Aegis: Catalyst Grove

by Nathan Roten

  Damien stood there completely focused on his wrists. He had no idea how it happened. Curling his fingers in again he tried to reproduce the light and the current that he had just performed underwater, but nothing happened. He grunted and strained to the point that small veins started to bulge from his temples and neck. He held his breath for a few seconds, then let it out in one big disappointed breath.

  Kel caught a glance of Damien as he was trying to re-enact the underwater light show.

  “What are you doing over there?”

  Putting his hands back down at his side, he let out another heavy sigh. “Nothing.”

  Kel’s eyes narrowed as she tried to understand what he was doing. She remembered the water lighting up as she struggled to get to the surface. Then the current pushing her to the top of the water. Her eyes widened.

  “That was you?!”

  Damien looked over at Kel again. “Yea. It was.”

  “You didn’t tell us you could do things too!” Kel’s excitement was evident. All four of them now had shown a supernatural ability.

  “There was nothing to tell. This is the first time it has happened,” said Damien.

  “What was it? What did you do, other than the light?” asked Kel.

  “I…well, I remember thinking that I could help if I could see, and that is when the light shot from my hands. Then, something inside just told me to hold out my hands and try. Just try. I can’t really explain it. I just strained like I was pushing a heavy object out of the way, and that is when that current forced us all to the surface.”

  Kel let go of Ailey and walked over to Damien. She could see the confusion brewing beyond his excited exterior. It was in his eyes. She could relate. They all could. She gave him a firm hug then backed away enough to put her hands on the sides of his shoulders. “You saved our lives. Thank you.” She then gave him another tight squeeze.

  Damien didn’t know what to say. He really did not feel like he did anything. It was not really his decision or intent to do what he did. He just reacted. It felt good, though, to have some appreciation. It is a rare feeling for an orphan. His normal smirk returned to his face. “Gracias amiga.”

  “Hey guys! There are some clothes and towels in here!” yelled Graham from the other room.

  They all ran over through the doorway of the office like room to see Graham searching through a free standing metal closet. He had already retrieved five or six pair of crimson red sweatpants and thin, hooded sweatshirts. Each sweatshirt had the same yellow sun emblem printed on the back.

  “I am not putting that on,” said Kel.

  “Would you rather tromp through the forest in that?” Graham pointed to her clothes. Large drops of water continued to fall from them, forming a small puddle of water around her feet.

  Ailey didn’t care what it was. She was wet and freezing. It was dry, and she wanted them. Her lips were purple and her teeth would not stop chattering. She sifted through the pile of clothes on the floor that Graham had pulled out, finding a set that fit her.

  Damien also pick up a pair and found his exact size. “Um, guys. These all fit us. Perfectly.”

  “I know. I noticed that, too,” said Graham. “I think this is where Chase was trying to make us run to. If they intended us to ride this waterfall down here, then they knew we would be freezing. I guess they knew if they need us to make them stronger, then they need us alive.”

  Kel held up the sweatshirt at eye level. “Say we make it out of here and back up into the woods. These things are bright red. We will stick out like literal sore thumbs.”

  Damien looked at the clothes in silence. His mind was churning. It was evident that he was sorting out the details and events of the last couple of hours. His unfocused eyes darted back and forth as his mind continued to race, until a smile curled the sides of his mouth. “Oh, that is good.”

  “We don’t really have a choice,” said Graham in response to Kel. “It is either wear these or freeze to death. We will just have to get a little creative to stay hidden…wait, what?” Damien’s remark threw Graham off guard. “What do you mean this is good? I am pretty sure this is the exact opposite of good.”

  Damien looked directly into Graham’s eyes. He held up the red clothing. “I was just thinking that it is a little ironic to me that the clothing meant to trap us is actually going to set us free.”

  “I don’t follow,” said Graham.

  “You said it yourself. We are in a maze, and we are doing exactly what they want us to do. This whole place is their playground. Do you really think we can hide from them?

  “Well, when you put it that way…”

  “You know I am right. They chose you two because you already showed signs of unnatural abilities. They probably are always on the look out for people like you. I guess you give them the most bang for their buck, but Ailey and I never had anything like that happen to us before, but for some reason, we can now.” Damien pulled back his wet sleeves enough to expose his wrists and forearms. “It makes sense then, that those bands were their initial experiment.”

  They all pulled back their sleeves to look at their wrists. There was nothing visible, but they knew it was there, lying just beneath the skin.

  “It reminds me of something my dad used to do. Before my parents died, my dad used to collect sap from Maple trees to make syrup. It was a much different trade then what he did back in Peru, but he was always good at adapting to the new skills that were needed in the area. When we moved here, in the North East of the US, he got a job where he would get maple syrup. He would go out mid-morning during the latter part of winter as the temperature would rise and drill holes in the trees. He had a bunch of these small metal Spiles that looked like little tubes with a spout at the end. We called them the ‘sap taps.’ He would take those sap taps and hammer them into the trees where the holes were drilled. Once they were in place, the sap would begin to run out of the center of the tube, and he would collect it in a large bucket.”

