by J Gaines
“Find the others… if they survived. I’ll meet you as soon as I can.”
“Where are you going? We need to talk about what Olivia just said.” She paused. “Kaden’s your brother?”
Amias didn’t reply. He took a few steps before Max called out to him. “Do you want us to come with you?” He shook his head, launching into a run and disappearing into the darkness of the woods. Holding his mother close to his chest, he paid little attention to his path, as hidden branches threatened to trip him, and invisible thorns scratched at his clothes and skin. He was soon free of the woods and running through a field he knew well. The rain refreshed him, and as he ran through the night he closed his eyes. Suddenly, his mother felt even closer to him as he held her; she was still warm, and he imagined she was alive again. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he opened his eyes to check.
As he reached the base of the hill, he stopped and looked up into the gloom, listening for a sign he wasn’t alone. When he was sure, he walked slowly upwards, carefully placing one foot in front of the other to avoid slipping. He was climbing the side of the hill that was concealed from their facility, but there was still a chance that if Kaden’s men were looking for him, they might have made their way to his destination, which was also the tallest point within walking distance. When he finally reached the top, he saw the fires at the facility still burning, and watched until the images blotted his vision. Except for the rain, there was no other sound, and he turned towards the large silver birch that now seemed to be part of the night, stretching its claws out into the sky. Even in the darkness, he could see the white bark of the trunk; he walked to it and carefully placed his mother in front of it. He knelt and turned once more to look at the fires, before gently unfastening the sheath containing his father’s knife from his mother’s belt. He felt the weight of it in his hands; how light it was, considering the size of the blade and hilt! The casing was made from black lacquered wood, as was the handle, smooth and dry in his wet hands. He pulled the long blade free and could see the silver metal through the dark: old, but still deadly sharp. Turning the knife in his hands, he wondered when the last time his father had held it was. He looked at his mother once more, and then thrust the point into the wet mud, turning the thin blade and using it along with his hands to scoop up mud. A shallow hole began to form, and he doubled his efforts, shovelling furiously, throwing handfuls of thick wet mud aside. Finally, he looked down into the makeshift grave, watching as puddles quickly began to form inside.
In all the dreams and fantasies he’d had about finding his parents, this situation was one he’d never imagined. He clenched his fists as he thought more about the cruel twist of fate that had befallen him. His hands and arms began to shake slightly, and he opened his hands to look at his palms. Getting slowly to his feet, he gently picked up his mother and placed her in the shallow grave, quickly replacing the mud as he choked back tears. When he was finally finished, he placed his palms on the small mound and bowed his head as he closed his eyes. He wanted more than anything to stand up and get away from where he was, but suddenly he couldn’t find the strength to move. A feeling he’d not felt in a long time was slowly forcing its way into his body, and he fought against it. He’d only really known his mother for a matter of minutes, and yet the loneliness that now engulfed him was all-consuming. Through all of the years he’d spent in confinement, he’d got used to being alone, but now he desperately yearned for the family he’d lost. He remembered how he’d felt the night he killed Jack, and the realisation that Blaise wasn’t coming to help him. Blaise’s face flashed into his thoughts, and then Olivia’s. He now knew his mother’s name was Grace, but to him she was still Olivia, in the only way he’d known her. He wondered whether he’d ever really know who she was, and he wished Blaise were still alive to hear the truth about their childhood. They’d only been brothers whose bond had been forged through pain and death, but they’d been everything to each other. Until Kaden had intervened – his brother by blood.
Amias shivered and got up. “How long have you been there?”
Jasmine stepped slowly out from behind the silver birch, looking slightly embarrassed that she’d been discovered. She bent down and placed her hand on the mound of mud, as he had. “I remember her.” Her words came slowly and quietly, and he wondered whether they were directed to him, or to herself.
“What do you remember?” He watched as she stroked the mud in slow circles.
She didn’t look up. “Her kindness to me. I remember I was scared. When we first met… when I first came to her. I was scared.”
Hearing her voice reminded him of when they’d first met, and he hung on each word. “She trained you.” He paused, considering his next words carefully. “Do you know what you are?”
“I know.” The reply was sharp, and it stung him; suddenly he remembered her short temper.
“Why are you only choosing to talk now?”
She stood up slowly and scowled at him. “I’ve been talking, just not to you or that idiot cell mate of mine.” She looked at the ground where Olivia lay buried. “I talked to her, when he was asleep.” Amias followed her gaze. “She was your mother.” His eyes moved to hers as she looked at him sadly for a moment before turning her back and looking towards the facility and still-burning fires. “She told me we knew each other.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“We were…” He hesitated, trying to decide how much he should tell her. “Friends.”
She continued to watch the fires. “You don’t seem like somebody I’d be friends with.”
Amias couldn’t stifle the laugh that forced itself up from his chest. “It was complicated. We weren’t friends who met and decided to forge a friendship. I guess you could say we were forced together by circumstances.”
“What circumstances?”
Amias clenched his jaw. “I don’t think this is the best place to discuss this, it’s not safe. Kaden’s soldiers will be looking for us and are probably already on their way here. We need to leave.”
