Ahn took charge and stepped forward. He clapped Ceren on the shoulder and said in a matter-of-fact tone, “Then I guess you’re going to have to handle what Sofia told you because it is all true. Your parents are on Earth, safe and sound.”
Ceren gulped before he allowed his gaze to leave Ahn’s face to slowly make its way back to the girl whose eyes perfectly matched his own. He could see the pain he had caused her and wished he could take it all back. In his ignorance, he had tarnished this moment, and there was no way to fix it. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you, Sofia. We don’t…we don’t talk about Earth here like it’s a real thing. It’s just a story about a place that swallows up our people meant to scare little kids into behaving. I had no idea it could be a real place.”
Sofia continued to glare at Ceren, still not wanting to let him off the hook so easily. She imagined part of it was because she was already hurt and angry to discover Finnian was not her real father, but that Riccan definitely was.
“Why don’t we take a walk on the beach, and you can tell me all about Earth and our parents?” Ceren suggested, motioning for her to come with him.
Sofia winced slightly at him saying ‘our’ parents, but she decided to take a walk. It seemed natural to stand beside this man who looked so much like their father. She looked forward to discovering what Ceren had been doing with his life, excited to be able to share her stories with him as well.
Chapter Thirty-One
“I HAVE RIGHTS, you know,” Stephen cried out to the empty, white room, looking around him with more than a little fear creeping into his voice.
“A team member will be with you shortly,” a computerized voice sounded over the loudspeakers above him.
Stephen felt little comfort in the statement; in fact, he felt as though the walls were starting to cave in on him. He hated the mirror in front of him, showing him the reflection of his fear, and he hated not knowing why he had been taken off the street, pulled into a limousine, and deposited into this room without anyone telling him what was happening.
The door to his right opened inward, causing him to turn to face whoever had finally decided to grace his presence. His anticipation was short-lived as he recognized the same man who had headed up the team to ransack his office only six weeks before. “You! How dare you treat me in such a manner, after how I cooperated with your department!”
“I’ll be sure to take that into consideration during our interview, Dr. Gascon. I hope you haven’t been kept waiting for too long. I came as soon as I heard you were awaiting me.” His voice dripped with sarcasm and insincerity as he stepped into the room and leaned against the back of the chair across from the doctor who remained seated at the only table.
“I hope it won’t offend you if I say I find that hard to believe.” Stephen glared over at the self-assured man. He weighed his options for getting out of this room, deciding to be as cooperative as possible without jeopardizing his research. “Tell me why you’ve brought me here so I might get back to my important work.”
“Yes, about your work…we’ve reviewed all of the documents we seized from your office. You have quite the clientele at your facility. How do you account for the number of people whom you care for directly? I would assume, as a man in your elevated position, that you wouldn’t have time for such a patient load, and yet…”
“Mr., I’m sorry you forgot to tell me your name. You are?”
“You can call me Agent One.”
Stephen quirked an eyebrow at the man’s attempt to control the situation by withholding a personal connection. “Alright, Agent One, I got into my line of work to help people. Becoming the Director at Creedmoor has not changed my desire to help people. On the contrary, it allows me more latitude to try new treatments for optimal success.”
“Yes, new treatments. We found some of your—treatments—to be a bit unconventional, bordering on unethical it would seem.”
“I could see where the uneducated would assume as much. If you spent as much time with these mentally unstable people as I have, you would begin to understand that some drastic measures must be taken to begin to make progress with them. I’ve gone in front of the medical board before, and they’ve agreed that I am within my code of ethics to continue treatment as I see fit.” Stephen leaned back in his chair, hands folded on the table in front of him. He was not about to explain his process to this lackey who only meant to intimidate him. Well, this Agent One could try his best, but he would never be able to get to him with this angle.
“We looked into your history, Dr. Gascon. It appears you had a psychotic break when you were a kid. Is that what got you into this line of work?” Agent One leaned his hip against the edge of the table, drawing one foot off the floor, and turning toward the doctor.
“It wasn’t a psychotic break, where do you get your information, Agent One?”
“Would you care to enlighten me then?”
“No, my childhood had nothing to do with my career choice.” He withheld the shudder of fear he felt at the mention of his childhood incident.
“You said you were abducted by a man who simply disappeared. Disappeared was your word, and I do believe you meant that literally, didn’t you? The man didn’t walk away and leave you, he disappeared right in front of your eyes.”
“Can you please get to the reason for this meeting? I’m sure it’s not to discuss my childhood.”
“Everything we learn begins from the experiences we amass throughout life. You’ve had a very interesting upbringing, and I’d like to get to know you better.”
“Agent One, I do not have time for this, my patients need me, and you are wasting my time, not to mention violating my freedom of movement rights.” Stephen pushed himself up from his chair with his hands flat on the table in front of him. He leaned toward Agent One menacingly and declared, “I’m going to walk out that door and go back to work. If you try to stop me, then I’ll have you arrested for kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment.” Putting action to his words, he stepped around the table and raised his fist to the door, noticing there was no handle to assist his exit.
