Inspecting my dried and calloused hands from this past week of training, my gaze follows down the palm lines on my steady muscular hands. They swirl and twist into different patterns and directions. My circular fingerprints stick out as a blaring flashing light the longer I stare at them. How can hands like these contain such power?
I've been only training for a week but can already conjure up a tornado the size of a baseball. Every night and the a few hours during the weekend, I would go and practice with Lydia who is vicious and unrelenting in my training. The sharp scars embedding in my palm is a testament to her tenacity. I barely even get to see Lexie like I hope to since hearing that our destinies are intertwined. She avoids the rest of us at school like the plague completely skipping even lunch.
All I have heard about Lexie and her training is through the lips of Lionel and the others. Even though I seem to be advancing seamlessly, she doesn't seem to be making any progress. Where I'm a manipulator, I hear that she is a seer, someone with the ability to see the future. The others talk about her not being able to have visions like the very first time. There is a huge part of me that is especially curious to know what visions she had.
I finally look up from my distorted palm and stare straight at where Lexie would sit minutes after the final bell for class to begin. Almost a half an hour ago the class was empty of people but now most seats where filled with only ten more minutes until the lesson. I arrived early hoping to catch Lexie and ask about these visions. I should have known that despite what the world hurls at us, she will always almost be late. There was a time a week ago when I swear she was here before even me...
Peter and James enter the room giving me a strange look before taking their seats. Ever since my sudden outbreak last week, it seems that most people have become wary of me instead of vying for my attention. I like it. A lot. It's refreshing as I get a chance to get to know the mystics at lunch and have friends that don't care that I'm next in the royal line. I secretly smile about this fact as time ticks molasses instead of a constant pace.
The three female mystics enter together giving me smiles and a simple wave of their hands. Well at least Susan and Galia clearly did. Iris simply nods her head forward with an icy expression.
Following shortly behind them, Natalie enters the room. I have to do a double take to make sure I actually see her. She enters naturally fitting into the crowd of my classmates. My gaze follows her as she looks straight up at me. A playful smile curls on her red painted lips before taking a seat a few places away.
Since the last time I saw her, I haven't seen any hide of her since. I questioned around the estate about her to other royal workers but everyone told me the same thing. She has gone and quit her job. Even one brave night, I quickly dodged into that club again and another bartender said that she never showed up to another shift. What is wrong with this girl?
As if responding to my thought, she gracefully turns he head in my direction. Her eyes contain a hostile danger and her smile is confection sweet about to give indigestion. She looks away and pulls out a book for the lesson. Ever since this course stated almost a semester ago, she has never been in this class. I can't help but gulp with pure eeriness.
The startling bell erupts like a welcoming chime of life and pulls me away from the strange mystery devouring my thoughts. Professor Maddox stands before us. Just before she opens her lips, Lexie rushes quickly into the classroom without looking at me or the others. This earns a melancholic shake of head from the Professor.
The lesson begins as I flip through our assigned novel highlighting important passages and phrases with the direction of the professor.
About halfway through our studies, a sudden chill slimes its way down my spine. From my right past another classmate, I hear low whispering from Natalie that doesn't seem heard by anyone else. I try to hear what she is muttering but I can make out only pure gibberish.
"Snile. Coaz. Nee. Brov."
The snip bits of the muttering I do catch sound like a bizarre mixture between Russian and German. With an insatiable desire to look at her without gaining attention, I look with the corner of my eyes to see her head buried intensely into an opened notebook. One of her index fingers is tapping on the desk while the other hand is jerkily moving about the page with pen in hand. She continues to whisper unidentifiable words.
"Clex. Huva. Klen."
Her whispering becomes faster and more intense. The pumping in my chest presses in a pain that is almost grabbing my throat with cold deathly hands. Her hand is moving at a speed beyond what would be considered human drawing. Her tapping freezes and the drawing stops as she snaps out of her seat. Automatically, the whole class shifts their heads in her direction. She stands hyperventilating. The professor has her eyebrows raised.
"I need to use the restroom." She says blandly. She doesn't wait for a response but shuffles quickly out of the room. The class seems in a trance for a brief moment before the lesson continues as if Natalie didn't make an interruption.
The chaos storming inside comes to a halt as I instinctively look towards the places where the mystics sit in a cluster. They continue looking at the direction of the door with suspicions and curiosity coating all the details on the faces. Iris is the first to catch my look and gives a questioning expression. I shrug completely derailed about what just happened.
