by Kim Cormack
“This feels wrong,” Kayn whispered to Melody.
Melody turned away from her, looked out the window at the darkened trees covered in snow and solemnly replied, “It always does.” Melody kept staring out of the window as she quietly added, “It will all make sense later.”
The tension was broken as Frost abruptly blurted out, “Alright. Let’s go.”
They pulled out and drove until they saw a trail of smoke on the side of the road. Kayn got out of the truck on autopilot and wandered over to stand next to Zach.
Frost spoke, “Listen, this job needs to happen very quickly before anyone else drives by and sees the smoke from the accident.”
Lily volunteered, “I’ll stay here with the truck. You know, in case any complications arise.”
Frost began to maneuver his way down the steep embankment and they followed, grabbing the branches of trees and ferns to keep themselves from sliding down the icy hill. She could see the vehicle, smoking and crushed. You could not even tell what he had started out driving. Maybe he was already gone? Maybe they won’t have to kill him?
Frost looked at her and ordered, “Don’t touch anything… Trust me. If you do, what happens next will not be pleasant.”
“What are you going to do to him if he’s still alive?” Kayn whispered.
He didn’t even take a breath before he answered, “I’ll have to break his neck. It has always been the most efficient way to kill someone quickly. It will look like it happened in the accident.”
I’m just going to break his neck. No big deal. It seemed absolutely absurd to talk casually about ending someone’s life.
Frost addressed the entire group, “The car needs to be completely engulfed in flames long before any first responders show up because if that happens this Correction will include more than just one man. Everyone take your glove off and put it in your pocket. We have to make our point quickly.”
Kayn watched as everyone pulled their gloves off without hesitation. She reluctantly tugged her own white leather fingerless glove off of her hand. She gazed at the symbol branded on her palm as her heart pounded a panicked rhythm in her chest. When she looked up, Lexy was staring at her with an expression on her face that almost read as concern.
Lexy gave her a few words of assurance, “Just breathe hun, this is not on you.”
Zach protectively placed his arm around her, pulled her close to him and whispered in her ear, “Just watch and try to pay attention.”
This felt so wrong. Kayn swallowed the lump of guilt in her throat and took a deep shuddering breath. She wanted to look elsewhere and pretend this wasn't actually happening. She didn’t want to be a part of this. Kayn turned around and placed her eyes against Zach’s shoulder.
Zach whispered, “I promise it will all make sense, but only if you’re watching.”
Grey strolled past her as he announced, “I’ve got the fire handled, if you have him handled.”
The guilt felt like a weight on her heart. It was like life meant nothing to most of them. Unable to help hold her tongue, she whispered to Zach, “Isn’t brains before brawn our clan’s moto? It’s like we’re not even looking for another way?”
Frost whipped his head around to meet her accusing eyes and said, “I’ll tell you what sweetheart; let’s just ask him what he wants to do? Let’s give him a choice.”
Kayn hated it when Frost used that particular condescending tone. She wasn’t stupid. She just had this affliction that was apparently foreign to him called empathy. She watched as Frost took those final strides towards the vehicle alone.
Frost leaned into the vehicles window and shook the man a little, “Hey buddy, you okay?”
The man came to and moaned,” I’m stuck in here. I can’t move. I thought it would be a long time before help found me down here.”
“It depends on how you define help,” Frost replied calmly.
The man grew silent, his instinct for self-preservation obviously triggered by Frost’s odd response.
“We don’t have a lot of time. I’m terribly sorry. I’m going to have to skip the pleasantries and get right to business. Let me show you something.” Frost took the switchblade out of his pocket and to the mortal’s horror he stabbed himself through his own hand with his knife. Frost’s symbol of Ankh on his palm exploded with light. This triggered the rest of their hands to light up the landscape like fallen stars. The man’s eyes widened a touch. He began to flail and thrash wildly, his arms free but his legs crushed beneath the dashboard. The man with moments left had to give it one last shot. He screamed with all of the fight he had left inside for someone to help him. They all looked at each other knowing the question that would inevitably come out of his mouth now.
