"I'll get Jer onto it," she replies.
"When can I meet this Jer guy that everyone is so keen to talk about?" There's a silence while Ella and Agnes seem to have a silent conversation between themselves and I sit in between them like some petulant child that asks too many questions. After a few moments Ella says, "Ugh, fine. Go easy on him though, will you?" And she gets up to leave.
"Wait, what? Where are you going?" I ask, suddenly panicked to be left alone with Agnes.
"I don't bite. We just need to have a little heart to heart," Agnes says as Ella closes the door behind her when she leaves.
Agnes turns herself towards me, fixing her large blue eyes on me. I feel pinned to my seat, a hare in the headlights.
"You are a total nuisance, Curtis Mayes," she starts. "Not only did you have to get under the feet of Ella, who is more important to our cause than you probably have any notion of, but somehow you managed to make her fall in love with you." My heart skips a beat.
"She's in love with me?" I ask hopefully.
"Don't be a pillock. Of course she is. But the ramifications of that are far greater than your little mind understands. I've seen you. I know, sadly, everything that is going to happen. If I could make you disappear here and now, knowing that it would change the events of the future, I'd do just that. It would be easy enough." I suddenly feel threatened. This peculiar, mad-looking woman who happens to be related to the girl I'm crazy about is talking about killing me to get me out of the way. I have no doubt she's capable of it.
"But I fear that getting rid of you would set another course of events into play that I don't think will benefit us or the rest of the world. No. Instead I’ll have to work with what I’ve got," she sighs and slaps her knees as if she’s concluded an argument with herself and is resigned to the outcome. I feel as though I’m a spectator in a one-sided conversation that I’m not privy to.
"So, young man, the only question I have for you is: do you have what it takes?"
"I’m sorry, have what it takes to what?"
"To raise a child!"
"Excuse me?" I’m completely perplexed.
"You heard me," replies Agnes and folds her arms, unwilling to clarify the bizarre statement further.
"I, er, I dunno really. I’ve not given it much thought," I say, wondering if this is some kind of strange test that she’s putting me through.
‘Let’s put it this way: if Ella is stupid enough to get herself pregnant would you raise the child?"
I feel a little ill. Agnes sees things. Future things. Has she seen that Ella and I have a baby together? That would mean that we’d have to sleep together. And the thought of that sends sensations through my body that I can’t think about right now.
"I’ve evidently lost you to one of your little trains of thought. Just answer the question with the first thing that comes to your mind. Would you be able to raise a child with my sister?" Agnes snaps her fingers in front of my face and I respond immediately.
"Yes. I love her. I’d do whatever it takes," the answer seems to please Agnes. "But does that mean…?" I leave the question hanging between us.
"Well, it’s one of some thirty outcomes that I’ve seen, half of which end up with you dead, a quarter with Ella pregnant and the rest, well, let’s just say I’ve only seen one scenario where we all win. That’s what I’m worried about, Curtis. Between you and me, the whole bloody fate and lives of Augurs in this country, and other countries too, rests on Ella’s shoulders. At the moment you’re a distraction. I’m hoping that you’ll become more than just the boy who inconveniently discovered her secret."
I digest the information for a moment.
"Can I ask why Ella is so special? Apart from the reasons that are obvious to me, does she have different powers or something?"
Agnes seems to debate whether to confide that information in me or not.
"Yes. She’s very special. Just as there aren’t any other Augurs I know of that can see visions of the future, she’s the only one that doesn’t need to channel much energy, if any at all, to use her gift. She’s a self-sufficient energy source. She just doesn’t want to do anything about it."
I nod, remembering how Ella so nonchalantly mentioned it last night. "So, all the stuff about transference of energy and particle displacement that I’ve read about doesn’t apply to her?" Agnes looks impressed at my knowledge, if only briefly before giving me a grave nod.
