Blue shut her eyes and slightly shook her head. “I did not know that your heart could heal and break all at the same time. I realized then the great tragedy of my life. That it had all been a lie. They’d kept me in Mexico to silence me. And I knew, very soon, they would make certain that the widow of the library had finally gotten too old to live.
“So here I was: an old woman without working legs who needed to go on the run to find her daughter. I wanted to try to call her, but I knew all of our phones were constantly monitored. I learned about the Researchers in the article and the YouTube video they’d released. So I reached out in desperation with an encrypted message to them, and they responded.
“The days that followed … were among the most frightening of my life. I had stolen the files on your and your grandmother’s cases and copied the videos. I hid the best I could, jumping at every noise outside the motel room where I’d disappeared to. I knew the agents were searching for me, desperate to recover what I’d taken. When at last I heard a knock at my door, exactly in the manner the Researchers said it would be, I opened it to find another face that had become plastered across the world’s news organizations.”
She looked over to Steven.
He nodded once. “Once we were able to decipher her message, I was determined to get her out and bring her home. Lynn needed to know her own mother was alive. Rudd, with his military background, was essential in coordinating the effort. And we almost slipped her out without notice.”
“Almost?” William asked.
“We were discovered. We lost two good people. The SSA lost more. But we succeeded in getting to the private plane. As soon as we landed in Florida, we took her into hiding.”
Blue shook her head. “We had to wait two months before we felt it was safe to even leave Steven’s house. It isn’t far from here, but still very remote. Once again, Dr. Richards came to my rescue.”
Steven smiled wearily. “We old people have to take care of each other. For your daughter, it was the least I could do.”
“I don’t understand … you never reached out to my grandmother? After all that … you never told her you’re alive?”
“Trust me, my boy. It has pained me every single moment since I returned to US soil,” she said. “But that terrible escape from Mexico made me realize that the closer I got to Lynn, to your mother, and her daughters, and even you, the more danger you all would face. If they learned I had gotten to her … there would be a freak gas explosion, or car accident, or something awful. I couldn’t risk it.”
“It weighed heavily on all of us,” Steven continued. “All I ever wanted was for your grandmother to know the truth. But I’d seen too much as well. I know what the SSA is capable of doing; no one, and I mean no one, is safe when they determine you know too much. They’ve been permanently removing witnesses of abductions for decades. We didn’t just keep ourselves from your grandmother, but from everyone and everything. We’ve lived in isolation.”
William let that sink in. “So ever since my grandmother found me…”
“I’ve been watching. From afar. As long as life appeared to go on as normal for you and your family, and I never surfaced, the SSA wouldn’t dare touch you. As I began to share with the Corcillium what I knew about the abductions, including the files I stole on your mother and yourself, I became an asset to them.”
“More than an asset,” Steven said. “For the first time in the history of the Corcillium, we had someone with direct knowledge of how the SSA worked and their purposes. To us, there is no one more valuable in the world.”
“And also dangerous,” she added softly. “And we all knew that no one, save for a few of our members, would know who I truly am.”
“Listen,” William began, “I know people have died, and I’m truly sorry for that. But the fact that my grandmother was unaware of all of this—”
“I actually extended an offer to your grandmother to join the Corcillium,” Steven said. “I even told her that letters existed from her father that she hadn’t read. I fully intended on her having it all. And when I first learned that Blue might be alive, I only told Lynn that I was trying to find something of significance to her. But when Mexico went so badly, and we knew the SSA would be desperately searching for Blue, we had no choice. To protect Lynn, she had to think the Corcillium—including myself—had disappeared.”
Blue trembled. William reached out and took her hand, cold even in the summer heat. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what you’ve had to go through.”
She smiled through her tears, her voice choking. “But here you are. My great-grandson. My whole life, all I’ve been awarded with is time. And now that I need it, we have none.”
“What do you mean?”
Blue looked across the yard to Lily, now sitting by the fountain, trying to convince one of the dragonflies to land on her finger. “It stopped, you know. After the abducted vanished from Argentum and the others sites, the disasters ceased. The diseases slowed, even the violence. And the numbers of missing people dropped dramatically. But last year, the fires out west started without a clear ignition source. Hurricanes in the south started churning, one after another. Increased violence on the East Coast and widespread, unexplained diseases in the upper Midwest. Similar disasters are now unfolding in every country. And we knew.”
“Rudd is a talented hacker,” Steven continued. “With Blue’s assistance in unraveling their security codes, we’ve kept tabs on the SSA. And a year ago, they detected four single beams of light from the sky on a single night in every major country around the world. Then, a day or so later, it happened again. But not in Argentum, or the Yucatan, or the other locations where you and the other abducted were returned.”
Blue motioned slightly to Lily. “What do you know of her?”
William watched the girl for a moment. “I only know what an agent with the parks service told me: She was found somewhere in a national park in North Dakota just a few days ago, wandering alone. I can’t get her to tell me anything else. She just tends to repeat one saying, over and over.”
