Arise: Book one of the Inperium Series

by Addison West

  He walked me over to the main building, which I recognised it from earlier when I was pulled out of the van and met the leader of the cult. We walked up the stone steps into the building. I stopped inside the main entrance and pondered the décor. Although ornate and meticulously decorated, it had a dark and musty feel. Mahogany had clearly been in fashion when the building was erected. Tristan led up me a grand staircase.

  “This building is like the pride and joy of this place.” He explained. “They hold all the important functions in here. This is where all the offices are for the directors and the board.” He continued as he saw me looking around at all the oil paintings of men and woman on the wall, they all wore the same symbol emblazoned on their chest. I looked at Tristan and realised he had it embroidered on his shirt too.

  “The symbol?” I questioned. “What is that?”

  “It’s the mark of the Inperium.” He said. I looked at it and realised I recognised it. Not like distantly from the past but that I had seen it around recently before arriving at the Inperium. I just could not place where.

  I followed Tristan down a couple of corridors. Until we came to a stop at about the thirtieth old fashioned oak door I had seen. I was beginning to realise that the old mansion building was a bit of a maze and I was not sure I would ever be able to find my own way around it. I hoped I was not going to be staying long enough to have to.

  “Everyone should be in here.” He stated as he opened the door. A low buzzing emitted from the room as we stepped inside, everyone seated around the large wooden table were whispering and gossiping. Around them wood panelling lined the walls up to the ornate crown mouldings all over the ceiling. The vast sized room was a colour combination of rich dark oak on top of rich dark oak. It felt like a struggling attempt at perceived grandeur. It looked like a conference room, it smelt like my Grandma’s house when it was left empty for months after she passed away. As we stepped inside everybody fell silent as soon as they saw us. I hoped it was the presence of the director who walked in behind us that had hushed them and not my presence.

  The Director was busying himself inviting in some assistants. They all wore the same grey uniform that sort of looked like hospital scrubs. They had the word ‘assistant’ written across their backs. I guessed that they were not strong enough to be soldiers, but they were not hybrids either. It was clear people that they called Mults were at the bottom of the food chain at the Inperium and they had labelled me as one. The Director bossed the assistants around like they were his own personal servants. Maybe they were, I thought.

  Looking around the table there were people I recognised from earlier that day. Colt sat at the head of the table and Tristan moved to join him. Lance and Caitlyn also sat there. Colt had found himself a plaid shirt since the last time I saw him, and he looked good in it. Tristan shot me a grin, trying to be reassuring as I looked for somewhere to sit. A chair that looked a little fancier than the rest sat between them and I guessed that was the Director’s chair. To the left of the four of them at the head of the table, was a woman about my age. She was simply beautiful with her caramel skin and immaculate looking figure. A man next to her was staring rudely at a part of her anatomy. He was a little bit chubby, but he had an enthusiastic look in his eye. On his chest was a handwritten name badge that said ‘Cameron’. There were stickers and pens on the table but nobody else had seemed to use them. I was clearly right about the enthusiasm, I thought. The other side of the table were some other men and women. They all seemed to be buddies as they were joking around and laughing as we had walked in. I made a mental note to avoid all of them. A red headed boy who looked a lot younger than most of the room stood up breaking the silence. He looked at me with a big smile.

  “There’s a seat free next to me.” He offered. His strong accent told me he was a Londoner. I moved to sit between him and a young woman who also looked younger than the average demographic in the room. She smiled as I passed by her and sat down.

  “Hi, I’m Sam. That’s Mike.” She said as she shook my hand and pointing at the red head. “We were super excited when we heard there was someone new coming in to our group!”

  “I’m Aurora, but everyone calls me Rory.” I offered. Everyone around the table looked at me as I spoke. Next to Sam was one more person that completed the circle around the table. His gold coloured eyes intrigued me, possibly the most out of anyone else in the room. He stared at me intently, actually he frowned at me. His face was incredibly handsome, and he sat with near perfect posture. He was hard to read. Intense almost.

  “Hi, I’m Cameron.” The enthusiastic one said. “You seem nice. I knew you would be! When they said there was someone new, I just knew you were going to be nice!” He rattled off. He made a grab for the stickers and pens on the table and messily wrote my name, handing me the sticker. “I brought these so it would be easier for you to learn everyone’s name.”

  “Thanks that is really thoughtful.” I said, sticking it to my dress. I suddenly began to realise what a mess I looked with my torn dress and smeared make up.

  Down the table the group that had been talking about me when I walked in sniggered, Cameron went red in the face. “Ignore them Cameron.” I said. “Some people just don’t know how to be nice to others and it intimidates them when they see others that can.” I reassured him and he beamed at me. I liked Cameron.

  “I’m surprised you are still here.” Lance sneered and all the people at the table that were clearly his friends thought it was great.

  “I’m surprised you have friends.” I responded indicating his buddies that were hanging on to every word and his face turned into a scowl.

  “You aren’t one of us. You are a dirty imposter and we will prove it this week!” Lance retorted back.

  “I think that’s enough.” Colt chirped in. He was clearly an authority at the table.

