The Key

by Marianne Curley

  ‘You will open the cage,’ Lorian says. ‘Or I will do it for you!’

  With tears glistening in her eyes, Lady Arabella turns solemnly to the cage. ‘Don’t make me do this. The birds came to me with trust in their eyes. They knew that I was someone who could nurture them back to health. They knew that I would look after them.’

  Lorian doesn’t reply, but his look is enough of a command. Lady Arabella lifts a hand towards the front of the cage and an opening appears in the mesh. As the birds fly out, their wings open and stretch, and feathers fly off and shower over us as the birds continue to mould and change. Before they reach the ground, they completely transform into two stunning snow leopards.

  ‘Aysher! Silos!’ Arkarian calls out, and the snow leopards run to him, changing into their familiar dog-shapes at his feet.

  The courtyard fills with stunned muttering and gasps of outrage. Lord Penbarin’s gaze shifts from the dogs to Lady Arabella and back again repeatedly with disbelief. ‘My lady, why?’

  To her credit, Lady Arabella looks just as stunned as the others watching.

  Lorian appears to grow taller all of a sudden and the courtyard goes silent as it fills with the icy rage pouring from him. Lady Arabella practically cowers before it. ‘My lord, this is not what it seems. I didn’t know. I swear, I didn’t know the birds were the dogs we’ve all been searching for.’

  ‘Save your excuses for the trial.’ With a wave of his hand, two guards grip Lady Arabella from behind. ‘Secure her in a cell from which she cannot escape.’

  ‘My lord!’ Lady Arabella screams. ‘No! Don’t do this to me! My lord, you can’t doubt my loyalty. Remember, Rochelle has already tested me. I’m not the traitor. I swear!’

  ‘When you were tested, Rochelle’s powers were still developing. I believe you tricked her, disguising your disloyalty within a shroud of falsely-generated emotion.’

  ‘No! I didn’t do that. You have to believe me! I was only taking care of a pair of birds that came to me for help. They were so beautiful. So innocent and trusting. I didn’t question where they were from, I just wanted to keep them. Please, Lorian, don’t lock me up. I couldn’t stand it.’

  No one says a word. Everyone is stunned.

  ‘I’ll never forgive you for this!’ Lady Arabella’s screams and pleading continue as the guards drag and half carry her into the palace and down into the lower levels. It’s an eerie sound that will stay with me for ever. Finding the traitor brings no relief. Imprisoning Lady Arabella, someone we all love and trust, is nothing short of a tragedy.

  Lorian puts a hand on my shoulder, and for a moment I’m swamped by an outpouring of his emotions and I can hardly breathe. He loves her. And her betrayal is breaking his heart.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Rochelle

  Lady Arabella is being held in a prison cell in the palace in Athens accused of being the traitor! I can’t believe it.

  Dillon is walking beside me as we make our way towards our history class. ‘Did you hear about Lady Arabella?’ he whispers, sounding stunned too.

  ‘Yeah. No wonder she didn’t want Isabel going near her precious birds.’

  ‘Apparently the poison kept the dogs locked in bird shapes so they couldn’t communicate with anyone.’ His head shakes.

  We make it to class and find separate seats. It’s the last day of school before the winter break. It’s been a long semester with many strange things happening and the class is restless. Mr Carter walks in and announces that today’s lesson will be a fun quiz. As the class cheers I look around. Ethan is in the row behind me. I quickly turn back. Since our underwater, near-death experience, we’ve hardly said a word to each other. And I don’t want to bring the subject up. I still cringe at the memory of how excited I got when I realised I had actually lived through it. I can’t believe I danced around those chambers singing! I feel my face heating up again. Ethan’s sitting next to Chloe Campbell, his thoughts completely blocked to me. I should be pleased he’s finally learned how to control them, but a part of me would really like to get into his head one more time.

  I look across to the windows and out of the corner of my eyes I see his arm swing around the back of Chloe’s chair. She giggles and spins him one of her most provocative smiles. Suddenly I wish I had Ethan’s power of animating objects. I’d love nothing more right now than to pull that chair right out from under him!