“And what is that?” Steven asked.
William exhaled through his nose. “Something about being a monster in a mountain.”
Blue tilted her head. “What does that mean to you?”
William stood, wincing as a final beam of sunlight cast across his face. The pained look on his face remained as he moved from the light.
“Let us help you unravel this,” Steven said. “You saw the video of your interrogation when you were a child. You know how you, your grandmother, and the others who were abducted were implanted somehow with technology that we still don’t understand. To be used as weapons to be tested on the people of this planet. And you…”
“I’m the conduit. Yes. I heard it in that video. And my grandmother said the same.”
“She did?” Blue asked.
William turned back to her. “She would never talk about Argentum or what happened. But in a very bad moment after my grandfather died, I overheard her tell her friend that I was a conduit of some kind. That if triggered, I could cause her to do something terrible to the people around her. It’s why I had to run. I couldn’t risk her safety, or our family’s.”
“That must weigh heavily on her,” Blue said quietly.
“She doesn’t know that I overheard her. She probably assumes I figured something out. I hated isolating myself, but if anyone would understand, it would be her.”
Blue slowly looked over to Lily. “If she knew about that little girl over there and had the chance to talk to her like I did … she would certainly come to the same conclusion. In my talks with Lily—and she is still extremely guarded—she explained that she’s desperate to protect you.”
“Protect me?”
“Rudd debriefed me on everything that happened. Quincy filled in the rest of the blanks of what happened in that cotton field. Poor Lily, she won’t talk about it. But she did say some things. She doesn’t understand why she’s able…”
<
br /> “To kill,” William said.
“She says she isn’t doing it intentionally. The way the bodies of those agents were described to me by Rudd … she’s making them sick. In an instant. So sick that they’re dead within moments. What the abducted from before were implanted with … is nothing compared to what Lily is able to do. She told me she does it because she thinks she’s protecting you. She says you want her to do it.”
“But, I’m not…”
Blue reached out for his leg. “She says she felt it at that cotton field and at the airport. Even in the agent’s car in Memphis. All she knows is that she feels your fear and anger. She told me what happened when you were in the back seat of the agent’s car. She says she saw him holding you, and she was going to kill him to save you. But she heard your voice, telling her to stop.”
William watched Lily dip her toes in the water. “I think I did. That particular agent seemed like he honestly wanted to protect me. I didn’t want him to die.”
Blue smiled sadly. “Your connection with her is extremely strong.”
William exhaled. “It’s stronger than you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“I dream of her.”
“You do?” Steven asked.
“Just her eyes. About a year ago, I started having these nightmares when I moved to Little Rock. I dream of awful things, in different places. Fires, storms, shootings, people suffering. But just days ago, in the nightmares, I started seeing the eyes. A different single pair at each disaster. I often see people dying at a hospital, and when I do, one pair of deep brown eyes watches as well. Lily’s eyes.”
“My God.” Blue’s hand cupped her chin. “William, this is important. Just one pair of eyes? In each disaster?”
“I think so.”
“That’s what we’ve theorized,” she said.
“Here’s what we think,” Steven said. “The original people who were abducted and were later taken away by those ships … we think they were ultimately determined to be … flawed. You read the letter Blue wrote as a young woman, about the woman causing the hurricane, how her ears seemed to bleed?”
“I read about it in so many other cases. It was horrible seeing what became of them once they were triggered,” Blue shivered. “Once their abilities were unleashed, they were vegetables afterwards. Comatose. Those ships arrived in Argentum and in every place in the world where the SSA had collected them. Those people were picked up like broken toys and taken away. What happened to them, we may never know. But seeing Lily … we think we understand the next phase.”
“The next phase?”
“You’ve seen Lily—her ears don’t bleed, she doesn’t cry out in pain. She’s enhanced. As soon as she’s triggered, she ignites without warning, as easily as batting an eye. And then she continues on, as if nothing happened. We believe those lights from the heavens a year ago were the abductions of new people. The subsequent lights a day or so later were them being returned. Lily came from North Dakota, which is at the center of the spike in diseases. I believe here in the South, another is causing the hurricanes. Another is causing the uptick in violence on the East Coast, and yet another the fires in the West. And you, William, were drawn to the center of them all. You are the conduit.”
William rubbed his forehead. “And this is all happening through me.”
“We don’t know that for sure. But you’re obviously connected to them. It’s why the SSA wants to bring you in,” Steven said.
“And they should.” William placed his hands behind his head. “We’re all dangerous. They should lock us up and throw away the key.”
“No,” Blue said. “That’s not the answer. After talking with Lily, and knowing your connection to her … I wonder if you are the answer. The way to stop it all.”
“How can I stop it if I’m starting it?”
“Think about it, William. Yes, Lily attacked those agents because she thought you were in danger. But when you directed her not to hurt the man in the back seat, she didn’t. You stopped her. You understand what that means, right?”
