by Kade Cook
I am sorry, Elder Ariah. Forgive me, Rachael retorts humbly as she gets up to answer the door.
“Gabrian, there are some people here I think you should meet,” Rachael informs as she slowly opens the door, allowing entrance to the visitors on the other side.
Gabrian cringes and looks for a place to hide as the three majestic strangers promenade into her living space. Wait a minute! That is Mr. Redmond from my office, she thinks, recognizing Orroryn right away. But what is he doing here? And who are those two women with him? The whites of her eyes bulge uncomfortably in their sockets as her jaw drops, almost unhinged. Swinging her legs down and jumping to her feet—nearly stumbling over herself—Gabrian places the chair directly in front of her, creating a barrier between her and her guests. She digs her fingers into the cushioned backing on the chair in her attempt to stifle the feeling of being excruciatingly vulnerable as she tries to make sense of it all. Mr. Redmond is a lawyer, she remembers—a statistic which does not help her calm down. A lawyer making a house call on a weekend is never a good sign about anything. She panics as her mind races back to the people in the park.
Oh no, the women must be plain clothes officers here to arrest me. She grasps at reason, trying to decide whether or not to try to make a run for it. What do I do? What do I do?
“Rachael, can I speak to you for a minute?” she begs.
Rachael walks over to where Gabrian’s feet are rooted, now biting the ends off of what is left of her fingernails.
“Why are these people here in my house?” she whispers in a shaky voice, fighting off hysteria.
Clearly seeing that her friend is terrified, Rachael gives Gabrian her best reassuring smile. Taking Gabrian gently by the arm, Rachael guides her to the living room and toward the couch to begin the introductions. All the while, Gabrian continues to look back over her shoulder at the unexpected company that seems to be staying for a bit.
She studies both of the women that follow behind her, oddly preoccupied by how incredibly beautiful they are, each in their own way. The short red-headed one looks a lot like Rachael, whom she has always thought to be flamboyantly gorgeous. And the tall blonde one seems to radiate with flawless beauty and charismatic ease. Gabrian becomes consciously envious of her confident yet humble demeanor.
Vaeda notices that Gabrian is watching and smiles at her sweetly, thinking that she resembles her mother greatly, and a pang of sorrow runs through her as the thought of her friend enters her mind.
A revelation strikes Gabrian as she sits twitching silently on her couch while Rachael seats everyone. She jumps up and in a very loud hysterical voice shouts, “It is her!” Gabrian’s arm flies out, directly pointedly in Vaeda’s direction. “It is you!” she continues, looking back and forth between Rachael and Vaeda.
She grabs Rachael by the arm and swiftly drags her away from the unwanted crowd, down the hallway, and into her bedroom. Slamming the door hard behind them, Gabrian exhales and leans against it.
“What the hell is going on here, Rach?” she demands, feeling her fingertips burn as they threaten to spark. “That is the woman I saw in the park—the tall blonde one out there.”
“Calm down, Gabrian,” Rachael says, trying to get her best friend to stop hyperventilating. “Take a deep breath and try to calm down.”
“Calm down?” Gabrian jeers at Rachael. “Are you nuts? The last time I saw that woman out there, you know…the tall blonde stranger you just let enter my apartment without my consent, she was pretty much invisible with colours sparkling all around her.” She has a flashback to the park and the strange voodoo Magik the two men performed.
“Holy crap!” Gabrian howls as she pulls her hands through her long dark hair and starts to pace. “This is messed up.” She stops moving and turns quickly to face Rachael. She walks over to her and clasps her arms with her hands. “Rachael, what are these people doing in my house?” Gabrian glares at Rachael with eyes as wild as nature itself as she demands an explanation.
“Do you trust me?” Rachael hums, hoping she has built a strong enough bond with her that she will say yes. Gabrian squints and looks behind her at the closed door that stands between her and the living room, contemplating her options. Her fingers are still burning. Rachael tilts her head around so she can look Gabrian in the eye. “Do you trust me?”
