by Emma Hamm
“That’s not true,” Gaia said firmly. “You have not merged with your creature, or we would not have been able to put it to sleep.”
Wren blinked at her. “Merged?”
“There are different states in which your creature can exist. Most choose to remain a separate part of the host so that when the host dies, they live on. But creatures can also choose to merge with their host. Essentially, they choose to become the same person as the human. All memories and thoughts are shared, as well as powers. Burke and his Dream Walker are now one and the same. It is likely why you have never spoken to the Dream Walker inside of him.”
“I had wondered…” Wren murmured as her thoughts clouded with uncertainty once more.
Gaia shifted forward until her knees nearly pressed against Wren’s. She reached out to take Wren’s hands in her own. Wren stared down at the perfectly manicured fingers that were wrapped around hers. She was uncertain, feeling ill, and so off balance without E’s voice in her head. Too much was happening, and she needed the creature’s advice.
“I want to talk to E,” Wren said quietly.
“E is not here.” Gaia squeezed her hands. “You need to be able to stand on your own, my dear. This decision is yours, not the mystery creature’s inside of you.”
She had already fought this battle in her head. Wren was ready to tell Gaia to stuff it, but there was a part of her that hesitated. She didn’t want to anger E. They had spent far too many years together to not trust that it was making the right decision for her.
But Gaia’s words echoed in her head. She should be able to stand on her own. She should be able to make her own decisions without E telling her what to do. Had she always been like this? Had she always relied upon the creature inside of her to point her in the right direction of her life?
She started to shake. Her hands curled into fists within Gaia’s grasp, and her head started to pound once more. Time was standing still, or so it seemed to Wren, as she fought an inner battle with herself. Do the right thing or satisfy the curiosity that had never stopped burning within her.
E had been with her since day one. That couldn’t, and shouldn’t, be wiped away just because she had a chance to find something out. But she had never made a decision on her own, now had she? This was her moment to make a decision all on her own.
The child inside of her screamed for some sort of answer. And when she delved a little deeper into the caverns of her mind, Wren realized that the adult wanted to have answers as well. There were too many shadows between E and Wren. It needed to end whether E wanted her to know or not.
Looking up from their clasped hands, Wren made eye contact with Gaia’s sky blue eyes. She held her gaze for a moment, before nodding.
“Alright. What do I need to do?”
Gaia yanked her hands away and instantly stood. “Lovely. I’ll have Lyra bring you down, and I will meet you there.”
The dark haired woman, Lyra, stepped forward as Gaia left the room. Wren could still smell Gaia’s perfume, which was now cloying. Had she made a mistake? She felt as though she might have made a mistake.
Wren stared down at her now empty hands and wondered when she had become so dependent. E had always been there to offer advice to her. A bitter taste in her mouth was left as she wondered if she had allowed Gaia to sway her decision.
“I didn’t think you’d agree to it,” Lyra said.
Wren looked up from her hands. “I don’t feel good about it.”
“We all do a lot of things we don’t feel good about.”
Lyra placed her hand gently against Wren’s shoulder. The need for comfort nearly made Wren let it stay where it was. She regretted making the decision but also felt no need to back peddle. She would do this and either be glad she did or regret it for the rest of her life.
Wren moved away from the hand on her shoulder.
“I haven’t forgotten that you hit me with two different darts and kidnapped me.”
A sparkling grin was her response. “Yeah, but we did a good job with it.”
“Excuse me?”
“We could have hit you over the back of the head and carried you off in the night. But we didn’t. We just… improvised a little.”
Wren stood up and stretched. “How did you get me back here anyways?”
“Jasper. He can teleport.”
“What?” Wren blinked at her in confusion. She was astounded that the giant man was capable of that.
Calmly, Lyra allowed her to think. She waited for Wren’s thought bubble to burst with a quirked head and a grin on her face.
“Teleportation!” She snapped her fingers as she squeaked the words. “I haven’t ever heard of a creature that could do that.”
“Yeah me neither.” Lyra walked towards the door and held it open for Wren to walk through. “He’s the only one as far as I know. Not really sure what he is. In case you couldn’t guess, Jasper’s the closed lip kind of guy.”
“So he’s like me? A Curiosity?”
“Oh no. He knows what he is. Got the black eyes to prove it. He just doesn’t tell a lot of people.”
Wren watched as the tiny woman paused for a moment to lock the door and then started leading her down the long hallway. She was light on her feet. Lyra fairly bounced next to Wren who was much more resigned in her movements.
“Then what are you?” Wren asked.
“You know it’s rude to ask a girl that.”
“I’m not asking how old you are or when your first kiss was.” The grumbled mutter caused another giddy smile to break across Lyra’s face.
“Siren is the general species I suppose.”
“Like the singing ones?”
“Never been a good singer.” Considering she had a raspy voice, Wren could believe that. “I’m more affiliated with the water aspect.”
“How so?”
Lyra pointed to her ears. “I leak.”
