Synarchy Book 1: The Awakening

by DCS

  Caleb stiffened. Damn. He didn’t mind the assignment, obviously, but he didn’t expect that he would start working with the triplets so soon. He’d wanted a little more time to prepare. Just the sight of Simone was pulling at his heart. All he wanted to do was tell her so he could touch her again. One more time. With supreme effort, he kept control of himself and nodded at the order, standing at a stiff ease in front of the triplets.

  No further argument came, though she had not expected one. Even so, Isabella didn’t immediately head back into the church. Instead, her dark gray eyes continued to watch their near mirror in Simone. And then, unexpectedly, she simply smiled. It lingered around her well-aged face and held some secret knowledge in its easy emotion. Only after that moment did she turn and slowly climb the steps back inside.

  “Good luck with those two,” Christopher said to Simone, giving Lucien and Vasco a look before he turned and followed his sister back inside.

  “That means us, too, I’m thinking. Lemmie up, Simone.” Lucien poked lightly at his sister’s ankle.

  “Huh? Oh. Sorry.” Simone gave a little shake of her head and took her foot off her brother. She had been thrown off balance by the look Isabella had given her. It was almost if she knew, but how could that be? Though it wasn’t out of the realm of the explainable; not in this family. Marcello had obviously known, somehow.

  “Thanks.” Lucien gave her a knowing smile as he got to his feet, understanding her dilemma.

  Vasco was thoughtfully silent as he began to climb back up the stone steps, occasionally glancing in Caleb’s direction. Mr. Kincade couldn’t reveal himself to Simone. Mr. Kincade kept side glancing at her, when she wasn’t watching, and the expression in his eyes was one Stefano had seen before. Understanding dawned, partly. Those thoughts were interrupted by the abrupt ringing of his cell phone. He glanced down at the caller ID, saw it was blocked but answered it anyway.

  “So, Caleb, just an FYI, we don’t like bodyguards.” Lucien half grinned at the other man as they walked.

  “Not uncommon knowledge, but I just take orders.” Caleb returned his expression and shared it with Simone. She looked different, but there were so many similarities. He wondered if she would pick up on any of them in him.

  “Simone, better work quickly with Caleb to plan a trip,” Vasco said as he tucked the cell phone back into the inside of his suit jacket. “We’re going to Virginia.”

  “Why?” Lucien asked.

  Caleb didn’t look surprised.

  Vasco actually grinned at his siblings. “Kill two birds with one stone.”

  Chapter 19

  “The great strength of our Order lies in its concealment, let it never appear, in any place in its own name, but always covered by another name, and another occupation. None is fitter than the three lower degrees of Freemasonry; the public is accustomed to it, expects little from it, and therefore takes little notice of it.”

  - Dr. Adam Weishaupt

  June 11th, 2012

  Washington, D.C.

  The White House 4:11 PM

  Rainbow City has fallen.”

  “Why didn’t the Darkworkers see this coming?”

  “We don’t know, sir. The Sirians and the Pledians continue to interfere.”

  His eyes were not human, though they appeared that way when he wanted them to. Manipulation of the cells in the human body was so ridiculously simple it was laughable that humankind didn’t know how to shape shift. This news angered him and his eyes flipped, exposing the reptilian irises. “What of the Terenzio’s?”

  “They continue as expected. Our insiders have found an Atlantian, a survivor of Rainbow City. They wish to bring him to us in exchange for full membership into the Brotherhood.”

  A serpent-like tongue flicked out of his mouth, darting across his lips. “I’m sure they do. Bring them to me.”

  “Yes sir. What of the other Terenzio’s?”

  “Continue as planned. We will still launch Alternative Three ahead of schedule.” His hand extended, switching erratically from dark green scales to smooth white skin as he pressed the button to end the conversation.

  It would be close, but the Brotherhood would not fail. They had held control of this planet for too long just to give it away because the Galactic Federation claimed it was time. Let the vibrations rise, he didn’t care how many of the slaves, “awakened.” Let them think the planet would Ascend. They had tried before, they would fail again.

  A sharp knock came at his office door. It took a mere thought to return his eyes and the texture of his hand to their hidden state. “Come in.”

  The uniformed officer saluted sharply before informing him, “Mr. Vice President, they are ready for you now.”

  §

  June 12th, 2012

  Alcyone Island

  St. Judas Memorial Gardens 12:12 AM

  A warm rain had started. It came down in thick sheets, thunder lazily grumbling in the distance. The shadowed figure didn’t carry an umbrella, she didn’t mind the rain. Kayla preferred thunderstorms.

