16. Images
Calder
For purposes unknown the Council ordered that training be suspended until the end of the holidays. Gabriel and I thought that it was strange, but didn’t question the order. It gave Gabriel and I more time to look over texts in the library.
The only thing missing was Kimberly.
“Stop wallowing,” Gabriel said shutting the book he was reading and placing it in the “useless” pile. “You’ll see her in an hour. We’re still going to pick out our tux for tomorrow night.”
“What makes you think I was thinking of her?”
He chuckled, his laughter echoing along the book cased walls. It was thunderous in the way that I imagined the book cases toppling over as books fell on the wooden floorboards in a clutter. I turned around to find Gretchen smiling instead of having an annoyed expression on her face for his volume. A quick read of her mind told me that she knew – she knew.
“How does-”
“It’s not that hard to figure out,” Gabriel said answering the question on the tip of my tongue. “Your character has changed.”
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. “There’s a different bounce to your step.”
What?
You’re in love, Gabriel thought. It was clear and strong enough to send me reeling. How did he know? No, better question: How did everyone know?
“I told you – you’re acting different.”
I closed the book I was working on reading in Greek and looked at him, curiously. “Can you read minds now? When did this occur?”
He chuckled again, finding the topic of conversation amusing. “It’s not hard to read the expression written all over your face, mate.”
“Things change,” I said softly – reflecting on how drastically my way of thinking had changed once I began to consider my feelings for Kimberly.
Gabriel stood up, pushing his chair back in the process as he began to take some books in his hands to reshelf. When he came back there was a glazed look in his eyes. I knew that look all too well. He was thinking about Gwen and I suddenly understood the way he must have felt missing the one girl he’s ever loved.
The feeling alone would destroy me. But I realized now that it’s better to have known and felt love than to never have experienced it all. Life truly feels empty when love is out of the equation. I’ve never felt more alive than I do now – in this very instant as if the world were brighter, full of colors and smells that I’ve never quite seen or smelled before. It was exhilarating, simply for the fact that it was unknown territory, and the notion of discovering new land each day was riveting.
“Whatever you do, don’t let her go so easily.”
I looked up and saw the guilt and remorse on my best friend’s face. The one thing he regretted most in his life was walking away from Gwen without saying goodbye and fighting for the right to do so.
Standing up, I went around the table and clasped a hand on my best friend’s shoulder – letting him know in that small gesture that I now understood what Gwen meant to him. My voice was certain but light when I said, “Wasn’t planning on it.”
*
We were waiting for Nole, Beth, and Kimberly to show up for our rendezvous afternoon in the council chamber. The Council had decided that my father would be the one to accompany us as our escort. I had a feeling that he was coming for the sole purpose of speaking to me. The last time we talked had been three weeks ago and it hadn’t ended on a good note. Ever since then I had avoided him and the “talk” he had threatened. It was time to put the past behind us and start anew and those were my intentions if we did talk during our brief time out of the castle walls.
The chamber doors opened and I turned around expecting to see the others arrive, but instead Mr. Amato entered disheveled and short of breath with Lucas in tow looking anxious. Something was wrong by the looks of horror on their faces.
“Amato, what is your concern?” Elder Montehue asked. “You look like you’ve seen a-"
“My daughter…she’s gone,” he said distraught.
“What?”
Everyone in the room turned their eyes to me as I felt the weight of their scrutiny burning through me. The word was out of my mouth before I could remember my manners. Kimberly was gone? I caught Lucas’ stare and read his mind in an instant. He didn’t even try to conceal his thoughts as they unraveled right before my eyes.
“You were with her last night.” I said, my voice sounding accusingly. I stepped forward, anger boiling through my veins as I met his cold green eyes. “You were with her and you didn’t even notice how she was acting?”
“I could say the same about you.”
I seethed in anger as I stared into his face – at his clenched jaw and the fire dancing in his bright green eyes as he thought of ways he could hurt me. The thoughts didn’t veer far from my own mindset. My gaze trailed down his arms to his tight fists as he contained the anger within. I went deeper into his thoughts trying to find any sort of indication in his mind about Kimberly’s whereabouts, but came up empty handed. He didn’t know anything.
There was one thing we both shared: guilt.
We should have known her intentions. I should have known after the way she left me last night. Something occurred when we were kissing and it caused her to leave immediately. Had she seen something or someone? Was that the reason she had run away? If that was the case then how was it even possible? That’s not her gift…unless…
“What do you know?” Mr. Amato asked, snapping me out of my reverie. His eyes were questioning as he looked at Lucas and me in turn.
When his question was met with silence he yelled, “Answer me!”
“They don’t know anything, Richard.” Mr. Amato turned around to look at my father uneasily as his eyes still flickered to Lucas and I. “I just sense guilt because they should have known. Am I right?” He raised an eyebrow expecting an answer. We both slightly nodded our heads. It was enough.
“Have you contacted your sons?” Elder Montehue asked. “Maybe they could provide assistance in-”
“No, they are unavailable at the moment.” He said exasperated. “Last I heard of them was before they set out for a mission in Britain. The Council there asked the Russian Council if they could be of-” he stopped mid-thought, remembering that there were others in the room.
“I see,” was all Elder Montehue said. He glanced at both sides where the other members sat and they all exchanged a brief look with one another.
