You read my mind. A drink was exactly what I needed. I half stood and edged over to the array of drinks. Pulling out two glass tumblers from an upturned stack, I set them on a nearby table. I poured out the thick liquid, which made a high pitched tinkling sound as it left the bottle. I handed Faru the glass and then turned to pour myself some. The Sage stopped me.
“Unfortunately, I don’t believe Snowdrake would agree with your system. However, that red bottle there contains Darkmead. By all accounts it’s wonderful – similar to a fine wine. I imagine you will greatly enjoy it.”
“Thanks, sir,” I said, popping the cork and taking a sniff of the stuff inside. The aroma that greeted my nostrils was a mouth-watering blend of spices and berries that were similar to but still different from any I’d ever tasted on Earth. I hastily poured a large measure into the tumbler and then set the bottle back in its place. Sinking back down into my seat, I looked to Faru. He raised his glass.
“To finding the path of our destiny and the answers we seek.”
His words made me think of what was written on the side of the whistle. To clear the path.
“Cheers,” I said and took a long sip of the Darkmead. It coated my tongue and throat with its sweet taste, which was like the richest, purest mulled wine imaginable. It warmed my chest, and I let out a contented sigh.
Faru gave an approving nod and set his glass down on the table next to him. “I wanted to thank you for your patience in the matter of crossing the Veil. I know how desperately you wish to find your father.”
I ran a finger around the rim of my glass. “I think about him every day, you know. About how he might be suffering over there…or worse. It’s eating away at me.”
“I can only imagine what you must be going through,” Faru said solemnly.
I sighed. “But I also understand why you won’t let me through until I’ve secured the nine.”
Faru gave a rue smile. “The nine. It has a certain ring to it.” His expression sobered. “The old saying of safety in numbers could not be more apt in this situation, Alexander. Whilst most Luminar cities are relatively safe, the lands between them are most certainly not. I can guarantee that if your father is in the hands of the Umbra, he will be in a place of significant danger. I wish him home more than I can express in words, but I also wish you all home also. You understand that.”
I stared out of the window at the drone of cars that slipped away as we accelerated past. “I know that going through unprepared would be suicide. I don’t want to die.” My mind switched to Gabriella and I turned back to face my leader. “More importantly, I don’t want those who follow me through to die. I’ll wait until I have a team I trust. Only then will I ask you to allow me through.”
Faru gave a slow shake of his head. “I am so very proud of the man you have become, Alexander. You do your father great honour.”
I felt a lump rise in my throat, and I shifted my gaze down to my glass. I’d only drunk a little, but already it was making me lightheaded. I took another long sip, wanting all the emotions I could feel stirring inside me to be put back to rest.
“I know that you are hurting, Alexander. I am also aware that there are things happening to you that you can’t explain. Things that scare you. Things you feel somehow that you cannot talk about. I just want you to know that you are not alone in this. We are all fighting for you.”
Faru’s words pierced through the wall of contented sleepiness that was building up around me. How does he know? We haven’t let him in! a voice hissed. It came from the other part of me, the part that hid in the shadows of my mind. I tried to look up at Faru, but reality was shifting and slowing down until each movement became a movie reel, playing out one frame at a time.
“It has been a long time since we mind merged. Would you allow me?” Faru’s voice sounded sluggish and laboured, a bad tape recording.
No! No he can’t! Stop him!
“I’m tired, Faru. I’d rather you didn’t,” I replied. My words sounded strange in my ears, as if they no longer belonged to me.
Faru nodded. “I had a feeling you might say that. Which is why I had to take alternative measures.”
Alternative measures? What does he mean? What has he done to us?
Faru stirred in his seat. Even with my sluggish brain I could tell that he was going to merge with me anyway.
“No, I don’t want you to,” I shouted, but my voice came out as nothing more than the faintest of whispers. I slipped down the seat and felt the comforting blanket of sleep edging in around my frayed mind. The voice inside was frantic.