"It does, but because she can constantly create her own energy she doesn’t need to take it from outside sources. And the worst thing is she doesn’t want to try it, yet without her cooperation we’ll lose this war. Some time, very soon indeed, I’m going to need your assistance, Curtis. I’m going to need you to convince my sister to use her real gift. Not growing flowers or fixing coffee machines," she pauses for a second when I look surprised at that statement, "but her real powers."
I realise that I’ve been leaning so close to her that I’m almost falling off the chaise lounge. "What is this war all about though? Why is it so important?" I try not to sound idiotic but it’s difficult when I only understand half of what she’s talking about. She sighs. It seems I’ve asked a million-dollar question.
"For years Augurs have been ostracised. Cast out from the groups of Normals because they didn’t understand us. Normals dislike anything that can’t be immediately understood or broken down into atoms, molecules and hard evidence."
My mind flashes back to the boy that I failed to help just a few weeks ago and I feel painfully guilty. Up until now I had pushed it out of my mind. What would Ella think of me if she knew I’d done nothing more than get myself a black eye and ran away?
"She’d probably forgive you," Agnes blurts out, a look of slight annoyance on her face that I zoned out again.
"Sorry," I mutter as she clears her throat to continue.
"Where was I? Oh, yes. Augurs have been working next to Normals for as long as there have been people on Earth, progressing and building together. But as Normals advanced and produced more technology, first to replace having to do hard work themselves and then to replace needing us, Augurs themselves started becoming more powerful. Just as Normals needed technology to keep them going, and now rely on it fully, Augurs became reliant on the energy around them to use their powers. Ella is one of the few that hasn’t been affected by the technological advances around us.
"At the same time, Normals have become more and more suspicious of us, knowing that with all the energy and power around us we could probably do the human race a huge amount of damage. The thought that a being could channel energy and use it for something else is unthinkable to them, despite us being, essentially, the same species."
"I don’t think all Normals feel that way," I point out.
"You aren’t wrong there, but the ones that need to change, the ones that control the media and send out messages of hate are more worried about votes than people, about money than compassion, well, they aren’t as understanding as you, Curtis.
"I know that Ella isn’t the first Augur you’ve known, and I realise she’s not the only reason why you agree with our cause. But the fact that you two are together could be the very best or the very worst thing for us," she leans back and seems to give me a cool look, waiting whilst I adjust my reality to this new and peculiar situation. What could I possibly do to make things better? What could Ella do against potentially hundreds, thousands or millions of Normals that want nothing more than to get rid of Augurs?
"There’s so much tension building between the two sides. To top it off there’s the small group of idiots running around and aggravating the situation."
"The Magic Circle," I interject, satisfied that at least I know something about what is going on.
"That’s right. If they carry on they may end up pushing Carlton Munday and the Prime Minister over the edge, getting us all registered, which would mean that Augurs would end up being targeted individually. They make us register, then they start treating us even more like outsiders.
Eventually we end up like animals, slaves or worse. It’s been tried before, and they almost won. Our basic human rights are at risk, our families and children for generations to come will be penalised. The only thing that is stopping all this from happening already is our anonymity, and to protect that we need Ella."
I realise that she hasn’t told me what for yet, but I know that she probably won’t now. She sighs heavily and closes her eyes, and after a few minutes I wonder if she’s fallen asleep. I take it that our little chat is over and get up to leave, but as I walk past her chair she grips my hand. With eyes still closed she says, wearily, "You’re one of us now, Curtis. Whether you like it or not, the fate of the Augurs and the Normals rest on your shoulders. Ella won’t do it without you. Will you help us?"
I feel a shiver go down my spine.
"I promise," I say, not sure of my choice of words.
"We’re relying on you, Normal," she says, and for some reason I feel slightly offended by the word. I nod, although I know technically she can’t see me, but she lets go of my hand and allows me to leave. I feel an almost painful tension in the pit of my stomach like I’ve never experienced before. That, I tell myself, is the heavy weight of responsibility.
