Uprising (Children of the Gods)

by Therrien, Jessica

  “One of your recruiters found us, told us you could provide refuge.” Beside her were two boys. The one that came to her hips had blond hair and a missing front tooth. The other was taller, with darker hair. She squeezed his shoulders and pulled him in next to her. “My husband was taken by The Council.” She looked at my dripping wrist. “Are you all right? Do you need my blood?”

  I shook my head. “No, I’ll be okay.” The older boy kept his head down. I didn’t know what to say. There was nothing I could say that would make his father come back. “Well, you’re safe now.”

  Helen’s eyes drifted to Rachel, who could be sleeping and frozen like the rest of them. “Are we?”

  Maybe she was right. After the attack, I couldn’t promise her that. “It’s Rachel,” I said instead, but she already knew who it was. Rachel had been her student. “I couldn’t help her. She’s . . . we lost her.” Saying the words aloud made my throat tighten. I bit my lips, trying not to cry.

  “Practicing Abilities Defense is much different than living it. I did my best to teach all of you . . .”

  Tears slid down my cheeks, but I tried to ignore them. “You taught us well.”

  “Apparently not,” she said. She moved around me to look over Rachel, not bothering to hide the death from her boys. They followed her, staring at Rachel’s blonde hair spilling over the table’s edge. “How’d she die?”

  My whole body felt damp with sweat, and my head spun as I stepped toward them. I reached for something to steady me, but her smallest son caught my hand. I smiled at him. “She was shot,” I answered. My chest ached with guilt. “I didn’t know how to get the bullets out. I healed over them.” Helen brushed the back of her hand over Rachel’s cheek.

  “Is there someone who can help us with that?” I wiped away tears, defeated. “It’s too late.”

  “If we get the bullets out, my son Aaron can bring her back, and you can heal her wounds.”

  My heart skipped with hope. “He can do that?”

  “I’m descendant of Clotho.” The older boy stepped forward to speak for himself. “I inherited my father’s bloodline.” He looked at me for the first time. “I can revive the dead within the first hour, before the spirit transcends.” His voice was young, but I could see he was trying to be brave, to take on the role of his father.

  “Transcends where?” I asked.

  “Wherever it goes. Heaven, the other side. I don’t know. Wherever my father is.” His eyes found the ground again.

  “We don’t know he’s dead, son,” Helen said, but I could tell he didn’t believe her.

  “I’m not sure how long it’s been.” As I rushed to Rachel’s side, my vision faded to black for a few seconds.

  “There’s time,” Aaron said.

  I looked at Helen. “We need Mr. Gransky.”

  She flicked her wrist, and Mr. Gransky blinked. He was disoriented at first, but he must have been familiar with Ms. Stanzic’s ability to freeze time. “Nice to see you, Helen,” he greeted her.

  “You too, Rick,” she said with a smile. “We need you to remove the bullets from her chest before we revive her.”

  I watched him, unsure if he’d be able to do it. I remembered the interdepartmental mail, office furniture, and janitorial objects passing in the air above students as they walked to class. I was pretty sure he’d never been asked to remove bullets from a girl’s body before, but he didn’t hesitate.

  He sighed at the sight of her. “Of course.”

  Maybe he had done this before.

  He moved toward her, stepping around the still figures of people stuck where they stood. I watched Rachel’s unmoving body as he stared at her, concentrating.

  “Wait,” I said. Things were starting to blur together, and I was afraid I didn’t have enough blood to heal her, at least while conscious. “I need more time. I just . . . I’m a little light-headed.”

  “We don’t have time,” Helen said. “Not enough to wait for you.”

  “But time is stopped.”

  Her son shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that for the dead.”

  “Okay,” I answered, working up the strength I needed. Helen put a hand to her son’s shoulder, holding him back

  while she considered something. Then she waved her wrist. William’s eyes fell on me first. “What’s going on?” he asked, realizing not everyone was moving.

  “Elyse needs your blood,” Helen answered. “Sure,” he said. “But why are we stopping time?”

