by Lynne Thomas
Unable to do anything else, I turn.
A brilliant image explodes in front of my eyes and I stagger as the moons of Javoria appear. My vision fills with the pale yellow sky and craggy blue mountains. Home.
As suddenly as it appears, the image fades. My eyes fly to Fletcher’s.
“Where…?”
The question dies in my throat.
Staring back at me are two crystal clear, deep green eyes. Burning in their depths is a pale flickering flame.
“That’s not possible,” I whisper.
Staring back at me are my eyes – my eyes. In every fibre of my being, I know that I’m looking at one of my planet’s descendants. Somehow, he and I are connected, and there is no way on Javoria that Thorn is the Hunter. I feel that with a certainty that goes right to my core.
I retract the bonds and launch myself into his arms.
“What the..?”
Humphrey is on his feet in a heartbeat.
“Sit down, Sir Lancelot and let me explain.” Gregory Thorn smiles as he holds me, my head buried in his shoulder. “Does it look like I’m hurting her?”
Humphrey lets Agatha pull him back and settle him on the bed. He doesn’t take his eyes off Thorn.
“You can put me down now.” Embarrassed, I ease myself away.
“Is it just me, or has Jelly lost the plot?” Rhiannon looks from face to face in utter confusion. “Have I just bashed myself black and blue for nothing?”
Thorn winces, seeing her bruises. “I’m sorry about that. You were choking the life out of me. I shouldn’t have panicked and flailed around; I’m sorry. This whole thing did not go as planned and, believe me, I have sat and imagined this day more often than you could ever imagine.”
“But you acted so…weird,” I say.
Gregory Thorn shakes his head and blushes. “I know, I’m so sorry. I was so worried when you didn’t come to school and so excited to meet you, finally. I guess I got carried away.”
Abruptly, Agatha leaves the room. Concerned, I follow her.
“What’s up? Where are you going?”
She systematically opens the doors on the landing and smiles as she finds what she’s looking for. “He’s still bleeding,” she disappears into the bathroom. Her voice floats out of the door, “You go back in, I’ll be with you in a minute.”
Agatha is something else.
Returning to the bedroom, I pause in the doorway. Gregory Thorn looks up at me and smiles. Relief so raw it leaves me breathless runs through the entire length of my body. I’m not alone in this fight anymore. There are others.
Sing hallelujah.
*** *** ***
Once Agatha finishes bathing his head, we sit in the kitchen. Gregory Thorn begins his story, the food strewn across the table, untouched.
“Cal and Maurice began travelling around the country searching for people like them: extraordinary people, people with hidden gifts and amazing talents. Cal told Maurice about Javoria and the battle between his people and the Hunters.
He fled Javoria in a life pod. The Hunters were rising. They attacked his village, drove out the families; killed whoever they found. He almost lost his life in the fight to escape. The pods were hidden in one of the deep caves. He scrambled into one and took off. He saw the base blow up from the air. He lost everything. As the pod flew through space, Cal vowed revenge on the Hunters. He swore that he would return to Javoria one day and rid his home of bashrak.”
“He never made it back, did he?”
Thorn looks at me. With his hair tangled and his clothes rumpled, he looks twenty years old.
“No, he never made it back to Javoria. He tried until his death in 1979, but he never found a way back. His pod crashed off the coast of Scotland and sank without a trace. Cal was lucky to survive the landing at all in his weakened state. He was washed up on the beach and the pod vanished into the sea. He never gave up hope, though. He became convinced that somewhere on Earth there was someone who could help him. He often said that nothing in this universe happened without a reason and that fate had brought him to Earth and had delivered him into the hands of Maurice.”
“Sorry to burst the bubble, but isn’t this all a bit too fortunate? I mean, what are the chances of both Cal and Jelly landing here on Earth?”
“Humphrey –
“Oh, come on Jay! You aren’t actually buying this are you?”
“Humphrey! Stop it!”