  Dillon notices where my attention is focused and sniggers. I send him a hate-filled smirk. Bored, he flicks a chunk of rubber across the room. Unconsciously he uses too much power. It whips past Mr Carter like a bullet, lodging firmly in the wall behind him. Mr Carter gives him a warning stare. Dillon lifts his shoulders, mouthing an apology while trying not to laugh. At least he’s not thinking of Neriah right now. I’ve had enough of Dillon’s obsession with her. She talked to him every day this past week about how she just wants to be friends, but it’s as if he’s gone completely deaf and only hears the words hewants to hear coming out of her mouth. Matt’s been away for the past couple of days. This business with Lady Arabella has everyone in Athens in a spin. There’s been endless meetings and documenting of evidence. But he’s back this morning, so hopefully he’ll get a chance to tell Dillon the truth. One thing is for sure, I don’t want to be there when he does.

  Mr Carter hands out the quiz. It’s supposed to be fun, with a prize for the person who gets the most answers right. But his idea of ‘fun’ is a little warped. The questions are all cryptic. Maybe I’m just not with it today.

  On his way back to his seat he stops at the window. It’s not an unusual thing to do, but there’s something about Mr Carter’s sudden stiff stance that sends a few goose bumps loose on my arms. His head tilts as if he’s trying hard to pick up a sound.

  Suddenly he turns and stares straight at me. It’s a look I won’t easily forget. His eyes are fixed and filled with fear. And while he’s not a Truthseer, he knows I am. His thoughts come thundering into my head. Close the door! Close all the windows! Get word to Matt and Neriah to do the same. They’re coming, and they’re coming fast.

  What is he talking about? Who are coming?

  Now, Rochelle! Hurry!

  I do what he says, projecting my thoughts with as much force as I can so that both Matt and Neriah get the message. It turns out Matt is nearby, but Neriah is down in one of the science labs and I’m not sure if my thoughts can reach that far. I tell Matt to make sure she gets the message.

  What’s going on? Matt sends his thought back.

  As I help Mr Carter secure the room, I tell Matt I don’t know. Just do what he says, and make sure no one tries to get out.

  Ethan comes over and stands by the window. He doesn’t say anything, but he’s picked up that something is going on. So have other students in the classroom. Mr Carter puts his hands up to stop their questions, then quietly tells Ethan, ‘Lock the door behind me and don’t let anyone out. Don’t open that door for anything. Do you understand?’

  Ethan nods and Mr Carter takes off. I watch through the glass panels as he rushes from room to room. I see him pointing to the windows and then the doors. The teacher across the hall, Ms Burgess, simply stares at him. He yells at her and she jumps. When he moves on to another room, she shrugs, but orders a couple of students to do exactly what he says.

  Someone calls out, wanting to know what’s going on.

  ‘Who knows?’ Ethan says with a light shrug. ‘Carter’s finally lost it.’

  Dillon comes over to the window and several other students follow.

  As we stare across the sporting fields on this dull winter’s day, the waiting is almost too much to bear. But when the first sign occurs, it turns out to be right under our feet. The floor begins to vibrate. It sets the students off straightaway.

  ‘It’s an earthquake!’ Bryce Wilson calls out and runs to the door. Finding it locked, panic quickly descends. ‘Let us out of here!’

  Ethan exchanges a look with me, then runs to the door. He pulls Bryce
away and tries to calm him. ‘It’s OK. Stay calm and everything will be –’

  Before Ethan finishes, the real source of the rumbling appears. Everyone runs to the windows, faces peering through the glass. At first the entire class is stunned, speechless.

  Ethan peers over my shoulder. ‘Here they come,’ he mutters. Then, ‘Everybody get away from the glass!’

  A wave of thousands of black rats races across the sporting fields heading straight in our direction. Everybody screams. It doesn’t take the rats long to reach the classrooms. Big and fat like hamsters, they darken the room as they make their way over the rooftop. Chloe and a couple of other girls are beside themselves, screaming and huddling together under a desk. But it’s not just the girls that are freaked out. A couple of the guys look as if their eyes are going to fall out of their heads. As the rodents cross over the roof, the mass of students move to the other side of the room, tables and chairs crashing in the rush.

