Divided

by Madeline Dyer

  I turn and—

  I am in a hut.

  A hut.

  I’m in a hut.

  Not my cell. It’s—

  Gone.

  No. It’s a…not a hut. It’s a…it’s like a tent. A chum. Fabric walls. I stare at them for a second, then turn and see the rest of the…the hides that are stretched over the poles and—and bones? I turn and look around me. There is a small hearth in the middle, but it looks cold. I look up. The hides stop about six inches from the top of the wooden frame above me, and I can see the poles bound together, and broken fragments of a white sky. There’s a fold-up chair to my right, and I grab onto its back, feel dizzy. My knees shake and—

  And I see myself in a mirror. A shard of mirror, propped on a box on the other side of the tent, against one of the wooden poles that make up the chum’s structure.

  Adrenaline tingles through me, and I look at the girl in the mirror.

  Look at her round, pink face, and the rosiness in her cheeks. Her eyes are two dark beads that look nearly black in this light. She looks shocked as she stares at me. Her fur-lined hood encases her head, and—

  And the door behind her is open. The world is white out there.

  I shake my head, confused—and the girl in the mirror shakes her head and—

  I swear, feel my heart rate rocket.

  No. No. No.

  And then I’m moving toward the mirror, then away from it, looking around the hut, panicking, my head pounding, trying to see her—the girl—trying to see where she is and—

  I crash into the side of the chum, feel the stretched hide give a little with my weight, and then I’m thrown back. I pause, breathing hard. Look up into the mirror again.

  My breath hitches in my throat.

  I’m in someone else’s body.

  My lips start to move, but no sound comes out.

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  Someone else’s body… What the f—

  I swear loudly.

  It’s like that dream but…but this is real. That was real? With Corin?

  Oh Gods.

  My chest rises and falls too quickly. Can’t breathe, can’t gulp in enough air, can’t—

  And that Zharat man’s body… I was in him too…and….

  And you got out of them both.

  Oh Gods.

  I turn again, feel how much smaller this body is than my own. I breathe in deeply; this girl’s throat is rawer than mine. I sniff loudly, then shake myself hard. With Corin and the Zharat—if this was what happened—it lasted, what, seconds? And they weren’t hallucinations? Weren’t because I was sick from the augmenters?

  I squeeze my eyes tightly shut. I tell myself that when I open them, it’ll be okay. That this is just a glitch, and it won’t last. That I’ll be back in my cell—and I’ve never wanted to be there so much as I do right now.

  But before I even open my eyes again, I know nothing’s changed. The air here smells different.

  Somehow, I’ve been swapping bodies.

  And, this time, I’m trapped.

  I stand stock-still and wait for whatever wrongness has happened to correct itself. I keep waiting, giving the Gods and Goddesses and spirits more time. Because they have to…this is a bad spirit? Messing with me? Forcing me into another person’s body?

  Like…like what Raleigh did with me? When he had my eyes? Was this what was happening to him?

  Oh Gods. My stomach twists, and I feel sick. This is…this is invasion—and I’m doing it. I’m like Raleigh. The waves inside me build up, stronger and stronger, rocking faster and faster. Anger at Raleigh’s violation of privacy pulls through me…and I’m doing it. I’m doing it to a girl I don’t even know.

  I’m just as bad as him.

  Oh Gods.

  Except I didn’t mean to. I didn’t do this! When Raleigh did it, it was intentional.

  I bring a shaky hand up to my forehead, feel my shoulders curl forward. And I wait. I start counting, because my mother always said that when you’re nervous, you should count. Count the seconds, because then you know that you’re surviving—that you’re alive and…and I get to twenty, and then tears hover in my eyes. The girl’s eyes.

  And this body—this…it…it’s real. It feels like a body I’m really in. Not a fleeting image, a dream, a weird hallucination like before. This is different, stronger.

  And I know it’s real.

  My Seer powers tell me it’s very real.

  I feel something digging in, right round my waist. The girl’s waist. A belt? I look down, stare at the fur coat, adorned with leather. The different shades of orange and brown and beige.

