‘You wanted a fresh start. I understand; it’s all I want, too.’
The moonlight gleams through the window, keeping the room from being completely dark. The two-seater settee barely holds my torso, let alone my whole body and I join Jay on the floor with my blankets. Dawn has hung our clothes to dry in the tiny kitchen and the brothers brought us some of their old ones – which are too big for me and too small for Jay. He didn’t appreciate my laughing. Although I couldn’t help but notice his muscles.
Sleep feels impossible. My mind keeps wandering back to the Chamber. I can’t shake the déjà vu and it irks me. Those glass walls and steel-framed doors feel like a familiar and dark memory.
I try and plan for the day ahead – escaping the kingdom, finding Eli, meeting my father – but I keep imagining being surrounded by sentinels, captured. I’m not sure how, or if, my Ability will work with dozens of people around, and Eli’s loss of verve has me worried. How do I know when I’m running low? The tingling in my wrist has receded and I don’t know if that means I’m back to full strength.
The rain is loud, pounding on the tin roof, but I am very aware of Jay’s deep breaths. He is such a mystery to me. My old life feels like a massive jigsaw puzzle and I’ve only managed to place a few pieces. An edge of Eli here, a jagged piece of Jay there. I hardly know anything about the young man lying a metre from me. Even in sleep he looks pained, a frown between his closed eyes. It doesn’t seem like he will speak to me about his mother’s death, so I just hope that piece of the puzzle returns to my memory soon. It will help me understand him more. Or at least I hope it will.
‘Stop staring at me.’
The sudden sound of his voice startles me. ‘I thought you were asleep.’
‘If I was asleep, would it be all right to stare at me?’ In the semi-darkness, I see a sleepy smirk on his face.
‘I can’t sleep.’
‘Obviously. You’re just so used to your cloud-like princess bed that sleeping on the floor is unbearable.’
‘Maybe it’s sleeping next to you that is unbearable.’
‘Please, the ladies love it.’
‘Pray, do tell, which ladies are these?’
‘The ones that love tight shirts.’
Luckily Jay can’t see me blush in the dark. ‘So, who were you talking about in the Chamber? You kept saying, “It’s him. He’s here”.’
‘I dunno. I was delusional, I suppose.’
‘Delusional, maybe, but quit dodging my question. Who were you talking about?’
‘One of the scientists. They were doing all kinds of things to me down there – taking my blood, shocking me, testing my Ability.’
‘Jay, I wish we could have come sooner.’
‘Don’t worry, princess, I’m used to being tested.’
‘What does that mean?’
Jay takes a deep breath before he replies. ‘My father used to push me to be better. He wanted me to be more like him: better, stronger, and more powerful.’
I hear footsteps creeping up the hallway and I sit up, thinking the sentinels have found us. Darcy and Bennet step into the doorway, Darcy holding a candle.
‘Psst, are you two awake?’
Darcy places the candleholder on the coffee table and they plonk themselves on the floorboards and lean against the wall.
‘We have a couple of questions for you two,’ Darcy says.
‘Tell us about our Ability,’ Bennet says.
‘From what Thea’s told me, you both have Electric Ignition,’ Jay says, sitting up and running his fingers through his short hair. ‘Basically, you can ignite, or spark, anything with electrical properties or static energy.’
‘Woah!’ Bennet turns his hands over wonderingly.
The more practical Darcy asks, ‘How do we use it?’
‘Your mum will know as it’s her Ability, too. The key is concentration. Focussing on your Ability, and what you want to achieve with it will help you to develop it. You need to learn to control it. It’s a dangerous Ability.’
‘We have the potential to control anything that’s electrical?’
‘Yes. Even if the connection to an electrical source is gone. You can take electricity from anywhere and power it into something – you’re conduits. It’s one of the harder Abilities to master because electricity is dangerous. Some electricity is man-made, making it fickle.’
‘Remarkable!’
If I didn’t know it was Darcy speaking, adjusting his glasses, I would think it was Bennet, he looks so excited and open.