“Would you consider talking about Tuala to be a waste of time then?” Agent One asked, not bothering to move from where he rested on the edge of the table.
Stephen whirled around, suddenly interested in where this conversation might be going. “You have my attention. What do you know about Tuala?”
“We were hoping you could tell us more about it. What is it? Is it a new drug on the streets? There were quite a few notes with your patients’ records that mention that particular word.”
Agent One had tipped his hand, and Stephen was not about to let this opportunity go to waste. He strode back to the chair and sat. “Funny you should ask about that. I’ve been piecing together everything I can about Tuala and it has all led to one conclusion.”
“Which is?”
“It is a reality changing drug that is being distributed out of Florida. Through a careful study by private investigation on my part, I’ve deduced the person in charge of the manufacture and distribution is a man named Riccan Stel.”
“And how do you know this man?”
“Oh, I don’t know him at all. As I’ve said, my investigation into this matter keeps bringing me right back to that man. There’s definitely something going on at his compound, all manner of people coming and going at strange hours of the day and night. Everything points to him.”
“Why didn’t you report this when you first put it together?”
“I’m not reckless. I’d never want to blame someone for something without the proper evidence in place.”
“And you have that now?”
“No, but you asked, and it appears my talking about it is the only way you’ll decide to let me go. So, you’ve left me no choice but to tell you what I’ve found and then I’ll leave the matter in your capable hands.” Stephen spread his hands apart as if to show he had no other cards to play.
“You’ve been most helpful and cooper
ative, Dr. Gascon. I thank you for your time. You’re free to go.” He waited until the man reached the exit before adding, “Please keep yourself available for further questions. Don’t leave town, okay?”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Stephen answered, feeling his heart begin to race as the door opened wide enough to allow him to leave. A woman stepped up beside him to direct him out of the facility through a side-door, which she pulled shut after he stepped through. He found himself on the sidewalk of a busy street, a line of cabs waiting on the curb in front of him. Striding forward hurriedly, he got into the first vehicle he could reach and said in a shaky voice, “Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens.”
The drive took no time at all, and soon he stood outside the building, which had been his haven. When he had pulled his wallet out to pay the cab, he also discovered the note which had fallen out of Vinia’s pocket. Still intrigued, he opened the paper and read it over, just as he had so many times before that he had lost count.
Each time, he had a crawling sensation up his spine which made him feel the same as he had when Lucinden had held him captive. It made him angry to even have to face that nightmare again, he needed to face the fear. As a last resort, he stood in the middle of the sidewalk, crumpling the paper in his fist, and yelling the words: “I activate this Gate, Inside Ascension.”
The world fell away around him, blackness everywhere, his mind reeling with fear, then relief as he could no longer recall what had upset him in the first place. He looked around him, not knowing how he should feel, not recognizing anything or anyone. His hands fell to his sides, the note fluttering to the ground unheeded, he began walking toward the smell of food. His stomach began to rumble with hunger.
“I’m hungry,” he cried out plaintively to the street vendor.
“Two shills,” she replied in a bored tone.
“I’m hungry,” he repeated, making a grab for one of the glawlets.
The woman’s stick flew out and rapped the back of his knuckles. “Hands off unless you have two shills.”
Pulling his hand back in pain, he looked at the woman with a sad, lost expression. “I don’t know what a shill is,” he murmured, sucking the blood from the knuckle of his index finger, still looking around him in confusion.
Soon enough, the woman had called over a Residence guard to come and take the man away from her stall. Stephen found himself being shoved in a small cell, a tray of food following him inside. He smiled at the guard, turned and sat on the bed, and began eating. At least this man had been kind enough to feed him rather than try to hurt him. When his meal was finished, he was grateful for the soft place to rest. Without another thought, Stephen rolled over onto the mattress and fell fast asleep.
Chapter Thirty-Two
AS IT TURNED out, Valentina ended up leaving the wedding party with Ahn, Barla, and Ceren as they offered to drop her off at the Elders Isle for her weekly training with Elder Debbon. She waited in the telepod with Ceren for the grown-ups to join them. Valentina turned to her friend’s newfound brother and asked, “Did the two of you figure out everything?”
“Not even close, but only because I’m having such a hard time realizing Earth is a real place. All this time, I’ve thought my parents were dead, and I never even knew Mom was pregnant. This has been an incredible day.”
“Yeah. Are you going to visit them?”
Ceren looked alarmed and asked, “On Earth?”
Valentina chuckled before replying, “There’s no other way for your mother. She’ll lose her memory if she comes here to visit, and then she wouldn’t even remember you anyway.”
Ceren’s expression turned serious as he mumbled, “It sounds like she doesn’t remember me already.”
“Hey, Ceren, your dad only did that to protect her. Once they know that you can visit regularly, I’m sure he’ll let her remember again. Then your mom won’t be mourning your loss because she’ll be able to see you as often as you can make it there.”
“Yeah, there’s that. I don’t exactly have easy access to Earth, now do I?”