  The door of the chum is still open, and the air blowing in is cold and carries white flakes with it. Snow. A strange sense of wonder floats through me. I look at the sleeves of the coat I’m wearing. But the white specks that were on it have gone. The fur is wet, and I lift my arm to my face, wipe the fur against my cheek and—

  I jump when I feel it, feel the coldness, like I hadn’t expected to and—

  Four chairs. There are four chairs in here. Four people live here. People other than this girl I’ve become and—

  What if I’m permanently her now?

  I push that thought away and get to the door quickly, but my body feels strange—heavier. I look at the world outside. Flat. White. Gray. Stubby trees, stilted growth. The fur of the hood tickles my forehead. I stare at the sky. Slightly blue. But mainly gray-white, especially up high. Looks thick, heavy, like it’s going to fall down.

  Outside, everything is calm. So calm. The ground is covered in a white blanket.

  Then I lift my hand—her hand. I stare at her gloves. Purple. Some kind of thick wool.

  I’m moving. I’m controlling her. I’m in charge. My head tingles. It’s not like it was with Corin—if that was real…was this…he was in charge then….

  And I’m controlling this girl, I’m moving her limbs. But where is she—her soul? Is she still in here too? Scared? Confused? Have I squashed her?

  “It’s all right,” I try to tell her, but my words come out in a high-pitched, shaky tone. Her voice. I nearly jump.

  Oh Gods.

  It’s all right. My words float back to me. But it’s not all right! Panic rises in me, and I try to squash it down, but then I’m running, running outside, and there’s a hammering in my chest. I run through the snow, turning, and I see another hut, and—and big animals. Like…like big, stocky antelopes, but furry and with chunkier heads and huge antlers that aren’t straight, but are like trees. The animals watch me. Ten of them. They don’t run. They’re used to people?

  My vision blurs a little, then I see there are more of them behind the first lot. I narrow my eyes, counting more and more. A whole herd of these animals?

  Pain pushes on the back of my neck. It’s bitter out here—and I’m acutely aware of just how cold I am. My feet are like blocks of ice in the thick boots—and the boots are so small. I stare at them, fascinated by them even more than the animals that aren’t running away. This girl’s feet are tiny. Then I stretch up, stretch my arms out. I’m small. No, the girl’s small.

  I turn and look around. I’m thinking too hard. I take in my surroundings. One more chum. Made like the other one: hides stretched over wooden poles, making a circular shape. A little smoke rises from the top of the second chum.

  Behind, the land is white. Snow.

  The Frozen Lands.

  It has to be. But I never thought they existed. Not really. Not when all I knew for years and years was the desert and sand and dust and rocks.

  And now I’m in the Frozen Lands.

  I’m in someone else’s body in the Frozen Lands.

  Oh Gods. I’m far, far away. This—isn’t the same continent. This is….

  I shake my head slowly, bewildered, feel all the muscles in my face slacken.

  Behind all the whiteness, the sky looks like it’s starting to darken. I try to think what the time is. Late afternoon? Is it the same time here?
I pause, hold my breath, don’t know why. It gets darker earlier the farther north you are. I know that. And the Frozen Lands are in the north and—

  “Viktoriya!”

  The voice roars out, and, startled, I see two women standing at the entrance of the other chum. One of them is a foot taller than the other, and both are bundled up against the cold weather. Like I am. Except they’re not wearing gloves.

  They start shouting at me—it must be at me.

  I hurry toward them—they’re Untamed! They’ll help me.

  My heart pounds, laughing at me. But what do I say? Will they know what’s happened?

  “What are you doin’?” the tallest one yells at me.

  I squint as I stare at her.

  Her eyes are younger than the other one. She takes in my appearance; for a second, her eyes widen, and she knows. I’m sure.

  “Thank the Gods!” I cry, but the voice doesn’t sound like me, and it feels like another kick to the gut. “You’ve got to help me!”

  She grabs a fistful of my fur coat and pulls me into the other chum. I stumble, smell smoke, and—

  I look to the corner, see a fire burning in the grate. Its flames entrance me.