He stammered, “What in the hell are you people? Are you aliens or something?”
“Or something,” was Frost’s reply.
Lexy reached out and touched Frost’s shoulder. He touched the wounded man’s shoulder, sending some of Lexy’s healing energy throughout his body to take away his pain.
Frost held up his hand and it was fully healed. Kayn watched the wounded man as he struggled to accept his impossible situation.
A look of peace travelled through the wounded man’s eyes as he whispered, “I’m going to die, aren’t I?”
The tone of Frost’s voiced softened as he answered, “I am going to give you a choice. I know you’re scared. I understand how crazy this must sound to you but it is of the highest importance that you make an attempt to absorb the gravity of what I’m about to tell you.”
The man’s panicked breathing calmed. He seemed to understand the importance of this moment in time.
“You’ve been exposed to a virus that has mutated within you for some reason. Tonight when they bring you to emergency, everyone you come in contact with will get sick. Some of them will even die. Your family is going to come and see you while you are recovering from surgery. Your son dies within the first twenty-four hours. Your pregnant wife will die by the following day. She will take your unborn daughter with her in passing. The child in your wife’s womb is tremendously valuable, more so than you can possibly fathom. She has an important role to play in future events. That unborn child will go on to do extraordinary things... Miraculous things. If you choose life, I promise you that nobody will ever know that it was you who started this epidemic. You are only a carrier. You will have no symptoms. The choice is your life, or your family’s life. Everyone you love and many more will die or you can make the choice to change the future and die right now. There is only a minute to make up your mind. We will abide by whatever you decide.”
The man looked into Frost’s eyes and nodded. Kayn’s eyes were clouded with tears for she knew what this man was about to say.
Without a single moment of hesitation, he whispered, “Me... I choose it to be me.”
“You won’t feel a thing and to your family this will look like a random accident. Your next life might be better than it was this time.”
“No…It couldn’t possibly be better,” the man whispered with the strength of his love flowing from every pore. “This time was perfect. I would do it all again, even if I knew this was how it would end.”
“That’s what I like to hear. You were blessed, be at peace,” Frost softly replied. He touched the man’s brow with his palm, lighting up his symbol. The man’s eyes closed and when they opened they were vacant of his being. Kayn knew his soul had already been delivered to the in-between, leaving only what was left of his broken, empty-looking human shell behind. Frost snapped his neck without ceremony. The man’s empty shell slumped in the driver’s seat. Kayn sobbed, not because she was upset but the man’s last loving words about his family had touched her heart. She made her way towards the window wanting to grab the picture of his family off the visor before they burned the vehicle.
Grey blocked her path and scolded, “Everything in this car burns and anyone who touches anything in it.”
Kayn turned to look at Frost. Wa
it a minute. Was Grey going to have to burn Frost because he’d touched the driver?
Frost held out his hands and solemnly stated, “Just do it.”
Kayn looked at Grey and then at Frost in a panic. He wasn’t going to actually do it?
Grey winced as he asked, “This is going to suck. You ready buddy?”
“Never for this,” Frost responded meekly. He made eye contact with her and added, “But it’s not exactly a choice, now is it?”
Grey whispered, “Sorry man.” His hands hovered a few inches above Frost’s skin for a second. Brilliant flames of orange engulfed his muscular arms. Frost’s skin began to bubble and melt away from the meat. A pitchy sound of anguish spilled from between his parted lips and his eyes rolled back in pure agony as he collapsed to his knees on the frozen forest floor.
Kayn staggered backwards in shock as Grey casually strolled over and lit the car on fire. The interior was instantly engulfed in flames. They were sacrificial lambs.
Lexy knelt in front of Frost and cupped his face gently and the raw exposed skin on his arms immediately started to heal. She embraced him for a second, “Shhh, it’s okay.” His wounds scabbed and closed up. Lexy was beginning to look a little faint, she whispered, “Sorry, if I keep going you’re going to have to carry me up that hill.”
