AetherBorn (The AetherBorn Saga Book 1)

by A. N. Sage

  Making her way to the small desk next to the window, Ruby grabbed the SD card from her camera and started up her laptop. If she could salvage a few shots from today’s ride, she could send them off in the morning and be done with the experiment Tremblay had forced on her. She could not wait to go back to shooting fruit! Fruit did not keep you locked up in a subway stop for hours.

  Her old laptop hummed and whirred, and Ruby watched the buffer wheel circle endlessly, hypnotized by its motion. How different life must have been without computers. She had always had a fascination with vintage photography. Picturing the romanticism of spending your days in a darkroom, waiting for images to appear as if by magic. A few years before she started her first semester, Westerlake University tore down the darkrooms in the facility, making it impossible for someone like Ruby to experiment with old processes. As almost a rebellion, she stuck to photographing classic subjects, finding settings in the city that resembled historic sites and recreating oil paintings with her digital camera. It worked great until Tremblay’s interference.

  Ruby dragged the photos from the train ride to the viewer. There’s got to be something in here that could work! Her small finger clicked the forward pointer image by image. So far, every photo seemed lifeless and too structured. Even the photo of the old man and his crossword puzzle left something to be desired.

  She let out an aggravated sigh and was about to delete the folder when she noticed one of the photographs before the accident. The heart attack victim wasn’t alone. She wasn’t crazy!

  Ruby zoomed in to try and see a face, but the attacker was facing away from her. She hadn’t been wrong on the train, the victim was afraid, you could see it all over his face. She clicked to the next image and added sharpness to the photo. She still couldn’t see a face, but she could see what the attacker pulled out of his pocket. Not a ring like she thought. It was just a rock. Something almost clear with a brilliant sparkle. Like a diamond, and if it was real, this was the biggest diamond Ruby had ever seen.

  As she leaned in closer to her screen, her heartbeat sped up. She was almost shaking. All of the images after the diamond appeared were different. The attacker’s arms were covered in what appeared to be glowing blue marks. She zoomed in and out to see if this was perhaps a lens flare, but they were there, clear as day. She grabbed her camera and took a shot of her room. Nothing. No marks on this photo, it wasn’t her equipment. How else could she explain this?

  She heard keys jingling in the door and turned around to see her roommate's curly head of hair rummaging around in the hallway.

  “Fish! You home?” Shaylah yelled from the other end of the apartment. When she’d first met Ruby, she thought her full name made her sound like a celebrity from a vintage mystery film and referred to her as a Big Fish for the first few weeks they spent together. Ruby hated the nickname, but over time it stopped fazing her, it was a little inside joke they shared that made her feel closer to Shaylah.

  Ruby waited for her friend to take her sandals off. “Shay, you have to come see this.”

  Chapter 3

  Opposites make for the best of friends

  Ruby studied Shaylah’s face as she flipped through the images. They had been roommates for years now, but she still could not get a good read on her. Shaylah flipped her dark, ringlet-like hair back so she could see the screen better, revealing a small butterfly tattoo at the base of her neck. Sometimes Ruby wondered how she didn’t topple over with that beehive of curls on her head. Everything about her was loud, from her bright red lipstick to the multi-colored jumper she was wearing. She was convinced that Shaylah’s outspoken personality was why they got along so well; everyone knows that opposites make for the best of friends.

  You could hear each click of the mouse as Shaylah skipped from photo to photo. While Ruby was used to being silent, this was an unusually long period for her over-the-top roommate not to speak. When they spilled drinks on each other three years ago at the concert, she took one look at Shaylah and knew without a doubt the girl was destined for film. No surprise when she opted for an acting major. Everyone said it would be a waste of her time, but Ruby knew that if anyone could make it in the industry, it was her best friend. She straightened her back and elbowed Shaylah in the arm.

  “Well?”

  “I mean, it’s totes different from your other work...” Shaylah was half smiling. You could see her searching for words, “why the change?”

