The First Touch

by Alice Sweet

  He was slightly shimmering now and she tilted her head to the side and asked, “What is wrong with your...your body?”

  The shimmering stopped, and he asked in a gruff voice, “You can see me?”

  She smiled, “Yes, you guard a lot of vessels?”

  He nodded and then added, “Not many have seen me.”

  She smiled warmly, “I figured that, but you do still have a high creep factor going for you. Kind of like Death without the sickle, so you will have no problems with me tonight.” He almost cracked a smile, and she continued, “So no one has ever seen you?” He nodded, and then she clarified, “No one save Isisa I take it.” He nodded again, she continued, “Well then, that should be a good sign for me. I am being tested tomorrow.”

  When the silence stretched she added, “I heard that she was a very great woman.” He nodded, and she asked, “If no one has seen you then how do you eat? And how do you ever see the light of day down here?”

  He answered gruffly, “I will leave when you leave, and I cannot stand the light.”

  She frowned, “Are you a different kind of vessel or something else?”

  He winced at her words and replied, “I am a vessel.”

  “Then I am sorry for your luck. It is amazing that you have survived those are some pretty crappy cards.” He nodded, and she continued, “Speaking of cards I have a deck, would you like to play a hand or two?” She slid her hand into her pocket and pulled them out showing them to her.

  He didn’t answer, then she urged him again, “I do not think that I will live through the tests tomorrow. So think of it as a woman’s dying wish.” He grinned and stepped forward and then stopped hearing the latch outside of the door open. Autumn stood and watched as a slim lanky man entered the cell. He said something in a foreign tongue and the door closed. He was carrying a candle, a blanket and a pillow.

  His eyes bore through her instantly, though not in the same way that the shimmering man had. He looked hungry and his eyes were blood shot. He set the blanket and pillow on the edge of the bed and set the candle on the end of the thick wooden bed frame. Autumn asked, “Are you Mirth?”

  “Yes.” His voice was surprisingly gentle though a bit hollow sounding.

  Autumn said then, “Thank you for bringing me the blanket and pillow, it is terribly cold down here.”

  Though she did not reach for the blanket, when Mirth offered, “You did not complete your transformation?”

  She smiled, “I think that I have finished. I slept, I woke, and I drank.”

  He eyed her carefully, “Your eyes are not ripe”

  She replied unsmiling, “They change.”

  He seeming slightly more interested as he stepped a bit closer, “Change?”

  She blinked, “Yes they change.”

  Autumn felt the shift in the air and the shimmering man was next to her. He did not touch her but he did not leave her side either. Mirth asked, “May I see the change?”

  She replied still calm, as the shimmering man reached out to steady her, “You will see them tomorrow just like the rest of them.”

  Mirth narrowed his red eyes and replied, “No I think I will have a look at them now.”

  He stepped forward, and Autumn closed her eyes squeezing them shut and tucked her head to her chest. The man closed his fingers around her forearm and gave it a jerk. Pain shot through her arm as she heard the snap, and the door to the cell jerked open suddenly. Grayton stood in the doorway sneering at Mirth, “Why are you in here alone with her?” She tried to pull her arm from his grip, and he tightened it.

  Grayton stepped closer growling, “Let her go.” Mirth loosened his grip, and Autumn pulled her arm back and tucked it protectively to her chest.

  Grayton did not move a muscle as Mirth pulled his hand back and stepped away from her. “She is weak.”

  Grayton replied unemotional, “Out. She needs to rest.”

  Mirth hesitated still looking at her, “She is not the eye.”

  Grayton replied coldly, “That is for the others to decide.”

  Mirth shot from the room and Grayton followed behind him, without another word to Autumn. The door closed behind them and the locks fastened, swiftly. Then she listened as they headed up the staircase and back towards the light. The shimmering man finally pulled his hand from her shoulder then, and stepped away watching as she snapped her arm back into place.

