Burnwood - The Dragon Arum

by Sarah La Rose

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Carter

  Carter’s eyelids were heavy from exhaustion. He drove all night and was now anxiously staking out the shabby two-toned motel his father pulled into last night. He had already been awake for the past 48 hours and he was fading fast. Nevertheless, he had to make it to the council meeting and this was his only way in.

  Carter had considered driving ahead while his father spent the night in the hotel, but he hadn’t been able to get the exact location from Darius. In fact, Darius outright refused to engage in any conversation after strictly forbidding Carter from attending the council meeting.

  The sun was rising, casting a shadow over the parking lot. Carter desperately hoped that the daylight would re-energize him; the coffee had lost its effects hours ago. He couldn’t afford to lose his father’s trail. His whole planned relied on it.

  The Elders would be at the council meeting and this would be his only chance to speak to them, to make them understand.

  I will talk to them and explain what’s happening in Burnwood. They will know what to do. They can help us.

  Carter reclined his chair and leaned back, his hands folded behind his head. The exhaustion was starting to take over, forcing its will upon his tiring eyelids. He let them fall shut for just a moment and then jolted up at the sound of an engine roaring to life.

  Darius was pulling from the motel parking lot in his black SUV. Carter quickly turned the key in the ignition and followed after him.

  Carter kept his distance. If he followed too closely his father would recognize him, even in a rental car and a black cap pulled down so low that Carter had to tilt his head up to see the road clearly.

  Luckily, Darius was too distracted to notice the silver Toyota Camry following him since his departure. Darius had been on edge ever since the council announced the meeting. He seemed nervous, almost frightened.

  Carter followed his father, expecting the journey to be a long one. However, the black SUV had barely made it 10 miles before turning off toward a small town labelled Welcome to Cravens Ville.

  Carter followed Darius down the empty streets of Craven Ville until he pulled into the parking lot of a large brick building with tall white pillars and floor to roof windows.

  Carter turned down an adjacent ally way and parked on the next block over. The streets were bare and unnervingly quiet. Carter walked back toward the building, taking in the town.

  The houses were in bad disrepair. Shingles peeled up from the rooftops and weeds overtook the yards. The fences were barely standing and many of the windows were broken, jagged shards of exposed glass precariously hanging from the frames.

  He stopped halfway down the block, surveying the area. He hadn’t seen one single person since he arrived. There were cars on the street, but they were dated and covered with thick layers of dust. Craven’s Ville was a ghost town. Of course the council would hold their meeting here.

  Carter stopped at the end of the block. The brick building was actually Cravens Ville’s City Hall and by the looks of it, it hadn’t been functional in a long time.

  Carter knew the council meetings were by invitation only. He would have to slip in unnoticed. He looked down at his clothing, wishing he had packed something aside from T-shirts and black jeans. He wouldn’t get far dressed like this.

  Soon, the parking lot was full. Carter stayed out of sight, watching the minutes approach the hour. The meeting would be starting soon.

  A black car pulled into the parking lot and an older gentleman with wispy grey hair stepped out. He opened the passenger door and wiggled his oversized arms out of his black suit jacket, tossing it into the backseat. He loosened his tie and pulled it over his head, throwing it on top of the jacket before closing the door and hurrying up the pathway to the building.

  Carter waited out of sight for a few minutes, but the lot was nearly full and it had been awhile since the last car came by. He darted across the street, ducking low in the parking lot. He found the car belonging to the grey-haired gentlemen he’d seen before. The suit jacket and tie were in the backseat. He pulled up on the door handle, but it was locked.

  His eyes flashed red and his fingernail formed into a long, sharp claw. He stuck it in the keyhole and jimmied it until the door lock popped up. He took the jacket and slipped it on over his T-shirt. He tried the tie on, fiddling with it for a few minutes before tossing it back into the car. The jacket will have to do.

  The jacket hung loosely on him, but if he stood tall and puffed out his chest, it almost looked like it fit.

  A woman in her late 30s, wearing a light pink suit jacket and matching skirt, eyed Carter on his way in. He took out his shades and put them on as he continued. He stepped inside, noticing a few curious stares coming from a large man with dreads tied into a ponytail and his companion, a lanky-looking man with sharp features and narrow eyes.