Jasmine turned. “I know Kaden?”
“You do.”
“How? Why are you so scared to tell me the truth?”
“I’m not. But I don’t think it’s something we should discuss here… now.” The rain was still falling heavily, and he noticed streams running from her forehead and onto her cheekbones. He watched as the streams joined, and then travelled down the large scar on one side of her face. A familiar pain began to throb in his leg, where his scars ran deepest. An image of Kaden holding Jasmine over the edge of his skyscraper flicked into his mind.
Jasmine’s expression darkened, and she took a step forward. “Tell me.”
“You were once part of Kaden’s plans. You and my brother were on his side.”
A look of surprise replaced the anger, and she turned to look back at the facility. She was silent for a few minutes, and Amias began to wonder if she was going to speak again. Finally, she turned to him. “Where is your brother?”
Amias sighed, as another image from the same night came to him. Blaise was lying next to him, dying. “Kaden killed him as well.”
“And me?” replied Jasmine.
“He tried to kill you… I thought you were dead.”
“Why did he kill your brother and try to kill me, if we were on his side?”
“You turned against him… to save my life.”
Jasmine fell silent again, and he watched as she struggled to make sense of what he was telling her. They were past caution now, and sooner or later her questions would be directed back to him. “Did Olivia not tell you this?”
She shook her head slowly. “No. She told me other things. Things she said I needed to know… but they weren’t about what happened to me, or the past. They were things she said I needed to know about what’s to come.”
“To come?”
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br /> She looked at him strangely and nodded, but didn’t reply.
He couldn’t hold back the question he’d wanted to ask her any longer. “Do you remember me?” She remained silent and turned away once more. He wanted to shout at her, and repeat his question, but he used all the restraint he had left, and waited. Finally, she stirred, as if she’d been disturbed from a dream.
“There’s something. It’s not a memory of you, but more a feeling. A feeling that I know you. When I first saw you, I felt it… and I’ve felt it ever since then.” She stopped and seemed to drift away into deep thought. “I have it now.”
Amias took a step towards her, and she watched him carefully. “I can help you remember… if you’ll let me.”
Jasmine didn’t answer, but even in the dark he could feel her eyes on him. “You’re not planning to return to the others?”
He sighed. “I can’t be the person they need me to be.”
“Why? I think they need you.”
“They’re wrong. I’m not a leader, I can’t be responsible for their path anymore. The path I’m walking will only bring them harm.”
“And do you think they’re scared to walk it with you?”
“They should be. I have a destiny to follow, and it’s to face Kaden, alone.”
“That doesn’t sound like a very sensible thing to do. Even if you managed to get past the thousands of soldiers he obviously has at his disposal. He would kill you in combat. I don’t think your friends are scared of dying for what they seem to believe in. Max and the blonde-haired girl, they wouldn’t leave you behind back there.”
He smiled grimly. “You sound like my mother.” He stopped; it was the first time he’d referred to Olivia as his mother. He was sure Jasmine also noticed the reference. “You know, I’ve had these really bad headaches for a long time… and I’ve always thought they were a side-effect of my powers. But tonight I realised they were my body telling me my family was near me. I’d grown to hate the headaches, but right now I’d give anything to feel that pain again.” He closed his eyes. “Even for a moment. To know why I’m feeling it, and to know my mother is close. And now the next time I’ll feel it is when I’ll be in Kaden’s presence.”
“Nothing can bring your mother back now; not even our abilities can save us from death. You need to honour her as she would have wanted you to. Ask yourself what she died for, and if you can save others from her fate.”
Amias walked past her and watched the flames again, which were still dancing in the darkness. “Maybe I can still reach Kaden?” Suddenly he was unsure if he was asking himself the question or asking Jasmine.
“You’ll know. When you face him, you’ll know. But don’t let your conflicted feelings about him being your brother cloud your decision. It could cost you dearly.”
He heard her walking away and turned. “Where will you go?”
She stopped. “I have so many holes inside that I can’t seem to fill. It feels like there’s something very important I’m missing, something that’s pulling me to you and keeping me here. I don’t know if I’ll ever know what it is. But I think being here is a good place to start… and Kaden is a good place to finish.”
He was about to reply, but she disappeared into the night, leaving him alone. He walked to the edge of the hill and looked out across the sea of darkness to the fires, floating like pyre boats on the horizon. He could already feel the yearning inside him to be in Jasmine’s company once more. He wondered if Kaden was still close, but something told him he wasn’t. He cleaned his father’s knife on his t-shirt and placed it carefully in its sheath. He then lifted one leg of his jeans and fastened it around his lower leg.