There was quite an ominous slant to it. Kayn hadn’t noticed how steep that hill was on the way down. Her mind had been elsewhere.
Melody reached for Frost and volunteered, “I’ll finish healing you.”
Frost politely refused, “We have to go hun. I’m okay, see.” He showed her his now perfectly healed skin.
Once she knew Frost was healed, Kayn’s eyes were drawn back towards the smoldering wreckage. She watched as his mortal shell floated away in the pungent billowing smoke. It disappeared into the sky above. She knew that she would never forget the scent of burning flesh and how selfless that man had been today. How brave, dare she think the name …Frost had been. Someone had to fix things that fell through the cracks. A kind, decent man had died tonight but his demise had a purpose, a clear one. His Correction had saved his family and who knows how many other families from being touched by a glitch in fate’s design.
Kayn followed the others silently, climbing the slippery slope by grabbing ahold of branches and ferns. Struggling, she pulled herself upwards. She could picture Lily sitting there with the engine idling. Kayn could hear the vehicle’s engine purring. She was trying to think of anything other than what she had just seen. Kayn’s hand clasped a fern and the exposed root from a tree. Strangely enough they created almost perfect handles. She dug her heels into the icy trickery beneath her feet, while actively ignoring the scent of burning human flesh. This night would mark her brain. She now knew what burning human flesh smelled like and she suspected it would stay with her always.
Stand Back Up
A large part of their training for the Testing revolved around understanding that they could not die, which was a surprisingly difficult thing to wrap your mind around. They met up with Markus, Arrianna and a girl named Flora at a storage unit that Lily had apparently borrowed. This was code for; she used super potent pheromones to get the use of it for free. Arrianna was going to run the tombs so they could take a training trip to the in-between. After they walked inside, Frost pulled the rope on the door and closed it behind them. Grey created a small flame in the palm of his hand and lit up the space. Grey, Lily, Lexy and Frost nonchalantly tossed their Ankh stones. Their rose quartz stones landed with oddly timed tings on the cement floor and right there in the dimly lit storage unit, four Ankh tombs appeared as a hologram and then solidified to stone.
Zach chuckled as he tapped on the solid top of one, “That is always so cool.”
Kayn smiled, looked at him and replied, “Ditto.”
Grey climbed into a tomb and glanced at Arrianna. She chucked Grey’s tunes at him. He caught them mid-air and sweetly said, “Thanks babe.”
Everyone got into their tombs, leaving the three of them standing there waiting for an invitation. Which Ankh would she be sharing a tomb with?
Grey noticed their awkward moment and teased, “Melody come hop in mine, there’s plenty of room.”
Arrianna shook her head at Grey and sighed, “Oh… Just lay off the poor girl Romeo.” She directed Melody to Lily’s tomb and said, “This one doesn’t bite.”
Grey winked and explained, “Just in case you three haven’t figured it out I’m being mocked and ridiculed because Arrianna is my ex-girlfriend. She thinks she can get away with it. I’ll have you know that I haven’t bitten anyone in a very long time.”
“Is that true Lily?” Arrianna teased.
Lily laughed, “Oh… Don’t drag me into this. He’s still mad at me.” Lily welcomed Melody into her tomb and they laid side by side.
“Kayn, you can go with Lexy,” Arrianna ordered. “Zach, you go with Grey.”
