Unaltered #2_A Diamond in my Heart

by Lorena Angell

  Maetha pulled the diamond out and handed it to me. Then she brought the circle closer and proceeded to converse with the group through telepathy. She began by telling them about me and my lineage and the fact that I’d learned much about the Repeaters. She showed Freedom’s pocket watch to everyone and then opened it and instantly the group of eighteen disappeared, vanishing into the night. Maetha looked at me and told me that the watch negated their bi-locating abilities causing them to disappear. She closed the watch and one by one they reappeared and gasps and audible shock filled the clearing as these near-immortals had never experienced the loss of their powers before. The telepathic melee of confusion filled my mind. Maetha opened the watch again but this time I didn’t feel my powers blocked. I looked at her but couldn’t feel her powers anymore. It was as if she was visibly invisible.

  One of the male Diamond Bearers whose name, Amenemhet, filled my mind said, “I no longer feel you, Maetha.”

  She responded with, “I noticed two hinges on the watch; two compartments each holding a black stone of some kind, one sizably larger than the other. It seems the smaller stone blocks only my own power, the larger stone blocks everyone nearby including myself. We must learn what these stones are and how Freedom came to have them in his possession.” She closed the watch and resumed speaking telepathically. “Freedom has gone rogue. He used a power-hungry young man to round up the splintered shards with the misinformation that they would give the young man all the known powers. Freedom waited till the pieces merged and his protégé died before taking the stone but was thwarted by Calli’s Repeater friend, Brand Safferson. We were able to escape with the diamond and the watch but Brand was unable to be saved. The military arrived as we fled and I have no doubt that they will imprison Brand on Freedom’s orders.”

  Another woman whose name was Neema looked at me and the diamond I held and said out loud, “The stone is vexed. It belongs to both Calli and Freedom. It is drawn to its remaining piece but its loyalty is in Freedom’s control.” Neema addressed Maetha, “She doesn’t stand a chance.”

  Maetha looked at me curiously and then replied to Neema, “True, the stone is split but I believe once it’s reunited with its last shard its loyalty will reassign.”

  “And if you’re wrong? I cannot foresee her future; I only see a strange blackness.”

  “The blackness is related to the power-canceling stones within the watch. As this exact situation has never presented itself before, we shall all learn at once what the consequences will be. However, there is a more pressing issue at hand; Freedom now knows of my Grecian Blue. I was left with little choice, and in a situation which caught me off guard, I used Psychomancy after the pocket watch was closed. Freedom detected the blue power immediately and began asking questions. He hadn’t noticed my invisibility had been blocked making me appear from hiding; perhaps he thought I bi-located at that moment. The Repeater and I tried many different approaches to try to bring about different results in the effort to save everyone in the room, but it simply wasn’t possible. The only way for us to escape was by him holding Freedom for a few crucial seconds.”

  I was beside myself. Maetha and Brand repeated too? I guess the more I thought about it the more I realized I already knew it.

  Neema said, “We all know what this means then, Freedom will not stop until he has the Grecian Blue therefore he must have his heart removed. I propose a vote on the matter.”

  I was simply amazed that the Diamond Bearers worked as a unit, not a seniority. Why didn’t Maetha have the last word on a decision? She was the first Diamond Bearer; she’s certainly earned the right to be the leader. Maetha’s voice came into my mind. “Calli, the Red Lady instructed me to never take full leadership of the decisions concerning the diamond. Every decision is voted on and every Diamond Bearer has the opportunity to voice their opinion. What is your opinion concerning Freedom?”

  “Cut his heart out.”

  “Then the vote is unanimous. Freedom will lose his stone.”

  The woman who was standing by the lake when we first arrived stepped forward. Her name was Mary. “Maetha, my protector tells me Calli is now the prime suspect in the murders of the missing amulet wearers. The word is she hijacked the Healers’ amulet and fled. Now the Hunters, Readers, and Seers are mourning the deaths of their leaders and all eyes are on Calli and the Runner. They are being hunted as we speak.”