The drink, the bastard put something in it! Wake up! Take control, you pathetic piece of shit…
As if the volume dial had been turned down, the voice faded from my mind. It was replaced by the slow, feverish words of Sage Faru…my leader…my friend. Out of the one eye I still had open, I watched as he stood up and moved over to me like a flick book in slow motion. Using his cane to lower himself down, he suspended his hands either side of my head. I could feel the warmth of their proximity on my cheeks. My eye closed at the same time I felt them press against the sides of my face, and somewhere on a distant horizon, I was aware of an electric current running through my body. But I was too far gone to notice.
“Everything is alright, Alexander. I am here to help you. Just let go. Sleep now.”
I slept.
*
The wind carried the stench of smoke and decay on its back. I unfurled myself from my coiled position on compacted mud and dragged myself to my feet. I felt broken. Several of my bones were cracked or dislodged, pressing against my skin like sticks in a bag. My uniform was no more than loose hanging rags. I hugged the worst parts as if trying to hold myself together. I had a strong sense of Déjà Vu that I couldn’t shake.
Looking around, I tried to get a sense of my bearings within the veil of smoke. I was standing in the centre of a forest. The trees had been burnt to cinders. Nothing remained but black carcasses with their branches twisted and raised as if in surrender.
I called out, but my words didn’t carry far, sinking into the void of the desolate woodland. Hobbling forward, I tried to find a path through, but my way forward was shrouded by smoke. I stumbled blindly ahead until my foot connected with something soft and fleshy. I looked down and stifled a gasp. It was the remains of a human body.
Parts of the flesh had been burned into black cinder flecked with red welts. The skull was exposed, a smooth grey plate, hiding underneath the last wispy remains of hair and stained with streaks of black. I clamped a hand over my mouth and stumbled away, and I almost tripped over another body. This one was nothing but a pile of ash and bones, roughly resembling the shape of a person – almost as if it had been clumsily arranged post-death.
I could barely breathe from the fear as I forced myself to move on. The fog gradually began to thin, and it was only then that I discovered in utter horror that I was standing in the centre of a sea of dead bodies. There were as many as there were trees. Some were burned beyond recognition. Others I could still tell had been men and women. Some had been…children.
I blinked back tears as I frantically tried to get away from the horrific gravesite. As I broke into a half run, I stumbled over the remains of an old man, who had been burned to dust from the waist down. As I fell, my face connected with something hard, which swung backwards. In shock, I gripped on and was thrown wildly to the side. I dug my heels into the dirt and held onto the object to keep myself upright. As soon as I was stable again, I pushed away from the object and looked up. A series of screams escaped my lungs, reverberating through the forest. I had grabbed onto the dangling legs of a person hanging from the branch of a tree.
The person was Mikey.
He neck was twisted at an unnatural angle, as if he were tilting his head in confusion. The noose had bitten into his neck, which was swollen black and purple. His closed eyelids were a horrible shade of blue, and his skin a sallow grey.
“Mikey!” I screame
d, frantically trying to pull him down, although I knew it was too late. As I hoisted his legs upwards – desperately trying free him from the noose – I saw the rest.
They were all there, each hanging from their own tree. Mum, John, Tim, Delagio, Sophia, Grey, Faru, Scarlett…Gabriella. They surrounded me in a ring of death. A low moan of anguish escaped my lips. Everyone I cared about was dead, left to hang as if they meant nothing. Somehow, even though their eyes were closed, I could feel their accusing stares. One by one, they lifted an arm – so slowly it was barely perceptible. Their hands curled into fists and their index fingers extended, pointing at me. Above, I could feel Mikey’s cold finger pressing against the crown of my head. With a wail of horror, I dropped his legs and sank to my knees.
I knew somehow that I had caused this. I had caused all of it.
“I’m sorry,” I sobbed as hugged my arms around myself. “Oh god, I’m so sorry.”
“Death has no ears for apologies. It hears only the sound of souls departing the flesh.”
