by Unknown
“I’m sure they’ll figure something out.” Gabe doesn’t sound so sure of this, though, and I wonder if he knows about the state of the City since I left and since he fell into the coma. Brandon and Elan never really said much about how it is fairing now, and if it recovered from the attacks. If we get back from all of this, I’ll have to find out before we head back home.
“For your sakes, I hope they do.” Moses nods to Lee, and the latter man steps forward and pulls us both up to our feet by giving us a firm tug on the arm.
“Let’s go get you two cleaned up while your tent is being arranged.” Lee runs a pointer finger down my shoulder and holds it up for me to see. “You are filthy.”
“Everything is filthy here.” Gabe struggles to try and free his arm from Lee’s grasp, but Lee proves to be stronger and doesn’t let him go.
“That might be so, but Moses likes us to be as clean as we can be when in camp. So come on with the both of you.” Lee leads us out of the fancy tent, and when I look behind me to take one last look at Moses, he is lost in thought, staring at his sun catcher and the light that has been captured between the glass. I feel much like that light, radiant, but kept a prisoner for no other purpose than to be admired. We have to break out of here. I can’t let us sit like pretty little prizes until they figure out what to do with us. At the same time, he said he would find the plant for us. Maybe I’ll just have to sit pretty for a little longer … if not to save myself, then to save Echo.
Chapter 14
The sky is the color of pinks and scarlet, bathing Aura in a crimson light. As I walk through the streets, everything is hauntingly quiet, and there is no one, absolutely no one anywhere. I decide to head for the Citizen Settlements. I haven’t been back there since we rescued Fortuna, the Seer baby now in the care of Jamie and Irene. An invisible string tugs me in that direction, and I go like the puppet I am, one foot after the other, to the Settlements.
When I get there, the guards are not at the watch station, and the gates have been left open. The wind is the only thing that moves, brushing the dirt up from the ground and swirling it into tiny funnels that dissipate soon after. The tiny shacks that make up the Citizen houses are all shrouded in silence, and when I decide to peek inside one of them, I am met with the most horrible sight: a mother holding her child, both of them rotting and covered with maggots and flies. From the skin that they have left, I can see dried blood under the mother’s nose, a sign of the plague.
I reel away from the window and check the next house, hoping to find survivors. How could it be that so quickly the plague could claim so many lives? We’ve only been gone for a couple of days …
The next house is no better, and the people inside, four of them, are in worse shape than the mother and child in the previous house. Some of their bones are showing from the rapid decay, and the flies in the house have grown bored and stick to the walls, their wings buzzing some sick melody. I turn away and clutch my stomach, sure that I’m going to vomit, but somehow I manage not to. I need to keep myself pulled together if I’m to find out what is going on here. Obviously, the rest of the Settlements aren’t going to be in much better shape, so I turn to head out. It’s still not clear if the Seers can also catch the plague, and I don’t want to stick around long enough to find out.
I decide to go back to the palace to check up on Echo and his mother, but the silence of the streets equals to a deafening warning, as if screaming at me to turn around now and get out of here while I can. But again, I am being pulled along, somewhat against my will, toward the palace in the center of the kingdom. Something moves to the right of me, and when I turn to try and catch it, it is gone, and I am left alone with the quiet once again. Something is definitely not right here. It’s the calm before the ambush, though I have no idea what is waiting for me … if it is anything at all.
As I trudge down the streets toward the palace, that something runs by again, and I barely catch it in my peripheral. When I spin around to follow its movement, I almost lose it. But a touch of its shadow lingers behind, and I hurry off in its direction. I’m chasing ghosts, it feels like, because I have no idea what it is I’m pursuing, but I need to get to it, to capture it and find it out. I can feel the need growing inside of me, like if I don’t get to it, then I will be letting something horrible slip out of my grasp.
I round a group of shops that line the end of this street, and in some of them, elaborate and fancy dresses have been arranged on mannequins. Normally, I would stop to get a better look, my curiosity always getting the best of me, but I have no time to quit my pursuit. Even if I stop for a moment, I will lose whatever it is I am chasing, I know.
