Sam sat close to Val on her mattress, and although she felt confused about the universe, she knew exactly how she felt about him. “Sometimes we can’t see which way to turn. Life is confusing and it throws us in a million directions, but these people, your family, will always anchor you to who you are. We can do this together.”
“Do you have any family?” she asked.
“I did, but they were all lost a long time ago. I was found by the Judges. They took me back to the Prison and I was brought up as a Guard, until they noticed I had gifts that made me different to the others.”
“Gifts?” Val was intrigued.
Sam smiled. “Yes gifts, just like Wendy. I had abilities that allowed me to become a Judge.”
Val tried to coax Sam into revealing more by raising her eyebrows, but he clearly wasn’t reading her womanly expression to tell all. “Look, I don’t want to spend all night pussy- footing around, what can you do?”
“I love your directness. I have the ability to affect people’s minds.” He looked uncomfortable telling her.
Val instantly had images of hypnotists, and Delta strutting around like a chicken. “How?”
“I can take away memories, or give them back. Sometimes I even have to change them.”
Val frowned, “Have you done that to me?”
“See, ask too many questions and you may not like the answer,” he replied, concern in his voice.
“Well?”
Sam fidgeted. “I have, yes. There have been times when I have found it necessary to remove memories to keep you safe.”
“Can you give them back?” She felt odd, knowing he knew things about her that she didn’t.
“Some had to be removed completely so that no-one can ever access them.”
“Tell me one?”
“Now?”
“Yes.” Val wasn’t going to let this go. He had taken her memories. She didn’t know whether to be angry with him or not.
“It’s just a memory.” He placed his hand on her eyes, she felt a tingling buzzing sensation and was about to ask what he was playing at when everything went dark. As her eyes got accustomed to the new light she could make out trees. It smelt familiar, fresh air, cool breezes rushing in between leaves. “Hey,” a voice made her jump, releasing a small and embarrassing squeal, she swung around. It was Sam, thank goodness.
“What memory is this?” she asked.
“Sorry?” he looked confused.
“Nothing.” She smiled. Clearly she was acting something out that was in her past and this Sam wasn’t aware of what she was doing.
A woman approached her, wearing a familiar floor length sackcloth cloak, Val held her breath. Was this her mother? She would love to see her, even if just in a memory. As the hood came down, Val was even more surprised.
“Hello V,” the woman with the blackest hair and deepest green eyes greeted her.
“Elizabeth.” Val knew who she was from Shane’s paintings. It was amazing; here she was with Jason’s mum.
“How are we doing?” she asked Sam.
“Gabriel has just left to find Excariot, we can now move into position.”
“Oh no, that’s not good. Excariot’s going to kill him.”
“V, your father is one of the greatest Guards, don’t worry.” Sam patted her arm like she was mad. God, he was annoying sometimes.
“Listen to me, my father is going to be killed, right now, by Excariot, and then you too Elizabeth. Sorry to drop that one on you. Your son is one of my best friends and…” Val blinked and was once again sitting in the room with her family.
“Val, you can’t change the past.” Sam removed his hand.
“Why not? They were real, I saw…” she lowered her voice another notch, “Elizabeth.”
“Yes, you did and you knew her, but you didn’t need to remember her. The memories I give you are like watching a re-run of a film. It doesn’t matter what you say, they will still turn out the same way.”
“Why did you take that memory? It didn’t seem all that important to steal it from me.”
“Wyetta and I decided to take them all before we sent you to the future, in the hope you would be safe forever. There is nothing of relevance in your early life memories.”
“So, taking away memories of my birth parents, Elizabeth and you, seems ok?”
“No, it’s never ok, but sometimes it’s for the best. If you had known what you were capable of, you would’ve been in danger from day one. Your Mum and Dad would also have been at risk. Wyetta chose your parents because she knew that they were the right ones to take care of someone as special as you. Excariot would have found you much faster and you wouldn’t have been ready to protect yourself. Wendy wouldn’t have been ready for her visions and Shane and Jason wouldn’t have been in place to help train you. We planned for the worst possible outcome, every person and place you have come into contact with was considered before we took your memories, and you consented to it Val.”
“So why were you there?”
“I was there…because of the maps.” Sam stopped and Val could almost see his brain ticking, working out how to explain why. “And also to see if Elizabeth’s predictions were correct.”
“Did she see me in her predictions?”
“No. Before we left Alchany she saw the Prison taking over Earth, through one of these alignments. She changed the future at the cost of her life.” He stopped, taking a breath. The memories of Elizabeth clearly caused him pain. “The Warden still needs more space now and is under pressure again to find a place for our overflow of essences. Using a weak planet outside our galaxy means that the Prison will no longer need to put criminals back out into our own planets – they could just release them. But my biggest concern now is that I still don’t think Flo or Lailah know what they’re doing. All Lailah wants is to free her sisters. This could be the end of Earth as we know it. If she opens the portal completely there would be a plague of prisoners large enough to fill Earth twice over.”
“As much as I love the end of the world stuff, explain something. If the world is full of prisoners and some are left over what will happen?”