  “Oh Colt, you need to learn that you cannot defend every orphan that walks in here. God knows you feel like a kindred spirit to them, but just stop. It’s getting a little bit pathetic. The mutts don’t deserve your sympathy.” Caitlyn spoke up and I felt like I learned something personal about Colt. He looked a little bit abashed. “Half people like Aurora and Cameron are here to be put in their place. It is the natural order. That must learn that humans, pure humans are… well… superior.” Caitlyn continued. Cameron looked down at his hands visibly upset. I could see training had been an absolute barrel of laughs for him.

  “Caitlyn is it?” She nodded. “You have it wrong. See I don’t think someone’s blood makes them superior, pure or not. It’s how you treat people and you are clearly a bottom feeding worm.” I could not stand bullies.

  Lance stood up and drew a pistol.

  “You need to learn your place mongrel!” He said calmly pointing the gun at me. My breath hitched a little at the sight of it. I remained calm on the outside.

  “That is enough.” The director was now paying attention to us. The whole room was silent, and the tension was high. “Let’s calm down, shall we?” The director made Lance lower his weapon and I took a breath for the first time in a minute or so. “Well, I’m glad you are all present and accounted for.” He continued. He found his place and stood next to his more ornate mahogany chair at the head of the table. “Hello all.” William outstretched his arms theatrically for effect. “For those who have been here at the Inperium for some time and to those who are new here, this is a meeting to get some formalities out of the way before the week ahead of us.” He began and a few people smiled excitedly. Most of the others looked thoroughly fed up, I was beginning to think I could recognise a hybrid just by their reaction to the director. “You are all very special to us here in the Inperium. We need you to work with us to achieve a better world. It will not be an easy job, but it will be worthwhile one.” Somehow, I did not believe we were ‘all’ very special. It certainly felt like he wanted to add a but in their somewhere. “Wednesday is a big day for all of you. The humans around this table will be given their fin
al tests before being announced as guardians” A few of Lance’s friends gave each other looks and small high fives. Lance beamed. He was clearly in charge of training the humans. “The Mults in this room will go through their trial, a very important part of becoming an assistant guardian.” The other hybrids rolled their eyes, something told me that becoming an assistant guardian was a little bit of an insult. “The highest rank a Mult can obtain here at the Inperium. Your role is to make missions easier for our guardians using your natural born powers to open and close gates.” It sounded boring, I thought. “One of the formalities that we must get out of the way is a contract of service. This protects you and us going forward.” He smiled but it seemed forced. The assistants around the room handed out the contracts. The font must have been a size 1 or 2 because there was no chance any of us could read it. “In front of you is your contract. We need you to agree to these before we can move forward this week. They are just to confirm the terms of your being here once you have passed the trials and tests.”

  “Can I have a pen?” One guy said near to the top of the table. He looked friendly with Lance.

  “You don’t sign these contracts with ink. You seal them with a drop of your blood.” William answered with a crocodile smile.

  “A blood contract?” Colt questioned loudly. “Have you lost your mind? What do you think this place is?” We all looked at him.

  “A blood contract is an ancient tradition within the Inperium.” William argued.

  “I have never seen the effects of one, but we were always taught that when you break a blood contract it has serious consequences as they are often protected by dark incantations. I don’t like the fact that you are treating it like it should be used for everyday business.” Colt argued back. “There are people here who still need to be assessed as to whether they should be here.” Colt looked at me and I gulped, suddenly feeling less than welcome.

  “As Colt has pointed out, a blood contract is a little unusual, but like I said it is an ancient tradition here within the Inperium and I am a man who simply adores tradition. I’m sure you can all understand? Miss Hart, why don’t we get your contract done first and show everyone how it is done?” He offered looking at me. I must have seemed like easy pickings.

  “I suppose I don’t have a choice?” I retorted.

  “Of course, you do.” He soothed still smiling. “If you want to leave us, all you have to do is just say it and I will have some of my assistants escort you out.” It was a threat or a bluff. I could see it in his eyes, and I was tempted to call it. I knew that they would not have gone to the trouble of kidnapping me, if they were going to let me go that easily. I nodded and one of William’s assistants that lined the wall stepped forward. A small extremely thin and pointed blade in his hand. It looked like an ornate letter opener only slimmer. He placed the blade to my finger and gently cut it open just enough to let a drop of blood land on the paper he had positioned underneath. It was so sharp I could not even feel the cut. Everyone watched intently. I could not even look at Colt as I knew his face would tell me exactly what he thought of the situation.

  “Are you sure that is enough blood?” Lance jeered. “I would make sure the contract is fully satisfied and spill a whole lot more.” William shot him a look instantly making him fall silent. The other assistants joined the first and began to work their way around the table and filling in blood contracts. William watched chuffed with himself.

  The assistant signalled to tell William he was finished, and the blood contracts were gathered from the table quickly. We did not even have chance to read them.

  “Fabulous. So, your two years of service begin today.” William continued with his spiel.