  “You don’t see anything weird here?”

  “You mean how close you are to this guy's crossword? Yeah. A little stalker-like, no? So, why people all of a sudden? I thought you hated portraits?”

  “Not the photographs, Shaylah. Do you see the weird marks on this guy?” She pointed at the symbols. How is she not shocked by this?

  Shaylah scrunched her nose and moved in closer to the monitor. She looked back at Ruby then back at the screen. Finally, she gets it.

  “Dude, what am I looking for here? You have to help me out. Is it like a game? Oh! Like those spot the boat or rabbit in the lines or whatever! Fun!”

  Ruby pointed her finger at one of the blue triangles. There was a line running through the top of it that reminded her of an abstract mountain sketch. Is she nuts? It’s right there!

  “Yeah, girl, I don’t see it. Maybe it’s a photo nerd thing.” She giggled, patted her on the back, and started walking towards the kitchen. “You want a cup of tea or something? You look pretty out of it. How was class today?”

  Ruby’s face turned ghost white. She stared at Shaylah with disbelief. How could she not see the marks? They were right there, shining through the screen. You couldn’t miss them. Ruby looked back at the images, maybe if she printed them out it would be clearer.

  The marks that were just there a second ago vanished. She clicked through the photos, not one had a trace of markings left. Ruby turned off the viewer, then pulled it up again. No marks. Was she seeing things? Could she really be that tired? “They’re gone!” she yelled.

  “What?” Shaylah peeked out through the open kitchen door. “Did you say something?”

  “I... uh... I’m not sure. I think I saw something that wasn’t really there? Maybe I’m more out of it than I thought I was.”

  “Come in the kitchen! I can barely hear you out there!”

  Ruby lazily made her way to her friend, pulling up a bar stool and resting her head between her hands on the counter. She didn’t feel tired but how else could she explain what she saw before? The marks were there. She was sure of it. Where did they go? Ruby was starting to feel panicked. Something felt very wrong.

  “Shaylah?”

  “What’s up?” Shaylah flipped her hair again. Her hair flip was almost a tick-like staple. She zeroed in on Ruby and plunked a steaming cup of tea in front of her. “You ok?”

  “I’m really not sure anymore.” She twisted the string from the tea bag around her finger, “I think I’m seeing things.”

  “What kind of things?”

  “Just weird stuff. Marks on people in photos. I thought I was tired before but now I’m not sure. Do you think...”

  “Don’t even think about it! You’re not like her!”

  “What if I am though? Grandma was about my age when she started acting odd. What if it’s genetic?”

  “It’s not genetic. It was a complete fluke. You said so yourself, before.”

  “I know but this is weird. I could have sworn what I saw was real, but then it was just gone. Normal people don’t see things that aren’t there.”

  “Normal people don’t stay up until four in the morning working on photos every night. Didn’t you just say you’ve been feeling like you’ve been getting sick or something? I’m sure you just caught the flu. Plus, you’re messing around on the computer all day, so that’s probably just a bad combo. If anything, you might need glasses.”

  “I already have glasses.”

  “Well, you need to start wearing them, then! Or are you afraid Jake won’t like them...” She tease
d. Shaylah knew how Ruby felt about Jake. They’d been friends since they were kids and she had always had a crush on him.

  “Shut up!” She tossed a packet of sweetener at Shaylah. “But yeah, you’re probably right. I should wear my glasses.”

  Shaylah bounced around and grabbed a bottle of rum from the counter. She splashed some in her own teacup, winked at Ruby, and started making her way to the living room. “I’m always right, loser. Why don’t we put a movie on and have tea on the couch?” If there’s one thing Shaylah knew how to do, it was turn everything into a party.

  Ruby put down her cup on the coffee table and shifted around the couch to get comfortable. She pulled a blanket over herself, even though it was bikini-hot in the room. Something about it made her feel comforted, and she was always running a few degrees colder than everyone else. “Maybe I should go see Dr. Olivian tomorrow?”

