“Poor dear,” Delia exclaimed. “Has it been just you and your brother all these years?”
Dawn nodded. “At first, I cleaned Sumrect houses for a living—big, luxurious houses. I learned then how differently humans lived compared to Sumrects. While we fretted over not having enough to eat and roaches crawling above our heads at night, the owners of the houses I cleaned regularly threw away meals large enough to feed entire families. Emptying their garbage—” she looked down at the silver fork in her hand— “saved Henry and I from ever having to go hungry.”
Kai stopped prodding his dinner, seemingly absorbed by her story—a story that could have very well been his had Ansel not brought him to live at Chesterfield.
“During one of my cleaning assignments,” she continued, “I met an artist commissioned to paint a portrait of the Sumrect owner. She took pity on Henry and me and took us in as art students. She told me, ‘One day, when you are old enough, you will paint for the Atma at Crimson Estate and never have to worry about food or shelter again.’”
“Thank heavens there’s still some good left in this world!” Delia blew her nose like a foghorn. “I can’t imagine the suffering they put you siblings through at Tempeia… You stay right here at Chesterfield, dear. We’ll take good care of you.”
“Then what happened?” Kai pressed.
“I tried my luck at Crimson Estate. But when I applied, the portrait artist position was unavailable. Still, Henry and I stayed. We did every odd job they assigned to us. It was a big mistake.”
“How so?”
“Turns out, the reason the Sumrects acquire so many workers for the Estate is that a good number of the humans are offered up… as sacrifice.”
“What?!” Delia leaned forward, aghast.
“Each month, a worker dies. Vance calls it an offering. I call it murder.”
“Such atrocity!”
“They keep it hush, hush. If you speak about the offerings, you are next.”
“Offering humans… for what?”
“I don’t know and never dared to ask.” Dawn set her fork down, her appetite long gone. “Some say the practice keeps evil at bay. Others say it keeps evil alive. I was too naïve to have believed our artistic skills would keep us from being chosen.”
Kai slammed a clenched fist onto the wooden dining table, making the plates bounce a centimeter into the air. “I wish I could punch Vance!”
At that precise moment, a robotic voice echoed in the dining room.
“You have visitors.”
Delia rose from her seat, her expression a mix of fury and unease. “Who would visit us at this hour?” she murmured to herself, turning away from the table. “I’ll be right back.”
As she exited the room, Kai reached up to tap the chandelier above the dining table. One, two, three times. “Hey, check this out!”
Composed of numerous amber droplets, the chandelier floated in midair, defying gravity like the marble table and stairs by the entrance.
More amber… Dawn mused, mesmerized.
“If you haven’t noticed, Ansel loves amber…” Kai stared intently at the chandelier as though waiting for something to change.
The droplets glowed brighter and brighter until suddenly, they erupted into flames that grew to engulf the entire chandelier. Dawn stifled a gasp. Images appeared in the fire. They became clearer with each passing second until she could make out the plump figure ambling down a stone path.
“It’s Delia!” She gaped at the live shot of the front yard.
“Amazing, isn’t it? Works just like a surveillance monitor. There is one in each room, and there are security cameras everywhere.” Kai shifted in his seat to get a better view. “Let’s meet our mystery visitor!”
In the fire, Delia crouched over something lying on the grass, but the image was too small for them to see clearly. Much to Dawn’s alarm, Kai reached into the flames and dragged the chandelier closer to the table, which triggered the camera to zoom in on Delia. Evidently, these were not regular flames because his hands came out unscathed.
It took them a few seconds to make sense of the figure on the ground next to Delia. Something turned in Dawn’s stomach. This is not good.
“What on earth—” The blood drained from Kai’s face.
The body Delia squatted next to appeared to be a woman, sprawled awkwardly on the ground as if she had been dropped from above, her arms and legs twisted at odd angles. The brown sweater and burlap pants could have only come from one place. Dawn’s throat tightened with dread. A worker from Crimson Estate! What is she doing here?