  Maetha reached her hand forward, “Calli, hand me the diamond.” I placed it in her hand. She raised it high over her head and took me by the elbow and led me out into the center of the formed circle of gown-wearing, ethereal-looking people. With her hand extended above her body she let go of my elbow and placed her other hand on my back between my shoulder blades. In one swift movement, she brought her hand down and rammed the diamond into my chest between my breasts.

  The pain was excruciating! It felt like my entire chest was exploding and the air was compressed out of my lungs. My legs gave out. Maetha gently laid me on the ground and I became aware that I no longer had a heartbeat. I wanted to inhale but I couldn’t. The pain intensified and I recalled the first time I felt this burning sensation; on the stone altar in the clearing with the Death Clan. I focused my mind on my heart willing it to heal, all the while my lungs burned with the need for oxygen and my brain spun wildly with the same need.

  “You can do it, Calli,” Maetha’s quiet voice urged me onward. I looked up in her eyes and saw fear. Why would she be afraid?

  Some of the Diamond Bearers spoke with concern. “She’s not strong enough.”

  “Give her time.”

  “She doesn’t have much time left.”

  “It’s not working, Maetha.”

  “Even if they merge, the diamond will behave erratically.”

  “You must remove it or she’ll die.”

  “Help her!” Chris shouted from a distance.

  My mind was fuzzy and my hearing was waterlogged but I heard his desperate plea and wondered if I was hallucinating. I stared up at the dark night sky realizing that rays of bright light were shooting upward from my body. The concerned voices around me faded away and I ceased to care about anything. Was this what it was like to die? Was I already dead?

  Feeling began to return to my brain as I felt the mending of tissue, the re-growth of bone and life flood back into me. The pain had subsided and my body buzzed with a strange energy. I reached my hand up and accidentally knocked the diamond off my chest. I found that my clothing was ripped open from my chest and opened my eyes to find Maetha’s hands covered in my blood.

  “It didn’t work I take it?” I said.

  Maetha shook her head. I thought for a moment I saw a fleeting expression of sadness. I heard approaching footsteps and turned my head to find Chris arriving with a jacket in his hands.

  “Here you go,” he said as he handed it to Maetha.

  “Thank you, Chris. Take her back to the room.” Maetha helped me into the jacket and zipped it closed. She helped me stand and said to Chris, “She’s very weak.”

  Turns out I was very weak. Chris nearly had to carry me back to the building. I noticed right away he was wearing one of my Demon devices. Hans must have told him about my research project and he risked his own life putting one on and venturing out into the dark.

  “I heard your voice, Chris, but I thought I was imagining it.”

  “I was so afraid you were going to die, Calli.”

  “I know how you feel. I watched you die many times earlier today before we escaped with Maetha.”

  “What?”

  “This has been a really long day, Chris. Let’s get inside first, and then I’ll tell you all about it.”

  After several hours and many bottles of Mrs. Winter’s ‘magical’ juice, I was feeling a little better. Chris had cared for me diligently and laid next to me holding me in his arms while I told him about the many different repeating efforts I experienced with Brand… and all the many times I watched him die.

  Chris told me w
hat he’d seen at Justin’s hideout and it amazed me that the final result of all the repeating was a sequence of events that lasted maybe thirty seconds. He saw Justin die as the stone entered his heart, Freedom walked in and Chris sensed his lost power. Chris watched Brand launch himself at Freedom after he plucked the diamond from Justin’s wound, and me ramming myself into Maetha’s guard, and of course, Maetha freezing everyone.

  Chris explained that when I rushed Maetha’s guard, he quickly turned to his guard and fought with him causing the guard to fire his gun and hit Dominic. The other guards fired one shot each before Maetha froze everyone.

  He didn’t understand the significance of the pocket watch, so I told him. “The watch contains some kind of a stone that removes our powers when it’s exposed. No one has ever seen anything like this before.”

  “My uncle is a rock-hound. He’d know what it is, well, if it’s a stone found in nature. He doesn’t know anything about the world of the clans but he knows a hell of a lot about geology.”

  Maetha spoke, making me jump as I didn’t know she was nearby, “Calli, you and Chris will take the pocket watch to him and find out more about it. I have placed Freedom’s diamond in this pouch,” she held up a similar looking pouch as the first time I carried the stone, “to protect it from his ability to detect it. You will once again be this diamond’s bearer, but I’m afraid you will need to avoid using your powers as this stone is clearly loyal to Freedom.”