  They all turned to look at each other, trying to figure out if anyone was getting the point of the story.

  “Really guys? Do I need to write it in crayon? These bands let them take our energy, or life force, or whatever you want to call it. These are sap taps. I think they allow our energy or power to come out. The thing is, we can use them for ourselves.” Damien pointed to each of them as he spoke. “Kel, you used it to break Graham’s chair and uproot those trees at the bottom of the hill. Graham, you used them to make a mess in that hallway.”

  “G, thanks for the compliment,” said Graham.

  “You know what I mean. I even used them to light up the water and pull you guys out of it.” Dropping the clothes, Damien bent his elbow, holding up his arm in front of him. He pointed to his wrist. “We can use these to our advantage.”

  “Wait. You made the water push us to the top?” said Graham. “I thought it was just another current from the pool. That is amazing!”

  Kel was deep in thought. She wasn’t so sure about this. “That sounds great in theory Damien. It really does, but I can’t control these ‘powers,’ and neither can you. I just watched you try.”

  Graham had never seen Damien this determined or serious. “What choice do we have? Even if we escape this maze, do you think we are just going to run up to Ms. Winstone and tell her about all this? She knows Chase. She knows Cavaness. There is no way she will believe our word over theirs.”

  Kel looked at Ailey, then at Graham. Graham shrugged his shoulders. “He has a point.”

  “Of course I do. And that is just it.” Picking us the shirt from the floor, Damien let it dangle from his hand as he he held it up in front of everyone.

  “The point of of these red shirts is that we can’t hide or run anymore. They expect us to keep running. We obviously cannot hide any longer. We have to turn the tables on them and use the element of surprise. We have to fight. We have to win and expose what they are doing. It is the only way to end this.”

  Graham looked over a
t Kel to see her reaction. Her eyebrows were arched in surprise and a hint of curiosity. He did not see that coming. He would have bet that was what she wanted. His resolve about her motivation softened slightly, but even still, he could not take the chance and trust her.

  Damien dropped the dry shirt, yanked off his wet shirt and threw it to the floor. He took a towel and quickly dried his upper body, then bending over, he picked up the thin, red sweatshirt again and pulled it over his head. Finishing where he left off, he looked everyone square in the eye.

  “…and it will be the one thing they do not expect.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The Calm Before The Storm

  Graham and Damien collected their new apparel and walked back out of the room, letting the girls change in privacy. They made their way over to a dark corner so the could also dry off and finish changing into their new gear. Despite donning the emblem of the group that was trying to hold them captive, the clothes actually felt pretty good. They were not cotton like normal sweats. They felt like they were made of polyester and elastic, but as soft as silk. There was also a thin insulated liner sewn to the inside that kept them warm and comfortable in the cold, damp cave.

  Graham looked over at Damien as he finished pulling his pants up to his waist. “I’m sorry I dragged you into this. This is all my fault. Maybe we didn’t even need to come here if I had told you about my problem in the first place. I’m going to get us out of here, amigo. I promise you that.”

  “No you won’t. WE will get out together. I wanted to come here just as much as you did, so don’t go whipping yourself, alright? Besides, I’ve got a plan.”

  He whispered into Graham’s ear. Graham’s eyes got big and his jaw dropped a little.

  “You are crazy. I can’t even…I mean, I haven’t done anything yet. I think I am broken or something.”

  “You will. I know you haven’t let loose yet, but you will. When the time comes.”

  The girls walked out of the room in their new clothes. Kel hated it. She kept tugging at her shirt, still not quite on board with Damien’s plan. Ailey, on the other hand, loved it. She was all smiles. She loved anything red. It was her favorite color. Plus, it was warm, and most importantly, it was dry. For the first time since being in Portfield Manor, she was actually comfortable.

  Damien gathered everyone around and explained his idea of how to fight back. He went through the list of everyone’s ‘special abilities’ and then described how they could work together in a surprise attack. When he was done, everyone was quiet. Kel felt very uneasy about it. This was serious. It wasn’t Graham’s favorite either, but he could not come up with anything better. No one was speaking up, so Kel decided to break the awkward silence and reveal the elephant in the room.

  “We could get hurt doing this, Damien. Injured, maybe even killed. How do you know we won’t get hurt doing this? How do you know if we can even use these bands to do anything?”

  “I don’t. I can’t know that we will all make it out of here in one piece, but I have to act on what I already know.”

  Kel remained unconvinced. Her body language told Damien that she disagreed. Her brow was furrowed and her arms were crossed over her chest. Talking it through was not working. He knew what needed to happen next.

  In a spontaneous dash, Damien sprinted towards Kel, shoving her violently to the ground. Without thinking, Kel reacted. She held her hand out and shot a beam of light from her hand as she fell backwards; her wrist lighting up with a golden shimmer. Damien flinched but did not move. He just stood there like a statue. His eyes were shut tight with his head turned to the side as the force hit him right in the chest. It knocked him down on to his back with a loud thud towards the water’s edge.

  Graham stood there in total shock. Did Damien suspect she was one of them too? Would she finally show her true colors? Kel pushed herself onto her elbow, looking up to see what happened to Damien.

