Half-Breed

by Zachary Smith

  Chapter 25

  Talia, with her hands across her chest, flutters her eyes mockingly. And today she’s not alone. Beside her, stand two guys. One is shifty looking, someone I’d never trust. Sluggishly stood, he glares our way, suggesting he really doesn’t want to be here. He’s tall, very pale, and his hair is long, past his shoulders, coloured a white-blonde. Whereas the other guy is the complete opposite, and I get the feeling we’ve already met. His eyes are hollow and blackened underneath like he hasn’t slept in days. He’s timid – painfully so – and peers at us from behind Talia, retreating whenever anyone of us makes eye contact.

  “You were saying?” Talia insists.

  “Guys,” I mumble. “This is Talia, the Nexus-Being.”

  “Charmed.” She gloats, gracefully striding towards us. “Yes, yes. I’m the one who’ll save you all.”

  “I’m Lucas.” The blonde haired guy grunts.

  “And this cling on,” says Talia, pointing to the short chubby guy behind her. “Is Callum.”

  “Hi, I’m Aimee! And this is–”

  “They’ll be accompanying and aiding me during the ritual.” Talia confirms, disregarding Aimee entirely.

  Stared down by Miah, Talia takes her place opposite with Lucas and Callum either side, turning our half circle into a full circle.

  “That’s good,” says Miah with a sarcastic tone. “We were just saying how we’ll be accompanying and aiding the guys during the ritual.”

  Talia holds her gaze for a moment, slowly turning her stone-like face into an awkward smile. “Oh. That’ll be great.” She goads. “You can stand and watch while we do everything.”

  “Oh, believe me, I’ll be watching very closely.” Miah shoots back through gritted teeth.

  Tension high, we all sit back and watch the awkward exchange of friendly, yet false niceties. Even the blonde guy, Lucas, looks uncomfortable as they discuss the ins and outs of the weekend ahead of us. And at points, I find it hard to understand what either of them says as they fire out words in quick loud bursts, wanting to be the only one heard,

  “Ok…” Matthew interrupts while they both take a breath. “It’s settled. We’re all going.”

  Taking his first real look at the group, the grey skinned Callum slowly scans each of us until he reaches me. Knowing how hard it can be, battling a crippling shyness, I force a friendly smile his way, hoping it would put him at ease. Only for him to become spooked and return his eyes to the ground. Obviously, it wasn’t friendly enough.

  “Our plan.” Talia begins. “First, Lucas will get us into the clock tower using his power.”

  “You have a power too?” an eager Matthew questions.

  Talia nods. “Of course, he does.” She fumes, probably annoyed Matthew has cut her off, yet again. “Do you seriously think I’d bring a useless powerless human?”

  Obviously, cut deep by her remark, Riley lowers his head and fumbles with his shoelace. But with a tap on the shoulder from Aimee, who flashes him a sympathetic smile, he perks up again and re-joins the group.

  “Show them what you can do, Lucas.” Talia demands.

  Grudgingly rising to his feet, Lucas takes a scan of the clifftops to ensure we’re alone, then sighs. “Fine.”

  Bending at the knees, he then propels himself into the air and bursts into a cloud of grey smoke. Everyone recoils at the sight of it, apart from Talia, who remains perfectly stationary and uninterested.

  “Whoa!” Matthew cheers, nearly tumbling back in shock.

  “Is he ok?” Aimee worries, staring at the place Lucas once stood.

  “He’s fine.” An unamused Talia replies.

  The smoke then rushes back to the spot Lucas stood, forming a human-shaped cloud from which he emerges. And with a smug smirk, he mockingly bows. “Ta-dah!”

  Aimee, unable to conceal her excitement, begins uncontrollably clapping in awe, much to the disappointment of Riley, who looks on at her like a lost puppy.

  “Like I was saying,” Talia continues. “Lucas will get us inside with the use of his power, unlocking the door from the other side. Then we’ll go up to the top, where I’ll absorb the powers of Matthew and Mitchell.”

  “Does it hurt?” Matthew questions.

  “Afraid?” Lucas mocks.

