“Whatever, it’s all going to Hell anyway.” She rolls her eyes and saunters away with her silver hair trailing behind her.
She has got to get a grip - she’s just mad because Onyx was chosen to be Zephyr’s replacement, and not her. Anyways, gotta focus. Don’t mess this up.
Brielle has been extra careful about making sure everything is done accurately, what with the fiasco surrounding the Luna and Delphine mess. It is too important of a job to ever take lightly, but after the mix-up happened, she’s policed herself even more.
And… perfect. She eases the orb into the appropriate glowing receptacle, and then goes back to the tagging station, per usual. She glances at one of the digitized clocks on the wall, and then looks back at her schedule.
Just a few more Earth minutes to go until I’m done. Stay focused. She hums softly to herself and then reaches for the next orb. She places it perfectly, and smiles to herself as the screen above it lights up with the images of new life. But to her left, she notices a sorter panicking as their screen lights up, but remains blank. There are no sirens, or red flashing lights, so it can’t be a mistake, but something is certainly going on.
“Hey, everything okay over here?” Brielle looks over to the younger sorter next to her.
“Yes, I do believe so. But, the screen doesn’t look like yours…” He points to the screen in front of Brielle which currently is broadcasting images of a small child with a backpack going to school.
“Indeed, that is strange. Let me see what’s going on, maybe someone can help.” Brielle looks around for any sign of an emergency, and seeing none, she relaxes a bit, but cannot shake the feeling that something is more than a little off. She continues walking around the Sorting Room, hoping to find answers in the large crowd of sorters going about their daily work.
Upon a closer look around, Brielle notices a few more screens that have lit up in just a plain, ghastly white. But that’s the only thing - still no sirens, and still no foggy tubes.
It can’t possibly be a mix-up like before, this isn’t the same… or, is it?
She scratches the back of her neck as she waits for further instructions. The other sorters are beginning to notice the anomaly, and are beginning to become upset. But there are still no answers to be had. Brielle continues to nervously pace around the large room, in the hopes that the problem will be explained shortly. After a few moments of this uncertainty, she recognizes the back of Evander’s head, and taps him on the shoulder.
“Oh, Evander - I was wondering if you had any idea… about what may be causing the white screens? It is not normal, after all, and it is quite… concerning.”
“Yes, we are still exploring the issue. I honestly have no idea what might be causing it. It’s definitely not a mishap like… before. So don’t worry about that.” He pauses for a moment to click a few buttons at a nearby receptacle where the screen is blank white.
“From what I can see at the moment, nothing is responsive, which means that although the orbs were sorted correctly as Zephyr had intended, they have likely failed to connect to their respective life forces and Earthly forms.”
“What does that mean?” Brielle’s face starts to pale as Evander continues to fiddle with the buttons on one screen, and then another, but to no avail.
“Well, I’ve never really seen this before, but it looks like there’s a malfunction at the head?”
“The head?”
Evander pulls Brielle to the side, away from the earshot of other sorters. “Please do not panic, because if you do, the others will panic, and then there will be nothing but chaos.”
“Evander, what is going on?”
He takes a deep breath, and then continues. “It seems, that the end is near. Zephyr is dying.”
“I knew that. But what’s happening now?”
“No, you don’t understand. Zephyr is the connector between the ethereal realm of the Upperworld, and Earth. The connection is failing, because he is dying… right now.”
“Oh my pod, what do we… what do we do?”
Evander clamps a firm but gentle hand over Brielle’s trembling mouth. “Remain calm, Brielle. You’ll only frighten the others.”
“But I’m frightened!”
“Shhhh! This is go-time. We are going to call an emergency meeting, and begin the change-over process.”
“But, what about Jade?”
“What about her?”
“She’s mad… really mad, about what happened.”
“It doesn’t matter what she thinks. There are bigger things at stake. We need to remember that the future of the Upperworld is in our hands, and there isn’t a moment to lose! Go now, rally the troops. The time has come.”
CHAPTER 12
“Yeah Jones, there is no doubt in my mind that it was the same kid who attacked the condo receptionist. I’m aware that it’s a little vague, but honestly, how many people actually fit that description? I think it’s pretty obvious. Besides, he’s been creating enough unrest around town, I’m really not surprised that he’s responsible for this too. It’s high time that he be brought to justice… No I do not think ‘Wanted’ posters would be appropriate in this situation. And I also do not appreciate your hilarious gag reel, Jones. Smarten up! This kid needs to be caught, I am so serious… Okay, yep… Yeah, I agree… Glad we’re on the same page. I’m just gonna take a drive-around town, and see if I can find anything suspicious happening. I’ll keep you posted. Yeah yeah, over-and-out.”
Officer Carnes continues driving around town as he planned, in hopes that the perpetrator would be visible from the vantage point of his car. He turns his attention to the radio momentarily, as he settles into one of his favorite talk shows on the sports channel. He’s fully enthralled by some of the latest baseball stats when he sees what looks like a body on the ground, covered in blood, and surrounded by police cars. He immediately pulls over to it, and grabs his two-way radio.
He quickly exits his vehicle, and recognizes the guy on the ground.
