by Liv Curtis
Sage knew the trees Jax was talking about. They were the tall Beech trees that grew behind her house. The memory of climbing them with Jefferson the night they broke into her house felt like a distant dream.
“You don’t remember much from being a kid, do you?” Sage felt sad as she pictured a young Jax held up in a cell underneath the council hall.
“It’s strange. I remember bits and pieces but, for the most part, it’s all dark and empty, as if nothing exists before I was fifteen. I only remember the past five years because that was when they brought Wesley down. He would talk to me each day and keep me awake, which helped me with my memory, I would do anything to remember all of it.” Jax looked back towards the house where Wesley and the others were getting ready for the day.
“There is one memory I have from right before I was put into those cells. I was in a classroom at the primary school, and we were supposed to stand and say our names, but I didn’t want to, and so I didn’t. The teacher said that I was being disobedient and left me to sit in the hallway until I was ready to follow directions.” Jax took a bite of the orange and looked up at Sage with a wry smile.
“That was the last day I spent outside my cell. I guess word got out to the chancellor, and when I left school that day, I was picked up by a man in a black car and taken to the Core. They told me that I was special and that they wanted to study me. Little did I know that all they really wanted was to lock me up where I couldn’t disturb the others in the Frame.” Jax stared at his hands and mindlessly picked at his bitten off nails. Sage had never seen him bite his nails, but it was clear by the rough edges that he did. Suddenly, Sage remembered why the story Jax was telling felt familiar.
“I remember you. I walked past you that day in the hallway. You looked angry and upset, and I knew…I knew you were one of the Awake.” Sage thought back to that day when she was only eight years old.
She walked with her class and saw a boy not much older than her, sitting in the hallway looking down at his hands. She remembered his eyes, golden brown with nothing but anger and sadness behind them, when he looked up at her, and she smiled.
At that point, Sage had learned how to blend in with the others, but she knew that smiling at him was a risk, and if she had been seen she, too, could have been caught.
She never saw that boy again, and she always wondered where he went. Now, ten years later, she sat face to face with that boy in a massive tree outside the Frame surrounded by others like them. Jax stared at Sage in disbelief.
“I remember, you smiled…that day you smiled at me as if you knew something.” He sat forward from the tree trunk and his eyes were searching Sage’s for answers. Sage could feel her face flushing as he stared deeper into her eyes.
“All along, I thought you looked familiar. It was you…you were the face I remembered for ten years. Your smile gave me hope and helped me remember even when they would inject me with their serums and chemicals that would make me forget my own name, I would shut my eyes at night and remembered the girl who smiled at me.” Jax was close enough to Sage that she could almost see the memory replaying in his eyes.
Suddenly, Sage heard Emery’s voice calling for her and her concentration was broken. Jax backed away from Sage and hopped out of the tree. Sage followed and joined Emery and the others outside their house.
“Where did you guys go?” Emery smirked, and Sage’s eyebrow twitched, a silent signal that told Emery to stop talking. Emery laughed and quickly changed the subject.
“We were about to head out to the Oculus house and see if there was anything about the Electros.” Emery gestured to the others, all having separate conversations.
“Now, why would you all need to know about that?” Blythe had appeared from the tree line near their house. She had her fire-red hair twisted into a braided bun on top of her head making her appear more severe and uptight. Sage’s stomach dropped at the twisted smirk on Blythe’s face.
“We were discussing the types of Ingenium last night and they were all curious about the rarer tribes. I told them the history of the Elector’s and the legend that surrounds them, I guess they just wanted to know more.” Cade stepped forward towards Blythe as if to protect Sage and the others. He had his hands placed gracefully behind his back, but Sage could have sworn she saw sparks jumping back and forth between his fingers.
“Ah, I see. So, this wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that this one survived being struck by lightning twice last night? Or that he is the first Electro in thirty years?” Blythe focused her viper like eyes on Jax.
Sage felt her hands forming into fists as Blythe’s tone changed from inquisitive to hostile. Blythe took a step closer towards Jax, and Sage quickly moved to stand between them, Emery and River taking her side with the others quickly moving to form a protective wall between Jax and Blythe. Cade stepped in front of Sage and placed a hand on Blythe’s shoulder.
“I highly recommend you move on and forget whatever it is that you were thinking about doing.” Sage could see Cade’s eyes and noticed a slight flicker of firelight cross over them when he spoke.
“I don’t know what you are talking about, I simply wanted to get a better look at such an anomaly. Please, continue with your research.” Blythe turned and walked back towards her house, when she left an ice-cold breeze passed over Sage and the others. Sage watched her as she looked over her shoulder with glowing lilac eyes.
“We need to get to the Oculus house, now.” Cade glanced over his shoulder to ensure they weren’t being followed and headed towards the Oculus house.
“She scares me.” Audrey spoke up from the back of the group as she followed closely behind with Wesley.
Fia the wolf stepped out from behind a tree, almost appearing from the shadows, and walked by Audrey’s side as if protecting her. Eliza walked with Cade and Andrea as they discussed what had just happened.
