by Rue Volley
“Oh god… Rue… Rue.” he whispered to me as he continued to thrust into me deeper. I wanted to say something, I wanted to tell him how much he meant to me, how I could not imagine a world without him but my mind was wrecked, my body aching and a vibration was creeping into the core of me.
My body started to shake. My knees locked, and he trembled under me. I held onto his hair and leant against his chest breathing hard. I looked up and light started to spark in the room, blue and black… so quickly I could barely tell the difference between the two colors. I felt a vibration welling up in me; he did too. He pushed me back and I stared into his face, shimmering with sweat.
“Oh my god,” he whispered.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
“I can’t…” he whispered to me as he shook his head.
I grabbed his back and he cried out, as he arched his back. I dug my fingernails into his skin and the flashes started to pulsate from us, all around the bed and in the room. I felt my energy concentrate in my chest and a flash came from me and slammed against him as he cried out again. I sucked in my breath and tried to focus. I felt like I did in Calvary, like I needed to protect him… I need him forever, not just now… not just this once.
I rolled him over and he looked up at me, somewhat surprised that I had. I squeezed my knees against his sides and he arched upward. I threw my hands into the air, and I felt it again… all the energy entering me. I looked down at him and shook my head.
“I want to save you,” I said to him.
He looked at me and tried to speak, but it was broken.
“You… already… have,” he cried out, as he turned his head from me.
He gritted his teeth and shook his head.
“I can’t talk to you… not right… Ahhhhh God,” he said.
It didn’t matter, none of it mattered. I pulled my arms to my chest and a swirling blue started to form all around us, around me… It blew my hair up and Josh stared at me as he grabbed at my waist. He rolled me over quickly and I gasped as I felt the blue surrounding us. The room started to shake; the ground started to move. I grabbed him and kissed him hard, forcing my light into his body. He shook and moaned at my mouth as I entered him, every part of him. I tried to feel as I did in Calvary, I really did. I wanted to draw the pain into myself, take it from him. I shook and cried out. He held my face and placed his hand under the small of my back; then he whispered in my ear.
“I would trade my life any day, for you.”
I grabbed his hair and he kissed me, as a feeling overtook us both and everything started to pulsate in the room. Like sonic booms from a jet in the sky.
One heartbeat.
One life.
One color.
One.
***
Theo stopped sewing and looked at Lily. He wiped his forehead and then he felt his heartbeat. He tried to take a breath and he suddenly looked at Lily.
“Oh my,” he said, as he fell from the chair and passed out on the ground.
Lily ran to him and slapped him in the face.
He muttered something and she stood up in a panic and looked around.
“Oh my god… Oh my god,” she said as she looked around the room, looking for anything.
She grabbed a bottle of water and unscrewed the top of it with her teeth and spit it out. She poured it on his face and Theo shook his head and looked at her as he spit water out of his mouth. He looked at her and rolled over quickly and grabbed his chest.
“Are you injured?” Lily said to him as she leaned over him, with her hands on her knees.
“No…no, it’s Joshua,” Theo muttered to her.
Lily flashed from the tent and Theo raised his hand to her.
“No… Lily… Wait,” Theo yelled out to her.
Lily pulled her blades and flashed towards the Josh’s tent. She heard noises, terrible noises to her, and she flashed in and stopped dead, dropping her blades to the ground.
Josh looked at Lily and so did I, I was absolutely mortified. We were in a strange position to be having a guest running in. I grabbed the sheets and wrapped them around me and Josh dropped off the side of the bed to the floor.
“Ah… Lily… Hi!” Josh said to her.
Lily stood there with her mouth open and then she covered it, making a mouse like noise, and ran out of the tent. I looked at Josh and shook my head at him.
“OMG,” I said.
“Yeah… I agree,” Josh said to me.
I pushed off of the bed and Josh stood up and held his arms out.
“What are you doing?” he asked me.
I looked back at him and shook my head as I ran from the tent, with a sheet wrapped around me. I started to walk quickly towards her tent. I had to say something. I mean, how weird was that?
Josh scrambled to get dressed and ran after me.
He caught up to me and leaned over to look at my face.
“Rue… just ah, let it go. She will be fine.”
I stopped and looked at him.
“Really...? We were just, ummm… and she just ran in,” I said, as I raised one arm and my sheet almost fell off of me. I grabbed it and pulled it up.
He laughed and tried to touch my face. I started to walk again.
“What are you going to say? Oh I am sorry, we were just humping?” he said.
I stopped again and looked at him.
“I so hate that word… that is not what we did in there,” I said to him.
Josh laughed and when I shot him a look he stopped.
“I am going to tell her that I had a kink in my back and you were, ah… helping me get it out,” I said to him.
He stopped and snorted as he laughed. I looked back at him and shook my head.
“That is the story,” I said to him.
“Oh… really...? Well, it won’t work with Theo and Sam… They know what we did,” Josh said.
I stopped and swung my hair around as I looked at him.
“What do you mean?” I asked him.
Josh rubbed his neck and looked at me.
