Chaos (The Realmwalker Chronicles Book 1)

by C. M. Fenn

  I look up to see the Realmwalkers make room for a woman in her forties. Her face and arms are covered with gruesome-looking scars. She looks down at Mel. “What happened here?” she asks solemnly as her hands hover inches above Mel’s body. She, like the tall man in the lab coat, sounds British.

  “We were ambushed. Mel fell from her bike,” Sam tells the woman. “It was about a thirty-foot fall onto the pavement.”

  “Can you help her, Faye?” the lab-coat guy asks.

  “I don’t know. I need silence. Everyone leave. Except you, Ben. You stay. Mel needs you here.”

  Everyone but the two Brits move back from Mel’s bed. Sam motions everyone to join him around where Timothy and Mikhail are sitting. Everyone huddles closely together in a circle.

  “What the hell-”

  “What happened out there-”

  “Boss, has that ever-”

  Everyone’s talking at once, and even though they’re all speaking softly, the ruckus soon becomes a loud buzz of anxious and urgent voices. Sam puts a hand up, silencing everyone.

  “There are a lot of questions, I know. We need to meet in the briefing room and discuss everything in an orderly way. Lang, you go and wake Harmony. This is a priority-one meeting and I want everyone there. Crank, stay here with Timothy and make sure he’s all right.” Crank nods.

  “As soon as Mel is healed up, have Doc take a look at him. Send the others along ahead of you and when Timothy’s healed, you and Doc join us too. Doc can tend to the smaller injuries after the briefing. We’ll wait until everyone is present to begin. Understood?” Sam looks around and makes eye contact with everyone as they nod and say, “Yes, sir”.

  Until now, I’d assumed that what happened out in Chaos, while dangerous, was par for the course. From everyone’s reaction, however, I’m beginning to think that maybe the Lesser Shades’ ambush was something of an anomaly. The circle breaks and everyone starts to head off toward the stairway leading out of the garage. Ember takes my hand.

  “Come on, Addy. I’ll show you to the briefing room,” she says as she leads me toward the stairs. I can’t help but steal one last look at Mel as she lies motionless on the bed. The woman who is “Doc” continues to hold her hands above Mel though nothing miraculous appears to be happening. Mel’s eyes are closed and her face is peaceful. Mel was the first Realmwalker I met here. She saved me. She made me feel welcome. I pray this isn’t the last time I see her alive.

  Chapter 12

  “Can the doctor save Mel?” I ask Ember quietly as she guides me up the stairs.

  “Faye is the best healer Chaos has ever had. Mel will be fine.” Though Embers words are confident, her voice sounds troubled.

  I’m feeling completely drained from all the overwhelming emotions. My fatigue, however, is probably nothing compared to how the others must be feeling. I examine my friend next to me as we walk through a large living area. She’s covered in soot. Her clothes are singed in places and she has an abrasion on her left cheek. Her hair is messy and windblown and her emerald eyes are indeed weary. She catches me watching her and smiles encouragingly.

  “This isn’t typically how we greet a new Walker. You’ll have to be patient with us until we can figure out exactly what’s happening in Chaos.”

  “That’s fine,” I assure her. “I’m as eager as everyone to understand. I only wish I could be of more help. I feel like all I’ve managed to do is get in the way. I hate that I’m a burden during something like this.” Voicing these fears aloud brings me close to tears.

  Ember throws her arm across my shoulders. “You can’t help what’s going on out there. We all understand that. You’re a newbie and we only want to make sure you are safe. Don’t worry, Addy. Soon you’ll be trained and you will be able to contribute.” She winks at me and gives me a squeeze. My fear of being a dud resurfaces. I can’t imagine ever having a cool super-ability like these people around me. I’m just me.

  “Unless she can’t do anything useful at all,” I hear someone mutter under their breath behind us. Ember and I both turn around and see the tall brunette smirking. She nudges her way past us.

  “Like you can talk Simone,” Ember says to her. The brunette flashes her a dirty look but keeps walking.

  “Who is that? And what’s her deal? She started tearing into Mikhail the second we entered Major Calm.” I’m still bewildered that there can be a Realmwalker who treats the others with this level of contempt.