The worker’s face had been disfigured to an unrecognizable state. All that remained were dried blood and raw flesh—not an inch of skin left. The body was not moving, and from the way Delia looked, hand over her mouth, Dawn knew the woman was long gone.
A shiny object on the victim’s chest caught the light emanating from Delia’s hands. Kai stuck his hand once more into the fire and focused the camera on the shiny object. It was a badge. Engraved in red was a name.
Dawn backed away from the burning chandelier, shaking her head. No. No, it can’t be. But she could neither shake away the image nor the name etched in crimson:
Gail Thornton.
Chapter 4
Dawn stared at the body of Gail Thornton. Does this mean Vance discovered the Pathfinders at Crimson? For most of the humans trapped in Fors, a reality between Earthly and Sumrectian realms, escaping had always been a farfetched dream, and until today, she did not think anyone was actively trying to locate a channel home, let alone a worker from Crimson. Without Sumrectian technology, returning to the realm from which the humans came seemed an impossibility.
“Let’s go.” Kai tapped the chandelier three times. The fire vanished, leaving drops of amber swaying from side to side.
Together, they hurried outside to where Delia still stood, dumbfounded by Gail’s broken body. Even though it was nearly nine o’clock, the sky was lit with a reddish hue. Beyond Chesterfield’s front gates, massive, murky, mushroom clouds expanded into the night sky, gradually obscuring the moon and stars.
“What’s happening?” Dawn caught a whiff of smoke emanating from the town below.
When Delia replied, her expression was grave. “That is no ordinary fire… Phyon is under attack.”
“Then what are we waiting for? We have to go help them!” Kai said at once.
“Hang on.” Delia turned to Dawn and searched her eyes intently. “Do you know this worker?”
Dawn shuddered when she looked at the mutilated face. “I have never met Gail Thornton, but I know she is the Pathfinder who coordinated my rescue and left me a voice message onboard the Vidra360.”
“This must be Vance’s warning to us,” Delia muttered. “He suspects we have something to do with the reappearance of the Eye in your painting.”
Symbols of hope and home, the glass spheres were banned from Tempeia ever since the destruction of their Source. Anyone found in possession of an Eye of Elektron or displaying its symbol faced incarceration and sometimes even death.
Still, many kept their amber-cored glass orbs hidden, awaiting the day the Eye of Elektrons would function like they used to—a gateway to their long-lost reality.
“Why does Vance suspect—”
“Watch out!”
Before Dawn could finish her question, a figure tackled her to the ground five feet away from where she had been standing.
An object whizzed overhead and crashed into the front yard with a thunderous boom. A shower of mud and dirt rained onto the body on top of her.
“Get off me!” She pushed against the body. Seconds later, the crushing weight disappeared.
It was Kai. Quickly, he pulled a rattled Dawn from the wet summer grass. She stared in shock at the enormous crater about the size of a Vidra360 next to Gail Thornton. Had Kai not pushed her out of the way, she would have been crushed.
“Thanks… Sure didn’t see that one coming,” she said.
&nb
sp; “Sorry about the dress.”
“Never mind the dress! What was that?”
Already inside the crater, Delia extracted something from the mud.
“What was it? What did you find?” Kai called from above.
“I think we got a message from Ansel,” said Delia, cleaning the dirt off a familiar glass sphere—another Eye of Elektron.
“Jeez! Couldn’t he have been a bit more careful? Does he want to get us killed?” Kai and Dawn carefully stepped over the mud mounds encircling the depression.
“I thought they lost their function,” she said.
“You are right. These orbs don’t work… they can’t work… and it’s… Not. Coming. Off.” Delia rubbed the glass furiously until she noticed Dawn by the crater’s edge.
“Here, dear, see what you make of it.” She tossed the lifeless orb to Dawn.
Why did Ansel send an Eye that no longer transmitted messages? Skeptical, Dawn took the glass sphere from Delia.
