Terminus Project: Mars (Dystopian Child Prodigy SciFi)

by Casey Herzog

  “You can’t possibly believe for one second we are going to do anything you say.” I didn’t know Mr. Coleman was one of the Elders, but it certainly made sense by his reaction to what my father had done. “Your father would be ashamed of you. Stand down and recognize the Elders. What are you doing?” The power inside me made it feel so real. I reached out and touched him with the same flame, burning in front of the two remaining Elders.

  “This leaves you with an interesting dilemma. Join them or think for yourself for a change. Surely, one of you has a desire to live past this moment. There has to be something of self-preservation lingering within. I have decided only one of you will survive long enough to spread my message. I will allow you to determine which one falls and which one still stands.” It was a horrible thing to ask of them, but I wasn’t all that surprised to see them fighting between themselves.

  Elder Thomas and Elder Richards were beating the holy hell out of one another. It was quite entertaining to be responsible for my own personal display of violence. It was like a drug. I sat and watched to see who was going to win out in the end.

  “You’re going to die.” There was no loyalty amongst thieves, which was exactly what the Elders were in my opinion. They had taken possession of something sacred and turned it into something ugly. “I don’t care! My need to breathe is stronger than my friendship with you.” They were strong words indeed, but they were showing how far they had fallen.

  “I hope you haven’t forgotten about me, Elder Thomas. I’m not just going to allow you to kill me without putting up some kind of fight. I’m usually a pacifist, but the survival instinct is in me too.” Elder Richards, with his flaming red hair, was now pounding Elder Thomas into the table where the charred remains of the others were a painful reminder of their future.

  I slid across the table moving within the energy of my own power. Up close and personal, I watched the light extinguish out of the eyes of Elder Thomas. He was rendered unconscious, but Elder Richards did not stop there. He continued to pound his head into the table over and over again until the blood spread out around him in a grotesque halo.

  Elder Richards, realizing what he had done, broke down in tears with his hands over his eyes. He was disgusted by his behavior, but he was the only one. I’d loved seeing them fight and I only wished I’d thought about this before I went ahead and killed the other two.

  “I have done what you asked and I will burn for all eternity for taking his life. Tell me what you want me to do, and it will be done.” His defeat was my drug; the aroma of fear in the air intoxicated me.

  “That was a lot of fun, but I think we need to get down to business. You will go to the outlying areas and spread the word of the power. Let them know their lives are in my hand. I want them to think of ways to appease me. I am a god and I deserve their undying gratitude. Tell them to come to me with gifts. I will know if they haven’t done their best. The truthful will live in my kingdom while the others will taste what you have seen here today. If I suspect you are working against me, I will deal with you accordingly.” It felt like I could reach out and take what I wanted.

  Magic was drawn to me and it was coming from everywhere. I was draining the world and there was no need for a revolution. I had overthrown the Elder government. It was so much better to be the power than to fight against it.

  “Don’t you understand what has happened? You have become the one thing you have abhorred all of your life. You were the one fighting against this. William was weak and we saw through him from the moment he stepped into speak to us in private. You don’t have to look at me like that. I’m leaving you some hope. You need to remember what you stand for. The Elders might be no more, but at least we were somewhat fair in our judgment. Can you really say the same thing about your actions, or are you just deluding yourself?” He scurried out the door like his pants were on fire; it was interesting thought that I would entertain later.

  I heard the screams; taking the magic was a painful process. They would feel empty, like a part of them was missing. They would wake up to learn of a new world order to which they were going to have to conform or face the consequences.

  Why be a leader to the little people, when I could be a queen. That really did have a nice ring to it. I was going to have to get somebody to make me a crown and surround myself with yes men willing to bend to my will. The world was changing, but there were still those in a phased existence. They needed to be dealt with. A small spark illuminated between my fingers. I was going to send it into the phased existence.

  I had the spark between my two fingers, looking at it closely. I was more than ready to destroy everything my father had built. I had lived in my father’s shadow for too long. It was about time for me to step out and do my own thing. He would never condone what I was doing, but he wasn’t here to make any kind of argument to the contrary.

  I stepped out of the door. I looked at the rehabilitation center and knew it had to go. The spark I had between my fingertips determined the fate of existence, but I could always make another. I sent the spark flying into the air. It twisted and turned and came to rest through an open window in the rehabilitation center.

  The explosion was deafening, and I could see those in management positions had felt the change in the air. They had vacated the building. That they were spared was disappointing, to say the least.

  I thought of the moment where I wanted to free them from their prison. It seemed like a lifetime ago, and not one that I wanted to repeat anytime soon. I was naïve to think many voices should be heard, when it was better to squash resistance before it had a chance to become anything more than a whisper of dissension.

  The flames burned high into the sky as the public coming forward with looks of stunned surprise on their faces.

  “This is what you wanted. I can see into your minds; most are grateful and happy to see this place burn to the ground. You have me to thank for that. I am no longer Gillian. I’m the power. You are advised to show me the respect of my ruling position.” I used to recognize myself. It was funny how things could change.