  “That’s Simone, aka ‘Frenchie.’ She’s got issues. We really don’t have time to go over ALL of them now. Stay clear of her and pay her no attention,” Ember explains.

  I ponder this as we walk through a labyrinth of halls and rooms until we reach a heavy-looking door with a glass window on the upper half.

  “I’m sorry we don’t have time for a tour right now,” Ember says as she looks at her wristwatch. “It’s almost four in the morning in your hometown. We really only have time for this briefing tonight. Hopefully things will be settled down enough by tomorrow night to give you a proper tour.” She pushes open the door and leads the way in.

  The room is large with white walls and bright, clean lighting. There are two rows of four rectangular tables with two chairs behind each one. Along the entire front wall of the room runs a whiteboard much like the ones in my high school classrooms.

  In front of them and a little off to one side I notice a simple speaking podium. Above the whiteboards are some rolled-up pull-down displays, and a projection machine hangs from the center of the ceiling. Ember and I take a table toward the back of the room.

  A few Realmwalkers are already here. They’re gathered around the room talking with each other in hushed, anxious voices. Simone has Sam cornered at the front of the room and looks to be drilling him with questions. He seems calm and not at all bothered by her persistence. Mikhail is sitting alone at the table behind us.

  The most surprising thing I see is Kira and Lang sitting together at a table and talking animatedly to a young girl who looks to be about eight or nine. She is sitting cross-legged on the table in front of them.

  “Am I seeing things?” I ask Ember. “Is that really a child?”

  “Oh yeah, that’s Harmony. She’s the youngest Realmwalker. Ever,” Ember tells me.

  “She can’t be more than nine!” I exclaim quietly.

  “She’s nine now. When she first came to Chaos, she was only five. She’s been here longer than me.”

  “That’s cruel. How could anyone think this place is safe for a child? For a five-year-old girl!” I can’t help but feel sorry for the kid. She looks so fragile, so vulnerable. “Tell me she doesn’t fight,” I plead.

  Ember laughs quietly. “You don’t need to worry about Harmony. She’s one tough cookie.”

  I study the girl sitting on the table and listening wide-eyed to Lang-hao. She has platinum hair that curls into loose ringlets at the ends. Her deep blueberry eyes stand in stark contrast to her flawless porcelain skin. I’m in awe of her precious perfection. If I were to pull up an image of an angel in my mind, this is what I would see.

  “She’s an angel.” I’m not even aware I spoke my thoughts aloud until Ember laughs.

  “Yeah, that’s what we call her. Hey Angel! Come meet our new family member!”

  The little girl looks up and when our eyes meet, I feel a feather-soft touch on my mind. Angel grins a dimpled grin at me and my heart melts. She gets down off the table and practically skips to us.

  “Angel dear, this is Adelaide Shepherd. She prefers Addy. Addy, meet Harmony,” Ember introduces me.

  “I’m so happy to meet you. And I’m relieved that you made the journey here safely.” Her voice is angelic as well. Her countenance is surprisingly mature for a girl her age. I realize that being surrounded by so many other adults may have had something to do with that.

  “I’m pleased to meet you too, Harmony. I’m only here and in one piece because of the Realmwalkers. They were amazing out there. So brave. And Mikhail saved my li
fe and got me out of danger.” I turn to smile at Mikhail. When our eyes meet, he looks down shyly though I’m pretty sure he heard my praise. “That’s twice now that I was sure I would die. Both times, I was rescued. I only hope I can return the favor someday.”

  Ember nods her head and grins. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll get the chance. We’ve all saved each other countless times now. No one even keeps track anymore.”

  I look up as Sam approaches with Simone trailing behind.

  “I see you’ve met Harmony,” he says as he pulls over a chair from another table and sits on it backwards. I’m thrilled to have him so near. He’s felt distant this entire night. Maybe now that he isn’t in combat mode, he’ll loosen up a bit. Simone seems unsure whether to join the circle or not. She decides on making a sour face and stalking off to sit alone.

  “Normally, Harmony would be evaluating you right now. I’m sorry, Adelaide. Things probably won’t be back to normal for a little while,” Sam apologizes.