“Who said that?” I demanded, staring frantically around.
From behind a tree too thin to have possibly hidden him, a figure slipped into full view. It was a twisted version of me, consumed by the tattoo. The dark ink spiralled around its eyes and spread over its lips. Its pupils were red and shimmered with malevolence. The shadowy figure stepped towards me and I recoiled away.
“My kin and I have been known by many names. Some too ancient to remember. Right now you could call us…you.”
“You…you did this” I accused.
It smiled. The exposed teeth were as black as the tattoo that stained my skin. “No boy…we did this. All of us together. We razed everything to the ground.” The smile widened. “But it was you who set the wheels in motion. And you did it all through the decisions you made.”
The figure ran suddenly towards me and grabbed my throat, pressing its blackened forehead against mine. The breath that emanated from its throat was like a stench raised from the deepest swamp. “Isn’t that a tough pill to swallow?” It held an index finger and thumb close together. “Just a few teeny, tiny choices.”
The doppelganger swept an arm towards all of my dead friends and family, the charred trees and the countless burned carcasses surrounding them. “And all this follows.” It wagged a finger. “You really should make wiser choices.”
The figure pointed at me, and I looked down to see that my shredded clothes were now sodden with some kind of liquid. The smell was powerful, and with sudden panic, I realised it was petrol. I tried to say something, but was stopped short when the other version of me opened its mouth. Inside I could see a rotating cluster of flames. My heart stalled in my chest. I stepped backwards, away from the horrific version of me. It was then that I realised I was no longer in the burned forest, but high on the precipice of a cliff. Behind the dark version of me was there was nothing but a wall of shadow.
Out the corner of my eye, I could see the destroyed remains of what had once been my base. Beyond lay the ruined husk of Chapter Hill. Fires raged and bodies lay strewn like forgotten dolls. A blackened forest lay smouldering in the distance, and I knew that it was Susurrate Forest, the place where I had just woken up. Where my family and friends all lay dead.
Because of me.
“Please don’t,” I begged, stepping back as far as I could. “Don’t do this.”
My doppelganger grinned. “We can’t stop now. This is only the beginning.”
It spewed a jet of flames at me. They billowed up instantly and unimaginable pain seared through every millimetre of my body. I screamed as I felt my skin shrivel up and die. Through the flames, a blackened hand gripped me by the throat and hoisted me off my feet. I was carried backwards and dangled over the void below the cliff, weeping, begging for it to stop, but then my vocal chords burned away and my tears turned to vapour as the heat from the flames reached my eyes.
“Your choices will destroy everything and everyone you love. And when your world has been reduced to ashes, all that will remain is us.”
The hand released me and I felt myself falling, a ball of flame hurtling into the darkness.
7
Alex
A harsh judder woke me up. I jerked into a sitting position and gasped. My head was spinning like a top, and I had to take few deep breaths in an effort to clear the disorientation from my brain.
The horrendous images of the nightmare lingered in my mind, filling me with misery. The thought of all my loved ones dead made me feel physically sick. It’s not real Alex, it’s not real. She’s still alive. They all are. The thought was only a mild comfort. They are…but for how long? I shut my eyes and squeezed the memories of the dream from my mind. It would do me no good to dwell on its meaning. After all, there was nothing I could do.
I looked around and was shocked to see that I was inside of an airplane of some kind. The sleek, spacious interior was a blend of wood and cream leather. The cabin was long, but narrower than a commercial plane. My seat faced another, separated by a table. A glass of water had been placed in front of me. The liquid quivered from the plane’s vibrations. My mouth felt like sandpaper. I grabbed the water and downed it in one.
“Welcome back, Alexander.”
I turned to see Faru sitting cross-legged on a circular seat covered in ancient symbols that appeared to have been purpose-built for his mediation. His eyes were still closed, and his head hadn’t even moved in my direction.