“I…umm,” Gabrian hesitates, unsure of anything right now then answers calmly, “Yes. Of course I do. You know that.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, Rachael watches as the grey aura stops flaring so violently around Gabrian as she starts to unwind.
“Then you need to open that door and follow me back out there.”
Rachael’s words resonate through Gabrian’s mind. She loosens the grip her hands have on Rachael, dropping her arms. She reaches for the doorknob and turns it, backing away. She pulls the door slightly ajar, allowing Rachael the choice to leave the room.
Rachael passes in front of her and starts through the open door then stops and looks back at her friend and smiles. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
Now, alone in her room, Gabrian feels completely helpless. With nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, she decides to leave her room and follow Rachael’s lead, unknowingly taking the first steps towards a whole new world.
Chapter Eleven
Fight or Flight
THE TREK DOWN the hallway and into her living room is the longest, most difficult journey Gabrian has had to make in years. The closer she gets, the warmer her fingers burn. She is beginning to figure out that this will be the norm every time she gets upset or stressed out. Not knowing if she is the only one who can see it, she pulls her hands into her sleeves to hide them just in case.
By the time she reaches the end of the hall, her heart feels like it is going to explode. Like a nervous child, she stops just before the entrance to the living room and hides, peeking around the corner to try and assess the situation. Her timid eyes are caught by Vaeda.
She is seen and there is no going back now. She pushes her shoulders back and crosses her arms in front of her chest then sullenly walks into the room. All eyes are on her, and she hates it. She glances over at her friend who appears to be completely comfortable amongst these people. With her hand, Rachael pats the cushion beside her, gesturing for Gabrian to come sit on the couch.
Now seated across from her unwelcomed guests, Gabrian listens quietly as Rachael begins to introduce them one by one.
“Gabrian, I would like for you to meet Ariah, Elder to the Fellowship of Vindere,” Rachael says, pointing toward the smaller woman that holds resemblance to herself. “In common English, the Reincarnate Fellowship. This is the fellowship that I belong to.”
Fellowship? Belong to? Is she in some kind of cult or strange group that I was unaware of? Gabrian ponders, silently deciding that she is going to make it a point to monitor her future employee’s extracurricular activities a little more closely—not to mention screen her choice in friends.
“You already know Orroryn, or Mr. Redmond, as we call him.” As she continues, Gabrian notices that Rachael’s face flushes slightly as she speaks of Mr. Redmond. “He is the Elder to the Fellowship of Schaeduwe or the Shadows Fellowship better known as Shadow Walkers.”
Ah, what did she just say? Shadow What? Gabrian’s legs begin to tremble as she feels the angst building within. Her fingers have shifted from a warm tingling sensation to a full-blown burn. She hears Rachael still talking in the background, but Gabrian’s mind focuses on trying to decipher what a Shadow Walker might be. All she catches is the word ‘Air’.
“Excuse me, I didn’t catch that last part.” Gabrian giggles unwillingly. The comic book creations that her delusional best friend is trying to feed to her are a bit distracting. “All I heard was something about air.” Gabrian closes her eyes and presses firmly against the bridge of her nose, reaching for reasoning while trying to sort through all the deranged details piling up inside of her mind. She hungers for some type of understanding of how a
ny of this could make sense.
Vaeda interjects when it comes time for her portion of the introductions in a sultry voice. “I am Vaeda, the Elder to the Fellowship of Zephyr. We are the Air Fellowship as we are one with the wind.”
Not knowing what to say to that, Gabrian just raises her eyebrows and nods her head slowly.
“Gabrian, we are friends of your parents, Sarapheane and Jarrison. Ariah, Vaeda, and I have known them all our lives for they too are people of the Realm from the Schaeduwe Fellowship like me. We have existed in each other’s presence for eons, training in the ways of the Schaeduwe. Our ancestors are descendants of the ancients and act as the Guardians to the Covenant.”
Gabrian freezes, the small rapport she had built with this man has now been obliterated by the words spewing out of his mouth. He seemed so normal. She shifts her view to Rachael. She seemed so normal too. She sits in a stupefied state, playing a tennis match with her eyes as she looks back and forth between them all, completely at a loss. She becomes brutally aware she is in a room surrounded by strangers who are absolutely, undeniably off their rockers.