CHAPTER 6
I find Ella in her room, lying on her bed reading. "Oh God," she says when she sees my face, "what did she say to you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost."
"Ah, nothing much," I say, running a hand through my hair.
"Well, that’s a lie," she smirks. "You know, I can tell when you’re nervous because you always run your hand through your hair."
"I do?" I say, immediately dropping it to my side and trying not to look too guilty. She laughs.
"So really, what did she say?"
"She said a lot. Like, a lot. Half of which I didn’t understand but most of which I got the general gist of. But, essentially, she wanted to make sure my intentions were good," I say, trying to make light of it.
"Ooh, well I hope they aren’t all good," she winks at me and pulls me down onto the bed. I sit next to her awkwardly, but she wraps her arms around me and pulls me down towards her. I freeze up completely. Agnes’s warnings are still fresh in my head, and although half of me would want nothing more than to lock the door and spend the next few hours here with Ella, I suddenly worry about what that would mean for us.
"What’s the matter?" she asks as I slump down next to her.
"Something Agnes said. One of her, I dunno, premonitions?"
"Oh, Curtis, don’t worry about it. Most of what she tells me is only one of multiple outcomes. If she’s scared you off, I’m sorry. I can go speak to her if you like?" I look into her clear blue eyes and want to hold her, kiss her and shut the rest of the world out, but I realise I need to start getting clever if I’m going to live up to my promise to Agnes.
"Ella," I sit up on the bed and take one of her hands in mine, "I realise that this is a bit sudden, but my parents are away for a week. Do you want to stay with me for a few days?" It’s the only thing I can think of. It will get her away from the watchful eye of her sister. Not only will I feel a whole lot less paranoid, but we’ll be together for long enough that I can probably convince her to tap into her real powers. I feel weirdly guilty as her eyes light up.
"Really?" She asks, but she’s doing a terrible job of hiding her smile. I nod and put my hand on her cheek. "How could I say no?" She says and kisses me again, and that electrifying feeling runs through me. When she’s happy I feel it right down to my toes.
"One proviso," she says as she grabs a bag and puts some clean clothes into it.
"I’m pretty sure whatever it is I’ll agree to it."
"Well, with the weirdness going on at yours, I think we should have Jer check out your creepy neighbour first," she says, grabbing a fistful of underwear that I can’t help but notice and chucking it into her bag.
"Fine, fine," I wave my hand dismissively.
"Great. I’ll get Aggie to contact him, and in the mean time we should probably get something to eat. I’m famished." She flings her bag over her shoulder and leaves me to inspect the inside of her room while she speaks to her sister. I’d like to avoid going back in there if I can at all help it.
The whole thing is painted with basic magnolia, but there are photos, paintings and pictures covering much of it. The bed is a basic single thing that one gets when they’re about ten, and probably like mine it hasn’t changed since then. Other than a small wardrobe and chest of drawers there’s only one item in the room I find interesting. On a small desk in the corner sits an analogue camera and a couple of lenses. I get up from the floral bedspread and take a closer look. It’s interesting to see something like this in an age so full of technology. I examine it, rub my thumb over the shiny lettering and weigh it in my hands. It’s been well used, and I wonder if the little knocks and scratches are her imprint on it or if she bought it from a second hand shop. Maybe it belonged to a relative. I realise that I had no idea Ella liked photography. The images around the room make more sense now and I walk over to the photos adorning the wall closest to me. They’re pinned or tacked neatly around a long mirror. Agnes appears in one or two. There’s even a couple with the rest of the staff of Gregorio’s. There are portraits of people looking off to the distance, close up shots of flowers, even one or two street scenes. All of them have a nostalgic look to them, evidently all taken on film rather than anything from the last decade.
A picture catches my eye. Just one shot of a couple, smiling at the camera. The woman looks remarkably like Ella, although older, and the man has the same blue eyes as her. I realise these must be her parents and I feel a pang of sadness in my chest. The image is older than the rest, a little dog-eared, but evidently cherished as it’s pinned right above the mirror just above my head.