I pick up speed and start to sprint after my source, and I can feel that I am getting closer, that I’m right on its tail. Whatever this thing is, it runs too quickly, and I’m afraid that if I slow down for just a second, that it will pull way in front of me, and I’ll never catch it. I decide to play a trick and run down a side alley to cut it off at the corner, and when the alley spits me out on the other side, I spin around in front of the thing and it collides into me, knocking us both onto the ground.
I tumble over, but manage to grab what seems to be a person as we both hit the ground. I’m not letting it run off again, not if I can help it, and just as soon as our momentum stops, I push it over onto the ground. That’s when I realize that it is just a boy, a scraggly little boy with dirty blond hair and big, beady eyes with pupils dilated to the size of quarters. He stares up at me like some rabid sort of beast, then hisses like an animal. It’s almost enough to startle me into letting him go, but I hang on tightly to him and give him a little shake.
“What do you want? Why are you following me?”
The boy hisses again and turns his head, biting into my arm. I shriek and yank my arm away from him. With my other hand, I close my fingers around his throat and pin him down to the ground by his neck so that he can’t bite me again. “What the hell was that for?”
Another hiss.
I shake him. “Talk to me! I know you can talk!” But really, I don’t know if he can talk at all. So far, all it seems the animal boy can do is bite and hiss. Eventually, though, he does talk, and when his mouth opens, his teeth are covered in blood. Is that my blood? I look down at my arm to see how severely I am bleeding, and it is only then do I realize that he managed to take a good chunk of skin out of my wrist. Damn it.
“You said you’d save us.”
“And I am trying to.” I become sick to my stomach the more I stare at the blood in his mouth. My blood in his mouth.
“You said you would save us … and now it is too late.”
“Why is it too late?”
“Because we are all dead.”
I tilt my head. “But you aren’t dead.”
The boy-animal laughs and tries to pull my arm away from his neck with his bony hands. It’s no use, though. He’s obviously very weak, and I have the advantage of hovering above him and placing most of my weight onto his scrawny neck. “We are dead, Keeper Beatrice. We have all died because of your failure.”
“But I haven’t failed.”
He laughs again, but this time, it’s sardonic and bitter. “Be careful, Keeper Beatrice. If you do fail, you fail all of us … and we will all die.”
And then, he dissipates into a dark, thick shadow that blows away with the next gust of wind. I am left kneeling in the streets of Aura with a heavy warning that expands inside my head until I can hear only ringing in my ears.
I cannot fail them … but yet, perhaps I already have.
***
When I come to, my head hurts just as it did at the end of my Vision. It was a Vision. The very thought only serves to make my head throb even more, and I cradle it in my hands. By my side, Gabe is sleeping in a pile of satin pillows that have been gathered in the back of our makeshift tent, which has been filled with the most luxurious items. Moses has certainly treated us royally, though his intentions are still unclear to me, and I don’t
trust any of it. I reach out and shake Gabe’s shoulder, and at first, he blindly swats at me, but when I give him another, firm shake, he wakes up and sees my glowing eyes right away.
“A Vision?” His words are sleepy, somewhere between here and his dreams.
Outside, the sun is just coming up, illuminating the gold fabric tent that has been stretched out over us. I can also see the shadows of people milling about, too close to our little home for comfort. News of our capture has probably spread around the camp by now, and no doubt people are starting to come out and see the Seers for themselves.
“Yes. And not a very good one either. It was in Aura, and there was this boy who was obviously sick with the plague, but he was acting strange and … and … rabid.” I rub at my wrist where the boy in my Vision had bitten me and taken off a chunk of skin. “He said that I failed him … but then at the end of the Vision, he warned if I did fail them, then everyone in Aura would die.”
