Darkness Rising

by Mary Jennifer Payne

  “Do you think they’ll be able to save Cassandra?” Lily finally asks. Her voice is barely a whisper.

  I turn to answer her and see that her cheeks are streaked with tears.

  “I don’t know,” I answer. There’s no use being dishonest. “There was a lot of blood.”

  Lily nods. “Yeah, I know. She’s still alive, but there’s crazy pain. Pain that feels like acid. I think her wound has an infection that’s spreading.” She gulps at the cool air in the car like a goldfish tossed from its bowl. “And she’s scared. Really scared. Of dying.”

  I reach out and touch Lily’s arm. “You’re feeling it too, right?”

  She pulls away as though burned and nods, fresh tears spilling from her eyes. “It hurts so much, I can barely think. And I’m scared, Jasmine. I wish we weren’t Seers. I wish we were just normal. Why us?”

  “Why not us?” I reply.

  “But I don’t want this. I don’t want to fight demons or any of it.”

  “If you weren’t a Seer, you might not be a twin, either. And personally, I kind of like having both you and Cassandra in my life,” I say, immediately regretting my words, since we can’t be 100 percent sure that Cassandra will still be with us after tonight. Silence spreads between us for a few moments. “You want to hear something strange?” I ask, hoping to take Lily’s mind off Cassandra’s injuries, even if only for a few brief moments.

  Lily nods again and sniffles wetly. She wipes at her nose with the back of her right hand.

  “I don’t have that with Jade anymore … that connection.” It’s something I haven’t told anyone, because I don’t really understand it myself.

  “What do you mean?” she asks. “You really didn’t know she was taking the ring?”

  “Of course not,” I say. I’m shocked and more than a bit hurt that Lily thought I was lying about that. And I’m sure she can hear that in my voice.

  “Sorry,” Lily says. “It’s just that, you know, reading and feeling your twin’s emotions doesn’t seem like something that could change. When did it happen?”

  I pause to think about it. “It’s hard to know for sure, but I definitely noticed it just before we went to the Place-in-Between to return the ring. I guess sometime around then. Something shifted. But I don’t think it was with me.”

  “What do you mean?” Lily asks, her eyebrows drawing together into a frown.

  I chew on my bottom lip and look out the window for a moment. We’re in a residential area now, with houses looming above us like ghostly white giants.

  “Something strange happened to Jade.” I pause. “When we were down in the Place-in-Between, there was this guy. About our age. Really skinny.”

  Lily shrugs. “I didn’t see him. One of the lost souls?”

  “That’s just it. I don’t think he was. And do you want to hear something even crazier?”

  Lily smiles, but it’s a sad smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Isn’t everything in our lives crazy? Sure. Shoot.”

  “Jade knew him. Seriously. I could tell by the way he looked at her and vice versa. And she was looking at him like she was in love or something.”

  “Was he hot?” Lily asks.

  “Gross! Um, he was so not at all,” I answer. “Skinny and freckled with wiry red hair and a nose that looked like his mom pinched it all the time when he was a baby.”

  The car seems to be slowing down.

  “Our destination will be on the right in five hundred metres. Please gather all your belongings. Mind the step between the car and the path whilst disembarking,” the AI says.

  “And you think this guy has something to do with you and Jade losing your connection? And what Vashti said about Jade being under the influence of someone or something?” Lily asks. “How did he do that? Do you think she knows him from her time there, in the Place-in-Between?”

  “I have no idea,” I reply. “It’s just a gut feeling. He’s definitely not a lost soul, but if he was down in the Place-in-Between, he’s not a regular human being, either.”

  “Maybe another angel?” Lily asks as the car rolls to a stop outside one of the houses. “And where is Raphael when you need him, anyway? He could’ve helped Cassandra tonight.”

  “Yeah, I know. He seems to leave me … I mean, us … whenever he’s needed,” I say, my face reddening. I’m glad for the darkness of the car’s interior and its air-conditioning. “I dunno what his deal is. But, no, I don’t think that guy Jade knows is an angel. I think he’s something else.”