  Of course they were suspicious. He was clearly younger than everyone around him, and although his height gave him a fighting chance, it wouldn’t be long before someone called his bluff.

  Carter remembered a saying his father always quoted from one of his favorite books, kept from his college days at Penn State. “Confidence is within the mindset.”

  It was true- confidence wasn’t something you were born with or just lucky enough to have. It comes from a feeling of fitting in and belonging, an unshaken sense of worth. And even though he wasn’t a member of the council, he was a hybrid, and in that alone, he belonged among them.

  Carter stood up tall, feeling his shoulders fill into the oversized jacket. He looked around at the people surrounding him. He saw them differently now. It was like city hall was transforming into Burnwood High before his eyes.

  He felt taller, like he had grown three feet in 15 seconds. Suddenly, nothing intimidated him; not city hall, not the council, and as he caught sight of Darius in the far corner of the room, not even his father.

  Carter strode passed the gawking middle-agers as easily as he did the gawking teenagers. He kept to the wall farthest from his father, and out of the masses beginning to circle the stage.

  Ring, ring…

  Carter grasped at the side of his jeans and frantically pulled the phone from his pocket. He turned it on vibrate and slipped into an empty hallway and down a dark stairwell.

  “Annabelle, I can’t talk right now.”

  “Carter, where are you?” she said, detecting the hushed tone of his voice.

  He continued down the dark corridor. The walls were concrete, just like the floors, and it reeked of chemicals and damp wood.

  “I’m at the council meeting. Someone here has to know about the medallions.”

  Carter felt guilty about lying to her, but he wasn’t really lying. He had come for answers about the medallions, but that wasn’t all. So much more was happening in Burnwood.

  “Then why are you whispering?”

  “Well… I wasn’t exactly invited.”

  He was coming to the end of the dark narrow passage. The ceiling was low with flickering lights every few feet. From time to time it would go completely dark as a few bulbs would struggle to carry the current, but it didn’t bother Carter. His night vision was one of the few things he enjoyed about being a hybrid.

  “Oh no,” Annabelle sighed. “What did you get yourself into?”

  “Can we talk about this when I get home?”

  “Aren’t you at all concerned about what I got myself into,” she said mischievously.

  “Annabelle…”

  She laughed. “Don’t worry. Nick is keeping me completely safe. But, we have been on a fact finding mission and would you believe there is no law office here in town.”

  “Wait,” he said, giving his head a shake. “I thought your uncle is a lawyer.”

  She sighed. “Me too.”

  “Annabelle, let me call you back after the meeting.”

  “You know The Red and Black Lantern Festival is tomorrow?”

  “And I already have my tu
x on hold at Walmart.”

  “Carter! That’s not funny.”

  He laughed and leaned back against the cool cemented wall. “I take it you found a dress?”

  “Oh my God! I found the most magnificent dress at… wait. I want it to be a surprise.”

  Carter smiled.

  Hearing the excitement in her voice made the past 48 hours of hell forgettable.

  “Well, I can’t wait to see you in it.”

  She was quiet for a moment. “Carter, are you okay?”

  A sound came from the other side of the door at the end of the hallway.

  “Annabelle, I have to go.”

  Carter switched off his cell phone and crept towards the door. He kept his back against the wall and out of the direct light, letting the darkness shadow him. The voices grew louder as he got closer.

  He could hear the sound of a husky male voice with wheezing lungs. From the sounds of it, he was probably an Elder. Another voice rang out among them. It was also a man’s voice and aged with the same sternness of the last, but he spoke with an authority that silenced the room.

  Carter stopped, pushing himself closer to the wall and deeper into the darkness. The group had stopped talking and a deadening silence filled the hallway. He wouldn’t be able to get back to the staircase without being heard, so he stayed as quiet and motionless as possible.

  Finally, the authoritative voice started again, this time without interruption.

  “This is a sensitive matter at hand. One in which we must deal with delicately.”

  “Kane,” said a woman, too young to be an Elder. “You don’t actually believe these fools?”

  “Fay is right,” wheezed the husky voice. “Delirium has set in.”