Gabe tugs on my arm, urging me to lie back down in the comfortable pillows beside him. I do it if only because my head is killing me, and closing my eyes right now seems like a great idea. Nestling my head on one of the cushions, I let my lashes flutter closed and soon after feel Gabe’s hand brushing back my hair soothingly.
“Doesn’t sound as accurate as your Visions usually are. I wouldn’t worry too much about it, Beatrice. We’re going to find that stupid plant. And we’ll save your stupid husband, and then we can get home.”
“Shhhh,” I warn Gabe. “Don’t say anything too loud. We don’t want to give any of these Rogues any more information than we already have.”
“You’re right.” Gabe’s hand continues to brush over my hair, his fingers raking through the dark, black locks. “But still. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. There has to be another meaning behind it … perhaps it is just impressing upon you the seriousness of finding the plant.”
I shrug a shoulder. “Perhaps.”
“But you don’t believe that.” I open my eyes and find Gabe smirking down at me. He knows me too well.
I shake my head. “I don’t. My Visions have been rather clear as of late. I think it’s true that they will all die if we don’t bring back this plant, and I’ll never have the chance to free their Citizens. In the Vision, that was the first place I went—the Settlements—and all the Citizens, every single one of them, were dead.”
“And what was your plan after you’ve freed them? I’m just going to go out on a limb here, Bea, and say that the Dreamcatchers aren’t going to love you for taking their slaves away from them.” Gabe’s fingers unravel from my hair and he props his head up on his hand, looking down at me.
“I was going to invite them back to the City. Or at least try to get the Dreamcatchers on board and show them that they don’t need to enslave their Citizens to benefit from them. Could you imagine how much better it would be if they just let their Citizens live and donate their time and resources to the kingdom? I’m sure it would be far more prosperous than how it is run now.” I stare up at Gabe, and the glow of my violet eyes illuminates his face, casting it in a lilac haze. “I mean, look at them. The Dreamcatchers are panicking because if the Citizen population dies out, they’ll have no way to sustain themselves. They have no people to help heal, or to breed, or to make the products of their kingdom.”
Gabe nods, but I can tell that my feelings over this cause aren’t ones that he shares. Gabe probably could care less about the Dreamcatchers or Aura. No, he doesn’t “probably” care less about them—he just doesn’t care. At all. I can see it in the way that he looks away from me that all he really wants is to return home to the Institution, to somewhere he knows and is familiar with.
Instead, we are being kept prisoner in this tent, and I don’t know how much the people on the outside can hear, but there are more of them now, and the looming shadow of heads and bodies shifts and moves all at once as they try to get closer in hopes of seeing us.
“This isn’t going to be good,” I note and close my eyes again, trying to force them to stop glowing, even if it doesn’t quite work that way.
“What are they doing?” Gabe pushes himself up to sit and gets to his feet soon afterward. The ground is covered in fur pelts from many different types of animals that I have only ever seen in textbooks. There are some wooden trunks that have been placed in the center of the room, but I have no idea what we’d possibly keep in them. It’s not like we came here packed up and ready for a vacation.
I don’t get up to follow Gabe because my head is still pounding from the inside out, and I can imagine it cracking like an egg if I try to stand. “Probably trying to see us. Moses said they haven’t had Seers here in a long time.”
“Strange that they should have ever come out here at all,” Gabe mentions as he moves closer to one of the walls with only the fabric between him and the people on the outside. “And how have they not seen Seers before? Certainly they must have them when they have children. All Citizens do.”
“Our Citizens were never infected by the serum that the Scientists used to try and save the City.” Moses is standing in the doorway of the tent, and as the flap falls, I can see dozens of pairs of legs of the people who are gathering around outside. “Therefore, we do not breed Seers or Dreamcatchers. And those Citizens who have escaped the City and were from the line of the serum, well, they aren’t allowed to breed … and if they do, their children are killed. We have no time for these sorts of unnatural games, Seers Beth and Gabriel. We are a community that functions on all being on the same page.”