A soft light emitted from the orb the instant her fingers wrapped around it. All three of them gasped as words appeared. However, the message did not shine on the glass in the same way she remembered. Contrasted against the glowing amber, scribbled in black, was Ansel’s warning:
THEY ARE COMING. TAKE DAWN.
USE THE TUNNEL.
As if on cue, the same robotic voice that announced Gail’s arrival earlier now boomed from the front gate:
“You have visitors. You have visitors.”
Kai let out a whistle. “Wow, that was fast.”
They? Who are they?
In the distance, Dawn spotted a row of dancing lights, moving uphill toward Chesterfield House.
“Vance’s soldiers are coming for us.” Delia pulled herself from the crater with the agility of a much younger Sumrect. “Kai, take Dawn to the tunnel as fast as you can. They must be monitoring our every move from the air. I’m sure of it.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“What about you? Are you coming with us?” Dawn waited for Delia, her heart racing.
“Don’t you worry about me, dear. Someone needs to remain on Chesterfield’s grounds. Vance’s soldiers won’t do me any harm. I’m a Sumrect!” As she spoke, Delia flung the Eye back into the crater and began making sweeping motions with her hands. Piles of mud and dirt flowed back into the depression to cover the orb Ansel sent.
“Once you are out of Chesterfield,” she said, “find a place to hide until this is over. DO NOT draw any attention to yourselves until Ansel returns. Do you understand?”
“You have visitors. You have visitors.”
The dancing lights drew closer with each robotic announcement.
“Go! NOW!”
Without sparing another glance at the approaching Sumrects, Kai and Dawn dashed to the house.
Once inside, they headed straight to the living room, where the dusty grand piano stood eerily in the dark. They did not dare turn on lights for fear the Sumrects might notice. Through the window, half-covered by a navy velvet curtain, Dawn saw a group of twenty Sumrects spill onto Chesterfield grounds, each wielding a gun in his hand. They yelled unintelligible phrases to each other while they spread out in all directions, pointing this way and that.
“Wait!” Dawn halted dead in her tracks, abruptly remembering Delia’s warning. “I should take the Eye in case they search the house. It’s sitting on the nightstand in the guest room.”
“Good call.” Kai peered out the window from behind the curtains. “But hurry up! Delia can hold them off now, but not for long.”
Sure enough, as she sprinted up the floating stairs, a Sumrect materialized outside the half-covered window. She froze on the spot, holding her breath. Fortunately, before the soldier could get a decent glimpse into the house, a white shield cascaded over the window. The Sumrect tumbled backward as though he had just been electrocuted.
So close! She broke out into a run, knowing it was only a matter of time before the soldiers would break down Delia’s defenses and storm in.
Sure enough, when she got to the guest room and looked out the window, she saw a bald Sumrect tie Delia to a tree and strike her repeatedly with electricity until the white shield around Chesterfield House fizzled out. The moment Delia’s protection lifted, the Sumrect soldiers charged toward the house. Trembling with fury, Dawn snatched the Eye of Elektron from the nightstand and ran as fast as her legs would allow back to where Kai stood next to the dusty Steinway.
“Kai! Here’s the Eye!” She pushed the Eye into his hand.
Upon meeting his touch, the orb stopped glowing.
Loud banging exploded in the house as the Sumrects tried to ram down the front door.
Kai quickly stuffed the orb into his pocket and snatched her by the arm. “Come on, we have to get away from here.”
They sprinted through the adjacent room, which was empty except for an ornate chair in one corner facing the wall. How strange, Dawn thought. Kai did not pause but led her further toward the back of the house.
There were voices now, coming from the front entrance. The Sumrects must be inside. Dawn could not make out what they were saying, but she probably would not understand them anyway had they been—
BANG!
A faraway explosion shook the walls.
Dawn heard shouting and thumping as if bodies were being flung about.
“What was that?” she said in a hushed tone, coming to a stop in front of an oak door.