“Well, all three of us can feel when the other one is, ah… you know,” Josh said to me.
I dropped my hands and my sheet fell to the ground.
I stood there butt naked with my mouth open.
Sam, Kai, and Johnathan came flashing up to us and I was too busy looking at Josh to bother with the fact that I had no clothes on.
Kai skidded to a stop and “AAAH’D” as he turned and covered his eyes. Sam crossed her arms on her chest, and Johnathan rubbed his neck and tried not to look… but he so did… that ass.
“Please, for the love of god… put something on, Rue!” Kai yelled out as he had his back turned to me.
I “OOOH’D” really loud and reached down, grabbed the sheet, and pulled it up around me.
I stood there, trying to look cool.
Sam stared at me and I looked at Johnathan. This was more than awkward. I mean, just minutes ago I was, ah… you know with Josh, and now there is Johnathan… just looking at me. I cleared my throat and looked at Josh.
“I would like to thank you for fixing my back.”
Sam looked at him and he looked at me.
“Yea… okay. Yea, no problem,” he said as he grinned.
“Okay then. I need a bath,” I said, as I turned and started walking away from them.
“Rue?” I heard Josh call out behind me.
I stopped and looked back at him.
“What?” I said.
Josh pointed behind him.
“The bath is this way.”
“Right,” I said, as I turned and swung the long sheet like it was a ball gown.
I walked up to all of them and sighed.
“It is that way,” I said as I nodded.
They all split apart like the Red Sea. I stepped through them, hell bent on getting out of this as quickly as possible. I took like three steps and then I started to half run, until I made it around the corner of a tent and stopped against
it and leaned back. I leaned forward and placed my hand on my mouth and stifled a laugh. I had to. That was ridiculous.
Theo stumbled out of his tent and looked at Josh.
“JOSHUA BARRINGTON!” he yelled out.
Josh ran to him and grabbed his arm and dragged him into the tent as Sam stood there, tapping her foot… and then she looked at Kai.
“Okay then,” she said.
Kai tilted his head at her. She shook hers and glanced at Johnathan.
Kai looked back at him and grinned.
“Alright,” Kai said.
Johnathan ran his hand through his hair as they left him standing there alone.
“What the hell just happened?” Johnathan called out to anyone.
No one answered.
***
Caine stood in the council room alone. He looked up at the skylight and watched the clouds float over slowly. He looked back down at the empty hall and took a deep breath. This was his moment, his time. He would accept his place here, navigating around his mother’s treachery. He would take hold of Valon and lead her in right direction.
He looked up as a boy came running in with two guards behind him… a small girl at his side. The guard flashed to the boy and knocked him down. He slid across the floor and the girl yelled out and dropped to his side. Caine looked at the two of them and stepped down from the platform. He raised his hand to the guard, as the guard flashed forward with his blades drawn. Caine shook his head at the guard and he stepped back from the boy and girl lying on the stone floor. Caine started to walk towards them and then he stopped when the boy looked up at him.
“Lord Caine,” Bailey said.
Caine tilted his head and stared at him, trying to search his memory.
The boy started to rise up, as the girl held onto his arm. The guard took a step and Caine shook his head at him. The boy stood, swaying a little. He had blood coming from his mouth and the girl looked haggard.
“Do I know you?” Caine asked him.
The boy nodded to him and tried to smile.
“I come from the carnival,” the boy said.
Caine looked at the guard and waved his hand to him.
“Leave us,” Caine said to him.
The guard nodded, stepped out of the room, and closed the doors.
Caine stepped towards the boy and girl and smiled at the both of them.
“I do recognize you, not the girl,” Caine said to him.
Bailey looked at Mia and touched her hand.
“I told you that he would remember me,” he said to her.
She grinned at him and looked back towards Caine.
“Lord Caine, I come to ask that you take us in… I bring news to you, news of treachery,” he said.
Caine wiggled his fingers at his sides and stared him down.
“What news do you bring me?” he asked.
“I… I was able to become the new master there after Jonah and Lily left us… I took power. I knew of your want for the one they call Rue Volley. I found her, located her and your son on the train line north. I sent rogues there, originally to collect humans for the carnival. I wanted to house them as hosts as you do here in Valon, my Lord. I detest humans so. Luck shined on me; Rue Volley showed up… But before we could collect her, those traitors came and killed my friends,” Bailey said to him.
“Go on,” Caine said to him.
“My Lord, Jonah returned and stripped me of my position. He cast me out.”
“And you seek vengeance now?” Caine asked him.
“Yes, but there is more. After we were cast out of our home we wandered, feeding like dogs. Rumors rose up amongst rogues who roam free. That Rue Volley had returned, with her mate and his siblings… and also your son. They plot against you, my Lord, and Valon,” he said.
Caine tilted his head at him.
“Joshua Barrington is dying a slow death at my hand. The others will suffer the same fate,” Caine said to him.
“So you know of their survival then, my Lord?” he asked him.
“I am aware of everything,” Caine replied.