  “Privacy,” she replied calmly. “We’re going to try and revive Rachel.”

  He nodded, moving quickly to grab the knife inside Kara’s boot.

  I’d never had to drink blood before. I watched while Anna did, when I healed her, and when I healed others after the fire, but each time it repulsed me. I couldn’t imagine doing it myself. I pressed my lips together. “Really, I think I’ll be okay, just let me—”

  “Elyse,” William interrupted, looking me over. “You need it.” Maybe he was right. I felt dizzy and could see the remnants of the loss on my blood-covered hands.

  He slid the blade across his wrist without flinching. “What are you doing?” The words came out high-pitched.

  “That’s too much. You’ll—” He pushed the cut to my lips to quiet my protest.

  “You’ll heal it in a second,” he said, grabbing my hand. I nodded and pinched my eyes tightly together, like if I didn’t see it happening it wouldn’t be so bad. My heart pumped harder against my ribs, and I felt the warmth pulse between our palms like energy, heightening my power. I tried to block out the taste by not breathing through my nose, but that only lasted so long. I inhaled and my taste buds registered the flavor of William’s blood, surprisingly sweet. Refreshing, like water after a long run. Not what I expected.

  My eyes opened as I was rejuvenated, but when I finished, the sight of William’s cut arm made me regret needing him. My weakness meant his pain.

  “Thank you,” I whispered as I rushed to heal his wrist with the blood left in my bracelet.

  He brought our clasped hands to his lips and kissed my knuckles. “It’s what I’m here for.”

  Mr. Gransky had already started to remove the bullets. I watched in horror as they re-emerged from her healed flesh and fell onto the table. Each one left a trail of crimson across her powder white skin.

  “All right, Elyse,” Helen instructed.

  I twisted the bracelet and created fresh wounds to stimulate the flow of blood. Drops slipped into the bullet holes, and her skin mended.

  “Be ready to give her more,” Helen instructed. “Your turn, Aaron.”

  I stepped away, and Aaron held his hand to Rachel’s chest. I waited for her to gasp or jolt with life, but nothing happened. It was taking too long.

  “Is it too late?” I asked when Aaron removed his hand. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear the answer. I couldn’t handle anything that wasn’t good news.

  “Give her time,” he said, though he seemed uncertain. He was young, no more than sixty-five. I wasn’t sure I believed him.

  There was no jolt, no gasp, no shimmering image of a soul floating back to her. Her eyes simply lifted as if she were in a deep sleep and was having trouble waking up.

  I pressed my wrist to her lips. She seemed confused at first but took the blood willingly and smiled at me with her eyes.

  Helen set time in motion again, and Nics’s sobbing picked up where it left off. Everyone still stared at Rachel, but for the first time the rest of them saw her open eyes. She was very much alive.

  “Rachel,” Paul breathed. “How . . . you’re . . . are you . . .” His hands cupped her face, and he kissed her over and over, though her lips were still stained with blood.

  “I’m okay,” she said, half a question, half amazed. She felt her chest with her hand and smiled wider.

  Paul ran his fingers through his short dark hair, shaking his head in disbelief. He turned to look at me. “Thank you.”

  “Oh, it was . . .” He fl
ew into me so fast I nearly fell to the ground. “Aaron.” I laughed as he hugged me so tight I couldn’t breathe.

  “Did you tell them?” Rachel said to Paul, and I wondered if she had any idea what had just happened.

  He let me go and shook his head, still too shocked at the sight of her to speak.

  “We found Descendants of Mnemosyne,” she said. I looked at William, not sure what she meant.

  He tapped his temple. “Mind-wipers.”

  17.

  “SO WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL about mind-wipers?” I asked at lunch. Everyone seemed to have pulled themselves together by then, as best they could at least. Paul still hovered over Rachel, like he could lose her at any moment.

  “Christoph has been trying to find them for years,” Kara answered as she took a seat across from me and put her plate on the table. “There were rumors that we killed them all. We as in the bad guys . . .” Her guilty eyes searched those around her for judgment. She raised her hands defensively. “. . . which I’m not anymore.”