I unbuckled my seatbelt and used the headrest to shakily pull myself onto my feet. “Sage Faru, what the hell did you do to me?” I demanded, fighting against a wave of residual sickness.
“Please do try not to get anxious, Alexander. You may still be under the effects.”
“Effects of what? What did you do to me?” I repeated, trying to keep a handle on the anger I could feel building in my stomach.
The Sage opened his white eyes and tilted his head to face me. For a second it ghosted with the image of Mikey’s neck jutting out at the awkward angle. I had to blink a few times before it passed.
“I did only what was necessary, Alexander. It is clear that the mark you received upon defeating The Sorrow is beginning to affect your personality. I want to help you. However, to be in a position to do so to the best of my ability, I needed to peer inside your mind, to see what you see. I knew that whatever exists inside you would never grant me access. So I had to make alternative measures.”
“Alternative measures?”
“I had a powerful sedative mixed into the Darkmead I offered you in the limousine.”
I felt shocked. “You drugged me? I can’t believe you would do something like that,” I choked.
“As I said, Alexander, I did what was necessary. Please believe that I would never dream of doing anything to hurt you. What I did was for your own sake.”
I’d been prepared to give him hell for what he’d done, but his words defused my upcoming verbal bombardment. He’s trying to help me.
“I understand,” I sighed. I moved over to an oval window and stared out. The sky was cloudless, and I could see the solid blue of an ocean far below. I also noticed the angular wing of the jet – short and curved, like a bird’s. They had been painted gloss black. And they didn’t have the normal round engines attached to them.
“Wait, this isn’t…is this a Concorde?” I asked, turning back to the Seelian.
“Indeed it is. We call it Obsidian. ”
“I thought all Concords had been decommissioned.”
Faru smiled. “Officially. Unofficially, all eighteen are now property of the Alliance. With significant alterations and improvements, of course. We also own several battleships.”
“Wow. So, how fast are we travelling?”
“Mach two point four. Which I believe is roughly one thousand seven hundred and eighty miles per hour.”
I shook my head in awe. “How long will it take us to get to Brazil?”
“Three hours and thirteen minutes. But we’ll be la
nding very shortly.”
“Jesus Faru, I’ve been out for over three hours?!”
The Sage unwound himself from his sitting position and used his cane to hoist himself to his feet. “Two hours and fifty two minutes to be exact. I have used the time to meditate on what I witnessed inside your mind.”
He moved over to me and placed his hands on the sides of my shoulders in a gentle gesture. “It has become a dark place full of many horrors. The terrible torture that this burden is forcing upon you is enough to break any normal human being. Thankfully, you are one of the most resilient people I know.”
Faru aimed his white eyes right at mine, staring into them. “Now that I truly understand, I will do everything in my power to find a way to free you from the grip of this dreadful darkness. You have my word – which as a Seelian – is an unbreakable vow.”
I could feel the sincerity behind his words, and a weight lifted from my chest. The darkness inside had prevented me from telling anyone exactly what I was suffering through, but it was powerless to stop those who cared enough from finding out regardless. “I know you will, Sage Faru,” I said with a relieved sigh. “Thank you.”
The Seelian nodded, and his expression became pensive. “Tell me, apart from being understandably aggrieved by my actions and no doubt jaded from the effects of the drug, how do you feel?”
His sudden change of track caught me off guard. “Uhh…I’m not sure I follow what you mean.”
The Sage inspected my face as if searching for something hidden. “I mean, how you feel inside? Can you hear the whispers? The commanding voice?”
My stomach lurched at hearing my tormented experiences mentioned out loud so calmly… so plainly. But it also acted to reduce them somehow, making them less powerful. I paused for a second and entered my headspace, listening. I waited for the internal chatter, for a whisper or some kind of sensation. There was nothing. Only silence. For the first time in months, I felt like my mind was truly my own again. I’d been so busy being pissed at Faru, I hadn’t noticed the difference.
The Veil: Corruption (HASEA CHRONICLES BOOK 2) Page 10