“Then you know that Calvary has burned. Not destroyed completely, my Lord, but damaged just the same.”
Caine flashed to them both and stared into his face.
“Calvary has burned, you say?” Caine asked him.
“Yes, we all thought it was you, my Lord, who sent the guards to burn the town. We thought it was a sign that you wanted to raise an army, to defeat those who have strayed from what we are.”
Caine looked at him and then at the girl. He touched her face and she grinned at him.
“I would love to take credit for Calvary, but I would guess that it was my Mother’s doing.”
“Then perhaps it is your Mother I seek then,” Bailey said, as he looked at Caine.
Caine slammed his fist against Bailey’s chest and he flew backward, sliding across the floor.
“You will do no such thing,” Caine said, as he clinched his fist.
Bailey grabbed at his chest and rubbed it. Mia stared at him and then turned back to Caine.
“We are at your mercy,” Mia said, as she lowered to the ground.
Caine looked down at her and grinned.
“As it should be,” he said calmly.
Caine looked at Bailey and grinned.
“You go back to your rogues. Tell them that it was a sign of the power that comes from Valon’s new Lord. When the time comes, I will seek you out. Build an army, prepare for a new era. One of which will open its arms wide to the rogues who wander the earth. I will take them under my wing and call them my own. Go now, you will have safe passage from Valon. I will find you when needed,” Caine said to him.
Mia rose and ran to Bailey. She grabbed his hand and helped him stand.
“Thank you, my Lord,” Bailey said, as he bowed to him.
“Go back to Jonah and Lily; convince them that you want to join their cause.”
Bailey grinned and they both turned to run to the doors.
The doors opened and guards stood there with blades drawn.
Caine looked at the guards and raised his hand to them.
“Show them to the gates; make sure that they have safe passage,” Caine said.
The guards lowered their blades and looked at Bailey and Mia.
Bailey looked back and smiled at Caine.
“I will make you proud, my Lord.”
“Wait,” Caine said, as Bailey and Mia turned back to him.
“Did you run the ticket booth?” Caine asked him.
Bailey nodded to him.
Caine laughed loudly. He turned from him.
“Sometimes the weak do rise,” he said, as the doors closed, and stepped back up onto the platform and looked up at the skylight.
***
Sophia walked quickly to the center square. All humans gathered there as to her will. She must get this uprising under control quickly, to avoid any more distractions. She moved up to the platform, in front of the fountain, and turned to look out at all the faces. Her stomach growled as she smelled the collection of blood.
She smiled and raised her hands to all of them and the murmur died among them. She took a breath and grinned as she scanned the crowd. Hundreds had gathered, none missing. Guards started to surround them all, as she had instructed them to do. Just as a precautionary step towards keeping them under control. She relaxed her hands and took another breath as she looked towards the sky.
“As you all know, a rumor has risen among you. A rumor that is easily dismissed as folly,” she said.
Someone cried out in crowd at her.
“Hope!”
She looked at the crowd quickly and could not figure out who had spoken out of turn.
A murmur arose and she raised her hands again to calm them all.
“Yes… I have heard of this hope… this book that has obviously circulated. It is a book of lies, for we are the hope to you. We offer long life and a home in memory at the end of it,” she said.
A man stepped up towards the platform and looked up at her.
“Memory is not a place for man or woman… or child for that matter. It is not what we seek,” he said to her.
Sophia sighed and held her hand out to him. He stepped back from her and looked nervous.
“Do not fear me, for I am the light you seek. I have been, as Valon has been, for millions of years,” she said.
The man shook his head and looked back at the crowd.
“We do not need to live here as slaves to their will. It is a mirage… remember the stories that have escaped that tower of death,” the man yelled, as he pointed to the council building that rose high in the sky.
Sophia looked up at it and then back at the man.
“Lies… deception. I fear that you have been led in the wrong direction, child,” Sophia said.
The man turned back to her and gritted his teeth.
“You took my child, into that tower… and she has never returned to me. My wife cries for her from heartache. Tell me of what hope that has brought to my family?” the man yelled to her.
Sophia raised her hands to the crowd as it started to rise in a murmur.
“I would ask that you all understand your place here. Protectors have been on this earth before you, and will be long after you leave its bosom. You can choose an oasis such as this, or you can accept death,” Sophia said.
The crowd stared at her, some fearful, but the anger rose… Obviously the book had infected far more than she knew of. She took a breath and lowered her head.
“We ask for freedom, to live our days out... outside of these walls, far from your will and that of this city,” the man yelled, as he raised his fist in the air.
Sophia looked up at all of them, as her eyes started to swirl in color.
“You ask for death,” she whispered.
A girl close to the platform looked up at Sophia and stepped closer to her.
“We ask for freedom,” she said to Sophia.
Sophia looked down at her and grabbed her by the neck. She raised her up to the platform and turned to hold her up in front of the crowd. The girl’s parents stepped forward and guards surrounded Sophia and the girl, dangling from her hand on the platform.
“You hear me now. I will not listen to this blasphemy, accept your place or accept this.”