“No,” Thorn holds up his palm. “It’s a good question. There are probably hundreds of thousands of Javorian refugees scattered throughout the galaxies. Cal had to leave because of the war; he had no other choice than to leave. Fate brought him to Earth, but there are sure to be descendants from his time on other planets. It’s probably the same with Jelly. For some reason, twenty years ago, Jelly’s parents feared a threat of some kind and sent her from Javoria to Earth. The fact that Cal had landed here almost a hundred years ago is purely coincidence.”
He uses Javorian years, not human.
There’s more to Mr. Thorn than meets the eye. He’s more connected to Javoria than he’s letting on, I’m sure of it. I hope he’s not trying to shield me from information like Crin was. I make a mental note to delve deeper.
“Satisfied?” I ask Humphrey, raising my eyebrow in a silent challenge.
“I suppose.”
Thorn grins. “OK for me to go on, Mr. Goddard, or would you like to get the thumbscrews out?”
Humphrey unwraps a chocolate chip muffin and ignores him.
Thorn’s grin grows wider. He leans towards me and nods his head at Humphrey.
“Don’t worry, he’ll come round.”
He leans back in his chair and smiles at Agatha.
“Yes Agatha. Can I help you with something?”
Agatha’s mouth drops open. Thrown, she stammers,
“I was just, erm, wondering how you figure in all of this. I’ve worked out that you’re a descendent of Maurice Thorn, but I haven’t got any further than that. And, um, I was also wondering; how did you find Jelly?”
“Yes, how did you find me?”
Thorn looks to the window and rubs his face.
“Jelly, I know how much this means to you and how much you want to hear more, and I know how selfish this is going to make me sound, but I’m drained. I’m not pure blood Javorian and I’ve exhausted myself today. I haven’t had to draw on my powers like that before and it’s left me weak. Can you wait until tomorrow?”
NO! Don’t stop, please don’t do this to me.
“No,” I say, “but I think I’ll have to. You look like a man who’s had a bump to the head and is about to keel over.”
He pushes the heel of his hands into his eyes and whispers a thank you.
“That’s right,” Humphrey says, spraying the table with muffin. “Make good your escape and leave us hanging.” He swallows and clears his throat. “Questions get too hard?”
Sometimes Humphrey can be a real dick.
Thorn rises to leave and I walk him to the front door.
“I’m sorry about Humphrey. He’s worried about me. He’s over-protective.”
“Then you should never apologise for him.”
The lump in my throat won’t be swallowed away.
Thorn takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school. We’ll take it from there. Get some sleep tonight; you look like you need it.”
“You too,” I smile, squeezing back. He leans around me and calls back to Humphrey,
“The group set up by Cal and Maurice. Its name is Kavalrion. Google it.”
“I will,” Humphrey manages around another mouthful of muffin.
Thorn chuckles and lets himself out.
I watch him until the front door closes and he’s gone.
Chapter Thirteen
I sit in front of the computer, the glow from the screen the only light in the room. Twenty minutes ago, I called up Google and typed Kavalrion into the search bar. Only I can’t press the e
nter button. As much as I want to find out more, as much as I crave knowledge, I can’t do it. I can’t because of the doubt that’s niggling me: the fear that Kavalrion doesn’t exist, that it’s all a lie, a cruel joke. I guess I’ll always be standing at the prom, waiting for that bucket of pig’s blood to pour over my head. I don’t want to give in to doubts. I want to be fearless and bold. I should press ‘enter’ and find the proof that it’s there; it’s real.
I shut down the computer and sit in the dark for a long time.
*** *** ***
There was no wind, but her hair whipped at her face. In his haste, he stumbled on the uneven marshland and stopped his mad scramble to reach her. It was unusual for his kind to be clumsy, even in the dark. He forced himself to still and to breathe. Each deliberate, slow, breath loosened the burning fear strangling his insides. When his heartbeat calmed, he threw off his immobility and found his way to her side.
Though the heat of the day still clung to his skin and sweat ran down his temple, her skin was cold and dry. He held her face between his hands and stared into wild, unfocussed eyes. Her lips moved quickly; her whisper so shallow that he had to place his ear against her mouth to hear what she was chanting. It was the same thing, over and over:
The Hunters are coming, the Hunters are coming, the Hunters are coming.