I turn to see Lexie. She is just continuing the lesson like the rest of my classmates. Briefly, her eyes flicker to my direction.
I rest of the class finishes with my thoughts filled with the event I just saw. After class is dismissed, I approach to them discuss the issue especially since Natalie never returned leaving her belongings behind. I look for Lexie but she already dodged out of the room.
"Did you see or hear what happened with, Natalie?" My voice doesn't mean to carry desperation it just happened.
Susan is clearly uncertain and Galia is showing an obvious rising temper. Iris can't look any colder. Nobody speaks but Susan swiftly maneuvers herself around the desks as the rest of us follow. We final reach the place where she sat with her open notebook and pen that is bent at the tips. The page is filled with swirly designs that look like ancient marks from long ago. Only one recognizable word stands out on the page of scribbles: Oxford.
Susan is practically running out the door and through the halls. Her feet echo on the solid floor until there is a whisper of nothing. I'm left with Galia and Iris.
"I don't recognize these marks. Susan must know something." Iris speaks that is almost a mutter to herself as she gently presses her slender hand on the page. She suddenly jerks it away as if she was touching a flame. "Damn it."
She caresses her hand and leaves through the door without another word.
"Who is the girl?" Galia almost hisses uncharacteristically.
"Natalie. She wasn't like this before." I say in a strain croak. "What is happening?"
"I'm not sure what all the doodles mean but all I can say is that I felt a strong force earlier but it was trying to conceal it's presence from us." She crossly looks to where he companions left. "I tried to dig further but it kept pushing out of discovering its identity. All I can say is that there is something not human about that girl."
She starts for the door and turns to me, "Are you coming?"
I am stock still trying to process what Galia said. Something not human about that girl. I move and follow her out to the hall. We walk briskly past student clambering with bags and chatting to their next class or lunch.
We need to find the others. As the corridor becomes bare of bodies, we start to quicken our pace to a light jog until we almost crash into a group of people.
Before us stands, a hectic Lionel, a frustrated Susan, and pissed off Iris. Behind them, Lexie has wide eyes filled with bewilderment.
"Good," Susan lets out a small sigh of relief. "We were coming to get you. We need to go now."
"What is going on?" Galia sounds like a child wanting not to be left out.
"The harmonica has been located." Lionel excitedly interjects.
"I've contacted Mima to make sure." Susan says quickly as if we a running time against an hourglass. "We need to go now and we need to bring Robert and Lexie."
"They aren't ready." Iris scoffs almost as if laughing at us. "It's like throwing infants to a pack of wolves. They haven't even practiced their physical ability yet."
"There is no time for idle chitchat, Iris." Susan says commanding. "Mima gave the go. It's now or never and we need their abilities on our side."
Before even giving Lexie and I time to respond to their urgency, Susan looks at the other three mystics nodding her head. Lionel's thick hand grasps my wrist. Right in front of us, Susan vanishes in thin air with Lexie in tow shortly followed by Galia and Iris. Lionel's whispers something that sounds Latin.
The air around us becomes thin and dry, deprived of anymore oxygen. My lungs clench in hunger gasping for the last few particles. My vision darkens as my skin tightens like it is expanding like a balloon about to explode.
The pressure instantly stops as I regain normal breathing and my body is feeling its normal estate instead of some inflated dummy. I open my eyes squint as the sun blares caressing my skin. I look around to discover that we are no longer in the school instead in some sort of unfamiliar courtyard facing different brick buildings on all sides. People with book bags slung over shoulders pass us without noticing our sudden presence in the area.
In our cluster, the other mystics stand along with Lexie looking as if death has just grasped her soul. Lionel releases the pressure on my arm and motions towards his sister, "Where?"
"The library." She states nodding her sure head in the direction of an old looking building that look exactly like the one back in London. Even the letters etching the word Library is exactly the same. Students pass the edifice not acknowledging its presence and no souls enter or leave through its entrance.
"It's another portal to the World-Between." Galia fills in the growing curiosity inside me. "Undetectable by the average humana. There are many of them in your world."
Lionel takes the head of our group leading us down the cobble sidewalk to the ancient stone steps. Unlike the one in London, this building looms taller and grander with gigantic wooden doors. It feels like an invisible snake is constricting my body as the ominous presence in the building grows almost unbearable.