"Good news, Agnes says Jer can come over tonight..." Ella bounces in but when she sees me looking at the photo she stops. She walks up behind me and I see in the reflection of the mirror that she has that sad expression on her face I’ve seen hundreds of times before. "That was the first shot I took with my camera," she explains and takes it from my hand. I didn’t realise I was still holding it. "Mum and Dad spent too much money that Christmas on a proper SLR for me. Being Augurs we’ve never gone in for the digital ones. They were killed just a few months later."
I turn around and hug her. "God, I’m so sorry," I say, as if that will make any difference.
"Don’t be. But thank you," she sighs and puts the camera back in its place. "I never really mentioned that I like to take pictures, huh?" she says, and I shake my head. "You know, I used to want to be a photographer," she laughs wryly, and I smile.
"Me too, would you believe? I even took a GCSE in it. But Dad thought it was a crap job and refused to help me get a camera, so I gave up in the end. Thought maybe I’d find an office job where I could get paid to push paper around instead."
"Thank goodness you got a job working at the restaurant, huh?" She says, pulling me towards the door.
"Oh yeah, life is so much more interesting since I met you," I joke, but it’s true. I grab her bag from her, which she seems to appreciate, and we head downstairs and out the front door, Ella shouting goodbye to Agnes as we leave.
I feel a weight come off me when I step outside. It sounds idiotic, but I felt like Agnes was watching our every move while we were in there, like she had eyes in the walls.
We catch a bus back to my place where I cook the only thing I really know how to: a full English. Mum was shrewd enough to leave me eggs, bacon, sausages and all the trimmings knowing that my culinary skills are limited, and while Ella changes I put it together. We sit at the kitchen table eating and Ella makes appreciative noises. I don’t know if she’s doing it for my benefit or if she’s just really hungry, but I feel happy knowing that I’ve managed to do something right.
"Can I ask you a question?" I ask her as I take a bite of toast.
"That was one. But you can ask another," she says, getting u
p to put some coffee on.
"Well, Agnes seems to think that Carlton Munday is an Augurist, yet he’s not actually doing anything, from what I can see at least, to hurt Augurs or oppress them out of existence. I don’t believe the papers, but it looks like he’s just doing his normal job," I say.
"So, what’s the question?" she asks, setting down a cup of coffee for me in my favourite mug and sitting back down at the table.
"Well, why would she think he’s an Augurist do you think? It makes no sense."
"I’m no politician, but I know people like him. He will do quite literally anything for power. I’m fairly sure there’s an agenda here somewhere that we don’t even know half of. My parents..." she goes quiet for a moment and I’m surprised to hear her mention them. "My parents were in the process of exposing a huge plan to oppress Augurs. Everything from an inoculation that could dampen powers to a special prison where energy transference would be impossible. Padded cells, no light or heat, that kind of thing."
"But that’s inhumane!" I say, feeling disgusted at the thought of Ella imprisoned or worse.
"Damn right it is. But then I came along and things got complicated. I know Aggie told you about what I can do," she shoots me a look and I try not to appear too guilty. I thought if she knew her sister had confided in me it would be all the more difficult to get her to cooperate in using her powers. Apparently, I’ve underestimated how close they are. I run my hand through my hair and then stop myself, realising that it’s my ‘tell’, and she laughs.
"Curtis, you are hilarious. It’s okay that she told you. I can’t say it makes any difference to where I stand on the whole situation, but I prefer you know everything before it’s too late to go back," she leaves that statement hanging in the air and now I wonder if Agnes told her about the phantom baby too.
"If I haven’t said this before, I’ll say it now," I say as I take her warm hands in mine. "Nothing is going to take you away from me. Not Augurs, not your family, not even — other complications. I’m here to stay even if it’s the last thing I do." She smiles at that, but it’s a sad sort of smile.
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