Gabrian chews on her bottom lip as she contemplates how she ended up in this situation—youngest Valedictorian in her graduating class to date, undisputable ability to detect those in need of help in the reality department, and an obsessive need to be in control of all aspects in her life to a fault. How was Rachael able to fly under the radar and get close enough to her that she was able to put Gabrian in a situation this deranged—and possibly psychopathically dangerous?
Unsure of what else to do, Gabrian slowly stands up. Smiling her best I-need-to-get-me-the-Hell-out-of-here smile, she studies her route of escape and hopes to make it to the door of her apartment before any type of violent reaction breaks out with these people.
Rachael, having witnessed every altering mood-swing since the time she met Gabrian, senses her escalating anxiety. She takes note of how Gabrian’s new, permanent grey aura, swirls and whips itself around her like a veil of protection and realizes what may come next—she is going to try and make a break for it.
“She is going to run!” Rachael yells just as Gabrian quickly darts toward the door.
Flying full speed across the room, she reaches for the doorknob and fumbles with it but manages to open it. With the door wide open, and the small glimpse of freedom in front of her, Gabrian bursts forward and tries to run through the open frame. In the same instant, Vaeda speaks in Zephyr tongue and curls her fingers gently inward.
“Claustra solidus,” she whispers, and Gabrian slams into an invisible wall manifested by the will of Vaeda’s words, knocking her backward onto the floor. Panicked and running on pure adrenaline, Gabrian picks herself back up for another try at escape.
“Silozan Dvarah!” Vaeda continues and the door of Gabrian’s apartment slams shut before she can reach it. As the door closes, Orroryn instinctively reaches for the hem of the shadow beside him and pulls it across his massive body. Almost instantaneously, he expels himself out of the darkened contour of the entry leading to the door. He thrusts his hand outward and twists the knob on the straight bolt before Gabrian can stand, halting her exit plans.
Holy crap! You are going to die! her mind screams, eliminating any chance of rational thought. Staring at the massive wall of man before her—and knowing the sparkly wicked witch of the west is behind her—Gabrian decides it is fight-or-flight time, and her survival instincts take over. Flashes of the bodies from the park swirl dizzily within her memory, blinding her sight with the visions of those left lying lifeless. She rushes into her mind and rips at the sensations that surround her, figuring it may be her only way out.
If she can take out three people without even trying, she can conjure up whatever is in her to slow down these crazies.
Concentrating feverishly, she feels the tip of the familiar hunger that consumed her in the midst of her delirium and grasps for it. Her eyes widen brightly and her pupils open with desire, dilating as before as she focuses on the taste of the auras she feels emanating in her home. She only senses three. There should be four, but Mr. Redmond has none, nor can she feel any kind of energy from him. None the less, she focuses on the three visible auras and inhales deeply. Immediately, she sees the colours begin to fracture and twirl. Delighted with her accomplishment, she draws in her breath again, tasting the energy as it arrives.
Realizing what is happening, and amazed at how powerful Gabrian has become so quickly, Orroryn swiftly moves into action. In an attempt to try and obstruct Gabrian’s link to the auras, he grabs her and holds her tightly within his arms, hoping to alert Vaeda before it is too late.
Gabrian’s sight blackens. Although she cannot see any longer, she can still taste the life in the room, and pushes her senses more desperately toward her intentions.
“Vaeda, she is draining your essence and quickly!” he yells at her. “We have to do something before she loses herself again!”
Now aware that she and her accomplices are in danger from this wild youngling, she tries to reach Gabrian with her words.
“Gabrian, please stop. I know you are scared, but we are only here to help you.” Any attempt to reach Gabrian is in vain, and Vaeda’s pleas go unnoticed. Gabrian is not listening anymore; she is barely coherent. The amount of white energy she has already drawn in has sent her into a frenzied state of incoherence. Most Borrowers are taught to regulate themselves when they feed—which even for the experienced is a test in itself and difficult to control. The fact that Gabrian is green and has no knowledge of what she is doing makes her an extreme danger to them. If she is able to draw in too much of their essence, she can send them all into a comatose state where they would have to contend with the Gargons—not a battle Vaeda feels like fighting today.