“Look at Flo.”
“Dead people?” Val felt a shiver run down her spine.
“Exactly, but it gets even more complicated. The Prison was suffering the first wave of an attack from Nyteria when Enoch came for me and Wendy, and I fear the worst. If they have already failed then it will make it even easier for Lailah.”
“What about Hadwyn and Boden?”
“They’ll be fine Val, you really couldn’t have been chosen for a better team. They’re the real soldiers.”
“Good. Then we’d better get this sorted tomorrow because I don’t fancy living on a planet full of dead and living criminals. But before I face the end of the world, and I don’t need you to go telling my family that one, I have another question.”
“More questions.”
“Delta? How come I met her when I was so young and she turned on me?” This was a question that had bothered her a lot. After everything she had done, somewhere Val still felt an attachment to this girl who had once been her best friend.
“Excariot knew who you were from early on, but he needed you to reach your full potential and powers by your eighteenth birthday, so that you matched your original age of initiation, on the alignment date back in 1645. Imagine how twisted and tormented he was after over four hundred years of waiting for you to come of age, never knowing just when you would be re-born. Delta would have been easy prey for him. To convince her to turn on you was simple. Excariot had the ability to charm anyone and Delta clearly craved the one thing you had that she didn’t.”
Val let out a laugh, grabbing the attention of the others who were settled. “Sorry.” She lowered her head. “Are you serious? What did I have that Delta didn’t? Her parents are millionaires, she’s travelled the world several times over, she has dress sense to die for and a mane of hair that makes most grown models cry.”
“You had love. From the moment you arrived here your family loved you. She never had that. Excariot knew that if he gave her the right attention, that would be enough for her to follow his orders. Plus, I hear he promised her your powers. Delta regretted following Excariot, but she never felt remorse for what she did to you.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I saw Delta in your mother’s village when you left her, she was looking for shelter with Excariot’s baby.”
Val felt guilt for what she had done, but at the time she’d been so angry. “Surely she has the ability to be good again?”
“No, Val. You need to understand that Delta has never been good.”
“So why did you let her come back to the future?” Val was confused. They could have avoided so many problems.
“If I had thought for one minute she could make it back here, I would never have left her, but she wasn’t my mission. Judges don’t get to choose, they just follow orders and mine was to simply find out if Earth was the next Prison overflow.”
“So, we still don’t know how Delta got back to the future?”
“No, but she did. And now I think we both need a little rest before the morning.”
Val agreed. After rescuing the Warden and losing Shane, she felt completely drained and numb. Jason and Fran had fallen asleep already. Her dad was snoring quietly in the corner, wrapped up with her mum in a sleeping bag, making them look like a giant caterpillar. Val lay down on her mattress. Pulling the duvet up around her, silent tears rose in her eyes for her lost friend. As she drifted off, she thought that if this was to be her last night’s sleep on a free planet, she had better make it a good one.
CHAPTER 12
The Gathering Crowd
Val woke to a torchlight’s beam piercing her eye lids. She winced, raising her hand to protect herself from the glare. She had been woken by her faithful Hunter to take her shift guarding the house. Zac reached out a hand, pulling her up to a wobbly standing position on the mattress.
“We’re on duty,” he stated the obvious.
“Ok buddy, what’s going on?” she whispered her response as they made their way towards the kitchen.
“We seem to be gathering a crowd.” Zac pulled opened the blind to reveal a dark street.
Val peered out. “Where?”
“Look at this.” He pointed to his watch and Val could see the lines, that she guessed indicated aliens. “They’re out there.” He pointed. “Look harder.”
She placed her nose on the glass, staring into the nothing, then she saw a glimpse of an eye. Like the cat’s eyes in the road, then two more flickering between bushes. “I see them. What are they?”
“356725, 4009876, 3267453. Would you like me to go on?”
“No, you’re ok, but now we have the Dellatrax, can’t we look for their weaknesses? And why haven’t the people living on the street called the police or something? It’s like it’s not happening.”
“They can’t see them. Look at how well Eva concealed Excariot’s hideout, that witch could hide anything from plain view. Belinda could break this spell, but my advice would be to leave it the way it is.”
“So why can we see them?”
“Because she wants us to see them. It’s a good tactic, meant to cause fear in the opposition. Are you scared? Do you think your family and friends fear for their lives?”
“Well, yes.”
“Then it has worked.” He looked out again. “Look at them all, waiting. In a few hours, Val, you will have to make your way through them. It will come down to the strongest surviving.”
To her amazement his expression stayed completely emotionless. “Thanks. You know Zac, sometimes here on Earth we like to do something called sugar coating. Do you know what that means?”
“No, is it important that I do?”
She took a moment to think about her answer. “Not really. It would take far too long to explain and you’d just ask too many questions.” Val released the blind as Zac pulled them up some stools.
“Then, as we may have only a little time left together, I would like to learn more about you. Before you, I knew every detail about my Guard. We arrested, drank and teleported together from an early age. I felt pain at losing him and then yesterday, I felt pain again at losing Shane. Going to this place they call the Space, something in me hurt when Sam showed me his place of rest, like being struck in the chest.” Zac placed his hand over his heart. “Yet I had feelings of relief after I knew my punishment on Alchany wasn’t wasted. Now I want to spend the time we have left learning about who you are. Not just the reject I studied in the memory banks on Alchany, but you.”