  “WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?” yelled Kel, her voice echoing throughout the cavern.

  Damien pushed off the ground with his hands up to a seated position. He held his chest with his hand trying to massage the pain away. “I told you. I had to make a decision based on what I already know.”

  Frozen, Graham and Ailey couldn’t move a muscle. They just stared at the Damien, watching the scene unfold.

  “Good gosh that hurt!’ said Damien. He put both hands to his chest rubbing fervently up and down. “Look, I admit we can’t do these things on command, but we can when our instinct takes over. If we don’t think, but just let ourselves react, the bands work. They can let us attack. I knew you would have a hard time believing me, so I thought I would just show you.”

  Kel lay there trying to process what Damien was saying, not to mention what they both just did.

  “But…how did you know I would do that?” she asked.

  “I didn’t. It was an educated guess,’ said Damien.

  Her curiosity began to replace the anger of being shoved to the ground. Kel pulled her hand back so she could get a good look at it. She could not deny what just happened, and it was true her wrists lit up just then. They still had a fading glow.

  Graham could not believe what he was seeing. Two different emotions fought inside him like dueling dragons. One one hand, he was thrilled to see others like him. The burden and shame of secrecy seemed like a distant memory now. The answers he had been seeking did not come how he wanted or expected, but they were unfolding, and now, he shared this rare bond with his best friend.

  On the other hand, a looming sense of dread waged war on his new found joy. As he continued to watch, he could see that Damien was right. They could not run any longer, but he still could not perform. How ironic that he previously shunned human interaction because he could not control his power, but now he could not use it when he wanted to protect his friends. No matter how hard he tried, he could not help. All he could do was make things hover, and that wasn’t going to get them out. Sure, he worked with Kel to blast Chase, but that was her power, not his. He could feel himself holding back with each opportunity to act, but he didn’t know why. He was scared to death that he could not be of use when the time came.

  Damien stood up while still trying to massage the pain out of his chest. He walked over to Kel and helped her up to her feet. “Sorry about pushing you like that. I had to do it hard enough to make it seem real.”

  Kel wanted to be mad, but she couldn’t. What he did was actually pretty brilliant. “Don’t apologize. That was probably the best thing you could have done.”

  The all walked back towards each other. Ailey grabbed Kel’s hand, studying it to see where the energy could have come from.

  Graham spoke first. “Ok, so we have a plan to get away from this compound. That is great, but it’s not going to do us much good if we can’t get out of this cave.” Turning to Damien he said, “Do you have a grand plan for that, too?”

  Damien shook his head. “No, I haven’t gotten to that part yet.”

  Ailey walked away from the group. She began making her way around the edge of the water, then around the perimeter of the cave.

  “If this is part of their compound, then they have to have a way in and out besides that waterfall,” said Kel. “If there is a way out, she will find it.”

  Feeling very comfortable with Ailey on the search, Graham let himself relax. As she made her way around the cave, Graham had to get something off his chest. He was ashamed to admit his self-doubt to the others. Surely they had noticed that he has not yet been able to contribute to the group. All he had done so far is lead them into more trouble. Plus, this would be a good test for Kel. He would try to get a read on her as he opened up.

  “Guys, I don’t know about this. I don’t think I am going to be able to help when the time comes.”

  “Don’t start doubting your self now, amigo. You just saw what Kel did. Do I need to push you down too for a little confidence booster?”

  “I know it’s coming now. Nice try though. But se
riously. I couldn’t get us out of that room, I just stood there as you got captured, it was Kel’s blast that knocked Chase unconscious. It was Kel that kept us from falling over the edge of the gaping hole in the ground, and it was you who saved us from drowning. Even Ailey has found our way out by finding the picture of Alexander and of the floor plan. You all have done all the heavy lifting here. If this plan is going to hinge on anyone, it should be you or Kel. Not me.”

  “It’s not going to work that way. I have to create the distraction. Ailey is too young to fight, and besides, I am not really sure what she can do anyway. She has to stay hidden.” Damien took two steps forward to be face to face with Graham. He placed his hand on Graham’s shoulder. He looked at him until Graham finally made eye contact. “I have to be beside the water. I don’t know how I know, but I can just feel it. That only leaves you. It will be your time to shine. We can all feel how strong you are. If anyone can give the final K-O punch, it is you. You just have to get past your self-doubt, thats all.”

  Graham shook his head in dis-belief. “I don’t know. What if I can’t? What if it won’t break loose? I’ve only been powerful when I react to the nightmare.”

  “It will. It has to. You will not let us get captured. I know that, and somewhere in that head of yours, you know that too.”

  Ailey walked back out of the office where they had found the dry clothes. She seemed fairly excited waving her arms back and forth like that. As Damien finished his pep talk with Graham, they all turned around as she waved at them, summoning them into the small room. Leaving the edge of the water, the three of them walked towards her and into the room. Ailey led them past the small desk, over to the free standing metal closet and pulled the door back open, revealing the clothes rod with bare hangers swinging slightly side to side. Kel looked at Ailey.

  “What do you see? I don’t see anything.”