“She is not responding to you, Vaeda,” Ariah exclaims. “Take her out before it is too late.” Rachael whips her head around, startled by her Elder’s unexpectedly candid behaviour and grasps the scale of their ordeal.
Vaeda feels the effect of her depleting essence draining on her efforts and sighs, wishing she did not have go forth with what she must do. She had hoped for a more productive first meeting. Reluctantly, knowing this is her only option, she closes her eyes and points her index finger toward the youngling. She swirls her hand counterclockwise and lowly murmurs her command.
“Earem Silpnas,” she breathes out her cryptic words laced with remorse. She had hoped it would not lead to this.
Gabrian feels the density of the air start to change around her, but she pushes it back and inhales with a vengeance. Her fingers flare with the mounting intensity of her frustrations as the Magik takes its effect, pulling her down from her enraptured state. She clings to the edges of light and forces her senses to wrap tightly around any and all tastes of energy.
Rachael’s dwindling essence holds her captive to Gabrian’s desire. She watches helplessly from the living room as her friend drains them all of their life and simultaneously duels it out against the Magik of the Elders. She stands wide-eyed and statuesque, pressing her delicate hands against her mouth—biting down hard upon her tongue in confliction of wanting to help her friend—but her need to survive keeps her silent. Watching the powerful gift of her young friend stand its ground against the practiced forces of the Elders is quite intriguing and unsettling at the same time.
Impressed too by Gabrian’s ability to resist her Magik, Vaeda speaks again, but her words carry more conviction this time.
“Retrahere Earem! Termanato Vapir, es Silpnas,” she articulates. Her incantation bites its way through, and Gabrian senses something is different. In this distraction, her intense desire to pull on the essences starts to waver. The air around her tastes stale. The weight in her lungs becomes heavy, she cannot gather enough oxygen and begins to cough. Orroryn, still holding her, gets ready to brace her when she falls.
Still terrified of what her captors might do to her, she continues to fight, but her coughing is getting harder, casting spots again
st Darkness where light fragments used to be. Feeling helpless, weak, and barely able to hold onto her consciousness, her eyes search the room in hopes to find Rachael one last time. Finding only blackness, she releases her feeble grip of the auras and slips into the Darkness that surrounds her.
“Well, that did not go very well!” Rachael spits out, falling back into the chair behind her as she feels an instant release on her essence. Her heart aches with the bitter probability that she may have just driven away her best friend forever. Realizing she is still amongst her Elders, she quickly covers her mouth. Her curt comment should have remained silent and in her head.
Orroryn turns his head toward her, looking down the bridge of his nose. The emerald sheen in his eyes flares and the seriousness exuding from them catches on her conscience somewhere deep within. Rachael’s face flushes at her inoperable shut up button and lack of discipline.
“Yesterday, I met with Sarapheane and Jarrison. They have been made aware of our suspicions, and I have been asked to bring her home to them if drastic measures were made necessary,” Orroryn announces to his audience. “Depending on how she responds to her parents’ intervention, Rachael, you may have to make the necessary adjustments to her professional schedule. There is no need to cause any unnecessary suspicions from her sudden and hopefully, temporary disappearance from her human life.”
“Yes, I agree, Orroryn,” Vaeda states, striding toward the couch where Orroryn has lain Gabrian’s limp body. She reaches her hand out and strokes Gabrian’s brow, gently removing the hair that has fallen onto her face during the struggle. Vaeda sighs in discontent then raises her weary eyes upward to her counterparts.
“The unfortunate occurrence here today will be kept from the other members of the Covenant. They are already in conflict about what actions should be taken due to Gabrian’s recent ascension into the Realm. I see no need to cause any more unnecessary discontents until we can find a way to enlighten Gabrian about who she truly is and remove any fear of her new-found world.”