by Zile Elliven
Aeyli’s stomach picked that moment to announce to the crowd that it had been far too long since it had been fed. She clutched it and giggled nervously. Now that the fear of impending doom was no longer looming over her head, she could get down to the business of listening to her body again. What a novel concept.
“I can’t believe how hungry I am right now. I mean, I’ve been hungry in the past few months, but this is impressive.”
“It’s all the magic you used. Your body is either going to want sleep or food, stat. Fortunately for you, we sent someone to raid the compound to see if anything can be salvaged from the fires.” Jack’s eyes twinkled.
“Any chance we could get some tacos?” she asked hopefully.
“We’ll be lucky if they find anything more than half-burned potatoes,” Sterling said. “When we were running away I caught a glimpse of the storage shed, and it was almost gone.”
“We might be better off with Fourteen’s MREs. What do you think? Did you think to bring any for the rescue?” Aeyli teased over her shoulder.
When she didn’t get a response, she turned to see nothing but barren, snow-covered trees.
“Fourteen?” She raised her voice expectantly but got no reply. A chill ran down her spine. “He wouldn’t just leave like that.”
But she wasn’t sure. She didn’t know him very well yet. He could have social anxiety and hate crowds, or it was possible he had decided to scout the perimeter if he didn’t feel safe. Except that he’d just told her they were safe tonight.
Aeyli turned without explanation and ran into the woods. She ignored her brother calling for her to stop and ran as fast as she could through the trees. She sensed a presence at her side, and for a brief second, she thought it was Fourteen, only to realize it was Marshall keeping pace beside her.
He spoke a word she didn’t recognize, and the world around her turned bright as day. “That should make finding him easier for us.” Marshall gave her a smile that was probably meant to be reassuring, but Aeyli wasn’t comforted. Inside, she felt like her stomach was filled with shards of ice.
She heard movement off to her left and saw Jack’s back vanishing behind a cluster of trees.
“Addy says she’ll check for norms in the area, but with Fourteen’s shield, she’s going to have a hard time finding him. If she finds any norms in the area, she’ll shut them down, and we’ll go check them out.”
“One of the agents from the Company has a shield just like Fourteen does. He traded it so he could get help to rescue me.”
Marshall frowned then jerked his head in the direction Jack had gone. “Jack’s found something.” He turned on his heel and ran in the direction Jack disappeared.
Branches whipped her face, drawing blood as she ran after Marshall, but she barely noticed. “What did he find?” she shouted at Marshall’s back, but he either didn’t hear her, or he didn’t want to respond.
She caught up to Marshall and saw him bending over something on the ground. His body blocked what he was looking at, so Aeyli craned her neck and saw a familiar pair of black army boots. The world tilted oddly, and Aeyli’s body felt tingly. She staggered forward and fell against Marshall’s back.
“It’s not him,” Marshall twisted with cat-like agility and caught her before she fell to the ground. “It’s not him.” He continued to repeat it into her ear until she understood his words.
Pushing free of his arms, she said through numb lips, “Who is it then?” Her voice sounded like it was coming from someone else.
“There’s a note addressed to you, pinned to his chest.” Jack said.
He meant it literally. Aeyli pushed Marshall’s arms away and sank to her knees beside the body. Her eyes were glued to the knife sprouting out of the dead man’s chest. It was more than she had in her to look at his face. If Marshall was wrong, she wasn’t ready to know yet, so instead she focused her attention on the piece of paper tied to the handle of the knife.
Her hands trembled as she untied the note labeled Ms. Blaike. She dropped it in the snow twice before she was able to unfold it, and on her second attempt she caught a glimpse of sandy blonde hair out of the corner of her eye. Fourteen’s hair was brown. Her hands grew steadier, and she was finally able to reveal the note’s now-sodden contents. Her voice wavered as she read out loud:
Ms. Blaike,
I hope our services were of use to you this evening. Please feel free to contact us again should the need arise. I regret to inform you that we won’t be able to supply you with the same operative who helped you this time as he will be indisposed for the near future.
Best of luck in your future endeavors.
Yours,
The Colonel
There wasn’t enough air. She was in the middle of the woods, and she couldn’t get enough air. Her hand clenched around the note, crushing it into a soggy mess. “They took him. He said we would be safe tonight.” She staggered to her feet. “I have to go after them.”
