The Great Divide

by Chase Erwin

  I slipped the shard under my tongue, and within seconds my vision improved to where I could see ahead of me.

  There were two figures nestled together on a couch. Male voices, whispering and moaning softly. Hands were moving all over the place.

  “Thoben,” murmured Trevalyn.

  I squinted through the dim light to see better. Trevalyn was seated in the lap of a horned fae, pink skinned and slender. They were in full embrace.

  Antareus’ Thoben?

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  “That bastard!” I was pacing around the library as Mial sat in his chair. I could feel his eyes following me as I walked briskly around the floor.

  “I am not sure what to say,” Mial said. “Except that I am sorry you endured that… And for what happened afterward.”

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  A week later, and I still felt dirty. I had taken baths, I had taken showers, and I couldn’t wash it off. I still felt the dirt of what I had done, making the drugs; the dirt of Trevalyn’s anger, his force… covering my skin, growing around me.

  Dozens of times in those short few days I had wanted to break free, to tell someone, to get help – but Trevalyn would always remind me that he was a teacher’s aide at the guild. I was just a troublemaking wretch. He had the power to make anyone else believe I was acting alone, creating this little drug ring for myself.

  “Including your brother,” he’d always add.

  I must tell someone, I thought repeatedly. No, I would always chide myself, you’ll be a laughingstock of the town. How pathetic Abel must be to let something like that happen to him! What a weakling.

  Antareus would help if he knew. My brother would undoubtedly kill Trevalyn and the gang if I told him what had taken place in that dank warehouse… and especially if I told him about what I witnessed between Trevalyn and Thoben.

  At my first opportunity, while the gang were in a deep state of drugged slumber, I bolted for the farmhouse. My eyes were tired and my limbs more so as I ran across town, making a beeline for home.

  As I ran I kept thinking about the things I said to Antareus and how cruel I was. That wasn’t me, I told myself. That was some dark part of me that I let overtake me, but now I was so sorry I had spoken to him the way I did for something so important to him.

  I’d apologize to him first before moving on to the mess I had gotten myself in, I thought, vaulting myself over the closed gate to the farmhouse.

  I tumbled like a sack of flour to the ground. My legs shredded against the gravel path. Fighting past the pain, I forced myself to run to the front door.

  It was locked. I banged on the door fervently. “Antareus!” I yelled. “It’s me! Abel! Please let me in!”

  There was no answer. I peered through every window, rapping my knuckles against the glass. “Please,” I begged, “please, I’m so sorry for how I’ve treated you. I need your help! Please, please, please…”

  Antareus was not inside the house. I tried for the small storage shed behind the house. The door to the shed was padlocked and chained shut.

  A stiff breeze passed across my neck as I turned around and looked out over our farmland.

  Dejected, I trudged back to town. I didn’t know what to do or where to go. There was a fountain in the town square that I always sat at on days when I had nothing else to do. The sound of water was calming. I stood before the fountain, watching water cascade and splash off the stone edifice.

  “You seem lost, young man,” said a deep voice. I looked to my right and gazed at a man with a dark purple cape that hung off his shoulders. He had silvery hair, but his features defied age; he seemed to be no more than a decade older than me. He was leaning casually against a cane made of dark ebony, with a silver handle shaped like the head of a raven.

  “I suppose I am,” I said as I felt a cold chill run down my body. I felt compelled to tell him, if for no other reason than I needed to confide in someone.

  “I made a terrible mistake,” I told the man, barely above a whisper. “I shunned my brother and hung out with a gang of boys who ended up” –

  “Gang of boys,” the man said thoughtfully. He tapped the end of his cane against his black leather boot to knock some dried mud off the side. “Do they, by any chance, hang out at the warehouses on the west end?”

  “How did you…?”

  “I happen to own the warehouse they occupy,” he said. He smiled softly as he gazed down at me. He had to be a foot taller than me. “They’ve been staying there on condition they cause no trouble. That agreement seems to have gone by the wayside.”