Before when can enter through the rugged and chipped oak doors with iron grates, Susan says gravely, "It appears Vana has found a body. Somehow she has broken through Robert's barrier."
Her words ignite a ravenous question, a torch setting gasoline ablaze in my heart. My barrier? Iris responds breaking me away from the escalating rants in the head, "What about the other one?"
"I have no idea." Susan gives a frustrated sigh. "That bastard is hard to track down."
"What the bloody hell are we waiting for?" Lionel's says, booming impatience. "Let's get that witch!"
Without further hesitation, Lionel sticks out his hands as if to open the doors.
"Stop!" Lionel's freezes and the others flick their heads to where I stand. I am breathing heavy, fist curled up at my sides with so much pressure my nails are close to breaking skin. Her previous comment is eating me inside. What barrier is Susan talking about?
"Susan, what did you mean by barrier? What are you guys keeping from me?" I say, pleading with eyes tired of confusion. Lexie looks at me with intensity, as if I had asked the same question burning inside of her.
"You should really keep your mouth shut when we are in front of these two, Susan." Iris scolds Susan under her breath hopefully not able to reach my ears. I am not deaf.
"Don't leave me in the dark, anymore. I have had enough of that for a lifetime." I am practically screaming with a twinge of painful agony. "I feel as if my whole life has been some damned secret that I can never know."
"Robert," it is surprisingly Galia who speaks, "if we tell you everything from the very beginning of what happened in the past, it will only depress you. Maybe even prevent you from tapping into your true potential. Right now we need to get the harmonica before they can. There is another time for all your questions. That is when they will be answered."
I have never seen that expression on her face before. Usually happy-go-lucky, she is now serious even to the point where she might cry. The fear that quivers from her lips is alone scaring me stiff about what exactly that secret can be.
I don't answer but simply nod my head. Lionel lets out an exaggerated sigh and says, "Well now can we go?"
When Susan provides him with an approving nod, Lionel lifts his mammoth arms in front of him, bracing himself, before ramming straight into the door and knocking it down.
Iris sharply says, "Imbecile. You could have simply opened the damn door."
Lionel flashes a charming smile as her words are an open invitation. He smoothly says, taking a step behind Iris, "Ladies first."
She scoffs a forced laugh but I can see the corner of her lips form a small kind of small at him.
Before us is a grand library much different than the cramp library in London. A vast space of marble flooring lay under our feet. To each side of the entrance of red carpeted staircases that curve around to a second level of books. Thin aisles of books stand straight ahead, parallel next to each other. The same strong odor of must and age is strongly present just like the other building.
I briefly look to the others for guidance to see that their appearance have changed except for Lexie who is still wearing her school uniform gawking at the transformed mystics.
Just like the night of our first meeting, Galia is wearing the extravagant outfits with silk and bangles and Iris is wearing the peculiar aqua gown. This is the first time seeing Susan and Lionel wearing their mystic garb though. Susan is wearing a long cream colored dress that I only seen Greek goddesses wear in books with an olive branch headpiece snuggled into her loose dark locks. I almost laugh at Lionel's attire. He's wearing gladiator wardrobe and a gold helmet with a red feather sticking out on top. His hand is placed on hilt of a sword that is tucked in a sheath on his gaudily designed belt.
We stand in our undisturbed formation for a little while surveying the area until Lionel command in a voice fit for a general, "Let's disperse. Find the harmonica before the demon."
We break away at the sound of his powerful demand. I decide to ascend one side of the stairs until finally reaching the second floor of books. I pass several rows of book fully on alert for any sight of the harmonica or the malevolent presence.
I don't have to look behind me to know who is there. Ever since we dispersed, I could feel Lexie lingering in my shadow as if afraid to explore this new frontier alone. I try to keep my feet quiet as my head turns right, left, and right again. My chest squeezes with fear and delight as Lexie's soft shuffle of footsteps pat, pat, pat rings in my ears. At the end of the row, I turn right. I turn when I hear her steps grow faint as she goes left.
Trying not to think of Lexie anymore, I urgently begin to search for the artifact. My feet quicken there pace as a foreboding desperation tickles my insides. I roam a few minutes not exactly sure where I'm going or how to get back to the entrance when I hear a distinct gasp a few rows down. I sprint from my spot to the sound just in time to see Lexie peering into one of the shelves. Her quaking hand reaches inside and pulls out a brightly glowing blue figure. She stands mesmerized by the bright light and stand frozen in place without even moving a single muscle. Is she even breathing?