  Out of the crowd came the children, and Damien was not the only one leading. William was with them. Any feelings I had were superficial and buried deep down where they wouldn’t see the light of day. The man stepping out between them was more of a surprise. My father was alive.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  I couldn’t believe my eyes. His presence seemed more like a mirage than anything else. He stepped forward out of the crowd in Biblical fashion, like he was parting the red sea. I watched him skeptically, wondering if this was some sort of trick to lure me into submission.

  “I know this is quite a shock, but I need you to listen to me, Gillian. I was foolish to think what I was doing was not going to be noticed by the Elders. Imagine my surprise when the hunter turned out to be Jasper of all people. I thought he came out of hiding to help me bring magic back to where it belongs.”

  Everybody had stopped what they were doing, allowing my father and his daughter to have this reunion.

  “You don’t know what losing you did to me. I thought, mistakenly, I was a disappointment to you. I had no idea what you were doing to secure our future, but it doesn’t matter now. The only thing I care about is power. You have no idea what this feels like; not even you are going to take it away for me.” The magic eyes were feeding off the darkness and it was surrounding me like a warm blanket on a winter’s night.

  “I don’t know what you want me to say. The only way to figure out how to stop this was to make sure they weren’t able to come looking for me. It meant you had to believe I was dead. You have no idea how much that tore me up inside.” He looked like he had aged 20-years with a full grown of beard in black and white.

  “Your message about equality was loud and clear. Everyone should have magic. I thought for a moment there was only one way, but I was out of my mind to think peace is possible. The only thing anybody understands is violence. They shy away from it and run lik
e scalded dogs. There is no room for a peaceful reconciliation.” I was hearing the words, but they sounded foreign to my lips.

  “You are better than this. You have always been the light to my darkness. There were times I felt like I was fighting a losing battle, but I only had to stop by your bedroom to see what I was fighting for.” I felt a momentary lapse when the power shifted for a brief second before I was able to grab onto it all over again.

  “It’s been too much without you. I’m still not sure what I’m seeing is real. You haven’t even explained how it is you can be alive after the hunter came for you. By your own admission, you said you had no idea who the hunter was until he emerged. Just when I thought I was getting myself back together again, thoughts of you would creep in and make me see the daunting task in front of me.” I looked past him and I could see William with an impassioned plea in his eyes.

  “He hurt me severely, and I was literally at death’s door. I thought I was done for, but I saw something inside myself. At the last possible second, I was able to make myself disappear within the phased existence. I learned that from watching Damien. It was the only way for me to have enough time to heal without the hunter coming to end me.”

  I was grateful to see him alive, but I was also angry that he left me to fend for myself. “This world does not deserve any kind of compassion. They hide and instead of fighting. They let the Elders run roughshod over them. I am vastly disappointed resulting in a painful conclusion. The Elders were a scourge on society, but I can be more than that. With me in charge, I can bring back a sense of normalcy.” I was kidding myself into thinking power was the answer, but it was the only thing that made any sense.

  “You need to know nothing comes close to the love a parent has for a child. Everything about you is unforgettable. You need to do the right thing and surrender the power to me. The darkness and the magic eyes are not able to coexist without one corrupting the other. The darkness is in all of us, but we need to find the light to step out into the open.” They were just platitudes. He was lucky I didn’t do more than stare him down with defiance.

  “This world needs me to keep it on track. The one thing the Elders had right was that magic should never be given freely. Not everybody deserves to be treated equally. I had a grand plan, but it doesn’t seem necessary to even mention it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you’re alive, but maybe it would’ve been better for you to stay dead.” They were harsh words coming from a daughter who felt betrayed in the worst way possible.

  “I know it’s only the magic talking and not my daughter. Let her go and I will gladly take her place. Sacrificing oneself for a child is the greatest gift any parent can give. I’ve hurt you and I want to make it up to you by giving you back your life.” I couldn’t believe he was trying to trick me into giving him the power. He wanted to wield it himself. That didn’t sound like my father; it felt like somebody was whispering words of dissension into my ears.

  “I can see right through you. There’s no way I’m going to give you anything close to the power I have. Why would anybody give this up when it feels so good to be in control of everything? I’m in touch with nature itself; I can mold this world into an image of utopia or hell. It’s entirely up to me. You would be amazed at how easy it is to see the world as a thin thread, if pulled, ready to unravel.” The power of darkness and the magic eyes were showing me the way to salvation was dominance over an enemy.

  “I’ve tried to play nice, but I’m through acting like a concerned parent. I’m telling you to give me the power and stop acting like a petulant child. You had some bad breaks, but who hasn’t? It’s what you do to stand up after being knocked down that gives you the character to continue. You can’t handle the power rising within you, and it’s only going to get worse over time. Right now you are at a crossroads and it’s up to you to make the right decision about which path to take.” I could feel he was trying to set me free, but I didn’t want to let it go. He would find out just what his daughter was made of.