‘Next question. About this supposed mark on our wrists, when will it appear? We never noticed Mum’s because she always wore long sleeves, and for the last few years she’s lived in that white nightdress.’
Jay sighs. Now I know what I must be like with all my questions. It’s a little annoying. But also necessary – I want to know this stuff, too. ‘You need to use all of your Ability’s verve for the Token to evoke itself completely. The tingling sensation you sometimes feel is your Token stirring when you use your Ability.’ The twins and I listen intently. ‘Most Variants begin showing signs of Ability between eight and ten, and then they’re encouraged and trained to use their Ability, evoking their Tokens. As you’re older, you have more pent-up verve and, therefore, it will take a bigger, ah . . .’ he pauses, thinking, ‘. . . burst of verve, or many more uses of your Ability, for your Token to appear.’
‘Eli made it sound so easy,’ I say ruefully.
‘It was, for him and me. We were just kids. Your Token also represents your level of verve. It will fade as your verve decreases.’
Darcy asks, ‘How much verve does one have?’
‘It depends what you’re using it for–’
Bennet interrupts. ‘And each person has a different Token?’
‘Yes. Each Variant’s Token is unique to them and their Ability. The design on your wrist will represent your Ability in some way, almost like a reflection of what you can do.’
‘I hope mine’s amazing like yours, Jay. The way it twists up your wrist makes a nice design.’
Jay lets out a small smile, but disappointingly doesn’t take his arm out from under the blanket. ‘Thanks, boys.’
I look down at my unblemished wrist, wondering when my Token will fully appear. It represents a part of who I really am. To evoke it completely, I am tempted to try and freeze everyone in the room until my verve runs out. However, I need all my verve for tomorrow. Duncan Cardiff will not stop until he finds us. He will be seething at missing the opportunity to hold us in the Chamber.
Bennet clicks his fingers in front of me. ‘Thea? Earth to Thea?’
‘Sorry, I was just thinking.’
‘It’s all right, boys. She’s always stuck in her own head, thinking and dreaming constantly. You get used to it.’
‘I’ve got a question for you, boys,’ I say. ‘Why have you got a car in your front yard?’
Bennet chuckles. ‘Oh, that old rust bucket? Dad bought it when we were young and fixed it up with spare parts he found all over the kingdom. In theory it should run, but we were never able to afford enough electricity to make it run.’
Darcy picks up the candle and gets to his feet. ‘We’d better get some sleep. Tomorrow isn’t just another regular work day for us.’
As the brothers walk to the door, Jay says, ‘Hey, in case the worst happens and you’re captured, don’t use your Ability.’
‘We don’t even know how to use our Ability.’
Jay smirks, ‘I guess you’ll be fine then.’
‘Why shouldn’t they use their Ability?’ I ask as I lie back down.
‘The same rule applies for you, Thea. Those scientists are trying to find any way to use our Abilities against us. They can’t use or examine our Abilities if we don’t give them the opportunity to see them at work.’
I guess that makes sense, I think, a wave of tiredness swamping me.
I dream of the Chamber. Like my kidnapping dream-nightmare, the people in t
he Chamber are blurred and unrecognisable. Even through the blurriness, there is one person in the Chamber I will always know: Duncan. The man who took me is also there but is turned away, only his long, black ponytail visible.
In my dream, the Chamber has a bed, table and chair, and there are no chains hanging from the ceiling. Somehow it feels creepier. The glass walls trap me inside. I see flashes of my time in the Chamber: eating alone at the table with scientists watching; needles jabbing into every centimetre of me; huddled in a narrow bed, crying.
I wake tired but know what I dreamed was true – my beginnings in the Kingdom of Cardiff. Was the Chamber built for me? What has it been used for all these years? Eli mentioned that Variants have disappeared. Did they end up in the Chamber like me? Jay lies on his side with his back to me and I think of him hanging from chains. I realise what the Chamber has been used for during the past five years – experimenting on Variants like Jay, searching for the key to the precious disabling serum. The serum that will strip Variants of their Abilities, their identities. I wonder how many Variants have been confined to the Chamber. And what happened to them?