  For fifty-five years she had lived a lie. Perfectly. She had situated herself into the family better than They had expected of her. As Marcello Terenzio’s youngest daughter she was a board member. She ran the subsidiary, Empire Cruise Lines. Alcyone was an island after all, uniquely positioned between two major countries. They didn’t always smuggle things by air. That meant she was privy to a great deal. Since she was thirteen years old, Kayla had been feeding the Brotherhood everything she knew about the Terenzio’s.

  Sixteen hours ago she learned that step-father played the game better than she had. Sixteen hours ago she learned that from the first day she’d appeared on his doorstep – he had known the truth.

  The rain washed away the line of tears that fell in silence as she stared down at freshly dug earth next to where her mother was buried.

  Marilyn Terenzio had been the first person Kayla had learned to love. It had happened unintentionally. They had tried to train her against it but things endured by a five-year-old were not always completely washed away with mind altering drugs. She remembered the videos. The man with the funny smell that taught her to hide how much she disliked it when people touched her. She frequently suffered from nightmares. It was not until she’d come to this island that she’d understood what it was really like to be embraced by the unconditionally loving, reassuring warmth of a mother. It made the nightmares stop after a while.

  Kayla knew that’s why her mother had been killed; so she didn’t forget the plan and whom she belonged to. Who would take care of her after all the Terenzio’s were dead. Caesar had appeared shortly thereafter. She had thought he was as good as the rest of the Brotherhood when she brought him home one weekend from college and Marcello accepted him with open arms. Now she knew that her step-father had been a lot smarter than she had given him credit for.

  Maybe she should have realized that years ago. She had been sent here to kill him, taught that from day one. Initially she hadn’t formed a connection to him, not like she had with her mother. It wasn’t hard to keep the distance, he wasn’t around much. She was seventeen when her mother died, and the nightmares came back. She fully expected to wake from the next to nothing but darkness and the cruel lingering visions of the past. Instead, he had been there. Her screams were soothed by his strong quiet voice, and she was amazed at how easy it was to burrow into his chest, hiding from the truth. She let herself believe the lie in those moments, because his arms were warm and strong and she’d never felt protected before. He was around more after that. When she’d finished college he began inviting her more frequently to his office on the infamous 52nd floor. The Brotherhood had loved it. Secretly, so had she. To this day, Marcello had been the only man who could touch her without making her skin crawl. Even her gentle half brother Demetrius had made her inwardly flinch when he put a hand on her.

  Kayla didn’t understand Marcello Terenzio. He had known she was not his, that she was an enemy, the bastard child of his
raped wife. But he looked at her like he loved her anyway, she knew this for certain. He had looked at Demetrius and pictures of Amanda the same way.

  “Why? Why would you ask me…?” Kayla whispered the unanswered question into the rain that crashed down around her. The letter Marcello had written her was crumpled up in her closed fist. A father’s last request of his daughter.

  Except she was not his daughter. Never mind that she loved him like the father he wasn’t. She’d never admitted that to him, she didn’t know if she ever would have.

  She had never been given the order to kill him and hadn’t questioned why. But yesterday, Caesar had called to tell her that he would be coming back to the Island soon. She knew why. Orders were coming. They were worried about the success of the Ascension. Frankly she was surprised they hadn’t killed the Terenzio’s sooner if they were that concerned. Regardless, someone was going to die and she would be the one pulling the trigger. The cruel beauty of it was that even if she didn’t want to, they could make her. It only took a single phrase. Caesar was usually the one to ‘activate’ her.

  Kayla bent down to set the single red rose on top of the freshly dug wet dirt. Her head bowed, her dark blonde hair soaked and coming loose from the pins that held it back in place. She closed her eyes, fighting a losing battle against emotions she didn’t want to feel. She would disappoint her step-father. Choices weren’t given to things that were owned.

  “I’m sorry, Dad,” Kayla whispered. Her cell phone rang. She knew it was Caesar. She flipped it open. “Yes?”

  “Get ready to rid the world of your family baby. I’m on my way home.”

  Kayla was not a Terenzio. She was a child of the Project, loyal only to the Brotherhood. “I understand.” Her face hardened and her fingers opened, Marcello’s crumpled letter fluttering into the mud as she walked away.

  DCS lives in New Orleans. Synarchy is her first novel. An active blogger, you can keep up to date with author news at wwwthemindofdcs.com. She is working on the second novel in the Synarchy Series, The Ascension, and several short stories based off the txt based roleplay game, Synarchy 2012. Visit, www.synarchy2012.com to learn more. DCS also hosts a radio show on the Paranormal 101 network. In The Mind of DCS airs Saturday nights on Blogtalkradio.