“What’s going on here?” It’s him… but how? What happened?
“Male, looks to be about age eighteen or so, deceased from a stab wound, from what we can see so far. We’ll know more after the coroner’s report.”
“Okay but you don’t understand… I know this kid!”
“You know him?”
“Yes, well, not like that. I mean, I’ve been trying to track him down for weeks.”
“Oh, is - was he the perp you were going on and on about?”
Officer Carnes rolls his eyes, and then nervously shuffles his feet. He’s never been good with death, even when it’s someone problematic. One thing he always tries not to let on to anyone, is that underneath that hard and crusty exterior, is a big teddy bear of a guy who really does hate to see anyone suffer.
“Yeah, he most certainly was.”
“Well, no need to worry about him anymore.”
“Guess not. Coroner’s on the way, you said?”
“Yep, it’s all set. But I’m going to need to figure out how this happened. Whoever did this, is an even greater threat to our town than this guy was.”
“That’s true, did you check for fingerprints on the weapon?”
“No, not yet.”
“All right, I’m on it.”
Officer Carnes walks back to his police car to grab some sterile white gloves and other tools out of the trunk. He returns to the scene of the crime, and gingerly grabs the bloody knife from the fatal wound it is still stuck in. The knife is covered in congealed blood, the once bright-red blood cells turning a dried up, sticky, rusty brown. After analyzing the hilt of the dagger, Officer Carnes sighs and walks back to where the other officers are milling around.
“There are prints, but they don’t match any of the criminals in the system. So it seems there’s a new one in town.”
The other officer nods. “Indeed. Okay, we gotta ID the murderer, STAT. If someone is posing a threat to the good people of this town, I won’t stand for it.�
��
✷✷✷
“Luna? Is that you?”
Anthony sees her from across the street as she’s running away from the fight.
“Anthony? Anthony!” Luna wastes no time running across the street, momentarily forgetting to use the crosswalk. Her erratic jaywalking elicits some frustrated honking from the nearby cars who swerve to avoid hitting her.
“Luna, you’ve got to be careful! What were you thinking running into the street like that?”
She buries her head in his shoulder, and he reciprocates with a friendly hug, much to Miranda’s dismay.
“Yeah, so she stupidly ran in front of some cars. We’ve all done it, what’s the big deal?”
Anthony makes eye contact with Miranda and rolls his eyes. He lowers his voice a bit.
“She’s clearly upset, chill out. I don’t know what happened but she’s terrified and needs help. I’ll just be a sec.”
Miranda crosses her arms but ends up begrudgingly walking toward the fountain to sun herself on the edge of it while snapping selfies for her social media pages.
“Luna, are you okay? You’ve gotta tell me what happened. And where’s Onyx?”
Her lower lip trembles as the words tumble out of her mouth. “He was protecting me.”
“From what?”
“Someone who wanted to hurt me.”
“Oh my gosh…”
“And so I ran away because I was scared…”
“… and you found me.” Anthony pauses to absorb the information that she is slowly disclosing.
“Yes. And now I don’t know what to do…”
“He’ll come for you, I’m sure. Did he know which direction you ran.”
She nods. “Yes, I think he saw me run.”
“Okay, okay well that’s good! I mean, I’m sure he’ll be right here before you know it.” Anthony gently pats her on the shoulder, and then begins to walk toward Miranda. “I should, probably get back to her. She’ll be mad if I keep her waiting too long and -”
“No, stay.”
“Huh?”
“I mean, can you help me? I really don’t know where he is, and I’m very frightened.”
Anthony sighs. “Okay, I’ll stay with you until he gets here. I mean, couldn’t you just call him though?”
“Call him?”
“Yeah, with your cellphone?”
Her face doesn’t register the term or the concept.
“Oh, you have no idea what that is, do you? Okay. Yeah, I’ll wait right here with you. Or, better yet, why don’t we both go sit with Miranda?”
Luna hesitates, but eventually nods, and they both walk over to where Miranda is seated on the edge of the fountain.
“Oh, hey Luna.” She draws out her name as if it is a great inconvenience for her to say it out loud.
“Hello, Miranda.”
“I see you’ve changed out of that ridiculous pink rubbery number.”
“Huh?”
Anthony glares at Miranda. “Come on, just be cool, okay? I really don’t think that was necessary. She’s not… from around here and just needed some time to adjust. Isn’t that right, Luna?”
Luna nods, but she can’t help but notice the strange dynamic that is developing between the three of them. She contents herself with looking up at the bright-blue early afternoon sky after the clouds broke apart, and she tries to breathe deeply and relax until Onyx can get back to her.
He’ll be here, I just know it. Any second now.
CHAPTER 13
Brielle nods quickly, and then runs off to tell everyone what she heard from Evander, all while trying not to panic.
This is really happening. We’re going to take down Zephyr today. It all comes down to this.
She tries to regulate her breathing, but she knows that she is on the cusp of a panic attack, and that if she doesn’t calm down, it’s going to be a full-blown episode. Being a sorter in the Upperworld is already stressful enough without the added pressure of overthrowing the supreme and powerful leader. But that is exactly what she is doing, and Brielle is doing the best she can to be okay with that.