  “Something else? Like what?” Lily asks.

  I open my mouth to answer, but the words catch in my throat as the car door beside me swings open.

  “Get out. And make it quick,” a voice snaps.

  JADE

  Despite having been previously freeze-dried, the butter chicken and rice taste like heaven. I’m so hungry, I want to gobble all the food on my plate down without stopping to breathe between bites, but the roller coaster ride in my stomach warns me against that.

  “I’ve been thinking, Amara,” Mr. Khan says, pushing his half-finished plate away. “Your father must also be under surveillance. I’m not sure getting ahold of him is the best idea. However, I do feel you should tell him about Vivienne. I’d hate for him to discover it via the media or some other means.” He pauses, clearly torn about what to do. “I assume that, to ensure safety, the video watch here is not registered to your father, but regardless, all of his incoming communications are sure to be ruthlessly and immediately scrutinized.” He turns to me. “Do you still have the ring?”

  I nod and instinctively feel the right front pocket of my jeans, though I know it’s still there.

  Mr. Khan rubs his chin as he thinks. The beginnings of a small goatee are sprouting from the skin under his fingers.

  “If we do make contact with your father, we must be prepared to transition from here directly afterward, as I estimate we’ll have less than half an hour before the authorities storm this place — if we’re lucky.”

  “Okay,” Amara replies, her voice bright. “And then throw away the video watch, right?”

  Mr. Khan’s eyes darken with concern again. “Yes, then we throw away the video watch,” he says, sounding somewhat defeated. It must seem like the Seers currently under his protection are coming apart like a badly sewn pair of pants.

  The rest of our dinner is finished in silence, aside from the news broadcast that we’ve left on. We’re all thinking about the transition. Will it work? Can we flip into contemporary London? And, if we can, will we be able to connect with Jasmine and the rest of the Seers? Will Mr. Khan be okay in the Place-in-Between? He could end up reacting just like us, feeling sicker and weaker the longer he’s down there, or he could become very ill right away … or worse. There are so many unknowns. One thing I do know: staying here is not a choice.

  “An update from Toronto public health official Rodney White on the death toll from the water poisoning. Currently, the official number of dead stands at one million, eight hundred and fifty-eight thousand. An estimated two hundred thousand further casualties are currently hospitalized in critical care, so it is expected that the number of fatalities will increase.”

  “Whoa,” I say, my fork clattering to my plate. My hands are shaking. “That’s insane.”

  Mr. Khan nods. “Mass murder on a scale not often seen in human history. The African slave trade, the Holocaust, Syria … Humans have done this kind of thing before. But not usually in just a few days. Perhaps the Rwandan genocide is the closest equivalent.”

  Seconds later, images of us flash up again. The broadcaster’s voice is urgent.

  “These young women are the prime suspects in the water poisoning. Eva Gonzales, the only terrorist — I mean, suspected terrorist — to be apprehended thus far, has not only confessed to aiding in the poisoning of the water, but also pleaded no contest to the first-degree murder of Constable Jeffrey Brick of the Toronto Police. Constable Brick, a thirty-five-year-old father of three …”


  “Turn it off,” I say, clenching my teeth so tight they nearly crack. I can’t listen any longer to the horrible things they’re saying we’ve done, and I can’t bear to see my face, my sister’s face, the faces of our friends — one of whom is now dead — shown over and over while we’re attacked verbally like this. Terrorists. Murderers. Criminals. Teen sociopaths.

  Standing up, I shove the chair back, and, clutching my stomach, dash to the bathroom. There’s not even time to close the door behind me before I’m kneeling over the cool porcelain rim of the toilet, throwing up every last morsel of the rice and chicken. My stomach spins like a washing machine on overdrive.

  After about five minutes, Mr. Khan comes to the door.

  “Jade?” he asks, his voice soft and caring for the first time since I took the ring.

  “I’m fine,” I answer weakly, though I can’t even stand up at the moment. I feel like a whirling dervish, the room is spinning so much.

  “Can I come in?” he asks.

