The Prophecies (The Sentinel Series Book 2)

by Holly Martin

  I landed in a field, with grass almost as tall as me, surrounded by mountains. The sun was just breaking above the mountains, bathing the fields in a weak golden rosy light. The gentle breeze swished the grass around me, but other than that it was calm, still, silent.

  Seth suddenly appeared by my side. He took in the field, took in my body, tense, rigid, alert, and he tentatively took me in his arms.

  ‘Eve, are you ok?’

  I nodded, confused. ‘I heard screams.’ I leant my head against his chest, sleepily. Waking from a deep sleep before I was ready was never a good move.

  Seth kissed my forehead. ‘Where are we?’

  I shook my head in confusion. ‘I have no idea, I heard screams, hundreds of people screaming and crying and I slid here.’ I looked around at the empty field.

  Lucas appeared then, looking confused as well

  ‘Eve…’

  ‘I’m fine Lucas, I just, I…..I must have been dreaming.’ But why here, why would I come to a place I had never been to before?

  Lucas and Seth heard it before I did, as they both turned to look at the sky above the mountains, behind me. I turned as well but could see nothing. A low misty haze hung over the mountains. Then I heard it. Faintly, in the distance, I could hear a high pitched whirring and spluttering and a few seconds later the haze broke, a plane was plummeting to the earth, heading straight for us. Its left wing was ablaze.

  The pilot was vainly trying to level out the plane, to try and land straight rather than nose first but they were coming in too fast. My heart was in my mouth as the screams I had heard moments before on my beach filled my ears; painful, desperate sobs, cries and pleas.

  Without thinking I filled myself with as much power as I could and took hold of the plane with telekinesis. It was hard; I had not tried to control something so big and with its own source of power before, something with an engine that was trying to fly one way, something that was rapidly losing its fight against gravity.

  My power pumped through my veins and I pulled more, using everything I had to take control of the plane and suddenly I had it. It buffeted in the sky and then was still.

  I quickly created a ball of water and doused the flames on the engine. Then gently, so softly, like I was carrying a new born baby, I brought the plane down onto the ground. I straightened up the plane and touched it down with the tiniest of bumps with the nose of the plane just a few metres away from where we stood.

  The screaming slowly died out and then slowly cheering started. The pilot lifted his head from his hands and stared in disbelief at being on the ground, at being alive, and then at me, his eyes wide and staring.

  I ran forward to the door, if anyone was hurt, I could heal them but Lucas caught my arm and held me back.

  ‘Eve we need to get out of here now, they’ll be so many questions about this, so much that can’t be explained. You cannot be here if the pilot starts pointing at you.’

  ‘What if people are hurt?’

  ‘At least they’re not dead, you’ve seen to that.’

  ‘Lucas….’

  ‘Eve, please,’ said Seth. ‘Lucas is right, you’ve saved hundreds of lives today. We cannot be here when they start to figure out what happened. How is it going to look when a young woman gets on the plane in the middle of nowhere, a plane that should be in pieces and starts magically healing people? Your face is already known by half the world that wants you dead, it does not need to be known by those that don’t.’

  I turned back towards the plane and then back towards Seth and Lucas. I nodded reluctantly and stepped back between them. I took hold of both of their hands and slid back to my bedroom.

  There was a man waiting for me.

  Immediately Seth and Lucas stepped between me and him. How had a man managed to get unseen into my room? I had Guardians outside my room for this exact reason. He was huge, with short red hair and a furious expression on his face.

  ‘What did you do?’ he hissed, angrily.

  Chapter 4

  Eli, Caleb, Mason and Alexandria appeared in the room between me and the man. I could barely see the man now.

  ‘I hardly think she needs protection from me,’ the man said. ‘It’s the others she’ll need protection from if they find out about this.’

  ‘Matthias, say what you’ve come to say, then leave,’ Eli said. They knew him? Yet my protection detail was still in a tight formation around me.