  “Surely, even you, Lucious, can see the circumstantial evidence to these claims. Or do you suggest that all of this be pure coincidence?” said Kane.

  “Well, of course,” Lucious chortled. “What more could it be?”

  “I beg of you to consider what is right in front of you.”

  Carter recognized this voice immediately. It was his father.

  Carter peeled himself from the wall and crept forward until he was right beside the door. From here, he could hear the voices clearly.

  “Darius, I can assure you that I will look into what you have brought to us today,” said Kane. “But you must give me time.”

  “I’m afraid time is not something we have,” said Darius, his voice growing louder. “I urge you to reconsider.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. Who would dare challenge such a power,” scoffed Fay.

  “Indeed,” Lucious added. “There is no threat here.”

  “And what about the hunters?” asked Darius.

  The question silenced the room and Carter could sense the tensions growing behind the door.

  He had heard stories of hunters, descendants of kings’ most valiant knights. Dragon slayers.

  “No one has seen a hunter in quite some time, Darius,” said Kane.

  “Yet they are the only outsiders to know our secret,” said Darius. “Perhaps it would be ill- advised to dismiss them so carelessly.”

  Darius stormed from the room just as Carter pulled back from the door and pressed himself against the wall. Darius strode by without pause.

  The heavy black door fell shut and the light streaming into the hallway from the room disappeared. Carter sighed with relief as he was once again shrouded by the comforting darkness.

  Inside, Kane addressed the others.

  “I want a full investigation launched into the Burnwood incidents. There’s been far too much movement in that town and I want to know why.”

  “Kane, you can’t be serious,” said Fay. “It was one murder.”

  “Two murders, Fay. There were two,” Kane corrected. “And if this does have anything to do with the medallions or that young girl, I want to know about it.”

  “We don’t know anything about the girl,” said Lucious. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

  “We know she is of the blood,” said Kane.

  “But if she was hybrid it would’ve manifested already,” said Fay. “By 6 years of age she would’ve known.”

  It was true. Hybrid characteristics always manifest between the ages of 4 and 6 years. Some developed earlier than other, but the time frames always fell closely together.

  “I suppose you’re right,” said Kane. “Nevertheless, we will do our due diligence and check into the Burnwood cases.”

  Carter backed down the hallway quietly. He was halfway up the stairs when he turned to dart to the top, but smack face first into a chest as solid as a brick wall.

  He rubbed his head and looked up.

  “Dad.”

  Darius looked down at his son, arms folded across his chest. His eyes were angry and his posture stiff. Carter knew he was in for it.

  Darius took Carter by the collar of his suit jacket and hauled him down a hallway and away from the gathering. He took a few quick turns down adjoining hallways until he found an empty office room storing piles of file boxes stacked in every direction. He yanked Carter into the room and closed the door.

  “Are you out of your mind?”

  “I didn’t have much of a choice,” Carter started. “You wouldn’t let me come any other way.”

  “For good reason,” Darius retorted. “Do you have any idea what could happen if anyone discovers you’re not a council member? Not only could I lose my seat in the council, but they could disregard my request for an investigation.”

  “Looks like they’re already headed in that direction,” mumbled Carter.

  Darius went still and his face paled. “How much did you hear?”

  “Enough,” Carter huffed. He took a seat atop a small stack of boxes. “Who were they talking about?”

  Darius looked confused.

  “The girl they were talking about… the one from Burnwood,” Carter continued. “After you left they said something.”

  “What did they say?”

  “That she was of the blood.”

  Darius looked away, but Carter could sense the change. Something was weighing heavily on him.

  “There are things I can’t explain… things I don’t even know if there is anything to explain,” Darius started.

  Carter stood and paced the room. “It’s about Annabelle, isn’t it? They think she’s a hybrid, don’t they?”

  “Hold on…”

  “She’s not! You have to go tell them that.”

  “It’s not that simple, son. You we’re once just as suspicious.”

  Carter’s voice rose in unison with the anger inside him, “Yeah that was when she first moved here. When I first found out that she was from Burnwood and her father was a hybrid. I was wrong and so are they. You have to tell them!”