  Then she blinked a few times, her eyes turning black and then she hissed while her arm mended itself. Afterwards, she moved her fingers, testing them and stretching for a moment. She closed her eyes and opened them again, switching back, and they were their usual color once again. The shimmering man watched quietly, before questioning, “Why do you hide it?”

  Autumn smiled to herself, “If they see it then they expect more.” He nodded, and then she pulled the deck from her pocket again.

  She began shuffling the cards and then stopped and smiled at the shimmering man, “My name is Autumn, what is yours?” He did not answer her, and then she prodded, “I am probably going to die tomorrow so you will not have to worry about me telling anyone about you.”

  He still looked at the ground shimmering again, “Utvic,”

  She smiled, “Well Utvic it is nice to meet you.” He nodded.

  As she began laying the cards out, he spoke first looking at the cards in his hands, “He will kill you tomorrow if he gets the chance.”

  “Yes I could feel it in his touch, he is lacking something vital.” He nodded, and then she continued, “A soul perhaps?”

  “No he has a soul, though it is black.”

  Autumn smiled brightly, “So he is strong?”

  Utvic nodded, “Yes.” Then she looked at her hand and pulled two cards from her hand and drew two more. Then he pulled one and drew one more in return.

  Then she continued, “So how did you get this job?”

  Utvic replied, “Isisa offered it, she needed someone to keep time for her.”

  Autumn raised her eyebrow not understanding, “You like it then, um, down here?”

  He shrugged, “Room and board, peace and a purpose, what more could a man want.”

  “A mate,” She offered.

  He winced, “Newborns come here all the time, and eventually one will see me.”

  “That makes sense, and still the lack of social interaction would drive most people crazy.” He did not respond to that statement, she asked, “If I live through tomorrows test I would love to visit with you from time to time. I mean unless you would rather that I didn’t.”

  “You probably will not live through the test.”

  Autumn smiled, “If I do can I come down from time to time and at least check on you?”

  He nodded, “Two pair.” Then he laid his hand in front of her.

  Autumn smiled wider, “Full house.”

  He looked at her in surprise, “You should get some sleep you look horrible.”

  She smiled again, “No worse than I always do.” He smiled at her attempt to keep things light. She collected the cards and slid them back into her pocket. Then she laid back, “Goodnight then Utvic.”

  He nodded and sat in the chair, then asked, “Why are you not using the blanket?” Autumn smiled her eyes still closed, “I know better than to take gifts from people like Mirth.” He smiled and nodded then he closed his eyes as well thinking, I hope she lives through tomorrow, though he was fairly certain that she would not. No one had passed the test in nearly two hundred years. He frowned and opened his eyes and then looked at her motionless body.

  She looked so sweet and innocent, and she had seen him. Perhaps she was the one, he swallowed, “Autumn are you asleep?”

  Autumn nodded, and then said, “No,” although she did not open her eyes.

  “What can you do?” Autumn smiled.

  “I can do everything that the council can and a bit more I imagine.”

  He felt relief rush through him then, “What more?”

  Autumn opened her eyes then,
“I can hurt with my mind and heal with my touch.”

  Utvic nodded, “Anything else?”

  Autumn smiled, “When I drink from others I can see their memories.”

  “That is promising.”

  Autumn tilted her head, “But?”

  He shrugged, “Isisa was different she developed further in a shorter time.”

  “She challenged the last eye though right?”

  He nodded, “The eye before her was not a good leader. The dark ages were a troubled time even for our kind.”

  Autumn nodded, “Isisa pushed herself to take the place as quick as possible?”

  “No, her brother sensed the danger and then pushed her to stop her from being killed before her highest potential was achieved.”

  Autumn nodded again, “What could she do?”

  “Nearly indestructible, fast, and strong, just like the council, but with additional abilities of the mind.”

  Autumn frowned, “I only have limited mental abilities….Perhaps if I tried a little harder?”

  He seemed encouraged, “Yes that is a good idea.”