The rain suddenly stopped, and he felt a wind he hadn’t noticed before. It seemed to blow through him, and he shivered as his wet clothes pressed against his skin. He remembered the dream he’d had about the wolves, and the hairs on his arms rose at the memory of their howls. The time had come for him to make a choice he’d always known he’d have to, but now it wasn’t as easy as he’d foreseen. He was well aware that the chances of him succeeding in confronting Kaden alone were slim, but in many ways, it had always seemed like the only choice he had. Kaden was his brother, and even before he’d found out about their lineage, he’d felt bound to his fate. If he allowed the others to help him, it would mean many would die – perhaps even John, or Sophia. His thoughts turned to Jasmine, and he turned to the place where she’d left him, imagining she’d returned to the hill. He closed his eyes in despair as he realised she would never find what she was looking for, especially if her journey led to Kaden. As he stood in the darkness with his eyes shut, he was unable to avoid the faces of Virgil and Blaise. They looked deep into his mind, searching out his soul and asking who he was inside. Virgil had always told him what made him different was his compassion: that the truest feelings brought out his greatest strength. “I need you now, Virgil.” He whispered the words into the night, hoping that in some form the answer would come to him.
He was unsure how long he’d been standing alone when suddenly he felt something change. The wind was no longer pushing on him, but instead seemed to pull him around. He opened his eyes and turned; for a moment he thought he heard a voice, or many voices. They whispered and called to him. As he raised his head he felt his body answer the call, his muscles tensed, and his heart thumped as his eyes widened in anticipation. There was no immediate danger and he knew it: this was something different, it was what he’d been waiting for. In an instant, he was running down the hill, allowing his feet to guide him faultlessly through the grass and across the field into the woods. He didn’t slow his pace as he passed the trees and looked up to see stars and the moon through the gaps in the many branches. The clouds were clearing, and the rain wouldn’t return that night, just as he knew he wouldn’t return to his hill. He was running at a speed he didn’t know he could achieve, yet he was aware he wasn’t making a sound. As the bushes and trees whistled by, he passed a deer that raised its head, aware of something it didn’t understand, and couldn’t identify. He vaulted a fallen tree, leapt across a stream and burst into a clearing, dropping to one knee as Max jumped to his feet in alarm and raised his rifle. The others joined Max, readying themselves for what they believed to be an enemy, and Sophia cried out. “Kaden.”
Amias was a step ahead of them, and in a split second, he disarmed Max and placed his father’s knife to his throat. He could see the whites of Max’s eyes as his chest heaved and stopped, aware that fighting his way free was useless. There was a moment in which they looked at each other, before he exhaled his name in relief. “Amias.”
Chapter 24
He released his grip and the others quickly surrounded him. Including Max, Jasmine and Sophia, he counted ten survivors. They looked at him fearfully, and he noticed that each of them showed the signs of a fiercely fought battle.
Sophia stepped forward first and embraced him tightly. “Thank god you’re alive. We were scared you’d gone back on your own.”
“I’m okay.” He looked past her, wondering why Jasmine hadn’t told them about their conversation. “Is this everyone who made it?”
“We’re the only ones who’ve made it here.” She looked around at the others and tried her best to sound optimistic. “There must be more of us who escaped.”
“Has there been any word from John?”
She spoke quickly, her anxiety laid bare. “No. But only a few of us had time to get our phones when we were attacked, and those that did had them taken by Kaden’s soldiers when we were captured. And Thomas’s is broken. Do you have yours?”
Amias closed his eyes, and Max put his hands on his head and growled. “Great, so out of eleven people, we can’t manage a mobile phone between us!”
Thomas turned to Max. “Where’s your phone?” He looked at Sophia. “And who is this anyway?” Amias opened his eyes, and watched Thomas stand up.
He’d been a member of his team a couple of times on missions, and he knew him to be a more than competent fighter, but he was young, and could be reckless. As he confronted Max, he noted he was almost a match for him physically.
“Believe me, kid, you don’t want to know.” Max glared at Thomas before striding to the edge of the clearing. “It’s nearly dawn, and we won’t have the benefit of the night much longer. I suggest we get as far away from here as possible. I’m guessing you have some kind of contingency plan for an attack like this?”
“We do. And he’s right.” Sophia turned to Amias. “In an event like this, we need to make it to the safe-house in London. If John’s alive, that’s where he’ll head for, and where we can re-group.” She turned to the others. “We just need to get there.”
“Sounds like a plan,” replied Max. “We stick to these fields and woods for as long as possible, and then we can pick up some transport.” He stopped and looked at Sophia. “Where are we anyway?”
“Around sixty miles from London,” interrupted Thomas. “And nobody’s answered my question.” He turned to Sophia and pointed. “Who’s he, and who’s she?” His finger fell on Jasmine, who was now the only person still seated.
Sophia held up her hands. “They’re friends of Amias, Thomas. And if that’s good enough for me, I hope it is for you. We need all the help we can get right now. They can both fight, you’ve seen that for yourself.”
“I know they can fight. It’s who they’re fighting for that worries me.”
Max pulled a large knife from his belt and pointed it at Thomas menacingly. “I’m with you, mate. And when I say I’m with you, I mean I’m on Kaden’s kill list.” He pointed the knife at the others. “Same as everyone else here. Which means it’s very likely we’ll all be dead soon. So if I were you, I’d stop with the questions and listen to your friend.”
Sophia threw a worried look at Amias. “Please put the knife away, Max. Thomas, it doesn’t matter what’s happened before today, it matters what happens now. Kaden’s soldiers tried to kill Max and Jasmine, just as they tried to kill us. We’re in this together.”