  “Your childhood doctor? You're still seeing her?”

  “Yeah. I know. It’s weird. I’ll find someone else, later.”

  “Hey, remember that med student I went to Sushi with? He probably knows a good doctor! Should I text him and ask?”

  Unlike Ruby, who quietly pined for Jake’s attention, her best friend took full advantage of the dating pool. There were so many dates that Ruby stopped trying to remember their names. They made a deal that if Shaylah ever went on more than three dates with the same guy she had to write down his full name on a post-it note and leave it on the fridge. So far, there were two post-it notes, and Ruby wasn’t holding her breath that med school guy was going to make it up there.

  “Sure, why not. Ask him later, I’ll just go see Olivian tomorrow for now. I’m sure I’m just tired and stressed.”

  “You want my tea, instead?”

  Ruby looked up at Shaylah holding her cup up towards her. It reeked of rum now. Somehow, she’d managed to sneak more booze into it when Ruby wasn’t looking. She gave her friend a chuckle and turned back to the television. She’d get some answers from the doctor tomorrow. Tonight, was Zombie marathon night.

  Chapter 4

  Saved by the sandwich

  “Miss Black? Are you planning on joining us?” Tremblay’s sharp eyes stared at her from behind his laptop. Being backlit by the light of the projection screen made him look ominous and more irritated than he probably was.

  “Oh. Sorry. Would you repeat the last sentence? I think I’m just coming down with something.” An understatement if there ever was one, Ruby was counting down the minutes until the end of class so she could go see Dr. Olivian. What happened last night with Shaylah was bothering her more than she was letting on. How could it not be? She was seeing things. Things that weren’t there.

  Lots of kids are tired in school, and none of them are hallucinating. Ruby shifted in her seat, straightened her back, and leaned in to show more interest in the class. She was already on thin ice with Tremblay and zoning out in his class was definitely not going to earn her any brownie points.

  “I promise, I’m back now.”

  “Welcome back. Now, maybe you can enlighten us with your thoughts on last week’s reading material.”

  Oh yeah, he’s pissed. Ruby cleared her throat. This can’t be happening, she hadn’t even read last week’s articles. She was supposed to go over them last night but with everything that happened, it completely slipped her mind. She’d need to improvise. Ruby was usually pretty good at thinking on her feet, her dad called her a natural storyteller a few years ago, and it stuck. Something about watching life through a camera lens all these years gave her a good read on what people wanted to see and hear. Telling a story was just like taking a photo, you just had to play to your audience. She took a breath in and was just about to start spinning a tale when...

  “Mr. Tremblay! It’s lunch time!” One of the students from the back yelled out. He was already putting his backpack on and getting ready to walk out. “It’s been lunch for like ten minutes already.

  “Right. Saved by the sandwich, Miss Black. We’ll continue this tomorrow. Please come prepared next time.”

  Professor Tremblay was not one to let go of a bone, and Ruby knew she was in a lot of trouble if she didn’t act like top student in tomorrow’s class. Right now, however, she had bigger things to worry about. If she was going to make it in time for her appointment with Dr. Olivian she had to make a run for it. It was hard enough getting the rest of the day off from her classes, and she wasn’t sure if she’d have another chance this week to skip out of school for an appointment. Not with Tremblay on her case.

  Ruby grabbed her unopened notebook, pushed it into her backpack and made a beeline for the door. If she could make the next train, she’d be at Olivian’s office just in time.

  “Miss Black? Do you have a minute?”

  She could hear Tremblay calling out to her as she ran down the auditorium steps towards the emergency exit. Sorry, professor, this will have to wait until tomorrow. She pushed the touch-bar, the hallway light flooded the projection screen, and she was on her way.