  The sound of glass shattering down the hallway brings a stab of terror. I hope Mr Carter was able to get word to all the classes. But thinking of Mr Carter has me wondering if he found shelter for himself. A terrible sinking feeling kicks into my stomach and I whisper, ‘Where are you, Mr Carter?’

  ‘He’ll be all right,’ Ethan says, coming up beside me.

  I can hardly hear him as the thunder the rats are making crossing the roof drowns out everything else, including the sound of screaming. Now the whole building is vibrating. I just hope the roof holds up under the weight. And then I see Mr Carter, running into the hallway just ahead of hundreds of rats. He manages to close the exit doors just before they reach him. Ethan holds on to the lock on our classroom door, ready to open it, but just as Mr Carter gets a few feet away, the rats on the ceiling find a way through some cracks and start pouring into the classroom. Mr Carter sees them and shakes his head.

  ‘No,’ he calls out, and starts backing away.

  ‘But, sir, come back!’

  Mr Carter turns and runs.

  We watch in horror as the rats catch up with him. It all happens so fast. In seconds the rats are on Mr Carter’s legs and crawling up his back. He falls on his face, and the rats cover him from head to foot.

  Everyone is stunned and sickened, their faces pushed flat to the windows, fixed and staring.

  Along with other students, I can’t help calling out, ‘We have to do something!’

  Ethan and Dillon stare at each other, and I hear their unconcealed thoughts bellowing into my head. To open this door would put the lives of all these students at risk.

  ‘We can’t leave him to die out there!’

  Dillon smashes a chair, pulls off two legs and throws one to Ethan. But light starts to filter back into the classroom and it becomes clear that the rats are passing. Soon they are skittering down the other side of the building, heading for the lower classroom blocks. Ethan and Dillon burst out of the room, screaming and bellowing and thumping the rats off Mr Carter with their chair legs.

  I get shoved to the side as Bryce and some other students run out after them. And soon all the classes in this block empty into the hallway, I finally get to Mr Carter. He’s in a really bad way. Blood is oozing from just about every part of his body, his clothes in tatters from all the scratch and bite marks.

  ‘Where’s Isabel?’ Ethan hisses to me.

  I try to locate her thoughts, anything that will let me know which room she’s in. But I get nothing. Come to think of it, I don’t remember seeing her this morning at all. ‘I don’t think she came to school today.’

  ‘I don’t think she did either,’ Ethan says, lifting Mr Carter into his arms. ‘She’s probably with –’

  Ms Burgess shoves students out of her way to get to us. ‘What happened to Marcus?’

  Ethan pushes past her, ignoring her question.

  ‘Ethan, what are you doing?’ she cries out. ‘The office will call an ambulance. Put him down.’ He keeps walking. ‘Young man, you bring Mr Carter back here!’

  The further Ethan gets to the doors, the more distant Ms Burgess’s cries become. Once outside Ethan starts to run. Dillon offers to help, but Ethan just shakes his head. He’s determined to take care of Mr Carter himself. But the effort becomes strenuous and he heaves. This time Dillon doesn’t take no for an answer. He pulls Mr Carter out of Ethan’s arms and takes off, straight up the hill towards Arkarian’s chambers. With his superior strength, we get to the secret door in no time.

  The opening appears and Isabel greets us on the other side. ‘Quickly. In here.’ She points to a door that Arkarian holds open. Dillon lays Mr Carter on a bed, and I notice its ruffled appearance. Arkarian pulls up the covering blanket, then shoots me an interesting look. I can’t help but think how lucky Arkarian and Isabel are that Matt isn’t here.

  Dillon quickly returns my attention to the chaos at the school. ‘I’m going back to see if I can help down there.’

  It’s a good idea. I should go too. I glance at Mr Carter; the bite marks are festering like acid burns. But there’s nothing I can do here. It’s up to Isabel now.

  Chapter Thirty

  Matt

  The school is in chaos. The rats have caused plenty of damage, and a few students caught outside their classrooms have been hurt. Badly. Where the rats have bitten, their flesh is puckering up like an acid burn. Their moaning fills the air. It’s a relief to hear sirens in the distance drawing nearer. A whole string of them. But the most damage appears to be in the science labs. I make my way down there to where it is complete bedlam.