  Autumn nodded, “As soon as I finish tomorrows testing I am going to try to push a bit and see if I can come up with more.”

  “If you live, the challenges will likely begin right away.”

  Autumn nodded sadly, “I know.”

  Utvic nodded suddenly feeling compassion, “I could help you to escape.”

  Autumn frowned then, “Thank you for the offer but I have to test, or else they will kill my mate.”

  He frowned, “You have a mate?”

  Autumn nodded, “Though I am not sure if he is actually my mate...”

  Utvic sat forward, “You don’t know?”

  Autumn smiled slightly embarrassed, “We have only kissed but he told me that he had the same dream that I did before we met telling him to meet me at the same coffee shop.”

  He nodded, “I see. Which council member is it?”

  Autumn replied then, “I do not want others to know, so when I tell you this, you must promise not to tell another person.”

  He nodded and leaned in slightly more and she whispered it, “Ivan.”

  He sucked in, “I figured.”

  She looked curious, “Why?”

  Utvic explained, “He looks like hell, short temper, and random acts of violence.” Autumn nodded, and then he continued, “He also nearly slaughtered the entire council as you slept. And he has been pacing above us since you entered the castle.”

  “I think I accidentally bonded with him when I kissed him.” She admitted.

  Utvic asked skeptically, “Accidentally?”

  Autumn smiled coyly, “Well it is not that I would not have chosen him for my mate. I simply would have waited until after the testing. It would have removed some of the complications. And what do you mean he has been pacing since I got here?”

  Utvic looked at her skeptically, “You cannot feel him?”

  Autumn closed her eyes and listened to Ivan’s footsteps above then and smiled, “He is agitated.”

  He replied chastising her, “You should pay more attention to your surroundings.”

  Autumn shrugged, “I like blocking everything instead. It is less distracting, especially Ivan.”

  He asked, “It is too difficult for you to concentrate.”

  Autumn nodded, “If I focus on both then the darkness slips out.”

  He seemed particularly interested by her choice of words, “The darkness?”

  Autumn looked at the ground, “Yes, it is hard to keep it locked up. It becomes almost impossible to hold back when I am hungry. It also becomes especially difficult if I am close to another vessel with power.”

  He seemed taken aback by her words and even shifted back looking at her worried, “What happens when you let this darkness out?”

  Autumn swallowed, “I black out and hurt people, in a dream I nearly killed Helen.”

  Utvic replied concerned though not in the way that she had suspected, “What did you do to her?”

  Autumn watched his reaction and replied slowly, “It was just a dream Utvic, it did not really happen.” He nodded, and she continued, “Well in my dream Helen was in Ivan’s room, and she kept pushing me. Then I let the darkness slip just for a minute. I couldn’t control it for nearly half of that and when I opened my eyes again I saw it. I had sliced her and burnt her so badly that she was barely able to move.”

  Utvic replied, “She’d heal quickly from that.”

  Autumn frowned and replied, “That’s just it, she didn’t repair her self she just kept crying and looking at her burnt arms and hands.”

  Utvic paused from what he was about to say, “She didn’t heal?”

  Autumn nodded scared, “I touched her afterwards and healed her.”

  Utvic stood and began pacing, “She didn’t heal.”

  Autumn looked at him skeptically, “You might just be the one...,” he let the words drift off into the darkness. “That could be helpful in keeping you alive tomorrow.”

  Autumn shook her head then, “I won’t use that against the council.”

  “No, if you use it against your challengers then you will likely scare off a majority of them.”

  Autumn nodded, “I don’t know how long or how many I could hurt with it though. Or if I can even control it once I let it out again.”

  He nodded solemnly, “That will be your choice once the challengers arise.”

  She replied hopefully, “Maybe I will get lucky and I won’t have to use it at all.”

  “Mirth will likely send in a few of his men to finish you and if they are unsuccessful, then he will come for you himself.”

