicated and fascinating pattern from above. The tiled appearance of the rocks and the perfect structure of the columns made it difficult to believe it had been formed naturally without the influence of man or magic.
I began to sweat as we hurried along the path, my backpack weighing heavily on my shoulders and the long-sleeved shirt trapping the heat against my body. The path had changed angles now so that the cliffs actually provided some relief from the wind and the day was heating up steadily. We paused to each have a drink from our water bottles and to wipe the sweat from our faces. Sebastian slipped out of his shirt and looped it into the top of his pants so it swung from his side as he walked. Sweat glistened along the tops of his shoulders and clung in small beads to his back, making the dark lines of his tattoo appear to shimmer and almost sparkle beneath the sun.
“They’re very close now,” he warned. “Their presence is heavy in the air.”
I nodded my agreement. There was something foreboding about this beautiful day, a terrifying sense of doom gathering and strengthening below us with each crash of the waves and blast of the wind.
“I think we’re close to what we’re looking for. It’s just around the corner - we’re so close, I know it!” he encouraged, pulling me along even faster.
I didn’t answer because I didn’t know what to say. I felt much less in control of myself than I had an hour ago, like I was unraveling a bit more with each passing minute. The power of my magic had never felt further out-of-reach to me but I was too afraid to speak these thoughts out loud – too afraid of what it might mean. My only comfort was that Sebastian still had hope and however false I feared it might be, how could I possibly take that away from him?
We rounded a corner in the path, the ocean roaring far beneath us as the cliff plunged straight down towards where the waves crashed into the basalt columns and sprayed the causeway with their slick, salty tears. The wind blasted my face and seemed to suck my breath from my lungs as we found ourselves abruptly thrust into its relentless howl. It was not the wind that made us both freeze in our tracks though, it was the sight of what was waiting for us below.
We stood near the top of a steep and narrow staircase that wound its way down the cliff to the causeway. The shoreline jutted out below, forming a smooth, tiled walkway that lead out a few meters into the ocean. The swirling waters were suddenly eerily calm despite the howling wind that whipped at our clothes. Five dark figures stood out on the peak of the causeway, staring straight up at us as they waited. Even from the height at which we stood, I immediately recognized Walter’s thin, sneering face, squinting up against the sun. For a moment I thought I might faint. I grabbed the wooden railing and Sebastian’s arm simultaneously, digging my fingernails into both.
Sebastian remained motionless by my side, completely frozen, his muscles rigid and tense. I could tell he was debating whether to run or to fight. I couldn’t see a benefit to either. I struggled to regain my balance, reminding myself to breathe and gathering all my inner strength to take control. Somehow I knew it was the only hope we had.
“It was a trap all along.” The truth was obvious now but I still felt the need to speak the words aloud. “It wasn’t our wants directing us here – it was theirs.” My voice sounded flat and hollow in the wind. I watched in disgust as Walter’s expression clearly twisted into a mocking smile, almost as if he had heard the words I’d just spoken.
“We don’t know that. There still could be answers here. Perhaps if we run, just a bit further–”
“No.” My voice was firm and certain. “All they need do is want for us to be dead and we will – instantly. They obviously want us to go to them.
I
don’t want to but… I think we should. What other choice do we have?”
Sebastian didn’t answer. He continued to stare down at the five Others waiting for us below. His eyes narrowed into a dangerous glare.
“I won’t let them hurt you again,” he vowed, his voice dark and fierce.
“They won’t,” I lied. “Let’s focus on what we want. Perhaps there’s still a way.”
Sebastian slowly nodded. We both knew it was hopeless. He squeezed my hand tightly and then slowly stepped in front of me, leading the way down the steep staircase.
“Be careful and stay close to me,” he instructed. “If you see any possible chance to escape – take it. Run as fast and as far as you can. I swear I’ll find you again.”
I didn’t answer, I couldn’t. I couldn’t lie to him for I would never abandon him. No matter what he wanted, it wasn’t what I wanted. We would survive this together or we would die together, that was the only way it could be.
I tried to ignore the Others as we made our way down the steep, zig-zagging staircase mounted into the side of the cliff. I couldn’t help but notice all of the Others were male and fairly young, except for Walter. The other four appeared to be in their late teens or early twenties. They were all dressed in expensive-looking clothes, all in dark shades despite the heat of the day. They looked like shadows in the sun, voids of light and happiness where only death and despair existed. They were our doom.
Sebastian took my hand again at the bottom of the staircase but walked slightly ahead of me, his stance protective. We moved cautiously out onto the causeway, aware of the slippery stones splashed by the surf. This section was surprisingly level, the columns varying in height only by a few inches and forming a perfect, tiled pathway out to the dark figures who waited by the ocean’s edge. They stood before us in a half circle, patiently awaiting our arrival. Sebastian stopped several feet away from them and we waited tensely, examining their strangely youthful and innocent faces.
My heart started to pound in my throat, threatening to choke me with fear. I reached for my necklace a little too roughly. The leather chord it hung upon snapped and so I twisted it tightly around my hand, holding the pendant against my palm where it throbbed and burned in warning. No one looked to me as I moved, all eyes were on Sebastian.
“Seamus, Caoilinn. Welcome,” the tall center figure greeted us in a cold and tight voice that carried unnaturally over the sounds of the crashing waves. I was surprised to hear he had no discernible accent – for some reason I’d expected the Others to all be Irish, like Sebastian. The young man who had spoke smiled at me suddenly and there was nothing welcoming about the expression that twisted his handsome face. His black eyes only briefly flickered my way but his gaze narrowed into a glare as he stared down Sebastian. Sebastian didn’t speak, he merely shifted so that his body blocked mine a little more. I squeezed his hand tightly, swearing to myself that I would never, ever let him go.
“Do you remember us, Seamus?” a red-haired boy who looked to be about our age asked from the edge of the group. He had a round, freckled face and his expression was surprisingly open and curious. There was something “off” about his eyes though – they were ice blue in color, almost white, and there was nothing boyish or innocent about his chilling gaze.
“Yes, I remember you Charlie,” Sebastian answered flatly. “Nathaniel, David, Darius, Walter.” He listed their names without emotion, his eyes moving to each expressionless face as he spoke. Walter was the only one who showed any emotion or who paid any attention to me. He sneered the whole while, his beady, black eyes narrowed and gleaming with cruel anticipation.
I desperately tried to want them to stop, to make them all go away and leave us alone. I could feel how futile my attempts were though, like screaming into the wind when your voice is immediately blown back at you despite the strength behind it.
“Why did you bring us here?” Sebastian demanded, speaking to David, the tallest of the five with dark brown hair and nearly black eyes who stood at the group’s center. David didn’t answer. He gestured to Nathaniel, the shorter and slighter boy to his right, with messy, lighter brown hair.
“You’ve obviously found Caoilinn and she has apparently regained some use of her magic in this life. Before we decide what to do with you, we need to know exactly how powerful she is and how much control she has,” Nathaniel explained in a soft voice with the hint of an English accent. Despite how gentle and polite his tones, there was a strange underlying current to his voice, a subtle threat of power and danger.