  “Wednesday you will be tested. It will deem whether you are worthy to serve the Inperium. Those who pass will be part of our new elite team after you go through one last training simulation situation that is specific to the team’s future project. I will personally oversee this. Once that has been completed and everyone is ready and in their correct place, we will begin our main project.” He summarised. I shook my head in disbelief. There was something about the way he looked at me when he said the word worthy and I knew it was not a good look. What have I got myself into? I thought.

  “Two years of service?” Mike, the red head with the cockney accent, questioned from across the table. When did we agree to that?” He was shocked.

  Two years did seem like a long time to me too.

  “It was all in the contract.” William replied in a matter of fact manner. “What is your name?”

  “Mike.” He said sheepishly.

  William took out a small notebook and a pen from his breast pocket and wrote Mike’s name down.

  “Surname?” He barked.

  “It’s Caper.” Mike responded not letting William get to him.

  “Well Mr Caper, I’m sure you are just full of questions. I will make sure we answer each and every one of them later on.” He was threatening Mike. I could feel it. The whole table could feel the tension. The assistant that had helped me fill in my contract creeped beside William and whispered something in his ear.

  “Quite right” William replied to him and the assistant began to assemble the others promptly. “Okay, you guys have a big day of training ahead of you, so I suggest you go and prepare yourselves. Your schedules should tell you where you should be.” I panicked a little bit as I had not been given a schedule yet. The director swept out of the room along with his assistants. Lance and Caitlyn whispered to each other and Colt and Tristan left quickly.

  Everyone else began to talk amongst themselves and shuffle out of the room. I got swept out with them and walked away.

  My mind was reeling. I had learnt so much new information I thought my head would explode. I felt strangely calm about it. Maybe I was in shock and had not processed it yet, I thought. One thing I did know was that I was not sure I could stay.

  8

  Aurora

  7am 6th September 2020

  I left the meeting pretty quickly. Honestly, I wanted to try and escape. I walked out into the gardens. Praying that I could just remember like everyone said I should. So maybe I could remember a way out.

  “Hello.” He said almost out of breath. The man with the intense golden eyes had caught up with me.

  “Hey.” I replied cautiously.

  “I’m James.” He shook my hand. He was incredibly well spoken, his accent seemed British but there was a hint of something else that I could not place.

  “Nice to meet you.”

  “You handled that meeting very well.” He complimented me. I had to almost catch my breath when I looked at him. He was possibly one the best-looking men I had ever seen. Even through his clothes, the same uniform everyone seemed to be wearing, I could see his sculpted physique. He had a strong jaw and rugged yet charming face.

  “Thank you, but I’m not sure that is true.”

  “You stood up to those vile officers. I’d say that was handling things well.” He nodded.

  “Does no one else stand up to them?” I asked blushing slightly. I tucked my hair behind my ear.

  “Not really. How are you finding the Inperium so far?”

  “You can’t be serious.” I laughed. “The campus is pretty enough, but I’m not so keen on the torture or the weird half breed slurs. So, I would probably give it a solid 1 star review.”

  James chuckled at me. I looked around. The campus really was a beautiful place. The collection of buildings seemed to reflect architecture of every period, but they all seemed to blend together well. The gardens that connected the buildings were stunning. Flowers bloomed everywhere and the grass was lush and manicured. Some benches and seating areas were dotted around, and I could not help but think of the gardens as almost romantic.

  “So, are you a blood traitor too?” I asked him.

  “Whoa, that’s a colourful term.”

  “Yeah well, I think I have heard them all since arriving!”

  “Trust me you
have heard hardly any of them. The commanding officers get quite creative in training. Some of the stuff we have been called is pretty hideous.”

  “Why am I not surprised!”

  “Personally, I prefer filthy mongrel.” He stated and I laughed. I realised I had not laughed in a little while. I suddenly became overwhelmed with a sense of guilt about Frankie. I still had not handled that emotional situation that simmered on the back burner in my mind.

  “How do they get away with it?”

  “They are in charge.” He shrugged.

  “Did you know about any of this stuff before you arrived here?” I asked.

  “Most of it, yeah, I think. I mean I was raised being told this stuff by my dad. Some of it I always knew I guess.”

  “I was adopted so I don’t know any of it.”

  “Not even a little bit?” He asked puzzled.

  “No, how would I?”

  “I thought that Mults always knew a little bit, like instinctively knew their own identity. Maybe not though. I’m sure you will learn about everything in training, you seem switched on.”

  “Thanks.” I blushed a little.

  “It’s going to be fun having you around Aurora.” He smiled.

  “Please call me Rory.” I said.

  “Sure thing. Have they assigned you a bed yet, Rory?” He asked. I liked the way he said my name.

  “No not yet, hopefully that means that they won’t make me stay!” I was pretty hopeful.

  “I doubt that.” He laughed.

  “Something tells me this place isn’t a place I really want to be at.”

  “Maybe I will change your mind.” He winked at me and I smiled back. Is it possible this very handsome man was flirting with me? I asked myself.

  I saw Caitlyn jogging down towards us and I thought about running away. Looking at her shoes there was no way she would have caught me if I had run. She caught up to us and stopped us.

  “Where do you think you are going?” She asked.