The statement was so off hand that Wren had to pause in her walking to stare at the smaller woman in confusion. Lyra continued walking until she noticed that Wren was no longer following her. She turned on a heel and arched an eyebrow.
“You leak? What the hell does that mean?”
“I leak a little when I’m upset.” Lyra shrugged. “Among other things.”
“I’m in a madhouse,” Wren muttered as she began walking with Lyra once more. “An absolute madhouse.”
She was led to another room that appeared to be much more sterile. It reminded her of a hospital, though slightly more friendly than that. The walls were painted a light shade of blue, and the tile floor echoed as Lyra’s boots clicked against it.
There was no one else here. This seemed like such an oddity that it made Wren uncomfortable. If this was such a large place, and it was indeed incredibly large, why was it not filled with more people?
“Where is everyone?”
“Who knows. There’s so many levels to Haven, and there aren’t that many of us.”
“How many people work here?”
Lyra tapped a finger against her chin. “Somewhere around 30? And their families.”
“That’s a lot more than I would have imagined,” Wren replied as she looked around the empty room that held only a desk and three chairs.
“The Five are very private people. They try to keep only those who are close to them here.”
“So you all just… live here? Are you allowed out?”
Lyra gave her an odd look. “We’re not prisoners. We can do what we want. Well, the families can. Jasper and I are part of a team, so when the Five snap their fingers we jump.”
“Do you like that?”
Again, Lyra gave her another odd look. “Why are you asking so many questions?”
“I’m just curious. We’re in an empty room with a desk, and I’m about to have my head pulled apart to find out what is in my body with me.”
“You’re not going to be in here for long. We’re just waiting for Gaia.”
Before she could ask yet ano
ther question, Gaia’s voice could be heard from behind another door. “Come on in Lyra.”
The dark haired woman jumped and then shook her head. “Ridiculous. She always scares me doing that.”
“How did she get here before us? I thought she was going to meet us?”
Lyra shrugged. “It’s her way.”
“That’s not confusing at all,” Wren muttered as they both walked through the next door.
Gaia was seated in the corner of the large room. Cool green walls matched the wood floor. A few chairs were at the end of the room lined up next to each other. Each chair looked brand new, and the leather did not appear to have been sat on before. It was a warm room; the kind one would go to for wine and a movie during a relaxing evening.
However, in the center of this room was an old wooden chair that was surrounded by glass walls. A shiver went down her spine as soon as she saw the chair.
“What are you going to do to me?”
Gaia looked up from the papers in her hands. “We’re going to wake E up and coax it out of you. We should be able to exert a small bit of control. Once you’re in that tank, we’ll fill the room with a truth serum that will force E to answer our questions. It’s painless and once it’s over everything will go back to normal.”
“I don’t think-”
“Really, Wren. A small walk changed your mind so easily?” Gaia tapped her nails on the table and pointed towards the glass tank. “Sit down, and it will be over in minutes. We just have a few small questions and then you can leave.”
“What does this have to do with the prophecy?” Wren had to ask. None of this was making sense, but she was firmly in the opinion that she was crossing some kind of line. E would never forgive her for waking up in this sterile room and not being able to lie. Backtracking at this point was going to be difficult.
“We’re confirming that you are actually part of this prophecy. For that, we need to know what E is capable of. There are specifics qualities that it must exhibit.”
“Can’t you just ask me for that?” Wren wanted to argue more, but Lyra was already guiding her towards the glass room. She wasn’t certain how these people constantly pushed her in doing what they wanted.
Wren had always been very strong in her abilities to put her foot down. No one had told her what to do in a long time, other than E. Yet with these people, she was off balance. They were so confident; this place was so abnormal to her. Everything was so perfect and expensive. Wren was not. She was out of place here and somehow that transferred into allowing them to make decisions for her.
She didn’t like it.
Her feet crossed the threshold into the glass room, and her heart started to pound. The glass door closed behind with her a soft suctioning sound as Lyra pushed hard to lock Wren inside.
“We’ve all done it,” Lyra said quietly.
“That doesn’t mean I have to like it.” Wren’s reply was acerbic.
She turned around and noticed how sturdy the glass walls appeared to be. She sat down on the chair and crossed her hands in her lap. Her palms were slick with sweat.
“We’re going to start allowing the gas into the chamber, Wren.” She could hear Gaia’s voice clearly even though the glass surrounded her. “It should smell sweet.”
“I know what Truth smells like,” Wren muttered. “I make it.”
She wished for E’s sarcastic response in her head. She missed the way it was constantly arguing with her. But most of all, she missed the comfort that the creature had always provided in its kind way. She wanted nothing more than for it to wake up.
White mist poured down upon her. It was far more Juice than they needed to use. She squinted her eyes and breathed in slowly. This was a waste as far as she was concerned. If only they had asked her before they let this ridiculous amount of fog fill the chamber. She would have told them how much product they were wasting. Didn’t they know people gave up their memories for this?
Already, she was ankle deep in the fog. The Juice was sticking to the glass walls and balling up into condensation. Wren knew that these droplets were incredibly strong doses that if touched would only make the Juice that much more powerful.
