Bright Obscurity
Page 19
As the last human left the train, the door shut behind them. Everyone sat back down in their chairs, including Mal and Thea. From what Mal could see, there were still about five people on the train. Everyone was quiet, all of them waiting for something. Mal didn’t know what it was, and that made her uneasy. Thea suddenly grabbed her hand and stood up, dragging her to the front of the train so they could see through the front windows.
“What is it?” Mal asked nervously.
Thea smiled. “This is the first time you’re seeing this, right? I thought it would be nice if you got a front-row view.”
Mal peered down at the end of the tracks, at the wall that the buffers were connected to. It was just an ordinary wall. Nothing was happening.
She was just about to relay this to Thea when suddenly, silently, the wall started moving. Slowly, it rose, with the buffers still attached, swinging inwards so that it lay flat against the roof of the tunnel it had exposed. Mal peered down into the tunnel. Without any lights to illuminate it, it was pitch black. It seemed to slope downwards, right into the heart of the earth. The train started moving again, travelling down into the tunnel. Mal looked behind them and saw that as the last carriage swept into the tunnel the wall moved again, closing behind them.
As soon as the door shut, the gentle old lady that Mal had noticed fussing with her purse before sighed. “Finally!” she said in relief. She put one hand up and ran it through her hair a couple of times before she seemed to grip something in the centre of her head. Smiling, she brought her hand down, and her very skin spilt in half, like a zipper. The skin and clothes simply fell apart, revealing a large black demon, white shiny teeth bared.
“Don’t the humans ever notice this?” Mal asked in wonderment. If she’d learnt anything during her experiences so far it was that humans are incredibly unobservant of the world around them, but surely even they’d notice an entire
Thea paused for a moment, deep in thought. “Humans have a strange way of dismissing strange or unnatural things, things that interfere with their perception of reality. I guess it makes life easier, but it certainly doesn’t make it any more interesting.”
Both girls were quiet for the rest of the train journey down the long dark tunnel, completely lost in their own thoughts. Finally, the train pulled into a station identical to the human one, except this one was full of magic beings who were all using their magic, and it was underground. Mal and Thea got off the train with the others, Mal looking around her in amazement.
“What is this place?” Mal asked.
Thea smiled at Mal. “It’s called the Hub. From here, you can go to any magic location that has a portal.”
Mal looked around and noticed that along the walls there were huge swirling portals of god knows what, all of them different colours and constantly spinning. People were being ushered through them by officials wearing brightly coloured uniforms.
“Hello!” said a red-haired man, coming over to stand next to them. He was wearing the wide, bright-eyed smile usually appropriated by retail workers to try and hide the internal torment they’re going through as the customer asks them for the hundredth time where something is located. “Can I help you?”
Thea smiled at the man. “Yes, we need to contact the organisation Tenebar.”
The man gestured to the right-hand row of portals. “Certainly,” he said. “This way, please. How urgent is your business with Tenebar?” he asked as they started walking towards the portals.
“Life-or-death,” Thea stated casually. The man nodded sincerely, as if he heard this all the time.
“Well, I hope that everything turns out okay for both of you,” he said, even though the tone of his voice made it perfectly clear that he just didn’t care.
They had arrived at the doorway to a large, swirling portal with golden letters spelling out TENEBAR hanging from the top of the portal. In front of the portal there was a doorway very similar to the one you see at airports to detect if the person is carrying anything metallic. There was a person standing in front of Mal and Thea, about to head through the doors. He was also accompanied by a guide in a uniform. The man’s guard and Mal and Thea’s guard looked at each other directly in the eyes with a look that plainly said help me.
The guard looked away as the person he was helping walked through the gateway to try and pass through the portal. Pretty much as soon as he stepped inside the doorway, the lights on either side flashed bright red, and the man’s face turned to an expression of pure terror. The guard who was flanking him snapped his head round to look directly at the man, and then he started to morph. His skin bubbled and boiled like hot lava as he convulsed before expanding into a large black blob with razor-sharp teeth. No eyes, just large nostrils that flared as he sniffed the air around him. The man who had set the light red screamed in terror and started running. The blob chased after him at a frighteningly fast pace before finally catching up with him and scooping him up with his mouth.