  ‘What she has done is the most stupid thing she could possibly do. If they find out about this…’ He trailed off, clearly worried.

  A sense of euphoria filled me. What had I done? I had just saved the lives of hundreds of people. I had finally done something good with my powers, instead of just party tricks. I felt the smile spread across my face. But judging by Matthias’s reaction, I realised that for some reason, this was a bad thing.

  I stepped forward, angry, but Seth refused to let me through. ‘Matthias, what have I done that was so wrong? I’ve done something good, I’ve saved lives.’

  ‘Lives that were not meant to be saved, they were all fated to die today.’

  I clenched my jaw, angrily. ‘You’re angry at me for not letting hundreds of people die, I had a prophecy, I heard them screaming. I was given the prophecy for a reason, not so I could do nothing.’

  This threw Matthias. ‘You had a prophecy?’

  I nodded. It must have been that, how else could I have heard their screams?

  Matthias started pacing nervously. ‘It doesn’t change anything, if they find out, this could be very bad for you.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘You’ve interfered in fate. And you…’ He gestured angrily at my Guardians. ‘You’re supposed to keep her from harm, this includes acts of insanity.’

  ‘What’s done is done, she can’t change that, so if that’s all you came to say then you can go,’ Eli said.

  Matthias gave me a final glare and vanished.

  The room was very quiet and their tight formation around me hadn’t altered. ‘Who was that?’

  Eli turned to face me. ‘Matthias of the Oraculum.’

  I had met two members now, but why were my Guardians so fearful for my safety around them? What did I have to fear from the Oraculum, from those who created me?

  ‘Cain, also from the Oraculum, came to us a few days ago to say that we were not to trust any of the Oraculum anymore,’ Lucas answered my unasked question. ‘He said that you were not allowed to go anywhere with them alone. He was very vague about why but just said there was a feeling of unrest and angst within the Oraculum and that some of the more… hot headed members may be quick to act and that wouldn’t be a good thing for you.’

  I stared at him. ‘And that wasn’t something you thought I should know?’

  ‘We didn’t want to worry you. It may be that what Cain told us was untrue and he had his own reasons for turning us against the Oraculum like this, but regardless of the truth of his words, it seems prudent to be extra cautious around them,’ said Mason.

  I removed myself from their protective formation and sat on the bed. ‘They’re not actually going to harm me though. I’m destined to save the world. They created me for that purpose. What will happen if they kill me? Who will save the world then?’

  My Guardians didn’t appear to have an answer for that.

  ‘I don’t understand what I did wrong,’ I said, quietly.

  ‘I’m not sure I do either, but I’ve never seen Matthias so disturbed before,’ Lucas said.

  My Guardians were uneasy, I could tell that and it didn’t make any sense. Although I hadn’t really had the greatest respect for the Oraculum after they created me and left me to my own devices, I never realised that I had anything to fear from them.

  ‘Get some rest Eve, we’re all going to stay in here tonight. I’m sure the Oraculum won’t come to you but we’ll be here just in case,’ Eli said.

  I climbed back into bed but was disappointed slightly when Seth didn’t join me. He sat down on th
e window seat with Mason and Alexandria. He was in Guardian mode again. I sighed as Caleb flicked off the light, plunging us into darkness, though the weight of their oppressive gaze only seemed to intensify within the shadows in the room.

  I lay awake for a long time staring at the ceiling unable to sleep. I wasn’t sure if it was my audience watching me, the lack of Seth in my arms, or this new threat that I hadn’t even known existed until a few moments before.

  I thought back to the plane crash and I couldn’t help but smile. Maybe helping with things like that was my true purpose or at least part of the reason I had been created. I could be like a real life super woman helping people escape from burning buildings, car crashes, earthquakes, tsunamis or tornadoes. I could finally start doing something good.

  With that heart-warming thought, I finally drifted off to sleep.

  *

  I was on my beach in Mexico, again, but as I lay there listening to the waves lapping against the warm shores, I was aware of somebody standing by me. I was always alone during these periods of deep sleep, so to have someone with me was a bit of a surprise. I sat up, shielding my eyes from the sun and the man sat down by my side.