“Really? Well, if you promise to never call me reject again I will, although I’m almost starting to like the title. Where shall we begin?”
“From the beginning, if it holds interest.”
Val walked over to the kettle, made herself a coffee then sat by the window spinning the tale of her very simple life up until her birthday, of funny childhood antics and lazy summer holidays with the girl who had been her best friend. Of relatives past and present and how she had been so lucky to have such great parents. Of her pet goldfish, Frank, and the hamster that had never arrived, along with the cat and dog she had waited for all her childhood. As she talked, every so often she would see the glimmer of a set of eyes or the reflection of light off slithery skin. It was scary, but not as scary as telling an almost emotionless Hunter about the time in her school play when she was supposed to be a motionless star, yet she had managed to organise all the wise men and shepherds, and had then taken the baby from the manger and dropped it off the stage.
She told him the little she remembered of going back in time and meeting her real mother, of how the world was in the past, her sackcloth dress and the fact that she had no shoes. About all of the people she had saved and how difficult it had been, knowing her parents had forgotten her, but that she had learnt that sometimes you have to sacrifice the things you love to keep them safe. She talked about meeting Shane, his kindness, and that somehow she had known he was always on her side. Her eyes filled up and the words caught in her throat. “I will make him proud.”
“He was a very special person and I feel honoured to have known him.” Val looked at Zac’s face. He was looking out of the window, attempting to hide the fact he was as sad about Shane as she was. It must be so hard to have emotions without knowing what they meant. He really did have a heart.
The story came to an end as her mum entered the kitchen. Susan’s voice was a welcome break from her own. “Morning.” She placed a kiss on Val’s head and patted Zac’s arm. To Val’s unease the sun was rising. They had made it through the night without any incidents, but what would follow?
Slowly the others surfaced, but it was a subdued group who gradually assembled in the kitchen.
“So is anyone hungry?” Val’s mum asked, pulling out some frying pans.
Fran held her belly. “I’m not sure. I’m feeling a little bit queasy.”
“I think we should all have something,” Mike said. “You’ll be fine after some of Susan’s pancakes and bacon, Fran, it’s her speciality. Never go to war on an empty stomach.” He knew Susan found cooking calming and also knew she needed to feel like she was making sure everyone was ok.
“Then breakfast it is.” She flicked on the hob’s rings and went to the fridge.
Val turned away from the window and did a double take at what Sam was wearing. “So is this your uniform for the day?” Today he wasn’t wearing the Magrafe uniform. He was all in green, the same as Wendy. He looked smart and she had to admit she wished she could get out of her cat suit for a breather, as it made going for a wee virtually impossible.
“Says the woman in Lycra, I thought you loved Spiderman, not his clothes.” He pulled at her uniform which was stuck to her skin.
“Harsh. If this suit wasn’t my only weapon I’d be in my jeans right now.” She pushed him playfully. Was this real? Were they all really standin
g around the kitchen as her mum cooked pancakes waiting for the end to come?
“Zac,” Susan called holding out a glass of his vitamin gunk.
“Thank you, Susan.”
“Now you can’t say I don’t feed you.” She gave him a warm smile.
Wendy was last to arrive in her green Judge’s ensemble; it was all starting to look very official. “Morning hunny. How’s Daniel?” Susan enquired.
“Still sleeping.” She looked ashamedly at the floor.
Jason walked over to her. Gently he placed his hand on hers and the other under her chin to lift her face. “Wendy, we can’t take back what happened yesterday, and today’s not the day to talk about it, but if he’s joining us because he loves you, then I’ll accept that. One thing my Dad taught me was to give everyone an equal chance. Let’s see how he uses it.”
Her eyes welled up. “Thank you, Jason. I promise you he won’t fail us.”
“Ok. Who’s first?” Susan flipped the pancake as in walked David’s Hunter.
“Hey, come on in but don’t eat or drink anything,” Val greeted him. “How’s David?”
“He can have this.” Susan passed him a glass of Zac’s gunk.
“Thank you for your kindness.” He took it, drinking it straight down. “Fourteen is stable; he doesn’t seem to have changed. It’s as if he’s frozen. I just wanted to offer you my services for today.” He turned and bowed his head in respect to Sam and Wendy.
Sam responded, “You’ll stay here and help protect the house with Susan and Fran. Jason may need you. He’ll come and collect you as soon as we leave.” The Hunter nodded and left them to make their plans.
After they had eaten and the sun was up, the true extent of the crowd gathering outside the house became clearer.
“Your neighbours must be used to some weird goings on, Sam! If I saw something that looked that much like a Minotaur in my garden, I would be running for help or calling the police. Why does no one seem to be reacting?” Fran asked.
“Zac says there’s a good chance that Eva has them cloaked to the humans.”
Nyteria Rising (The Thirteenth Series Book 3) Page 11