Mal watched in horror as the black blob threw its head back, gulping down its meal like a pelican with a large fish. Once the man had been swallowed whole, the blob licked its lips and grinned before shrinking back down into a meek little man in a green uniform. He turned to face Mal and Thea and bowed. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience,” he said politely. He straightened up, burped, and walked away.
Thea grinned at Mal’s shocked expression. “That’s what happens to people who’re carrying dangerous magic implements. That man was probably trying to bring something dangerous into Tenebar.”
Mal nodded dumbly, still staring after the guard who had eaten the man as he picked up a middle-aged couple at the gates who had just arrived on the last train. Mal cast a nervous glance at their own guard and saw with a dreadful sense of unease that he was looking at the other guard with a mix of admiration and envy. He looked at Mal, caught her looking at him, and grinned. Mal was sure his teeth were sharper than before, and the glint in his eyes was making her anxious. She looked away, wishing she had her dagger.
Thea strode confidently through the doors and the lights on either side flashed green. More nervously, Mal walked through the same doorway, relieved when the lights also blinked green. She looked at the guard triumphantly, and saw that he looked bitterly disappointed at missing out on his meal. Regardless, he smiled at them and waved them through the portal.
“You go first,” Thea said to Mal.
Mal looked around in alarm. “What? No. No way. You go.”
Thea rolled her eyes. “Don’t be stupid. There’s a few seconds of delay between each person who goes through the same portal. What do you think will happen if I show up completely unannounced at Tenebar? They’ll think I’m some kind of intruder, they’ll kill me. But if you’re there to vouch for me, they’ll let me go.”
Mal hesitated, staring into the swirling depths of the portal. “Can’t we go together?” she asked nervously.
Thea rolled her eyes. “What, and risk getting fused together? Hurry up, we’re wasting time.”
Mal sighed and returned to staring at the portal, trying to psyche herself up to launch herself into the swirling abyss. Suddenly, she felt hands at her back and one violent push later she was sent tumbling head first into the portal. She twisted herself around, and the last thing she saw was Thea’s grinning face just before Mal was swallowed up by the portal.
Mal felt like she was a pile of clothes being tossed about in a tumble dryer. Finally, she emerged on the other side of the portal. She tried to land on her feet, but she ended up collapsing in a heap at the feet of a group of guards who were clearly positioned to look after anyone who came out the other side of the portal. There was a moment of silence before one of the guards said “is that her?”
More silence. Then “yeah, I think it is!”
“Holy shit...” said the third guard.
Mal tried to look up, but the world was violently spinning and she was having trouble getting her bearings. Just as she tried to stand up, she was knocked to th
e ground again by Thea.
“Mal!” Thea exclaimed in surprise. “Why didn’t you get out the way of the portal?”
“Get your foot out of my face,” Mal replied groggily, trying to free herself from underneath Thea. Vaguely, she was aware of the three guards moving forwards. Two of them grabbed Thea and hauled her away from Mal, while the third grabbed Mal herself and pulled her to her feet, brushing the dust from her clothes. “Are you okay?” he asked in concern.
Mal nodded stupidly.
“Do we know who this other one is?” one of the other guards asked.
Mal’s guard glanced up at Thea. His expression hardened. “No. Throw her into the dungeons until we can question her properly.”
“Don’t do that! I’m on your side! I helped Mal escape. Mal, tell them!” Thea said.
Mal raised her face to look up at her guard, opened her mouth, and promptly threw up all over his shoes.