Marshall grabbed her, stopping her easily. “Adelle says there is no sign of him or anyone beyond us and the survivors as far as she can sense. We won’t find him that way.”
“I can’t just sit here, you don’t know what they did to him!”
She’d promised they’d never get to him again. The world was tinged an angry, dark pink. The sphere. They were going to put him in that disgusting sphere and take everything away from him again.
She thought about the half-dead boy she dragged from the chamber and rage swept over her. All she could see was a wash of magenta.
“Marshall . . .” Aeyli heard Jack’s voice come from far away.
“I know,” came Marshall’s calm reply.
“If you don’t get a lid on her, the less charming aspect of her power is going to slam the eastern half of the state.”
“I know . . .”
She thought she felt hands on her face, but the energy building inside her was so strong she couldn’t think, couldn’t see. Fourteen . . .
Aeyli.
She wanted someone to pay. The Colonel. She would find him and kill him for what he had done. He needed to pay. The magenta became the color of old blood.
Aeyli! Come back, this isn’t you. The hands on her face tightened. You aren’t alone this time.
She was always alone. No one gave a shit about her until Fourteen.
I care, Aeyli. So do Jack and Adelle. We’re going to help you get him back.
Cool, soothing blue caressed her mind. Her rage faltered.
An image formed in her mind of Fourteen standing beside her, holding her hand and looking serious, but at peace.
We will get him back.
Blood-red faded to magenta as she saw Dream-Fourteen turn to smirk at something Dream-Jack said.
Keep this in your heart. You have to believe you will get him back.
Dream-Adelle pushed Dream-Jack, and everyone in the image laughed. She wanted this future more than she wanted her next breath. Fourteen safe and protected. Friends who cared about her.
“You have the last part.” Marshall’s voice was right next to her ear. At some point she had ended up cradled in his lap again.
“We’ll make sure you get the first part too.” Jack’s impossible eyes were serious. “Trust us, it’s what we do.”
Aeyli reached for the vision Marshall had given her and found it safely nestled in her mind.
“It’ll be there whenever you need it.” Marshall promised, giving her a squeeze.
She sat quietly and focused on the sensation of Marshall’s hand stroking her hair until the pink had receded to the corners of her mind. Hesitantly, she asked, “Is everyone okay? Did I hurt anyone?”
Jack’s face went distant and then snapped back into focus. “You scared the shit out of your family, but they’re okay. You two locked it down before anyone went crazy.”
“That’s a possibility?” She’d known her power was bad, but she hadn’t known how bad it could be.
Jack sat on his heels beside them. �
��I could spend hours lecturing you on being the Stillbringer, but this isn’t the time for it, so I’ll give you the abridged version. You, my dear, have the ability to tap into the stillness of creation. When trained, you could step onto a battlefield and bring it to a halt. Untrained and unfocused, you bring out the best and worst in people. If you are unhappy, unless they know what to shield from, everyone else is going to be unhappy too.
“Likewise, for the people around you. Unless you shield, you’re going to leak raw energy at people and amp up their emotions until they go spinning out of control. It’s no wonder your family had such a hard time with you. They were so tainted by Sekt’s influence that exposure to you brought out some seriously dark shit.”
“So . . . I’m not broken?” The concept was mindboggling.
“No, just unique.” Jack reached out and poked her in the nose.
Marshall’s voice rumbled in her ear. “When you are fully trained, you are going to be glorious.”
“Gods help the Colonel when you find him.” Jack added with a smirk.
Aeyli nodded darkly. Gods help him indeed. As the new matriarch of the Blaike family she now had monetary resources she could only have dreamed about before. She would train hard, would spend every dime she had, use every resource at her disposal. She wouldn’t stop until she got Fourteen back. It was what he would have done for her. And then she would make the Colonel pay.
Zile Elliven is a chronic dreamer who enjoys spending her days chasing cats, kids, and fantasies through the hilltowns of Massachusetts. Follow her on Twitter at @ZileElliven and say hi.
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Coming in 2019
Soulcleaver
The Dreamwalker Chronicles: Book Two