  “Sure.” It’s not like I can stop him. If I didn’t have this ring in my pocket and some crazy demon came into the house right now, I’d be dead meat. In fact, judging by the way Amara’s acting, we’d all be killed.

  Mr. Khan kneels beside me and holds back my damp hair. “Here,” he says, holding out a wad of toilet paper with his free hand. “Give your mouth and chin a wipe.”

  I take the paper gratefully and wipe my lower face. “Sorry,” I manage to say. “My stomach has been off for a while.”

  Mr. Khan frowns. “What’s going on, Jade? Why did you take the ring?” He pauses. “You must’ve realized doing so could put you and the rest of the Seers, not to mention many others, in enormous danger.”

  I stare at the puke-splattered toilet bowl. What defence do I have? I’m not about to tell him what Seth said about not trusting the Archangels or others close to me — like Mr. Khan. And I’m for sure not telling him how Seth warned me that putting the ring in the wall would mean certain death for many Seers. I mean, it makes sense — why put such a powerful weapon, something that can protect us from the demons that are actively hunting us, in a place where it can’t be used? It’s not that I don’t trust Mr. Khan, but …

  “Just an impulsive thing, I guess,” I say. “When the demons began to attack, I ran back and got it. To keep us safe.”

  Mr. Khan regards me silently. He’s staring at me so intently, I swear he can see my inner organs. For a moment, I get a bit nervous, wondering if all Seers lose their powers as they get older, or if Mr. Khan might be an anomaly. I don’t feel him reading my thoughts, but I am a bit paranoid that he might slide in at any second. When a Seer is reading your mind, like when Jasmine does it to me, it’s this definite feeling. Sort of like someone is prying your head open with their fingers and walking around inside your brain. It tickles and feels like a mild electric shock all at the same time. Not an entirely unpleasant sensation, really.

  “For a second-born, that is really unusual behaviour,” he says, drawing out each word slowly like he’s savouring its taste. His guard is really up with me. “May I ask where you were when Vivienne was attacked?”

  My heart stops. I was with Seth. He’d called me over. And I just went to him. It felt sort of like my body was on automatic. After that, things get hazy. My memory always gets kind of broken when it comes to Seth. The memories are there, but they’re jumbled, like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle when they’re first tossed from the box. There was thick fog, and Seth leaning against a wall waving to me … then the demons came down from the wall, it seemed … and he told me things, things that scared me, things that I’m supposed to keep secret for now … then I was at a different part of the wall and reaching in and the stones were as wet as fish … and the ring was there. For the taking.

  By the time I got back to the others, the demons were gone, Vivienne was dying, and Jasmine was injured.

  “But did it help you save her?” Mr. Khan asks quietly, interrupting my thoughts. “Not such a great safety net if we’re losing Seers while you have it in your possession, is it?”

  “I was retrieving it when Vivienne was attacked,” I answer indignantly. “If I’d been faster, I could’ve stopped the demon from hurting her, but I did save us after that. Jasmine and me. When we beheaded the demon inhabiting Vivienne’s body.”

  “Do you really believe that, Jade?” Mr. Khan asks. “Because according to all the prophecies and writings in the Dead Sea Scrolls about the last battle, that church is a safe haven from demons … when the ring is in its proper place. And while you fought that demon, the others were in danger in the church. It’s lucky we didn’t lose more of you that day.”

  “How do we know all of that is even true? All of the stuff about certain places being safe when the ring is in the wall?” I ask him. It’s a totally sincere question. “How do we know these scrolls written thousands of years ago aren’t fictional? It’s kind of like religion. How can some people believe in one god while other religions have a multitude of gods? Is it simply a matter of I’m right, so you’ve gotta be wrong?”