I frown and keep my head turned, trying to hide from Moses that I’ve recently had a Vision. He’ll figure it out, though. Moses, I’ve realized, is much more observant and attentive than his fellow Rogues, like Lee, who puts up a wonderful front that he’s just everything that should be found in a man, but is flawed much like any other person who is full of themselves.
“The people outside wish to see our new prizes, and you’ll be presented to them accordingly because I don’t need any riots because they are displeased with not being able to have a look at you.” Moses walks across the tent and over to the two trunks that are in the middle of the space. “Have you ever heard of India?”
“India?” Gabe echoes the unfamiliar word. I’ve certainly never heard of it, but I don’t want to draw any attention to myself.
“India was a warm country in Asia, across the other side of the world. They had such beautiful things, pink and red fabrics with tiny mirrors sewn into the hem, exotic furnishings, and delicious, spicy foods. Everything about the country was just … warm. Well, from what I’ve read and seen in old history books. India was destroyed in the War, much like everything else, and its culture was snuffed out of existence.” Moses opens up one of the trunks and pulls out an orange robe-looking piece of clothing. It’s more like an over-sized tunic, and is cut with hard angles, probably more suited to fit a man. “But then I started to read about India, and I loved the thought of smelling the spiced incense on the wind, and constantly being surrounded with the colors of the sun, and I based my camp on India and its beauty. Today, you’ll dress in traditional Indian clothing, and I’ll walk you outside and you’ll let the people see you and stare at you and do whatever it is they want without harming you, and then you’ll be taken back to your tent and left alone until we have dinner.” He hands the garment to Gabe, who takes it reluctantly.
Out of the other trunk, Moses pulls out a light pink dress with the little mirrors sewn into the fabric, just like the ones he so recently spoke about. My clothing is made from two pieces, the second one being some sort of sash that will probably be thrown over my shoulder from the looks of it. “This is a sari. The women of India wore them all the time and fluttered about the streets, filling it with color. You’ll look radiant in it, Seer Beth.” For the first time, he looks directly over at me and pauses as he hands the sari over. “Your eyes are glowing.”
“They do that sometimes,” I cut in, hoping he won’t ask any more
questions.
“You’ve had a Vision.” Moses smiles and comes closer to me to reach a hand out and cup his fingers over my cheek. “Look how beautiful.”
“Please don’t touch her,” Gabe growls lowly.
Moses ignores him though and stares down into my eyes, his gaze deep and curious. It’s making me uncomfortable, and I turn my head away from him and step back. “I should get changed.”
Moses frowns when eye contact is broken, making it clear that we’re not done with each other. “We’ll talk more about your Vision over dinner. I will give you about ten minutes to get yourselves dressed, and then I’m coming in for you and taking you outside.” He slips out of the tent, leaving Gabe and me behind.
Gabe walks over to where I am and peeks down at my face. “Are you okay?”
“It’s fine. He was just looking.”
“I don’t want him touching you. I don’t trust him, and I don’t want any men touching you,” Gabe mutters and brushes his fingers down the same cheek that Moses held just moments before.
“We should get changed. You go over there and turn the other way, and I’ll change here, and only when we are both done will we both turn around. Got it?” Not that I think Gabe will try to turn around and sneak a peek, but I’m just in no mood to deal with such things right now. My head is still killing me, and now I have to wriggle my way into this sari thing and hope that I am putting it on correctly.
I pull my jumpsuit down and step out of it, discarding the one-piece outfit on the floor. I decide to keep my undershirt on, since the sari will probably cover it, and no one will really see it anyway. Pulling the pink fabric down over my head, I shimmy into the dress-like garment and tug it down over my hips. It falls to the length of the floor, the hem stopping just before it so that it doesn’t drag when I walk. I sling the second part over my shoulder and sloppily wrap it around my waist, and I’m sure, just as soon as I’m done fiddling around with it, that I’m not wearing this like I’m supposed to be. “Does yours look stupid?” I call over to Gabe and look over my shoulder, forgetting my own rules about not peeking.