I looked down, confused, and realized I had opened the package I had carried with me inside. The contents of the sleek plastic box was in my hand, and my heart jumped when I saw what it was—a gun, heavy and threatening. I wanted to drop it and run, but I had no control over this body. It was Kara’s. It moved forward without my consent, readied the gun without my wanting it to.
As I opened the door to the back room, I saw their faces. Anna and Chloe, scared and shocked. My hand was pointing the gun at them.
“Kara?” Anna pleaded, but I felt my finger tighten around the trigger.
“NO!” I screamed as the shots fired.
***
“Hey, you’re okay,” said a low comforting voice, still tired with sleep. “Come on, wake up. It’s a dream.”
My mind struggled to comprehend. Trying to fight the anguish, my eyes pinched closed clinging to the darkness. What if I opened them and it was real?
“Wake up, Ellie,” William said again. He pulled me closer, his hand warming against the skin of my waist. The heat that grew under his palm was familiar. It told us we were meant for each other, and the sensation lifted me out of the dream. He buried his face into the back of my neck, kissing the skin on my shoulder with gentle lips, and my eyes opened, taking in the room still dark with night.
“Thanks,” I said, recovering. I was drenched in sweat, my lashes wet with tears.
He propped himself up on his elbow, leaning over to kiss my cheek, and his golden hair fell forward tickling my jaw. “Which one was it?” he asked.
My chest still ached with worry. “The one with the gun, and in the end I’m Kara.”
He collapsed back onto the bed and pulled me into his chest. “That’s the worst one.”
I stared at the pitch-black window, as if it alone was keeping out the dreams. At any moment I was sure it would shatter, letting all my worry in to suffocate me.
It had been a few weeks since I had heard the news about Anna and Chloe being captured, but the nightmares kept on. I still hadn’t forgiven myself, and I didn’t know if I ever would. There was no guarantee I could save them, and if they died it would destroy me. If I hadn’t tried to cure Anna, if I had just let them be, at least Chloe would still have had a chance. In the end, it was really their sacrifice that fulfilled the prophecy and began the war, not mine. They were the ones suffering, Christoph’s prisoners to torture at his leisure and discard at his will. My heart hurt when I thought of it.
“Since we’re all awake now,” I heard Mac grumble from the living room couch where he slept. “Might as well get in some target practice.”
“Mac, it’s four o’clock in the morning,” William protested. “I don’t care if it’s a quarter to a kick in your ass. Get up, you two.”
I rolled my eyes and grabbed my dart gun off the dresser. “All right. All right.” I nudged William, whose face was still buried in the pillow.
“Maybe if I play dead he’ll let me sleep in,” he said with a muffled voice.
I laughed. “Either that or he’ll pull you out by your toes.”
It was still dark when William and I stepped outside. “Four o’clock in the morning is as good a time as any to train. Battle can occur anytime, anywhere, and with anyone. I want you prepared for every scenario,” Mac said as we walked between the trees.
I didn’t mind. I liked the cool early morning, when the sun was still asleep. It always felt like I had stumbled upon the world’s secret, when the earth came alive thinking nobody was watching.
I had only just started to get used to the dart gun, the feel of the grass reed finger-grip as I steadied the weapon, the amount of force needed to propel the dart a long distance, the way the holster strap fit around my thigh.
I had been reluctant at first, unsure it would be worth the effort, but Mac was a good teacher, and he explained much more than how to use the gun.
“The thing is, Elyse,” he’d said, “it’s a war. That means if you don’t come for them, they’ll come for you. And when they do, if you don’t have a way to protect yourself, then we’re all outta luck.”
I didn’t see myself as a violent person, but what he said made sense. I had an ability at my disposal, one that could save my life and save others, but only if I learned how to use it. On one side, my blood was a deadly toxin, and on the other, its cure. But it was useless as a defense unless I had a way to transport it to my enemies. The darts would serve that purpose.
“Now that you’ve got the basics down—” he started, but I cut him off.
“I wouldn’t say that.” I felt like I hardly knew what I was doing, like I was lucky I didn’t suck the dart down my throat every time.
There was a lot more involved than I had expected, so much to think about before I made a move. How much force did I need behind my breath, did I consider the balance of my feet and steady the grip of my hands, what was the weight of the dart I was using, had I taken notice of the direction of the wind, was I close enough to my target to shoot? So many factors played a part. The heavier the dart, the shorter it would go, but only the heavier ones stayed on course. The lighter darts went farther, but they tended to curve in the direction of the wind.
“Well, I think we need to take it to the next level. You need to feel comfortable with how your blood works with the darts, on more than just animals, and eventually we’ll need to practice using enough to ensure the kill.”
The kill. My hands felt shaky at the thought of it. Would it ever come to that? I had to consider the idea that it was very possible. The force we were up against, The Council, was capable of unspeakable things. Anna and Chloe were seeing that first hand.
I tried to feel empowered by my anger, to remember that I was fighting for my friends and that we were all fighting for a cause much greater, but I couldn’t deny the fear. If I were ever forced to kill, I’d have to find the will somewhere down in the darkest part of my soul. Maybe I could do it, for them.