Chapter 25
Despite Mal’s brilliant attempt at defending her friend, Thea was led away to the dungeons while one of the other guards took Mal into the hospital wing, his feet squelching in his vomit-splattered shoes. Mal tried not to breathe in too deeply, the smell was almost unbearable. She also avoided eye contact with the guard. As Mal was given a quick check-up by the flustered nurse, one of the other nurses went to tell Blaise that Mal had returned. Once the nurse came back, she had Blaise with her. He strode into the room, and instantly all chatter fell silent. He looked around for a moment before fixing his eyes on Mal. His expression hardened as he paused for a second before starting to walk towards her. It was then that Mal noticed he had Cass with him, scurrying behind his towering frame, peering around to look at Mal with relief on her face.
Mal kept her eyes focused on Blaise. He was clearly furious, but not in the normal way. In the scary, under-the-surface way where his face was a mask carved out of stone, his fists were clenching and you didn’t know when he was going to snap.
Blaise got to Mal’s side and stood by her bed, staring down at her. Defiantly, Mal straightened her spine and raised her head, looking directly into Blaise’s eyes. Suddenly, she felt a stinging pain on the side of her face and she collapsed to her side, the pure force of the slap making her fall back onto her pillow. She looked up at Blaise in alarm. He had hit her.
Cass screamed and moved forward to try and help, but Blaise put an arm in front of her, blocking her way. Cass looked up and opened her mouth to argue, but as soon as she saw the look on Blaise’s face she fell silent. She took a step back, watching helplessly. It absolutely broke Mal’s heart to see Cass like this. She wasn’t sure what had happened during her absence, but whatever it was, Cass had evidently completely submitted to Blaise and his leadership. Mal could see the fear in her eyes.
Mal took a deep breath to steady herself, and then she looked back up at Blaise. She wanted to say something, but didn’t trust herself to speak without her voice cracking from holding back her tears. She and Blaise stared at each other for a few moments. Blaise’s face was a mask of quiet fury and Mal trying to stop hers from showing just how scared and hurt she was. Cass looked between the two, scared and worried. Mal had never seen her look so much like a little girl.
“Stupid girl.” Blaise spat out the words, like a snake releasing its venom. Mal stared back into the cold eyes, devoid of emotion, narrowing as they assessed the prey before them.
Blaise turned to the nurse stationed beside Mal’s bed. The nurse visibly flinched, terrified of him. “How is she?” Blaise snapped.
Flustered, the nurse stammered for a few seconds before saying “she’s okay. After a few days of rest she’ll be back to normal.”
Blaise looked back at Mal. “Is that so...” his voice trailed off, as if he was deep in thought about something.
“She threw up on my shoes,” said the guard, annoyed.
The nurse started laughing, but she stopped as soon as Blaise looked at her and stared meekly at her own shoes instead, but Mal saw that she was struggling to supress a wide grin. Mal glanced towards Blaise and saw that he was staring right at her. The watchful and suspicious look in his eyes briefly turned to shock and surprise when he saw Mal looking back at him before his features hardened. He turned on his heel and walked out of the infirmary, muttering to himself. Cass looked back, reaching out to touch Mal’s arm. Just as her fingers brushed the cotton of Mal’s shirt, Blaise yelled “Cass! Hurry up!” Cass’s hand recoiled from Mal’s sleeve like it had burnt her. She looked at Mal for a second longer before turning and scurrying away after Blaise, the double doors swinging shut behind her.
As instructed by the nurse, Mal stayed confined to her bed. She spent most of her time sleeping or eating, and at first she appreciated it, but within time she grew incredibly bored of the whole routine. Even though the patients around her regularly received visits from concerned friends or family, Mal hadn’t seen any of the people she cared about since arriving back at Tenebar. She started to get worried that her friends had found someone better, or they never really liked her in the first place, or maybe they’d simply forgotten about her. What about Thea? What was happening to her? Mal thought of the terrible dungeons Blaise had taken her to, full of snarling creatures that were barely human, and prayed that Thea wasn’t in there with them. Eventually, her anxiety and boredom morphed into anger, so that when the nurse finally let Mal out of the infirmary she was furious with her so-called “friends”, and that was why, when she heard Rose’s voice calling her name from the crowd as she walked the corridors, she ignored the leap in her heart and kept walking.