  I sighed as my shoulders sagged. “I don’t want to cause any more trouble,” I said. “I just want to go home and forget any of this ever happened.”

  “Shh, shh,” the man said, placing a hand on my shoulder. As he did, I felt another shiver race down my body. It was a bright and sunny day, but my skin tensed and bristled as if I were standing bare-armed in a bracing blizzard. “I promise you we can fix this problem today,” he said. “Come.”

  The sun was eking down the horizon. The reddening sky would soon turn purple and then black… and Trev and the boys would be waking back up.

  As much as my brain was screaming at me to stay put, I followed behind as the man began striding towards the warehouse district at a brisk pace.

  “Tell me everything,” the man said, continuing his pace. “Tell me what they have done.”

  I went through the story, from running out on Antareus to meeting Trevalyn; from the Purple Traveler to Trevalyn’s assault of me. I noticed the man was slowing his pace; he could tell my rambling would continue long after we would arrive at the warehouse unless we took longer to get there.

  “Again, Abel, you are welcome to stay outside while I deal with this matter inside,” the stranger said as we finally approached the large metal doors.

  Reason was telling me to heed his advice. But the strange cold chill I kept feeling made me feel frightened and alone. “No, I’ll come in,” I said.

  The man smiled. “Very well. Stay close behind me.”

  He held his hand up towards the large sliding door of the warehouse. A bolt of purple lightning shot from his palm and around the edges of the door, the energy’s force pushing the door open at an awesome speed.

  The door slammed against its brakes with a loud, metallic shudder. I could hear rushed and excited voices from the boys inside.

  “It’s The Raven!” I heard one of them shout. “Quick – get Trev!”

  “By the gods!” hissed another. “The Raven!”

  I stood behind The Raven as he addressed the group, which had hastily gathered before him and stood in a line.

  “I hear tell life has become quite a party in this abode,” The Raven said.

  Trevalyn scowled at me. “That little wretch is not to be trusted,” he said hurriedly.

  “Silence,” snapped The Raven, pointing his cane at him. “You brought him in here; any responsibility for his actions would be a reflection on you.

  “And let’s discuss your actions,” he continued, taking a threatening step forward. With his focus solely on Trev, the other members of the gang silently slinked backward, abandoning their place in line.

  “I thought we agreed any chemical tests would be done in my facility, not unsupervised here, where anyone off the street could find you and report you to the authorities,” The Raven said. “The smell of the Purple Traveler compound fills this warehouse. Explain yourself!”

  “W-well, the boys and I have been pretty… pretty tired,” Trev stammered. He was sweating profusely. “I thought it would be okay to help us recharge, you know? Pep ourselves up?”

  “Yes, but it made you careless. Sloppy,” The Raven mused, picking up his cane by the midsection. He pulled each half outward, revealing a gleaming silver blade coming out of its sheath. “It also caused you to become a menace to outsiders, like my new friend here. And we just can’t have that.”

  He turned back to me and smiled. It once again sent another
chill through me, but I smiled in return. I knew what was coming… and, sick as it sounds, I was excited for it. I smiled in return.

  “Stop them, would you?” The Raven asked pleasantly. He gestured towards the other four boys, who had been inching towards the warehouse exit. Obeying, I stared at the door, which was only slightly ajar. It slammed shut by my telekinetic force. I turned to the crates lined up against the wall, and they soon slid in front of the door, completely blocking it off.

  Trevalyn began to whimper. I couldn’t believe how fearful he was after all he’d done. The Raven stepped forward again, brandishing the sword at his side. I stared intently at the scene before me.

  “Please,” Trevalyn begged. “Please, I’m sorry! I’m sorry. Whatever I need to do… just please don’t kill me.”

  “Oh, silly boy,” The Raven chuckled. “I’m not going to kill you.”