  “What do you mean, ‘loyal’?” I asked.

  “It didn’t merge with your piece, Calli, and I do not know why. A splintered diamond always merges together and I believed it would in this case as well, although I didn’t know whether or not it would become loyal to you. I was prepared to remove the entire stone the moment I ascertained where its loyalty belonged, only, the stone didn’t merge. I couldn’t heal your heart until I removed his stone and… I tried to remove your shard but it is already ‘living’ within your heart.”

  My confused expression must have told her everything I was thinking. She continued, “I thought that if the stone wasn’t going to merge, I could at least remove your piece, you could relinquish it to Freedom and the stone would then be whole again. At that point, Freedom would have full ownership and would have no reason to kill you. Now it seems in order for Freedom to get the remaining piece, he’ll have to cut it out of you.”

  Again, my facial expressions revealed my inner thoughts. She tried to console me. “Calli, the other option is we end Freedom’s life, releasing his hold on the diamond, and then your shard will merge flawlessly with the diamond.”

  “But how do you kill a Diamond Bearer, Maetha?”

  Her only reply was, “How indeed? It’s never happened before. The need has never existed.”

  My world was upended once again. Maetha always knew the answer to everything, she’d seen so much in her long life, she knew it was impossible to remove a diamond from a bearer; the bearer had to do it himself. Gustave removed this stone from his own body ending his life all for the purpose of bringing down the Death Clan. Now the diamond was in a splintered state with two Unaltereds laying claim to it, which apparently had never happened before, and the weaker of the two being myself.

  Things didn’t look too good for me.

  Maetha added, “I’m going in search of the female Repeater as she possesses the skills necessary to break into a government facility. Our other repeaters are less than qualified to try to rescue Brand. Calli, you will need Brand to protect you from Freedom until we can figure out a way to get the upper hand on him. You will need to use the pocket watch to travel undetected with Chris.”

  Chris jumped up in defense. “You’re saying we purposefully dismiss our powers?”

  “It’s the only way to hide from Freedom; it’s the only way to save her life, Chris.”

  I looked at Chris and his gaze met mine. “Chris, where does your uncle live?”

  “Miami. I’ll get us airline tickets.”

  Maetha interrupted with more dismal news. “No, you cannot use any form of public transportation. Freedom will have Homeland Security searching for you. You do not want your face captured on any camera, no cell phones or anything the government can track. In fact, I’d be surprised if your faces don’t end up on the FBI’s most wanted list which will put state and local law enforcement after you as well. I have a vehicle here that you can use for as long as it will take you. I cannot see the future concerning how far that will be; the use of Freedom's stone prevents it.”

  Chris moved closer to me and put his arm around my shoulder. “No problem. We have a lot of friends who can help us out. We’ll just keep our noses clean and not rob any banks.” He squeezed my shoulder to try to lighten the mood.

  “You won’t be able to contact any friends or family either. The clans are up in arms because their amulet wearers—their leaders—were kidnapped and then murdered. They think Calli has their individual amulets in her possession and they want them back, and they want justice to be served.”

  “You mean they want me dead as well,” I said quietly.

  Chris said, “But I can testify that Calli wasn’t behind it. She wasn’t working with Justin.”

  Maetha said with finality, “You must stay by Calli’s side for this very reason. You are the only one who can speak reason to the clans as you yourself were kidnapped. Freedom’s pocket watch is your cloaking device and with your cleverly designed Demon devices you’ll be able to travel at night giving you the advantage over the Hunters.”

  “Why don’t we have my uncle come to us instead?” Chris asked.

  “No, you two need to stay on the move or you risk being found. Also, when you meet with your uncle, be on your guard. Now, it is time for you to leave.”

  Maetha led us out to the parking lot to her car. She had a small bag of supplies for us including extra Demon devices, Mrs. Winter’s granola bars, juice, and an exceptionally large amount of cash—and a gun.

  “What do we do once we find my uncle?”

  “After he identifies the stone, close the pocket watch and I’ll find you.”

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