  ‘Eve, good to meet you,’ he held out a hand to shake mine. I hesitated before taking his hand. I knew I was dreaming, if I’d inadvertently slid somewhere, Seth or Lucas would have realised and would have followed me. But what was a man I’d never seen before doing in my dream? And was he about to turn into a Reaper or a Putarian and try to kill me. My dreams when I wasn’t here were always horrible, so my wariness was understandable.

  But as I stared at him I realised I did know him. I’d seen him once before, but I couldn’t remember when. He had longish blond hair, golden eyes and a scar down his left cheek.

  ‘I’m Cain by the way,’ he said, smiling warmly as he shook my wary hand. ‘We…sort of met the night of the coach crash.’

  It suddenly came back to me with glaring clarity, how I’d been lying there panicking about why the Guardians had saved me and Cain had appeared and forced me into unconsciousness.

  ‘Yeah sorry about that, it seemed the right thing to do at the time, especially as we were trying to maintain the secret.’

  ‘You can read minds?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You’re one of the Oraculum.’

  He nodded. But none of this was real.

  ‘Are you a manifestation of my subconscious or something?’

  He laughed. ‘If you like, if it will help, but actually no, I have the ability to enter someone’s dreams. We’ll meet properly soon, and it won’t be under the best circumstances. You should know that I’m loyal to you, so are Nereus and Helez. I wanted to introduce myself now, I want to help.’

  Ok, I was dreaming. Someone entering my dream wasn’t as weird as some other dreams I’d had, and at least he wasn’t trying to kill me.

  ‘Alright, I’m buying. You want to help me?’

  He grinned. ‘Are you always this suspicious?’

  ‘There are a lot of people who want me dead, so lately yes I am.’

  ‘I wanted to explain about the plane crash and why you can’t interfere like you did. That’s not your place, it’s not what you were created for. So you can forget the idea of wearing red pants over your tights and flying around the world to save everyone.’

  ‘I… can’t fly.’

  ‘Yes you can, we both know you can, you just don’t know how yet. But regardless of that, you’re not superwoman, you can’t save everyone. There are approximately one hundred and seven people who die every minute, you must realise that you can’t save them all, that you can’t make a difference?’

  I looked out to sea, at the waves lapping on the shore. ‘Saving one life or a few hundred out of the billions in the world may not seem like making a difference, but I have made a difference to those I saved, and their families.’

  Cain shook his head, grimly. ‘Let’s look at Steve, at the difference you made there.’

  I bit my lip nervously. I didn’t like where this was leading.

  Cain pointed to the sky, and like a film projected onto the clouds I could suddenly see a man walking down a dark alley.

  ‘That’s Steve, the man sitting in 37C. This is two weeks from now.’

  I watched Steve as he walked and as he suddenly ran to catch up with another man. Steve grabbed him and threw him against a wall, thrusting a knife against his throat.

  ‘Give me your wallet?’ Steve said, gruffly.

  The man struggled against him, and Steve fought back. Then somehow, maybe accidentally, maybe purposefully, the man suddenly slumped to the floor with a knife wound to the stomach. Steve stood over him aghast, looking at the blood stained knife in his hand. Then he ran, leaving the innocent man to breathe his last, alone in a dark, squalid alley, surrounded by rubbish, filth and his own blood.

  I gasped, tears of pain and guilt flooded my eyes. If I hadn’t saved Steve, it would never happen, that man would still be alive. I had made a difference, I had made it worse by saving someone that never deserved to be saved. I had saved a murderer. I felt sick.

  ‘And Callum, the little boy sitting in 12A, let’s look at his future.’

  I looked at the sky again, with a sense of dread, like watching a car crash unfold and being powerless to do anything about it, being powerless to look away. I knew this was not going to be good.

  I watched a smartly dressed man kiss his wife and children goodbye as he headed out to work. He got in his car and drove off down the road.