  Trevalyn took a deep sigh of relief.

  “He is,” The Raven continued, pointing at me. He looked at me once more and winked.

  There was a shudder that raced through my body, tip to toe. The cold sensation returned, intensifying in my chest.

  “I… I couldn’t…” I said softly.

  “Of course you could,” he replied. While The Raven’s back was turned, Trevalyn rose to his feet and attempted to run to the rear of the building. Whirling around, The Raven whipped his sword down at an angle, catching Trevalyn behind his ankles. Blood gushed from the wounds. In a cry of anguish, he sank back to the ground, hobbled.

  “Don’t forget all the pain he’s caused you,” The Raven said, drawing a gloved hand across his blade, wiping the blood off it, then handing it to me with the handle pointed in my direction. “Don’t forget how he made you produce all these nasty drugs they then forced upon you. And, lest you forget… he did force himself upon you. Remember what a violation that was? Of course you do…

  “And now, you get what so few people have a chance to do: you get to collect a retribution on that suffering,” The Raven whispered in my ear. “This world is filled with people who will take advantage and hurt… so why not be the one who has the upper hand at all times?

  “Go ahead… eliminate this insect. He is no good to us or our cause,” he said, placing the sword handle in my palm. Placing a hand on my shoulder, another shot of cold, icy energy flowed through my body. “Do this, and I will take you with me, back to my sanctuary, my beloved Nevermore. I will nurture your talents for science, for creation… and for using all that rage inside you.”

  There was a wide smile on my face at this point. It all sounded so good. It was as if any conscience I once had was suddenly spirited away. I began advancing toward Trev. Unable to stand, he shuffled himself backwards, leaving small trails of blood as his legs pushed against the concrete floor.

  When his back hit a wall, I knelt before him, sword gripped tightly in my right hand.

  “Don’t,” Trevalyn said.

  “It’s too late for that,” I said. My voice was low, deep and dark. “You did something no one could ever forgive,” I said. “And now you have to pay.”

  “I s-said, I said no…”

  I smirked, remembering something he had once said to me. “I’m getting tired of hearing that word,” I said.

  I thrust the sword straight through Trevalyn’s throat. The force was so hard, the tip of the blade tore through the back of his head and into the wooden wall behind him.

  There was an audible gasp from the gang of boys, who had no choice but to watch what was playing out before their eyes.

  A wave of pain overtook my muscles. It felt like some force within me was fighting against the chill in my blood… and it felt like the cold was winning. I looked at the appalling tableau, of Trevalyn bleeding out from the neck, his eyes frozen open, a few twitches from his arms and legs, as the sword just… stayed where I left it.

  And yet, I was still smiling.

  “Help!” yelled one of the boys. “Somebody please, help us!” The four teens began shouting for help.

  “Zip it!” commanded The Raven. He gestured with one hand, from left to right. The mouths of all four teens then disappeared, as if they were sealed shut by a zipper – only their lips had completely vanished.

  “Wow,” I breathed, impressed rather than repulsed. “How did you do that?”

  “I shall show you,” The Raven said proudly. “After all, my new research associate must know all my magics in order to improve upon them.”

  “Research?” I echoed.

  “But of course.” He waved an arm in a circular motion, and a mass of yellow energy appeared, wrapping itself around the boys, binding them together like a rope. “And what is a researcher without test subjects?”

  I smirked as I looked at the frightened boys. “This will be quite interesting,” I mused.

  “I thought you might like that,” The Raven said. “This is my gift to you, to make up for the acts of my so-called ‘syndicate’ here. You shall have safety, shelter, and tutelage at my compound, Nevermore. In return, you will work hard for me. You will discover new ways to harness supernatural power. You will test those methods, record the results, and develop ways for us to wreak indescribable things against this wretched planet.

  “And you need a name to befit your new life with us,” he remarked as we walked up the stairs. As we did, the teenage hooligans followed behind us, willed on by the force of The Raven’s spell.