  “Everyone keeps apologizing. You don’t need to. Sometimes bad things happen. Let’s take care of one thing at a time. I can be patient.” I know everyone is worried about what happened out in Chaos. The last thing they need is to be worried about me. Besides, the longer I can put off having them find out I’m useless, the better.

  “That’s the spirit,” Sam says approvingly. I’m pleased with even this small praise.

  “What do you mean by Harmony evaluating me?” I ask for clarification.

  Sam puts a hand on Harmony’s shoulder. When she smiles at him, the adoration in her eyes is obvious. “Harmony is really special. She has an incredibly strong mind. With your permission, she’ll search your mind. She’ll be able to recognize areas in your brain that are the strongest. With this information, she can point you in the right direction to discovering and developing your ability.”

  “Whoa!” I look at Harmony through new eyes. “What an amazing gift.”

  Harmony smiles bashfully at me and turns a little pink. All this girl is missing is a pair of large, white, downy-soft wings.

  Sam pats her shoulder and says, “That’s not even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to our Harmony. Because she can see into people’s minds, she can also see exactly what goes on in their brain when they perform their abilities. Once she knows how we do our tricks, she can do them too. She’s our little mimic.”

  “So wait,” I try to comprehend what this means. “Are you saying that Harmony can do everything? That she has all of your abilities?” I can’t believe this sweet little girl contains so much power.

  “That’s exactly right,” Ember confirms this fact. It’s obvious how proud they are of her. I hope she can help me. I really hope she can find something in my mind that I can use to help the others. Again, I feel that feather-soft touch across my mind as I stare into Harmony’s eyes. Quietly and softly I hear her sweet voice in my head.

  Don’t doubt yourself, Addy. Everyone called to Chaos has their purpose. You will find yours.

  A small gasp escapes me. Before I have time to consider what just happened, I hear a commotion at the door. We all turn to look and I see one of the happiest sights ever. First Crank, then Ben comes through the door, grinning, followed by a perfectly healthy-looking Mel. Everyone jumps to their feet and gathers around her, giving hugs and high fives.

  When I get to her, I hug her tightly. Tears of joy spring to my eyes as I tell her how happy I am to see her safe and sound.

  “Addy, I’m so sorry I lost you. I’m so sorry. I should’ve seen that Shade coming at us. It’s my fault we got hit,” Mel says in my ear as we hug.

  “Don’t you dare think that. I don’t blame you at all! What happened was no one’s fault, Mel. All I care about is that you’re okay.”

  We’re interrupted again by more noise at the door behind us. I turn to look and in walk Timothy and Doc. Everyone greets each other enthusiastically, with the exception of Simone and Mikhail. Simone hasn’t left her place at her table, but Mikhail is at least making an attempt and hovering awkwardly around the group. After a few more moments of happy reuniting, Sam calls everyone to attention.

  “All right, Walkers, we’ve got a lot to discuss. Please find a seat,” Sam says as he takes his place behind the podium at the front of the room. As Ember and I sit back down at our table, I take note of everyone here. I count heads once we’re all sitting and find there are twelve others, plus me, making lucky number thirteen.

  So this is everyone.

  I take note of the ones I have just met and try to remember names. There’s Harmony, sitting beside Doc, who I believe is named Faye. Mel is sitting in front of me and Ember, and she’s holding hands with the tall British man named Ben. They make an odd-looking pair, but it’s obvious they care a great deal for each other. Simone is sitting cross-armed at the front of the room.

  “Okay, first things first, I want to recognize Adelaide Shepherd as our newest Realmwalker. Adelaide, could you stand please?” Sam asks. Everyone’s eyes are on me as I stand up.

  “Adelaide is seventeen years old. She’s an American from central Arizona. Tonight is her second night here in Chaos. Let’s all try and make her feel welcome.”

  From around the room come various whoops and hollers and applause. My heart warms at the sight of the smiling faces around me. I really feel like I belong here with these people.

  “I’m sorry we don’t have time for a better welcoming. For those of you who haven’t yet met Adelaide, please take time later to introduce yourself and get to know her.” I sit back down and soon all of our attention is back on Sam.