  “They will see it for themselves, Carter. There’s nothing we can do.”

  Carter went silent for a long while, staring blankly at the bare wall in front of him.

  “She deserves a life without this mess.”

  Darius strolled to the opposite side of the room, taking a seat on top of the bare desk.

  “That is beyond our control, Carter. She is a part of this world whether she likes it or not… whether you like it or not.” Darius sighed, hanging his head low. “I don’t know why it is so hard for you to accept who you are, but are you sure Annabelle feels the same way? Perhaps she deserves a say in the matter.”

  Darius eyed Carter sympathetically and then clapped his hands down on top of his knees and pushed himself up. He walked to the door, stopping momentarily to glance back at his son.

  Carter waited until his father left the room and was well down the hallway when he slammed his fist down onto one of the white file boxes. The box shredded to pieces and hundreds of loose papers fluttered to the floor. He could feel the unrelenting anger gnawing away at his self-control, the way it always had since his transition. The beast inside him was so strong and loud- so undeniable. It some
times took everything inside him to keep the beast at bay, a never- ending battle.

  Carter could fight it. He knew he was strong enough to resist its every desire, but it was a strength he didn’t wish upon anyone. His life could be so much simpler if only he were pure. He could live the life he had always dreamed of, the life he would make sure she had the opportunity to live.

  Carter shook his head and left the room. He walked the hallway in long strides, keeping his mind focused on getting the information he needed- the information only Kane seemed to know. He entered the hall and took his place among the crowd of people creating a half circle around the stage. The Elders were there, all dressed in black robes.

  Carter was sure he recognized a few of their faces. He couldn’t recall where he had seen them before, but they were hauntingly familiar.

  One of the Elders stepped forward and began to address the crowd.

  “I know you are all here for answers,” he said.

  Carter recognized the voice immediately- it was Kane. He was different than Carter had imagined. His slender body and narrow shoulders portrayed nothing of the authority his voice demanded. He was a simple looking man, one that you wouldn’t glance twice at if you had passed him on the street. His polished, olive-colored skin and warm brown eyes looked harmless, yet he had the power to quiet a room with just the sound of his voice.

  The crowd’s whispers and mummers puttered out until the room was so quiet that the only sound that could be heard was the crackling coming from the old microphone.

  “I know there has been a spur of confusion amongst you all about the recent incidents in Burnwood.”

  The crowd stirred and Kane stopped, raising his hand to silence them. Surprisingly, that was all it took. Kane glance back at the row of Elders standing behind him and then turned back to the crowd.

  “Against the wishes of my fellow Elder assembly, I have decided to share with you all some very important information.”

  The Elders lined up behind him began to stir, whispering to one another. One Elder stepped forward and reached his arm out for Kane’s shoulder, but stopped short as Kane’s piercing glare caught him. The man stepped back and no one else dared to step forward.

  Carter inched his way through the crowd until he was standing just a few feet away from the stage. This was the moment he had been waiting for, the moment where he would finally have something valuable to share with the group. The crowd fell silent with anticipation. Some council members looked confused and others seemed wary, but everyone was intently hanging on every word Kane said.

  Suddenly, the lights in the room began to flicker. The whole gathering looked up at the ceiling just as everything went dark. It took a few seconds for Carter’s hybrid vision to kick in, and when it did everything happened so fast. Carter could see the room perfectly now, everything tinted red. Half of the crowd moved around, bumping into one another in the darkness. They were clearly the pure ones of the council. The other half was unaffected by the darkness as their hybrid vision adjusted to it.

  Murmurs spread through the crowd as people yelled back and forth for someone to find the light switch.

  “I found it,” yelled a man standing along the east wall. He flicked the switch and a spark of light came from the ceiling as the bulbs burst into thousands of tiny pieces. The flash of light was blinding, even to the hybrids.

  Carter shielded his eyes from the light and hunched down as the tiny shards of glass rained down over the hall. The glass cut and tore at the bare flesh of a few council members, their shrieks echoing through the hall. It wasn’t until the flash of light subsided that the real damage could be seen. Right there, in the middle of the stage next to the microphone, was a lifeless, robed body sprawled across the floor- its head, severed.