They all climbed into their appropriate tombs. Kayn glanced at Lexy as the tomb closed above them with the unforgettable grinding sound of stone on stone. Grey’s music started. Zach and Grey began to cat call and hoot, before the tombs were even pushed together. Kayn wondered if Lexy would be appalled if she began to hoot with the boys. She wanted to. Lexy must have heard her thoughts. She cupped her lips with both hands and hooted at Grey and Zach. They hooted back in unison. They could hear the laughter coming from the other tombs and this time both Kayn and Lexy hooted. The tombs jerked sideways. She was so excited. They waited for the response but the boys were laughing about something. Kayn closed her eyes in preparation. She knew what came next. The tombs began to strobe with blinding light. Kayn felt her stomach lurch in reaction to the sensation of being catapulted into oblivion while encased within the tomb. There were shrieks of excitement as their tombs began to spin until they slowed and momentarily stopped. With only a second to catch her breath the tombs began their stomach churning decent and they spun again as they plummeted inside the tomb until there was the sensation of the wind whipping against their bare skin. Their tombs were gone and they were falling into the in-between. The group burst through the clouds descending towards the desert floor. They slowed before impact. All of them landed on their feet, crouching in the warm sand of the in-between. They rose in unison. Kayn did what she always did. She stood there in awe of the visual miracle of the place that she was permitted to visit, only because she was part of a clan. The sky of vibrant blue stretched across the span of the desert. Kayn wiggled her toes in the warm silky sand. This was the clean palate the clans entered in. It was a sight familiar to each one of them. They would be able to paint whatever picture they desired once they were alone. Her eyes travelled from one gorgeous thing to another. Kayn looked at Frost. How long was he going to ignore her? Frost had walked away from where they’d landed with Lily and Grey. She couldn’t hear what they were saying but she imagined that was the point. They were probably planning their training. Kayn was staring at Frost. She’d gapped out while appreciating his barely there attire. Zach walked up to her and shoved her over in the sand. She tossed a handful back him and scowled.
He bent down and whispered, “You’re being a little too obvious.”
She grabbed his leg and yanked it out from under him. They began to wrestle around until she had Zach pinned down. Kayn sat with her legs straddling him as she sparred, “I gapped out. I was staring at nothing.”
Zach teased, “Hey, I get it. I catch myself staring at Lily all of the damn time.”
Kayn jousted back, “And Melody.”
Melody kicked some sand at them and scolded, “I’m right here you two. Stand up, they’re coming back.”
Zach looked into her eyes as he chuckled, “All right Brighton, get off me.”
Kayn whispered, “Is little Zachy wacky afraid Lily won’t think he’s all manly if he gets beaten up by a girl?” She tussled his hair like he was a kid.
Zach began to laugh, “Actually, I’m not going to even try to get away. When a girl pins
me down and straddles me like this, it totally turns me on.”
Kayn leapt to her feet and groaned, “Gross Zach.” He was like her brother. She didn’t think about him that way at all.
He laid in the sand howling. Kayn kicked sand at him and walked over to stand beside Melody.
“You walked right into that one,” Melody chuckled.
Frost walked up and scolded, “Enough horsing around you three.”
Zach smiled from his spot flat on his back in the sand and said, “Like you would try to stop a good looking girl from pinning you down.” He leapt to his feet.
Frost enquired, “Are you saying a girl couldn’t pin you down, unless you let her?”
Lexy strolled towards Zach and he stammered, “Nope, no, that is totally not what I’m saying.”
Frost motioned towards the absolutely breathtakingly beautiful Lily as he chuckled, “All right, what about Lily? Can she pin you down?”
Zach sighed, “Anytime she wants.”
Lily rolled her eyes at him and couldn’t help but crack a smile.
Frost started to laugh, “Go get him Lex.”
Lexy casually strolled towards him, swept his leg, taking Zach down with little to no effort, she had him pinned to the ground. She straddled his chest and stated, “That took me all of two seconds. You are going to have to do better than that Zach.” She put pressure on his shoulders with her knees and it was obviously excruciatingly painful. Lexy looked directly at Kayn and said, “Do you see what I’m doing here Brighton? You need more pressure to inflict pain.”
Zach had found himself in quite the predicament. Kayn managed to stop herself from cracking a smile as she replied, “I see.” They’d only been messing around but she decided to keep her mouth shut and just go with it.