  Chapter 5

  Something to add to the diagnosis

  The train car was surprisingly empty for this time of day, so Ruby was able to snag a seat by the doors. She was still shaken from her last train ride. Playing with the buckles on her backpack, she set it on the floor under her feet, there was no way she was taking out her camera in a train any time soon.

  The medical center where Dr. Olivian’s office resided was all the way across town, so there was plenty of time for Ruby to gather her thoughts. She still had no idea what she was going to tell the doctor when she got there. On the phone, she had mentioned that it was an emergency but was seeing imaginary marks really an emergency? Maybe in the grand scheme of things, considering her grandmother’s condition, it may have been, but now that she’d had some time to think about it, she felt like she might have over exaggerated about the dire effect of it all.

  I’ll just go in and ask her to tell me more about the symptoms grandma had at the beginning. Ruby thought, nothing wrong with being prepared.

  She opened her eyes, worried she might actually fall asleep and miss her stop. As luck would have it, she’d left the articles she’d missed reading for class at home, so she would have to entertain herself with the advertisements in the car. She’d read these a million times over on her commutes to school, but some of them still made her laugh.

  Ruby was smiling at one of the slogans for a fast food chain when she felt her palms heating up. They had formed fists without her knowing and were now burning with the heat of a stove top left on a little too long. Ruby unclenched her fingers and looked around the train. She felt eyes on her, like everyone had been watching. Shaking off the feeling, she started to reach for her bag when she noticed a tall man standing two doors away from her.

  Is he watching me? Ruby was sure she was just acting crazy again. Why would some random stranger be watching her on a train?

  She grabbed her bag and put it on the empty seat next to her and looked up at him. The man looked down quickly and started fumbling with his phone. This is definitely weird.

  If there was one thing Ruby had learned from her last train ride, it’s that the Westerlake subway is full of weirdos. No need to stick around to see if this guy was stalking her, she’d be better off switching cars just to be safe.

  “Next stop, Rossington Circle. Rossington Circle is the next stop. Doors will open on your left.”

  Perfect! Ruby thought.

  She grabbed her bag and walked to the last door in the car. The train inched to a stop and she didn’t hesitate when the doors opened, running directly into the next car. The doors closed behind her and she looked through the back window towards her previous seat to see if her observer was still there.

  He stood in the same spot he had been in before except this time he wasn’t looking at his phone. His gaze was on Ruby, and he watched her with the intensity of a lion watching his prey. She turned around and made her way to the back of the car, finding a seat b
ehind a group of kids yelling excitedly about some movie they just saw. They were definitely a good cover from her subway stalker.

  Ruby spent the rest of the ride peeking through the group to see if the man was still there. Each time she looked, he was either on his phone or looking around the train. Was she imagining things again? Last night’s train ride had left her paranoid and suspicious of everyone around her.

  Her stop arrived quickly; time tends to move pretty fast when you’re afraid you’re being followed. She slid her backpack onto one shoulder and made her way out of the car. One of the band pins she had tacked to her backpack got caught on her jacket and tore a hole in the leather.

  Great! Just great. Like being crazy isn’t enough. Running up the subway steps Ruby was starting to feel foolish about making such a big deal over all of this. She was obviously just tired, and her mind was playing tricks on her.

  If you weren’t being such a drama queen maybe you’d be in a better spot at school and your favorite jacket wouldn’t be torn.

  The leaves had already started to turn and Ruby’s sneakers kicked them like a tiny hurricane as she galloped down the street. She looked to see if there were cars coming her way before jaywalking to the center of the road and that’s where she saw him again. The man from the train. He was standing at the subway exit, his eyes trained on Ruby.

  She picked up her pace and ran across the street. She was starting to get breathless and dizzy. A few more long steps, and she’d be at the center. Jogging faster, she felt like a trapped gazelle running towards water. Her hand reached for the door handle, and she looked back at the subway exit before pulling it open. He was still there. Stoic and calm. Watching her with a fierce intensity.