  I wish I could find the others, but they don’t appear to be anywhere. I could search them out with my mind, but I need a quiet moment to do that, and, well, that’s just not going to happen here for a long time.

  The plague has passed, but the rats are still out there, traversing the land, making their way to who knows where.

  The science labs are a mess. A couple of students are still hysterical. That’s when I spot Neriah, making her way from one to the other, trying to calm and reassure. The ambulances have arrived and those of us who are OK are asked to leave.

  She sees me and runs straight into my arms. We go outside to the back of the building and I hold her close.

  ‘Tell me what happened.’

  She closes her eyes and shows me, projecting the images straight into my head. Mr Carter is running from one lab to the other, yelling for everyone to close their windows and lock their doors. But the rats are closing in. They’re already hitting the front buildings. Many rats slide in before the students are able to close the last couple of openings. They seem to have one purpose, to search and find human flesh, as if in some crazy way it will help to make them mortal again. I see Neriah with her eyes open wide and staring, as the fear that grips the rest of the class grips her too. Screams rent the air, stools crash against desks. Students slam against each other as they try to get on top of desks and away from the rats. Some jump up and hang like monkeys off the ceiling beams. Mr Walker tries to calm the class, while flinging snarling rats off himself and the students near him.

  Neriah draws herself to the side and closes her eyes. At first the room is still chaotic. She searches the minds of the rats, finding a way to communicate with them. To begin with nothing changes, but a few moments later the rats stop and lift their heads. It’s an amazing sight. They make their way towards her as if hypnotised. She holds open a window and they file out. Thankfully, in the hysteria, nobody notices her gift.

  ‘You did good,’ I whisper over the top of her head.

  She lifts her eyes to mine with a look I haven’t seen in hers before – one of despair. ‘Matt, I saw something.’

  ‘What was it?’

  ‘I saw into their minds.’

  ‘The rats?’

  She nods and gulps deeply.

  ‘What did you see?’

  ‘Disease,’ she hisses. I tug back a wayward strand of her hair and she says, ‘How do we fight this? Where do we begin?’

  A shadow
passes, but I pay it no attention. My thoughts are full of the mass of rats that bring disease to our world, and how we’re going to deal with them. But the shadow has a voice, and it is filled with anger and accusation. ‘How about beginning right here? Right here with me!’

  For a moment we both freeze as Dillon starts to pace around us as if he is a wolf on the scent of his prey. ‘So how long has this been going on?’

  I put Neriah behind me. ‘Dillon, let me explain.’

  ‘Your hands around her, her hands around you. If you ask me, that says it all.’

  ‘I wanted to tell you,’ I try to explain, even though it’s too late now. Why didn’t I make the time earlier? I should have been upfront with him as soon as I realised my feelings for Neriah. If it comes down to it, there’s no way I’ll use my powers on him. That wouldn’t be right.

  Neriah steps around me. ‘Dillon, I tried to tell you we could only be friends.’

  ‘Friends? You think we can be friends now?’ He walks up to my face. ‘As for you, we’ve been friends nearly all our lives. Is this what friends do to each other? You knew I liked Neriah. You knew and you still moved in on her. You did it while I was locked up in that safe room being debriefed, and when I came out, you were too much of a coward to admit it!’

  ‘It wasn’t like that.’

  ‘Now I get why the Tribunal members gave me all those gifts. They knew what you would do to me. Lady Arabella made a huge point about making sure I worked on nurturing them.’ He shakes his head. ‘I should have listened. There were signs everywhere!’

  ‘If you had taken notice of what we have been trying to tell you, you wouldn’t be so upset right now,’ Neriah says.

  He hisses air through gritted teeth. ‘I was thinking more along the lines that I would have worked out what was going on!’ He turns to me. ‘So what was that promise you made me? Were you mocking me, Matt?’

  ‘No! I swear!’

  He shoves me hard. My back hits the brick wall. The brick wall cracks.

  Neriah tries to run between us.