Find the others… maybe Griffin. She runs to the wall with the digital schedule on it, and searches for Griffin’s name and location. He’s in the record keeping office, of course!
She wastes no time in running to the record keeping office. When she gets there, she knocks on the door to get his attention. She can’t open it herself because she isn’t a record keeper, and her handprint wouldn’t be recognized by the scanner.
“Oh, hello Brielle. Is there something I can do for you?”
“Zephyr is dying now and it’s time to put the plan into action. Spread the word, and get ready.” The words tumble out of her mouth at a rapid rate.
“What? How do you know?”
“The screens in the Sorting Room… are blank.”
“Like before? Was there another mix-up?”
Brielle sighs as she searches for the right terms to convert the message properly. Behind Griffin, the record keeping office is colored by the various blinks and beeps of the various computers and gadgets that are housed there.
“No, there wasn’t a mix-up, but the orbs aren’t… connecting, that’s what Evander said. They aren’t connecting to their human forms, something like that. Whatever it is, it’s bad. Prepare yourself for the switch over!”
“Okay, so where’s Onyx?”
Brielle’s eyes widen. “You mean, he hasn’t been transported back here yet?”
“Not to my knowledge, no…”
“I hope Evander’s on top of that…”
She waits for a further response from Griffin, and finding none, she turns on her heel to find Evander.
He’s gotta get Onyx back here!
Her feet move as fast as they can back toward the Sorting Room, but she also doesn’t want to make the others nervous or stir up a mass panic. If that happens, then they’ll definitely all be doomed. After what feels like the longest walk of her existence, Brielle enters the Sorting Room again, and even more screens are pale white. In fact, she’d be hard-pressed to find one that isn’t. After a brief run-through of the main area, she finds Evander feverishly telling other Disturbers what is going on and doling out personalized instructions.
“Evander!”
Brielle interrupts his conversation, and he looks none too pleased, but allows her to speak anyway.
“Brielle, now is really not the time for -”
“Onyx. Is he here yet?”
Evander’s face turns as white as the screens in the Sorting Room. “I… I can’t believe the most important part of the plan slipped my mind!” He jogs out of the Sorting Room with Brielle following him toward the transport room. “I have to program the machine to bring him back, and it’s going to take a little time, which we don’t exactly have. Please notify everyone of this latest development, and let them know that they may need to fight. Start to form a coalition in the Grand Hall, and I’ll arrive with Onyx shortly.”
Brielle hesitates to move, as she is frozen in fear.
“GO!”
She is snapped out of her hesitation by his desperate plea, and runs back out of the transport room to find those involved with the coalition.
It’s going to be okay, I can do this. I can do this. I really, really hope I can do this.
✷✷✷
“What do you mean the subject is untraceable? You mean to tell me, that there is nothing in the census to identify him? Yes, I really am shocked. This is… certainly unprecedented. Yes, okay. I’ll keep asking around, of course. Okay, thank you for your time.”
Officer Carnes ends the call with the coroner’s office, and scratches his chin pensively. The coffee cup sitting on the table in front of him suddenly holds his interest as his thoughts get too loud for his own taste. Inhaling the warmth and the steam from the beverage, he breathes deeply, trying to avoid becoming too caught up in the craziness that is police work.
It will sort itself out eventua
lly - it has too, logically. No one can defy logic.
His silent mantra comforts him a bit, but only for a moment, as he is interrupted by his phone ringing again.
“Hello? Yes, this is he. What? No, that’s impossible… do you mean to tell me that the prints on the dagger don’t match those of the subject? So it wasn’t suicide? Okay, okay. I’ll notify the other officers. Yes, we’re on the case. Don’t worry… I’ll get the detective right on this. Okay. Will do, thanks.”
He exhales as he ends yet another call, and while staring out the window, he quickly realizes the stark reality that this case may not be like anything he has ever seen before. Police work is never dull, and it can even be pretty thrilling. But it very rarely is this bizarre. Usually, everything can be explained with a very clear cause-and-effect relationship. But this is the exception - and anything beyond the realm of logic eludes him, and rightfully so. Logic is all he knows.
CHAPTER 14
“Luna! LUNA!”
She looks up from her polite conversation with Miranda and Anthony in the park to see Onyx running toward her, nearly out of breath. There is congealed blood splattered on his shirt, eliciting expressions of shock and confusion on the faces of the others.
“Onyx!” She runs toward him, leaving Miranda and Anthony a few paces behind her, and they embrace, even in the midst of the confusion and fighting that they both witnessed.
“I’m so glad I found you, when you ran off, I didn’t know where you went.”
Luna nods, but can’t seem to take her eyes off of his bloody shirt. “I know, but, what’s all this?”
Onyx’s face turns white. “Well, humans have bodily fluids that tend to… leak sometimes.” Luna nods, and then her eyes move to the cut on his neck.
“Is that what happened to your neck?”
Onyx nods slowly. “But… we’re safe now.” He fights the smile that is turning up at the corners of his lips, but that smile is simultaneously filled with pain.
Luna’s face subconsciously mirrors his, and she raises an eyebrow. “Do you mean…”
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