They continued to pour more mist into the chamber. It was up to her knees in a few more minutes, and Wren could not help but wonder what their game was. This was too much Juice for any creature; it was a waste. There was only so much truth that a person could tell.
The door to the larger room banged open, and Wren turned to look in shock as Jiminy busted through. His eyes danced around the room before darkening when he saw Wren seated in the glass cage.
“What are you doing?” he asked angrily. He was staring at Gaia as though she was committing some kind of crime.
“We’re finding out what kind of creature her Entity is,” Gaia replied. She appeared to be calm, but Wren could see the flashes of anger in her eyes. She wasn’t surprised that the powerful being would be angry that Jiminy was questioning her actions. Wren was more surprised that Jiminy was angry at her.
“You can’t do this. You don’t know what you might be unleashing.”
“We’re about to find out.”
He turned on his heel to walk towards the glass. “Wren, you have to stop this. Talk to E about this first.”
“E’s asleep,” she said softly. Her head was held high, and her jaw was set, but a flicker of uncertainty darkened her storm grey eyes.
Wren watched as he stepped closer to the glass as though he didn’t want the others in the room to overhear what he had to say. “Wren, you don’t know what this might do. What if we’re unleashing a Demon? What if this rips E out of you, and it can’t get back in?”
“I have to know,” she said as she stood to walk towards the glass. “I have to know what is happening in my own body. E has been silent for too long.”
“It’s only been asleep for a little while.” Frustration made his voice harsh.
“E has been silent for my entire life,” she replied. “Do you really think that they would let me make any other decision? They kidnapped me, brought me here, and you think they’re going to let me say no? At least now it’s by my choice. By my hands.”
“Are these your words? Or are they Gaia’s?”
She looked into his eyes before her gaze traveled down the length of his broad shoulders to the hand he had placed against the glass. White mist of Truth swirled around her shoulders and long tendrils of it caressed her neck.
“Both?” A small bitter laugh erupted from her mouth. “I don’t know. I’m feeling very lost without E.”
“Don’t make a decision you will regret. You can stop this right now.”
Wren raised her hand to trace the outline of his hand against the glass. Her fingertips left a smudged trail through the droplets of Juice. Her fingers curled against the outline of his palm and some of the liquid Truth was absorbed into her skin. She could feel the mist tickling the underside of her jaw.
“I can’t.”
She stepped back then. Her fingers lingered upon the cool surface of the glass until they slid from its surface. The back of her knees hit the chair. She was staring over the edge of a wall made of Truth and the mist that carried it.
Jiminy stood on the other side of the glass. His expression was darkened by concern as his hand also fell back to his side. She didn’t want him to talk. She didn’t need to hear anyone else’s opinions at this moment. This was her choice.
And it would be her burden to bear once it was over.
She inhaled slowly and sank into the thick Truth that surrounded her. She settled onto the chair and continued to breathe as steadily as she could. All around her was white. Wren could not see anything from the other room, only the swirling columns that made her vision spark at the edges.
A memory surfaced. One that felt as though it was hers and not. Standing on a cliff with a man, warm flesh, a sense of safety and danger at the same time. It wasn’t exactly a memory but the kind of daylight flash she would get whe
n she remembered a dream.
But this one felt more important. She poked at the edges of the memory with her mind, hoping to find some kind of weakness that would pop the bubble. If she could just remember the rest of it, then maybe she would know why it felt so important to remember.
Regardless, she had little choice now that the Juice was thick in her system. Truth always made it difficult for her to focus on things that were not concrete fact.
She did not know how long she sat inhaling the sickly sweet scent. As when she had first awoken in Haven, time seemed to stand still. There was nothing but her breathing, the sound of her heart, and the color white.
“Wren?”
The sleepy voice startled her. She jumped at the sound and then sighed.
“E, are you alright?”
“The drug finally wore off.”
“Right,” she whispered. From one drug to the other it appeared.
There was a long pause as Wren continued to breathe and held herself as still as possible. She was tense as she waited for E to realize what was happening. It did not take long for the creature to understand.
“Wren, what did you agree to?”
The growl seemed to echo through her head at the same instant she heard Gaia begin to chant. Instantly, the mist drained out of the glass cage around her, and Wren felt leather strappings snake around her wrists.
“What?” she murmured as she jerked against the bindings.
Wildly, she looked towards the other people in the room. Gaia nodded her head at her, and Wren felt as though someone was tugging her out of her own body. The Truth had been laced with something else. Something she didn’t recognize.
She stepped away from her physical form and watched the coming events with shock and horror. Wren was able to see her own body strapped down to the chair by enchanted binds, but she was no longer inside of it.
Gaia whispered an unknown language under her breath, and Wren’s body on the chair bowed in pain. Her head shook back and forth. Her arms trembled as she struggled against the bindings that were now cutting into her flesh. Worst of all was the expression of extreme pain on her face.
All of this Wren could see, but she could not feel any of it.