“You think—”
“We hope. We hope it means if you can stop her, you can stop the others too—”
“Fellow believers!” came a call from across the yard. Quincy was striding across the grass, Rudd following closely behind, frowning. “Mr. Personality here is a little less than forthcoming with details. And I’ve got lots of questions.”
“Tell him, Steven. It’s time.” Blue motioned to Quincy. “He needs to see them too.”
“See what?” Quincy asked. “Damn, William. You look even more pale than usual.”
“After this, Blue, you’re done for the day. Time to take your medicine and rest a bit,” Steven cautioned.
She looked to William. “But—”
“No buts. Rudd is going to take you home. I think he and Mr. Martin need some space anyway. William isn’t going anywhere yet.”
“Where is he going?” Quincy asked. “Because I—”
“Before you begin,” Steven said wearily. “I need you, Mr. Martin, to just answer a quick question for me for William to hear. Quincy—that’s actually your middle name, right?”
Quincy put his hands in his pockets. “Yeah … about that…”
“Why don’t you tell William your first name.”
“It’s Rex. But here’s the deal about that—”
“Rex is a family name, am I right?”
“Someone has been deep googling me.”
“Named after your great-grandfather,” Steven continued, looking right at William. “Dr. Rex Martin.”
William blinked. Dr. Rex Martin.
From the letters. The man who helped find his grandmother in the Yucatan.
No. It can’t …
“Even after all this time, I actually think I see some resemblance,” Blue noted.
The edges of Quincy’s mouth turned sheepish as he looked to William. “Apparently I’m picking up where great-grandpa Rex left off.”
* * *
It was clear why Lily wanted to immediately return to the fountain after their quick dinner. There was a calming to the sound of the trickling water, spilling from a bowl held aloft by a pillar carved with owls with outstretched wings.
William noticed it now, how often the owl was featured throughout the house. The hilts of the knives he’d found to make himself and Lily quick peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches were emblazed with gold soaring owls. As Steven had led the ever-excited Quincy through the hallway to the elevator, they’d passed a large painting of a resting owl.
As William had helped Blue into Rudd’s car to drive to Steven’s home hidden somewhere in the dense trees, he’d noticed she wore a necklace of a gold owl. As she kissed his cheek, saying she would return first thing in the morning, he’d asked about it.
“Knowledge,” she’d said. “The symbol of the Corcillium. It guides us. Fear of the unknown cannot rule us. Doubt is our driver. An unflinching clarity of what we’re facing gives us a foundation upon which to act. A light in the bleakest of times. Remember that, my boy.”
William could barely make out the owls on the fountain, as the lights from the porch were a good distance away. The dark did allow, however, for the stars to shine brilliantly above.
“Careful, kiddo, it’s dark out here,” William said as Lily made another round on the edge. “In fact, why don’t you come sit next to me?”
She obeyed quickly, coming to rest, as she always did, directly beside him.
“We need to talk. I know so very little about you. Where are your parents?”
Her response was her typical silence, staring out into the night. “Whatever happened, you can tell me. It’s OK if it’s scary. How did you end up in that valley in North Dakota? Do you remember?”
She looked down, wearing an expression of guilt.
“Hey. Whatever happened, it wasn’t your fault. Just like it wasn’t my fault that they took me too. Did you know they took my grandmother as we
ll? We didn’t ask for it, Lily.”
“But it is my fault,” she said, tears springing to her eyes.
“No it’s not. Just like it’s not your fault what happened to those bad men. I know you were just trying to protect me. In fact, it’s my fault. And you don’t ever have to do it again, OK?”
“There’s a monster in the mountain.”
“Honey, I don’t know what that means. You have to tell me—”
The girl stood up and began to walk on the fountain again. “Lily—”
She shook her head fiercely.
He followed, keeping pace beside her. “You’re going to have to tell me. I know you’re tired. I am too. After a good night’s sleep, we’re going to talk about it. I know what it’s like to be a confused kid. A scared kid—”
She turned to him and reached out. He wrapped his arms around her, and she buried her face in his neck. “We have to go there! It’s my fault what happened to her—”
“William!” Quincy’s voice came from the porch.
“What do you mean?” William asked. “What do you think is your fault?”
Hearing Quincy’s loud approach, Lily let go and began to walk again.
William sighed, turning to the outlines of Quincy and Steven walking across the grass. “Man, I knew I was right. My Dad was right about his grandfather. I just never knew how right until I read those letters!”
“I’m getting the very strong feeling that none of this has happened by chance,” William said. “You didn’t just find me because of some sort of business deal, did you?”
“I fully intended to tell you. But you know, the explosions and kidnappings got in the way.”
“Partly by chance, partly by design is the truth, I’m afraid,” Steven said. “The Corcillium has been moving chess pieces for some time now. I should know, I was one of those pieces. Obviously there was a reason they kept tabs on Dr. Martin’s family. Before Rex Martin died, he let the Corcillium know he’d told his son all about his research, hoping in vain that he would continue his work. No one could have guessed his great-grandson would be the one to pick up the mantle.”
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