Kai smirked. “Defense mechanisms. Chesterfield House won’t allow itself to be so easily searched!” He fished out a set of keys from his pocket and selected one that looked like it had not been used in years.
“Unused in years,” he confirmed. “Never tried it on this door, but let’s hope it still works…”
Much to Dawn’s surprise, the key slid smoothly into the aged lock and turned with a muffled click. The giant wooden door creaked open as more yelling and furious orders came from down the hall.
She shared a look of alarm with Kai before they quickly slid into the room.
“Ansel’s old study.” Kai secured the door from inside. “Stylish, isn’t it?”
Dawn coughed. The scent of old, spoiled books soaked the musty air. Gray sheets covered everything in the study: chairs, an enormous desk, bookshelves and whatever was hanging on the walls. For a moment, Kai paused in his steps as if trying to recall something. Then, he walked over to a gray sheet and pulled it down in one swift motion to expose a large painting on the wall. In the dim, reddish light that spilled in from the window, a stunning, fair-haired young lady with big, brown eyes smiled down at her onlooker from a lavender field.
The reaction was immediate. Dawn’s heart hammered against her rib cage. She did not recognize the lady in the painting, but the lavender field tugged at the fuzzy corners of a memory she could not yet bring to the forefront. I have been there before…
“Dawn!”
She snapped back to the situation at hand.
“Will you help me pull the sheets off the other paintings as well?” Kai tugged at the picture frame. To her astonishment, the painting of the young woman opened outwards, revealing the secret tunnel Delia had mentioned earlier.
“If the Sumrects break into this study, they will have to check a lot of paintings before they find the tunnel’s entrance.” Kai winked at her.
“Good idea!” she said and began uncovering the paintings one by one while Kai lifted the gray sheets off from the desk and chairs. The study housed eight other extraordinary portraits of the same blonde lady in various settings: a deserted beach, a lush garden, a hidden clearing inside a forest, an empty concert hall with a grand piano much like the one in the living room and—
The last portrait knocked the breath out of her lungs.
Behind the sunny smile and sun-kissed locks sprawled the auroras, a splash of soft purple and green—the same northern lights that had plagued her dreams ever since the night her whole life changed.
Who is this woman? Dawn thought a
s the last sheet fell to the floor.
“Hurry!” Kai dragged her into the secret tunnel by the wrist before he pulled the painting back over the opening. Everything went dark.
“Here, take the Eye.” His steady voice echoed in the stillness. He had not panicked once since the Sumrects arrived.
When Dawn’s fingers contacted the glass, light erupted from the amber core and illuminated their surroundings. She could now see the steep drop just a few steps away in front of them.
“Looks like the passage continues below.”
“Just as Ansel described.” A smile spread across Kai’s face. “Together?”
She positioned herself next to Kai by the edge. “Together.”
“On three.” He took Dawn’s hand in his. “One, two, three!”
They plunged into darkness below.
✽✽✽
Continuous sounds of gunshots filled the night air. The Brighton household was in a state of disarray. On the roof of their two-room wooden house, Ansel waited, squinting down at the fuzzy figures beneath him. Not long ago, he could see through fifteen feet of solid stone wall without a problem, but lately, even wood shingle roofs like these distorted his vision. At least he could still watch the scene unfold.
“Just destroy it, Basil! It’s useless now, anyway!” Francesca Brighton, holding her two daughters, implored her husband from a corner of their living room that also served as their bedroom.
Ansel fought back the urge to storm in and snatch the Eye from Basil’s hand. Yes. Destroy it, Basil. They will kill you and your family if they find out.
With a wild mane, a puffed chest and a rugged voice, Basil Brighton stared at the Eye of Elektron in his hand, motionless. The glass remained as clear and unblemished as ever.
“Pop, why don’t we go out and fight them like real men? Instead of waiting here for them to find us?” a boy about seventeen asked Basil. He held a gun in his hand.
Basil slowly shook his head.
The Eye of Elektron: A Clean Urban Fantasy (The Sumrectian Series Book 1) Page 4