  “A fair and wise question,” Mr. Khan says, sitting down beside me and leaning his back against the wall. He lets out a heavy sigh. “All I can say is that everything in those Lost Scrolls has thus far proven to be true. It’s wise to question and analyze things, Jade, rather than swallowing information whole. That’s true. Many corrupt governments ensure that their people stay uneducated and unmotivated to learn, and thus, are unable to truly understand, analyze, or question whether what they’re being told is truth. This, as well as turning different groups of people on each other, causing constant division, is always done to maintain social control and create fear. Smith is just one example of such a leader. That is why throughout history, dictators turned on the intellectuals first: the media, the writers, the educators, the artists. Unfortunately, this ploy generally works very well.” He stops speaking for a moment, and a look of immense sadness crosses his face; I’m afraid he may begin to cry. “All I can tell you, again, is that, rationally speaking, the scrolls have proven to be true. Thus far, anyhow.”

  I nod. “I guess we need to get ready to transition,” I say. I’m feeling confused about everything, but at least I feel well enough now to try to stand up. “Do you think Amara is okay to do this? Like, in the head okay?”

  Mr. Khan shrugs. “Yes, I understood what you meant. I honestly don’t know, but we need to try. There is no other choice.”

  He gets to his feet and holds out a hand to support me. I feel a little like Bambi on ice, but I’m steadier after a few seconds of standing.

  “Let’s do this thing,” I say with a forced smile.

  What I don’t tell Mr. Khan is that my stomach is doing its crazy dance again, and that that has made distrust flare up like a bad rash. Luckily, I don’t have anything left to vomit out. And, for some reason, on top of it all, I miss Seth. I mean, I really miss him. So much it’s like a physical hurt in the core of my being.

  Maybe he’ll be in London again when we get there. This time a genuine smile slides its way across my face at the thought.

  “What’s made your worries suddenly disappear?” Mr. Khan asks, reflecting my smile back at me.

  “I was just thinking how great it’ll be to reunite with Jasmine,” I lie as we walk back into the living area of the carriage house.

  JASMINE

  The beam of a flashlight shines directly into my eyes, making me squint from the sudden brightness. I’m unable to see the person barking commands at us. The only thing I know is that the voice is female and sounds around our age.

  “Aren’t you special?” I say, as I lift my hand to shield my eyes and slide out the door, with Lily close behind me.

  The girl with the flashlight grabs my arm. “C’mon. A bit bloody faster, will ya?”

  I tear my arm from her grasp. “Two things,” I say through clenched teeth. “Who the hell are you? And get your damn hands off me.”

  “Oy, we’ve got a l
ive one here,” the girl laughs. It’s a nasty laugh that makes me think of worms crawling through garbage. Lily’s beside me now. I can see just from the faint reflected light of the flashlight beam off the ground that the girl is white and her face is very round and a bit doughy-looking, though that could just be the shadows. “Follow me. And try to make it quick, yeah?”

  We don’t have much choice, so Lily and I somewhat reluctantly follow this girl up the sidewalk two or three houses beyond where the car stopped.

  “They don’t even trust technology no more,” the girl says as she swings open a black wrought-iron gate and leads us to one of the towering white houses. “That’s why they’re giving the car a bit of the wrong address and stuff.”

  “Who are they?” I ask as we walk into a large foyer. There are numbered doors to the left and to the right, so I guess the house is divided into apartments.

  The girl raises an eyebrow at me. She’s tall, a lot taller than me, anyway, which isn’t hard because I’m pretty short for my age, but I’m okay with it — most of the time. Her cheeks and forehead are covered in tiny inflamed whiteheads.

  “Our Protectors and the CCT,” the girl says, as though I’m stupid not to already know the answer.

  “We’re kind of new here, so if you could go easy with the attitude, it would be appreciated,” Lily says.

  “Okay, Snow White,” the girl shoots back.

  “What exactly did we do to you to make you so pissed off at us?” Lily asks.

  The girl smirks as she begins to walk up the stairs. “On second thought, maybe you ain’t Snow White, because she wasn’t Oriental, was she?”

  There’s a sharp intake of breath from Lily, and her eyes widen.

  “You know what?” I say. “We’re not going a step farther with you. We don’t even know who you are, other than the fact that you’re a complete bigot.” My fists are so tightly clenched, I swear my knuckles are going to pop through the skin. At the moment, it’s all I can do to keep from punching this girl in her pimply face. What the hell is her problem?