  “What are you doin’? Huh? Viktoriya? Thought you would go out after them, did you?”

  “You can’t go after them, Viktoriya,” the other woman says—the rounder, shorter one. She grips my arm, like an eagle catching its prey, and I flinch, stare at her.

  “Girl? Spirit got your tongue?”

  I look at the two of them. They push their hoods back. Both have the same eyes—maybe mother and daughter?

  “I—I’m a Seer…” I struggle to get my words out. “I’m… I just… I need your help—”

  The two women burst out laughing.

  The younger one flicks her head from side to side, freeing long black plaits of hair. “Hear that, Dominika?”

  “Aye, I heard that all right,” Dominika says. “I told you she weren’t right—right from the day she was born, I told you. And right from—”

  I step closer, feeling stronger now. “No, you have to listen. I just found myself in this body—I’m a Seer. This is… I don’t know what the hell is going on. But I—”

  “Ha, Marina, look at her.” Dominika snorts loudly. “Look at the lass, believing she’s—”

  “What’s that?”

  The low rumbling voice jolts through me, and I look up, see a man partially hidden behind the small stove in the center of the chum. Don’t know how I didn’t notice him before. I crane my neck. He’s old. Very old. Hunched over in his seat, his gnarled and twisted body is nearly completely hidden by the many furs draped over and wrapped around him. His face is pink—ruddy—as if blood vessels have broken in several places, but his eyebrows are strangely vigorous. Dark and black—like his eyes. His nose is long, wide, and the skin around his mouth looks chapped, bitten by frost. A few wiry-looking hairs have sprouted from his chin, and they stick out at strange angles.

  “Nothin’, Taras. Just Viktoriya bein’ silly,” Marina says, and she turns back, glares at me. “Just her lookin’ for attention. As if we haven’t already got enough to worry about.” She turns toward the closed door, then pulls her parka closer. “There’re not comin’ back, are they? I told them not to go lookin’ for them! I told them we’d got away—and we can’t wait much longer, we’ve got to move the reindeer on to the woods—there’s nothing here for them to eat and—”

  “They’ll be back,” Dominika says. “Your husband is strong.”

  I stare at them, my eyes getting wider and wider. My vision gazes over.

  “But Vasily saw the mirror men—”

  “And your husband speared fourteen before, did he not? Vasily saw only two mirror men. He can take them out easily. And his brothers are with him.”

  “But so are the children. And it’s been too long. They should be back by now.”

  I try again, interrupting Dominika. I lift my gloved hands up, stare at them. “Look, I’m not Viktoriya—my name’s Seven. I’m a Seer, caught by the Enhanced—but we reacted to augmenters and we’re still Untamed. But they’ve got us all trapped and…and you can help?” I stare at them. Can they help? No. This is…we’re too far away. “I just…found myself in this girl’s body and—”

  It sounds ridiculous. My chest stutters.

  The old man, Taras, watches me eagerly.

  Dominika and Marina look at me sternly. The older woman shakes her head, then smacks her lips.

  “Get her out of here. The evil spirits be gettin’ her.”

  Marina nods. “Viktoriya always was weak in the mind.”

  She speaks as if I’m not here—as if Viktoriya isn’t here… But is she? If I’m in Viktoriya’s body, is Viktoriya in mine, back at New Kitembu? My head pounds. Is she scared? Alone? And—and what if the Enhanced come back for me when she’s there and—oh Gods!

  Marina picks up a wooden spoon and points it at me. “Effects of that Turning she was left out in as a babe. Go on, child. Get back to our chum. I’ll be there shortly.”

  Pain shoots up the inside of my leg as I shift my weight.

  “No. You have to listen—you have to believe me. I—I need your help. I don’t understand this!”

  “Get out. You think we haven’t got enough to worry about with Vasily and the others out there after the mirror men? You think you can make up some stories, make this about you?”

  I shake my head. “No. Look, please listen. I’m Seven Sarr. I’ve been captured and—”

  “Get out!”

  And I retreat out into the white land outside, feel something break in my chest, feel my tears make tracks down my face.