“I don’t know, Mac,” I said, shying away from the thought. “I need a lot more training before I’m ready for that.”
“No you don’t,” he said as though it were a simple fact. “What do you have in your bag?”
I pulled out the largest dart in the satchel on my hip. “Aside from the standard? A few hollows.”
“Nasty little buggers, aren’t they?” He took it from me and looked it over, then handed it back with a nod. “Harder to carve than the standard, too. They’ll snap like a dried spaghetti noodle if you aren’t careful hollowing out the center.”
It wasn’t enough that I had to learn how to use the gun. Mac made me carve out every dart I used. I’d gotten much better at it, simply because a bad dart wouldn’t fly, and I couldn’t really train when a part of the weapon didn’t function. That first week of training, I sat at the kitchen table for eight hours a day taking out my aggression on the tiny sticks until I had piles of them, until they were perfect.
“The good thing about the hollow is you can fill it with a hefty amount of toxin that will release into the skin on impact,” he continued.
“So that’s her kill shot?” William asked. He looked at me, studying my confidence, making sure I knew what I had to do if I ever needed to defend myself.
“Yep,” Mac answered.
I stared at the slender wooden needle with a sick feeling. I imagined what it would be like to slide that dart into the gun, knowing it would be the end for whoever happened to be my target. I silently hoped to myself that I would never see the spotted black feather fly through the air, as sure to kill as a bullet to the heart.
Mac adjusted the shotgun on his shoulder. “What else?”
“I made some of these last night,” I said, holding up a shorter solid version with light brown feathers. “Tell me what it does,” he added, testing me.
“This one is absorbent,” I answered, examining the etchings my knife had made. “The wood will suck up moisture and slow release into the target.”
“Right.” Mac nodded. “That’s
the one I used on the doe.”
I remembered the animal he had used to test me vividly. Her black eyes were full of fear as I bent down to heal her. It was the only way Mac could be sure it was me taking refuge in his safe haven, and not an intruder. Things had changed so much since then.
“And you,” Mac said to William. “I’m glad you brought your arrows, kid, but you won’t be shooting this morning.” He chuckled to himself like he knew something we didn’t. Then mid-laugh his faced turned serious, and he stopped abruptly. His arms shot out in front of William and I, pushing us behind him. I’d never seen him get so quiet.
William stepped closer to me, becoming more alert. He removed the bow from his back and loaded an arrow.
“What is it?” I whispered.
Mac looked at me like I was the crazy one. “Don’t talk to someone in situations like that, Ellie.”
“Situations like what?”
“You don’t talk, you look,” Mac grumbled, pointing from his eyes to the space in front of him. Without more explanation he continued walking ahead, waving us forward. “And what do you say when you meet someone you ain’t sure of?”
“Once harm has been done, even a fool understands it,” I repeated. It was something they’d used in the last war, a simple phrase that separated the good from the bad.
Mac looked at William. “And what should they answer?”
“The outcome of the war is in our hands; the outcome of words is in The Council.”
“Good.”
William scanned the trees ahead. “So, what was out there?” Mac shrugged and smiled his crazy-man smile as he looked back at us. “Nothing to worry about.”
I rolled my eyes and jogged a little to keep up.
“So, tell me again why I’m not training to use a semiautomatic or a sniper rifle?” William asked with a smirk. His eyes found me, and we shared a knowing smile. “A bow and arrow seems pretty weak in comparison.” He adjusted the strap on his quiver and returned the weapon to his back.
William knew very well why Mac had him training to use a bow. He’d been having him hunt and bring home dinner every night for a reason, but it was still fun to rile him up over the subject.
“If you don’t know that by now, I’m gonna to slap you upside your head,” Mac muttered.
William and I waited, knowing he would continue unprovoked.
“Sure you could use a shotgun, but that won’t teach you accuracy. You could use a long-range weapon but that won’t teach you stealth. The bow will train you in ways a gun never will. You get over confident with a gun, forget to stay low because you think you can take on whatever you encounter. We’ll work with guns later. Right now we need to focus on how to make the most of your abilities.”
He had been leading us into the woods as he ranted, but stopped to look William in the eyes, as he made his final point.
“Your ability is powerful, but it does nobody any good unless you can get in close, unseen. You can’t affect people from a long way off, and what good will you be if you get yourself killed walking into an enemy camp like a bull in a china shop? Sure, a gun is a better weapon, but for us, better weapons don’t mean you’ll win the fight. During the first war I lost some good friends to a Descendant of Chronos. Doesn’t really matter what kind of weapon you have if you get caught by somebody who can stop time.”
“All right. All right,” William answered with a laugh. “I’ll listen. What are we doing first?”
“Like I said, Elyse needs to learn to use her blood with the darts.” Mac turned to me with a menacing grin that had me worried he was about to get even.
“But I already have. I’ve practiced on hundreds of deer.” I didn’t understand why he was anxious for me to paralyze more animals. It was kind of cruel.
His overly excited eyes moved back and forth between William and I, holding the suspense. “Well, today William will be the target.”
“What? No way,” William and I protested together.
He had to be joking. If he really thought I was going to try and gun down the one I loved with sharp needlepoint darts, he had another think coming.