  ‘Is that Callum?’

  Cain nodded. ‘Twenty three years from now.’

  Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad, Callum looked like he led a good life.

  As Callum drove he leant over to the passenger seat and opened his briefcase, he fiddled round inside and pulled out a CD and pushed it into the stereo. As he played with the buttons, a child suddenly ran out in front of his car. With his eyes on the stereo he didn’t even see her. She hit the bonnet so hard, shattered the windscreen and bounced off onto the road, where she lay still.

  Callum slammed the brakes on but the car was going so fast that it bumped over the girl before it came to a stop. Callum got out the car, and hurried to her side. He felt for a pulse, and gasped, falling to his knees in horror, his face a mask of pain and terror.

  I assumed my face had the same mask of pain as the tears ran down my cheeks. What had I done? Though Callum’s was an accident, it still ended with the same result, someone dying because I had interfered, someone who shouldn’t have died.

  I let my head fall into my hands.

  ‘That little girl was destined to be prime minister one day, she was going to be a great leader. The man who becomes prime minister instead of her raises so many taxes that the country goes into a deep recession. Many people are made unemployed and the suicide rate escalates higher than the country has ever seen it before.’

  ‘Stop, please stop,’ I whispered, tears streaming down my face.

  Cain looked at me kindly, his face softening. ‘We’re going to try to rectify it, both of these cases and any other damage that you have caused. We have already tasked Guardians with stopping this.’

  ‘I just couldn’t stand by and let them die,’ I said, quietly.

  ‘I know Eve, trust me I know. Years ago I tried to do the same thing, but that’s why we don’t interfere. There are only nine of us and a hundred and seven people dying every minute, we can’t be everywhere at once, so we have to choose who we save. Do we save the baby or the grandma…?’

  ‘The baby, the grandma has already had a long life, the baby is at the start of his.’

  ‘Ok, do we save the baby or the mother of three children, do we save the doctor or the teacher, the policeman or the fireman, the English man or the French man, the American soldier or the Iraqi soldier, an Australian or a Korean, do we save a girl of nine or a boy of twelve. Who are we to choose who lives or dies, and how do we know that stepping in like you did doesn’t hav
e the same effect. We could be killing the person who cures cancer or saving the next Hitler.’

  ‘Thanks,’ I muttered, bitterly, wiping the tears from my eyes.

  ‘Eve, I’m not saying that everyone you have saved goes on to kill people, in fact one of the girls you saved ends up raising millions of pounds for charities in Africa.’

  I sniffed. That was something at least.

  ‘You will make the greatest difference to this little world, more so than anyone else ever has or ever will. You will save billions and billions of lives, you will save women, children, babies who won’t even have been born then, animals, homes, towns, cities, and countries. You are the single most important person in this world now, don’t underestimate that.’

  I looked away from him sadly. I knew he was right. I was playing God deciding who lived or died. Before my world changed to encompass my destiny I was always reading in the paper how the world was vastly over populated. People dying was the natural order of things, it was the world’s way of keeping the population down.

  But could I really stand by and watch people die even if it was their time?

  ‘Saving the world is what you were born to do, not saving a few hundred people.’

  ‘I don’t even know how the world ends, how I can prepare for it. You have so much faith in me and I’m not even sure you’ve got the right person.’

  ‘No one knows how the end will come, or even when it will happen. But the one thing I know for sure is that you are the only one who will be able to stop it.’

  I sighed, letting the sand run through my fingers and for a while there was silence but I sensed Cain had more to say.

  ‘The Oraculum is on the verge of splitting.’

  Talk about a change of subject. I looked round at Cain again but he was staring out over the sea. ‘Four hundred years the Oraculum has stood and you come along and tear us apart.’

  There was no venom in his voice, he was merely stating a fact.

  ‘Me? How can I… I’ve never even met most of them.’

  ‘The Prophecies. There have been many involving you lately and some of them are not good.’