  I leaned forward. “Did you kill them?”

  She didn’t answer at first. Instead she gave me a look, clearly tired of being thought of as ruthless. “No. Actually, we were always told to bring them in alive.”

  “Well, Christoph’s found them, or at least he thinks he has,” Rachel said. She was back to her normal self, like she hadn’t died earlier today. I still couldn’t believe she was sitting here talking to us. “He’s planning something.”

  “Why does he want them so badly?” I asked, before taking a bite of my sandwich.

  “It’s a powerful ability,” William answered. “Think about it. If he can erase things from someone’s memory, he’s got power over them, over you, over us, over humans.”

  “Exactly,” Kara said.

  So I wasn’t the only one Christoph was after. I wondered how deep his plot went, how long he had been waiting and planning for this war. There was no way I was anywhere as prepared as he must be. Still, what could I do about it? I could only think of one thing.

  “We have to find them first,” I said.

  Everyone stayed silent. Sam glanced at Nics, and for once

  I saw agreement in her eyes. “What?” I continued.

  Rachel laughed. “If it was that easy, I wouldn’t have almost died.”

  Sam raised his eyebrows. “Um . . . You did die.”

  “Jeez, Sam,” Nics said, shoving his shoulder. “Be a little more sensitive.”

  “What exactly happened? How did you get shot?” I asked

  Rachel.

  “Adrianna,” she answered. “I was . . .”

  “We were outside The Institute,” Nics continued for her. “We think they’re using it as a meeting place these days. It’s been cleared out. No school. No Headquarters.”

  “It’s chaos out there. Descendants are leaving communities. They aren’t safe anymore,” Rachel explained in a high voice. “People being accused of treason are disappearing.”

  Nics nodded. “Anyway, The Institute was our best shot at getting a lead. I had to keep us hidden because Christoph’s men were everywhere. It was really a great plan . . .”

  “We heard two of them talking about mind-wipers, so we followed,” Paul spoke up. “My idea.” He shook his head. “Rachel decided to fly ahead. Nics had her covered, but . . . Adrianna. She just came out of nowhere.”

  “I fell from pretty high up when she took away our abilities, and I actually landed on my feet,” Rachel said with a sense of pride. “I just landed in front of two guys with guns.”

  “I got her out,” Paul said, “and we called Alex.”

  Nics nudged Alex in the arm with her elbow. “Thanks, by the way. If you hadn’t shown up . . .”

  “Just doing my job.” He’d been so quiet I’d hardly noticed he was there. I wondered what he was plotting. I knew it was something. He wasn’t the shy type.

  “Well, we can’t do anything about it now,” William said, trying to get everyone’s mind off of what happened. “They’ll be expecting us.”

  I focused on Alex whose gaze lingered on something in the distance.

  William turned to me. “We’ll have to wait for another opportunity.”

  We rounded everyone up for target practice after lunch. Since the attack, we’d moved on to weapons training. Guns mostly, but now that Helen was here, she wanted to focus on the use of abilities and weapons simultaneously. The idea made me nervous, but after what happened to Rachel, I realized it might actually be necessary.

  I loved target practice. It was one of the few times we got to spend outside the caves. Nics provided a shield in addition to the safe haven, but even if we didn’t have either of those, we’d still be hidden under a tangled canopy of bare branches. Alex transported us to a forest for the day’s session. The trees made for good targets, and none of us felt as vulnerable as we did on open land. Cardboard cutouts were scattered throughout the shooting range, pressed against tree trunks at different distances, and a table littered with various types of handguns was set up to the side.

  William walked ahead to speak with Mac about today’s session, so when I felt a hand on my arm, I flinched. I turned my head just in time to see Alex’s face before we disappeared. We were gone in seconds, reappearing in a separate part of the forest.

  “Look,” he said immediately. “If you think it’s too dangerous, that’s fine, but I’m going. On my own if I have to.” His eyes sharpened ready to take on a challenge.

  “What are you talking about?”

  He looked away irritated. “The mind-wipers.”