  “No!”

  With a stern look, Talia puts Lucas back in his place and he abandons the comeback he was about to speak. “No it won’t hurt,” she confirms. “Although, you may feel slightly faint after.”

  She continues. “Once both powers have been joined and released onto the Nexus-Point, I must not be disturbed. I cannot stress that enough.” She looks to Callum and Lucas, who both nod in agreement. “My body will then become a vessel for the ritual. Meaning, I’ll be unreachable and unable to move until it’s been completed.”

  The more she speaks, the more I want to bail. Originally, I thought this would be a pretty simple task. The three of us show up, Talia does what she has to do, then boom, our lives go back to normal. But now, there're others involved, unnecessarily so too. What if this all goes wrong?

  “And if you can’t complete it?” asks Miah.

  “She will.” Lucas sneers.

  Talia shoots a stern look Miah’s way before standing. “We meet by your college on Saturday, just after sunset. Do not be late.” She then walks away, without so much as a goodbye.

  “Wait!” Miah hollers, rising to her feet. “That’s it? No plan b?”

  With a sigh, Talia stops in her tracks and waits a moment before twirling back on one foot to face us again. “Contingency plans are not my thing. We do this properly or we don’t do this at all.”

  With his hand held out and a sly shake of the head, Matthew restrains Miah from marching forward, in an attempt to follow Talia. “Surely we need to go through this more?” she protests. “We’re about to change the world!”

  “Oh! We!?” She mockingly recoils. “I don’t remember you being a part of this. You see, I now need to prepare myself. For I’m saving the world this weekend.” She looks to Lucas for his agreeable nod. “But, by all means, please stay home and figure out plan b for us, won’t you?” She then walks away chuckling to herself, with a timid Callum following closely behind.

  Stunned, Miah plants herself back to the ground in a huff. “Who does she think she is?” she fumes.

  “Just ignore her,” I firmly say. “Once this is over, we’ll never have to deal with her again.”

  “I did not like her. Like… at all.” A wide-eyed Aimee adds, shaking her head.

  “And what’s the deal with that Callum guy?” Riley points out.

  “You noticed it too?” I ask.

  An unsettling feeling sits in the pit of my stomach, I just know we’ve met before, but where and when, I cannot be sure.

  I then sit back as everyone takes turn throwing out more questions, all of which I’ve already gone over in my own mind. Can they be trusted? What if it goes wrong? What’s up with Lucas’ attitude?

  “Does it matter?” I snap. “So Talia is rude and Callum is odd. So what? None of that changes anything. I still have to do this. So if any of you guys want to turn back, now’s your chance.”

  I go to get up and leave, only for Miah to grab my arm and pull me back down. “Hun,” she sympathises. “We ain’t trying to bail on ya. We just need to be sure we’ve covered all our bases.” She then looks to the others, nodding at them. “We’re here till the very end, even if that means spending more time with that stuck up witch.”

  “Yeah!” Aimee concurs, clapping like a seal. “And the creepy guy with the awesome power.”

  “Don’t forget about Sir-Stares-A-Lot,” Riley adds.

  “Oh yeah…” says Miah, cunningly. “Keep the witch and the creep busy, and I’ll get a read on him.”

  “Crafty,” Matthew nods. “I like it.”

  “Stand and watch!” Miah mocks, trying to impersonate Talia’s airy voice. “I’ll show her!”

  We then spend the rest of the afternoon stee
ring clear of all thing Half-Breed, including powers and rituals.

  Miah also decides she’d like to try her luck at rugby, specifically a rugby tackle, and with Matthew as her teacher, she begins to learn the basics. She then tries out her newly learnt skills on Aimee, who levitates out the way with ease, causing her to face plant the floor. “No fair!” she whines. “Powers aren’t allowed!”

  Even Riley plays along, wrapping his arms around Matthew’s legs to no avail, as he doesn’t even budge an inch, much to our amusement.