His heart stopped beating.
*** *** ***
I sit bolt upright in bed, hurl the soaked duvet to one side and fall to my knees. Spasms wrack the length of my body as I lean on my hands and dry heave. Spit dribbles from the corner of my mouth and pools on the carpet. My stomach cramps again and I struggle to draw breath into my lungs.
The spasms gradually ease and I roll onto my side and tuck my knees up to my chin. I lie there, hugging myself into as tight a ball as possible until the terror fades.
I felt his fear; the man in my dream. I felt the surge of black despair that squeezed his ribcage and crushed his chest when he realised what the woman was chanting.
The Hunters are coming, the Hunters are coming, the Hunters are coming.
But now, they’re coming for me.
I hug myself tighter as the trembling starts.
*** *** ***
My eyes open a crack and I see that it’s morning. Brilliant sunshine streams into my bedroom and dust motes float in the air. I don’t know when I fell back to sleep. It can’t have been long ago; my head is pounding and my eyes feel gritty and tired. I turn my head and see that I’m still on the floor. I roll onto my back and raise my hand to my face. The carpet is imprinted on my cheek. I massage the indents.
Every second of last night’s dream is still with me. It was worse than the nightmares that I had for months. Feeling that poor man’s terror, knowing that the Hunter would tear his family to shreds and that he wasn’t powerful enough to stop him, was worse than being dangled over a canyon.
Because that’s now me. It’s my family in the firing line, my life that’s about to be torn to pieces.
If there’s any way of beating this monster, I’ve got to find it. If I don’t, a lot of people I love are going to die. Unless I go to him and give myself up. The thought went round and round in my head for hours last night. Should I wait and hear what Thorn can do for me, how he can help me, or will the slightest delay result in disaster? Am I being selfish trying to find a way out of this mess? I’m playing chess with people’s lives. I shouldn’t have that kind of power! I’m a fourteen year old girl and I’ve never been good at chess.
I close my eyes. Moments later they snap open.
Where’s Crin? Why hasn’t he used the collective to reach me?
Anger burns away the despair. He’s the one who got me into this mess. He’s the one who sent me here and then left me to fend for myself with a murderous maniac on my tail. This is all his fault and now he’s abandoned me again!
I decide in that instant that I’ve got to live. I’ve got to live long enough to do serious damage to that man.
I really hope that while my hand hovered over the enter button last night, Humphrey was Googling Kavalrion with the intensity and ferocity of a gaggle of girls outside a department store on first day of the January sales. I need to know everything about Kavalrion, about Javoria and about how I can get back there. I’m relying on Thorn to fill me in on the bashrak.
I jump to my feet and head to shower off the nightmare sweats. As I stand under the jets of water and lift my face to meet the spray, I imagine the threat to my life swirling down the plughole along with the dirt and grime of fear and doubt. I need to think positive if I’m going to see this thing through. And I need to get to school and see Thorn.
I shut off the shower with a twist of the wrist, quickly towel dry and pull on my clothes. I hear Mum at the bottom of the stairs as I walk along the landing.
“Jelly? Jelly, hold on a sec.”
My mother’s voice sounds weird. I peer over the banister.
“What’s up, Mum?”
She looks tired and strained.
Hmm. I haven’t been completely above board with my parents lately. I wonder how much they’ve guessed, or how much they’ve always know?
“Jelly, we need to talk. I mean, there are some things that we need to talk about.”
I smile as gently as I can and skip downstairs. The effort to appear light-hearted costs me, but I can’t let her see that I’m worried. Reaching out my hand, I touch my mother’s arm.
“I know Mum. We do need to talk, but don’t worry about it, OK? I’ve got to go to school now. We’ll talk when I get home.”
“Sure, honey,” she croaks. “Have a good day.”
I reach up to kiss her on the cheek. “I will.”
I grab my bag from underneath the stairs and walk away, feeling terrible and vowing to explain everything to Mum and Dad later. Or maybe next week.
Oh come on! How would you tackle telling your adoptive parents that you’re an alien? It’s not the easiest thing in the world, you know.