I look at my arm, searching the veins for the scar on my elbow crease. My finger runs over the ever-present needle marks, wanting them to disappear. It is no use though; the raised specks are permanent. If only I could remember fully.
I flip the blankets back and stand to stretch, my back stiff from the hard floor. I leave Jay asleep and pad out into the hallway in search of a bathroom. When I walk back into the living room Jay is up and has retrieved our dry clothes and piled them on the settee.
‘Good morning,’ I say. He has removed his too-tight bed shirt and I try to catch a glimpse of his Token.
‘Morning.’ He turns away from me to retrieve his own well-worn, dark grey cotton shirt and I see what seem to be fresh burn marks on his back.
I bring my hand up to trace them, making him drop his shirt.
‘Thea, don’t do that!’
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.’
‘You didn’t scare me. Your hands are freezing!’
‘What happened to you?’
‘Nothing. They’re just marks from the testing in the Chamber.’ He snatches up his shirt.
‘They’re not just marks, Jay. They look painful!’
He pulls his shirt on and steps away from me. ‘Don’t worry about it, Thea.’
‘I was just concerned.’
‘You don’t need to be.’
‘I can’t help it.’
His deep black eyes stare into mine, not giving anything away. I snatch my clothes from the settee and change in the bathroom before heading into the small kitchen.
As I enter, Bennet looks up, a pile of toast on the narrow bench top under the open window framed by frayed, off-white curtains. He is stepping from side to side with delight. ‘Thea, look at this. I can turn on the toaster!’
Darcy is standing beside him, composedly spreading butter on toast. ‘I’m pretty sure everyone can do that.’
‘But can they do it without the cord plugged in?’ Bennet raises his hands and jiggles them at the toaster. He screws up his face as his hand movements become more frantic.
‘Al-most th-ere!’ His face is bright red. The toast springs up.
Bennet puts the two blackened slices on a green ceramic plate. ‘I think your toasting ability needs work, Bennet.’
‘Cacking toast,’ Bennet mumbles before putting two more slices of bread into the toaster.
I take two pieces from the pile as Jay walks in, grabbing a plate from the bench top. From the corner of my eye I see him watching me but I ignore him. I join Darcy at the small metal table squished into the corner of the room, while Bennet continues his toasting experiments and Jay eats standing next to him.
‘Where’s your mother?’
‘Outside on the porch. She likes to eat breakfast by herself. She says it’s the serenity meal.’ I look at Darcy with an arched eyebrow. ‘She’s always been a bit loopy and I don’t think it has anything to do with her being a Variant.’
I take my plate to the sink, not bothering to wash it. By the end of the day, this house will belong to no one.
I find Dawn in the swing chair, a look of concentration on her face. I take a seat next to her, trying not to make the chair rock too much.
I open my mouth to speak but she beats me to it. ‘I may not be happy with you at the moment, Thea Reid, but I hope the two of you get out safely.’
‘As I hope for you, Ms Grayson. I know your boys will look after you.’
‘And I them. Until they can control their Abilities, they will never be safe.’
‘Maybe one day, when this is all over, we might see each other again.’
‘Perhaps, dearie. But you must escape the kingdom first.’ She hands me a folded piece of paper. ‘I went for a walk this morning, my first for a few years.’
I open it and see a blurry photo of Jay in motion, taken at the Kingdom Day parade. I frown as I read the flyer.
WANTED
Two Manipulators are wanted for the kidnapping of Princess Althea.
Descriptions: short black hair, black eyes, roughly 190 centimetres tall, 19–20-year-old; curly blond hair, blue eyes, roughly 180 centimetres tall, 16–17-year-old.
Both wearing black, uncommon clothing.
If you see them or Princess Althea, inform the nearest sentinel.
Be warned, they are considered extremely dangerous.
Reward – 1,000 fractions.
My heart jumps as I read the wording carefully. It mentions two Manipulators. ‘They don’t have Eli! They can’t have. They give his description, too!’