A cold fear shreds straight into me as I slowly approach her. A ruffle a clothing makes me face away to see the others have joined us. I look back to Lexie as she still remains like an ice sculpture. What did that thing do to her? Iris steps forward lifting a hand, signaling me away as she carefully reaches for the Glass Harmonica.
At the exact same moment, a pale cloaked arm snaps through the shelf from the other side and snatches the object from Lexie's hands. A profanity escapes Iris's lips. Without hesitation, Lionel hungrily pulls out his blade just as the mysterious hand vanishes in thin air.
Once the artifact leaves the palm of her hands, Lexie blinks several times and her body begins to relax until she realizes what is missing from her grasp. She darts her gaze to a mysterious hooded figure that materialized in thin air a yard away from us.
Lionel is the first to move after the figure. He holds his sword high above his head releasing a terrible gust of wind, slicing towards the unmoving presence. The figure disappears before the blade can make contact. Appearing a few steps away, the figure releases green sparks from its fingertips in the direction of one of the chandeliers. It breaks from the high ceiling aiming to fall right on top of the warrior sprite. He rolls over on the floor dodging an ill fate with one of the sharper ends.
Suddenly erupting from Iris is a high pitched screech of anger. Her face is pissed and seems as if it seeks revenge for the attack on Lionel. She vanishes and reappears directly hovering over the hooded figure with her arm pulled back and a tightened fist. Aiming for the apparition, she moves with much agility and strength. The figure disappears in time as Iris creates a large crater to from on the marble floor. The figure is now standing a few feet away from the rubble, clearly unharmed by the fatale's strength. Iris lifts her unscathed fist from the ground only be hit by spinning blue spirals and sent flying through the air into shelves, knocking them down like a set of dominos.
Galia quickly whispers a chant beside me as a holographic tiger image sudden emerges from thin air. The beast charges at the cloaked menace, still unmoving, with ferocity and teeth bared ready to attack. A flaming ball of red escapes the pale hands underneath the black folds, hitting the tiger causing it to evaporate instantly. At the hit of her image, Galia instantly gasps for air and falls down to her knees and keels over unconscious.
Susan, Lexie, and I are the only ones left standing as the figure stands before us with the harmonica glimmering in one hand. I can sense the sneering smile from underneath the shadow of the hood. Susan is muttering something fast with eyes closes like some sort of spell or maybe prayer. The figure glides towards us as our other comrades lay fallen. I glance over at Lexie and see that she is intensely looking at the harmonica. I dark feeling sinks straight to the bottom of my soul. She's planning something.
At that precise moment I think that, she runs straight towards the figure without any weapon to defend herself. She is only a seer after all. Lexie reaches out for the arm holding the glowing artifact and latches on tightly trying to pry to instrument out of its hand. The figure flings Lexie suddenly across the library heading straight for a wall. I feel a massive power ardently surge through me. I instinctively raise my hands and concentrate. A gust of wind escapes my fingertips reaching Lexie making her glide safely to the ground instead of being ruthlessly thrust to the brick wall.
I turn to face the figure, slowly putting down my raised arms. I can feel the anger emanate and strain behind my eyes as I can sense the merriment pulsing from the demon. I quickly lift my hand again and without much think, I release a strong gust of air hitting the figure right into the chest. It flies the air brutally hit a wall before slumping to the floor, now lifeless.
I cautiously move toward its limp body, hoping to retrieve the harmonica lying on the ground close to it. I bend slowly reaching for the harmonica while carefully keeping an eye for any movement from the rumpled cloak. Right before I can close the artifact tightly around my fingers, the figure quickly lifts its head towards me. A silver blade escapes from within the folds, heading straight for me. I'm bent, frozen in place unable to grab the harmonica. I close my eyes expecting the worst.
________________________
Hello people who actually read this. I want to first say thank you, thank you, thank you so much. What do you think will happen to Robert? What exactly is Natalie's deal? So much questions.... Soon all will be answered.
Please, I encourage you to COMMENT on anything and VOTE!! Please VOTE if you like. I would love to get more reads. Not looking for fame just a good support of people. Thanks again.
J.S. Marie