  “For the benefit of the Walkers who were not out in Chaos with us, we will start back at the beginning. I will do my best to recount all of the details, but seeing as how I have only one person’s point of view, I’m sure to miss some things here and there. Please feel free to comment or add anything I’ve missed that you feel may be important information.” Sam pauses a moment to make sure everyone understands.

  “At oh-one hundred hours, L.A. time, I gathered a team together to travel to Minor Calm and retrieve Adelaide, Mel, and Oscar. The team was myself, Ember, Lang-hao, Kira, Timothy, and Mikhail. The first abnormal occurrence that we encountered was that none of us spotted any Shade activity during the entire trip to Minor Calm.”

  A few heads nod in agreement around the room. Sam is so professional. Everything about him is confident and authoritative. He really is a natural leader. I imagine he runs the Los Angeles SWAT much the same way.

  “Once at Minor Calm, Adelaide was assigned to Mel and a defensive formation was decided. Upon leaving Minor Calm, there was still a notable absence of Shades, both Lesser and Greater. After a few minutes, however, there were a couple reports of Lesser Shade activity.”

  Ember raises her hand and Sam nods for her to contribute. “I feel like I should make a point here. Before anyone spotted any activity, I was feeling really on edge. Something felt wrong but I didn’t speak up. I apologize. In hindsight, I probably should have said something sooner.”

  Sam adds, “There was definitely something wrong about the situation. I think we all felt it to a degree.” Again the Walkers nod in agreement.

  Sam continues. “Quite out of nowhere, we’re ambushed by dozens of Lesser Shades. We were under attack, outnumbered and overwhelmed. We fought back as best we could until it was obvious we would not gain ground. I ordered a retreat and we eventually made it back to our bikes and prepared to withdraw.”

  Here, Kira raises her hand. Sam indicates her and gives her the floor. “You all need to understand this wasn’t a crazy free-for-all by the Lesser Shades. This was like nothing we have ever seen. It almost seemed …” she pauses to find the right word.

  “Organized,” Lang supplies.

  “Planned,” agrees Crank.

  Kira nods her head. “Exactly. The whole thing felt orchestrated.”

  “But that’s not possible,” interjects Simone. “Lessers are too stupid to do anything like that. They’ve n
ever worked together. Even when they are in a herd, it’s always been every Shade for itself. There has to be some other explanation.”

  “Right,” Sam says. “And I think there is.”

  The room is silent as everyone waits for Sam to continue.

  “As we were leaving, a flying Shade grabbed Adelaide from the back of Mel’s bike. I’m not sure exactly what happened immediately afterward, but when we found Adelaide, she was in the grip of a very powerful Greater Shade.” Still, the room is silent. A few eyes turn toward me. “Adelaide, could you fill us in on the parts we missed?” Sam asks gently.

  “Sure,” I say. I’m surprised to find my memories of the event are crystal clear. I can see every precise, exact detail in my mind. I wonder briefly if this is the eidetic memory that Crank mentioned we all experience here. “After that flying Shade grabbed me, it dropped me down by a building. Pretty soon a Greater Shade came and chased off the Lesser Shade.”

  “Wait a minute,” Harmony speaks up. “I’m sorry to interrupt you, Addy. I want to make sure you don’t leave anything out. Can you be really specific? Even if you think you are being overly specific, any tiny little detail could actually mean something very important.”

  “She’s right,” Sam says. “Please start over and don’t leave anything out.”

  “Okay. Well, after the flying Shade dropped me, I did notice something. Behind the Shade I could see other Lesser Shades. They all seemed to be running away from something. I guess I thought it was you guys coming to the rescue. I really started to hope when an invisible force picked up the flying Shade and flew it backwards across the street.” I look at Lang-hao. “I remember seeing you have that kind of ability and I thought it was you.” Lang nods his head in understanding.

  “But then the Greater Shade came around the side of the building, and I realized that’s what had done it.”

  “That’s interesting,” Mel says. “We know that the two types of Shades co-exist, but have we ever really seen them interact on this level?” The Walkers all shake their heads, some say “no” and “never.”