Dawn says, ‘You all need to be extra careful. Everyone from here to the Rampart will be looking for you.
‘Hopefully with the sentinels focused on us, it will be easier for you to escape,’ I say.
A smile twitches the corners of her mouth.
I crunch up the flyer and look out into the garden. The storm from last night has left the leaves glistening and the flowers shining.
‘My garden is pretty, isn’t it?’ I turn to her. ‘The boys tell me it is the nicest in the neighbourhood. I like to have a connection with nature; it helps me escape the artificial nature of my Ability.’
‘I’m sorry you have to leave this place.’
‘Me too, dearie, me too. Who knows when we’ll have vegetables like the ones the boys grew. They worked so hard on the vegetable patch. And the carrots are almost ready to be picked.’
I look at her in surprise. I did not see the brothers as veggie growers. ‘You can grow vegetables anywhere.’
‘Yes, I suppose we can.’
As I open the back door, I glance at Dawn. She is rocking, humming. I smile to myself. This whole family is weird. I love it.
Approaching the kitchen, I hear my name and stop before I reach the door.
‘What is the hostility between you and Thea about?’
I inch closer to the doorway.
‘You don’t understand. You didn’t grow up with her!’
‘We kind of did.’
‘For a little while, anyway.’
‘She was so annoying growing up! She always had to have the attention on her. I swear, she didn’t show her Ability just so the elders would fawn over her.’
I cross my arms, anger boiling inside of me.
‘Jay, I think all girls are like that.’
‘Yes, Jay, what girl doesn’t want attention?’
‘Do all girls say things just to annoy you?’
I can’t help but smile. I wouldn’t admit it to Jay, but he is somewhat right. With little snippets of memory returning – like tying Jay’s shoes so he would trip – I see that I was annoying sometimes.
‘When we met her yesterday she was pretending to be the princess, but she was really very nice and normal. She hasn’t acted superior towards us.’
‘She seems like a nice person, not conceited at all.’
&nb
sp; My anger subsides. At least I made a good impression on them.
‘You don’t know her like I do.’
‘Maybe it’s you who doesn’t know her. At least not anymore.’
‘Maybe.’
I shake off my irritation at Jay, or most of it, and walk in, tossing the crumpled flyer to him. ‘Time to go.’
The twins gather around him.
‘Aw, you two are in trouble,’ Bennet says.
‘Do you think so?’ I ask sarcastically.
‘Really?’ Jay says.
‘I mean, ah, you two need a disguise!’
‘That’s actually not a terrible idea, brother.’
‘Thanks! You two, wait here!’ Bennet darts out of the room.
Jay joins me by the door. ‘What’s the plan?’ I ask. ‘I don’t know anything about the country outside the Rampart.’
‘We have to head south. Once we’re well outside the city we can make our way along the outskirts of the farms and move north-east to where Concord is waiting.’
Bennet scampers in and drops a bundle of clothing on the table. He hands me an old black, smock-like linen dress with wide sleeves and a large collar. It is the ugliest thing I have ever seen. He then hands me a pair of black cotton gloves and a black pillbox hat with a black veil.
‘What the pex am I supposed to do with these?’
‘Put them on.’
‘And why is that?’
‘People are likely to recognise you – you are the princess. That sketch of Jay is so bad anyone who sees it won’t recognise him – with a few adjustments.’ He holds out a pair of glasses to Jay, who perches them on his nose uncertainly and then hurriedly takes them off. The frame is an old-fashioned pantoscopic-style, black at the top of the rim and tortoiseshell at the bottom.
‘One problem, Benny, I don’t need glasses and I won’t be able to see my hand in front of my face if I wear these.’
‘Easily fixed.’ Bennet applies pressure to the lenses with his thumb and pops them out.
Jay reluctantly takes them and puts them on. Surprisingly, they suit him, softening his strong jaw.
Bennet gives Jay a long light-grey coat, like the scientists wear at the Jasper Institute. ‘Jay just needs to cover his “uncommon garb”. There’s a cap in the pocket.’
Time Catcher Page 17