I walk down the street and force myself not to look back.
I know that Mum is watching me and seeing her framed in the door of my childhood home seems too much like a talisman. Especially when destiny is snapping at my heels like a ferocious terrier.
I prefer not to tempt fate.
*** *** ***
By lunch, I’m on the verge of going nuclear with anticipation. I haven’t had classes with Agatha or Humphrey and I haven’t seen Thorn all morning, though I know he’s here, in the school, giving lessons like maths actually matters instead of telling me what I need to know to save myself from the hands of a murderous psycho. I am going to wring his neck when I see him.
If I see him.
Where the hell is he?
*** *** ***
“Jelly, calm down!”
“Calm down? CALM DOWN!”
Thorn smiles his lopsided smile at me and I almost knock his block off.
“Where have you been?” I hiss.
He shrugs his shoulders.
“Look, I’m sorry, OK. I missed you before assembly, then I missed you before classes started and I was on detention duty at break. I would have came straight to you as soon as the lunch bell went off if you hadn’t, erm, been camped outside my door for the last five minutes of class.”
He glances around the room with a wry smile.
I growl something sarcastic and pathetic under my breath and stomp around with my arms crossed. I’m not ready to forgive him yet. I’ve been in agony all morning.
There’s a tentative tap on the door. I stomp and harrumph as Thorn lets in Agatha and Humphrey, who are in impossibly high spirits and very, very annoying.
What can I say? My nerves are frayed.
“We thought you’d be in here”, Agatha says, all shiny eyed and bushy tailed.
“Yes, yes,” I wave my hand impatiently. “Enough of that. Let’s get on with it.”
Humhrey’s brows sky-rocket. He narrows his eyes at Thorn.
“What’s he been s
aying?”
Thorn’s mouth drops open and Agatha mumbles “here we go” under her breath.
“Why?” I quickly ask. “What did you find out?”
“Nothing,” Humphrey answers. “Well, some stuff about Kavalrion, but nothing bad. Why? Didn’t you Google them?”
“Erm, no, my internet connection was down.”
The lie springs easily to my lips, which is a bad thing. I don’t want to trade a lifetime of truth-telling just because I’ve suddenly become a powerful alien with uber powers.
“You should have said!” Agatha exclaims in dismay. “You could have come round to mine.”
“Oh for God’s sake.” Rhiannon stands in the doorway. “Why don’t we here it straight from the horse’s mouth? The man is standing right there.” She gestures to Thorn.
Humphrey grins. “Your internet down as well last night was it, Rhiannon?”
She pulls a face.
“As if. Why would I want to read about Kaval-thingamyjig when I could be reading about celebrities and their handbags? Of course I looked them up, geek boy. Didn’t say much, did it? I gave up after a while. Anyhow, hope you didn’t start without me.”
“No.” Thorn smiles. “We didn’t start without you. Grab a chair”.
Chapter Fourteen
Finally, he starts. I try to control the trembling in my bones and concentrate on what he’s saying.
“Like I said, Cal and Maurice went all over, looking for people with special skills. Three years after Maurice rescued Cal, they found a girl called Eustasia Mayers. Her father was a business tycoon, a hard man; grabbed any opportunity to profit. Not many people liked Winston Mayers and he was happy to spend most of his time at his office. Eustasia was alone and lonely. Locals said that she was aloof and a snob, so they ignored her.
Only there was something else that was different about Eustasia. She would sit in her window and look out at the grounds and feel a storm coming. She could never explain it, how she knew that bad weather was on the way, but she was never wrong. Other times, she would rush to answer the door before anyone had knocked, or answer questions before they were asked.”
Thorn shrugs.
“Anyway, she hid her weird ability well, but sometimes she’d let something slip and the house staff would talk. In time the rumours made their way to the villagers and eventually found their way back to her father. Winston was a solid, down to earth man. He didn’t believe the gossip, but still felt the damage that his daughter was doing to his business reputation. He started planning to send Eustasia away. He had no living relatives that he knew of and no friends that he could send her to, so he arranged to have her committed to an asylum.”