Sage, for once couldn’t find any words, she was numb with anger. The thought that someone was once again threatening her family made her blood boil as she walked along between River and Jax. She had a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach that she couldn’t shake making her wish she had her daggers, which she had left in the Oculus house to keep them safe.
She could feel herself spiraling out of control, her mind racing with fear and anger when she felt a warm hand in her own. She looked up at Jax, who smiled thoughtfully and looked forward, reminding Sage of the memory from the hallway. She allowed the tension to fall from her shoulders and silently promised to herself she would never let anyone hurt her family again.
Chapter 20
Sage ran her fingers through Fia’s fur as the wolf headed back into the woods behind the Oculus house. The sun had reached the center of the sky and was beating down on the back of Sage’s neck while she waited for Cade to unlock the cellar door.
One by one, they filed into the cellar, down the narrow wooden stairs that creaked under their weight. Cade shut the door behind them and lit the lanterns. He attempted to turn on the large overhead light but nothing happened.
“Guess the electricity was cut from this place, we will have to turn that back on, now that we have another Oculus.” Cade grinned at Sage, as he took one of the lanterns off its hook and held it up to the bookshelves.
“Well, let’s start reading.” Eliza exhaled and ran her fingers along spine of several books that sat, untouched on a dusty shelf. She paused, slowly sliding a book labeled Telepathy Vol. 1 off the shelf and took a seat on the edge of the large wooden table at the back of the room.
Sage searched over the books looking for anything about the Electros and their abilities. She was finding it hard to see the spines as she searched closer to the back of the room when suddenly there was a bright light that filled the space. She turned around to see Jax staring up at the chandelier with a single finger placed on the light switch and a smirk growing across his face.
“Is this better?” He laughed and when he took his finger off the switch the lights remain
ed lit. He made his way to a shelf on the far side of the room and looked through the books. Sage smiled to herself at the thought of Jax finally feeling in control of his own life.
She leaned back in the large chair that sat at the table where Eliza was and started to read. The others settled down in different areas of the room, Cade had found a chair in the corner of the room and was flipping through the pages of his book looking for information. Emery and Andrea sat together on a small, brown leather couch, comparing notes from two separate books, River was looking between a book labeled The Ingenium Explained and Jefferson’s journal relating the information between the two, every once in a while he would scoff and shake his head in disbelief.
Audrey and Wesley sat on the floor with their heads bent together over a book showing depictions of the War. Jax was leaned against one of the tall wooden beams in the corner of the room looking through a large book bound in metallic gold. His eyes were darting across the page furiously when suddenly Eliza stood from the table.
“Andrea, read this.” Eliza dropped the book into Andrea’s lap and waited for her to read it, staring on with wide eyes. Andrea’s brow furrowed as she read then she looked up at Eliza and smiled.
“You don’t think…” Andrea stood and was facing Eliza.
“If that could work, we could figure out where they are keeping them.” Eliza’s eyes were burning with excitement as she spoke.
“El, we could actually use that to help them escape!” Andrea was equally excited as she stood and placed a hand softly on Eliza’s shoulder.
Andrea was tall and muscular but still moved with grace as she sat the book down on the table in front of Sage.
“Okay, I’m confused, what are you talking about?” Emery stood from her seat and hovered over Sage as she read the page; River and Jax had joined them as they examined the writing. Sprawled across the page were step-by-step instructions on how to mind jump. As Sage read over the page she realized what Eliza and Andrea had been talking about.
“El, this doesn’t sound safe. You would be jumping into the mind of a guard in the Core and using them to free mom, dad, and Harlow. Then what?” Sage wanted more than anything to get her parents back, but she knew this was a dangerous plan.
“We can get them to the mines and get them out, Sage this might be our only opportunity we have to try.” Eliza debated and spoke with a tone that told Sage she was going to do it no matter what she said.
“I’m with your sister on this one El. This is a very advanced form of telepathy and if you aren’t careful things can go really wrong really fast.” Cade warned, his eyes tense with fear.
“I can do it, I have to try.” Eliza ignored Cade’s warning, grabbed the book, and laid down on the couch. She read the page and closed her eyes. At first Sage thought she was asleep until she realized that her lips were moving. As Sage got closer she could hear that Eliza was repeating the name of one of the CA guards.
“Dawson Green. Dawson Green. Dawson Green.” Eliza repeated and suddenly she inhaled harshly, and sharply arched her back.
“El. El are you okay?” Sage scrambled to her sisters side when she reached to take her hand she was quickly stopped by Andrea.
“You can’t touch her when she’s in this state, you could break the connection, and she could get lost in her own mind.” Andrea pointed to the book where it explained the instructions and warnings. Sage sat back and waited while her sister breathed harder.
“Okay, I’m in.” Eliza spoke softly, her voice quiet and distant.
“I can see what he is seeing, he’s inside the chancellor’s office with the chancellor. They are discussing some sort of a plan. He is talking about the mine and saying that they need to close it. The chancellor disagrees, she said that they have a better chance of catching us if they leave it open.” Eliza’s eyes were shut, but Sage could see them shifting rapidly under her lids.