There’s something going on, Gabriel’s thought rang loudly in my mind – reverberating along the walls of my head.
Yes. There is and I feel as if I…
An image began to flicker in my eyes – like a movie where I was the only member of the audience. There were two men in the dark open space, dirt and blood staining their clothes. One of them had messy blond hair that was coated with dried blood from the massive gash on the side of his head. He was shivering in the coldness of the cave despite our body’s natural way of adapting to a certain temperature.
Yes, it was a cave as the image became clearer behind my eyes. I saw the natural curve of enclosed walls as the cave expanded in other directions, giving the effect of a maze. The other boy started a fire in the corner, illuminating the vast darkness. Their shadows danced among the walls from the newly built fire, making their features clearer. The boy who built the fire had raven black in great contrast to the first, but his eyes were a startling blue that reminded me of one other person’s.
Kimberly.
The cave and its inhabitants faded as a new image appeared in my mind, only lasting for a second before Gabriel’s eyes blurred in my line of vision. The sound of voices slowly filled my ears as conversation commenced around me. The only person who had paid any notice of me was Gabe as his eyes searched mine for answers.
We have to go, I said telepathically to Gabe -the urgency in my words evident. I know where she is.
Gabriel turned away from me, crossing his arms over his chest and waiting for a break in the conversation between Amato in the Elders. I looked around the room and saw for the first time that Keepers had been called and were standing erect in the back in their corresponding ranks, watching the room before them with silent observance.
“Father?” Gabriel said clearing his throat. Everyone’s eyes turned to him waiting for him to continue. “May we take our leave?”
Elder Montehue furrowed his eyebrows and idly waved us off as an afterthought. We bowed and hastily retreated out of the chamber. Once the chamber doors closed behind us we took off in a sprint towards the winding corridors. I briefly informed Gabriel on the images I saw and sent him a clear image of the sign Rococo Gardens.
We halted near the north wing where no one was around, and quickly began to chant the words to the teleportation. The air around us began to shift as the magic ebbed from our bodies, filling the space around us as it transported us to our desired location.
***
Gabriel
We ran through the streets of London, our steps pounding on the cobblestones. We weaved through the clusters of teenagers as some shot strange looks our way. The audible whispers of conversation reached my ears, filling my mind with curiosity and awe. Calder and I were running at full speed and captured unwanted attention of the kids all around us.
“We need to stop.”
He shot me an impatient look. “We don’t have time to stop.”
I clasped my hand on his shoulder and he halted, clenching his jaw. “People are staring. We’re drawing attention to ourselves. We need to slow down.”
He sighed in frustration but in the end he agreed. We continued in a brisk walk down the street until we came upon a wide expanse of greenery and the sign Rococo Gardens greeted us. We barely made it pass the entrance when I sensed something different in the air. I stopped in my tracks and looked around the garden only to find two teenagers who were around our age sitting on an old rusted bench.
The girl had long flowing chestnut brown hair, while the boy’s head was covered in unruly blond locks. They seemed like a normal couple of kids on the surface. What had made me stop wasn’t their presence, but the hot coppery stench that demons carried covered them both - mixing with the smell of violets near them. It was impossible to disregard.
“Cal?” I asked, my hand impulsively grazing the handle of my dagger in my jacket. “Can you get a read on him?” There was something off about him, but I couldn’t pin-point exactly what it was. He turned, casting a glance our way and exchanged a few words with the girl. Whatever he had said made her move closer to him.
“No,” Calder said as his brows furrowed in confusion. “But he might just be a human who has a gift. It would explain why he can block me and the stench you smell. They might be Hunters or had narrowly escaped an attack.”
I wasn’t convinced. There was more to them than meets the eye – Hunters or not. I was certain of it. “What about the girl?”
Calder fixed his eyes on her and got a read in a matter of seconds. He snorted.
“What?”
“She’s comparing me to her boyfriend. I’m better looking, right?”
I rolled my eyes. Leave it to Cal to make a universal assessment that trivial in the midst of emergency. “Do you really want me to answer that?”
He shrugged and we took off at a run, leaving behind the odd sensation that I received from the couple.
***
Calder
I received another image of Kimberly’s whereabouts that lead us towards an underground entrance at the center of the gardens. Her thoughts and memories began to mend with my vision until they became one. I couldn’t distinctly separate what my eyes saw in front of me in the present from her past and present memories. A bond had formed between us and it was heightened by the gravity of the situation. It was like she was calling out to me with all her will, making it hard to ignore her pleas. I saw everything that she saw and felt; her care for her brother that was injured as she tended to his wounds; the hardness of the cold earth beneath her; the sound of approaching footsteps on the ground.
Kimberly and her brother with the raven colored hair stood up in a rush – weapons in hand as they saw the first Snipcriz demon crawl out of the shadows; its pinchers dripping with poison, and its eight black eyes solely on the two of them.
*******************************************************************************************************************
---Authors Note---
Sorry! Had to cut it off or it would have been to long, but don't worry next part will be up next day! It's two parts as you can see :D So, what did you think of the bond Calder and Kimberly seem to have? What do you think is going on in general? Hehe also first person who tells me who the boy and girl were in the garden will get the next chapter dedicated to them (:
P.S. Thank you for all you who keep on reading this story! I honestly can't explain how much it means to me! I really love you guys for your support! ♥
xxx addy