Inevitably, Rose caught up with her and placed a firm hand on her shoulder, making Mal stop. “What the hell?” Rose said angrily, spinning Mal around. “I’ve been calling you for ages, and I know you heard me because you started walking faster. What’s going on?”
“You didn’t come visit me in the infirmary,” Mal said. She suddenly realised how childish she sounded, and expected Rose to make fun of her, but Rose surprised her by looking apologetic.
“We tried,” Rose said. “Blaise wouldn’t let us. He stationed people outside the infirmary to stop us from getting in.” Rose pulled up the sleeve of her t-shirt to show a bandage stained with blood. “They did this to me.”
“Why would they do that?” Mal hissed, staring at Rose’s arm. Rose shrugged and pulled her sleeve back over the bandage. She didn’t seem too bothered by it, but Mal was having a hard time breathing. “I’m so sorry,” she said softly. “This is my fault. You got hurt trying to talk to me.”
Rose rolled her eyes. “Stop being melodramatic, there was nothing you could have done to stop this. Blaise is just...”
“If I didn’t leave, you never would have gotten hurt,” Mal argued.
Rose tipped her head to one side, and then said “yeah, good point.”
Mal didn’t know whether she should feel victorious or guilty, so she just nodded.
Rose smiled kindly, and then with absolutely no warning drew back her hand and punched Mal’s arm. Mal cried out in pain and surprise. “Hey!” Mal said angrily, clutching her arm where a bruise was already forming. She looked back up at Rose, who was seething with anger.
“What the bloody hell were you thinking? You idiot! How could you just run off like that? Did you have any idea just how dangerous it was? Or how worried we were?” Rose fumed. Mal was taken aback and just blinked for a few seconds. The sudden and extreme change in personality was new to her.
Rose sighed in relief and pulled Mal into a hug. What Mal had first interpreted as a friendly gesture changed drastically as Rose started to tighten her grip, squashing the breath from Mal’s lungs. Rose’s embrace got tighter and tighter like the death grip of a python, like she was just seeing how much pressure it would take to get Mal to snap in half. Just before Rose crushed Mal’s body like an aluminium can, she let go. Mal sucked in air, her head spinning, and Rose just laughed at her.
“Where’s Trixie?” Mal asked as soon as she could speak.
“What happened when Trixie got back?” Mal asked, already heading towards the library. Rose fell into step behind her as they fought their way through the crowd.
“She arrived in the early hours of the morning the day after you disappeared. She was really upset, and covered in dirt and scrapes. She must have fallen over on her way here. She went straight to Allie and told her everything. That was the last time anyone saw her outside of the library. Of course, we all told Cass that we needed to get a team out looking for you, but Blaise refused. He kept us all her under lockdown. He kept saying that this was some kind of test for you, and if you were worthy of our protection you would prove it.” Mal glanced at Rose and saw the flare of anger that lit up her face, tinged with self-hatred and unspoken apologies.
“What happened to Cass while I was gone?” Mal asked. She genuinely wanted to know what had hurt Cass. She was nothing short of a shell, and it scared her. If Blaise could break someone like Cass so thoroughly, what else could he do?
Automatically, Rose gripped the handle of one of the guns at her hips. Mal noticed that she had added another gun to her belt. “No one really knows. It just kind of happened overnight. She just lost everything that made her strong and Blaise took over. Cass is still officially our leader, but it’s obvious to everyone that Blaise is controlling everything. He’s turned Cass into a puppet.” Rose turned to Mal with eyes shining so brightly that it seemed like the universe was trapped in them. “We need your help, Mal. Everyone is scared of you and the choice you’ll make, even me...”
“You are scared of me?” Mal asked in disbelief.
Rose ignored her and continued. “...but I also trust you. You’ll make the right choice in the end, but right now you have to put your uncertainty aside and help us.” Rose lowered her gaze, took a deep breath, and then said in an almost-whisper “Protect Thomas for me, okay?”