“Can you make him move?” Andrea asked as she leaned closer to Eliza.
“I think so. Yes…I can definitely make him move.” Eliza grinned as she wiggled her middle finger on her left hand; mimicking the movement she was making Dawson do.
“Careful El, don’t do too much.” Sage warned as Eliza moved her hand again.
“They are talking again. The chancellor is looking at him weird and just asked him if he is feeling okay. He says that he feels tired and confused like he can’t control his own thoughts.” Eliza’s body was tense as she spoke.
“Eliza, just get out of there, it’s too risky.” Cade paced as he spoke.
“Wait she is saying something else.” Eliza raised her hand to stop Cade form talking and her face dropped, and Sage realized Dawson would have also raised his hand.
“She knows. She is talking to me now.” Eliza looked nervous.
“What is she saying?” Andrea had her arms crossed tightly over her chest as she spoke.
“She’s saying that this was foolish and now I’m hers. Wait she has something… Oh God, those are—” Eliza’s sentence was cut short, and her body convulsed violently, her eyes the stark blue color of Dawson’s stared angrily at Sage before she went limp and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Sage took her sisters wrist, fearfully searching for a pulse. Her heart was beating slowly and the pulse was faint, but she was alive.
“What’s wrong with her?” Sage asked through gritted teeth as she whirled on Cade.
“She’s been trapped. Somehow your chancellor figured it out and trapped Eliza in her own mind.” Cade paced faster now as he explained what had just happened.
“Well, how do we get her out?” Sage stood and was following Cade with her eyes. Cade stopped and turned to face Sage sharply.
“You can’t.” His face was pale when he spoke.
“No, that’s not the right answer. Cade, how do I wake my sister?” Sage was yelling, her throat tightening with tears.
“The only way to wake her is to destroy the connection with the mind she was jumping. You would have to kill Dawson.” Andrea explained as she stood and placed her hands on Sage’s shoulders.
“There might be another way,” Cade said quietly as he turned towards the shelves and scanned for a book. He retrieved a book that was wrapped in solid black leather with silver lettering. Cade flipped through the pages, until he found what he was looking for, then he passed the book to Andrea.
“Cade, this isn’t possible, I’m not strong enough on my own and I highly doubt any of the other telepath’s are going to help. Plus we can’t let anyone know what’s happening or they will get suspicious as to why we were poking around in the mind of a CA guard anyways.” Andrea closed the book and looked through others for an answer.
“Everyone grab a book. We aren’t going anywhere until she’s awake.” Sage was furious as she stood from her sister’s side and combed through the shelves for answers.
Although Sage had a book in front of her, and she was reading the words on the page, her mind was far away, and she felt cold as she flipped through the pages. She sat on the stairs with several books when Jax came to join her. He had a small white book in his hand that had several symbols carved into the cover. Sage immediately recognized the symbols from her dream and the drawings on the walls inside the Oculus house.
“This might be something, but we can’t read it.” Jax passed the book to Sage and didn’t say another word as he stood and walked back down the stairs. Sage realized that she hadn’t seen Jax actually reading any of the books, only looking at the pages with confusion and resentment
“Wait…are you able to…” Sage picked up one of the books and passed it to Jax. Jax reluctantly sat on the step next to Sage and opened the book; he inhaled deeply and stared at the pages with blankness.
“They don’t exactly focus on your reading skills when you’re locked in a cell for twelve years.” Jax shut the book and ran his fingers through his rich brown hair, pausing anxiously on the back of his neck. Sage immediately felt sad for Jax and wanted to comfort him, but she wasn’t sure
how.
“I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have…” Sage wasn’t sure what to say so she didn’t say anything. Instead she placed her hand on top of Jax’s, a small gesture that Sage’s mom used to do to comfort her when she was a kid. Jax looked over at Sage with weary eyes and smiled softly.
“What does that book say?” Jax nodded towards the book with the Oculus symbols. Leaving her left hand on Jax’s, Sage retrieved the book and opened to the first page. At first, the symbols were just shapes then they slowly formed into words.
“This describes the abilities of an Oculus. Some of these I already know but most of it…” Sage stopped talking and read the page again before realizing what it was saying.
“Jax, this explains how to restore someone’s memories. I can use this to help you remember some of your earlier childhood and maybe we can get some answers.” Sage had tightened her grip on Jax’s hand as she explained.
Jax looked nervous at the mention of his memories, but he nodded and agreed to let Sage try. Sage placed her hands in Jax’s and closed her eyes. She could feel the small electrical pulses moving under his skin, making her hands feel numb.
With her eyes closed she could see into Jax’s mind as she searched for memories. There was a section of his mind that was dark and when Sage entered it a light, brighter than any white she had ever seen before, illuminated the forgotten memories.
She could see Jax as a kid playing in his room and at the park and at school. The memories swirled around Sage, making her dizzy she backed out and opened her eyes. She was back on the stairs with Jax who stared at her in terror.