  “Don’t stand in my way or that will be the final thing you do before I finally hammer the last nail into your coffin. I don’t need your help; you never loved me. It was only after you were gone that I finally learned why you were distancing yourself from me. It didn’t feel good, and I deeply resent the way you treated me after mother died. You made me think it was something I did to turn you away from me.” The power was still there, but it was waning with my words of anguish over my mother’s death.

  “I never wanted to make you feel like your mother was the only thing keeping us together. After she was gone, I found myself on a crusade to make those responsible pay. My grief blinded me to your pleas of help. I will never forgive myself for pushing you to embrace dark magic. Come back to me before it’s too late. I don’t want to lose a daughter after everything I have been through.” He sounded sincere and I reached out until I saw something that changed everything.

  “I know what you’re trying to do, and it’s not going to work. Take the love you claim to have for me and give it to somebody else. I’m not buying this act for one minute. You’ve been talking to me as a stall tactic to let them get past my defenses. Let me show you what happens when you mess with the natural order of things.” I reached out with my mind, and made those against me scream with pain.

  Those uniting in a cerebral tactical advantage fell to their knees with their heads on fire. I’d never been this nasty, but I could tell this was all just a contest of wills. I meant to do them harm, and their pain solidified what I considered to be my greatest achievement.

  “Stop this or there won’t be anything left of you to save. They were following my orders. If you need to hurt somebody, then hurt me.”

  I felt the best way to hurt him was to make others pay for his actions against me. I could keep this up forever, and their eternal pain would drive them to the brink of insanity. It was never ending, and the only relief was going to be a swift and meaningless death.

  “If I wanted you dead, you already would be, but this is so much better. You can watch my victims screaming in terror and wonder how long they’re going to have to endure it. Don’t you see how foolish it was for you to think you had a chance against me? I will gladly send you to your own personal hell, knowing these people suffer because of you. They will never know a moment of peace. You will have to carry that on your heart.” His misery was my company and the sensation was indescribable. I had nothing to compare it to, but it certainly gave me a rush of euphoria from the top of my head all the way down to my toes.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “I’m through trying to reason with you. I’ve been ready to fight fire with fire, but I was hoping it wasn’t going to come to that. Let this be a lesson that sometimes it’s better to bow down to wisdom.”

  I had no idea what he was getting at until he produced a strong force that knocked me back a couple of feet. It burned like somebody was sticking my hand into a boiling pot of water.

  “If that is all you have, then you have already lost before you even lifted a finger. What I did to the others will feel like the prick of a pin. If you don’t believe me, then let me show you how things could be far worse.” He grabbed his head and fell to the ground, screaming in the very same way the others were.

  I reveled in their misery, hearing their cries for help and knowing nobody was going to be able to come to their rescue. They tried to sneak past my defenses while my father kept me busy. It almost worked, but I was able to detect what they were up to before they were able to do any real damage.

  William and Professor Bethesda stepped forward and raised their hands for me to listen. I thought it was amusing and decided to give them enough rope to hang themselves with.

  “This isn’t who you are, Gillian. You don’t have to walk down this lonely path. You know how I feel about you, and that’s never going to change. I don’t care how destructive you can be. I know what is simmering underneath, waiting for someone to come along and remind you. I was wrong t
o think I could play both sides, and you were the one who taught me to love something more than my own life.”

  I listened, and something was getting through to me, but it wasn’t enough to let go of the power. The power’s grip on me was strong.

  “I’m going to give you a gift. The illness the Elders gave you is no longer going to hold you hostage.” I was able to reform his molecules and adjust his DNA to expel the sickness from his body. I knew there was no cure. The Elders were masking his symptoms by the drugs they were giving him. This was a solution, not some band aid to keep him compliant.

  “I don’t know why you would even consider giving me this gift after everything I put you through. I wasn’t lying when I told you I love you. You gave me the strength to stand up against the Elders. I am grateful for what you’re doing, but it comes at too high a price. You’re only doing it to appease me.”

  I was listening intently, but he was a tiny insect with no real power to speak of.

  “Gillian, you spoke to me in private about what you were going to do. I thought you were taking a huge risk, but now I understand with great risk comes great reward. It’s something we stress in the students, and I want to make it clear we’ve always been on your side. There is a way out, and you know what it is. Don’t let what is happening to you make you forget who you are deep down inside.”

  They were ganging up on me, but it didn’t feel like they were fighting because they were afraid of me. They cared for me in their own misguided way.

  There was nothing there for the darkness to enhance into something ugly. The only thing that came to mind was William’s willingness to be used as a patsy. I didn’t blame him for wanting to live and deciding to do whatever it took to make him well again. Fortunately, he didn’t have to worry about that anymore.

  “I remember what I said to you, but I’m not sure it plays into this. These people look at me like I’m a thief, taking something more than any woman should have. Girls have not been given what they deserve, and I want to change that.” I was about to give every female a dose of what they were missing. It was only when William and Professor Bethesda joined forces with my father that I saw something missing from the way I was thinking.