  And that is how the name Dr. Kane first came into my consciousness.

  10. Final Volume

  “I cannot be Dr. Kane,” I protested. Mial did not respond; instead he was focused on putting books back on shelves. As he did, I got brief flashes in my head of what memory each book contained: games I played with other children, meals I liked, meals I didn’t, and the time I broke my arm jumping off the roof of the old shed at the farm – a failed attempt to fly.

  None of this made sense when compared to the cruelty Dr. Kane and The Raven had introduced into my life.

  “Do you hear me?” I demanded, rising to my feet. “It’s not right! You have it wrong.”

  Mial turned towards me. He gestured with two fingers, and the large armchair I had been sitting in bumped up against my legs, causing me to bend backwards and land in its plush seat.

  “This is not something you can argue away,” Mial said. “This is something you must face – however it happened, whatever it is, we are bringing you to the truth, once and for all.”

  Mial held out a purple tome, gilded with silver… and smudged with black soot.

  “This is it,” he said solemnly. “This is the last piece of your puzzle, Abel; the last book to put back into place.”

  “Why does it look so damaged?” I tried to reach for the book, but Mial pulled it from reach. “It looks burned.”

  “That’s because your psyche tried so hard to eliminate this part of your story from your memory,” Mial said. He took a handkerchief from his breast pocket and began to wipe the soot off the cover. “It is the damage caused to this volume which has created your false memory. Even some of the books we’ve put back on the shelf are influenced by the damage to this book.

  “Once this book is repaired and put on that shelf, every question will be answered. Every bit of your life that has yet to make sense, or which seems out of place, will be put right.

  “When I return this book, my job will be done and I shall go back into the ether realm,” he added. “But trust that I shall always be watching over you, recording your story as it continues.”

  He ran a hand over the cover of the burned book. The pages uncurled, the spine of the book buckled back into place; the melted and charred cover turned back to its lustrous purple.

  Tears were welling up in my eyes, as they had so many times during my stay in this library.

  “I’m so scared,” I whispered through quivering lips.

  “I know,” Mial said, turning to the shelf and reaching up, book in hand. “But you’ll come through the other side alright.”
<
br />   He pushed the book snugly in the only remaining bit of shelf that remained.

  I felt myself being pulled backwards as a bright blue mist enveloped me. Flashes of memories, both recent and distant, struck me like knives.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  “You can’t do this to me,” I whispered.

  “Abel,” said Antareus. “I know this is rough. But this is just… something that has to be done.

  Antareus stood head and shoulders above me. I couldn’t bear to look at him in the eyes; rather, I stared into him at chest-level.

  I watched this scene play out, floating over the two people oblivious to my presence.

  “It’s always been just you and me,” I growled. “Ever since Mother and Father passed, you’ve promised you would look out for me.”

  “Abel,” Antareus began. “That is what I am doing. But you need to know the truth.”

  I cocked my head to the side. This sounded familiar… but not quite how I remembered it earlier.

  “No!” I screamed. I grabbed at the first item I could see – a small drinking glass – and hurled it at Antareus’ head. He ducked, and the glass shattered against the wall behind him.

  “You promised! And now you’re sending me off to some boarding school?! What about my home, right here? It’s just as much mine as it is yours!”

  Wait, what?

  Antareus bit his lower lip and took a cautious step towards me. “I never meant to hurt you… but come on, you had to have known… deep in your heart, you had to have known that you’re not… y’you’re not…”

  He stammered, then cleared his throat, trying to save his composure. “I have this farm to look after, trying to sell enough wheat and grain to keep us afloat from month to month. I can’t keep taking you home from the Guild school because of your… shenanigans. And now to hear that you’re hanging out with some drug addicts?

  That happened before I ran away from home? No, it was the other way… wasn’t it…?

  And I misbehaved that badly, he felt there was no other option but to kick me out?