“Are you going to take this seriously or not?” he roared.
“I’m not doing it,” I said, firmly standing my ground.
He bent down to my level, unaffected by my strong voice, and stared into me.
“If you don’t do it, I will,” he threatened, “and I won’t use the little splinter of a dart you’ll use.”
“What the hell, Mac,” William said with outrage.
Mac changed his focus to William. “You have a thirty second head start. If Elyse finds you in the next thirty minutes, she gets a hammer dart to the thigh, so if you don’t want her to get nailed with this, you better stay out of sight.”
I could see how this would motivate William to hide. He wouldn’t want to see me impaled with the massive spike Mac held in his hand. It was the length of a pencil and at least twice as thick.
“I might as well sit down right here and wait for the thirty minutes to be over. Why would I want to find him if I’m just going to get a dart in the leg if I do?”
“Well, if you don’t find William in that same time, he’s getting the hammer dart to the thigh.”
There it was, the condition that would have me hunting down my lover like a wild boar. In order to save him from the pain, I’d have to find him and take it myself. After what happened with Anna, it wasn’t a hard decision, and he knew I wouldn’t let him win.
“Who’s it going to be?”
A sick grin curled into Mac’s cheeks with such a disturbing sense of pleasure, it was hard not to believe he’d follow through with his threat. William and I looked at each other, both knowing neither of us was going to forfeit, to let the other take the dart willingly.
“You’re crazy, Mac,” William said as he ran off into the forest away from me.
I tensed to run, but Mac stopped me with his thick hand. “He gets thirty seconds.”
2.
“ALL RIGHT,” MAC SAID with booming enthusiasm. “He’s all yours.”
I threw back a nasty look before charging into the thick mass of trees. I ran until Mac was completely out of view, scanning the area with each step. William had gone in this direction, but I had no idea if he had changed course. He could be anywhere.
I tried to pull myself together. I only had thirty minutes to find him. I stood perfectly still, listening for any sign of movement, a rustle of leaves, a snapping twig, the crunch of heavy feet as they tip-toed over dried foliage—there was nothing.
I walked with quick, quiet steps in one direction, then the other. My eyes flickered from tree to tree, up in the branches and far into the distance, hoping to spot some sign of him.
After what felt like twenty minutes, I leaned my back against a nearby trunk and sat completely hopeless on the ground. The sun was starting to rise, and faint light was brightening the forest. Maybe if I just waited quietly he would expose himself.
That’s when I saw it, a small freshly broken branch dangling and swaying in the breeze. I pressed myself up, looking around for another sign of him, but tree trunks and shadows in the distance only played tricks on my eyes. I smiled as I approached, realizing there were tracks. A vague impression I could only assume were his footprints led me hopping through the woods like a fox following a trail.
As I pursued the tracks, I started to notice something was off. They were small, too small to be either Mac’s or William’s, and I had never been to this part of the woods before.
I froze when I sensed the presence of someone other than myself up ahead. There, behind that tree. My heart hammered, and everything I had learned over the past weeks kicked in as I reached for the dart gun. I pulled out a thin but sturdy dart from the satchel strapped to my hip, thin because I was being cautious. I didn’t know who was out there. I pressed the two gold buttons on my bracelet, which was wrapped snuggly around my left wrist, and felt the blades slice into my skin. I was used to it
now, and didn’t flinch. As the blood began to flow, I dipped the dart in the small hole at the bottom of the gold ring. It would be just enough to debilitate the person, to slow their reaction time down and hinder their muscle movements.
I crouched, hiding behind a cluster of brush as I loaded the blood-dipped dart slowly, careful not to make noise. I readied my grip, took a few silent deep breaths to prepare my lungs, and stood up to shoot. I was hoping it was William, even though deep down I knew I’d meet someone else’s gaze. The eyes that found me were more familiar than I’d expected.
Kara’s expression was nervous, but prepared. She could see every thought I was having and knew I had a dart ready and meant for her. I didn’t know if she was armed, but if she was, it was only a matter of who would act first. My face hardened as I looked at her, but neither of us spoke. She didn’t try to communicate with her mind as she tended to do. Instead we stared, predator and prey, into each other.
Even with my gun still aimed and ready, tears began to well up against my lower lids like unsteady dams ready to burst. I held them in, and her face dropped as she read my thoughts. She knew I blamed her for the loss of Anna and Chloe. How could she have betrayed me like that? Without thinking I took a breath, deep and full, aimed the gun, and shot the dart into the fleshy part of her shoulder. Maybe I had it in me after all. Maybe I could be a killer.
She cried out a quick, painful moan and crumpled to the ground. I’d never shot anyone before. Her wild black curls covered her face, so I couldn’t see if she was conscious. I watched her, waiting for her to move.
Another cry echoed through the forest with such unrelenting agony that I shivered at the sound. It was William. It must have already been thirty minutes, and I had failed to find him. I sighed with frustration as I glanced back at Kara’s limp body on the ground. If it wasn’t for her, I might have. My heart gave a lurch as I took off in his direction, leaving Kara behind to fend for herself.
Uprising (Children of the Gods) Page 2