  Sitting back and taking in the playful group before me, I begin to realise how I nearly missed out on all this. Different people, different lives, friends. All pulled together in a time of need, my time of need. Had it not been for our powers, our Mundarium heritage, would we be here now? It’s highly unlikely. So I’ll be thankful for this, the only gift my burden has given me before I rid myself of it.

  “Mitchell!” Miah cheers, pulling me out from the shade. “It’s your turn!”

  Knackered, my body struggles to carry its heavy weighted legs up the stairs. For not only is it physically exhausted but mentally too, having had to piece together countless sentences in order to be sociable. Even when mum greeted Matthew and me, asking how our day was, I could merely grunt a reply.

  Diving head first to my bed, I give myself willingly and sink into the softness, wrapping my duvet around until I’m fully cocooned. To think, or in my case, overthink anything tonight would be impossible, a positive to this whole social thing and within seconds of my eyes closing shut, I nod off.

  For most people this would be a perfect night, falling asleep within seconds of getting into bed. But for me, it’s only the beginning, as I wake in the college car park, laying across from the crying guy I’ve seen many times before. “I’m sorry,” he keeps repeating over and over.

  Only to ignore any attempt I make to call him out.

  Hiding behind his hands, he continues to sob, saying nothing more than those two words. But there is something different this time, a memory I’ve lived overlaps what I see here tonight. A fresh memory I can recall from the day that has just played out. For he hides, just like he hid behind Talia. “Callum!?” I gasp.

  Suddenly the cries stop, bringing an eerie silence that covers the entire carpark. Not even a gentle breeze can be heard. It’s as if all sounds has been erased from our surroundings.

  Steadily, I make my way over to him. “Callum?” I say once more, grabbing his attention.

  Standing and slowly lowering his hands from his face, Callum exposes his pure white eyes and stares deeply at me, swaying back and forth. “I’m sorry Mitchell.” he murmurs. “it’s the only way.”

  Lunging at me, he grabs at my throat and encases us both in a thick chaotic darkness. One that lifts us from my feet and throws us through the world itself, breaking it down into nothing, before rebuilding it back up into a wooded area, where I find myself lying on the ground alone.

  I’ve been here before, maybe not in reality, and not for a long time, but this place is familiar. Appearing from the shadows, Callum, stuck in a trance, turns into a silhouette of a person, the likes I’ve met only once before. “Soon!” he roars.

  Shrouded in black, he descends upon me as I push away with my feet, to avoid his stretched out hands. Only this time he brings me no harm and merely lifts me back to my feet, before letting out a blood-curdling cry that rips through the trees, causing them to disintegrate.

  Again I wake, this time, in the burnt out town centre I’ve seen in my dreams, only I’m stuck on the outside. Already the crowd has erupted into chaos, and from a distance, I see myself running through them, desperately in search of my family. It’s as if I’ve been given the chance to view a replay from someone else’s perspective, their memories or the footage obtained on a mobile.

  Unable to move, I stand helplessly as TJ wanders into the masses to deliver his warning. “Think for yourself,” before vanishing in pain. Then the shrouded being takes on the form of the other me and plays out the rest of the dream as I’d it seen before. Now, not only have I lived it, but I’ve also witnessed my body being burnt to nothing more than ashes.

  “Why!” I cry out.

  The other me then turns, flickering between his normal self, Callum and the shrouded being. “Don’t you see?!” he roars, before setting the entire town centre alight, burning it to the ground.

  My eyes open to a grassy field and in the centre, the other me resides, surrounded by Riley, Aimee and Miah. “Mitchell!” Riley cries. “This isn’t you, you have to stop this.”

  But the other me simply smiles before blasting them all away, then he turns to me once more. “Is this you?” he roars, falling to the ground as Callum.

  Back in the carpark, Callum hides behind his hands, shielding his face from view as a darkness surrounds him. “I’m sorry Mitchell.” He cries. “I just wanted it to stop.”

  Struggling for breath, I lie flat on my mattress staring up at the white ceiling of my bedroom. Lifting my heavy head, I begin to wonder why I was reshown the dreams of my past and what it could all mean.

  One thing’s for sure, the crying boy is Callum… and he has a terrible secret.