“I’m sure Elder Daven will be more than willing to help you out with that, especially considering his relationship to Sofia,” Valentina answered brightly.
“What relationship? I didn’t even know they knew one another.”
Valentina instantly saw the error of her statement and answered, “I think I’ll let Sofia tell you about it when she’s ready. Oh, here are Ahn and Barla.” She pointed out the door, deflecting Ceren’s attention away from her as her cheeks grew red from the embarrassment of putting her foot in her mouth. Obviously, Sofia had not gotten to the part of the story explaining where her father might not be the same as Ceren’s.
Once they landed, Ahn opened the door to let Valentina out. She hurried from her seat, belatedly remembering to pick up her satchel from the floor at her feet, wanting to get away from Ceren’s stares as soon as possible. “Thanks for bringing me here!” She hopped off the ramp, twisted around to wave at Barla, who she could see in the co-pilot’s seat before turning and running toward the Residence.
She kept running past the guards who waved at her passing through the gardens and up to the massive main doors, where she pushed one leaf open and continued down the hallway until she got to Debbon’s private office. Tapping on the door, she tried to catch her breath, clutching her satchel in one hand while she used the other to turn the knob when she heard Debbon’s voice telling her to enter.
“Sorry I’m late,” she gushed, entering the room and seeing Gevena already seated in her usual chair. Still feeling flustered, she hastily sat, her bag still in her hands. She felt the crinkling of the papers inside and recalled her desire to ask Debbon about them. Opening her bag, she pulled them out. “I was hoping you might be able to use your crystal skills to read these old pages I found. I think they might be important.” She held them out over the top of the desk where Debbon could take them from her.
His glance down at the pages suddenly turned eager, causing him to snatch the paper from her, surprising her and Gevena in his quickness. “Where did you get these?” He looked up to meet her gaze.
“From Grobin’s abandoned locker in Roanoke. Why? Do you know what they are?”
“I hope they’re what I think they are,” he answered absently. He opened the top drawer in his desk and pulled out the old journal. Placing it on the desk, he flipped over the cover and brought the first of the pages up to the torn edge inside the book. As if it were magnetized, the page snapped into place, the seam disappearing as though it had never been removed. Remarkably, the almost invisible ink suddenly turned as dark as the day it was penned, making it easier to read than anything else in the journal.
Debbon’s exclamation of surprise caused both of the girls to lean forward and investigate what had happened. “I guess that answers my question,” Valentina said, her tone expressing her amazement. She watched as the next two pages also snapped into the journal and became legible again. “What does it say?” She tried to read it upside down, a feat made nearly impossible by the fancy flourishes of old English.
Using his finger to keep his place, Debbon slowly read the passage as he deciphered the strange symbols used for certain letters.
I was able to wrest the precious samara away from Che-su’s possession by means of walking in the shadows, a feat only newly learned and quite efficacious in the world of Nayen considering how the Empress has cast the world full of shadows with her subversive reign. Because of their world’s increasing dark nature as the Empress’s reign spreads like a plague throughout the land, it became necessary to focus on the crystal’s beautiful colors knowing they would be edged in the blackness which is all that is known by the Bishops and Priests.
Once the samara was back in my hands, I was able to use its power to translate myself back home without having to discover the Gate again, which seemed to close upon my entry into the dark world. The stone must henceforth be kept hidden lest the Empress send another emissary to steal it bac
k. The power of the samara is too strong for her to let it go easily. Never would I wish to set foot on that world again; therefore, I pray my family is strong enough to withstand until the day when our duty will be discharged by the fulfillment of the prophecy.
“What’s that about?” Gevena asked as the silence continued once Debbon finished reading. “It sounds like a bunch of gibberish.”
Valentina shook her head, a thought forming slowly before she turned to Gevena and spoke excitedly, “You showed us how you were able to create shadows from nothing.” She swiftly looked back at Debbon and asked, “Do you think that’s what he meant when he learned to walk in the shadows?”
“Maybe,” Debbon murmured, rapidly re-reading the pages to see if it made more sense the second time through. It certainly appeared as though this was sufficient confirmation of where the samara had been taken. The fact that Yama'anks happened to go to Earth and back to Nayen the day the samara had been taken seemed a bit too coincidental not to be taken for a fact at this point. Deciding Valentina’s guess had merit, he looked at Gevena and said, “It appears you get to be the teacher today. I must know how to shadow-walk.”
“Okay, but I’m not certain if I can explain it very well.” Gevena instantly became the nervous student she had been upon first meeting Elder Debbon.
“I’ll make it very simple. I’ll tie into your life-line while you create it, which will give me every step necessary to recreate it on my own. How does that sound?”
Visibly relieved, Gevena nodded swiftly. “That sounds amazing. When do you want to start?”
“Now!” Debbon jumped up from his chair, crossing his office to take the seat right next to Gevena. While they didn't need to have physical contact to achieve this connection, Debbon refused to take any chances when it meant the recovery of his samara from a dangerous, unknown world.
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