  Autumn nodded, “You said he had all of the powers of his sister save his soul right?”

  “Yes that is where the real potential lies though.”

  Her eyes widened, “So I have no soul then?”

  “You can still retain human form. I do not think that you would be able to do that if you did not have a soul.”

  Autumn replied her eye brows arching together, “So then I am not the eye?”

  He looked speculative then, “You might not be finished with your transformation yet.”

  “Now that is a difficult concept to wrap my mind around.” Her mind raced, How much more could I change. Would I even be the same person? Where would my soul go if I didn’t have it? And If I let the darkness out will I lose it then? What will happen after I die for real then? She shook her head, turning to Utvic, “Did she leave an instruction manual? A journal? Anything?”

  “I am uncertain….” He added not seeming to want to share, all of a sudden.

  She frowned, “Do you think you could check for me. I think it would be helpful in the future, assuming I do live through tomorrow.” He nodded hesitantly.

  Autumn yawned feeling sleepy all of a sudden, “Good night Utvic, see you in the morning.”

  He smirked and sat back in the chair again, “Yes, in the morning.” She listened to Ivan pace back and forth upstairs and slowly drifted off to sleep saying to Ivan, “Stop worrying, I will be fine love. After this is done we can talk.” Ivan stopped pacing and his heart began racing. Autumn felt it and took that as a sign that he heard. Then she smiled sleepily and murmured, “Good night love.” Then she listened to Ivan’s foot steps leave the room above her.

  New Developments

  Ivan pushed open Helen’s door without notice and said, “Did you call to me?” She was sitting in a chair knitting a blanket and staring out the window.

  She did not look at him, “So you don’t knock now?”

  Ivan hissed, “Did you call me?”

  Helen replied honestly, “No.” Then he stormed from the room and headed towards Henry and Flora’s room. There were guards standing there, Ivan pushed past them easily. They followed him in to the room guns drawn and Henry signaled for them to stand down. They left the room just as quickly.

  Ivan asked Flora, “Did you call me?”

 
“No, should I have?”

  Ivan asked then, “Did you hear her?”

  Henry looked worried then, “Is Autumn in trouble?”

  “No.”

  Henry looked relieved, “What did she say?”

  Flora stepped closer looking concerned, “How is she?”

  Ivan said, “She said stop worrying and that we would talk after it was done tomorrow.”

  “That is good.”

  Grayton said, “Don’t encourage him, Flora. She is simply trying to placate him; she told me that he is distracting.”

  Flora rebutted, “That is love.”

  Grayton frowned, “That may be true but I doubt it. She asked that he stay clear of her so she could concentrate on the task tomorrow.” Grayton stepped closer and looked directly at Ivan his eyes threatening, “Not a look or a gesture, do not even breathe a word to her. She needs to be completely focused to accomplish her goal. At least without harming anyone unnecessarily or worse getting herself killed. She didn’t even want you there, but that can’t be helped.”

  Ivan locked eyes with Grayton and then Flora stepped in between the two men and pressed her hands into each of their chests. They didn’t even break their gazes as they stepped back. Ivan replied, “I know what is at stake Grayton.” The final words were spoken with an under lying threat as well.

  The two continued their wordless fight until Henry finally broke in, “You should both get some rest. If she passes the test….”

  Grayton interjected, “When she passes the test.”

  Henry nodded raising his hand to include the new words, “When she passes the test, the challenges might become overwhelming and we need to be on top of them to regulate the battles to one at a time.”

  Both men nodded and left the room disappearing in opposite directions. Flora commented when they left, “If she survives this they are going to fight for her.”

  Henry nodded, with worry in his eyes, “Yes I fear that you are right.”

  ***

  Mirth sat upon his bed watching the sunrise and watched the sleeping woman, in his bed. No one could see her, and he liked it that way, his little minx. He wished that she had been his match, she was special, and he knew this. She was one of a kind, over the years he never thought he would find a vessel so utterly unique.