  “I knew it,” I said quietly. “You were planning something. You know William’s right. The Council will see you coming if you go back there. They’ll be waiting for you.” Deep down I was glad William had made the decision for us not to go, even if it wasn’t the right one. I didn’t know if I was ready to face what was out there. Not yet.

  “You can use whatever excuse you want, but we have a lead here. You can’t just sit on it.” The words came out like fire. “Because you’re scared.”

  “I’m not scared. I’m being smart,” I argued, but inside I knew that was a lie.

  “That’s what you call it?”

  Without giving me a chance to answer he grabbed my wrist, and we were back before anyone realized we were gone. Helen turned to face the front of the group of fifteen, and William headed back in my direction.

  “This is real training. This isn’t for fun,” she said. “Sure it is,” Mac laughed under his breath.

  Helen looked at him a little taken aback. “Excuse me?” William took my hand as he joined the group, his face tensed with concern.

  “It’s all a game if there’s nothing at stake,” Mac answered. She raised her eyebrows. “Do you have a better idea?”

  “First of all, we need moving targets.” He stepped out

  in front of us standing almost a foot taller than Helen. “Nothing you’ll be shooting at ever stays still.”

  From the minute he said moving targets I knew where this was going.

  “Mac,” I said, trying to discount the idea.

  “I’m sorry, Elyse. People have died. War ain’t no picnic.”

  “I’m in,” Sam said before he knew what he was signing up for.

  “We’ll be starting off in groups of three,” Mac yelled. “One will be the shooter, one will be the protector, and one will be the target.”

  William gave me a look like he’d seen this coming. “No way.” Nics laughed. “I’m not doing that.”

  “Look,” Mac said, pulling a Glock from the weapons table. “Anyone who’s going to learn how to shoot someone should know what it feels like to get shot.” He shrugged like it was a simple fact. “If you don’t want to be on this recon team, go ahead and leave.”

  Everyone looked at each other, waiting for someone to move. No one did.

  “Good,” Mac said with a nod.

  Sam’s face was suddenly wary of what he’d volunteered for. “Is he ser
ious?”

  “Well, I already know what it feels like to get shot,” Rachel huffed with resentment.

  “Yeah,” Paul said, worried for her. “Can she just sit out?”

  “No excuses,” Mac bellowed, making eye contact with

  every one of us. “You can always leave.”

  “Let’s just say, on the off chance, one of us gets killed,” William said sarcastically. “That might be a little bit of a problem, don’t you think?”

  “Nope. We’ve got I-bring-people-back-to-life boy right here.” He nodded toward Aaron. “And Elyse knows how to heal. Suck it up. You’ll be fine. Besides, it’s the protector’s job to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  “So we’re going to shoot at each other?” Sam asked like maybe it was all a joke.

  Mac loaded the Glock in his hand with a click. “Yep.” William shook his head, but I couldn’t argue. As

  ridiculous and crazy as it sounded, Mac was right. We needed to train under pressure, to feel the fear of getting shot while trying to aim a gun or take out a mark. I felt guilty for thinking that. Maybe I had lost some of my humanity to the fight.

  “Any volunteers?” No one moved.

  “I’ll go,” I said before anyone else. “I’ll be the target.”

  “Elyse,” William said without thinking.

  “It’s fine.” I stepped forward. “Someone’s got to go first.” My toes flexed and curled inside my shoes, my feigned confidence masking the fact that I was nervous.

  “Good,” Mac said, pleased by my offer. “Nics, you’re the shooter. Ian here will be the protector.” He slapped a gruff hand against the back of the youngest boy in our group.

  “I’m not doing it,” Nics said with attitude. “No way.”

  “All right. You’re out.”

  “Nics, it’s fine. I’m a healer. I know pain. I can take it,” I said, hoping she believed the words coming out of my mouth. “Besides, maybe I’ll shoot you before you shoot me.” I adjusted my dart gun on my thigh, moving it higher.

  She eyed the Glock Mac held out in front of her and looked back at William before taking it. “We’ll see,” she said, trying to joke about it, but she was nervous, too. I could tell.