  What if I’m here forever now? Millions of miles away from Corin and—and what if he goes back to New Kitembu? What if he rescues the girl who’s in my body and falls in love with her?

  I stare numbly into the snow.

  “Oi!”

  The shout is gruff, and I jump and turn to see Taras—the old man—striding after me. He moves surprisingly quickly, and it only takes a few seconds until he’s by my side.

  He’s short—very short, like Dominika.

  Then he walks past me, beckons me back with gnarled fingers. He hasn’t got gloves on.

  “Child, I believe you. First proper time, eh, leaping bodies? Come on. This way. We haven’t got long.”

  Taras leads me away, around the herd of animals—reindeer, that was what one of the women called them—and then I see another chum, one I hadn’t noticed before. A smaller one. Its hides are white, and it nearly blends in with the landscape, except for the exposed dark wooden frame right at the top.

  He points at it. “We’ll go in there.”

  I nod and take in the surroundings again. Snow and a few more snow-covered trees in this area. And the land isn’t as flat as I thought it was, spilling down into a shallow valley to the right. I see a frozen lake.

  “What’s going on?” I ask, turning back to the old man.

  He shakes his head. “No more talking until we’re inside, child. Spirits are out here, listening. And you never can tell with spirits whether they’re helping or not. Poor souls, but they’ve made it hard for us. Brought the snow much earlier than it should be.”

  We walk across the compacted snow to the hut. Coldness seeps into my feet—into Viktoriya’s feet, and, again, I wonder where she is and whether it’s permanent. My hands tremble.

  Taras holds open the hide door of the hut for me. I step inside. The air is sharp, strangely fresh, but warm. Taras lights a candle, then sets it on a stand in the middle of the hut. It’s one room. Wash-pans in one corner, two chairs in the other, and—

  And bones fill this hut.

  They’re everywhere. Little fragments, carved into figures. I see little whales and walruses. Is there ivory too? I squint and see some pieces shaped as the same furry beasts outside.

  “This is the Tareskl Peninsula,” Taras says. “Farthest north you can get on the mainland, wh
ere, in a few moon cycles, we’ll have only darkness. And this is the Divine Chum.”

  I look at him carefully. The farthest north you can get? But instead, I say, “Divine?”

  “For praying to the Gods and Goddesses.” He gestures for me to sit down, and he takes the nearest chair. “Now we are here, we can talk Seer business.”

  “You’re a Seer?” I sit down hurriedly, and as soon as I’ve said the words, I know that he is. Now, I can feel it. Don’t know how I didn’t realize before. But detecting Seers seems to be erratic—for me, at least. Maybe for others? I didn’t realize Jed or Raleigh were Seers when I first met them.

  Taras nods; his eyes are haunted. And they bore into me. Not just into Viktoriya’s eyes—but into mine. Into my soul.

  “You—you can see me? You know I’m not Viktoriya?”

  “Of course. You speak differently—different syntax, way of holding yourself. She slouches, you don’t.” His eyes are sad. “And what is your message, child? What danger is Viktoriya in?”

  I stare at him. “I—I… What?”

  “Viktoriya—and my group—we are in danger. Tell me, child. Tell me what you’re been shown.”

  I stare back at him. “You think I’ve seen something?”

  “You must’ve. Marta’s stories say so.”

  “What?” I look around. “Who’s Marta?”

  “The first Keeper of Lore. Now, tell me the message. You’ve flattened Viktoriya so you cannot tell her. Tell me.”

  “Flattened?”

  “Yes, child.” He sounds exasperated. “Different levels of dominance. Rather than co-existing and communicating, or hiding in the body undetected, you have completely dominated and flattened your host: my granddaughter. She’s in sleeping mode. You’ve taken control.”

  My eyes widen. I open my mouth, but I just…I stare at him. “There are two of us in this body? She’s…she’s still in here?”

  The light in his eyes changes. “You don’t know, do you, child? You’re new. But there’s no doubt you’re one of them. A powerful Seer who can walk into the mind of the one she’s closest to. You’re a body-sharer, child.”

  I stare at him.